Emitter : Emission Object

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 16 May, 2018
2 min read

“Object” is a volume emitter. Emitters define the point of particle creation in 3D space, while the particles are part of the "Fluid" container. Emitters can be scaled, rotated, and translated like objects.

 

 

RealFlow Scene

In RealFlow | Maya it is possible to use multiple "Scene" trees in the same project. To link the emitter to a "Scene" node right click on the field, click on "Set Scene" and choose an entry from the appearing list.

Fluid

To link the emitter to a "Fluid" right click on the field, click on "Set Fluid" and choose a fluid container from the appearing list. An emitter can be connected to one fluid container only.

To learn more about how to link RealFlow scene elements and make them interact take a look at the → "Manual Linking" page with examples.

Emitter Type

Toggle the emitter's type with this drop-down menu. The following parameters and the viewport representation will be updated according to your selection. Bear in mind that type changes will change the emitter's and fluid's behaviour completely.

Body

You can drag any closed object to this field to emit particles from its polygons or vertices, but only one node per emitter is allowed:

  • Polygon selections are supported.
  • If the polygon selection has changed it is necessary to reattach the object.
  • Object deformation is recognized and affects emission.

When the body's polygons are very small it might happen that you will not get any particle emission. To fix this, increase the "Fluid" container's "Resolution" to create more particles. You may need very high settings (> 100 or more).

Speed

Here the particles' initial speed is defined in metres per second. Higher values will generate more particles per frame. The number of emitted particles also depends on the fluid's “Resolution” settings. A value of 0.0 stops the emission of particles.

Randomness

Use this option to avoid patterns and regular structures by displacing the particles randomly at creation time. The value ranges from 0 to 50.

Distance Threshold

Here you determine how far away the particles should be from the object’s surface during birth.

Jittering

By default, the emitter creates a regular particle distribution and this leads to patterns. “Jittering” adds random displacement to the particles. The allowed values range between 0.0 and 1.0 for maximum randomness.

Parent Velocity

The emission object can be animated, and RealFlow | Maya takes a certain amount of the object's velocity and transfers it to the particles during the state of creation.

Smooth Normals

This function should be used when the emission appears to random or fuzzy.

Texture

With a texture it is possible to create particles in certain areas on the object's surface: 

  • Particles are only created in areas with texture values greater than 0.
  • Objects require emitter uses UVWs only.
  • Maya's built-in procedural shaders (e.g. noise) are supported
  • Learn more in the → "Image Emitter" workflow video.
EmissionType

Choose, if you want to emit from the object's vertices or polygons.

Emitter Object Set

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