Planet go Boom

I am learning to use and abuse the Adobe After Effects program. There are a lot of things in the movie making business that I am going to have to learn, and I have a nice head start on special FX. The effect that follows was done from two tutorials that I modified, named "Dead Planet" and "Planet Explosion".

I used a pre-made explosion from Particle Illusion 3, as well as the small white debris field came from PI3 as well. The Shatter effect blows up the planet and the red and brown debris come from the particle effects in AE. The planet Earth was also created in AE using a flat map and a sphere.

Lots of fun, and though the planet explosion has it's faults from a realistic point of view, it is perfect as a learning tool and fun to look at.