INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Chapter 17. Introduction to Particle Flow

by Sean Bonney

Volcanic explosions, meteor swarms, falling rain, blowing snow, patchy fog, magical auras, swirling leavesregardless of whether your scene is based in science fiction, a mythical realm, or somewhere in between, at some point you will want to add the weather elements, pyrotechnics, or special effects that particle systems excel at creating.

By definition, particles are a means of animating a large group of similar objects using procedural rules. This varies greatly from the traditional style of animating objects within 3ds max, whereby an individual object is usually animated individually. Particle systems allow the behavior of a group to be dictated by a set of rules that can vary from the general to the specific. Particle aspects such as life span, velocity, materials, and size can be applied to an entire system or to subsets of that system. What this means is that swirling leaves can be made to react to wind in your scene, or explosive debris made to adhere to gravity settings, or bouncing fruit made to change color based on the number of bounces it makes. This last example may seem absurd, but it serves to illustrate the endless applications of particles, even in situations where particle systems don't seem immediately appropriate.

The power that max gives you to animate the properties of your particle systems greatly facilitates the creation of a variety of atmospheric and expressive elements, as well as special effects, that would be impractical or less effective to create using nonprocedural methods. Anyone who has ever keyframed falling snowflakes without a particle system can certainly appreciate the effectiveness of procedural particles (Figures 17.1 and 17.2).