8

Display Operator 199
particles wil l actua lly render, in three dimensions;
Lines shows speed and direction of motion; and
Bounding Boxes reflects scale and orientation.
In the following list, each choice’s description is
preceded by the number of dimensions used by
each p article representation:
•
None—Particles do not appear in the viewports.
•
Dots—(0D) E ach part icle appears as a single
pixel.
•
Ticks—(2D)Eachparticleappearsasa+sign.
•
Circle s —(2D) Each particle appears as a small
circle.
•
Lines—(1D) E ach part icle appears as a line, one
pixel thick. The line’s length indicates particle
speed, and its orientation reflects the d irect ion
of motion. Use this option for fast, accurate
feedback when experimenting with the Speed
operators.
Tip: WhenusingtheLinesdisplaytypewiththe
OpenGL display driver, slow-moving particles
might not appear properly in t he viewports. In
such cases, to see all part icles, add a second
Display operator in the same event a nd set its
Type to Dots.
•
Bounding Boxes—(3D) Each particle appears
as a bounding box. Use this option for a good
representation of the final animation, at a slight
cost in computational speed.
•
Geometr y—(3D) Each par ticle appears as its
actual geometry. Use this option for the best
representation of the final animation, at the
greatest cost in computational speed.
•
Diamonds—(2D) E ach part icle appears as a
diamond.
•
Boxes—(2D)Eachparticleappearsasasmall
square.
•
Asterisks—(2D) Each par ticle appears as an
asterisk (*).
•
Trian gles—(2D) E ach particle appears as a
small triangle.
Visible %—Specifies the percentage of particles
visible in the viewports. This option lets you speed
up viewport redrawing by reducing the number
of visible particles.
Show Par ticle IDs—When on, each particle’s unique
index number is visible in the viewports. P articles
are numbered in the order of their birth, starting
w ith 1 for the first particle born.
[color s watch]—Shows the color for particles
displayed using options other than Geometry, as
well as for the particle IDs. The software chooses a
different color at random for each Display operator
added to the system. In addition to the Type
options, using different colors helps to distinguish
among particles in different events.
To change the color, click the color swatch and use
the Color Selector dialog to choose a new color.
If a system has a global Display operator, and you
selectitsSourceiconinaviewport,thenyoucan
change the color of the global Display o perator
from the color swatch on the M odify panel.
However, changing the g lobal Display operator’s
color in Particle View does not change the color of
the swatch on the Modify panel.
Note: When a Particle Flow source icon is selected,
all of its non-selected p articles, other than those
shown as geometry, are colored w hite in the
viewports. To see all assigned particle colors,
deselecttheparticlesystem.
Selected—Choose how selected particles (page
2–134)
appear in the viewports. The choices are
thesameasforType,above.