#Particle Animation
11 messages in this thread
I'm trying to learn more about particle animation in Imagine 2.9 (for
DOS).
I'd like to give an example of what I'm trying to do, and just see
what everyone has to say –because I'm lost 🙁
I place a ground object into the stage editor (at its default
position). Then I place a sphere right above it (and of course
there's a light source).
QUESTION: How can I make the sphere smoothly go from being a normal
sphere to exploding, then all it's pieces bounce on the ground?
QUESTION2: If that was an easy answer, then is there also a way to
make the sphere do the same animation, but start exploding from the
top until it reaches the bottom — and there's nothing left but a
pile of rubble on the ground?
I would really appreciate your help as I'm very new at using 3D
software packages, and I hardly understand some of the terms in the
Imagine list boxes.
Bill,
– Assuming you are familiar with creating an animation, open a new
project in the Project editor and set up a 50 frame animation in the
Action editor.
– While in the Detail editor, with the sphere object picked (blue color)
using the LSHIFT-M combination (Move Axis) position the axis at the top of
the sphere.
**Ensure you are using a PRIMITIVE sphere (ie with triangular faces making
up the sphere's surface).
– Save the Sphere as ball.obj.
– Go to the Stage editor and load the ball.obj
– Place the ball.obj at Z=+200.0 (XY=0.0)
– Load the ground object and place it at Z=0.0 (XY=0.0)
– Load two Light Sources (Point or Spherical Lights) – Main (X=500
Y=-1000 and Z=1000 RGB 255) and Fill (X=-1000 Y=500 Z=-500 RGB 150)
– Save Changes
– Go to Action editor.
– While in Add mode, click on the Sphere object's F/X line at frame 2
and frame 50. This will leave the ball unchanged in frame 1 and the
explosion will occur from 2 through 50.
– Select the Particles F/X.
– In the requester set the following parameters:
– Delayed and Bounce Buttons – selected
– All other Buttons – deselected
– Travel Distance – 200.00
– Triangle Scaling – 1.0 (leaves the triangles size unchanged
throughout the animation)
– Scaling Delay – 0.0
– Minimum # of Triangle Rotations – 1.0
– Maximum # of Triangle Rotations – 3.0
– Time to terminal H velocity – 49.0 (gradually increases each
triangles horizontal velocity over time)
– Gravitational Constant – 1.0
– Random Number Seed – 69.0
– Elasticity – 50.0 (higher numbers bounce more)
– Time to terminal Z velocity – 40.0 (increases the vertical
velocity a little faster than horizontal)
– Ground Z Coordinate – 0.0 (tells the triangles where to bounce,
regardless of where you put the ground object – 0.0 will align the
two)
– Speed Factor – 0.5
– Min/Max Angle from Z – 0.0/180.0 (defines a range of tragectory
vectors each triangle can initially move away from the sphere on –
straight up = 0.0 and straight down = 180.0)
– Min/Max Angle from X – 0.0/360.0 (defines the azimuth range
around the Z-axis that each triangle will depart the sphere object:
+X=0.0 (360.0) +Y=90.0 -X=180.0 -Y=270.0
– Wind Speed – 0.0
– Wind Angle – 0.0
– Wind Start/Stop – 0.0
– Emmision Amt – 0.0
– Particle Subgroup – (N/A)
Save Changes and Return to the Stage editor. Adjust the Perspective window
until you can see the entire scene and Select Make from the Animate menu
(accept the default settings). This should achieve the effect you were
looking for.:)
Alan Henry – Digital Plastic
F-100-PW-200 Inside
Alan, I LOVE YOU!!!!
Thank you for that GREAT!!! tutorial and for showing what some of those
variables can do. Some of those are a bit cryptic and hard to understand.
>- Time to terminal H velocity – 49.0 (gradually increases each triangles
>horizontal velocity over time)
Simple explanations like that and the `Min/Max angle from X' helped me
understand what exactly the Particle effect is doing.
I am not knocking experimentation but at least now I can look at the LARGE
particle requester and try and make sense of it.
Thanks again.
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
(Any render time >0 needs acceleration.)
Tony,
The Particles parameters (say that 3 times fast) explanation is what you
can expect from the 3.0 manual. There will be very little
"experimentation" required. Practically every parameter/function/menu of
each editor will be defined. Actually, the manual will go into a little
more detail than my previous post.
<<Alan, I LOVE YOU!!!!>>
I bet you say that to all the 3-D artists! ;^o
Alan Henry – Digital Plastic
F-100-PW-200 Inside
>Practically every parameter/function/menu of each editor will be
>defined.
Try to included comments like `increasing/decreasing this parameter can be
used to do [insert FX here]…'. Things like this will instantly give
readers a idea of what changes will do.
>I bet you say that to all the 3-D artists! ;^o
No, only ones that make my life easier. :^)
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
(Any render time >0 needs acceleration.)
Bill,
There is only one problem. In the case of particles. If you assign a
particle to the object in the detail editor it will render that way so that the
object does not transistion from a faced to particle object. Its sort of all or
nothing.
As for the start at the top, explode and then bounce, that is easy.
In the detail editor move the axis of the object to the top of the
sphere, this tells the particle system that this is where you want things to
start from.
Now use the delayed and bounce effect buttons, establish a place where
you want the balls or particles to bounce, if you place the ground at say, -100
in Z then this would be the place where you want the ground established in the
praticle requester.
Help?
Mike
Thanks for everyones help. That step-by-step example was great!
I do have two more questions concerning particle animation:
1) Is there a way to make that sphere completely 'dissolve' onto the ground?
(when the sphere dissolves now, the bottom portion is still there).
2) Is it possible to have the particles sit on the ground after the sphere
completely dissolved, while I start another animation on the same screen?
(example: a sphere dissolves completely — the particles fall to the ground and
finish bouncing — and reveals a spinning logo that was originally covered by
the sphere).
I really appreciate everyones help on here. I would love to find out how some
of you figured this stuff out. I certainly don't have time to sit and play with
Imagine, as I'm far too busy. Maybe someone at Impulse can release tutorials
of some sort on a frequent basis. Each tutorial could cover a very specific
use of Imagine.
Thanks.
-Bill
Bill,
Change the animation length to 100 frames. While in info mode, click on the
Ball object's Actor timeline and change the end frame to 100. Leave the
Particles F/X set from frames 2-50. Now when you render the animation the
Sphere will completely explode to the ground by frame 50 and then just lay
there for another 50 frames. You can load the Logo object inside the Sphere in
frame 1 and use the Rotate F/X on it from frame 1-100. See how that
works…:^)
Alan Henry – Digital Plastic
F-100-PW-200 Inside
Bill,
Change 1, to the 100 frame Particle animation:
Set the Particles F/X End Frame to 100 also. Otherwise the sphere
will reappear in its original position. Sorry, I wrote it at work without
testing. :^)
Alan Henry – Digital Plastic
F-100-PW-200 Inside
Mike,
re: Bill's situation, where he wants the sphere to start off normal, then
seamlessly turn into a particle explosion — yes, I know that particle status
is a switch, and that an object either is or isn't "particle-ized" . <Sorry
B^)> However, what's to stop our friend from defining the particles as _a
single triangle_? Perhaps there's a particle size/fit option that would make
the triangular particles look & feel <g> just like the faces on the
non-particle-ized sphere?
Blaq!
This discussion of Particle Explosions is what prompted me to experiemtn
and come up with the MeltDown. Also I do believe you can control the size
of the particles via the Emission percentage.