Stock Explosions, Fire, Smoke, Particles and More - ActionVFX Review

Great way to create indie-budget action effects

Explosion elements are a great way to create indie-budget action effects. There’s no need to blow up your backyard! These explosion elements can be dragged into any video project to create a realistic VFX sequence. Let’s take a look at a few of the best places to find explosion elements and discuss how to integrate them into your work.

ActionVFX Stock Explosions Curation Index

Stock footage from ActionVFX

ActionVFX is the largest library of VFX Stock Footage in the world. The company, which was funded on Kickstarter, launched in 2016 with the mission to supply the professional VFX and Film industry with high-quality VFX elements.

The company creates products based on feedback from the visual effects community, and lowering their prices has been the most common request among the hundreds of surveyed users since their launch.

Learn how to work with VFX stock footage from the people who make it

ActionVFX offers high-quality 4K VFX stock footage from one of the largest libraries in the world. But the company doesn't just sell stock VFX, it also aims to teach you how to use them like a professional VFX artist. With the launch of its new educational series, "Stock Footage 101," ActionVFX addresses some of the most burning questions from its users about working with VFX stock footage, and the first episode is already available to view.

If you're one of the many filmmakers or VFX artists who have wanted to learn how to properly key out a black or white background from a stock footage clip but found that most tutorials default to explaining only Blending Modes, then you'll want to check out the tutorial below. In it, ActionVFX CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis goes beyond Blending Modes to demonstrate several other approaches.

ActionVFX is providing users with a free download of all of the clips used in the video, which includes three HD VFX elements at 60fps, as well as one background plate that you can use to follow along with the tutorial—or even use in your own projects. Clicking this link will automatically download the .zip file.

If you're interested in a more advanced lesson on how to use VFX stock footage, Pierre-Louis demonstrates an in-depth process of applying multiple VFX assets to a composition to show you "how to burn a house down." He goes over tracking, applying assets, 3D layers, pairing with nulls, and more. If you already have the ActionVFX Structure Fire collection, you can follow along with the tutorial. If not, you can check it out here.

There are plenty of companies offering VFX stock footage, but ActionVFX is unique in that it goes the extra mile to teach you how to use the assets once you've got them. Go to the site to view its extensive library, and check out more tutorials from "Stock Footage 101" on the ActionVFX YouTube channel.

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