Apple Motion 5.1.1 User Manual
Page 543
Chapter 14
Particles
543
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Image: Displays the full particle system effect.
Note: Whatever is chosen in the Show Particles As pop-up menu appears in your final render.
Used deliberately, this can result in some interesting effects.
•
Point Size: This slider appears when Show Particles As is set to Points, and lets you adjust how
large the points are.
•
Random Seed: Although particle systems seem random, they’re deterministic. This means
that the variation in each particle system is created based on the number shown here.
Unless this seed number is changed, a particle system with the same parameter settings
always plays back with the same motion. If you don’t like the current random motion or
distribution of the particle system, you can change the seed number by typing a new number
or clicking Generate. This changes the random calculations performed for that system for all
randomness parameters.
For more information about the random nature of particle systems, see
on page 516.
•
Particle Source: In particle systems with more than one cell, an image well representing each
cell appears at the bottom of the Emitter Inspector. Each Particle Source well has a checkbox
you can use to enable or disable that cell.
Adjust a particle emitter in the Properties Inspector
As with any other layer in Motion, you can modify an emitter’s position, scale, blend mode, drop
shadow, and other attributes in the Properties Inspector. These properties are separate from
the emitter parameters in the Emitter and Particle Cell Inspectors. To access these parameters,
select the emitter, then open the Properties Inspector. Some parameters are available only in 3D
projects. (For detailed information on all Properties Inspector parameters, see
on page 223.)
Note: When you select a particle cell and open the Properties Inspector, only one parameter
group is available: the Timing controls, which adjust the In and Out points of the particle cell. For
more information, see
Particle Emitter Timing controls
on page 544.
Important:
Some operations performed in the Properties Inspector, as well as the application
of certain filters or a mask, cause a group to be rasterized. Because particle emitters live in
groups, rasterization affects how particles interact with other objects in your project. For more
information, see
on page 1045.
67% resize factor