2009

These options are used when you specify Instanced Geometry in the Particle
Types group. They let you generate each particle as an instance of either an
object, a linked hierarchy of objects, or a group.
NOTE Instanced objects can be animated, providing the animation incorporates
one or more of the following types:
■ Animation of object geometry parameters, such as a sphere's Radius setting.
■ Animation of object-space modifiers, such as the Angle setting of a
Bend
modifier
on page 1208.
■ Transform animation of a hierarchical object's children. Transform
animation of the top-level parent and non-hierarchical objects is not
supported. For example, if you use the toolbar Select and Rotate function
on page 960 to animate a box rotating, and then use the box as instanced
geometry with a particle system, the system will not use instanced box's
keyframed animation.
Object Displays the name of the picked object.
Pick Object Click this, and then select an object in the viewport to be used
as a particle. If you select an object that's part of a hierarchy and Use Subtree
Also is on, then the picked object and its children become a particle.
If you pick a group, all objects in the group are used as a particle.
Use Subtree Also Turn this on when you want to include the linked children
of the picked object in the particle. If the picked object is a group, all children
of the group are included. Note that you can turn this on or off at any time
to alter the particles.
Animation Offset Keying Because the instanced objects can be animated,
the options here let you specify the timing of the animations for the particles.
None Each particle duplicates the timing of the original object. As a result,
the animation of all particles will be identically timed.
Birth The firstborn particle is an instance of the current animation of the
source object at the moment of that particle's birth. Each subsequent particle
then uses the same start time for the animation. For example, if the animation
of the source object is a bend from 0 to 180 degrees, and the first particle is
born at frame 30, when the object is at 45 degrees, then that particle, and all
subsequent particles will be born starting at a bend of 45 degrees.
Random This option is the same as None when Frame Offset is set to 0.
Otherwise, each particle is born using the same animation as the source object
Non-Event-Driven Particle Systems | 3061