This project called for an exciting illustration depicting a fire sprinkler at work. The water is composed of several layers of various dynamic particle types – blobby surfaces, streaks, multipoints, etc.

The smoke and fire layers are stock video footage that is lit and colored in various ways in the compositing stage. They are set up in 3D layers in After Effects both behind and in front of the rendered clip of the fire sprinkler assembly.

Prior to spraying water, the sprinkler’s glass stopper shatters due to the increase in temperature – the shatter was achieved with Maya’s built-in shatter tool, with the resulting shards animated by hand as well as being affected by dynamic fields.