Particle emitters

This idea is maybe more for some future, theoretical versions of where FF maybe explores animation more (and/or batch renderings), but I think “particle emitters” could be cool…



http://www.wondertouch.com/
(By the way, that woundertouch particle illusion site seems very “unwieldy” (for me) to navigate.)

http://www.trapcode.com/products_particular.html
(Which is also a frustrating site for me because it’s been un-usably slow.)


I think this is an area that some 3D programs have explored, but I also abstractly notice in the 2D realm, "music visualization" programs/plugins seem to also use it... (E.g. maybe also, google/look into the music visualzation program of “G-force” (or even dissect what’s going on with a default Window’s music player visualization).)

Just an idea... (where, maybe even, outside the animation (or 3D) realms, maybe there could also be interesting "capture" moments for static FF filters?)

I use Particle Illusion extensively (for game development) and highly recommend it for anyone who doesn't want to deal with 3d particles via 3dsMax or Maya (or other 3d tools). PI is an OpenGL based 2d particle engine. It's primarily for video, but I use it a lot just for 2d work. (I need some flames on this image.) It's an easy to use and highly useful little program. It's very fast, (no waiting for things to 'render') because it just uses your hardware acceleration.(It's also fun: it's entertaining to click on the screen and watch things explode.)

Quote
i wonder if it's procedural, node based like FF?

It's point based and timeline-based. Each particle and particle emitter has a bunch of variables and behaviors and you just twiddle with them (and over your timeline) until you get the look you're after. Some variables are 'over the life of the particle' - so relative time, not absolute. I'm not sure how a node-based particle system would work as it happens over time... PI is less about processing things throug a series of steps, and more about how things move over time. You CAN link parameters to a common variables together, but I haven't gotten into it much.

The developers are also pretty cool, so maybe they could be approached with such an idea of collaboration. (Or maybe to just commiserate re: Mac versions )

PI also has a huge library of emitters which are provided gratis, similar to Filter Forge. Every month there is a new library with fresh goodies within.

I'm not familiar w/ Trapcode, but the main differences I see is that it is 3d, whereas PI is 2d only. It also appears to be able to be used as a plugin for after effects. Many of the functions appear similar, though.

The tiling style of Zoltan Erdokovy's Oil Flame and smoke puff filters is awesome, and is working well in my game projects. Having a generator for these types of things is fantastic. I'd love to see more of this type of filter

Thanks
AaronC

Off topic does anyone know of plugins that will work with After effects 4? Ideally particle fx. Thanks