Importing Particles and using the Displacement Map plug-in

A Displacement Map plug-in (called PSplay.p) is used to move the vertices of LightWave objects from their original modeled positions. Particle Storm uses this type of plug-in to manipulate the position of particles. Each particle effect consists of a single LightWave object in which the vertices represent the particles in the effect.

Accessing the plug-in
The Displacement Map plug-in is found in the Objects panel under Displacement Map. Select Particle Storm from the drop-down list. Click on Options to open the interface.
Loading Particle Objects
The object that this Displacement Map plug-in is to be applied to is the object created by Particle Storm. Information about Particle Objects can be found under the section titled Creating Particle Objects. Load the particle object (.lwo) as you would any normal object.
Displacement Map Parameters
Effect:
  • Load psm File: Particle Storm uses a pre-created psm file to control the displacement of a particle group object. Click on this button, and then select a psm file to load. If the file has not already been loaded by another plug-in, it will be loaded now. If it is already loaded but the selected file is more recent, the more recent one will be loaded to replace the older data. The name of the currently accessed psm file is indicated in the Edit Box titled "File Name".
  • Frames: Indicates how many frames long the Particle Storm animation is. This is the number of frames you have recorded in Particle Storm.
  • Start/End: You can specify a range of frames that will be used from the total available frames.
  • Repeat Count: If you want the Particle Storm animation to loop, the repeat count defines how many times the animation will loop. When the frame number has reached the last frame, it will jump to the first frame. It will do this for the number of times as entered in Repeat Count.
Scene:
  • First Frame/Last Frame: This section allows you to state when during the Layout animation the psm effect will be used. The first and last frames of the animation may be specified. During this range of time, the particles are governed by the psm effect. Outside this time, the particles in the effect are considered dead.

Orientation:

  • Align To Path: When toggled On, the orientation of the particle objects is based on the path created by the moving particles. This will allow the particles to turn in the direction of their movement.
  • Look Ahead (frames): For particles to point in the general direction of their path, they need to know where they will be a few frames before they get there. This value defines how many frames a particle will look ahead to determine how it will position itself.
  • NEW! Align with Strands: Allows you to easily control the orientation of particles used with the strands feature, such as hair.

Warning: This feature can not be used along with 'Align to Path'.

Size:

  • Use Particle Size: Only applies when Sub-Objects are used. This will allow the particles to be affected by the size value specified in the Mimic controller. The Size Factor value is a scaling factor for all of the particles.
Strands:
  • Use Strands:If you are trying to import strands, toggle this option on. This will tell Particle Storm that the particles are special strands particles.
  • Only Strands: When toggled on, this will insure that only strands (not single point particles) are emitted.
Displacement:
  • Before Bone Modifications: You may want to modify your particles using bones. With this option toggled On, bones can modify particles after the Displacement Map plug-in has displaced the particles. Having this option toggled Off means that bones will have no effect on the particles.
Displacement Map Usage
  • Step 1) Open the Objects panel.
  • Step 2) Load the particle object by clicking on Load Object from the Objects panel. The particle object is the special object that Particle Storm creates. If you are unsure of how to create particle objects, consult the section titled Creating Particle Objects.
  • Step 3) Go to Displacement Map plug-ins, and select the plug-in titled Particle Storm.
  • Step 4) Click on Options. This should display the interface for the plug-in.
  • Step 5) Click on Load PSM File and select the recorded psm file. If you are unsure how to record a psm file, consult the section titled About Particle Storm Motion files and Recording Particles.

    Once the psm file is loaded, the interface should be updated with all the information contained within the psm file.
  • Step 6) Close the Objects panel. Move the frame scrub-bar in LightWave back and forth. You should see tiny dots moving. These are the particles that you created within Particle Storm.