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kbrown

24-06-2003 09:27 AM

Particle replacing without instancing

Hi,

Does anyone know how to replace particles with some geometry without instancing. I'd like to have each replaced particle as a separate duplicate of an object which could then have their own dynamic (soft-body) secondary movement. I think this is not possible with Maya's particle instancer.

ragecgi

24-06-2003 03:45 PM

You might have to do it via mel m8...

Sorry, not in front of Maya right now....

Danny in the mel section might have an idea or two for you regarding that.

kbrown

24-06-2003 05:16 PM

I already tried to do it with a per particle expression but I encountered a problem. I was thinking of duplicating the geometry in a creation expression, storing the duplicate's name in a per particle custom attribute and then deleting the duplicate when the particle dies. Then it would have been just a matter of moving the geometry in a runtime expression.

The problem is that you can only (?) have per particle custom attributes of float type meaning I can't store the name :(

Any ideas?

*edit*
Maybe I could rename every duplicate to something that includes the particle's Id in it's name but it wouldn't be fool proof...

kbrown

25-06-2003 12:46 PM

Moved. Let's try this here :)

mtmckinley

25-06-2003 01:13 PM

I have no idea.

kbrown

25-06-2003 06:07 PM

Well, I got it working with an ugly hack :p If someone can figure out a more sophisticated method I'd be really appreciated.

Here's what I did:
For the per particle creation expression I wrote:

Code:

string $sDupName = ("dup" + particle1Shape.particleId);

string $sNewObj[] = `duplicate nurbsSphere1`;

rename $sNewObj[0] $sDupName;

In the per particle runtime expression I wrote:

Code:

string $sDupName = ("dup" + particle1Shape.particleId);

if(particle1Shape.age >= particle1Shape.lifespan)

        delete $sDupName;

else

{

        vector $vPos = particle1Shape.position;

        setAttr ($sDupName + ".tx") ($vPos.x);

        setAttr ($sDupName + ".ty") ($vPos.y);

        setAttr ($sDupName + ".tz") ($vPos.z);

}

Finally I wrote an expression that deletes all the duplicates when the animation is at start:

Code:

if(frame == 0)

{

        if(`objExists "dup*"`)

                delete "dup*";

}

As I said earlier, this is not a fool proof method because I'm relying on object names. Works for the purpose I need right now though...

ragecgi

25-06-2003 06:36 PM

Great hack m8!

I'll keep looking for another way for you tho:)

Dann	05-11-2003 07:15 PM

Quick question... I'm trying to use this trick, but it doesn't seem to use the scale and rotational information that's in my particle system. How could I adapt the following so that the duplicate gets made with the scale and rotational information?

particleShape1.scalePP = rand(.08,.4);
particleShape1.rotPP = rand(0,360);
string $sDupName = ("dup" + particleShape1.particleId);
string $sNewObj[] = `duplicate target_plane`;
rename $sNewObj[0] $sDupName;

Thanks.

figured it out. I should stop posting, because half the time I figure it out before people get a chance to reply.

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