Escalight - 3ds Max tutorial, Photoshop, Flash, V-Ray, Blender, Free 3D models, etc

by Didik Wijaya
This tutorial needs you to understand basic use of 3dsmax.

A lot of film use special effects these days. Sometime we thought, how they create those special effects. Mostly, special effects on those films rely heavily on particle animation. Whatever your 3d package you use, particle is the main actor on most special effects. Nicely, 3dsmax have Particle Flow, which is particle system we can use with ease. Particle Flow is really powerful, and this tutorial suitable for you who don't know anything about Particle Flow. I will explain what is Particle Flow and how to use it.

WHAT IS PARTICLE FLOW?
There are 2 types of particle systems in 3dsmax, one is Non Event-Driven Particle System, and the other is Event-Driven Particle System. The first mentioned is traditional particle system like Snow, Spray, SuperSpray, Blizzard, PArray, and PCloud. The second one, is also called Particle Flow or PFlow or sometimes people just say Flow, which is available since 3dsmax version 6.

Event-Driven Particle System or Particle Flow has special characteristic, called Event. The 'flow' or animation of particle can be divided into several events, and each event can have its own parameters. Watch image below. In first event, particle display is set as sphere, while in the next event cube. That's why in Particle Flow we have greater flexibility and control for every particle we have created.

On contrary, in Non Event-Driven Particle System, each particle has the same parameter along the animation. And of course, this particle system type doesn't have event.

DO WE REALLY NEED PARTICLE FLOW?
The answer is depend on what you are going to create. If you want to create a simple particle animation, like rain, snow, it is enough to use Non Event-Driven Particle System. But, if you are going to create a complex particle animation, it is better to use Particle Flow. It is much easier for you to control particle animation, and much faster to create.

HERE IS A SIMPLE EXAMPLE
1. First, you need to create a Particle Flow. You can create Particle Flow using one of two way. First option is by going to Command Panel. Click Create Tab. Make sure you are on Geometry, and from drop-down list choose Particle Systems. Click PF Source button. Now, click and drag on viewport Top to create a PFlow icon.Any size and location will do. Scrub slider to watch particle's animation. Your particle (shown as + / plus sign) will be moving down out from the icon.

2. After finished, click from top menu Graph Editors>Particle View, or simply press 6 on keyboard. Particle View window will be opened.Whenever you work with Particle Flow, you will be facing Particle View Window. This window is where you modify Particle Flow. By default, you will get 2 Event like image below, when you create Particle Flow using PF Source icon. Those two event displayed at Event Display area.

3. Another way to create Particle Flow is by using Particle View window itself. First, select all event and delete it. To select an event, click once at event's name until it turn white. Then, press Delete button in keyboard. Note: you can select, copy, or paste an event just like you do in word processor. Ctrl+C for Copy, and Ctrl+V for Paste. This shortcut will be useful when you want to create several similar event. You can also select event using region/window selection.

4. After Event Display is cleared, go to the bottom pane. This area is called Depot, where Actions listed.Actions are components that build Particle Flow. Click and drag Standard Flow to the Event Display Area. Now, you will get the same two event you got earlier when you use PFSource icon. Note: Empty Flow will only create empty event like image below.

In the next part of this tutorial, Part 2, we will continue this tutorial.

Any question or comments regarding this tutorial should be sent to:
Didik Wijaya, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Discuss this tutorial