Adjusting nParticle size and color

You can adjust nParticleShape node attributes to specify how the particles look, move, and collide with other Nucleus objects. Adjusting the emitter attributes also affects the overall characteristics of your nParticle simulation.

To make the nParticles look and behave like candy, you will increase their size, change their color, and make their surfaces sticky.

To increase nParticle size

1. In the Outliner, select nParticle1.
2. In the Attribute Editor, click the nParticleShape1 tab.
3. In the Particle Size section, set Radius to 1.8.

To change the color of the nParticles

1. In the Shading section, go to Color.
2. Click the far left circle marker (at Selected Position 0) of the ramp.
   
3. Click the color swatch beside Selected Color.

   The Color Chooser appears.

4. In the Color Chooser, click the white swatch.
5. Drag your mouse off the Color Chooser to close it.
6. Click the far right square marker of the Color ramp to delete it.

   For this simulation, the color of the nParticles will not change so you only need one ramp marker.

7. From the Color Input list, select Constant.
8. Play the simulation.

   The nParticles now look more like candy, but too many nParticles are being emitted, which is overflowing the bowl.

   To solve this problem, you can reduce the number of nParticles by adjusting the emitter attributes. Like many Maya attributes, you can set a key to change the emission rate at a specified time in the simulation.

   

To key nParticle emission rate

1. Go back to the beginning of the playback range.
2. In the Outliner, expand candy_emitter_surface and select Emitter_Candy1.
3. In the Attribute Editor, click the Emitter_Candy1 tab.
4. In the Basic Emitter Attributes section, set the Rate (Particles/Sec) to 22.
5. Go back to the beginning of the playback range and play the simulation.

   nParticles are emitted at half the original speed, which is just enough to fill the bowl.

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