Creating League Of Legends-Inspired Explosion VFX With UE5

Introduction

Hello! My name is Laura. I've always loved video games, movies, and art. One day, I had the opportunity to learn VFX. I knew nothing about what it even was, but after trying it, I was immediately drawn to both its artistic and technical aspects, especially the problem-solving involved. What fascinated me most was the ability to create magic on screen, bringing visuals to life in a way that felt almost limitless.

To develop my skills, I trained with mentors and later had the opportunity to work on Mythics Champions, a fighting game. I spent a year there, learning a great deal and gaining hands-on experience. It was an exciting challenge that allowed me to grow both creatively and technically.

Starting the Explosion VFX

I wanted to showcase everything I had learned over time in my portfolio, so I decided to create an explosion. I used TFT Jinx's Boom as a reference for timing and took inspiration from Major Arcana in League of Legends for the theme.

So following the reference, I knew my effect would be divided into four parts:

• Build-up
• Launch
• Projectile
• Impact

Next, I searched for additional references that matched the style I wanted to achieve. I created a Pinterest board filled with various images, anything from objects to designs. Since the theme for this project revolved around astrology and tarot, I also explored astronomy and space aesthetics. This process helped me gather ideas for elements to incorporate into the effect and inspired shape and color combinations.

I chose stars as the main shape, not only because they fit the theme but also because I love the look of vintage sparkling effects.

To create contrast, I decided to incorporate round shapes and circles inspired by an armillary sphere. And with that, we have our main shapes.

For the color palette, I chose yellow for the highlights, inspired by the golden objects often associated with astrology and astronomy. Dark purple provided contrast and depth for the low-value elements, while red and orange served as transitional tones to create balance and cohesion. I always keep complementary colors in mind when making choices. In this case, since blue complements yellow, I wanted the darkest shades to be as close to blue as possible while ensuring they remained visually appealing. Then I just picked colors that look good.

Process & Workflow

With my main elements in mind, I begin creating all my Niagara systems in Unreal Engine and placing them in the scene. I start with rough timing, gradually refining the details step by step, but not too much. I play with values, timing, and velocity to create contrasts, ensuring the effect communicates exactly what I intend.

At this stage, since it's a portfolio piece, I like to step away from references and experiment freely. While I have a clear direction, I enjoy exploring new ideas and seeing where they lead. I also seek feedback from other artists, as their perspectives often bring fresh insights. In the end, I refine everything until it feels both visually striking and cohesive.

Technical Part

I used my UberShader for most elements, except for those requiring a Fresnel effect. This main material features tiling & offset, mask, distortion, and dissolve, making it versatile for both particles and trails. You can grasp all the essential basics by exploring The Shader to Rule Them All by Simon Trümpler.

My effect is not particularly tricky or technically complex, but let's break down some of the more interesting aspects:

Build Up

For the buildup, we want to convey energy and magic being summoned by our character. To achieve this, I used shapes moving inward as the "ball of energy" (the star) expands.

To create a flickering effect as the star is growing, I animated its size using a curve.

To create contrast, I spawned a dark star immediately after the main ones disappeared, adding a subtle dissipation effect for extra depth.

The rotating circles are simple deformed 3D meshes made in Blender. They have a panning texture and are animated by scaling their size.

Launch

The goal here is to create a small explosion to launch the projectile. It should be larger than the buildup but smaller than the impact. I used the same elements I already created, but instead of moving inward, the particles expand outward.

To enhance the sense of power, I also added a sprite sheet on the ground for a stylized dust effect.

Projectile

I used a single particle for the main projectile, with ribbons, one for light values and the others for contrast. To draw the eye to the projectile, I used high values to make it shine brightly.

To align the circles with the projectile's trajectory, I set the initial mesh orientation to vector and used Inherit Velocity to move them away from the projectile.

Impact

For this part, I focused on ensuring each step was both visually striking and well-contrasted.

In the beginning, the star animation shrinks from big to small, creating contrast with the other elements, which expand from small to big. I experimented with reversing it, but it didn't have the same impact.

To create the expanding bubble of light, I used 3D meshes with a simple Fresnel material and animated it for a dynamic effect. To create contrast inside the spheres, and fill the space with magic atmosphere, I added simple dark emissive particles.

To seamlessly blend the effect and break the perfectly round shape created by the Fresnel spheres, I added bigger spheres with a stylized panning texture for a dark smoke/dust effect. To mimic the appearance of smoke being lit from within, I used a TwoSidedSign node in the material.

Finally, for the flickering star particles, I followed the ZZZ tutorial by DoubleCats because it looked nice and close to what I wanted to achieve. They are animated using light and dark values, which echoes the use of dark values from the "buildup.'

Conclusion

Overall, when creating an effect, I focus on contrast, communication, timing, and aesthetics. My VFX aren't technically complex, yet they still achieve the desired impact, proving that nice effects don’t have to be complicated.

Laura Legras, VFX Artist

Interview conducted by Amber Rutherford