9

Display Operator 203
particles will 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 particle representation:
•
None—Particles do not appear in the viewports.
•
Dots—(0D) Each particle appears as a single
pixel.
•
Ticks—(2D)Eachparticleappearsasa+sign.
•
Circle s—(2D) E ach par t icle appears as a small
circle.
•
Lines—(1D) Each particle appears as a line, one
pixel thick. The line’s length indicates particle
speed, and its orientation reflects the direction
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 the viewports. In
such cases, to see all particles, add a second
Display operator in the same event and 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 particle 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 part icle appears as an
asterisk (*).
•
Tri angle s—(2D) Each 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. Particles
are numbered in the order of their birth, starting
w ith 1 for the first particle bor n.
[color swatch]—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 operator
from the color swatch on the Modify panel.
However, changing the g lobal Display operator’s
color in Particle View does not change the color of
the swatch on the Modif y panel.
Note: When a Particle Flow source icon is selected,
all of its non-selected particles, other than those
shown as geometry, are colored white in the
viewports. To see all assigned particle colors,
deselecttheparticlesystem.
Selected—Choose how selected par ticles (page
2–138) appear in the viewports. The choices are
thesameasforType,above.