Hi,

I'm shooting something for a client who wants the first shot to be of a picture on a wall, and then the picture breaks to pieces (like broken glass) and the pieces fall on the floor. The next shot is of the pieces on the floor like they were pieces of a puzzle that starts being put together by a child. Is there any default effect for Premiere Pro or After Effect to simulate this? I know this could be done with layers on after effects but this would take too long and I don't have the time. I'll be shooting next thursday and I need to be sure of what I'm doing by then. It would be ideal to do some texts this weekend...so, please, don't be shy and give me what you got.

Want to hire the effect out? we could do it. Photoreal done in lightwave3d

There is a "shatter" effect in After Effects that simulates glass or other stuff shattering to pieces. You have to mess with the physics to get it to drop downward, but it may work for you.

AE Particle Playground will do something very close.

my suggestion would be to do this manually, as long as we're not talking a hundred pieces here. the problem i've always had with the after effects particle plugins for this kind of work is the lack of control like you would have in a 3d app (forces, collisions, deflectors, and real physics simulations), and that they can tend to make a previsualized effect like the one you're talking about a little too chaotic, random, and difficult to control for a convincing effect. provided there are only a couple of dozen pieces, i can't imagine doing the effect manually would take you longer than an afternoon. my two cents.

I'm sure there are plenty of recipes on the web for candied glass that you can break...then you can get clear plastic/rubbery stuff you can cut into broken glass looking pieces for the actor to put back together without having to worry about them getting cut. I don't know where you can get the plastic/rubber stuff...but someone here should. When cut together, the audience won't know that they are made from a different material (assuming the soft stuff has enough rigidity to not flop around when picked up).