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Work with emitters
Work with emitters
Edit attributes of an emitter
Create emitters
The
following procedures describe how to create emitters with default
settings. For details on other settings, see
Set emitter attributes by typing entries. In
the following procedures, you must play the animation as the final
step to see the particles emit.
NoteThe following sections also apply to emitters
created for nParticle objects.
You cannot add an emitter to an object if the
emitter already has some other technique controlling its translate
attributes. Furthermore, after you add an emitter to an object,
you cannot control the emitter’s translate attributes with another
technique, for example, an expression.
If you select only some of an object’s CVs,
vertices, or particles, the emitter applies only to those selected.
To emit from a position
- Make
sure nothing is selected.
- Select
Particles > Create Emitter.
This creates a point emitter at the origin.
To emit particles from points
on a surface
- Select
the NURBS or polygonal surface.
- Select
Particles > Emit from Object > to display
the options window.
- In the options window, select Surface from
the Emitter Type pop-up menu.
- In
the options window, click Create.
For details on emitting from entire surfaces
evenly, see
Spread emission more evenly from NURBS surfaces.
To
emit particles from points on a curve
- Select
the curve.
- Select
Particles > Emit from Object > to display
the options window.
- Select Curve from
the Emitter Type pop-up menu.
- In
the options window, click Create.
To
emit from all CVs or vertices of a selected object
- Select
the object.
- Select
Particles > Emit from Object > to display
the options window.
- Select Omni or Directional from
the Emitter Type pop-up menu.
- In
the options window, click Create.
To emit particles from
selected vertices, CVs, or edit points
- Select
the object.
- Click (the Select
by Component Type icon).
- Select
the components you want to emit particles. See Basics for details.
- Select
Particles > Emit from Object > to display
the options window.
- Select Omni or Directional from
the Emitter Type pop-up menu.
- In
the options window, click Create.
Adding an emitter to components creates a set
of components named for the emitter. You can change the components
that emit by editing the set membership (see the Basics guide).
Note that you cannot emit from components of an object in a referenced
scene.
TipThe MEL
emit command
lets you add particles to selected positions of an existing particle
object without creating an emitter. You can set the values of any
per particle attributes for the created particles. This lets you
create effects similar to emission but with greater control.
For example, you can make emitted particles
use the attribute values of the emitting particles. You can also
use the emit command in an expression to make particles emit at
the point where particles die.
For detailed examples of the emit command, see
the online MEL Command Reference: Alphabetical.
To
emit particles into a volume shape
- Select
Particles > Create Emitter > .
- Under Basic
Emitter Attributes, set the Emitter Type to Volume.
- Under Volume
Emitter Attributes, click Volume Shape and
select a shape from the menu.
- Set
the Volume Emitter attributes as
desired. See
Volume Emitter Attributes for
information on the volume emitter attributes.
- Click Create.
The implicit shape of the volume emitter is
displayed on the screen. You can move, rotate, scale, or shear the
emitter.
NoteYou can’t deform the volume or use an arbitrary
volume.
To
hide the shape of the volume emitter
- Select
the emitter and select
Display
> Hide > Hide
Selection.
To
hide the emitter icon that represents the emitter
- In
the workspace, select the emitter icon.
Sometimes it’s easier to select the emitter
in the Outliner. If you are emitting
from an object rather than position, the emitter is indented under
the object’s name in the Outliner.
- Select
Display > Hide > Hide
Selection.
- To
display the icon again, select Display > Show >
Show Last Hidden.
To
delete an emitter
- Select
the emitter.
- Press (Windows
and Linux) or (Mac OS
X).
When
you delete an emitter, the emitted particle object is not automatically
deleted. If this particle object isn’t connected to other items
in the scene, you can delete it also. Use the Outliner to
delete it.
NoteEmission
begins only at the frame specified by the emitted particle object’s Start
Frame attribute (by default, frame 1). For example, to
emit particles at frame number -5, you must set the Start
Frame of the emitted particle object to -5.