Ice Meteor

HOW IT'S MADE

Ice Meteor is built around a fluid simulation of smoke on a grid, with 8 particle emitters on top. Techniques worth a look: collisions, keyframed parameters and post filters (bloom and vignette). 2 scene layers (ground and props) show in the studio for context and stay out of every export.

It loops seamlessly every 2.4 s, and 6 of its layers fire in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. Start times are staggered from 0 s to 0.72 s, so the layers arrive one after another. To thicken or thin the smoke, select "Cold Mist" and change Smoke and Smoke fade.

Layers, in draw order

1. Frost PatchparticlesA single particle at 0.6 s. It grows as it ages. Colour: pale blue.
2. Cold MistfluidSimulated smoke from a round source, in one burst. The smoke is heavy and sinks.
3. Frost Trailparticles / additiveA stream of soft glows from a disc, its rate keyframed over the loop. They grow as they age and slow down with drag. Colours range between blue and pale blue.
4. Trail Glitterparticles / additiveA stream of soft glows from a disc, its rate keyframed over the loop. They slow down with drag. Colours range between white and pale cyan.
5. Ice MeteorparticlesOne burst of 30 shards at 0.6 s. They are flung outward, fall under gravity and bounce when they hit something.
6. Impact Flash, Shock Ringparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.6 s. It grows as it ages. Colour: pale cyan.
7. Ice ChipsparticlesOne burst of 46 shards from a disc at 0.6 s. They fall under gravity, bounce when they hit something and spin. Colours range between white and blue.
8. Glintsparticles / additiveOne burst of 26 stars across a box at 0.72 s. They swell and then shrink away. Colours range between white and pale cyan.