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Particle Nodes Explained by Type
This section introduces the four types of particle system nodes available in the Effects Library.
Emitters
pEmitter nodes are the source of all particles. Each pEmitter node can be set up to generate a single type of particle with enough customization so that you’ll never create the same type of particle twice. Along with the pRender node, this is the only other node that’s absolutely required to create a particle system.
pEmitter nodes have four parameters tabs:
— Controls: The primary controls governing how many particles are generated (Number), how long they live (Lifespan), how fast they move (Velocity) and how widely distributed they are (Angle and Angle Variance), their rotation (Rotation Mode with X, Y, and Z controls), and whether there’s spin (Spin X, Y, and Z controls). For each parameter of particle generation, there’s an accompanying Variance control that lets you make that parameter less uniform and more natural by introducing random variation.
— Sets: This tab contains settings that affect the physics of the particles emitted by the node. These settings do not directly affect the appearance of the particles. Instead, they modify behaviors such as velocity, spin, quantity, and lifespan.
— Style: While the Controls tab has a simple control for choosing a color for particles, the Style tab has more comprehensive controls including color variance and Color Over Life controls.
Additionally, size controls including Size Over Life, fade controls, and blur controls let you create sophisticated particle animations with a minimum of adjustments, while Merge controls give you an additional level of control over how overlapping particles combine visually. A set of controls at the bottom lets you choose how animated effects are timed.
— Region: The Region tab lets you choose what kind of geometric region is used to disperse particles into space and whether you’re emitting particles from the region’s volume or surface. The Winding Rule and Winding Ray Direction controls determine how the mesh region will handle particle creation with geometric meshes that are not completely closed, as is common in many meshes imported from external applications. Tweaking these last parameters is common when using imported mesh geometry as a region for emitting particles, since even geometry that appears closed will frequently appear to “leak” particles thanks to improperly welded vertices.