In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a stylized smoke effect in Blender 4.5 using particle systems, metaballs, and shaders. This effect doesn’t rely on simulations but instead uses particles to create a smooth, customizable smoke trail that can be animated and adjusted for a unique look.
Step 1: Setting up the Project
- Select the default Cube and use X to delete it.
- Make sure you have the Node Wrangler addon activated.
Step 2: Particle Emitter
- Use SHIFT + A to access the Metaball menu and then choose “Ball” from the submenu.
Step 3: Base Smoke Material
- Split the Viewport using the LMB and open the Shader Editor.
- Use the Z-key and switch to Material Preview so you can see the material.
- Create a new Material and name it appropriately.
- Delete the Principled BSDF shader and use SHIFT + A to add a Transparent BSDF Shader, Emission Shader, and Mix Shader.
- Connect the Emission and Transparent nodes to the Mix Shader node. Connect the Mix Shader node to the Material Output node.
- Add a Noise Texture and with the Noise Texture selected, use CTRL + T to add a Texture Coordinate and Mapping node.
- Change the Texture Coordinate from Generated to Object.
- Add a Value node and connect it to the Scale of the Mapping node. Change the Value to 1.
- Select the Noise Texture and use CTRL + SHIFT + LMB to view it.
- Change the Noise Texture Scale to 1, Roughness to zero, and Distortion to 2.
- Add a Mix Color node and connect the Mapping node to the A input.
- Duplicate the Noise Texture node and connect it to the B input of the Mix Color Node.
- Use CTRL + SHIFT + LMB to view the Mix Color node and change the Blending Mode to “Linear Light”.
- Connect the Mix Color node to the Vector of the first Noise Texture.
- Use CTRL + SHIFT + LMB to view the first Noise Texture.
Step 4: Particle System
- Use SHIFT + A to add a UV Sphere to be used as the emitter. Using the S-key, scale it down to about 0.1.
- In the Particles tab, add a new Particle System by using the plus button.
- Under the Render panel, change the “Render As” from Halo to Object. For the “Instance Object”, select the Metaball. Change the Scale to 1.
- Open the Timeline if you don’t already have it open and play the animation.
- Under the Field Weights panel, change the Gravity to zero so the particles will expand rather than fall.
- Under the Emission panel, you can change the Lifetime of the particles. You can also change the End Frame as needed. [80, 250]
- Changing the Frame Start to -80 will give you some warmup frames.
Step 5: Finalize Smoke Material
1. To make the smoke material transparent, select the Metaball, and use SHIFT + A to add a Math node and change the Function to “Greater Than”. [Convertor]
2. Connect the Math node to the Factor of the Mix Shader and connect the Mix Shader to the Material Output.
3. You can also change the color of the Emission Shader to whatever color you want.
4. Add a Fresnel node and use CTRL + SHIFT + LMB to view it. This will add highlights to the material. [input]
5. Add a Math node to the Fresnel and change the Function to “Power”. This will allow you to control the Fresnel node. [1]
6. Make sure to activate the Clamp option to keep the colors between a factor of zero and 1.
7. Use SHIFT + D and duplicate the Math node – changing the Function to Subtract.
8. Add a Color Ramp between the two Math nodes and change the Interpolation to B-Spline.
9. Make sure the Color Ramp is connected to the top Value of the second Math node and the first Math node is connected to the second Value.
10. Moving the White Color Stop will adjust the look of the Fresnel node.
11. Add a Mix Color node and connect it to the Factor of the Mix Shader.
12. Connect the second Math node (Subtract) to the A input and the Greater Than Math node to the B input.
13. Use the Factor of this Mix Color node to further refine the smoke Material.
14. *Make sure the first Noise Texture is connected to the Greater Than Math node.
Step 6: Finalizing the Emitter
1. To improve the look of the smoke emitter, lower the Value of the Value node.
2. Change the Dimensions of the first Noise Texture (the one connected to the Math node) to 4D.
3. To add a Driver to the new Float field, click in the Float field and use #frame/15. You can use whatever number fits your scene.
4. You can also do this for the second Noise Texture – just change the division number.
Creating a stylized smoke effect in Blender 4.5 is a fun and creative process that allows you to create dynamic visuals without relying on complex simulations. Experiment with the values, textures, and particle system settings to unlock even more possibilities for your smoke effects.