For a film trailer, I need to create fire effects and explosion effects. How realistic would they look in Blender Cycles, and how would you go about creating them? Could you recommend any tutorials for learning how?
Would After Effects be a suitable alternative, or is it no better at dealing with particles?
I’m not sure about this, but I don’t think Cycles renders fire yet. You can bet that when it does it will look great.
In 2.65, the Blender Render fire looks fantastic (and doesn’t need particles), and there are some good tutorials on it. One trick is to get the color ramp for the fire texture right. This link will inspire you and provide some starting materials and textures:
http://www.miikahweb.com/en/blog/2012/08/10/blender-fire-testing---blend-files
Do you know of any good tutorials on fire, or do you just have that link? Not that it won’t be helpful, I’m just curious if you know of any fire tutorials in particular.
I’ve been meaning to sit down and read the following from top to bottom. It looks very complete. I’ve used bits and pieces of it to great advantage, especially on fuel settings.
http://simulate4d.com/2011/10/blender-2-60-guide-to-smoke-fire-simulation/
Otherwise, YouTube, and search for Blender 2.65 Fire Tutorial. There are more every day. You’ll probably want 2.65 specific tutorials as 2.65 can do fire and smoke without particles.
Wow, thanks for the great link, I think it will prove to be very useful!
Would be really nice if we could have some blend examples that do show something at render 
http://www.miikahweb.com/en/blog/2012/08/10/blender-fire-testing---blend-files
heres some examples of the newer system ( no particles)
Maybe this tutorial will help. It’s about flame, but in the end there are tips for explosion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt1CCLw59Y0.
Before you start you have to know that creating fire in blender is quite simple but tricky.