Particle System Panel

Reference

Panel:

Particle System ‣ Particle System

Particle System panel.

These are the basic settings.

Active Particle System

The List View of the objects Particle Modifier(s).

• Specials

  • Copy Active to Selected Objects

    Copies the active particle system to all selected objects.

    Copy All to Selected Objects

    Copies all particle systems from the active object to all selected objects.

    Duplicate Particle Systems

    Duplicates the particle system within the active object. The Duplicate Settings option (in the Adjust Last Operation panel) will duplicate settings as well, so the new particle system uses its own settings.

Particle Settings

The Data-Block menu for settings.

Type

Main selector of the system type.

• Emitter

  In such a system, particles are emitted from the object.

  Hair

  Use Hair type, rendered as strands.

  • Regrow

    Regrows the hair for each frame. This is useful when you are animating properties.

    Advanced

    Enables advanced settings which reflect the same ones as working in Emitter mode.

    Note

    This manual assumes that this option is enabled.

    Segments

    Controls the number of parts a hair is made of. Increasing this value will improve the quality of animations.

Workflow

The process for working with standard particles is:

1. Create the mesh which will emit the particles.

2. Create one or more Particle Systems to emit from the mesh. Many times, multiple particle systems interact or merge with each other to achieve the overall desired effect.

3. Tailor each Particle System’s settings to achieve the desired effect.

4. Animate the base mesh and other particle meshes involved in the scene.

5. Define and shape the path and flow of the particles.

6. For Hair particle systems: Sculpt the emitter’s flow (cut the hair to length and comb it for example).

7. Make final render and do physics simulation(s), and tweak as needed.

Creating a Particle System

To add a new particle system to an object, go to the Particles tab of the Properties editor and click the small + button. An object can have many Particle Systems.

Each particle system has separate settings attached to it. These settings can be shared among different particle systems, so one does not have to copy every setting manually and can use the same effect on multiple objects.

Types of Particle Systems

After you have created a particle system, the Properties fills with many panels and buttons. But do not panic! There are two different types of particle systems, and you can change between these two with the Type selector: Emitter and Hair.

The settings in the Particle System tab are partially different for each system type.