Giving Deathwing a realistic smoke trail with EmberGen

This video is sponsored by JangaFX🔥I recreated Deathwing's fire and smoke trail using EmberGen, the real-time smoke simulation tool! Try it today: jangafx.com/try
Resources used:
Blender: blender.org/download
EmberGen: jangafx.com/software/embergen/
HDRI from PolyHaven: polyhaven.com/a/evening_road_...
Music from Artlist, PremiumBeat, KZbin Audio Library and WoW Cataclysm login screen

[@OS3KI]

not making the wings flap was a missed opportunity, but it still looks fire🔥

[@Polyfjord]

100%!! I genuinely tried for soo long to animate the wings flapping, but at some point I just had to give up. One could say I didn't have the strength to fly him out of the uncanny valley!

[@0fenser]

​@@Polyfjord I can feel that! I also tried making a dragon animation before and its not easy as it seems

[@henrychess3]

@@Polyfjord maybe you can make it into another video, or if it's too hard, a series of multiple videos

[@FergusAnimation]

@@Polyfjord I can animate something for you and send it back if you like :)

[@OS3KI]

@@Polyfjord honestly fair enough, i suppose you 'winged it' with the gliding option

[@essamalghamdi4720]

1:00 scared the shit out of me i thought my mouse broke

[@Polyfjord]

I definitely fooled myself a few times editing this too!

[@petterlarsson7257]

DUDE SAME

[@somebody251]

yeah 😂😂

[@Kanoog]

Too many people are stoned these days.

[@petterlarsson7257]

@@Kanoog ???

[@thewaysh]

Taylor Swift flying to her next concert 12:11

[@Salen0243]

lol 🤣

[@NyQuil_Drinker]

naw that's crazy

[@Habeebea]

😂😂😂

[@Kanoog]

How does that name appear in everything?....

[@GimmeCookiz]

5:31 "Even the tongue is rigged" _alowlwolwlo_

[@blumpus8150]

Rero rero rero

[@trym3btch713]

cracked me up

[@Novasjadeshadow]

I DIED 🤣

[@qpSubZeroqp]

That got me so good! Lol

[@TheTheorizingFrog]

these animations make real life look like 8-bit rendering💀

[@KeplarDesign]

Yea

[@MrSongib]

Did you realize the smoke and flame look and feel "small"? if not, then go do some "real life" adventure more.

[@Dielma]

@@MrSongib is there a quest that starts this real life adventure mode?

[@lopsidedpolygon]

@@Dielma Join EOD in the Army.

[@Golden_SnowFlake]

It's badass that they decided that this task was worth sponsorship, those dudes are definitely the nerdy type!

[@azure5584]

They knew what they were doing, I mean incoming Asmongold reaction and massive exposure for their software 🐢

[@LetMeXplain]

Wow, it's hard to wrap my head around the physics simulation. The fact that you can preview it in real-time is just mind-blowing!

[@Polyfjord]

Agreed!!

[@ruimahe]

9:00 You can just hear his rig screaming in agony haha

[@scpWyatt]

The final two shots of Deathwing flying over Stormwind are jaw-dropping.

[@franktothemax]

Polyfjord-this one hit levels of nostalgia that I didn’t even know existed. The curve, the lols.. this is a masterclass of content creation. Thank you for this 🙏🏻

[@Polyfjord]

Appreciate it my friend ❤️

[@LordDonnington725]

The added vortices really drives home the realism which makes it way cooler. Beautiful touch

[@newrockboy1553]

I’ve been wanting to create more advanced sims with ember-gen, but I hit a dead end with my creativity. This video sparked my creativity again. 🙏Thank you!

[@DerekElliott]

Oh man now I gotta log into my old wow account

[@Polyfjord]

Nothing hits like nostalgia!!

[@janbertus]

Your skill level is INSANE, honestly you´re a awesome! Everytime I watch one of your videos my mind is blown :D great work!

[@Nulley0]

Just imagining the amount of fuel used to produce the amount of smoke is humbling.

[@soldeera]

embergen is just magic, being able to do real time simulations with such quality is insane

[@dariussutherland1]

Just wanted to saay. I got into Blender during Covid for a bit, had a break for 3 years and picking it up again and feel confident following your tuts. You were the reason I found Blender. No idea how, I just came aross some of your amazing work. Sound,Animation,Modelling,Tutorials. All amazing and thank you for creating the inspirational stuff you do.

[@HomAxz]

still one of my favorite shot cines. wow has been one of the reasons I got into CG, and seeing this now here is insane! great video

[@Polyfjord]

Yeah me too! I think their cinematics has shaped a generation of 3D artists

[@erksp7961]

Dude, I love how you love doing this stuff!

[@hawkeyejo9609]

Love that you can hear the fan's spool in the background when he's working in ember.

[@kunibertrandolf1886]

Ember Gen is so insanely cool and capable of the things ot does, it is mind boggling. I am currently working on my job expanding to animation and 3D simulation (I am currently a creative writer) via all the things I learned in the past 2 years from channels like you, and then I will finally be able to experiment around with the full version of the entire JangaFX roster via the work subscription. Truly, thank you very very much for all the work you put into your videos and the level and quality of explanation you give. It literally helped me change my life towards more and more creativity. Next stop - my own game (in another few years).

[@Polyfjord]

What an amazing comment my friend!!! I wish you the best of luck!!!

[@shmuelrosenbluth9741]

11:57 this shot is beautiful. Looks likes something straight out the house of dragon series.

[@txma.]

This makes me want a ton of How to Train Your Dragon sequences, specifically involving the Monstrous Nightmare (I think this simulation would make that dragon pop immensely) and then unrelated to EmberFX, I'd love to see some electricity sims/anims with Toothless

[@vel5063]

Deathwing has as much carbon footprint as Taylor swift

[@AgeOfTheJoshua]

Amazing video man, I reaaaally have to try all the jangafx stuff WOW! Thank you for the video !

[@manmeetsinghkhanijo7249]

Polyfjord just changing the blender community dynamics with his unique incredible ideas Love you poly ❤❤

[@bengutierrez9074]

This video is so inspiring. Thank you for what you do

[@CrimsonPhoenix.]

Wow! This video was so interesting and i wish i knew how to do what this guy does and play around with adding ember gen to weapons to give new affects! The deathwing model w/ effects is EPIC!

[@pZq_]

like that though process and all discoveries through it. thx for sharing 🧡

[@robna1168]

Holy smokes 11:56 that is probably the most badd ass anything I've ever seen of a dragon ever even compared to movies, that gives that sense of force of power, it reminds me the scene of the balrog on the bridge

[@nadimmahamud1856]

Thank you so much for awesome ideas and thanks embergen

[@kingghidorah8106]

embergen is such a phenomenal piece of shoftware. We getting liquigen soon and i'm hyped.

[@suspiciousanimations8357]

tbh i didint expect this video, and its amazing

[@homborgor]

Never knew I wanted to play wow with one of my favorite KZbinrs

[@turionb1408]

awesome skill and amazing result

[@germansausage7310]

I love that the Best WoW related stuff is not from everyone but Blizzard Nowadays

[@mnfhh]

I got very excited if I see something like this in the game

[@monstaguru1442]

The heroes of the storm model feels so much smoother... blizzard missed so much opportunity when they finally released deathwing. This made my day to see and so refreshing ❤

[@zachmartin3347]

That smoke is insane, the fire is aight.

[@samwood3691]

That was flipping amazing!

[@artandgrow9240]

Okay I recognized DW but I spit out my coffee when you mentioned HoTs, I have fond memories of playing that game with my siblings and it’s so cool to hear it brought up by my favorite Blender artist 🥹

[@GoldAnthroWolf]

Wow.. (no pun intended) This is absolutely amazing, that you can do this sort of thing EVEN better then the original, becuase of advancements in technology! I've played WoW since it came out in 2004, and I remember I was in AWE when the original intro scene was done, and played. It was mind blowing, considering what was considered 'normal' at the time. I remember reading that it took an entire render farm months to compile that scene, and it's barely 5 minutes long. Now, a single computer can utterly trash that time, what a time to be alive!

[@nightwing367]

Jetwing be looking nice today!

[@loljoshyboylol]

that turned out amazing

[@vingroenewegen5781]

love the editing in this video

[@27nes46]

So cool .. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the new aesthetics of the DUNE movies

[@Smirnoff67]

Absolutely cool and nice work ! I used to tinker some 3D animation stuff like 10-14 years ago on WoW, and i'm amazed at how it's easy to extract and animate stuff now compared to the old day ( you had to rig everything yourself back in the day ), and it took literaly hours to render it. Cuda wasn't really something, and it was a pain even with a gtx980 lol. What you can try is to model and animate is the wake of Sindragosa by the Lich King, like in the WOTLK trailer !

[@xXScalesOfSolaceXx]

The final product almost looks like actual found footage of the Cataclysm. Good job on it!

[@rapheboutte8206]

dude you gotta do more video game cinematic stuff! This was amazing!!

[@eastjavaID]

Wow, this is awesome

[@SugarBomb69.]

Oh my god...! So good!

[@Adumperson1]

when I tried to make this on my old laptop, it was so good that I could even smell the fire!

[@DenimPirate]

6:54 "Let's FIRE up EmberGen" I see what you did there 😁

[@Nerdforge]

WOW this is amazing

[@Polyfjord]

Thanks guys!!! Keep up the awesome work 🔥🔥

[@sirgarffington8572]

Deathwing in your finished render was giving me major Valstrax vibes from Monster Hunter

[@DemonKez]

pretty cool video. wish i learned something like this xD

[@MrLieka]

I'm a HOTS player and you just blew my mind dude wtf 🧡 I think the fire parts should have some noise variation so it doesnt look like too uniform

[@williansilva4150]

Just amazing!!!

[@LolmenTV]

OMG! I have goosebumps on this scene 12:23 This is really a masterpiece! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@POLY__3D]

Yeah a new video! Your great work always teaches me something new, keep up the good work and thank you

[@iakan6937]

I think having the wings flap a couple times and increasing the wind movements could have brought this up a level. Still looks sick even if it does look kinda stationary

[@AnishMurthy1297]

I love the sense of megalophobia that seeing Deathwing fly overhead gives in your animation. Like your world is being eclipsed by this cataclysm level monster.

[@Kay8B]

Flapping wings is what makes the original trailer look insane, hopefully you can attempt it in the future.

[@Muziek37414]

THIS LOOKS SO EPICCC

[@jonwebb7042]

amazing job

[@Thor_Asgard_]

Damn EmberGen does look amazing. They need to get this kind of fluid simulation into Unreal5, especially for water, as UE has good fluid sim for volumetric effects allready.

[@widt94]

Dang this looks awesome, would love to see what you can render from Helldivers 2 they have quite a few explosions :)

[@manan3655]

THE EYES!!!!! they are literal fire

[@8bitbunnie936]

I love how you can hear Poly's PC fans trying so hard to cool down his pc

[@brendanquinn6819]

totally fantastic. unqualified opinion. wings flapping and the fire surging with it woulda been wild

[@Kurt634]

This was so cool and inspiring to watch. You make some of the best interesting Blender videos 🫶💛

[@milowpawlow]

Amazing!!!

[@TheNitroG1]

I know most animators for dragons use bats as reference, maybe you could find a bat wing flap animation and apply it, exaggerate the movements out a bit, slowing at all the points where direction changes to increase the weight of the animation. I think it would be amazing to have a really dynamic shot like the original where you include the wind vortex as deathwing spreads out into a glide after flapping to get over a mountain. It would also be cool to see death wing perched on an actively exploding volcano, before roaring and taking flight. Also the movie Reign of Fire has some fantastic dragon animation reference, specifically you could look at the fight near the end. If you search "reign of fire run like the wind" you will find the scene I'm talking about but there is an excellent shot of the dragon with a bunch of smoke all over it flapping it way towards camera, some other great shots of the dragon flying around in that scene too.

[@DeLiVeR4nc3]

Embergen is definitely a game changer, waiting for the day they officially release liquigen. Would love to see you cover more WoW videos, I tried recreating one of the Warcraft3 trailers and it nearly cooked my laptop.

[@KRLYProductions]

Stunning.

[@skyhighproductions6320]

This is very cool. You asked for suggestions, I think a werewolf transformation would be cool. Also I know you have already done a transformation but a full vehicle transformation would be very nice, I think there are transformer games.

[@niklaspetersen]

Amazing!!!!!

[@KEVS-DK]

Amazing and powerfull.! I love how you jump from one world too and other :) I cant help thinking how cool it would be, to see you dive into The Matrix univers. :D

[@Xan3D]

Wow this video is so cool and creative! As an old ex-player of World of Warcraft, I just love it! Also, it's funny because after Cataclysm is when I stopped to play on it, so I'm of one of this people 11:28 😂 I think I should give a try to this software, it looks incredible!

[@OrionLaerithryn]

Very cool!!!

[@ZergYinYang]

Really great work! Would have loved some more wing flapping though ;)

[@user-jt6dp1rb6e]

Something with Star Trek would be cool

[@jay_utopia2651]

You should do something Star Wars related. I always love seeing epic lightsaber and blaster battles, especially when there's smoke or fog involved.

[@Polyfjord]

Nice!! Good idea

[@citriccanine544]

5:33 best moment, we need polyfjord out of context

[@user-te7we6xw6h]

I,m watching you from Egypt you are the best ❤

[@anzaklaynimation]

Infinite supply of gasoline to the wings of the dragon.

[@dbcontre]

SO COOL!

[@sunnymoon8161]

11:56, I really love this scene. The colors just work perfectly with eachother and the subtle lighting coming from the dragon make such a cool effect! Please take inspiration from Subnautica. Really loved the mechanical squid video!

[@Drack093]

Absolutely incredible job, my only gripe is that the fire from his wings look a bit like the wings are spewing out fire, like a fire breath, as opposed to being on fire which was what the original seemed like. I may be wrong there, but something I definitely noticed.

[@VenusaurForest]

Valstrax, the amazing rocket dragon!

[@drpzor]

If you like deathwing, you would definitely love working with some Darksiders assets for sure ^^

[@ScientObject40]

You're the GOAT.

[@skyr3ssaep]

so inspiring.

[@herbertherbertson2670]

the HOTS model looks so goofy standing, but how you made it fly... dayum

[@ambuknight1567]

Genasi using that software for each elemantal hair /body effects would be really cool to see

[@dovahfeyn4303]

Yeah, my friend who introduced me to HotS is a deathwing main, and he only referred to him as “the big death kitty” because he thought deathwing moved like an angry cat XD

[@Cleosz]

This is insaaaaane

[@qsplays2362]

I have no idea what you did or how you did it but boy was it fun to watch

[@wuzzyboy]

love the effect! I would say to make it more realistic (atleast what I noticed in the original cinematic) there would need to be a deep red/orange tone in the smoke, more movement in the flames (from my perspective it is too 'smooth' to be an actual fire), and to tweak the colors to closer match the environments (mainly the gilneas scene), also overexposing the hottest part of the flame would work well since at the exposure of your scenes (other than the dark scene) is too high for fire to be exposed correctly. This is also some of my personal preference too though. But it is looking incredible for a first recreation of the effect, I'll definitely be having a look at potential testing around with embergen because of this!

[@Whiteleon13]

epic dude!