particleIllusion v3
If you have a support question that is not answered by the information below, please submit a support request.
How do I get an emitter to start at a different time than frame 1?
Slide the time indicator to the frame you want your emitter to begin at, click on the emitter's name in the library window, and add it to the stage. It will now start at the chosen frame. If you already have an emitter on the stage and you want it to start at a different time, Cut the emitter (ctrl-X, cmd-X or Edit>Cut), move the time slider to the frame you want it to begin emitting at, and Paste it (ctrl-V, cmd-v or Edit>Paste).
How do I change the background color in the Stage window?
R-click (or ctrl-click on a Mac) on an empty part of the stage window and select 'Background Color'.
How can I make an emitter 'stop' after a certain amount of time?
You can make an emitter stop creating particles by stepping the emitter 'Number' property down to 0 at the frame that you want the emitter to stop emitting particles. For example if the 'number' property is set to 100 and you want the particles to stop emitting at frame 50, create a data key in the 'number' graph at frame 49 with a value of 100, then create another at frame 50 with a value of 0.
How do I add my own text or logo into the 'Logo' or 'Text' emitters?
Go into the emitter's Properties, then to the Particles tab and into the Change Shape page. Click on the 'Add New Shape' button at the bottom of the window, and browse and select a different image file. You'll need to create your text or logo in a paint program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. This topic is covered in detail in the 'Change Shape' subject page in the third tutorial of the particleIlusion HTML help file.
I am trying to render at 640x480, but in the Output Options window I can't change the size to that. It's set to a smaller frame size and I can't change the numbers. What's wrong?
particleIllusion can only render what is on screen, so the stage window must be 640x480 to render out a file at 640x480. You'll need to resize the stage window until it is large enough to show the entire stage area, which you can do by clicking and dragging the dividers between the windows. In particleIllusion 3.0 you can use the 'Load Layout' function (from the 'View' menu) or the Alt-3 (Cmd-3 on Mac) shortcut to maximize the stage window.
Are there any restrictions on what I can produce with particleIllusion? Are the emitters 'royalty-free'?
You can use the rendered output produced by particleIllusion in any way you want, royalty-free. You cannot sell, give away, or distribute the emitters themselves, unless you created them yourself (or modified them enough that they are visually different from the original emitters). Using particleIllusion to render "stock footage" that you will sell is fine, but if you use emitters that you did not create (the free emitters released by wondertouch, or any emitter collections that are for sale by wondertouch or others), this is not allowed.
How can I load more than one library at a time?
You cannot. Only one library can be loaded at a time. In particleIllusion 3.0 you can quickly switch between libraries using the "quick load" library list.
How do I export a scene from particleIllusion with an alpha channel for use in Flash?
Render out as a PNG sequence, and check the Save Alpha button. In Flash, go to File>Import and choose 'Import to Stage'. Select the first image in your PNG sequence. A pop up will appear that says "This file appears to be part of a sequence of images. Do you want to import all of the images in the sequence?" Say yes, and the clip will load up on the stage.
Playback and use of particleIllusion is very slow. How can I speed things up?
First, make sure that hardware acceleration is enabled (in the particleIllusion Preferences OpenGL page). If hardware acceleration is not available (more likely on Windows machines than on Macs) you'll need to get updated video drivers from the manufacturer of your graphics card.
Assuming that hardware acceleration is enabled, there are 2 main factors that determine the responsiveness of particleIllusion: 1) the number of particles that are alive 2) the frame number you're working at. If things are too slow, reduce the number of particles (by decreasing the number of emitters, decreasing the "number" property for existing emitters, or decreasing the "life" property. Decreasing "number" can often be offset by increasing "size". Also, don't work on very long clips -- break your long clips into multiple shorter ones.
How can I load a movie or image into particleIllusion?
The simplest way is to double-click on the empty layer thumbnail image in the layers window (the grey rectangle), then select the image or movie file you want to load.
I've heard that Autodesk Combustion uses particleIllusion for its particle system. What version of particleIllusion does Combustion use?
Combustion uses a version of the particleIllusion engine that is essentially particleIllusion 2.0 -- the same engine that is used in particleIllusion SE.
Does Apple's Motion use particleIllusion too?
Motion does not use the particleIllusion engine, although Motion's particle system is quite similar to particleIllusion 2.0 or particleIllusion SE.
How many effects can particleIllusion 3.0 do?
There is no limit to the number of effects you can produce with particleIllusion 3.0. There are already over 2800 "emitters" (effects) included with the program, and we release a new free library of more every month. Each of these should be considered a "preset", and they can be customized to create subtle variations or completely new emitters.
How do I change the emitters in the Library window?
The easiest way is to r-click (ctrl-click on a Mac) in the library window and select the library name from the "Quick Load" library list. You can also r-click and choose 'Load Library', or click the bar between the library window and the preview window. The advantage of 'Load Library' is that a preview of the emitter thumbnails will be shown.
Why can't I get the looping function to work? The transition isn't seamless from the start point to the end point.
The Loop button does not create a seamlessly looping emitter, it is used to loop the playback a certain time segment of your project. Check the tutorials page for creating seamless loops using particleIllusion.
particleIllusion SE (based on pI 2.0)
If you have a support question that is not answered by the information below, please submit a support request.
Can particleIllusion SE render HD output?
It depends on your desktop resolution. If your desktop is larger than 1280 x 720, you can render HD 720p output with SE. If your desktop is larger than 1920 x 1080, you can also render HD 1080 output.
How many effects can particleIllusion SE do?
There is no limit to the number of effects you can produce with particleIllusion SE. There are already over 2000 "emitters" (effects) included with the program, and we release a new free library of more every month. Each of these should be considered a "preset", and they can be customized to create subtle variations or completely new emitters. Although not as powerful as particleIllusion 3.0 (which has over 2800 emitters available), SE is still very powerful and flexible.
What are the differences between SE and 3.0?
particleIllusion SE is based on the particleIllusion 2.0 engine, so SE doesn't have all of the newer features that are in particleIllusion 3.0 (super emitters, forces, "get color from layer", etc.).
Besides that, what the SE version doesn't have are several features found in particleIllusion 3.0 that more advanced users may need. particleIllusion SE has the following limits:
- Output resolution limited to slightly smaller than desktop resolution
- No Super Emitters
- No Force objects
- More limited particle color options (no "get color from layer" for instance)
- Single Layer only
- No layer offset/angle
- No layer transparency
- No blockers
- No import/export of position data
- Motion blur settings are fixed -- only on/off
- No stage size presets
- Only supports BMP, JPG, TGA image formats*
- No shape image export
- Maximum shape import size 256x256
- No "Replace Emitter" function
- No numeric entry for data or frame
- No reference graphs*
* Note: Mac OS X version of SE contains reference graphs, and supports different (and more) file formats
Since particleIllusion SE can only do 1 layer, and I need to add many layers of effects to my project, how can it be useful?
Layers in particleIllusion can contain a background image, image sequence, or movie, and as many particle emitters as you want. Therefore in SE you can add as many emitters (effects) as you want, all on a single layer. What you can't do is have multiple layers of footage with alpha channels inside particleIllusion SE -- but of course you can layer multiple particleIllusion renders in your compositing or video editing application.
How do I change the emitters in the Library window? I've downloaded all of the additional emitters but they don't show up in the library window.
The library window only shows the currently-loaded library. To load another library, r-click (ctrl-click on Mac) and choose 'Load Library' and locate your library files and select one.
