particles_base
A particles_base material is used for particles. Animation is supported.
States
In the States tab you can set rendering passes and available options. Enabling some of the states activates additional textures and parameters in the Textures and Parameters tabs respectively.
The states divide into 2 groups: Passes and Options.
Possible values for an Ambient pass:
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skip | none | Material is not rendered. |
| Opacity | opacity | Material diffuse colors are blended with the ambient color. |
| Transparent | transparent | Material diffuse colors are not modulated by the ambient color. |
Possible values for all the other passes:
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skip | none | Material is not rendered during the pass. |
| Default | default | Material is rendered during the pass. |
All the options can be either enabled or disabled by ticking the respective boxes.
All the states can be set to default ones - click a Set to parent button near the state (if the state is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green).
The states available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Passes
Passes specify during which rendering pass the material should be rendered. They are modified in the Passes field of the States tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Deferred | deferred | Deferred rendering pass. Specifies if the material should be rendered during the deferred pass. For the transparent surfaces see also a Post deferred option. |
| Auxiliary | auxiliary | Auxiliary rendering pass. Specifies if the material should be rendered into the auxiliary buffer to create a custom post-process. |
| Ambient | ambient | Ambient rendering pass. Specifies, how the material should be rendered during the Ambient light pass for the opaque objects. The actual opacity or transparency of the material depends solely on the set blending options. |
| Refraction | refraction | Specifies if the material should be rendered during the refraction pass. For transparent surfaces see also Post refraction option. |
| Light omni | light_omni | Omni-directional lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Omni light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light proj | light_proj | Projected lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Projected light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light world | light_world | World lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the World light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
Options
The following options are set in the Options field of the States tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Animation texture | animation | Specifies if a texture with an atlas animation will be used. |
| Ambient emission | emission | Specifies if a light emission (glow) should be simulated for the material. |
| Shadow shafts | volumetric | Specifies if volumetric shadows from world lights will be rendered from surfaces with the applied material. |
| Soft interaction | volume |
Provides a proper interaction of volumetric particles with other objects. It lessens the particles color depending on their position relatively to the object:
|
| Alpha fade | alpha_fade | Specifies if only fade alpha component of the diffuse texture is used. |
Textures
In the Textures tab of the Materials Editor you can:
Load the textures - click a Load button near the texture and specify the path to the texture or type the path in the texture field manually
Open the view window to see texture's details - click a View button near the texture- Set the current texture to default one - click a Set to parent button near the texture (if the texture is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green)
The textures available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Base Textures
Base textures are loaded and modified in the Base field of the Textures tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Texture | Description | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | diffuse |  |
Diffuse map. A texture to define a surface's main color. |
RGBA:
Notice
An alpha (A) value will store transparency values if an Alpha test option is enabled. Otherwise it will store a detail mask. |
| Attenuation | attenuation |  |
Attenuation map. A texture to define the color and alpha component change throughout the particle's life time, from left to right. | RGBA. |
Additional Textures
Additional refraction texture is present only if an Refraction pass of the States tab is set as Default. The texture is modified in the Additional field of the Textures tab.
Parameters
In the Parameters tab you can set or modify base and additional parameters.
Parameters of different types are set in different ways:
- expression - vector values can be set either in the field near the parameter or in the dialog window opened when double clicking this field
- slider - the value can be set either by smoothly moving the slider of the scroll box or manually in the box near the parameter (if required, the value bigger than maximum one for the slider can be set)
- color - the color can be chosen in the dialog window, activated after double clicking the color field
All the parameters can be set to default ones - click a Set to parent button near the parameter (if the parameter is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green).
The parameters available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Transform Parameters
Texture transformation parameters are modified in the Transform field of the Parameters tab.
Auxiliary Parameters
Auxiliary color parameter is present only if an Auxiliary pass is set as a Default. The parameter is modified in the Auxiliary field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auxiliary | auxiliary_color | color | A color picker to choose an auxiliary color for the Auxiliary rendering pass. |
Shading Parameters
Shading parameters are modified in the Shading field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | diffuse_color | color |
A color picker to choose the color of the diffuse map. |
| Diffuse | diffuse_scale | slider | A coefficient to scale the brightness of the diffuse map. The higher the value, the brighter the diffuse map is. |
Base Parameters
Deferred threshold and Auxiliary threshold base parameters are present only if Deferred and Auxiliary passes respectively are set as Default ones in the States tab.The parameters are modified in the Base field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deferred threshold | deferred_threshold | slider | A threshold for the alpha component for the deferred pass. If the alpha component is greater than this value, the particle will be written into the deferred buffer. |
| Auxiliary threshold | auxiliary_threshold | slider | A threshold for the alpha component for the auxiliary pass. If the alpha component is greater than this value, the particle will be written into the auxiliary buffer. |
Emission Parameters
Emission parameters are present only if an Ambient emission option is enabled and are modified in the Emission field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glow | glow_scale | slider |
A coefficient to scale the glow component of the emission texture, which creates a halo around an object surface.
The higher the value, the larger the halo and the brighter the material.
Notice
To increase the glow parameter a lot, go to the Render settings -> Postprocess tab -> Glow small parameter to increase the glow throughout in the scene. After that, readjust the glow on the per-material basis. |
Soft Interaction Parameters
Soft interaction parameters are present only if an Soft interaction option is enabled in the States tab and are modified in the Soft interaction field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interaction | volume_scale | slider |
A depth factor that controls the particles color lessening depending on their position relative to the object:
|
Refraction Parameters
Refraction parameters are present only if Refraction pass option set as Default and are modified in the Refraction field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | refraction_scale | slider | A coefficient to scale the refraction area. By the value of 0 there is no refraction of the light for the material. The higher the positive value, the more distorted the image behind the refracting material is. Negative values invert the direction of distortion: the lower the negative value, the bigger a distortion is. |
| Power | refraction_power | slider | A coefficient to scale the refraction post-processing power. The higher the value, the brighter the reflection is. |