Notch Reference Manual

Primitive Affector

Method

This node is used to attract or repel particles from the surface of the selected primitive type. This is typically used to make particles form into a given shape. Particles will use the closest point on the primitive’s surface to move towards or away from; this may be offset randomly using the Randomness attribute to create a noisier shape.

Example
This image is taken from the “cloner_spheres-b.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 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
Primitive Type Choose which primitive shape to use.
  • Sphere, Affect from a sphere.
  • Box, Affect from a box.
  • Cylinder, Affect from a cylinder,
  • Plane, Affect from a plane.
  • 2D Grid, Affect from a 2D grid.
  • 3D Grid, Affect from a 3D grid.
  • 2D Noise, Affect from random 2D noise.
  • Wireframe Sphere. Affect from the wireframe of a sphere.
Velocity Mode Control whether the particles should be attracted or repelled by the primitive.
Use Colours Toggle whether to use the colours input by the mesh.
Radius Alter the outer radius at which the affector is no longer effective.
Randomness Applies a random offset to the position the particles move towards or away from.
Velocity Randomness Amount by which the resultant velocity is randomised.
Velocity Scale Scale the strength of the affectors velocity on the particles.
Weight How strong an effect has on the particles.
Colour Weight Controls how much the colour value generated by the affector is blended with the particle’s current colour.
Stickiness Controls how much the particle sticks to the surface of the shape once it reaches it.
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.

Blending

Name Description
Blend Mode Change how the particle affector changes with the particles current changes.

Inputs

Name Description Typical Node Input
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.