Enable

Turns the particle emission on and off.

Emitter1

Plug in the geometry from which you want to emit particles. This must be a curve geometry. You can plug multiple geometries into this emitter.

Select Rate Type

The way in which particles are emitted:

• Total Number of Particles emits all particles set by the Rate parameter at once at the first frame of emission.

• Number of Particles Per Second emits the number of particles set by the Rate parameter over time.

See ICE Particle Rate (Amount) for more information.

Rate

The number of particles that are emitted according to the Select Rate Type you selected.

Note that in some cases where particles are deleted immediately using one of the Filter compounds (such as Filter by Weight Map) in the Emission Control group, the actual number of particles that are displayed on screen may be less that this Rate value defines. That is because the Filter compounds delete certain particles immediately after they are born.

Seed

This number is used as the basis for the random generation of particles. If two different particle emitters use the same seed, you may get identical results in their motion. Change the seed value to get a different random generation of particles.

Emit Only at U Value

Emits particles only along the U direction of the curve.

U Value

Emits particles starting at this value along the curve. If you animate this value, you can create a fuse effect of particles being emitted as they run along the curve.

U Variance

Adds a variance to the particle emission along the U direction of the curve.

Mass

Defines how much matter the particles have. The value is in kilograms (kg). The mass is used to determine how the particles are affected by forces and other physical effects. Particles with higher mass values require larger forces to modify their motion.

See ICE Particle Mass for more information.

Size

Defines how large the particle is. This value is the particle radius, but the particle display size is the diameter. For example, if the Size value (radius) is 1, the diameter (display) size is 2. Some compounds use the Size value to help with collision detection or to define motion, such as Bounce Off Surface or Stick to Surface, for example.

See ICE Particle Size for more information.

Color

Defines the initial particle color as displayed in the viewport. Rendered particles do not use the particle color values unless you've set up the shader to do so. Set the color value using the standard color sliders and color box.

See ICE Particle Color for more information.

Shape

Defines how the particle shape is drawn on screen. You have a selection of different methods for displaying particles: point, segment (trails), disc, rectangle, sphere, box, cylinder, capsule, cone, and blob.

• If you select Blob, the particles are displayed as blobs only in the render region.

• To display trails, select Segment.

• To render sprites, select the Rectangle shape.

• If you want particles to collide with an obstacle, they require a shape that has 3D geometry, such as a sphere, box, cylinder, capsule, or cone.

See ICE Particle Shapes for more information.

Orientation

Defines the orientation of particles when emitted. The particle's orientation stays the same over its lifetime unless some force changes it. Set the Orientation of the particle around its local X, Y, and/or Z axes. Then set the Angle value, which is the amount of rotation in degrees around these axes.

See ICE Particle Orientation for more information.

State ID

When using the State nodes to define particle behavior, this value defines which state the particles will be using when created.

See Setting the Particle’s State ID for more information.

Select Initial Direction Method

Select from three methods to control the direction of movement of new particles:

• Use Emit Location Tangent uses the emitter curve's tangent to control the particle's initial direction.

• Use Emit Location Tangent Negative uses the direction opposite to the emitter curve's tangent to control the particle's initial direction.

• Use Initial Direction Vector uses the Initial Direction value that you set to define the particle's initial movement.

See ICE Particle Direction for more information.

Direction

If you selected Use Initial Direction Vector as the Select Initial Direction Method, you must set this value to control the initial direction of movement for all new particles. These values use global XYZ space. If you set all the axes values to 0, the particles are emitted but stay stuck to the emitter.

The particle's direction stays the same over its lifetime until some type of force changes it.

Randomize Direction Start Angle

Randomizes the direction of the particle as they're emitted within a range as defined by the start and end angles. These values are in degrees. A range of 0 - 360 degrees is a full rotation.

Randomize Direction End Angle

The end angle of the range in which particles are randomized.

Speed

Defines the speed at which new particles are moving when they are emitted, which is the number of Softimage units per second. If this value is set to 0, the particles are emitted, but simply remain on the emitting object. This parameter controls only the initial speed, but you can change it over time using a compound such as Modulate Velocity Over Time.

See ICE Particle Speed for more information.

Fast Moving Emitter

If the emitter that you are using as a surface to create new partices is moving very fast, then you may get “banding” effects. This is because particles are only emitted each frame. If the velocity of the emitter is high, then you may see clumps of particles appearing as the emitter moves through space. This toggle is used to correct this artifact and produce a smooth stream of emitted particles.

Execute on Emit1

You can plug in nodes that have Execute output ports. These ports only get executed once when a particle gets created.