3D Compositing with Action > Action: The Particle System >
Manipulating Particles

You use manipulators to direct the particle stream and create a number of different effects, such as a swirling vortex, a swarm of objects orbiting a point, or a waterfall. A particle stream can have an unlimited number of manipulators. Manipulators only influence the particle stream that parents them.

When manipulating particles, you use the Particle Manipulator menu to set a manipulator's type, magnitude, power, and damping properties, as well as position, rotation, and scale.

Particle manipulators can be animated using motion paths. You can use the same operations on a particle manipulator that you use on an axis. See Accessing the Axis Menu.

To create a particle manipulator:

1. In the schematic, select the particle generator that you want the manipulator to influence.
2. From the Node bin, double-click the Particle Animator node.

   A particle animator element is added to the scene and parented by the selected Particle Generator element.

#### Topics in this section

- Setting Manipulator Properties
- Applying Transformations
- Simulating Gravity
- Creating a Vortex Effect
- Using an Acceleration Point Manipulator
- Using an Acceleration Line Manipulator
- Using an Acceleration Plane Manipulator
- Forming a Particle Path
- Using a Function as a Manipulator