Advanced particle system controls, Advanced particle system, Controls – Apple Motion 3 User Manual
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Chapter 8
Working with Particles
Note: Keep in mind that using a movie as the source cell for an emitter may impact
your project’s interactivity.
Create Clips That Loop
Particles created from QuickTime clips loop over and over for the duration of each
individual particle’s life. If the clip you use doesn’t loop well, there will be a jump cut at
every loop point. Another option is to use very short movies to introduce randomness
into the appearance of the particle system.
Use Video Clips with Minimal Compression
Ideally, QuickTime clips to be used as particles should be saved using a high-quality
codec, such as Animation or Uncompressed 8- and 10-bit 4:2:2. Other codecs can be
used, but they may introduce unwanted artifacts depending on the level of
compression used.
There is an option to use random start frames, which cause the clips to play out of sync
relative to one another in the Canvas. There is also an option to play or not play the
clip. For more information, see “
Additional Cell Parameters for QuickTime Movies
Advanced Particle System Controls
While the HUD provides a fast way to modify a particle system’s main parameters, the
particle system’s Emitter and Particle Cell tabs in the Inspector give you total control
over every aspect of that particle system. This includes individual parameters for each
cell in a system.
The Difference Between Emitter and Particle Cell Parameters
Emitter and Particle Cell parameters, though closely related, serve different purposes.
Emitter parameters control the overall shape and direction of the animated mass of
particles generated by the system. Other emitter parameters simultaneously modify
the parameters of all cells inside that emitter.
Particle Cell parameters, on the other hand, control the behavior of particles generated
from each cell that’s inside the particle emitter. For more information, see “
Emitter and Particle Cell Parameters
When only one layer is used as a particle cell source, the cell controls appear in the
Emitter tab as well as in the Particle Cell tab. Once more than one layer is added to a
Particle Emitter, all cell controls appear in the Particle Cell tab. To access this tab, the cell
must be selected in the Layers tab or Timeline.