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198 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems
Memory Used (K) group
The Cache operator stores data in system memory;
you can specify an upper limit for the amount
of memory it uses. If the Limit setting and the
amount of cached data exceeds the available f ree
memory, the computer system might use virtual
(hard disk-based) memory instead, which slows
downthecaching.IfParticleFlowfillsthecache,
any remaining frames are calculated on the fly.
This group also lets you monitor the amount of
memory used for c aching data.
Limit—The maximum amount of system
memoryusedtocacheparticledata,inkilobytes.
Default=100,000, or 97.6 MB.
Total—The amount of memory currently used by
the cached data, in kilobytes. Read-only.
Note: Even animation frames w ith no particles
will probably consume a certain amount of cache
memory. The reason for this is that the cache
also stores states for randomly calculated values
such as Variation, to ensure that particle activity
is consistent across a rendering network, and with
machines that mig ht not have regular access to all
frames.
Current Frame—The amount of memory used by
the data cached for the current frame, in kilobytes.
Read-only.
Displ ay Oper ator
Particle View (page 2– 121) > Click Display in an event or
add a Display operator to the particle system and then
select it.
The Display operator lets you specif y how par t icles
appear in the viewports. The default display mode
is Ticks, which is the simplest, and thus t he fastest
to display. It ’s useful for animations that use a
large number of particles. At the opposite end of
the complexity spectrum is the Geometry option,
which lets the software depict particles as their
actual shapes. In addition, the Display operator
provides a variety of simple shapes that provide
fast feedback in testing anim ation, as well as the
ability to easily distinguish among particles in
different events. It a lso lets you set the percentage
of visible particles.
By default, Particle Flow automatically inserts a
new Display operator in each local event you add to
the system. Alternatively, you can choose Particle
View>Optionsmenu>DefaultDisplay>Global.
With this option, the s oftware automatically
inserts a Display operator in new global events, but
does not add one to new local events.
Particles in any local event that doesn ’t contain a
Display operator don’t appear in the viewports,
unless an associated globalevent contains a Display
operator (that is, a global Display operator). If a
particle is affected by multiple Display operators
(for example, both global and local operators)
simultaneously, the software generates all viewport
part icle representations at the same t ime.
See also
Render Operator (page 2–202)
Interfa ce
The user interface appears in the parameters panel,
on the right side of the P article View dialog.
Ty pe—Choose how part icles appear in the
viewports. The two-dimensional part icle markers
depict position only. Geometry shows how