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80 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems
Timing group
The two spinners specify the star t frame and end
frame of the deflection effect.
Time On/Off—Time On specifies the frame at which
the deflection begins, and Time Off specifies the
frame at which the deflection ends.
Reflection group
These options affec t the reflection of particles from
the space warp. The POmniFlect can reflect or
refract particles, or perform a combination of the
two.
Reflects—Specifies the percentage of particles to
be reflected by the POmniFlect. See also Refracts,
laterinthistopic,formethodsofcombiningthe
two effects.
Bounce—This is a multiplier that specifies how
much of the initial speed of the particle is
maintained after collision with the POmniFlect.
Using the default setting of 1.0 causes the particle
to rebound with the same speed as it collides. A
real-world effect would usually be less than 1.0.
For a “flubber” effect, set g reater than 1.0.
Variation—Specifies the variation of Bounce
applied to the range of particles. For example, a
Variation of 50 % applied to a Bounce setting of 1.0
would result in randomly applied Bounce values
ranging from 0.5 to 1.5.
Chaos —Applies a random variation to the bounce
angle. When set to 0 .0 (no chaos), all particles
bounce off the POmniFlect surface perfectly (like
banking pool ba l ls). A non-zero setting causes the
deflected particles to scatter.
Refraction group
These settings are similar to those in the Reflection
group, but these affect the refraction of particles
as they pass through the POmniFlect, causing the
direction of the particles to change.
Refracts—Specifies the percentage of particles
not already reflected that will be refracted by the
POmniFlect.
Note: The Refracts value affects only those particles
not already reflected because the reflected particles
are processed before the refr acted particles. Thus,
if you set Reflects to 50% and Refracts to 50%, you
would not get a 50/50 split of par ticles. Rather,
half the particles would be reflected, a nd then
half the remainder (25% of the total) would be
refracted. The remaining particles either p ass
through without being refracted or are passed on
to Spawn Effects.
To get a 50/50 split of reflection and refraction, set
Reflects to 50% and Refrac ts to 100%.
Pas s Ve l —Specifies how much of a particle’s initial
speed is maintained after passing through the
POmniFlect. The default setting of 1 retains the
initial speed is retained, so there’s no change. A
setting of 0.5 reduces the speed by half.
Variation—SpecifiesthevariationofPassVelocity
applied to the range of particles.
Distor tion—Controls the angle of refraction. A
value of 0 means there ’s no refraction. A value of
100% sets the angle of the particles to b e parallel
with the POmniFlect surface. A value of
100%
sets the angle perpendicular to the surface. The
Distortion effect is reversed when particles strike
the POmniFlec t from the back side.
Note: Distortion and Refraction do not work
properly when particles strike the POmniFlect
surface at exactly 90 degrees. In this case, any
positive Distortion settings c ause a scattering of
particles, while negative values have no effect.
Variation—Specifies a range of variation of the
Distortion effect.
Diffusion—Applies a di ffusion e ffec t to the
refraction by randomly modifying each particle’s