Particles Preview

At the right side of the Particle Controls panel, there is a Particles preview. You can see the preview while looking at any of the control categories.

To see how the particles move, you can click and drag in the preview. This is useful for emitters that rely on movement for the intended effect.

You can also drag the emitter so it is outside of the preview. Although no particles are visible outside the preview, this feature is useful for a few reasons:

• To see how particles follow the emitter
• To see the edges of a particle effect quickly without making the preview larger or zooming out
• To limit the number of particles inside the preview when Collide with Edges is enabled

You can also un-dock the Particles Preview panel and then resize the floating palette.

Enable Preview

You can turn off the preview. One reason to do this is to save OpenGL performance for the viewport.

Speed

You can set the speed of the preview from 15 to 40 frames per second (fps).

Preview Menu Options

There are six options in the Preview menu:

Collide with Edges

Turns the edges of the preview into a boundary that particles collide with. Enable Collide with Edges to see what the particles do when they hit a deflector.

Show Motion Blur

Allows you to see motion blur in the preview. The motion blur settings used (such as number of samples) are found in the Settings controls.

Note: You must turn on the Enable option in the Settings controls to use motion blur.

Zoom

Displays a list of the available preview zoom levels (25, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400%). If you have an emitter that extends beyond the preview edges, use this to zoom out. You can also zoom in to get a magnified view of the emitter.

Repeat

Specifies the additional delay time from when an emitter stops changing to when it restarts. This menu option applies only to emitters in which a property changes over time.

If you have an emitter with long-lasting particles, or an effect that occurs late in the emitter's life, set the Repeat delay longer (higher). The available settings (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) are in seconds. Space Explosion, in the Default library, is an example of a library emitter where you can see the effect of Repeat.

Note: This is the Repeat value for the Particles preview. There is a different Repeat value in the Particles controls.

Color

Allows you to change the background color of the preview. The choices are Black, Gray, and White.

Show Particle Types

Makes the preview show only the particle type when one is selected in the Workspace panel. Otherwise, all particle types for the selected emitter appear.