PYROMANIA! - Playing With Fire, is Visual Concept Engineering's first volume of the CD-ROM Movie Effects Studio. Visual Concept Engineering (or VCE for short) has been a leader in producing visual effects for the motion picture industry over the past 16 years. Over 150 motion Pictures including RETURN OF THE JEDI, ROBOCOP, BEETLE JUICE, ADDAMS FAMILY, CLIFFHANGER and most recently NIXON have featured our work.

That expertise is now available for the first time with professionally photographed motion picture visual effects elements filmed especially for the Pyromania CD-ROM.

The images on this CD-ROM are not computer generated effects or computer graphics! The images on this disk were photographed for their "organic" quality and are currently difficult if not impossible to recreate successfully or realistically using computer technology.

The image files on this CD-ROM are not "video-captured". Each image was originally photographed on high speed 35mm motion picture film. The negatives were scanned using a linear array scanner at 2K resolution (2048 pixels wide x 1536 pixels high, 72 dpi) and sampled down to 640 x 480 pixels. All the image files on the CD are 24-bit.

This results in a higher quality image without "video artifacting" or "video quality" as observed in other CD-ROM's utilizing video captured and converted .FLI movies.

Note that the film speed used to capture these segments is not 24 frames per second (fps) as is most standard 35mm film. The film speed during the effects photography sessions was always much higher, as much as 100 fps. After photography, VCE adjusted the frame capture frequency of the original filmed segments to achieve the best and most striking effect. In some cases, the apparent scale of the explosion seems bigger when the recorded playback is slower than the actual recorded explosion. Therefore, when using the segments as rotoscoped effects within video and animation productions, the standard NTSC rate of 30 frames per second is usually appropriate, but can be altered according to your judgement. In any case, there is no one correct playback rate.

PYROMANIA! Volume I Contents

Explosions

Small Explosion
Explosion takes place entirely within frame, shot against black with small fire remaining. Does not include Alpha channel.

Big Explosion
Huge explosion entering from bottom of frame, fills frame, then mushrooms out of frame. Does not include Alpha channel.

ShockWave Explosion
Zero G explosion (gravity independent) with blue shockwave preceeding the blast.

ZeroG* Explosion - Small
Has taken the original frame dimensions (2048 x 1536) and resized them to 640 x 480.

ZeroG* Explosion - Medium
Has taken the original frame dimensions (2048 x 1536) and resampled them to 1024 x 768. The outer dimensions were then clipped to 640 x 480.

ZeroG* Explosion - Large
Has taken the original frame dimensions (2048 x 1536) and has clipped them directly to 640 x 480 giving you a larger size explosion with original 2K resolution.

Flak-1
Zero G Explosion comprised of smoke and sparks. Fades out by the last frame. Does not include Alpha channel.

Flak-2
Zero G Explosion comprised of smoke and sparks. Flak-2 leaves a smoke residue. Does not include Alpha channel. *All three ZG sequences are from the same negative but the size has been adjusted in the sampling of the resolution: ZG files do not include Alpha channels. Return to Top

Fire Wipes

FireWipe #1
Diagonal wipe: Top Left to Bottom Right

FireWipe #2
Diagonal wipe: Bottom Left to Top Right

FireWipe #3
Wipe from Top to Bottom

FireWipe #4
Wipe Out from Center

FireWipe #5
Wipe from Bottom to Top

Each Fire Wipe TGA file has an Alpha channel which provides one side of a wipe transition. Return to Top

Fire

Flame
Single small burning flame, increasing size in progresive frames. Does not include Alpha channel.

Starting Fire
The fire seems to ignite from nowhere. The fire then burns in perspective as if a very flamable material is burning. Does not include Alpha channel.

Bottom Fire
This fire burns the entire bottom half of the screen. The flames jump 3-5Ft high, with a hint of hot smoke pouring off. Does not include Alpha channel.

Billowy Fire
A billowy fire appears from the screen center, as if a match was dropped into a combustable substance. Does not include Alpha channel.

Fire At Camera
The fire blasts at you in a huge fire ball and then drifts out of frame. Does not include Alpha channel.

Pyromania II contains 14, high quality, royalty-free, pyrotechnic effects. Also included on the disc are Pyromania 2 Tutorials, the Video for Windows runtime, and an electronic version of the manual.

The effects on Pyromania 2 are moving sequences, originally photographed by VCE on 35mm Motion Picture Film. Additionally, each effect has been directly sized down from the original 2K high resolution digital film scan. This results in a higher quality image without "video artifacting" or "video quality" as observed in other CD-ROMs utilizing video captured and converted Video for Windows movies.

Best of all, because the images on Pyromania 2 are royalty-free, you now have the unprecedented power to create high quality effects on a desktop computer for use in YOUR movies.

PYROMANIA! Volume II Contents

Explosions

Aerial Explosion
Small explosion takes place entirely within frame, shot against black. Does not include alpha channel.

Firey Explosion
Medium size explosion takes place entirely within frame, shot against black. Does not include alpha channel.

Depth Shockwave
Zero G explosion (gravity independent) with blue shockwave preceding the blast. Perspective has been added to give the impression of depth. Does not include alpha channel.

Blue Shockwave
Similar to depth shockwave except it is twice as long, it's blue and it goes away into the center. Does not include alpha channels.

Spark
A simple enlarged spark fills most of the frame. Does not include alpha channel.

Fire

Bottom Fire Loop
Fire burns on the bottom half of the frame extending from side to side. Does not include alpha channel.

Fire Wipe (ALPHA)
A blast of fire wipes the frame bottom to top. Includes alpha channel.

Full Fire Loop
This is a seamless loop made from the full frame fire file. This file will provide you with and endless loop of a full frame of raging fire. Does not include alpha channel.

Pot Fire Loop
Basically fire burning in a pot. This image was cropped in from a 2k image, and may work best in most instances when reduced in size slightly. Does not include alpha channel.

Fireworks

Fireworks 1
These fireworks are very "soft" and colorful . They do not leave the frame. Does not include alpha channel.

Fireworks 2
These fireworks are very "sharp" and bright. They do leave the frame. Does not include alpha channel.

Sky Rocket
This is a launching skyrocket type of firework. Does not include alpha channel.

Smoke

Smoke Puff 1
A classic mushroom shaped puff of smoke. This is a very large high resolution file ideal for enlargement and multiple placement options. Does not include alpha channel.

Smoke Puff 2
This smoke puff starts at the "camera", and then quickly blows away. Does not include alpha channel.

Smoke Wipe
Smoke wipes the screen from bottom to top. Does not include alpha channel.

Smoke Column Start
This is a column of black smoke starting small and drifting up into position. Use as a starting image to the Smoke Column loop.

Smoke Column
This is a loopable column of black smoke against a white background. Suggested by a game developer to use for planes that have been shot down.

Misc

• Spark 10
• Spark 13