Nodes Particle nodes

Particle nodes create and control particles and particle systems.

To begin working with particle nodes:

In the shelf, click New Particle System on the Particles tab.

Particle node flags

Cook

At the top-level of the POP network, controls which POP is cooked. All required ancestors of the cooked POP are also cooked. In subnets , controls which POP is the output of the subnet. Violet means on.

Template

Show guide geometry specific to the node. For example, turning on the template flag for a force node shows the direction of the force being applied to the particles. See visualize node effects with template geometry .

Bypass

Pass the input straight through to the output without modifying it. When the bypass flag is on, the node has no effect.

Usages in other examples

Example name Example for

Subtopics

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  • Acceleration
    Explicitly sets a particle’s acceleration.
  • Advect by Volumes
    Advects particles by a velocity field defined by three volumes.
  • Age
    Sets the ages and/or expected lifespan of particles.
  • Angular Velocity
    Sets a particle’s angular velocity.
  • Attractor
    Attracts or repels particles using a referenced Force SOP or Point SOP.
  • Attribute
    Adds custom attributes to particles.
  • Attribute Transfer
    Transfers point or vertex attributes from reference geometry onto particles.
  • Code
    Inserts extra code in the particle system.
  • Collect
    Merges particle streams together so you can act on them collectively.
  • Collision
    Sets attributes on and/or groups particles when they collide with geometry.
  • Color
    Changes a particle’s diffuse color and/or alpha.
  • Creep
    Causes particles to stick to geometry.
  • Drag
    Applies drag to the velocity of particles.
  • Event
    Generates events based on rules.
  • Fan
    Applies force on particles like a cone-shaped fan.
  • Fetch
    Imports particle streams from other networks.
  • Fireworks
    Creates a simple fireworks system.
  • Follow
    Makes particles follow a leader.
  • Force
    Applies a global directional force, such as gravity.
  • Group
    Creates and/or combines named groups of particles.
  • Hit Info
    Manually sets attributes associated with collisions.
  • Instance
    Renders instanced geometry on a particle.
  • Interact
    Make particles attract or repel other particles.
  • Kill
    Kills particles based on expressions.
  • Limit
    Creates collisions when particles reach a limit boundary.
  • Lineage
    Manually sets attributes associated with the particle’s family tree.
  • Location
    Emits particles at a location in space.
  • Lookat
    Rotates particles so they point in a certain direction.
  • Null
    Passes inputs through unaffected.
  • Orbit
    Makes particles orbit a center-point.
  • Position
    Explicitly sets a particle’s position.
  • Property
    Manually set physical attributes.
  • Proximity
    Sets attributes on and/or creates groups of particles based on which other particles are nearby.
  • Render
    Controls how particles render.
  • Resistance
    Calculates air or water resistance on instanced geometry.
  • Rotation
    Rotates the particle frame of reference, allowing instanced geometry to point in a different direction from the particle motion.
  • SPH Density Test
    Kills particles if the surrounding region exceeds a certain density.
  • Soft Body
    Performs soft body deformations similar to the Spring SOP.
  • Soft Limit
    Creates a boundary collisions like Limit, but with spongier bounces.
  • Source
    Emits particles from geometry.
  • Speed Limit
    Enforces minimum and maximum velocities.
  • Split
    Splits (emits) particles from existing particles.
  • Sprite
    Changes sprite rendering attributes like texture coordinates, SHOP, rotation, and size.
  • State
    Sets the state information of particles.
  • Stream
    Emit particles from areas where streams of particles mix.
  • Subnetwork
    Encapsulates the functionality of a POP network inside a node.
  • Suppress Rule
    Turns off default rules controlling particle behavior.
  • Switch
    Switches between input streams.
  • Torque
    Rotates particles around another point.
  • Translation
    Moves the particle frame of reference, offsetting instanced geometry from the particle position.
  • Turn
    Changes the direction of particles without affecting speed.
  • Up Vector
    Manually sets a particle’s up vector.
  • VEX
    Executes VEX code to modify particles.
  • VEX Sprinkler
    Simulates a sprinkler.
  • Velocity
    Explicitly sets a particle’s velocity.
  • Velocity Stream
    Emits a stream of evenly-spaced particles from geometry.
  • Wind
    Pushes particles up to a maximum speed.