Burn Away

Burn Away shows your letters cut from singed cream paper with smouldering edges, and erases them by fire. A glowing front runs along the strokes, leaving a line of embers, then cracked black char, then pale ash that flakes away, while sparks rise from the flame.

How it works

The fire is planned before it starts: from a few ignition points it spreads along each stroke, wrapping around loops and the holes in letters, and never jumps through the air. Separate letters catch from the nearest flame, as if embers hopped across. Low-frequency noise makes the front speed up and slow down so it burns unevenly, and finer noise rags its edge. Behind the front each spot cools from glowing ember to char with glowing cracks, to ash, to nothing.

Settings

• Spread sets how fast the fire front moves; Raggedness how uneven and torn it is.
• Char sets how much cracked char and ash is left; Ash lace how much of the writing lingers as a fragile ash skeleton.
• Ember sets the brightness of embers, sparks and the front; Ember colour tints them.
• Curl lifts the burning edge toward the viewer, and Singe sets the brown scorched rim at rest.
• Paper sets the paper colour, and Seed where the fire starts.

Use it for

• Dramatic reveals and story intros
• Fantasy, history and parchment titles
• Endings and "goodbye" moments