Let us continue our exploration of the Fountain FX. This time we’ll have a look at the parameters of the FX.
After the first Fountain FX tutorial, we are familiar with the general settings of the FX:
Let us have a look at the parameters and how they impact the appearance of our fountains.
Amount
Amount controls how many particles are expelled.
Amount=10
Amount=100
Amount=1,000
Amount=10,000
Amount=100,000
Life
Life controls the duration of the particles of the fountain.
Life: min=0, max=1
Life: min=0, max=2
Life: min=0, max=5
Life: min=3, max=5
Seed
Seed is a number that enables us to make different fountains with the same parameters.
Seed=9 (the default value)
Seed=18
Apparently the same fountain, yet not exactly the same.
Size
The size of the particles can be determined here. We define a range of sizes.
Sizes range from 1 to 5
Sizes range from 0.5 to 10
Sizes range from 0.5 to 20
Speed
The speed of the fountain particles is determined here. Gravity pulls on the particles emitted by the fountain, so speed is important for controlling the height of the fountain.
Speed=600
Speed=900
Speed=1200
Weight
Weight controls how much particles are pulled by gravity. Negative weights create floating particles, while positive weights create particles that are pulled by gravity.
The animation below shows change from weight 50 to weight -50.
Bounce
Bounce controls the height of the bounce.
For bounce to take effect, we need a Collision object so our particles can bounce off something.
Setting a collision object in the Project Window
Here is an example of Bounce in action. Towards the end of the animation the bounce diminishes until it reaches zero.
These are the parameters we’ll play with.
More to follow 🙂
