Hello, I need a good particle system tutorial for a beginner to the subject.
I have been looking into Runes new app,
but it is too complicated from the point of view of a beginner.  I know
there has to be something out there for someone like me...anyone have any
suggestions?

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Well, here's something nice I've found on the net:

http://www.cs.unc.edu/~davemc/Particle/

aside of that, all I can say: Its not that difficult. I've
been working on a particle system which doesn't
use frame-by-frame output, but instead, works
on iterative steps and thus needs no external files
to generate speeds/positions/directions on a
frame by frame basis.

What you need to do is create a loop, in which a
particle is given a (random) starting position with
a (random) direction, and move it along that
direction, whilst adding gravity. Best is to set a
speed and direction for the particle, both saved in
one vector: the length is the speed, the direction
itself is the direction (doh! :-). For gravity, add
a constant downward vector (like <0,-1,0>) for
every step/frame to the speed/direction-vector
of a particle.
Thus, a particle shoots of and drops due to gravity.
For object-interaction, check the line between newly
calculated point for the frame, and the position before.
This might be achieved using the trace()-function.
Based on the distance from the starting position and
the speed of the particle, calculate the time of impact
and let it repel from there (incoming angle = outcoming
angle).
For better detail, use more discrete steps, e.g. instead
of just calculating the next position, calculate 10 and
check for object-interaction in between.
Problem comes when particles lie on a floor, they tend to
drop through at some point. I'd say take care of that
with an extra check, not just the "normal" object-interaction.

That's the basics. Starting from that, you can do fine
yourself. Its not that difficult, once the first steps are
made and the basic concept has been understood.

Regards,
Tim


-- 
Tim Nikias v2.0
Homepage: http://www.digitaltwilight.de/no_lights
Email: Tim### [at] gmxde

> Hello, I need a good particle system tutorial for a beginner to the
subject.
> I have been looking into Runes new app,
> but it is too complicated from the point of view of a beginner.  I know
> there has to be something out there for someone like me...anyone have any
> suggestions?
>
>

Post a reply to this message