The light for the Flame only takes into the consideration the color set for the particle type.
You can have any or all of the Flame, Smoke, and Sparks structures (see Explosion Structures) active as phases of the explosion. For example, if you only want to create a candle flame, you can select only the Flame and Smoke phases, or select only the Smoke phase for a cloud or smoke trail.
After you select a phase, you must then set up its corresponding structure properties (see below), emission properties (see Setting Up the Phase Emissions), and particle type (see Setting Up the Phase’s Particle Type).
To select phases and set up their structures
1. On the Simulation page in the ExplosionOp property editor, select a Phase Activation (any combination): Flame, Smoke, and/or Sparks.
2. For each phase you activate, set its properties on its corresponding property page. For example, if you select Smoke, click the Smoke tab and set the properties there.
Shown in the following image is the Flame page: the pages for the Smoke and Sparks structures are the same except that they don’t have Light parameters.
If you select the Flame phase, an explosion light is generated (in the explorer, you can find it under the Explosion Emitter node). You can constrain the light to the position of the explosion icon; its color, defined frame by frame, is equal to the average RGB of all of the flame’s particles. The light emission is proportional to the particle density.
Since the light emulates flame illumination, it should stay in the same zone of flame particles; by default it is set at the emitter centre, but you can move it.
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The light for the Flame only takes into the consideration the color set for the particle type. |
The information in the following illustration gives you an overview of the parameters, but for more information on them, see ExplosionOp Property Editor in the Properties Reference.
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If you find that particles are generated for the explosion but don’t move from the icon, check the Air Friction value for the active phases. A value of 0 means that the particles cannot move with respect to the air, so if there is no wind, they don’t move at all. The same applies for the Gravity Coefficient: the value must be anything other than 0 (zero) for gravity to have an effect. |
Setting Up the Phase Emissions
After you select and set up a phase, you must set up the emission parameters and the particle types associated with it. For example, if you selected the Sparks phase, you must set up the Sparks emission parameters and the Sparks particle type.
To set up the phase’s emission
• In the ExplosionOp property editor, click the Emission tab and set the emission properties for each of the phases you selected.
The information in the following illustration gives you an overview of the parameters, but for more information on them, see Emission in the Properties Reference.
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Explosions are a bit different from particles to animate because they have structures (sparks, smoke, and flame) as well as particle types. For example, if you’re animating the Speed on the Emission page here, change the Speed Control parameter on the appropriate structure’s property page (see previous page) to Absolute Frame to see the expected keyed results. |
Setting Up the Phase’s Particle Type
After you set up the phase’s emission parameters, you must select and set up the particle types associated with it. For example, if you selected the Sparks phase, you must set up its particle type (Sparks by default).
Setting up the phase’s particle type
1. From the ParType list on the Emissions page in the ExplosionOp property editor, select the particle type to use. By default, the structure’s corresponding particle type is selected (that is, a Flame particle type is created if you selected the Flame phase).
You can also click the New button beside the list to create a new particle type.
2. Click Edit to open the particle type’s property editor in which you can set its properties.
3. Set the properties for the explosion particle types in the Particle Type’s property editor.
You can set any of the properties as you would for any particle type (such as color, size, and mass) on the General, Color, and Envir. pages. See Defining a Particle Type for more information.
As well, there are properties that apply only to the Explosion operator on the Explode page in this property editor.
The information in the following illustration gives you an overview of the parameters, but for more information on them, see Explosion in the Properties Reference.
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