Particle Types¶
Particle types define the appearance and behavior of particles. In the object browser, they are always child nodes of particle emitters.
![Scene: Particle type](../_images/scene-particle-type.png)
Particle renderers¶
There are three distinct types of particles, which determines how they are rendered.
- Sprite particle
The sprite renderer renders each particle as a separate sprite.
- Trail particle
The trail renderer generates continuous trails along the path of particles with the same parent particle. You can set details of the trail mesh generation in the additional settings next to the renderer property.
- Mesh particle
The mesh renderer renders each particles as a three-dimensional mesh. You can change which mesh is used in the additional settings next to the renderer property.
Properties¶
The following properties can be adjusted in the property window to influence the look and behavior of the particles.
General¶
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Lifespan |
How long particles exist after being spawned by their emitter. |
Lifespan variance |
How much the lifespan varies between particles. |
Number |
How many particles of this type are spawned by the emitter. |
Visual¶
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Material |
Material that particles use for rendering. The parameters of the active material can be accessed with . See particle materials for details. |
Renderer |
Which renderer is used for drawing the particles. Click to show additional options for each renderer. |
Layer |
Layer the particles are drawn on. Particles on upper layers occlude those on lower layers. |
Color |
Color of each particle over its lifetime, displayed as a color gradient. Double-click or right-click the color gradient to add another color. Double-clicking a color marker lets you choose its color, right-clicking removes it. To change the position of color markers, drag them around using the mouse. |
Color variance |
How much the color varies between particles. |
Initial opacity |
Opacity of each particle when created. |
Opacity |
Opacity of each particle over its lifetime as a fraction of its initial opacity. |
Opacity variance |
How much the opacity varies between particles. |
Initial size |
Size of each particle when created. |
Size |
Size of each particle over its lifetime as a fraction of its initial size. |
Size variance |
How much the size varies between particles. |
Stretch |
How much particles are stretched based on their speed. |
Motion¶
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Position |
Motion path for particles. It is shown in the scene view if the property is selected. |
Motion path force |
How much particles are influenced by the motion path. Set to 0 to disable motion paths. |
Initial velocity |
How fast each particle is initially after being spawned by the emitter. |
Inherited velocity |
How much speed particles inherit from the parent particle or emitter. |
Velocity variance |
How much the speed varies between particles. |
Acceleration |
Linear acceleration applied to each particle over its lifetime. Positive values speed up particles, while negative values slow them down. |
Radial acceleration |
Acceleration of each particle towards the emitter over its lifetime. If you select negative values here, particles are repelled from the emitter. |
Alignment mode |
|
Rotation mode |
Whether the rotation property represents the exact rotation of particles or their angular velocity. |
Initial rotation |
Rotation of each particle when created, in degrees. For 3D effects, rotation is composed of roll, yaw and pitch. |
Rotation |
How particles rotate over time from their initial rotation. |
Rotation variance |
How much the rotation varies between particles. |
Angular velocity variance |
How much the angular velocity varies between particles. |
Rotation by speed |
How much particles rotate based on their velocity. |
Pivot |
Center of rotation, relative to the particle’s center. |
Physics¶
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Physical size |
The relative size of particles for motion and collision calculations. |
Weight |
How strongly particles are affected by force fields. |
Bounce |
How much particles bounce back from colliders. |
Friction |
How resistant particles are to sliding down colliders. |