[REQz] Magical barrier effect needed

[syscrusher]

Good morning!

I'm in need of a magical barrier effect and haven't found a tutorial yet on how to create it in Blender, so I'm asking for help. I would be grateful either for someone who could create what I need, or someone who can point me to the tutorial I've not been able to find. I have Blender but can't afford 3D Studio.

What I need is a gaseous or plasma object, about 25 Blender units (250 Oblivion units) square and about 1~2 Blender units (10~20 Oblivion units) thick, with some kind of shimmering or swirling effect. It is to represent a magical barrier, and should not be collisioned or Havoked (the activator is a separate object). If you want to work on it, contact me to talk about specific cosmetics.

I looked for a premade resource online, and was surprised that I couldn't find something.

Anyone who can help out will be added to the credits for the mod I'm working on. Ideally, I would *love* to learn how to do this in Blender, as it would empower me for future projects, but if this turns out to be a "can't do that without 3DS" project, I understand.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Syscrusher