Realistic destruction effects in blender

Don't hesitate to leave any questions or feedback in the comments, I try to answer all of them. Enjoy the tutorial!
I forgot to mention that the cell fracture addon that I am using has to be enabled before using.
Go to file - preferences - addons and then search for cell fracture. The addon is build in with blender, so just enable it and you're ready to go.
Feel free to download the blend file and take a look at the scene there. DO NOT copy my scene management though, it's not ideal! ;)
www.mediafire.com/file/87v2qm...
If you want to support me on patreon
/ granitefilms
Timecodes
0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Fracturing
3:38 - Adding constraints
4:57 - Simulating
5:25 - Baking to keyframes
5:50 - Texturing
6:30 - Repeating the process
7:12 - Adding the groundplane
7:52 - Smaller details
9:39 - Building scene
11:03 - Simulating smoke
12:53 - Baking smoke
13:13 - Placing smoke in scene
14:00 - Test render
14:13 - Preparing final render
14:36 - Final render
14:45 - Outro

[@charlesskoutariotis2504]

Great tutorial but as several people already mentioned there's quite a serious mistake 0:36. The correct method is to delete the default cube and then create a cube.

[@AlbinThorburn]

FBI is trying to find me now :D

[@SteveRasad]

@@HanSolocambo It was a joke.

[@acupofbullsheit2501]

@@HanSolocambo i guess you cant take a joke

[@BooleanCorporation]

Proper init is A X and then you start Blending.

[@HelvioAvelar]

[@ernovonschwiegenau9696]

Cell fracture is an inbuilt Addon i had to enable first, in the case someone of you is struggling

[@c0nsumption]

You’re the GOAT 🐐

[@b4rtmod]

Thank you man!

[@vikasgarg17]

Thank You

[@leanderbrough8517]

he didn't delete the default cube?!!

[@Desertsage]

Ah finally, I've been looking to take up destruction sims in my videos recently and am happy to have stumbled across this and your channel. Keep up the solid work

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's great, who doesn't love some destruction sims? :D

[@SirEatsCrackAlot]

This is hands down the best destruction sim tutorial for blender available on KZbin. Thank you so much, simply excellent.

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's fantastic to hear! Glad you liked it, I'll be making more videos like this in the future

[@ClintMoody]

Yeah, it pretty much shows you exactly how to do what the RBDLabs plug-in does, but without needing the plug-in. This was so insightful! Thank you!

[@Smooth_Shading]

Dang man! Amazing! Great looking animation, high production value! Really well explained too. Keep up the great work!

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's amazing to hear! Im planning on making more videos like this one soon:)

[@jalpranjal]

I am so glad that you used blender built in tools to achieve this. Looks amazing. Good job.

[@AlbinThorburn]

I wanted to share it because I think that it's awesome what you can achieve with free software these days!

[@dude3d]

This is some Houdini level CGI done using blender.. I’m really amazed by this tutorial. You have a great talent in 3D and i hope you’ll do more amazing things like this in near future. You are amazing 🫡

[@chanruzzi]

You explain things quickly, to the point, no time wasted, all of that while sharing some quality info and demos from the progress as you follow. This was an astonishingly great tuto, thank you!!!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you! I'll make more tutorials with this style pretty soon.

[@chanruzzi]

@@AlbinThorburn 😃 Great to know, please do!!

[@nevs30]

Film quality execution. Freaking mindblown! especially since it's all blender. IT IS A BIG DEAL! thank you immensely 🙌🙏✨🖤

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you! That's awesome to hear :D

[@xzombiefx]

This is amazing, is the BEST tutorial i have seen about destruction, amazing work, im so excited to watch more tutorials like this 😍❤️

[@AlbinThorburn]

Nice! Thank you

[@user-hn2wc3fy7y]

I started learning Blender at the beginning of the pandemic and kind of stopped because I reached a point where my hardware just wasn’t keeping up with how I wanted to push things. I thought it was just a waste of time having learned so many things, but I recently upgraded my system and jumped back in. The big update to 3 combined with my Optix capable rig has made it super fun to learn again. It doesn’t feel like a waste anymore since I’m rendering out assets for a bunch of projects and to my surprise, I didn’t get lost once throughout this video no matter what concept came up. Thanks for such detailed instructions and explanations. This is just what I needed and I’ll be putting the combinations of techniques used here to use come morning!

[@AramZero]

Spending time in your formation (whatever it might be) it is NEVER a waste!

[@FruitZeus]

This is a lifesaver for a project I'm on at the moment... thank you! I never knew about the connect feature.

[@AlbinThorburn]

I was really stoked when I discovered it aswell! Sells the effect much better than just simulating without it

[@davidthorburn7127]

I really liked the format and I think a basic course would be great as well. It’s amazing how cool effects you can create with a free tool! Keep at it!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you🤎

[@cng7183]

Thank you for the tutorial. Very seamless and effective. Love to see more!

[@SteveWarner]

Fantastic video. Thanks for posting. This really showcases Blender's ability to handle realistic VFX.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@Ben_CY123]

One of the best tutorial for blender vfx I see, thank you!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you!

[@omardraws]

So glad i stumbled upon your channel! The information here is golden!

[@kirederf7862]

Had the idea for a scene like this, but I didn't know how to execute it. Decided to go on YT to look up a tutorial and no kidding this showed up at my recommended. Great tutorial.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Hahaha life has its ways!

[@TraitorFelon.14.3]

All you have to do is leaving your Android based smartphone on the table and then talk to yourself about what you need to find. A couple of days later….. links, ads and suggested videos pop up all over the place. I talked to a friend about a certain author. Never mentioned her before. My friend actually introduced me to her name. Friend has an Android phone. She was using my WiFi. Next day I started getting ads and suggestions for this obsvåcure author. Coincidence? Hell no.

[@nevillebossilo7088]

So much informations I've got from your destructions tutorials. Thanks for the sharing.

[@dat.guy_nitin5]

Probably one of the greatest tutorial on ground breaking in Blender ABsolutely loved it

[@ebnevaght]

You can't imagine how many times I watched this tutorial. it's so good. thank you so much!

[@sander-wit]

Great technique and well explained. Thanks for the interesting tutorial!

[@badsitvfx652]

Might be the best destruction video for Blender I've seen, nice

[@AlbinThorburn]

That means a lot! Thank you :D

[@AnecProductions]

What an amazing find this is super educational and helpful thank you for making this!! Subbed looking forward to your future projects

[@AlbinThorburn]

Great to hear!

[@MotionLive]

A tutorial of a rare quality. Excellent job !

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@MotionLive]

@@AlbinThorburn :)

[@seifermations2482]

i was searching this type of tutorial for a while and thankfully here are you.

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's great to hear! What kind of videos would you like to see next?

[@seifermations2482]

@@AlbinThorburn that's your decision if you think it's good, it will be good.

[@Rokinso]

Thank you for this useful tutorial with great result!

[@zebus3d]

With RBDLab addon makes it much easier!!

[@jumps1156]

this is realistic enough to destroy my pc

[@AlbinThorburn]

xD

[@spittingame4241]

Love this video. My man got straight to the point 👍🏿💯🔥

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :D

[@taishi00]

Thank you for the great tutorial! So beautiful! I want to see more of your destruction tutorials😁

[@AlbinThorburn]

I'm working on a new one right now, took a little longer than I expected but I'll probably be done tomorrow :D

[@taishi00]

@@AlbinThorburn I am really looking forward to that!! 😍

[@DawkinsDog]

Superb tutorial and a great end result, I've played about with fracture etc but this tutorial shows techniques I've not seen mentioned before. Ideal for those, like me, who can't afford RBD Labs' addon.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Great to hear! I'm thinking about making a script that will automate most of the steps in this tutorial and provide it for free so everyone can use it. I'm all for making tools available for no-budget filmmakers!

[@ViensVite]

@@AlbinThorburn i'm waiting for it so haaard mate

[@AlbinThorburn]

@@ViensVite Shoot me an email on [e-mail] and I'll give it to ya :)

[@isaacdiaz5793]

So great tutorial! Thank you very much!

[@Difreo]

Simulations in blender are still wonky and i always struggle with them. Good to see that someone got that good looking results :)

[@alexisflores8421]

This is amazing!!!, thanks a lot for the tuto my friend.

[@AlbinThorburn]

You're welcome friend! Happy to help

[@sevenmaggots]

this is going to be my first thing in the morning tomorrow. amazing!!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Fantastic! No better way to start the day than with some destruction simulations!

[@gergeux]

That's some quality stuff, man! New subscriber here.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Welcome to the channel!

[@fratermunky4336]

Wow gr8 job!! I'm so excited to learn blender, seeing what someone can do with it like this motivates me even more. i havent been using it long but imma dedicate and get gud. Thanks for the info!!!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Great to hear! Keep using it and you'll get better quickly.

[@notwazih]

i love you sm man, thank you for teaching all these to us for free. This is literally so amazing

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks man, that means a lot to hear. :)

[@sageage]

Thank you for sharing this amazing video! 😁

[@user-zs4iv3vf5m]

very nice effect and great tutorial!

[@albioncrescent9339]

Wonderful! AWESOME! Thanks to you, I was inspired.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Hey! That's amazing!

[@BlenderBob]

Awesome tutorial! Thanks! Subscribed!

[@flloyd3304]

First, awesome content, some high quality results too (for Blender standards!). Since you asked for some criticism, here it goes. - Take a bit more time for crucial (or easy to miss) details in your process, this way it gets taken in better by the viewer - as for some people this might be quite advanced. - To add to the point above, explain thought processes and reason actions. This way the viewer / pupil can better apply the techniques in their own projects. - Take your time - in general, when teaching or explaining, we're not in any rush. Everyone is able to skip parts or chapters if they so desire. - Try to level-out your track using a compressor (for example) for more even sound levels throughout the whole video. Keep up the great work! I'll definitely check out your next video!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Whoah, that is some really good advise! I'm writing this on a post it to have when making tutorials in the future. I appreciate it so much that you took the time to give me some feedback, I'll try to put it to good use! Big thanks, and welcome to the channel!

[@flloyd3304]

@@AlbinThorburn No biggie at all. I'll keep an eye out for the next one!

[@kashOptix]

my thoughts as well... great work no doubt & I loved the results, but for some lesser experienced users some of the details/reasons/methods are left unmentioned & I think it would really help get a better understanding overall but I think you're doing great!

[@gabrielmeilikhov6211]

This was incredibly helpful, thanks for the great tutorial!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@videokidd728]

the overview is epic in the beginning perfectt

Thank you so much for this great tutorial! Keep it up man!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@CarlosGarcia-hf3ld]

wow, i did not know it was possible to use a baked sim in another project! thats huge!! thanks a lot for the great video!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Right?! It's super usefull. It feels a bit like cheating but if it looks good... Go for it! :D

[@weeliano]

Excellent work! Visuals looked great. What's left I think is to add more shattering sound effects of the shards breaking. Perhaps breaking tile pieces sound effects will really round up the effect! Fantastic job! Subscribed!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you for the advise, I'll give the sound design a bit more love on the next one :D

[@stuartyounger5801]

Awesome simulation. 👍

[@ahuriG]

Very cool and well explained!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you! Glad you liked it

[@debyaouibilel2289]

Best blender destruction video

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's very kind of you :D

[@pics3d]

Amazing!!!! you and your machine is powerful!!!

[@besthorrorshorts9058]

Amazing work would love to see a building destruction tutorial from you. You just got a new sub from me and my blender friends!

[@AlbinThorburn]

That's awesome, thanks for sharing it with your friends! I'm actually working on a wall destruction video right now. A building is just 4 walls am I right? ;D

[@besthorrorshorts9058]

@@AlbinThorburn Yep it would be really helpful thanks for the input. keep it up!

[@Alopin]

your video is whole another level.. Many Thanks!!!!

[@VORONETIC]

Wow nice , it give me some idea. Love this one.

[@loubakalouba]

Thank you, great work and tutorial!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks a lot!

[@cschbck]

i ve learned so much! thanks man, this tutorial is incredible.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you! Glad you found it usefull

[@the_pointpusher]

Instant subscribe. Thanks for sharing this.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks a lot! Really helps the channel.

[@abdallhmohamed6442]

ok i think this is the best tutorial i have ever seen thank you for this

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you!!

[@gfxess]

Amazing workflow.

[@stolkshinski]

Awesome tutorial!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Happy to help! :D

[@scottlee38]

Appreciate the destruction tutorials!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you like them! More coming

[@s4nd0r]

Wow. Amazing. This is great!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@dimon_x_proz5123]

Thank you bro, this is insane !

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@alekjwrgnwekfgn]

👏 bravo 👏 more. It would be mental to see you working with geometry nodes too- eventually. Maybe you could look at doing this in a UPBGE build with some interaction logic. I think a channel that specialised in that would be real big.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Yes! Geometry nodes would be awesome, I should try to learn some. Thanks for the advise.

[@davidengle6065]

Thats amazing work man wow 😮

[@rarepepe-]

Awesome tutorial

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks!

[@Edifieth]

This was so fun to learn!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Nice!

[@jameslee9639]

Finally! A free high quality simulation tutorial! Vfx ready

[@AlbinThorburn]

And more to come... :)

[@jameslee9639]

@@AlbinThorburn Exciting! You're a blessing. I have an upcoming capstone project in college and this is definitle gonna take it to next level

[@AlbinThorburn]

@@jameslee9639 Happy to help!

[@addepadde6373]

btw if you want the simulation to start later on in the scene you can keyframe the cells to go from dynamic to animated👍

[@Mr_Djep]

just want to say Thanks so much !

[@idathorburn6726]

I've told you for months, great work! //Hugo

[@AlbinThorburn]

Haha true true

[@xtypiseme]

Very cool! Please make more of these tutorials!

[@AlbinThorburn]

I am already working on a similar one! Probably out the week ;)

[@xtypiseme]

@@AlbinThorburn Perfect, thanks!

[@HanSolocambo]

A lot of very useful info in there. Excellent tutorias.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks!

[@S9universe]

quality content, definitly

[@Madlykeanu]

what addon lets you import a premade armature?

[@AlbinThorburn]

Riggify addon, it's native with blender

[@joseterran]

great stuff!!

[@bigdaddyproduction7266]

whooooo next one to follow ;)

[@R3DBLAZE]

The key frame thing was a life saver!!

[@AlbinThorburn]

I know right! :D

[@AOE2Z]

cool stuff bro , very nice

[@Logan_wlt]

Woaw the Best tuto of KZbin 🤯

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you :D

[@tasmaniandaemon]

i dont know what is blender but that effect looks really good

[@CorvoCG]

Awesome tutorial.You deserve a like and a sub.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you :D

[@TheoPantazi]

Incredible work, thanks for sharing 🙏

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it!

[@TheoPantazi]

@@AlbinThorburn it's well deserved! I've also been catching up on some of your other videos too. Great stuff!

[@breezstudio9630]

Cool! great tutorial!

[@Constenn1]

Thank You!

[@5amJones]

Nice work, thanks

[@boriscross9997]

Great work!

[@sidalizaafoune8743]

Soo cool.... thank you so much 💘

[@AlbinThorburn]

You're welcome! :D

[@kyle-rr4uh]

I was totally blown away by this tutorial and following along nicely until 6 minutes in (repeating the process) where you sped it up, even after watching it on the slowest speed I still can't figure out exactly what's happening. I know its a repetition of the previous steps but I've been doing this over some days and can't seem to get passed this step.Will keep trying but thanks for a very interesting tut

[@AlbinThorburn]

That must be very frustrating! Let me know what step you got stuck on, and I'll see if I can help.

[@kyle-rr4uh]

​@@AlbinThorburn Thanks for the reply. I made some progress but not great. At 6 minutes in when you say adding the concrete requires repeating the process at the beginning, but I'm not sure if I should add another object to use as a collider (for the concrete) and where does it go? I've noticed all my pieces react from the moment I push play, could that be because my collider shape isn't holding the pieces properly? After tweaking the shape of the collision object I get varied results. But when adding the concrete I tried placing a collision object above everything and animating it ahead of the sphere. it works better than I did before but nothing like your result. Apologies for the long answer but how do you have the pieces stay in place until the sphere (or other moving objects) are near it?

[@kyle-rr4uh]

Trying to link a screenshot here to show you but at one stage I got it to work but the pieces at the end of the animation were popping out of place, some pieces in the middle were popping out and then the ones reacting to the sphere were reacting correctly.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Ok! The way I did it was I removed the collision object after baking the dirt layer. Baking the simulation to keyframes will remove the rigid body modifier, so ad in new ones just like you did before. Only this time, set all the dirt blocks to 'animated" in the physics tab. This will make it so that the concrete layer will interact with the baked dirt layer. If none of that works, you could just simulate the dirt and concrete at the same time, and bake them all at once. This will take some more time though.

[@kyle-rr4uh]

@@AlbinThorburn Dude! You're a legend - that was all it needed, many many thanks!

[@AndresMagnone]

This is definitely the coolest blender tutorial I´ve ever seen. I´m gonna kiss you now.

[@AlbinThorburn]

Bring it in ;)

[@DominikWysocki-ml2he]

god I love this!!

[@wdkpwr6586]

Cool stuff good looking render

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thank you!

[@2010lakshitha]

Thank you much helpful for a beginner like us

[@AlbinThorburn]

Glad you liked it :D

[@valdenm]

Tack för en bra och detaljerad video på hur man spränger mark på det här sättet, finns inte så många på youtube!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Tack! Kul att du gillade den

[@valdenm]

@@AlbinThorburn Det är bra med relativt enkla "genomgångar" som ändå ger ett ganska avancerade resultat, vilket den här videon uppfyller!

[@MadManTnT]

Great tutorial. Thank you!

[@AlbinThorburn]

Thanks!

[@TallyHD]

Awesome! Subbed. More stuff like this please!

[@AlbinThorburn]

I'm working on a wall destruction tutorial right now! Glad to have you as a subscriber and welcome to the channel :D

[@TallyHD]

@@AlbinThorburn Looking forward to that!:)

[@hamidmohamadzade1920]

wonderful tricks