8
1486 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
Dynamic operator (page 2–187)
.Italtersthe
color (or map) of a particle based on the particle ’s
life. The particles in a system begin as one color.
At a specified age, they begin changing (by
interpolation) to a second color, and then they
change again to a third color before they die out.
Tip: This map works well with the
Particle MBlur
map (page 2–1486)
. For example, you could assign
Particle Age as a
diffuse map (page 2–1339)
and
Particle MBlur as an
Opacity m ap (page 2–1344)
.
AnotherwaytouseParticleAgeisinthemask
channel of a
Blend (page 2–1397)
mater ial. In this
case, you could set up two of the colors to white,
and one to black, which would make the particles
change materials over their age. In addition, you
could set up one of the two materials with an
effects channel (page 3–1040)
and use a
Glow
(page 3–371)
filter on it through Video Post.
See also
For funct ionalit y shared with other 3D maps, see
Output Rollout (page 2–1430)
.
Inter face
Co lor #1—Sets the color of a par ticle at its birth.
Click the button to the right of the color swatch to
assign a map instead of a solid color. T he check
box turns the map on or off.
Age #1 —Sets the age where a par ticle starts
changing from Color #1 to Color #2, expressed as
apercentageoftheparticle’sentirelife.
Co lor # 2—Sets the color of a particle in mid-life.
You c an a lso assi gn a map to this color.
Age # 2—Setstheagewhereaparticle’scolorequals
Color #2, expressed as a percent age of the part icle’s
entire life.
Co lor # 3—Sets the color of a particle at its death.
You c an a lso assi gn a map to this color.
Age #3 —Sets the age where a particle changes to
Color #3, expressed as a percent age of the part icle’s
entire life.
Pa rti cle MBlu r Ma p
Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. >
Material/Map Browser > Particle MBlur
Particle MBlur makes particles blur as they move.
TheParticleMBlur(MotionBlur)mapisforuse
with
particle systems (page 3–1084)
.Themap
alterstheopacityoftheleadingandtrailingends
of particles based on their rate of motion. The map
is usually applied as an opacity map, but you can
use it as a diff use map for special effects.
The following conditions must be in effect to
achieveparticlemotionblur:
• The Particle MBlur map must be in the same
material that is assigned to the particles. For