Particle Systems

Summary

The whole of this chapter has been about describing movement and colour that simulates physical interactions via Newtonian physics. One important thing to remember when dealing with particle effects is how the system functions and how any required changes are implemented. Adding fields to a particle system should be done in a stepwise manner so that it is easy to see what changes have to be made if the effect needs to be changed. It is worth creating a framework that contains a set of basic assumptions, such as the gravity is x and the bounciness of all surfaces is y. Particle systems can either be included with a scene if they are software particles and possibly rendered in a separate layer or will have to be composited into the scene at a later date. Keeping these factors in mind will avoid any problems that may crop up when trying to integrate a particle system into an animated scene.