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Creating a Campfire

This tutorial is from Greg Pugh, owner of www.GPAnimations.com.

 

Kaboom is a powerful plugin that allows you to create particle emitters inside of your Kwik project without code. Today, you’ll build a campfire scene with fire and smoke.

final

First, download the source files: Kaboom_Campfire_START and unzip them to your Desktop. Then open up the Kwik project you just downloaded and you’ll see a background image.

campfire2

Using the Eclipse Tool, draw an oval above the fire wood, which will create a new layer. Rename this layer “fire“.

fireOval

In the Kwik panel, navigate to Layers and Replacements > Particles replacement.

replaceFire

Click “Edit Particles” to create a new particle replacement.

editParticles

Change the color to Orange and enter the following settings into each window of Kaboom:

fireChangeColor

fireSettings2

fireSettings3

fireSettings4

Click “Create” and then publish out your new project.

fireExport1

Pretty nice! Now let’s say that you want to edit your fire, but you don’t want to have to re-publish each time to see the effects. Back in your Kwik Panel, double-click “fire” and then “Edit Particles“. Change the color to Red and the click Preview.

redPreview

Now you can see what it’d look like in red, but without having to commit to changing it for good. Now try changing the fire to Blue, but don’t press “Preview“. Check your Corona Simulator and you’ll see it has automatically updated the preview for you. Each change you make will now automatically show up in real-time, so you can decide if you like the changes or not.

bluePreview

Now, click Cancel in both Kaboom windows to exit without saving the changes. This will keep your fire orange as it was originally.

Using the Eclipse Tool, draw another Oval near where the background shrubs meet the ground. Rename this layer “smoke“.

smokeOval

Just as before, navigate to Layers and Replacements > Particles replacement and Edit Particles. This time you’ll use the color to Black and use the following settings:

smoke1

smoke2

smoke3

smoke4

Click Create and the re-publish your project.

final

Now you’ve just created a campfire with smoke, all without a single line of code!

 

Where to go from here?

Try adding characters that are holding steaming cups of hot chocolate or add some falling rain. Maybe even make the characters appear as if they’re glowing in the light of the fire, the sky is the limit!

Check out my version here.