Warning: Cycle on 'particleShape#.output[0]' may not evaluate as expected

[AndersEgleus]

This is something which happens all the time with particles and usually nothing to worry about.

I think (correct me if I'm wrong) it happens because an output from the particle system feeds back into it as basis for something else, which maya interprets as a cycle error. This assumption is usually correct for most nodes (e.g. the position of a ball cannot have a connection from the rotation of a cube if that rotation has a connection from the position of the ball), but in the case of dynamics, things work differently because things are evaluated in a particular order.

I've never had any problems with cycle check warnings for particle systems (except that the hardware render buffer is a bit buggy for test renderings if there is a cycle), and I get them on virtually all particle effects I do. I suggest you follow maya's advice ("Use 'cycleCheck -e off' to disable this warning") and make a button out of that command so it's easy to turn off.

If you haven't already, I recommend that you cache your particles before batch rendering, since that will certainly keep you a lot safer from any bugs.

[KevinKraeer]

Thanks Anders. I will actually start caching my particles consistently; I have noticed some 'pops' at the ends of my cloud particles which is a bit annoying. I read elsewhere here that those pops happen because of the combination of a ramp on Life Transparency + motion blur(?).

Thanks for the explanation of that cycle message, also. I have seen it numerous times and just never been able to completely decipher what it meant. I thought it might have something to do with the 'pops' I was seeing. I'll make that button to disable it.

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