This paper presented a survey on the development of flame simulation in computer animation

with a detail introduction to the classification of the works as well as different kinds of methods employed in the field. The methods applied mainly include the particle system method

the mathematic and physics-based method and the texture based method. Each method had their advantages and shortcomings

application scopes and result characteristics. We analyzed three important techniques briefly

including flames details

the control mechanisms and the simulation speed of results

and also discussed the tendency of this direction.