For my latest film VFX project at BUas Games, I created an avalanche VFX shot.
I first used PFTrack for camera tracking and photogrammetry, to get a 3D representation of the scene. I could use this geometry as a collider and shadow catcher in Houdini, and for projections in Nuke.
The simulation is split in three different parts in Houdini. I used the MPM solver for the chunks of snow, the Axiom (pyro) solver for the finer puffs of snow dust, and the POP solver for some smaller finer particle details. I then rendered all of this using volume shaders in Karma XPU.
Finally, I composited the render and background footage together using Nuke. Properly blending them together turned out to be quite a challenge, but I am happy with the results.
Link to plate: https://www.pexels.com/video/an-aerial-footage-of-a-snow-capped-mountain-7646836/