Today we will learn about After Effects’ magical particle effects system, Particle Playground (particle effects) and water wave effects (Wave World), defocus effects (Caustics), foam effects (Foam), and explosion effects (Shatter) ) both belong to the Simulation special effects system. The Particle Playground (particle special effects) can produce a simulation effect of a large number of similar objects moving independently. In nature, there are many individually independent but overall similar movements of objects. We can simulate this kind of movement that conforms to natural laws through the particle special effects system. For example, snowflakes, raindrops, etc. can be the objects of our simulation. Such substances that exist and restrict each other, and are similar as a whole but different in individuals are called particles. Particle Playground special effects can describe them physically and mathematically to simulate and produce real particle motion effects, such as flying snow, falling rain, etc. The particle effects system of After Effects is very powerful, and we will only provide some entry-level introduction to it here.
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[Click to play: Particle Effects (0.99M, AVI format)]
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< p>Download the source files and materials of this tutorial (5.16K, ZIP compressed file)Start After Effects 6.5, create a new project file, then open "Composition/New Composition" to create a new Composition composition file. The size is 720×576, and other options can be defaulted. Then open "Layer/New/Solid" to create a new solid layer and prepare to display particle effects here in the future.
Okay, now you can add particle effects. Select the Solid layer and open the "Effect/Simulation/Particle Playground" menu option to add particle effects to the layer. By default, you will see red particles in the preview window. Press the 0 key on the small keyboard to preview, and the particles will emit red particles toward the top of the window at a speed of 100 particles per second. As shown in Figure 1.
Open the "Effect Controls" panel and you can see the detailed parameters of the Particle Playground particle system, as shown in Figure 2. We explain these parameters in detail.
1. Cannon Settings
Cannon (cannon) refers to the emission of particles according to the specified direction and speed. By default, red particles are emitted toward the top of the window at a speed of 100 particles per second, and its parameter control is shown in Figure 3.
Position can set the position of the particle emission source, controlled by X and Y coordinates.
Barrel Radius sets the activity radius of particles.
Particles Per Second specifies the number of particles emitted per second.
Direction sets the direction of particle emission. By default particles are emitted vertically upward.
Direction Random Spread can set the random offset direction of particle emission. When particles are emitted in one direction, they can be offset by an angle. If you set this value to a lower value, the particle flow will be highly concentrated; conversely, if the value is higher, the emitted particle flow will be more dispersed.
The Velocity parameter sets the speed of particle emission. The higher the value, the faster the particle emission speed. The lower the value, the slower the particle emission speed.
Velocity Random Spread sets the random change of particle emission speed. You can use this parameter to set the speed of particles to be different from each other during emission.
The Color parameter can change the color of particles.
The Particle Radius parameter can set the radius of the particle.
2. Grid settings
Grid (grid) can be set to generate a continuous particle surface at the intersection of a group of grids, in which the particle movement is only affected by gravity and repulsion. Effects of forces, walls and images. By default, these particles will fall toward the bottom of the window, and its parameter control is shown in Figure 4.
The Position parameter can set the X and Y coordinates of the grid center.
Width (width) and Height (height) can set the border size of the grid, in pixels.
The Particles Acroos parameter sets the number of particles distributed in the horizontal direction in the grid area. This value must be greater than 1 to generate particles.
The Particles Down parameter sets the number of particles distributed in the vertical direction in the grid area. Similarly, this value must be greater than 1 to generate particles.
Color can specify the color of the source point or text character. If you use another layer as the particle source, setting the color of this parameter has no effect. The particle source will generate particles based on the color of the used layer.
Particles Radius sets the particle radius.
We set the coordinates of Position to (412, 288), the grid width to 177, the grid height to 236, the number of particles in the horizontal direction of Particles Acroos to 3, and the number of particles in the vertical direction of Particles Down to 2. Set the Color particle color to green and set the Particle Radius particle radius to 1. The effect at this time is as shown in Figure 5.
3. Layer Exploder settings
Layer Exploder can set a layer as a particle source, and use it to simulate an explosion effect. Its parameter control is shown in Figure 6.
The Explode Layer option allows you to specify the layer to be exploded.
Radius of New Particles specifies the radius value of the particles produced by the explosion. This radius value must be smaller than the radius value of the original layer and original particles to have an effect.
Velocity Dispersion can set the maximum value of the particle velocity variation range, in pixels. Higher values ??produce more dispersed explosions; lower values ??result in more clustered particles.
We select Explode Layer as a picture layer that needs to produce an explosion effect, and then set the Radius of New Particles to 1.0,
Velocity Dispersion to 1.0, the effect at this time is as shown in Figure 7 Show.
4. Particle Exploder
Particle Exploder can set a particle to split into many new particles. It can be used to simulate explosions, fireworks and other effects. Its parameter control is shown in Figure 8.
Radius of New Particles sets the radius of new particles. Its value must be smaller than the radius of the original layer and original particles to have an effect.
Velocity Dispersion sets the maximum value of the particle velocity variation range, in pixels. The higher the value, the more dispersed the explosion particles are generated, and the lower the value, the more concentrated the explosion particles are.
The Effects option can specify the particle range affected by the option, that is, which particles can be affected by the above options.
Particles From can select a particle generator, or select a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options, as shown in Figure 9.
Selection Map can specify the image layer in the drop-down list to determine which particles are affected under the current selection. The brightness of each pixel in the image layer determines which particles are affected by the option. If the brightness in the mapping layer is different, the particles will be affected differently.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
5. Layer Map
Layer Map sets the particle map. We can specify the image in any layer as the particle map to replace the particles. If you have an animation of falling snowflakes, you can set it as a particle map to create the effect of heavy snowfall. Of course, you can also specify any other dynamic video as a particle map. Using it allows us to easily create more complex effects. Its parameter control is shown in Figure 10.
The Use Layer parameter sets which layer to use as the image.
Time offset Type refers to the type of time displacement. ***There are four situations: Relative, Absolute, Relative Random, and Absolute Random for us to choose from:
Relative specifies from a certain A frame starts playing the image layer. The specified time offset determines which frame to start from. If we select the Relative option and set the time displacement to 0, the time the particles display starts from the corresponding positions of the source layer and the motion layer.
If the time displacement value is set to be greater than 0, the corresponding frame in the source layer corresponding to this particle will start to be displayed after the length of time of this value after the previous particle is displayed.
If we select the Absolute option, the corresponding frame in the source layer will be displayed according to the specified time displacement and will not be limited by the current time.
If the Relative Random option is selected, each particle starts from a random frame in the source layer, with random values ??ranging from the current value of the motion field layer to the specified Random Time Max value. If you set the Random Time Max value to 1, each particle will start from any frame between the current time in the source layer and 1 second after it.
If the Absolute Random option is selected, each particle starts from any random frame in the source layer between 0 and the set Random Time Max value. Selecting this option enables playback of different frames in multiple source layers.
Time Offset sets time effect parameters.
Affects sets the range of particles affected by options.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Selection Map can specify the image layer in the drop-down list to determine which particles are affected under the current selection. The brightness of each pixel in the image layer determines which particles are affected by the option. If the brightness in the mapping layer is different, the particles will be affected differently.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
6. Gravity
Gravity sets the gravity field parameters. It can be used to simulate the gravity phenomenon in nature. Its parameter control panel is shown in Figure 11.
Force sets the size of gravity. The larger the value, the greater the influence of gravity. When this value is positive, gravity affects particles in the direction of gravity, and if it is negative, gravity affects particles in the opposite direction.
Force Random Spread sets the random speed of gravity. If this value is 0, all particles will fall at the same speed. If this value is greater than 0, the particles will fall at different speeds.
Direction sets the direction of gravity.
Affects specifies which particles are affected by the option.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Selection Map can specify the image layer in the drop-down list to determine which particles are affected under the current selection. The brightness of each pixel in the image layer determines which particles are affected by the option. If the brightness in the mapping layer is different, the particles will be affected differently.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
7. Repel
Repel sets the repulsion between particles, which can control the particles to repel or attract each other, as shown in Figure 12.
Force sets the repulsive force size. The larger this value is, the greater the interaction between particles will be. If this value is positive, the particles repel each other, if it is negative, the particles attract each other.
Force Radius sets the repulsion radius, which can specify the range within which particles are repelled or attracted.
Repeller specifies which particles are used as the repulsion source or attraction source of a particle.
Affects specifies which particles are affected by the option.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Selection Map can specify the image layer in the drop-down list to determine which particles are affected under the current selection. The brightness of each pixel in the image layer determines which particles are affected by the option. If the brightness in the mapping layer is different, the particles will be affected differently.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
8. Wall
Wall sets the particle wall properties. Walls can be used to enclose particles in an area so that they can only move in that area. Its parameter control panel is shown in Figure 13.
We can directly select a closed area as the boundary wall in the Boundary drop-down list.
Affects specifies which particles are affected by the option.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
9. Persistent Property Mapper
The Persistent Property Mapper option sets the persistent property mapper. Continuously changes a particle's properties until another influence or operation occurs. Its parameter control is shown in Figure 14.
Use Layer As Map can set a layer as a layer map that affects particles.
Affects specifies which particles are affected by the option.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
Map (Red, Green, Blue) to: You can specify the particle attributes of the RGB channel in the layer image. After specifying a particle attribute, the value in the attribute will be copied from the layer image and applied to the particle. The following introduces the meaning of each parameter:
None: Indicates that the particle attributes will not be changed.
R, G, B (Red, Green, Blue): Negative R, G, B channel values ??in this particle.
Kinetic Friction: Copy the resistance value of the moving object. If this value becomes larger, the movement of particles will slow down or stop.
Static Friction: Copy the inertia value of the particle.
Angle: Copy the angle of the particle movement direction.
Angular Velocity: Copies the rotation speed of particles. The rotation speed of the particle itself is determined by this value.
Torque copies the rotational torque of the particle. The greater the torque, the greater the angular velocity of the particles. Largely aggregated particles and particles containing brighter pixels are more obviously affected by this parameter. If a sufficiently large force acting in the opposite direction of the angular velocity acts on a particle, the particle will spin in the opposite direction.
Scale: Copies the value of the particle scaling along the X and Y axes simultaneously.
X/Y Scale: Individually copy the value of particle scaling along the X-axis or Y-axis.
X/Y: Copy the position coordinates of the particle's X-axis or Y-axis.
Gradient Velocity: The adjustment speed of the image layer on the X-axis or Y-axis motion surface.
X/Y Speed: Copy the speed of particles in the X-axis or Y-axis direction.
Gradient Force: Adjust the strength of the copied layer image on the X-axis or Y-axis motion surface. The tension of the particles is defined by the brightness of the pixels in the color channel. Different brightness values ??determine the different tensions of the particles. Low pixel values ??have little resistance to tension, while high pixel values ??have greater resistance to particle tension. If the brightness is the same, there will be no particle tension.
X/Y Force: Copy the resistance of movement along the X-axis or Y-axis.
Opacity: Copy the transparency of particles.
Mass: Copy particle aggregation.
Lifespan: The lifetime of the copied particles. By default particles have infinite lifetime.
Character: Copies the value corresponding to the ASCII text character. It is only effective when using text characters as particles. When the value is 0 no characters will be generated.
Font Size: The point size of copied characters. Also only works when using text characters as particles.
Time Offset: Copy the time offset value in the layer image attribute.
Scale Speed: Copy the speed at which particles scale on the X and Y axes. If it is a positive value, the particles will expand; if it is a negative value, the particles will shrink.
Min/Max setting When the image brightness value range is too wide or too narrow, you can use this value to adjust the image generation range. 10. Ephemeral Property
10. Mapper
Ephemeral Property Mapper sets a temporary property mapper. By default, the particle motion field replaces the value of the particle attribute with the pixel at the current location in the layer image. You can also use the particle attribute value and the corresponding layer image pixel value to calculate a value to limit the particle attribute value. Its parameter control is shown in Figure 15.
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Use Layer As Map can set a layer as a layer image that affects particles.
Affects specifies which particles are affected by the option.
Particles From allows you to select a particle generator, or a combination of particle emitters whose particles are affected by the current options.
Characters sets which characters' text areas are affected by the current options, but it only has an effect when text characters are used as particles.
Older/Younger Than sets the particle age threshold. A positive value affects older particles, a negative value affects younger particles.
Age Feather sets particle age feathering. All old and young particles are feathered or softened within a specified time range, in seconds.
Map (Red, Green, Blue) to: These parameters are the same as those in Persistent Property Mapper and will not be described again.
There are different parameters to choose from in the Operator:
Set: Use the pixel value in the layer image to replace the corresponding particle attribute value.
Add: Use the sum of the particle attribute value and the corresponding layer image pixel value.
Difference: The absolute value of the difference between the particle attribute value and the corresponding layer image pixel brightness value.
Subtract: Use the value of the particle attribute to subtract the corresponding layer image pixel brightness value.
Multiply: Use the value of the particle attribute value multiplied by the corresponding layer image pixel value.
Min: Select the smaller value between the particle attribute value and the corresponding layer image pixel brightness value.
Max: Select the larger value between the particle attribute value and the corresponding layer image pixel brightness value.
11. Options
Options can set text to replace dot particles, as shown in Figure 16.
Click the Edit Connon Text button to set text to replace Cannon particles. Figure 17 shows the text editing dialog box.
Text setting is very simple, including font, style, order, cycle and other parameters.
Font: Set the font of the text.
Style: Set the style of the text.
Order: Set the emission order of Connon particles. The order entered in the text box can affect the emission order of Connon particles in the future.
Loop Text: Set text loop properties. If selected, the characters entered are generated in a loop, otherwise each character is generated once.
Click the Edit Grid Text button to open text replacement grid text. As shown in Figure 18.
Font: Set the font of the text.
Style: Set the style of the text.
Alignment: Set the text alignment format, including Left (left alignment), Center (center alignment), and Right (right alignment). If the Use Grid option is selected, each character in the text will be generated at the intersection of a continuous grid.
Okay, so far we have a detailed introduction to the particle effects system parameters of After Effects 6.5, and we will continue to use it to create more complex effects in the following content.
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