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202 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 free
memory, the computer system might use virtual
(hard disk-based) memory instead, which slows
downthecaching.IfParticleFlowfillsthecache,
any remaining f r ames 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 c ached data, in kilobytes. Read-only.
Note: Even animation f rames with 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 Opera tor
Particle View (page 2–125) > Click D isplay in an event or
add a Display operator to the particle system and then
select it.
The Display operator lets you specif y how p articles
appear in the viewports. The default display mode
is Ticks, which is the simplest, and thus the fastest
to display. It’s useful for animations that use a
large number of par ticles. 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 animation, as well as the
ability to easily disting uish 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 software automatically
inserts a Display operator in new g lobal 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 viewp orts,
unless an associated global event containsa Display
operator (that is, a global D isplay operator). If a
particle is affected by multiple Display operators
(for example, both global and local operators)
simultaneously, the software generates all viewpor t
part icle representations at the same t ime.
See also
Render Operator (page 2–206)
Interfa ce
The user interface appears in the parameters panel,
on the right side of the Particle View dialog.
Ty pe—Choose how particles appear in the
viewports. The two-dimensional particle markers
depict position only. Geometry shows how