Table of Contents

Particle FX for DAZ|Studio

Scaling Particles

When used in a Source Action the Set Scale sets the initial rotation angles of the particles.

When used in a Flow Action the Set Scale can change the particles rotation each time frame, making them appear to spin or tumble.  

The Transform Type has three options, Set,  Add  and Align With Velocity,  which tell whether the Operator sets the particles rotation, adds to its current rotation or aligns the particle with the direction it is going.  .   

Transform Axis  sets which axis of the particles rotation  is set or added to.    The Transform Axis options are XYZ, X, Y, Z, XY, YZ,  XZ, Scale and All.  These options determine which  rotation axis is modified by the operator.   The Scale option only applies the Particle Scale dial while All applies all the dials.  

Particle X,  Particle Y, Particle Z and Particle Scale set the base scale values that are set or added to the chosen Transform Axis.   This values are relative to the location of the Operator or the Parent To node.  

The Particle X Range, Particle Y Range, Particle Z Range and Particle Scale Range set the range the value may be randomized by a Randomizer. 

The Scale Operator affects the particles in the same way that Scale dials affect objects in the Scene.  

The Set Scale Operator sets the size of the particles in the scene.  

The Set option is valid in both Source and Flow Actions.  

In Source Actions only the Set option is valid.  

The Add Option acts each frame of time to add the dial scale values to the particle's scale values. 

If the Operator has a Domain then the Domain will usually have a child Randomizer that is used to randomize the placement of the particles within the Domain.   If it does not have a Randomizer, it will use a default internal Uniform randomization if the Particle X Range, Particle Y Range, Particle Z Range or Particle Scale Range are greater than zero.   

The Set Scale operator can operate in two time modes, Scene Time and Particle Time.  

When in a Source Action, the Operator automatically runs in Scene Time.  Any keyframing of the Operators dials are applied normally.  Since an Operator in a Source Action would apply the initial rotations to a particle, this allows the starting behavior of the particle stream to be varied over time and animated.  In a Flow Action using Scene Time  would allow the effect to set all the particles rotations in a synchronized manner if so desired.   

A Set Scale Operator in a Flow Action can be set by the constructor script to operate in Particle Time.  In Particle Time the keyframing of the dials is biased to the birth time of the particle.  The keyframes can be set as is usually done but the affect will be applied as if the zero time on the Timeline Tab is the particle's birth.

When operating in Particle Time, the scale of the particle can be controlled over time.  

When operating in Particle Time ,  at each frame of scene time the scale amounts based on  Particle X,  Particle Y, Particle Z and Particle Scale dials are added to the particles scale.  

See the HTML help file for the effect to see what time its operators are running on.  Unless otherwise stated, it is assumed that Set Rotation Operators in Flow Actions are running on Particle Time.  

Since the time mode is set by the effect constructor, the user will not have to be worried about setting or modifying it.

Table of Contents