best practices for pyro look dev

[karen]

I have a smoke simulation and want to render a few versions, are there any best practices for pyro/smoke look dev? in terms of background color, have a backgound wall or not, lighting set up...?

 

[flcc]

You need to be more specific, or show an example of what you try to achieve.
I'm inclined to respond, if you make a black smoke make a blue sky background...
but if it's a fire ? ...  make a night background.
Dark on light, light on dark, but it's a generic answer that's not valid most of the time, and no sens without context.
There are billions of possible answers.

[karen]

It is just smoke, no fire. I didn't specify the color because I'm still exploring the options, and I'd like to try a few variations (black, white, drak grey, brown..)

[flcc]

Sorry if I sound harsh, but it doesn't make sense to do a lookdev without context.
There is no general rules.

If you want steam, it'll be white.
if it's the smoke from a volcano, brown or more or less dark gray.
If it's a magical smoke, blue, pink or green,
If it's a radioactive or chemical smoke, green.

And in either case you have to adjust its shape and density.
The lighting will be the final touch to highlight what you want to tell.
If everything is coherent, you'll get a nice smoke.

It's like saying, I want to make a beautiful painting, what colors should I use...