I would like to have an effect where the shot is sideways and the actor looks at the book in front of him while green(or bright sinister) smoke comes out of it.

I was thinking of using preset footage i had and add it on the video, but it seems imposible. Any web sites with free stock footage?

Shall I go 3D and how hard will it be to make the smoke? Also, bcause the background of the actual scene is black, I wont have any problems in post if I use greenscreen?

I know I have the whole thing complicated on my head, so please can I have some solutions?

Cheers!

Motion has smoke presets in its particle effects. Have you tried those to start?

If that doesn't suit your needs, you'll need to have someone do something in a 3D app.

motion is for mac right?

anything for windows based users?

Hi George. There are quite a few ways if you are using After Effects. Have a look at:
VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals (http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/green_smoke/)
and
VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals (http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/frosty_breath/)
there are quite a few smoke type tutorials using particle systems, there are some more at Video Copilot or just google.
You can get some free smoke footage here:
Welcome to Detonation Films! (http://detonationfilms.com/missionstatement.htm)

The cheapest way would be to film smoke against a green background and composite it. You can try different methods of smoke, film as long as you want, and have the exact effect you are looking for.

With stock footage, you might have to compromise on what already exists. Plus there are licensing issues. Smoke in 3D is tough to get real unless you have professionals doing it. The real one works best every time.

On Windows, you can use a particle system or fractal noise in After Effects. Or you can take a look at Trapcode's Particular.

Probably the easiest way for me is to use Particle Illusion... its pretty good..

particular is the way to go for post generated smoke

and if you really want to try shooting smoke, use black, not green screen. if your black is really black you have a self compositing clip with no problems that green would give you.

i agree with Steve, then use blending modes to composite