Attribute Shading
Updated: 4 Dec 2023
Shades particles based on their current properties.
Attribute Shading
Method #
This node colours particles based on an attribute per particle. This is used to shade particles by their own properties, e.g. Tint a particle red as it gets faster, or fade it out as it faces towards the camera.
A Colour Ramp node may be connected to the Colour Ramp input, which is used as a gradient and sampled by the attribute value to generate the outgoing colour.
Parameters
These properties control the 3D transforms of the node. Transforms will generally be inherited by child nodes, although they can be ignored through the Inherit Transform Channels attributes.
Parameter Details Position X Position x in local space
Position Y Position y in local space
Position Z Position z in local space
Rotation Heading Rotation around y axis in local space
Rotation Pitch Rotation around x axis in local space
Rotation Bank Rotation around z axis in local space
Scale X Scale along the x axis in local space
Scale Y Scale along the y axis in local space
Scale Z Scale along the z axis in local space
Control the inheritance of the transforms from the parent.
Parameter Details Position Toggle inheritance of the Position from the parent.
Rotation Toggle inheritance of the Rotation from the parent.
Scale Toggle inheritance of the Scale from the parent.
World Position Only Inherit the world position from the parent only, rotation and scale will be ignored. Overrides above properties.
Inherit Time Toggle inheritance of time from the parent.
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
Parameter Details Colour Change the colour of the particles as they spawn.
Input Channel Choose which attribute will be used to control the shader.
- Velocity X / Y / Z : Shades the particle based on its velocity along a particular axis.
- Velocity Magnitude : Shades the particle based on the particles absolute velocity.
- Velocity Along Direction : Shades the particle based on how much its velocity points along the orientation of the shading node.
- Facing Along Direction : Shades the particle based on how much its facing direction is aligned to the orientation of the shading node.
- Life : Shades the particle based on the remaining life of the particle.
- Time : Shades the particle based on the time since birth of the particle.
- Normalised Life : Shades the particle based on the remaining life of the particle, scaled into 0 to 1 range by the life at birth of the particle.
Attribute Scale Scales the incoming attribute value before using it to generate a colour.
Attribute Bias Offsets the incoming attribute value before using it to generate a colour.
Use Absolute Value (Ignore Sign) Toggle whether to use the absolute value of the incoming value - ignoring the whether the input channel is negative.
Blend Mode Choose how the particle colours blend to the source colours
Blend Amount Control how much the new shading affects the particles.
These properties control the falloff of the particle shading.
Parameter Details Radius Outer radius for which the particles will no longer be coloured.
Inner Radius Inner radius for which the particles will be coloured at their max.
Falloff Power How quickly the gradient changes from the inner radius to the outer radius.
Inputs
These properties control the 3D transforms of the node. Transforms will generally be inherited by child nodes, although they can be ignored through the Inherit Transform Channels attributes.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Position X | Position x in local space |
| Position Y | Position y in local space |
| Position Z | Position z in local space |
| Rotation Heading | Rotation around y axis in local space |
| Rotation Pitch | Rotation around x axis in local space |
| Rotation Bank | Rotation around z axis in local space |
| Scale X | Scale along the x axis in local space |
| Scale Y | Scale along the y axis in local space |
| Scale Z | Scale along the z axis in local space |
Control the inheritance of the transforms from the parent.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Position | Toggle inheritance of the Position from the parent. |
| Rotation | Toggle inheritance of the Rotation from the parent. |
| Scale | Toggle inheritance of the Scale from the parent. |
| World Position Only | Inherit the world position from the parent only, rotation and scale will be ignored. Overrides above properties. |
| Inherit Time | Toggle inheritance of time from the parent. |
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour | Change the colour of the particles as they spawn. |
| Input Channel | Choose which attribute will be used to control the shader.
|
| Attribute Scale | Scales the incoming attribute value before using it to generate a colour. |
| Attribute Bias | Offsets the incoming attribute value before using it to generate a colour. |
| Use Absolute Value (Ignore Sign) | Toggle whether to use the absolute value of the incoming value - ignoring the whether the input channel is negative. |
| Blend Mode | Choose how the particle colours blend to the source colours |
| Blend Amount | Control how much the new shading affects the particles. |
These properties control the falloff of the particle shading.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Radius | Outer radius for which the particles will no longer be coloured. |
| Inner Radius | Inner radius for which the particles will be coloured at their max. |
| Falloff Power | How quickly the gradient changes from the inner radius to the outer radius. |
| Name | Description | Typical Input |
|---|---|---|
| Colour Ramp | An optional colour ramp node to be sampled by the attribute value. | Colour Ramp |
| Affected Emitters | Choose which particle emitters can be affected by the affector. | Primitive Emitter |
| Transform Modifiers | Apply the transforms of another node to this node. | Null |
| Target Node | Modifiy the rotations of the node to always direct the z axis towards the input. | Null |
| Local Transform Override | Apply the transforms of another node to this node, relative to its parent. | Null |