Just a follow up if of interest. In the movie, both the explosion sequence movie and the mouse walking movie were from my recent purchase of Particle IllusionSE. (The PI movies are applied as texture maps in Carrara---- if new to anyone)

The explosion sequence is on a Vertex Plane and travells from L to R.
The mouse walk sequence (R to L) is on the vertex adapted Billboard using the Sparrowhawke Follow Terrain.

The background is just a jpeg Backdrop behind the simple Terrain

Brian

bwtr