Guides for PopcornFX Super Tools > Mesh Emitter > Particle Settings with Texture Image > Using Texture_for_Emission Texture

Using Texture_for_Emission Texture

The most powerful and flexible technique of using PopfornFX particle system is that you can not only use a texture to determine the color and lifetime phases, but also the RGBA information in the texture to control the lifetime, size, speed and brightness for the particles.

Sampling Prop as Emitter

  1. Prepare a custom scene with a Mesh Emitter, a plane and four target props (balloons).
  2. Sample the plane as the emitter.
  3. Sample the props as the particles.
  4. Simulate (Shift + S) or playback to view the result.
    ClosedNote:

    Optionally delete the target props after this step.


Using Texture_for_Emission Texture

By using the image file of Targa format (*.tga) with Red, Green, Blue and Alpha channels, you are able to determine the Life, Size, Speed and Brightness of the emitted particles.

Before you start, it is highly recommended that you design the texture by means of the Diffuse or UV maps of the sampled prop.

  1. Select the prop emitter and export its Diffuse and UV map to the image editor (for example, Photoshop) as the references for creating the Targa texture.
  2. Create a new file with white background. Check out the channel data panel.
  3. Adjust the layer of Red channel. It is used to determine the Life time length for each particle. Black means no life time and white means the max life time (set in the Basic Attributes sub-section) and grey is the midpoint of the possible lifespan.
    ClosedNote:

    The grayscale value is from black (value = 0.00) to white (1.00). The final life time length is between (Grayscale value x Life Min) and (Grayscale value x Life Max)

  4. Save the image in Targa format (*.tga).
  5. Go back to iClone, make sure the particle effect is selected, go to the Modify Panel >> PopcornFX tab >> Emitter section. In the Sampler list, select the Texture_for_Emission item and load the Targa image to the Texture Resource channel.
  6. Simulate to check out the effect. You will find that particles are only emitted from the areas of the plane that maps to the white part of the Red channel.
  7. Go to the image editor, edit the Green channel for setting the size. Black means size 0 x 0 and white means the max size (set in the Lifetime sub-section) and grey stands for the middle value between 0x0 and the max size.

    *The ring is gray while the circle is white, which determines that the particles from the ring are smaller.
    ClosedNote:

    The grayscale value is from black (value = 0.00) to white (1.00). The final size alteration is from (Grayscale value x Start Scale X, Grayscale value x Start Scale Y, Grayscale value x Start Scale Z) --> (Grayscale value x Middle Scale X, Grayscale value x Middle Scale Y, Grayscale value x Middle Scale Z) --> (Grayscale value x End Scale X, Grayscale value x End Scale Y, Grayscale value x End Scale Z)

  8. Save the image directly, the data will be updated automatically if the targa image is not ever closed.
  9. Simulate to view the result. You can see that the particles from the ring is smaller than the ones from the circle.
  10. Edit the targa image again. This time, edit the Blue channel as shown. It can determine the speed of the particles. The black one means no speed while the white means full speed (set in the Emitter Settings section); the gray means the speed between them. Save the image.
    ClosedNote:

    The grayscale value is from black (value = 0.00) to white (1.00). The final speed is (Grayscale value x Initial Speed )

  11. Check out the result in iClone. You will see that the particles from the ring is slower than the ones from the circle.
  12. In the image editor, add one more channel and named it Alpha 1. This channel determines the Brightness (can be adjusted in the Basic Attribute sub-section) of the particles. White stands for the brightest, black will make them vanish while gray will make them dimmer. Save the image.
    ClosedNote:

    The grayscale value is from black (value = 0.00) to white (1.00). The final speed is (Grayscale value x Brightness )

  13. You can see the particles from the ring are dimmer than the ones from the circle.

Fine-tuning the Particles

In order to make the effect better, you'll need to fine-tune the attributes under the individual sub-sections.