ABSTRACT
Open Blender, delete the default cube object from the scene, and add a new UV sphere. Leave the default values for the sphere as they appear in the properties window. With the sphere selected, go to the properties window and click the “Particles” button. Click on the white + sign next to the empty panel to add a particle system (Figure 13.3). The window will display with an array of tabs and buttons that allow the setup of the system-this may appear daunting at first, but Blender has automatically created a system with default settings (Figure 13.4). The first thing to note is the “Type: Emitter” at the top of the panel. Clicking on the tab where the word “Emitter” is displayed will open a drop down menu with the selection options “Emitter” and “Hair.” (“Type: Hair” is a separate system that will be discussed later.)
With the cursor in the 3D window, press Alt + the A key to run an animation showing particles being generated. Note that the timeline window is displayed across the bottom of the screen and will show a green line moving as the animation plays. With the emitter object selected, the animation will play showing particles as small orange squares being emitted from the UV sphere and then falling towards the bottom of the screen (Figure 13.5). If the emitter object is not selected, the particles show as small black dots. The animation will play for 250 frames then repeat itself. Press Esc to stop the animation. Using the up/down arrows on the keyboard or by dragging the green line in the timeline, move the animation forward to
frame 100; the particles will now be displayed as they occur at frame 100. Render the scene (press F12) and an image will be rendered showing the UV sphere and the particles as halos (fuzzy balls of light merged together) cascading downwards (Figure 13.6). If the animation were to be rendered as a video, you could play this in action. Press Esc to cancel the image and return to the 3D window.
