5.5

498Motion User Guide
1. In the Library in Motion, select the Particle Emitters category, then select a subcategory,
such as Nature, Pyro, SciFi, and so on.
2. In the Library stack under the categories and subcategories, select a particle preset.
An animated preview of the selected particle emitter plays in the Library preview area.
3. Do one of the following:
• Click Apply in the preview area to add the selected particle system to the center of
the canvas.
Note: If Create Layers At is set to “Start of project” in the Project pane of Motion
Preferences, the particle system is added at the first frame. See If it’s your first
import in Motion.
• Drag the particle system from the Library stack into the canvas to the position where
you want it to appear.
• Drag the particle system from the Library stack into a group in the Layers list or
Timeline layers list.
• Drag the particle system from the Library stack to the track area of the Timeline or
mini-Timeline; when you reach the frame where you want the new particles to start,
release the mouse button.
The new particle emitter layer appears in the Layers list and in the canvas, composited
against any other layers you’ve already added.
When you add a particle system from the Library, the system acts as it did in the preview
area. If necessary, modify the particle system parameters in the HUD or Inspector. You can
modify a particle system only after it’s added to a project.
Note: Some emitters look best when motion blur is enabled. Preset Library emitters that
benefit from motion blur include Jelly Bands, Light Transit, Rain Streaks, and Silly String.
To enable motion blur, choose Motion Blur from the Render pop-up menu (above the
canvas), or choose View > Render Options > Motion Blur.
Create a custom particle system
To create a custom particle system, you must select a layer in your project to use as the
source for a cell in a new particle emitter. You can use any layer in your project as a cell
source, including still images, video clips, text, or shapes created in Motion. The layer you
select when you create an emitter becomes the first cell in that particle system. The cell
specifies the look of the particles generated in the canvas.
Note: You can also use a group as the source for an emitter cell, but your computer’s
processing performance may slow drastically.
1. In Motion, create an image layer to serve as the cell source for the particles that your
emitter will generate.