The fountain FX is a particle emitter which enables us to create all kinds of interesting effects. Any shape –or sphere or metaball– can be emitted by a fountain. Fountains are by nature animated, and that enables us to do a lot with them.
Let us explore some of the possibilities.
The emitter
We need an object that shall emit the fountain.
A cone is a good idea because we know which end the particles will be coming out from.
It is often a good idea to make our emitter a Construction Object –one that appears in the modeling window but does not appear in the renderings.
To make an object a Construction Object, select it and apply the Make Construction command from the Selection menu.
The cone
Applying the FX
In the FX tab of the resource palette we find the Fountain.
Fountains are applied to objects in the same way as textures, either dragging them onto the object or by clicking the Apply button. Also, if we create the Fountain with a selected object it will automatically be applied to the selected object.
Time matters
Fountains are an effect applied over time. If we render at time zero we will see nothing.
In these examples, the time is fixed at 3 seconds, using the project window.
Time fixed at 3 seconds
We will deal with the animation of fountains later on.
The Fountain settings
When creating a new fountain FX we are presented with the following dialog:
Perhaps the most important parameter is what is our fountain spewing. It is at the bottom of the dialog.
A Fountain emitting spheres. Rendering time: 3 seconds
A Fountain emitting metaballs with an influence of 5. Rendering time: 2 minutes
A Fountain emitting shapes: cube, sphere, octahedron. Rendering time: 6 seconds
Texturing
We can apply a color or a texture to our fountains.
A Fountain emitting metaballs with a reflective texture. Rendering time: 7 minutes
Cone Spray
Cone Spray is a checkbox that enables us to choose between two ways of distributing the particles. Let’s have a look at the options with a Metaball fountain.
Cone Spray checked
Cone Spray unchecked. The fountain occupies the volume of the cone.
This is how we create our fountain and the things and ways in which we can make it spout.
In the next installment we will see how we control it.
