About Game VFX Database
A free, non-commercial reference library of real-time visual effects from games. Explore the gallery, study how effects are tagged and connected, then contribute short clips so other artists do not have to hunt through hours of footage.
What this is
The short version
Game VFX Database is a curated gallery of short clips showing real-time effects: hits, explosions, trails, magic, weather, UI feedback. Each clip is tagged with the game it came from, the elements it uses, the VFX type or motion, the technique, the engine, the rendering style, the context and its dominant colours.
Around that library sit games pages, a full tags explorer, and tools for capturing clips, generating study prompts and mapping how the taxonomy connects. The loop is simple: explore, study, contribute.
It exists for study and critique. Nothing here is sold, licensed or monetised, there is no advertising, and the site does not claim ownership of any game footage.
How it works
From browsing to breaking down an effect
- 1Explore the gallery. Use the search bar, sidebar filters, colour or image search, or hit Surprise Me.
- 2Study a clip in the large player: step frames, loop a section between A and B, drop to grayscale to read value, and sample colours with the picker.
- 3Open Tags to browse elements, techniques, games, genres and the rest of the taxonomy, or use Tools to open the VFX Universe graph and Idea Lab.
- 4Like it, save it, or drop it into a collection and open the moodboard to grab stills and compare frames.
- 5Contribute a short clip from a file or a link, or grab a moment with the browser clipper. New member uploads are reviewed first.
- 6Missing something? Post it on the requests board and let the community fill the gap.
Adding clips the right way
Short, credited, non-commercial reference only
Please do
- Keep clips short, a few seconds of the effect itself, not whole scenes or cutscenes.
- Name the game, and the creator or channel if the footage is not yours.
- Prefer a link to the original video (YouTube, Vimeo, a direct file) over re-uploading.
- Use the trim controls so only the relevant moment is shown, or send a moment from the browser clipper under Tools.
- Add a descriptive title and tags so others can actually find it. Upload and batch forms can suggest tags from your clip metadata when you are signed in.
Please don't
- Upload full videos, trailers, cinematics, music or entire gameplay sessions.
- Post leaked, unreleased or NDA-covered material from a studio.
- Strip watermarks or credit, or claim someone else's work as your own.
- Use anything here commercially, resell it or redistribute it.
Clips are shared for non-commercial study and critique. Whether a use is permitted under copyright law (including fair use or fair dealing) depends on the material and circumstances; this site does not represent that every submission qualifies for a legal exception. Please only contribute material you have an appropriate basis to share. All trademarks and footage remain the property of their developers and publishers. If you own material published here or have a rights concern, Report a copyright concern (Include the affected clip URL and the nature of your concern.) Clips from new members are reviewed before they appear publicly.
Everything in the app
At a glance
Gallery search and filters
Search clips with boolean queries, or filter by game, element, VFX type, technique, engine, style, context, source and colour. Sort by newest, most liked, most discussed, or hit Surprise Me.
Colour and image search
Uploads are auto-tagged from the file name and fingerprinted for their dominant palette. Search with the HSV colour wheel, palette chips, or drop a still to find clips with a matching look.
Grid density
Switch the gallery between compact and wide cards. Wide cards surface metadata without leaving the grid. Hover stays on the still, no autoplay.
Study-grade player
Large player with frame-by-frame stepping, A/B loop, grayscale toggle, next and previous clip jumping, and a colour picker that samples any pixel as hex or RGB.
Timestamped breakdowns
Pin notes to exact seconds of a clip. Markers appear on the scrub bar and the notes panel follows playback.
Games, characters and bosses
Every clip links back to its game, with genre tags, a studio website link, and separate character and boss pages inside each title.
Tags and taxonomy
Browse the whole label system in one place: elements, techniques, game titles, genres, VFX types, engines, styles, colours, sources and contexts. Tap a tag to jump to matching clips or games.
Tools hub
A dedicated Tools section grouped into Capture, Study, and Create & organize, including comparison, Deep Study, and the moodboard.
VFX Universe graph
An interactive network of how games, characters, abilities, elements, motions, styles and techniques connect. Start from a game, search a node, filter categories, and explore its neighbourhood.
VFX Idea Lab
Mix live taxonomy tags into project prompts, from a simple burst to a multi-step motion chain, with adjustable complexity. No generative model, just the library's own language.
Browser clipper
A Chrome and Firefox extension that grabs a moment from YouTube, Twitch or Vimeo and sends it into the upload flow with trim points filled in.
Collections and moodboards
Like, save and organise clips into private or public collections, then open the moodboard to grab stills, compare frames, annotate, and export PNG or JPG.
Profile library
Your uploads, likes, saves, comments, collections, requests and trash live under My Library in the profile menu. Badges stay on your public profile. There is no separate dashboard.
Notifications
Stay on top of review notes, request replies and activity on clips you care about without leaving the app.
Installable and offline
Install the site like an app on desktop or phone. Recently viewed clips reset each visit, but clips you opened this session can still load offline. Day and night themes are built in.
Requests board
Cannot find a reference? Post a request, and the community votes and comments until someone adds it.
Recent changes
What shipped lately
Current release: v1.37
Full changelog archive
Weekly release notes with features, improvements, and fixes in one place.
About me
Founder
Abel Sayadi
Founder & maintainer
Since I was a kid I've been obsessed with collecting things and organizing information all in one place, When I entered the game industry as a Real-time VFX Artist I had this ambition to gather and collecting visual effects references, Over the years, I realized how common the struggle is for VFX artists to find high-quality, reference material., so I decided to build this platform to bridge that gap. a library to help people for finding an industry-standard, production ready references in games alongside studying them with professional breakdowns and insights.