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geometry are reflected instantly in the particle system. If you hide the original

geometry, the particles still appear. However, if you delete the original

geometry, the particles are deleted as well.

Using Transform-Animated Reference Objects

You can create animated particle shapes by animating the reference object

with modifiers, and then turning on

Animated Shape on page 2910. However,

Shape Instance ignores any rotational and positional transformations applied

directly to the reference object; it uses only the pure scale component. For

example, if you scale an object non-uniformly using the View reference

coordinate system, the result might skew the object's shape. Because the

skewing is the by-product of a rotational transform, it wouldn't be reflected

in the particles' shape. However, modifiers and comparable functions that

contain transformations applied to the reference object are reflected in the

instanced particles. For example, if you want particles to use rotational

transforms applied to the reference object, use the Reset XForm function on

the reference object. Reset XForm is available from the Utilities panel.

TIP Particle Flow can, however, use rotational and positional animation applied

to descendant objects in a hierarchy, when you use the entire hierarchy as a single

particle. To do this, create a hierarchy, animate the descendant objects, and then

designate the parent as the reference object. Do not turn on Separate Particles

For > Object And Children. You'll find a procedure illustrating this, below.

When using an animated reference object, it is recommended that you hide

the reference object after instancing it in the particle system.