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224 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems
• Along Icon Ar row—The final direction is the
same as the Find Target icon arrow.
Note: Whenusingthisoption,arrowsappearon
the Find Target icon to indicate the direction
particles will use for docking. You can change
the docking direction by reorienting the icon.
Thisappliesevenwhenusingmeshobjectsas
targets.
•
Icon Spherical—The final direction points
toward the center of the operator icon.
Note: Whenusingthisoption,arrowsappearon
the Find Target icon to indicate the directions
particles will use for docking. You can change
the docking directions by reorienting the icon.
Thisappliesevenwhenusingmeshobjectsas
targets.
•
Icon Cylindrica l—The final direction points
towardtheiconarrowasaline,thusforminga
cy lindrical field with the arrow as the cylinder’s
main axis.
Note: Whenusingthisoption,arrowsappearon
the Find Target icon to indicate the directions
particles will use for docking. You can change
the docking directions by reorienting the icon.
Thisappliesevenwhenusingmeshobjectsas
targets.
•
Surf ace Normals—Each particle reaches its
target point from a direction perpendicular to
the surface at that point.
Note: Whenusingthisoption,arrowsappearon
theFindTargeticontoindicatethatparticles
willusesurfacenormalsfordocking;theactual
directions they will use depends on the ta rget
surface. This applies even when using mesh
objectsastargets.
Distance—The distance f rom the target at which
particles begin docking behavior. This includes
the docking direction, and, when using Control By
Time, the docking speed.
Icon Size—Set the size of the Find Target icon. This
affectsparticlebehaviorwhenusingtheiconas
the target.
Color Coordina ted—When on, the Find Target icon
uses the color of the event containing the test as
defined by its local Display operator, if one exists.
This applies even if the Display operator is turned
off. When off, the Find Target icon uses the default
Test Gizmo s color as defined in Customize User
Interface > Colors > Particle Flow. Default=on.
Turn on Color Coordinated to make it easier to
spot the Find Target icon, because the particles in
the event use the same color as the icon.
Uniqueness group
The Uniqueness sett ing enables randomization of
the Random options and the Variation options.
Seed—Specifies a randomization value.
New—Calculates a new seed using a randomization
formula.
Script Operator Example
Note: SeethistopicintheonlineUser Reference to
viewthescriptoperatorsampleMAXScriptcode.
Go To Rotation Test
Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Go To Rotation in an
event or add Go To Rotation to the particle system and
then select it.
TheGoToRotationtestenablesasmooth
transition in the rotational component of a
particle, so that the particle can gradually rotate to
a specific orientation over a specific period. An
example of its usage would be with falling leaves,
which spin chaotically as they fall, but land on a
flat side rather than an edge. The test aspect lets
you direct t he particle to a new event w hen the
transition period ends.