My first beginner short I did within Blender - I utilised free assets from Sketchfab, Polyhaven, JangaFX and Blenderkit as part of my project, the polymodelled llama was the only asset I completely modelled from scratch. This project introduced me to aspects of vfx, where I had to learn the basic of constraints, motion paths for the plane.
I did the A10 gun smoke pyro effect in Blender but the explosion and dust cloud were free VDBs from JangaFX. Since the A10 warthog came as a static object, I had to animate the turbines and gattling gun rotating which resulted in me doing some research on the RPMs of that specific plane model. The muzzle flash on the gattling gun was created using animated image planes of muzzle flashes along with emission.
The bullets were done using a particle system where I instanced the exact bullet caliber that A10 warthog uses to the points. I used Blender's dynamic paint system to make the bullets react with the llama to create a bullet hole rip effect. Unfortunately the shots didnt really connect as much to the llama based on the a10 warthog position, so I faked it with another source hidden behind the llama's body, but the velocity wasnt high enough to create motion blur, which I probably should've done in after effects. The llama exploding into pieces was done using Blender's cell fracture.
For the sound effects, I got a mix of soundtracks from royalty free websites as well as video games which I had to edit within adobe audition to blend different clips and also tune the reverb along with directional sound.
For the compositing part, It was some simple minor effects like lens flare and heatwaves and simple colour tweaks, which admittedly I think I could definitely improve from along with shot composition, effects and narrative.