USER INTERFACE GUIDE

To add an item, right click (right mouse button) on the item you wish to create. At the popup select "Create' and you have just added an item.

• Load Particle Storm from generic plug-ins.
• Now right click on "Cameras" and hold the right mouse button down.
• Select "Create"
• Notice that a new camera has been created.
• Now select the new Camera that you just created by left clicking on the Camera name.
• Now right click it and hold the right mouse button down.
• You will see a popup box showing "Clone" and "Delete". Click Clone. You have just cloned a camera.

All items including controllers can be added deleted and cloned in the same way.



One of the most useful features in PS2.0 is the ability to envelop almost any parameter. Particle storm has it's own custom envelope which works very similar to LightWaves standard envelope, but has a few extra features which makes it a lot easier to use.



Envelope Parameters: Next to most parameters, you will see a control like this: Clicking on it will display a popup. Notice the contents of the popup: Constant: a constant integer or floating point number PS Envelope: Particle Storm's custom envelope LW Envelope: LightWave standard envelope Layout Item: Just like "texture reference objects" in LightWave. Any parameter can be associated with any positional attribute of a layout item. Select "PS Envelope" Clear: Clears the entire envelope including all settings. Load: Load a standard LightWave ".env" file. Save: Save out a special Particle Storm envelope. Offset: This will shift all keys in the current envelope by the number of frames specified. If the number is negative, all frames are shifted to the left. If the number is positive, all frames are shifted to the right. End: End behavior controls the ending characteristics of a range of keyframes. Reset will set the value of the key immediately after the last key to zero. Stop will maintain the value of the last key linearly for the remaining frames. Repeat will start from the first key again right after the last key created. The behavior will repeat forever. PingPong Similar to repeat but it will essentially mirror the range of keys for each repeat cycle, therefore creating smoother motion. Note: For "repeat" and "pingpong" the shaded reagon represents where keys were actually created Auto Size: Will automatically change the bounds of the envelope zoom so that all keys created will fit into viewing box of the envelope editor. Create/Delete/Drag will allow the creation, deletion and moving of the key. For the Drag option the right mouse button drags the key left and right. The left mouse button drags the key up and down. Move and Zoom will allow you to pan and zoom arround in the envelope view. If you get lost, hit the AutoZoom button to center the view to where your keys are created. Current key scrolls through and selects keys. Value: Displays the value at the current key. Change this parameter to alter the value at that key. Linear: Creates a linear transition between the current and the key right before it. TCB: Allows you to interactively adjust the tension, continuity and bias of a key. To adjust Tension, click on a key and hit "t" on the keypad. Similarly, bias is "b", and continuity is "c".


Quick Tutorial:
Lets animate the heading of a particle emitter using envelopes.
• 1) Clear the project.
• 2) Select Fountain under controllers.
• 3) Expand the heading parameter.
  Note that all values are constant. Click on the edit box next to heading and change this to "DR Envelope"
• 4) Now click on "edit envelope". This will bring up the envelope dialog.
• 5) Set the end behavior to "Repeat".
• 6) Create a key at frame 30 and set it's value to 180. (You don't have to do this numerically. The key value will be set to the horizontal position of the mouse cursor, and the value will be set as a function of the vertical position of the mouse cursor)
• 7) Create a key at frame 60 and set it's value to 0.
• 8) Play the animation. Notice the heading of the emmiter cone now moves from side to side infinitly.
• 9) While the preview window is still playing, go back into the envelope editor and change the drag the values of the keys arround. Notice how the OpenGL preview window reflects your changes in real time.



Using the Color Path editor:
The color path editor's main purpose in particle storm is to work with the particle shader. The interface is identical to the envelope editor except that a key represents a new color gradient.

Quick Tutorial:
To learn more about how to use the color path editor, please refer to the Particle Shader tutorials.

Changing the viewing size:
With Particle Storm 2.0 you can change the viewing size of the plugin window to your preference. This is nice if you are working with a complex scene and want to view a larger OpenGL window.

To do this
• select the Project item.
• In the properties dialog, change the resolution to your liking.
• Now hit OK (the same button you would click to exit particle storm). The interface will refresh with the new viewing resolution.


WARNING: Higher resolutions will mean slower playback speed. We strongly recommend an OpenGL card for hardware acceleration.

Changing grid size, and item colors:
You can customize your interface in the 3d View property of the project item. Choose your grid spacing, background colors and item colors. (NOTE: These parameters will be saved in the project file)

Resetting Values:
Although there is no undo in Particle Storm, you can reset a parameter's value to defaults. The way you do this is by right clicking on a parameter name and selecting reset. For example, in the camera item, to reset the x position of the current camera, right click on "X" and select reset.

OpenGL preview window:
The Preview window in Particle Storm works in the same way as LightWave's preview window works. You can manipulate elements in real time interactive by clicking in the window and dragging the mouse. The element that is being manipulated is determined by the current item selected. For example, if the current item were a camera, dragging the mouse up while holding the left mouse button down would move the camera forward. Selecting the fountain controller and dragging the mouse up would move the fountain emitter (represented as a sphere) forward. Similarly, holding down the right mouse button while dragging the mouse will cause an up and down movement.

Note: If you are on any controller and want to manipulate the camera, you don't have to go back to the camera item. Just hold the shift button down to move the current camera (the one that has the red checkmark next to it). Holding the "ctrl" button down will allow you to modify heading pitch and bank.