Hey there Bluethunder, welcome to SM!

Just fyi, I moved this thread to the correct area for your question, so make a mental note of where it is now, so your questions will be answered better and faster in the future

Simply Maya User Community > Effects > Dynamics & Special Effects > Particles and Dynamics

Regarding your texturing of your blobby particle render type, it looks like mirek and gect have answered your questions perfectly. (thanks guys!)

To give any object a "look" of a given surface, you would need to apply a shader to it.
In your case GecT mentioned a Blinn shader with some transparency and refraction value changes to the shader attributes.

Keep in mind however, different shaders react differently based on a number of environmental things such as, light, the absence of light, things to reflect, and more importantly the renderer you choose. (Software Raytrace, or Mental Ray, etc.)

For more about both, and everything we just talked about, check the help under RENDERING and there should be prime examples of settings and their uses to simulate different surfaces and looks.

Also, if you are less conserned with the shading aspect of your scene, and you just want it to look great at the moment, check our own Free Download area for a few shaders you can add to your own shader library, as well as spend a few hours browsing the largest Maya shader archive at: www.highend3d.com

Once there, just go and browse the many pages of free shaders made over the years and make sure to read the readme files for any specific instructions, etc.

Keep your dynamics and effects questions coming and we'll do our best to answer them for you as quick as we can, and as simple as possible

Welcome!

ragecg
Dynamics & Effects Moderator
Video Instructor