VFX / FX

Readable effects. Controlled simulation domains. Game sprites vs cinematic volumes.

When to Use

• Smoke, fire, dust, sparks, debris
• Magic / sci-fi energy FX
• Muzzle flashes, trails, impacts
• Geometry Nodes driven particle systems

Path Decision

Game real-time → Meshes/cards/ribbons + emissive mats (+ GN)
Cinematic     → Mantaflow / particles / GN → render → comp
Hybrid        → Sim in Blender → bake flipbooks/meshes for engine

Workflow

Brief (silhouette + timing) → Proxy emitter → Sim/GN prototype
  → Art-direct motion → Materials/lights → Cache → Render/comp or export

Effect Types

Type	Blender Approach
Smoke/fire	Mantaflow domain + flow; keep domain tight
Sparks	Particle Newtonian + collision + trail
Debris	Rigid body shards (physics-sim)
Magic ribbons	Curves / GN extrude + emissive
Dust hit	Short particle burst + soft sprites

Domain Rules (Volume)

• Domain only as large as needed
• Resolution from low → high after motion approved
• Open borders intentionally; avoid wasted empty voxels
• Collection: COL_FX_[Shot]

Naming

• Emitters: FX_Emit_[Name]
• Domains: FX_Domain_[Name]
• Caches: document frame range in brief

Game Export Notes

• Prefer mesh cards / GN instances over volume export
• Atlas flipbooks when baking fire/smoke for engines
• Keep pivot at logical spawn point

Constraints

MUST DO

• Approve motion at low res before high-res sim
• Light FX intentionally (emissive + key)
• Cache before final render

MUST NOT DO

• Huge empty domains
• Unbounded particle counts
• Skip timing brief (start/peak/end frames)

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Fx Timing Brief	references/fx-timing-brief.md	When needed
Volume Domain Rules	references/volume-domain-rules.md	When needed
Game Fx Export	references/game-fx-export.md	When needed