Notch Reference Manual

Vortex Affector

Method

This node makes particles move in a rotational manner. This is typically used to create rotational vortex effects, e.g. tornados.

The effect is weighted by a falloff calculated using the distance from the node to the particle, ramping from 100% at distance zero down to 0% at the distance specified by the Radius attribute.

Example
This image is taken from the “tornado.dfx” sample project.
Example Nodegraph

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 x-axis.
Rotation Pitch Rotate the object about the y-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
Velocity Amount Scale the strength of the affectors velocity on the particles.
Spread Angle Change the angle of spread for the particles.
Vortex Angle Scale Controls the effect of the angular velocity by radius, making particles further away from the centre of the vortex move faster.
Outward Velocity Amount / Blend Controls the amount particles are pushed outwards.
Radius Alter the outer radius at which the affector is no longer effective.
Randomness How much randomness is added in the particles movement.
Life Effect Coeffs How much the particles are affected by the affector at different stages of the particles life cycle. Values 1 and 2 are control points used to control a bezier curve between values 0 and 3.

Inputs

Name Description Typical Node Input
Vortex Position Node Overrides the vortex transform. Null
Mask Node Mask out areas that particles cannot spawn. Image Plane
Affected Emitters Choose which emitters can be affected by the affector. Primitive Emitter
Procedural Falloff Use the SDF values from a procedural system to dictate the falloff. Procedural Root
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

All nodes connected to this node are treated as if flowing to the parent node, and inherits any transformation changes along the chain.