to the dawn of another year - 1 day VFX

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Happy new year! Got an idea for a 1 day VFX as a fun challenge. The sparkler uses 1 dynamic material and 1 niagara system. The ocean is all material tricks salvaged by depth of field. Hope you like it!

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Hi @woufh welcome back! I really love how the waves are hitting the beach as the song plays in the background, as the sparkler slowly burns down. It’s brief, but it feels very emotional. Great job and Happy New Year!

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Thank you so much!!

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Hello @woufh ! A Happy New Year to you as you return to us here on the forums!

While this was a small showcase of your VFX, I think it was very sweet. If I may ask, how did you keep the light on the sparkler moving and reflecting smoothly? When I’ve tried in the past, it always jitters slightly.

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Happy New Year 2026!

I absolutely love this. <3

10/10

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Thanks a lot for your comment!

For the main light on the sparkler, it’s a simple emissive gradient scrolling along the UVs for the burning highlight, and particle lights for the softer, diffuse light coming from the sparks.

I hope it clarifies a little, but if it doesn’t I made an artstation page with a breakdown of how it works and a timelapse of the entire process, hope it helps!

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Hello again @woufh !

Thank you so much for explaining and the additional breakdown on the ArtStation. Seeing the breakdown really helped me to understand a bit better, so I cannot thank you enough for that!

Keep up the amazing work!