particleIllusion general FAQ

How do I get an emitter to start at a different time than frame 1?
Slide the time indicator to the frame you want your emitter to begin at, click on the emitter's name in the library window, and add it to the stage. It will now start at the chosen frame. If you already have an emitter on the stage and you want it to start at a different time, Cut the emitter (ctrl-X, cmd-X or Edit>Cut), move the time slider to the frame you want it to begin emitting at, and Paste it (ctrl-V, cmd-v or Edit>Paste).

How do I change the background color in the Stage window?
R-click (or ctrl-click on a Mac) on an empty part of the stage window and select 'Background Color'.

How can I make an emitter 'stop' after a certain amount of time?
You can make an emitter stop creating particles by stepping the emitter 'Number' property down to 0 at the frame that you want the emitter to stop emitting particles. For example if the 'number' property is set to 100 and you want the particles to stop emitting at frame 50, create a data key in the 'number' graph at frame 49 with a value of 100, then create another at frame 50 with a value of 0.

How do I add my own text or logo into the 'Logo' or 'Text' emitters?
Go into the emitter's Properties, then to the Particles tab and into the Change Shape page. Click on the 'Add New Shape' button at the bottom of the window, and browse and select a different image file. You'll need to create your text or logo in a paint program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. This topic is covered in detail in the 'Change Shape' subject page in the third tutorial of the particleIlusion HTML help file.

I am trying to render at 640x480, but in the Output Options window I can't change the size to that. It's set to a smaller frame size and I can't change the numbers. What's wrong?
particleIllusion can only render what is on screen, so the stage window must be 640x480 to render out a file at 640x480. You'll need to resize the stage window until it is large enough to show the entire stage area, which you can do by clicking and dragging the dividers between the windows. In particleIllusion 3.0 you can use the 'Load Layout' function (from the 'View' menu) or the Alt-3 (Cmd-3 on Mac) shortcut to maximize the stage window.

Are there any restrictions on what I can produce with particleIllusion? Are the emitters 'royalty-free'?
You can use the rendered output produced by particleIllusion in any way you want, royalty-free. You cannot sell, give away, or distribute the emitters themselves, unless you created them yourself (or modified them enough that they are visually different from the original emitters). Using particleIllusion to render "stock footage" that you will sell is fine, but if you use emitters that you did not create (the free emitters released by wondertouch, or any emitter collections that are for sale by wondertouch or others), this is not allowed.

How can I load more than one library at a time?
You cannot. Only one library can be loaded at a time. In particleIllusion 3.0 you can quickly switch between libraries using the "quick load" library list.

How do I export a scene from particleIllusion with an alpha channel for use in Flash?
Render out as a PNG sequence, and check the Save Alpha button. In Flash, go to File>Import and choose 'Import to Stage'. Select the first image in your PNG sequence. A pop up will appear that says "This file appears to be part of a sequence of images. Do you want to import all of the images in the sequence?" Say yes, and the clip will load up on the stage.

Playback and use of particleIllusion is very slow. How can I speed things up?
First, make sure that hardware acceleration is enabled (in the particleIllusion Preferences OpenGL page). If hardware acceleration is not available (more likely on Windows machines than on Macs) you'll need to get updated video drivers from the manufacturer of your graphics card.

Assuming that hardware acceleration is enabled, there are 2 main factors that determine the responsiveness of particleIllusion: 1) the number of particles that are alive 2) the frame number you're working at. If things are too slow, reduce the number of particles (by decreasing the number of emitters, decreasing the "number" property for existing emitters, or decreasing the "life" property. Decreasing "number" can often be offset by increasing "size". Also, don't work on very long clips -- break your long clips into multiple shorter ones.

How can I load a movie or image into particleIllusion?
The simplest way is to double-click on the empty layer thumbnail image in the layers window (the grey rectangle), then select the image or movie file you want to load.

I've heard that Autodesk Combustion uses particleIllusion for its particle system. What version of particleIllusion does Combustion use?
Combustion uses a version of the particleIllusion engine that is essentially particleIllusion 2.0 -- the same engine that is used in particleIllusion SE.

Does Apple's Motion use particleIllusion too?
Motion does not use the particleIllusion engine, although Motion's particle system is quite similar to particleIllusion 2.0 or particleIllusion SE.