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Table Of Contents
Replicators take advantage of Motions 3D capabilities. Some replicator shapes are
inherently 3D, and others can have points that exist in 3D space. Additionally, behaviors
applied to a replicator can pull pattern elements out of a plane. For more information,
see Using Replicators in 3D Space.
The Difference Between a Replicator and a Particle System
Although the replicator and particle systems share many parameters, they are very
different tools. Although both use layers (shapes, text, images, and so on) as cell sources
and both generate onscreen elements from those sources, each produces a unique
effect from those raw materials. A particle system generates dynamic elements that
change over time: Particles are born, emerging from an onscreen emitter”; they move
across the Canvas; and they die, according to the “laws of nature you specify in the
parameters of the system.
A replicator, however, is not a dynamic simulation. Its elements are not emitted like
particles (replicator elements do not have birth rate, life, or speed parameters). The
replicator builds a pattern of static copies of a source layer in a shape and arrangement
that you specify. Although the replicated elements you see onscreen are static by default,
the replicator parameters can be animated. For example, you can designate a simple
star shape as the source of your onscreen pattern and then replicate the star multiple
times along the outline of a circle. By keyframing a few parameters of your new replicator
layer, you can launch the stars into animated orbit around the center of the circle, making
them change color as they whirl.
Anatomy of a Replicator
All replicators begin with a source layer: the layer in your project that is duplicated and
arrayed onscreen in a pattern. When you replicate a layer, two new layers appear in the
Layers list:
A replicator layer that controls the onscreen pattern as a whole
A cell layer that controls the individual elements in the pattern
The following sections explain the differences between replicators, cells, and the source
objects on which cells are based.
735Chapter 15 Using the Replicator