Pandoras Box > User Interface - Master > Tabs Overview

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The FireFly™ particle system allows creating elaborate real-time particle effects in a true interactive 3D compositing space. There are 3D and 2D particle systems are available on Pandoras Box.

Since version 8, Particles are rendered based on the blend mode of the Layer. In prior versions, they were mixed with the background as if their blend mode was "Add". With the ability to choose a distinct blend mode, you can now also use particles darker than the background or create other effects.

Particle System Layer

The easiest way using particles, is to add a "Particle System Layer". Simply right-click a Site and choose "Add Devices". This layer is optimized and offers only parameters mostly needed for particles.

device-tree-and-control_particle-system-layer

Old Workflow: Adding Particles to a Video Layer

particles_tab The older workflow is still supported but requests more steps and has no advantages. In order to use the Firefly Particles you have to add a Particle System to a Video Layer first. As a second step you may then drag one or several emitters onto the specific system.

First, open the Particles tab: Open the Tabs menu and click on "FireFly Particles". Open the "Systems" folder and drag a 2D or 3D Particle System onto a Video layer in the Device Tree. Alternatively, select the Layer to see its parameters in the Devices Controls tab and drag the Particle System on the empty space right next to the last parameter.

With the particle system you define the environment, setting up the opacity of the system, Gravity and Wind. To see how these settings affect the emitters, you have to add at least one emitter.

Next, open the "Emitters" folder and drag a 2D or 3D Particle Emitter onto the Particle System (not the layer), either in the Device Controls tab or in the Device Tree on the entry "Particle System" under "PS".

The particle system section is now enhanced by the emitter parameters.

System and Emitter: Parameter overview

SYSTEM / FORCES

Parameter	Description	Value Range	Default
PS Opacity	Opacity of the whole Particle System	0-255	255
Gravity	Amount of Gravity affecting the emitters	0.000-1000.000	0.000
Wind	Amount of Wind affecting the emitters	0.000-1000.000	0.000
Wind Rot X		0-360°	0°
Wind Rot Y		0-360°	0°
Wind Rot Z		0-360°	0°

EMITTER

Parameter	Description	Value Range	Default
Media	Media File used as Emitter		None
Mesh	Object File for the Media		None
Emitter Type	Choose how the emitter will appear:	None, Point, Line, Area, Circle, Sphere, Cylinder	None
Particle Alignment	Alignment of the emitting particles	None, Billboarding, Flight Direction	None
Radius	Radius of the emitter type, in units (a PB fullscreen is always 16 units wide)	0-100	1
Length	the emitter sources dimension	0-100	1
Angle	Angle of emitting particles	0-360°	45°
Range	Range	0-100	0.000
X Pos	Position of emitting particles in X	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
Y Pos	Position of emitting particles in Y	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
Z Pos	Position of emitting particles in Z	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
X Angle	X Angle of particle source	-1000° - +1000°	0°
Y Angle	Y Angle of particle source	-1000° - +1000°	0°
Z Angle	Z Angle of particle source	-1000° - +1000°	0°
Rot Pivot X Pos	X Pos of rotation pivot	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
Rot Pivot Y Pos	Y Pos of rotation pivot	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
Rot Pivot Z Pos	Z Pos of rotation pivot	-999.999 - +999.999	0.000
Count/Sec	Amount of particles per second	0.000 – 1000.000	100.000
Time To Live (Sec)	Amount of seconds a particle will live until it fades out and disappears	0.000 – 1000.000	5.000
Speed *	Define the particles speed		Start:20, End: 20
X Scale *	Define the particles X Scale		Start:0.1, End: 0.1
Y Scale *	Define the particles Y Scale		Start:0.1, End: 0.1
Z Scale *	Define the particles Z Scale		Start:0.1, End: 0.1
X Rot *	Define the particles X Rotation value		Start:0, End: 0
Y Rot *	Define the particles Y Rotation value		Start:0, End: 0
Z Rot *	Define the particles Z Rotation value		Start:0, End: 0
Mass	Mass of particles; the flight behavior of an objects is defined by its momentum (mass*velocity or speed); the momentum decreases the influence of gravity and wind	1.000 – 100.00	1.000
Drag	Drag of particles; as drag is a force which decreases the velocity / speed of an object it resists the particle´s motion, thus it increases the influence of gravity and wind	0.000 – 1000.000	0.000
Color *	Color added to particles.	Choose color
Particle Opacity *	Define the particles opacity over lifetime	Choose color	Start:white (full opacity), End: black (opacity=0)

*: The parameters marked with * allow defining a curve over the particles lifetime. A right-click into the faders background adds a new point in time whereto a parameter can be defined.

Particle Examples

In the following examples these files are used:
_img107

In the examples only the parameter values different from the default values are mentioned.

Example 1:
_img108
Image above: Here the emitter type is set to "Point", there is no gravity set for the particle system.

Image above: The particle systems gravity is now set to 155 – the emitters will fall down after they flew into positive Y direction.

Images above: The emitter type is changed to "Line", with the Radius set to 12. No gravity.
Left) Viewed from the front, Right) viewed from the side.

Images above: The emitter type is changed to "Circle", with the Radius set to 12. No gravity.
Left) Viewed from the front, Right) viewed from downside.