In this tutorial, we’re going to take a look at how to create a very basic “meteor” fireball effect and composite it into our shot. We’ll take a look at some basic compositing techniques such as fake shading, shadows, reflections, and other fine details that make the effect look more natural and dynamic. This is my first vfx tutorial so things may be kind of lacking, but feel free to tell me how I did in the comments below!
Resources
Videezy
Cloudlet Image from Video Copilot (Download the Project File)
Download InstaFilm Tools from CreativeDojo
Optical Flares from Video Copilot
Action Essentials 2 from Video Copilot
Trapcode Particular from Red Giant
Preview Video
Tips & Recommendations
Carefully select the flame elements, the more dynamic and lively the better. I’d also suggest using a rock texture and composite it with your fireball flames. Using the Roughen Edges effect will give you a more natural bumpy rock for your scene. By applying a glow, setting the colors to a hot red and messing with the threshold/blending modes, you can achieve a “molted lava” look for your rock based on the cracks.
Meteors are hot, by adding heat wave distortion you can easily add more realism to your shot and also distort any of the imperfections with your asteroid. It’s a great way to get a better look while hiding all the junk you didn’t do so well with. Additionally, enabling motion blur will make it more convincing and will also hide some imperfections.
Lastly, I’d recommend duplicating the Particular layer, change the particle type, and create flying sparks with them to simulate falling ashes/flames from the falling meteor. Think Michael Bay and Transformers. You may have to play around with the velocities and physics a little.
Conclusion
So that’s pretty much it guys, experiment and play around with the effect to achieve some really cool vfx work. If you create anything cool, show me down below. I hope to do more sophisticated vfx tutorials in the future, so stay tuned!
If you guys have any particular request, let me know in the comments down below. Also let me know how I’m doing with these types of tutorials, love to hear your feedback! Have a nice day folks.
Thats some great stuff VinhSon!
Thanks buddy!
Great tutorial VinhSon! So cool to see some of that Videezy footage in action. Looking forward to seeing more!
Thanks Shawn, I may have a few more up my sleeves
looks great–a lot of great info here. i know some people like to work in 32 bpc space for more realistic-looking fire but i’m guessing since the fire elements weren’t the main focal point you kept it on 8 bpc? also not a lot of effects work with 32 bpc, so that’s a factor too.
Thanks! The reason why I worked in a 8bpc comp was because 32bpc wouldn’t matter. You won’t be able to tell a difference anyways with the size I’m rendering it with plus online compression. I wouldn’t recommend working in 32bpc just because you’re using fire elements either. I only use 32bpc when I’m using some intense glows or particle animations
Thanks, VinhSon! Took me awhile to get it all right, but this is super helpful!! Thanks, again!
Practice makes perfect, thanks again for the support!
Thanks a bunch mate, this is the very first effect I can get to look right =)). How long did it take you to reach this level? Did you get specialized training or did you go with the good ole push-a-button-and-see-what-it-does approach?
btw, you are a Vietnamese right? Me too
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you got it to look good
Took me about 2 years to get to this point in this particular tutorial, I’m more of a motion graphics guy, though I’ve been using After Effects for roughly 5 years now. I had no formal training, everything is from the internet 
Yep, I’m definitely Vietnamese!
Awesome! I was thinking it takes longer than just 2 years. Thanks again buddy, looking forward to your new tutorial
btw, you have no accent at all, was you born in the US or did you move there later in life? mà đại ca nói được tiếng việt không?
This was really Amazing Vinhson. I liked it and will shortly try this. I will post you my output on your fb.
meantime Please take a look @ this video, which is looking really nice.
Used a line as emitter and sync. music.
Please make a tutorial on this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of-a77V7N2k&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLm1Ug2INnqqcbYUX_PIz5yg
Nice!