Film FX – Reverse Engineering by Corbin Mayne

This 24-week workshop, led by ILP FX Supervisor Corbin Mayne, teaches you how to reverse engineer three iconic film effects: the disintegration from Avengers: Infinity War, the bubble bomb from Solo, and the obscurus magical attacks from Fantastic Beasts. You’ll learn to dissect reference footage, build modular FX setups, and master advanced VEX to create production-ready shots using Houdini, Solaris, and Karma.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Reverse engineer any film effect by breaking down reference footage into an actionable plan.
• Write custom VEX code to control particles, volumes, and geometry.
• Build modular, reusable FX setups for fast iteration.
• Use Solaris and Karma for rendering and look development.
• Develop a studio-style pipeline for FX TD workflows.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Intermediate understanding of Houdini and 3D space.
• Tools: 3-button mouse, drawing tablet recommended.
• Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU.

📝 Description

This isn’t a “push-button” tutorial. Corbin’s approach is hands-on and project-based, focusing on the why behind every technique. You’ll learn his secret method for getting “reviewable” results within a day, using modular workflows that keep you iterating fast.

The course is built around three distinct film effects, each chosen to teach a different core skill. For the disintegration effect, you’ll learn how to spread decay maps naturally and use them to drive a believable, weighty effect. The bubble bomb from Solo teaches you to break down a complex, layered effect into simple setups while maintaining scale and timing. Finally, the obscurus from Fantastic Beasts is all about control—manipulating particles, volumes, and geometry with completely custom VEX code.

Corbin emphasizes control-focused workflows, teaching you to manipulate forces and motion so you can master any element. You’ll also learn to use Solaris and Karma for rendering, ensuring your final shots are production-ready. The workshop includes 172 lessons, lifetime access, and support on the DJA Discord.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Intermediate to advanced Houdini artists looking to break into film VFX.
• FX TDs who want to master reverse engineering and modular workflows.
• Artists aiming to build a showreel with high-end, production-ready shots.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Corbin Mayne is an experienced ILP FX Supervisor with over a decade of experience in Houdini. He has worked on major film projects, including the Avengers series, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Corbin is known for his fast iteration methods and control-focused workflows, and he is passionate about teaching artists how to think like FX TDs.

🏁 Final Result

• Three fully realized, production-quality film FX shots: a disintegration, a bubble bomb, and an obscurus magical attack.
• A modular FX setup library you can reuse for future projects.
• A portfolio-ready showreel demonstrating your ability to reverse engineer and recreate complex film effects.