The particle
render type of a particle object specifies the form of
its particles. For example, you can display particles as small spheres, streaking
tails, or 2D images of your favorite snapshot. Once you select the particle
render type, you can add attributes specific to the render type
to tune the appearance.
For information on hardware
and software rendering of particles, see
Rendering particles.
To set the Particle Render Type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Render Attributes section
of the Attribute Editor, select the
type from the Particle Render Type pop-up menu.
Workspace preview rendering
doesn’t display render types with full detail. You must hardware
render or software render. Turn on Shading > Smooth
Shade All if you want workspace rendering to display
color that you add to particle objects.
When you test render or render to disk, use
hardware rendering for the particle render types that don’t have s/w after
their names. Blobby Surface, Cloud, and Tube must be software rendered.
If you use the wrong rendering technique, the particles won’t be
displayed. If you use hardware rendering, you must composite the particle
images with software rendered images of the other objects in the scene.
You must
apply a material with shading group to the particle object. Tube
(s/w) and Cloud (s/w) render types use
specific particle cloud materials. You can use any surface material
with Blobby surface render type.
See the Shading guide
for details on using materials and see the Lighting guide
for details on lights.
Points
The Points render
type displays particles as points. This is the default render type.
To set Points render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Points.
- To
add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add
Attributes For Current Render Type button.
MultiPoint
The MultiPoint render
type displays each particle as multiple points. The extra points
make the particle object appear denser. You can use this render
type to create dust, clouds, mist, or other gaseous emissions.
To set MultiPoint render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to MultiPoint.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
Streak
The Streak render
type displays moving particles with an elongated tail. This render
type enhances the display of objects such as meteors or rain. The
streak length is based on the velocity of the particle, so if the
particles are stationary or moving slowly, you won’t see the particles.
To set Streak render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Streak.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
MultiStreak
The MultiStreak render
type is a combination of Streak and MultiPoint render
types; it displays multiple points with tails for each moving particle.
The faster the particles move, the longer the tails.
To set MultiStreak render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to MultiStreak.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
Sprites
The Sprites render
type lets you display a texture image or image sequence at each
particle. Each particle can display an identical or different image
or image sequence. Depending on the type of texture image you use,
you can use sprites to create effects such as smoke, clouds, fog,
and stars.
A sprite appears as a
small rectangle until you map a texture image to it. The image faces
the camera directly regardless of the camera’s position or orientation.
If
the texture image lacks an alpha channel, the image is opaque and
occupies the sprite rectangle. If the texture image has an alpha channel,
the sprite uses the image’s transparency. To avoid displaying the rectangle,
you must make the peripheral parts of the original texture image transparent.
Use the Sprite Wizard
The particle Sprite Wizard simplifies
the process for displaying a texture image or image sequences on particles.
The particle Sprite Wizard leads you through
the steps necessary to associate image files with sprites. You can assign
a single image or a sequence of images to each particle. The images
can be assigned randomly, or using various criteria such as the
particleID or a ramp. You can also edit the sprites once you’ve
created them with the Sprite Wizard.
The Sprite
Wizard automatically:
- Assigns a Lambert material to the particle object.
- Adds a creation expression and runtime
expression that enables all the wizard options.
- Connects a ramp to the spriteNumRamp attribute.
- Sets the particle render type to Sprites
and adds the attributes for sprites.
- Assigns the images you specify to the
sprites.
NoteThe image files you
use as sprites must have filename extensions in the format file.n,
not file.000n (zero-padded
extensions).
To use the Sprite Wizard
- Select the particle object to which you
want to assign sprites.
- Select
Particles > Sprite Wizard.
The Sprite
Wizard leads you through a series of choices. For help,
read the pop-up help that appears with each text box.
For additional information
on the Custom Start and Custom
Cycling options, see
Customizing sprites with the Sprite Wizard.
- To see the sprite images, turn on Shading
> Smooth Shade All and Shading > Hardware
Texturing.
To
edit the sprites
- Do one of the following:
- Select the particle object and display
the Attribute Editor. Open the Sprite Attributes section
of the Particle Attribute Editor to
edit the attributes. You can also edit the sprite attributes using
the Channel Box.
- Select the particle and select
Particles > Sprite Wizard to
re-open the Sprite Wizard window. You can
change the file names, the frame ranges, or other settings in the Sprite
Wizard window. When you accept the changes, the wizard
updates the appropriate attributes for you.
To change the images of an existing sprite animation:
- Select the particle object.
- Select
Particles > Sprite Wizard.
- Select a new image sequence for the Sprite File.
- Turn on Use existing setup with
new images in the second Wizard screen.
All the existing settings
in the Sprite Wizard are used with
the new image sequence.
Editing sprite attributes
Once
you have created the sprites, you can optionally edit these Render and Sprite attributes
in the Attribute Editor or in the Channel Box:
Customizing sprites with
the Sprite Wizard
You
can customize how the initial sprite images are selected and how
the images are cycled by modifying the expressions that are automatically
added to the particle object when you use the Sprite
Wizard. You can customize the selection of the initial
sprite image whether or not you choose to animate the selection of
the initial image.
To customize the selection
of the initial sprite image
- Create the particles and select
Particles > Sprite Wizard.
- Select the Sprite File you
wish to use and click Continue.
- Select how you want to assign images
to the particles: either No animation or Cycle
through the images for each particle, and click Continue.
- Select Custom Start and click Continue.
- Select how you want the images to be
cycled for each particle. If you select Custom Cycling,
see
Customizing sprites with the Sprite Wizard.
Click Continue.
- Click Apply to
apply the wizard.
- Select the particle and select Window
> Animation Editors > Expression Editor.
- In the Expression Editor,
select Select Filter > By Expression Name.
- Select the expression with the name of
the particle object to which you have applied the sprites.
- Click the Creation checkbox.
- If you selected No
Animation for the image assignment, look for the first
occurrence of the line “Custom Start: If your sprites are not animated”
in the creation expression.
If you selected Cycle
through the images for each particle for the image assignment,
look for the second occurrence of the line “Custom Start: If your
sprites are animated” in the creation expression.
- Insert your custom expression. For information
on writing expressions, see Expressions.
To
customize sprite cycling
- Create the particles and select
Particles > Sprite Wizard.
- Select the Sprite File you
wish to use and click Continue.
- Select Cycle through the images
for each particle and click Continue.
- Select the technique used to assign the
initial sprite to each particle and click Continue.
- Select Custom Cycling for
how you want the images to be cycled for each particle and click Continue.
- Click Apply to
apply the wizard.
- Select the particle and select Window
> Animation Editors > Expression Editor.
- In the Expression Editor,
select Select Filter > By Expression Name.
- Select the expression with the name of
the particle object to which you have applied the sprites.
- Select Runtime before dynamics or Runtime
after dynamics.
- In the runtime expression, look for the
line “Custom Cycle.”
- Insert your custom expression. For information
on writing expressions, see the MEL and Expressions guide.
Spheres
The Spheres render
type displays particles as opaque spheres. You cannot display the
spheres with transparency.
To set Spheres render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Spheres.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
Numeric
The Numeric render
type displays the current values of any attribute of the particle
object. This is useful when you want to know the value of an attribute
such as velocity at a certain frame. By default, Maya displays particle
ids for the Numeric render type.
To set Numeric render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Numeric.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes,
which let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
Blobby surface
The Blobby
Surface render type displays particles as metaballs.
Metaballs are spheres that blend together to form surfaces. Blobby
Surfaces appear only in software rendered images.
NoteInside edges of blobby
surfaces seen through other blobby surfaces are not anti-aliased
To avoid this, you can
increase the particle rendering quality by selecting the particle
object and making the following render settings. Open the Maya
Software tab of the Render Settings window.
Under Number of Samples, set Particles to
4, or to achieve very high quality particle rendering, set Particles to 8.
To set Blobby Surface (s/w) render
type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Blobby
Surface.
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
- Apply a shading group to the particle
object.
- Add a light to the scene.
- Software render the scene.
Cloud
The Cloud render
type displays particles as blurred or cloudy metaballs. Metaballs
are spheres that blend together to form surfaces. Clouds appear
only in software rendered images. See
Create raytraced shadows with particles.
To set Cloud (s/w) render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Cloud
(s/w).
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
- Add a light to the scene.
- Software render the scene.
Tube
The Tube render
type displays particles as tubes. Tubes appear only in software
rendered images.
To set Tube (s/w) render type
- Select the particle object.
- In the Attribute Editor,
set Particle Render Type to Tube
(s/w).
- To add default Particle Render Type attributes
that let you tune the appearance, click the Add Attributes
For Current Render Type button.
- Add a light to the scene.
- Software render the scene.