2009

Introduction to Particle Systems
Particle systems are useful for a variety of animation tasks. Primarily, they're
employed when animating a large number of small objects using procedural
methods; for instance, creating a snowstorm, a stream of water, or an explosion.
3ds Max provides two different types of particle systems: event-driven and
non-event-driven. The event-driven particle system, also known as
Particle
Flow
on page 2795, tests particle properties, and, based on the test results, sends
them to different events. Each event assigns various attributes and behaviors
to the particles while they're in the event. In the non-event-driven systems
on page 3002, particles typically exhibit similar properties throughout the
animation.
IMPORTANT Particle systems can involve a great many entities, each of which is
potentially subject to any number of complex calculations. For this reason, when
using them for advanced simulations, you should have a very fast computer and
as much memory as possible. Also, a powerful graphics card helps speed the
display of particle geometry in the viewports. Even so, it’s still easy to overburden
the system; if you encounter loss of responsiveness, wait for the particle system
to finish its calculations, and then reduce the number of particles in the system,
implement a cache, or use other methods to optimize performance.
Which Particle System to Use?
Having access to a wealth of particle systems in 3ds Max leads to the need to
decide which system to use for a particular application. In general, for a simple
animation, such as falling snow or a water fountain, setup is faster and easier
with a non-event-driven particle system. With more complex animations,
such as an explosion that generates different types of particles over time (for
example: fragments, fire, and smoke), use Particle Flow for greatest flexibility
and control.
Particle Flow
Particle Flow is a versatile, powerful particle system for 3ds Max. It employs
an event-driven model, using a special dialog called
Particle View on page 2811.
In Particle View, you combine individual
operators on page 8069 that describe
particle properties such as shape, speed, direction, and rotation over a period
of time into groups called events on page 7966. Each operator provides a set of
parameters, many of which you can animate to change particle behavior
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