How to Create a Lightning Storm

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Add energy and excitement to your scene with natures most dangerous force: Lightning!

Length:
30 minutes
Software:
Blender 2.5 Alpha
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Rate:
VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rating: 4.6/5 (31 votes cast)

During this tutorial you will discover how to:

  • Quickly model a detailed lightning bolt
  • Make an object disintegrate
  • Create light flashes
  • Add glow and glare effects in the compositor

Last week I posted the how to create rain tutorial, and was surprised at the number of comments requesting lightning! I guess they go hand in hand or something?

Anyway, it took me a while to get the technique nailed down, but I think I’ve finally worked out an easy way to create and animate a lightning storm within Blender.

Reference image used: ¡Rayos!

Lightning reference videos:

Do you have any real life lightning stories? A near miss? Post it below! I’d be interested to hear them! :)

Download starter .blend Download finished .blend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Create a Lightning Storm, 4.6 out of 5 based on 31 ratings

About Andrew Price

I like long walks on the beach and yelling out during movies. My cat's name is dog, and my dog's name is cat. I am hilarious. I like Blender.
View all posts by Andrew Price →

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116 Responses to “How to Create a Lightning Storm”

  1. Dave May 9, 2011 at 8:15 am #

    I know this is quite late, but I wanted to add a small suggestion for the modelling of the lightning bolt itself.

    If you only broadly model the path of the bolt, you can add some extra randomness by using “subdivide fractal.” In Blender 2.57, this option is enabled after W->Subdivide, on the option panel to the left. The bolt must be a mesh type, however, but it’s easy enough to convert between a mesh and curve type.

    I hope this can help save a little bit of time.

    Reply
  2. joe May 16, 2011 at 3:21 am #

    hi andrew!!, it is great your tutorial, I would like show me, if it is possible obvious, who do you do the animation of the lights?, for example show and hide the rayos, and switch on and switch off the lights in the cloud, because i don’t know do that it. Thank you, and I going to wait for this tutorial.

    Reply
  3. Marcel June 24, 2011 at 12:24 am #

    This looks great and I wanted to use it in a short film project as an intro. I downloaded the final blend file but I cannot render it properly: the lighting won’t disappear. As soon as it appears it will freeze. I’m using Blender 2.58 Win32. I tried the 2.5 alpha versions with no success, they simply give me a white output. Maybe it’s some render settings that needs to be set, I don’t know. Please help me if you can, it would be a shame if I can’t use this nice thunderstorm.

    Reply
  4. Lembidi July 23, 2011 at 8:07 pm #

    Thank’s Very much men!! comon men just i like see it’s!! wow!! and i creating the Very untsopable character!! thank’s men!! your got a reward!! good job!! so nice you!!

    Reply
  5. giles July 25, 2011 at 6:52 pm #

    when i render something like thisi dont get the images in the file ive chosen whats going wrong?

    Reply
  6. Michael Glen Montague August 6, 2011 at 2:09 am #

    As for how lightning disappears, I think it does fade out, but since some parts of a lightning bolt has more energy than other parts of it, it appears as if it breaking up into pieces. (Just my thought on one of the mysteries of lightning)

    Reply
  7. Sagerfrog August 20, 2011 at 1:53 am #

    Curves through grease pencil?

    Reply
    • mango August 31, 2011 at 12:07 pm #

      that would be cool

      Reply
  8. Blacky September 13, 2011 at 4:48 am #

    I got 2.58b this time baby. I won’t give up again. hee hee

    Reply
  9. bob October 4, 2011 at 10:50 pm #

    hey,um….i cant seem to find the tutorial on how to make the clouds….where would i find it?

    Reply
  10. tarik bagriyanik November 27, 2011 at 4:31 pm #

    here is my simple animation:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWJNTGt0jqI

    Reply
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