pyrocluster cinema 4d 9 Manual Do Utilizador
18 REFERENCE
PYROCLUSTER
Each flamethrower particle flying away from the emitter (i.e. the nozzle), has an
age — it was born at some time, it will die at some time. So we’ll use the Age page
to define the colors of the flame over time.
age — it was born at some time, it will die at some time. So we’ll use the Age page
to define the colors of the flame over time.
Setting colors
Figure 1 (left): Setting the
color of the flamethrower.
Figure 2 (right): Setting the
transparency of the flame.
Time is indicated in the gradient as particle birth on the left and particle death on the
right. So, the white and blue flame that should appear close to the nozzle (shortly after
the particle birth) should be set on the left-hand side of the Age gradient and the darker,
yellow-red colors that appear further away from the nozzle (getting closer and closer
to particle death) are set on the right-hand side of the Age gradient (Figure 1).
the particle birth) should be set on the left-hand side of the Age gradient and the darker,
yellow-red colors that appear further away from the nozzle (getting closer and closer
to particle death) are set on the right-hand side of the Age gradient (Figure 1).
How do you make the hot white and blue flame be transparent at the beginning?
Easy. There is a separate gradient (enable Edit Alpha) that controls transparency over
time, via a grayscale Alpha gradient (Figure 2).
Easy. There is a separate gradient (enable Edit Alpha) that controls transparency over
time, via a grayscale Alpha gradient (Figure 2).
Particle settings
PyroCluster effects are always applied to particle systems. Each valid particle system
has its own settings for lifetime, size, rotation and other variables. PyroCluster uses
these settings to create its smoke, fire or cloud effects.
has its own settings for lifetime, size, rotation and other variables. PyroCluster uses
these settings to create its smoke, fire or cloud effects.
You do not need to worry about the size or shape of the particles generated by the
particle system; PyroCluster does not use size or shape information at all, although
it does need to know the particles’ positions. So you’ll want to set the size of the
particles to 0 in most cases, or hide the particle system so that you don’t see hard
nuggets at the center of each PyroCluster puff. The size of any given cloud or smoke
puff is directly controlled by PyroCluster.
it does need to know the particles’ positions. So you’ll want to set the size of the
particles to 0 in most cases, or hide the particle system so that you don’t see hard
nuggets at the center of each PyroCluster puff. The size of any given cloud or smoke
puff is directly controlled by PyroCluster.
The power of life and death
Animating the size of the cloud or smoke is a straightforward task. On the Globals page
of the PyroCluster shader, you can set the radius of the particle when it’s born — this
will be the radius of the smoke puff rendered in place of every particle at the start
of its life. On the Age page you can then set the radius of the particle when it dies.
PyroCluster will interpolate between these values (birth and death radius) over the
lifetime of the particle.
will be the radius of the smoke puff rendered in place of every particle at the start
of its life. On the Age page you can then set the radius of the particle when it dies.
PyroCluster will interpolate between these values (birth and death radius) over the
lifetime of the particle.
The speed or depth of this interpolation is controlled by the Color Mix gradient that
is defined on the Age page of the PyroCluster shader.