About Particle Storm Motion files (.PSM)



Particle Storm normally has much to do just to get those pesky particles to go where they are suppose to. The psm file acts as a flight recorder for a group of particles. It basically records the state of each particle as the particle effect proceeds from beginning to end. By use of the psm file, Particle Storm is able to reproduce the intended effect from beginning to end or anyplace in-between without variation. It also allows parts of the file to be repeated or to go unused if desired.

It is the job of the 'Create' part of Particle Storm to build the psm files (or effect files), and the job of the 'Play' part to play them back in the context of LightWave's Layout.

Effect files (.psm) can get quite huge (several MB or more). Particle Storm does its best to compress the data, but keep in mind, the compressed form gets expanded when used by the 'Play' part. To help reduce memory requirements, Particle Storm shares the usage of a particular effect file (.psm) among all of its plug-ins. In addition, when using a .psm file created in Particle Storm Lite and subsequent versions of Particle Storm, the .psm file will not be completely loaded into memory. Instead, it is scanned for the information initially required, then accessed periodically as additional information is needed. This feature aids in reducing the amount of memory used.

Quick Tip: How to keep the effect file size down to a minimum:
  • Do not use more particles in the Particle Group than are needed for the effect.
  • Only record the sequence of frames that will be used for the effect. An effect does not need to be recorded starting at frame zero.
  • Always use Particle Recycling unless a good reason not-to arises. This is defaulted to On. (e.g. The effect has a definate end with all particles dead).
  • Never use the same effect file base name for multiple particle groups.
  • Once you have an effect that you like, turn on Lock Out Changes for that particle group and turn off simulate.