FX Demo Reel / Cheng-You Charles Cheng

Breaking Bandages | Vellum Project

Inspired by the TV show - Moon Knight.

Rendering in Houdini Karma. I am mainly using vellum, plus utilizing Procedural Geo to create bandages and using particles to create fracture pieces. The challenge part is fracturing before laying down all the bandages flat on the tube without intersection in order to well perform further simulation.

LandSlide | RBD Project

Rendering in Houdini Karma, focusing mainly on RBD simulations. I am also incorporating Pyro for smoke and dust, Vellum for the curtains, and particles for debris. To ensure a smooth simulation, I have separated each part of the house into materials and constraints to run a test simulation. As a result, the entire simulation only takes ten minutes to run. To match the reference, I am using simple geometry along with a basic RBD simulation for the guide simulation. As for the smoke and dust, am using Axiom for the Pyro simulation.

Engine Sensor Fail | Pyro Project

Rendering in Houdini Karma, with a primary focus on Pyro simulations. Additionally, I am utilizing RBD for fracturing the rocket, and Particles for controling the debris. The special part is the sink explosion. The reference shows the explosion expanding for a while and sinking into the center. To achieve this effect, I had to create a custom sink source that acts as a new field for the explosion. For the high-detail explosion trails, which involve four burning pieces expanding in the air, I am employing Pyro clusters and spinning particle sources to generate detailed fire and smoke.

End Game | Particles Project

Inspired by the movie - Avengers: Endgame

Rendering in Houdini Karma. Compositing by Kuan Tsai, primarily using particles. I am utilizing RBD for rocks, Pyro for dust and smoke, and Vellum for the cape. An interesting aspect of this shot is the fracturing rock. Instead of fully relying on RBD simulations, I'm transferring attributes with a SOP solver, which helps me reduce simulation time. The challenging part is the Dr.Strange cape, which is entirely simulated using Vellum. I need to animate the force bounding box to match the simulation. For the magic effects, I have created multiple layers of energy particles and generated smoke from particles to produce convincing visual effects.