Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm brings the darkness of a storm and its lightning into your scene. Tall, ragged curtains of storm murk lean with the wind and drift slowly through the object's volume, and every so often lightning flashes inside them, lighting the curtains near the strike and every object in the scene. It has no rain of its own, so you add exactly the rain you want.

How it works

Flashes arrive at random intervals around the rate you set, never on a regular beat. Each flash is two to five quick strokes a fraction of a second apart, with a sharp attack and a fast fade: the flicker that makes lightning read as lightning. A real light is placed at each strike, so the objects in the scene flash with it. The bolt itself is not drawn; for a visible bolt use the Lightning effect.

Settings

• Flash Rate: lightning flashes per minute.
• Flash Intensity and Flash Color: how bright the flashes are, and their colour.
• Density and Shafts: how thick and how visible the storm curtains are.
• Wind Strength, Wind Direction and Turbulence: how the curtains drift, and how ragged they are.
• Color and Shade Color: the curtains in the light and their storm-dark tint.

The cursor can call a strike wherever you sweep it, or clear a column through the murk.

Use it for

Storm, noir and horror scenes, album art and launches that need a jolt. Add Rain beneath it.