.seo-fallback{max-width:46rem;margin:0 auto;padding:2.5rem 1.25rem 4rem; font:16px/1.6 Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;color:#EDE9F5;background:#0E0A1B} .seo-fallback a{color:#FFCA3A} .seo-fallback h1{font-size:1.75rem;line-height:1.2;margin:.5rem 0 1rem} .seo-fallback h2{font-size:1.05rem;margin:2rem 0 .5rem;color:#9C93B8; text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.08em} .seo-fallback ul{padding-left:1.1rem;margin:.5rem 0} .seo-fallback li{margin:.3rem 0} .seo-fallback .seo-meta{color:#9C93B8;font-size:.9rem} .seo-fallback .seo-note{margin-top:2.5rem;color:#9C93B8;font-size:.85rem; border-top:1px solid #2A2340;padding-top:1rem}

FilmSkool — a free film school

Starting with particles | Simulation | Computer Animation | Khan Academy

The unit's longest video, working step by step from a single simulated particle to a full spring-mass chain capable of standing in for a strand of hair. Ties the particle and spring concepts together into the working simulation used for Merida's hair.

Khan Academy Labs · 5 min · Advanced · VFX · VFX · 2017

What you take away

Build a working spring-mass hair simulation starting from one simulated particle.

Watch it

Filed under

Oscar winners for visual effects

Books on visual effects

The workstation

SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE 8TB — Desktop archive drive built for footage
Corsair 128GB DDR5 kit — For Unreal, caches and twelve open applications
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K — Quick Sync, which some codecs still love
Apple Mac mini M4 — The cheapest Mac that cuts 4K without complaint
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X — 16 cores — the sweet spot for a cutting room
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 — The sensible half-price render card

More VFX

Blender Donut Tutorial Part 1 (2026) — Blender Guru · 55m · Beginner
The Basics of Lighting and Rendering in Blender (Donut Finale) — Blender Guru · 40m · Beginner
Blender Basic Modelling Tutorial (Donut Part 2) — Blender Guru · 48m · Beginner
Animating Huge Crowds in Blender - Lazy Tutorials — IanHubert · 14m · Intermediate
CG Realism with Warbles in Blender - Lazy Tutorials — IanHubert · 15m · Advanced
VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi 13 — Corridor Crew · 21m · Intermediate
Animate Moths in Blender - Lazy Tutorials — IanHubert · 11m · Intermediate
ILM Visual Effects Artist Breaks Down Hidden VFX | Vanity Fair — Vanity Fair · 14m · Intermediate
VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi 232 — Corridor Crew · 23m · Intermediate
Add CGI Characters to Live Footage | Blender VFX Tutorial — CG Geek · 22m · Intermediate
Lazy Tutorial - Easy IK Rigging in Blender — IanHubert · 13m · Intermediate
How to use Eevee - Full Blender Course — Blender Guru · 77m · Intermediate

This is the plain index, shown because JavaScript is off. Every lesson here is a free video published by the channel credited on it and plays through that channel's own embed — FilmSkool hosts nothing.