This section describes how to animate particle effects in CreativeStudio.
The add to previous value method animates by adding a value to the value from the previous frame every frame. Use this to animate at a set speed.
This is the standard value for animation.
Amplitude (%) is a random value multiplied by the standard value at the time of particle generation.
Standard Value ± (Random Value × Standard Value)
For a standard scale value of 10 and an amplitude set to 50%, this equation would be 10 + ((Random value between -0.5 and 0.5) × 10)
, producing scale values ranging between 5 and 15.
Randomness is a feature that provides variety to the results of a calculation by multiplying a parameter by a random number.
The configured default value is added to the standard value every frame to produce an animation at a set speed.
For animations created in the Curve Editor panel, the key frame value is added every frame.
The overwrite previous value method animates by overwriting the value from the previous frame with a specified value every frame. This can be convenient, as it can be simpler to control an animation using the animation curve.
The value from the previous frame is overwritten with the default value. For animation curves created in the Curve Editor panel, the values are overwritten in that animation.
The playback order is used for moving the vertex UV coordinates for a texture when a texture pattern is selected.
Texture pattern animation by moving vertex UV is a method of switching the image being displayed by moving the texture coordinates (UV) of each particle vertex for a single texture image where multiple images have been arranged horizontally or vertically.
The figure below shows a method of applying pattern animation using vertex UV coordinate animation on a texture image in which the letters A, B, C, and D have been arranged horizontally in a strip of 32 x 32-pixel grids.
The four-key method is a low-overhead animation technique configured using information from just four animation key locations.
This technique is particularly used for fade-in and fade-out animations. It is also used for particle alpha animations to make particles gradually appear and/or disappear. This allows the creation of simple animations without using Curve Editor.
The figure below depicts an example of what happens to scale parameters when overwriting the previous value using the four-key method.
Parameters | Description |
---|---|
Fade-In end time | Specifies the time interval for completely changing from start values to intermediate values within the range from 0.0 to 1.0. |
Fade-Out start time | Specifies the time to start changing from the intermediate value to the end time within the range 0.0 to 1.0. |
Start-time value | Specifies the value when the animation starts. |
Mid-time value | Specifies the value at the point changes to the value stop. |
End-time value | Specifies the value when animation ends. |
The table below gives an example of overwriting previous values using the four-key method for alpha animation of a particle with a 100-frame lifespan.
Using a fade-in end time of 0.2, and a fade-out start time of 0.8, the alpha value is made to vary from 0 at start time, to one at mid-time, and 0 at end-time. This will result in an animation where particles gradually appear until Frame 20 and gradually disappear beginning from Frame 80.
Overwriting the previous value using the four key method can be used to animate scale, scale (extended), Color, and Alpha.
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