Particle System Problem

[drumlug13]

I know this has been an issue for a loooong time but.... Has anybody found a workaround or fix for the particles that eventually start to stream from one spot instead of emitting from random spots in the source. In this cartoon ( sorry, wish I had a better example loaded) @ :09 most of the balloons start to form a stream.

Usually I find which layer the streaming particles are coming from and hide it but that's kind of becoming a pain. I've tried several other fixes/workarounds and combinations of even/odd particle lifetime frames, even/odd particle counts, using separate systems for different particles, offsetting those start times.

Long story short, I haven't been able to find a formula to keep the randomness of the initial burst of a particle system.

[amanandink]

We had the very same problem drumlug and we raised it on the beta testing of 9.5 and some improvements have been made as far as I can see. And there is the addition of a Randomize Button to the top left of the work area when you select the particles layer and the Special Tool for the tool window.

If that doesnt help I would be more than happy to look at you file, we have had some success in getting rid of the issue when it come up.

Jeremy

[hammerjammer]

Hello,
I don't know about the particle thing your asking, But I just wanted to say COOL animation.
I like how the Rolling stones lips started to sing. Its the little things like this that make me happy.
Good Job.

Good luck with the Particle issue.

Hammerjammer

[drumlug13]

Hello... Sorry for the late response. I didn't realize there were any replies. (Thanks for the compliment Hammer)

Ok, this may be a better example of the particle issue here...



At the left corner of the doghouse you can see the rain lose randomness and begin to form a stream. I figured out a few things about it and found some different simple workarounds if anyone is finding this a problem.

In the rain particle system I have 4 layers with a single raindrop. The streaming problem usually begins in the 3rd layer. I don't think that I've used a particle system with more than 4 child layers so I can't say for certain that it's always the 3rd layer. But when I've done snow, or the balloons it's seems that the 3rd layer down is where the problem starts.

Another thing I noticed is that the initial burst of the particles is fine. The streaming starts when the first run of particles expires.

The 3rd thing I noticed is that it only loses it's randomness and begins to stream when the "Source Depth" in the "Particle Options" is changed from 0.

So the workarounds I use are...

1) If "Source Depth" is on I hide the 3rd layer. It's not perfect because the streaming layer does appear to use most of the particles the system emits. So you have to kind of tinker with it to get the results you need.

2) Instead of using the "Source Depth" we can probably just change the sizes of the child layers to create an illusion of depth


Here is a link to the file if anyone wants to look at it.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/fndaw ... _Test.anme

[amanandink]

Hi Drumlug

yeah for what its worth I had a look at the test file and I can confirm everything your said, it is very much linked to the source depth and the 3rd layer.

But if you put a blank layer in as the 3rd layer it solves the problem for you. Essentially the system is streaming a blank layer.
Are you part of the beta programme? I can post it in the bug reporting system if your not.

And nice work on the scenes by the way
Jeremy

[drumlug13]

Thanks Jeremy,

I can't believe I never thought of just putting a blank layer in there. I'm not in the beta program, so go ahead and forward it if you don't mind.

Thanks for the compliment,

Adam

[amanandink]

Will do Adam

but I have also discovered that there is an issue with my particle system not using layer 3 in the generations, it is only displaying it once, but putting a blank frame in also solves it for me. Very weird.

J