In this tutorial we will create an explosion like the one in the example above, using Studio Max. This will be split into two parts. In part one we will create the fireball, and in part two we will destroy the object.

Create a Sphere Gizmo by clicking Helpers - Atmospheric Apparatus - Sphere Gizmo.

In the example above we gave the sphere a radius of 100.

Create a Fire Effect by first clicking Render - Environment. Click on the Add button and choose Fire Effect. Next, click on the Pick Gizmo button. While it is highlighted in yellow, click on the Sphere Gizmo.

After adjusting the characteristics click the Setup Explosion button. Set the desired start and end time of the explosion. In the example above, the characteristics were left at their default values and the explosion was set to last 30 frames (2 seconds at 15 fps).

All that's left to do is set the resolution and render the animation to a file. This last step will vary depending on the animation's purpose. If we want to load the animation into Flash with a transparent background we need to render the animation to a series of .png images that use alpha channels. For more information see the tutorial How to make a realistic explosion using alpha channels.