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CINEMA 4D R11 Quickstart –Thinking Particles
Drag the “PSetData“ node into the XPresso editor and assign an input port for position. This will be the property
we want to set for the particles. This port will be connected to the position output of the “PsurfacePosition“
node. Connect the particle input port of the “PSetData“ with the “Particle Birth“ output of the “PStorm“ node.
Now “PSetData“ knows which particles it will position. Now connect the “PStorm” node’s “Particle Birth” output
port to the “PsurfacePosition” input node.
The first steps have been made! Lean back, take a deep breath and take a minute to admire the setup. Isn’t it
beautiful?
To summarize:
The emitter “passes along“ its generated particles to the “PSurfacePosition“ node. This node, in turn, calculates
the random positioning of the particles on the polygon and transfers this information to the “PDataGet“
node.
This node assumes the actual setting of the particles in their random positions
You can see the result immediately in the editor view. The particles are now being generated evenly from the
entire polygon. The particles are still moving in the wrong direction – along the default Z-axis of the emitter.
Since snow doesn’t usually fall horizontally (except in a major storm), we have to rotate the emitter by 90
degrees. Keep in mind that the emitter is an object and therefore cannot be transformed directly. Its orientation
is controlled by the “emitter surface’s“ coordinates.
Select the “Emitter_surface“ and switch to the “Use Object Axis Tool“.
Rotate the object axis 90 degrees around the red X-axis so that the blue Z-axis points down. Presto! The snow
is now falling down, as it should.