8

Find Target Test 215
moving toward the target. You can also specify
where on the target the particles should go.
Alternatively, you can use Find Target as a simple
proximity test: If a par ticle comes within a certain
distance of its target, it becomes eligible for
redirection to the next event.
Find Target icon
When you add a Find Target test to the particle
system in
Particle View (p age 2–121) ,aspherical
Find Target icon appears in the scene at the world
origin (0,0,0). You c an use this icon as a target, or
you can use one or more mesh objects in the scene
as targets. To display the Find Target parameters
on the Modify panel, select the icon. If you delete
the icon, the software also deletes the test.
Note: IfyouaddFindTargetfromtheCreatepanel,
Part icle Flow creates a separate event for the test
intheparticlediagram.
Tip: In a particle loop, all particles end up at their
respective start ing positions, enabling seamless
repetition of the resulting animation. You can
make particle loops with Particle Flow using a
Script operator and a Find Target operator. At the
start of the loop, the Script operator should read
all particle positions and wr ite them into the MXS
Vector channel. Then, at the end of the loop, set
the Find Target operator to C ontrol by Time, set
Timing to Absolute Time, set Time to the end of
the loop, and in the Target group, set P oint to By
Script Vec tor. Part icle Flow wil l direct particles
to the previously cached position at the specified
frame.
Interfa ce
The user interface appears in the parameters panel,
on the right side of the P article View dialog.