Notch Reference Manual

Particle Event

Method

Particle Events are used to affect change in a particle system when something happens to an individual particle: for example, when a collision occurs between the particle and a collision surface, new particles may be emitted at that point; or when a particle reaches a certain age, it may change size and colour. Events are specified as a cause, set via the Cause Type parameter, and effect, set by the Event Type parameter. Particles are monitored for occurrence of the cause; when it occurs, the event is executed.

The Particle Use Amount parameter may be used to restrict the set of the particles so that not every particle for whom the cause occurs will trigger the event. For events which emit new particles or change particle materials there must be a Particle Emitter connected to the Target Emitter input.

Transform

Name Description
Position X Move its position along the x-axis in local space.
Position Y Move its position along the y-axis in local space.
Position Z Move its position along the z-axis in local space.
Rotation Heading Rotate the object about the y-axis.
Rotation Pitch Rotate the object about the x-axis.
Rotation Bank Rotate the object about the z-axis.
Scale X Scale along the x-axis.
Scale Y Scale along the y-axis.
Scale Z Scale along the z-axis.

Inherit Transform Channels

Toggle which transform channels should be inherited. By default, all are on.

Attributes

Name Description
Cause Type What kind of event triggers the node.
  • Collision, a collision occured between the particle and a collision surface such as an Collision Affector.
  • Particle Life, the particle reached a certain remaining life time.
  • Particle Time, the particle reached a certain time since birth.
  • Event Node Time, the event node reached a certain point on the timeline.
  • Layer Time, the layer reached a certain point on the timeline.
  • Velocity, the particle’s velocity reached a certain magnitude.
Event Type What kind of event is triggered.
  • None, no event is triggered
  • Change Emitter Material, the particle’s emitter is changed, causing it to take on a new material – which can be used to change size or colour
  • Emit New Particles, new particles are emitted at the particle’s location
  • Emit New Particles And Kill, new particles are emitted at the particle’s location and the particle itself is killed.
Particle Use Amount Percentage of particles that can be used by the node.
Time Value The time value used for cause types Particle Time, Event Node Time and Layer Time.
Particle Life Amount The life value used for cause type Particle Life.
Num New Particles How many new particles are generated with cause types Emit New Particles and Emit New Particles And Kill.
Trigger Value Value needed to trigger the particle event.

Inputs

Name Description Typical Node Input
Target Emitter The new emitter to use, for cause types Change Emitter Material, Emit New Particles and Emit New Particles And Kill. Primitive Emitter
Affected Emitters Choose which emitters can be affected by the affector. Primitive Emitter
Transform Modifier Links all transform properties to the input node. Null
Target Node Always faces the x-axis towards the inputs anchor point. Null
Local Transform Override Override the transformation values of the node, relative to its parent. Null

Outputs

The child of this node is the emitter which will be used to emit new particles from.