Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Play the animation again and press Esc to cancel. The 3D window is in user perspective view,
therefore it is difficult to see what has been achieved by removing the “Random” tick. Change
the view to top view (number pad 7) then to front view (number pad 1) (Figure 13.32). With
the timeline advanced to frame 41, you will see an ordered array of particles.
Figure 13.33
13.6 Material Influence on Particles
Particles emit their own light so it isn't necessary to
have lamps in the scene when particles are rendered.
To give particles color, you have to add a material
to the emitting object. We can render an image at
frame 41 of what we have already created by pressing
F12 on the keyboard—what we get is a plain gray-
and-white picture (Figure 13.33). Press Esc to cancel
the image. With the sphere selected in the 3D win-
dow, go to the properties window - “Material” but-
ton. Press “Add New” and click on the diffuse color
bar to display the color picker. Select a color (I've
chosen red) then render the image again (Figure 13.34).
We see the emitter object (sphere) and the particles rendered
in the same color. To advance this subject a little further, go to
the “Particles” button and find the “Render” tab. In the “Render”
tab, you will see “Halo” highlighted in blue (Figure 13.35). This
is telling Blender to render the particles as halos. Since there
are a considerable number of particles visible at frame 41, our
Figure 13.34
Rendered image
rendered image shows us a colored blob. Note also the tick in the “Emitter” box; this tells
Blender to render the emitter object in the image. Click in the box to remove the tick. Go
back to the “Material” button and find the “Transparency” tab. Click and add a tick in the
“Transparency” box. Reduce the “Alpha” value to 0.050 and render again: now only the
particles are rendered and they are transparent (Figure 13.36).
This has demonstrated some of the effects of materials on particles. There are many more
combinations to play with. We will have a look at adding halo effects to particles and at the
