Exploring Particles

You will end this lesson—indeed, this entire book—with a bang (or perhaps a whoosh, but definitely not a whimper) and look at particles and particle systems. Like many other effects, particles may not seem terribly exciting at first, but they form the basis for many different effects in the world of compositing and they come in many different shapes and sizes. You can use particles to generate all kinds of phenomena. Indeed, some custom-made generators such as flames and smoke use particles as a source.

In its most basic form, a particle is just that: a particle that appears on your image. Think of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which spits out tiny particles from what is essentially the world’s most expensive gun. Well, here you have a particle emitter that gives you somewhat slower and larger particles—but it comes free with the system!