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If the reference object is a group, with different materials applied to the group
members, the software creates a new Multi/Sub-Object material containing
all of the materials and uses it as the particle material.
TIP Because materials are “sticky” in Particle Flow, if you turn off Acquire Material
after specifying a reference object with an attached material, the material remains
applied to the particles. To avoid applying the instanced shape's material to the
particles, turn off Acquire Material before specifying the reference object.
Multi-Shape Random Order When on, assigns shapes to particles in random
order. When off, Particle Flow emits each shape in the multi-shape object as
a single particle, in the order of the shape's X coordinate. In other words, the
shape with the lowest X-axis coordinate is emitted first, then the one with
the next highest, and so on. The option is available only if at least one of
Separate Particles For group check boxes is on. Default=off.
For example, if you want the particles to spell out a word or phrase, use
extruded text created in the Front viewport as the reference object, turn on
Separate Particles For > Group Elements, but leave Multi-Shape Random Order
off.
Animated Shape When on, particles use any animation in the reference
object, including cyclic animation applied with the Parameter Curve
Out-of-Range Types controls. When off, the particles are not animated.
With this option, you can use the Animation Offset Keying controls to specify
how to synchronize the reference-object animation with the particles. See the
next section.
NOTE A particle that uses this option is animated only while in the event containing
the Shape Instance operator. If it moves to another event that doesn't contain a
shape operator, it keeps the same shape, but the animation stops. The easiest way
to keep the animation going from event to event is to place the Shape Instance
operator in the
global event on page 7997. Otherwise, you need to place the operator
in each event in which the particle should be animated.
Acquire Current Shape When on, Particle Flow acquires the particle shape
from the reference object as each particle enters the event. Thus, if the reference
object is animated, particles that enter at different times get different shapes.
However, these shapes are not animated. When the option is off, the shape
is acquired from frame 0. Default=off.
This option is available only when Animated Shape is off.
2910 | Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems