Particle Playground in 3D? quick question.

[Walter Soyka]

[Dave Andrade] “Yes, I know Element is coming out. But I can make PP do a lot of things I want it to.”

Element is a particle array; Particle Playground is a particle generator. They are both kinds of particle systems, but they don’t do the same thing. Element is more similar to Trapcode Form than it is to Trapcode Particular, just with a heavy dose of righteous 3D.

[Dave Andrade] “This is presumably because there are only 2 directions in PP (x, y). I did not include the error, because I think is pretty straight foward. Is there no way to link the emitter to a 3D object? “

You have to transform the 3D point’s position to the corresponding 2D position. Alt-click the Particle Playground > Cannon > Position stopwatch, and enter the following expression:

thisComp.layer("Null 1").toComp([0,0])

Please note that while this will track the apparent position, Particle Playground doesn’t understand depth, so the particles will not appear to get smaller or larger, even though they will stick to the object, as it recedes or advances in Z-space.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Dave Andrade]

Perfect Walter, thanks. I guess if I want to make the appearance of depth I will have to create a layer map and adjust the scale accordingly.

Despite my attempts to avoid it…and even with CC Particle World, it appears as if Trapcode’s Particular really is the best way to generate custom particle (meaning “user created” particles) in 3D space within After Effects.

The price is a little out of my reach right now, but it appears to be worth the investment. Again, I appreciate the info!!

[Walter Soyka]

[Dave Andrade] “Despite my attempts to avoid it…and even with CC Particle World, it appears as if Trapcode’s Particular really is the best way to generate custom particle (meaning “user created” particles) in 3D space within After Effects. The price is a little out of my reach right now, but it appears to be worth the investment. Again, I appreciate the info!!”

Yes — I do think Particular is a must-have. Things like this are either very hard to do or maybe even outright impossible with other particle systems, but very straightforward in Particular.

Good luck with your project!

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events