Vectorman has asked this question of me tonight, and since his PM-box was full, I thought it appropriate to post my reply here for all to learn from, and to submit other techniques as well!
Here is his quoted PM question to me:
My reply is below:hey rage, its vec, someone over at another site had asked about the nighcrawler "bamf" effect when he disintegrates and how to do it. I'd remember hearing you say something about figuring it out, and even if not you'd still be the person to ask, i searched the effects forum and i coudln't find a thread on it, so if you had any input i'm sure this guy would appreciate it.
Sure
Ingredients:
-1 plate of the person/object moving.
-1 clean Background plate.
-1 cup of a roto'd sequence of the first plate for maya. (unless it was a green/blue-screen shot already complete with a processed alpha.
-Optional:
A "Locked-off" camera for the shot to work, or some tracking will need to be done to get the plates to match.
...unless they have acess to a motion-control rig in which case, nevermind me
RECIPE:
1. Apply the Roto'd live-action footage to a 2d Fluid container in Maya, and using the alpha info, you can effect the footage directly, and/or emit fluids from that alpha area.
2. Spend some time-consuming hours/days getting the fluidic-"Bamf-like"-animation and shading/color to the fluids.
3. Render out separate plates of the character/object being fluid-ized, and one plate of the fluids being emitted from the alpha area.
4. Play with those plates in a compositor to get a seamless blend/timing of the overall effect
5. Fade that effect away to taste revealing the matched BG plate.
6. Pay us some hefty cash! hehe...
