ObjectToParticle Operator

thinkingParticles is the first particle system ever to offer the functionality to turn an object into a particle. The ObjectToParticle Operator is used to turn any mesh object, helper or even light source into a particle that can be accessed or modified by other thinkingParticles operators. When picking a spline object, it can be automatically turned into a rope object when BulletPhysics is chosen as the collision solver.

In thinkingParticles, Object2Particle can now be accessed by Maxscript in order to create tools that automatically add/remove objects to an Object2Particle operator, turn on/off Tracking and Shape Instancing.

CRITICAL: If an object has its Renderable object property unchecked so that it is NOT renderable, then it will NOT be imported into Obj2Particle, and any SC Joint Helpers that depend on that object will also not receive the object and will not be in effect.

Operator Inputs 

ON - (Bool) This input data stream determines whether the operator is considered 'on' or 'off'. You can connect other operators to this input channel such as a Bool Helper to activate/deactivate the whole operator.

Time - (Time) This input data stream is used to define the local time for the operator when the user wants to override the default system time.

Operator Outputs 

Born Particle - (Particle) This output data stream sends particle data for newly created particles to other operators. Every particle birth will activate all rules connected to this particle data stream. As a result , this can be used to directly assign a value to the particle. Note this output only occurs when the particle is born.

Born Node - (Node) This output data stream sends the current node ID used to create particles. This can be useful for other Operators that have a Node input data stream for keying off of the same object.

Born Node ID - (Integer) This output data stream sends the number in the list of nodes to other Operators and Helpers. Be aware that the first object in the list will be given the ID of 0, and each object added will have their IDs incremented by 1.

Rollout Menus 

REM. - Click on the Remove button to remove a selected object from the ObjectToParticle list window.

UP - Click on the UP button to move a selected object up within the ObjectToParticle list window.

DOWN - Click on the DOWN button to move a selected object down within the ObjectToParticle list window.

Pick Object - Click on the Pick Object button to enter the pick object mode. Once active, you can select any valid 3ds Max object and turn it into a particle.

Group - As is the normal procedure inside of thinkingParticles, you need to tell the system where to store the particles when you create or modify them. Choose any particle group from the dropdown list to store the newly created object particles.

Track 

None - when this option is chosen, no tracking will happen - the initial position and rotation will be taken.

Object to Particle - When this option is active, the animation of the object will be tracked over time and the particles will follow the object position.

Particle to Object - With this option active, when particles move in thinkingParticles, the object is also moved automatically. In this case, you will not have the ability to manually animate the object any longer.

Initial Velocity - takes the original/initial object transformation into account when creating/instancing the object into thinkingParticles.

Instance Shape - thinkingParticles only affects the transformation matrix of the original object. In most situations this is what you want. However, you need to set this option when you want to use fragmentation effects or other more advanced effects that deform or change the mesh definition of the object that is turned into a particle.

Use Subtree - This option should be activated when you want to turn any attached children of a selected object into a particle.

Hide - This button provides the quick ability to hide the selected object in the 3ds Max viewports. Generally speaking, when you create an object for use as a particle inside of thinkingParticles, it is done solely for that purpose. Therefore, it's generally a good idea to hide that original object before you render.

Changes Affect All - This button let's you distribute any changes within this operator to all of the selected objects in the operator at once.

Joints Rollout 

The joints menu section offers controls to define breaking triggers for Dynamics Joints. Besides breaking object hierarchies into elements, Physics Dynamics based joints can also be used to define a complex object structure for breaking or animation.

Collision - each HFragmenter can be assigned to one specific shape collision (SC) engine. Keep in mind that only the selected Shape Collision engine is responsible for the simulation of the breaking effect.

BulletPhysics - Important Note

To get an actual rope object out of a picked spline you must choose in the Collision menu a BulletPhysics solver - or you will not see a rope object!

Joint Break Code - defines the Joint breaking trigger value, this value is similar to the Code parameter described in the Activation menu section.

Use Lights to Break - when checked and when lights are picked from the scene, the Joints can be broken off by the illumination levels created by the selected light sources.

Pick - lets you pick one or many light objects form the scene to used ot trigger the breaking of a joint

Rem. - when clicked, removes the selected light from the list.

Seed - can be used when you have more than one instance of the ObjectToParticle operator within your scene to keep them from having the same particle emissions.