Turbulent Star Animation in Blender

Today we’ll be making a turbulent star animation. I’ll be using the 2.81 version of Blender. In particular, we’ll be making use of the following tools and techniques :

• metaballs
• musgrave texture
• texture coordinate node
• mapping node
• separate
• particle system
• data users
• insert a single keyframe
• reset camera rotation and position
• clip end

This is an image from the animation:

And here are the steps:

Step 1 – Add a Metaball and a UV Sphere

Delete the default cube and save the file.

Go to front view.

Add a metaball → Ball and move it aside: G X 50

Add a UV sphere and scale it: S 25

Add a subdivision surface modifier, set subdivisions to 2 and apply.

Shade the sphere smooth.

Add an emission material to the sphere: color: hex FFCD48, strength: 2

Rename the material ‘star’.

Add the same material to the metaball.

Set the world color to black.

Step 2 – Add Texture

Select the sphere.

Go to Shading workspace.

Duplicate the Emission node and set the color to hex FFB718 in the duplicate.

Add a Mix Shader and connect the two emission shaders to its Shader inputs.

Add a Musgrave Texture node and connect it to the Fac of the Mix Shader. Set scale to 80, detail to 5.

Add Texture Coordinate node and Mapping node.

Step 3 – Separate the First Spot

Go to the Layout workspace.

Select the sphere.

Go to edit mode.

Select 4 faces in the upper left part in front view.

Separate the selected faces: Mesh → Separate → Selection

Rename the new separated object ‘spot1’ in the Outliner.

Step 4 – Separate the Second Spot

Select the sphere.

Select 4 faces in the upper right part, closer to the equator and separate them too. Rename the object ‘spot2’.

Step 5 – Set the End Frame

In the timeline set the end frame to 480, which will correspond to 20 seconds at 24 fps.

Step 6 – Add Particle System to Spot 1

Go to object mode.

Select spot1.

Add a particle system:

Number: 500

Start frame: 50

Frame End: 300

Lifetime: 200

Field Weights:

– gravity: 0

Velocity:

– normal: 2

Physics:

Physics Type: Fluid

Render:

– Render As: Object

– Scale: 0.3

– Scale Randomness: 0.4 – Object: MBall

Play the animation.

Step 7 – Add Particle System to Spot 2

Select spot 2.

Add a particle system.

Select ParticleSettings in the drop down list. This way you will have the same particle settings as for spot1 and you won’t have to set them from scratch.

However, we want to tweak the settings a bit. If we do that, they will also change for spot1. So, we need a copy of the first particle system. Next to the name of the particle system there’s a little button with the number 2. The number is the number of users of this data. There are two: spot1 and spot2. Click the button to make a single user copy. The name now has changed and the modifications that you apply to this particle system will not affect the other particle system.

Step 8 – Tweak the Second Particle System

Make the following changes in the second particle system:

Number: 1000

Start frame: 150

Frame End: 450

Lifetime: 300

Velocity:

– normal: 4

All other settings should remain unchanged.

Step 9 – Copy the Material

Select the metaball.

Make a copy of the star material by clicking on the button with the number of users of this data. Rename it ‘flame’.

Step 10 – Tweak the Shader Settings

Go to the Shading workspace.

In the Musgrave Texture node change the scale to 2.

In both Emission nodes change Strength to 4.

Duplicate one of the emission shaders and a mix shader.

In the new emission shader set color to hex FF1210.

Set Fac in the new Mix Shader to 0.7.

Step 11 – Insert a Rotation Keyframe

Select the star.

Split the Shader Editor and set the lower editor to Timeline.

Go to frame 1.

In the Mapping node, insert a single keyframe over Rotation Z.

Step 12 – Insert Another Rotation Keyframe

Go to the last frame.

Set Rotation Z to 10 degrees and insert a single keyframe over it.

Step 13 – Set the Camera

Go to the Layout workspace.

Select the camera and reset its rotation and position: Alt+R and then Alt+G

Rotate the camera on the X axis: R X 90

Move the camera: G Y 150

Go to camera view. Now you can’t see the star. This is because it’s too far away from the camera. You moved it 150 units away and everything that is farther than 100 units gets clipped. In order to change this, go to the Object Data tab and under Lens set Clip End to 300.

Step 14 – Move the Metaball

Go to camera view.

Now, if the metaball is seen by the camera, move it out of its scope.

Step 15 – Get Ready to Render

In the Render tab check Bloom.

In the Output tab select a folder for the video.

Set file format to FFmpeg and encoding to MPEG4.

Make a test render: Render -> Render Image

Step 16 – Render the Star Animation.

Render the animation: Render -> Render Animation