Particles travelling along a network

#1

Hello
I have a sphere like object emitting particles from its vertices
I’m trying to create a motion in which the particles find one of the vertices to which they are connected to and travel towards it.
I can not use a random vertex for the find target operator because that would cause them to travel inside the sphere, and I only need them to travel along its edges.

Any ideas?

I saw this thread http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=426752 but with 60 splines I’m hoping there’s a more elegant way…

#2

What about placing a object per vertex and then use those as your find target. You can also use a speed by surface or lock/bond to keep the particles on the surface.

#3

Hi Grury, thanks for your reply.

but how can I tell it to select a ‘correct’ vertex as a target?
Closest Object - will always pick the origin vertex, and not move
Random - can pick a vertex on the other side of the sphere and move inside the sphere instead of on the surface.

I tried these first but could not get them to work. speed by surface is a good direction but doesn’t seem rigid enough to keep the particles attached to the surface, they drift away from it after a few frames.

With Lock/Bond, the particles stick to the surface but can not move on it, maybe I’m doing it wrong?

#4

I just did a quick test and it seems to work just fine, will uplaod a file in a bit.

#5

http://www.grury.me.uk/find_taget_test.max

Just a quick test, with room for improvment. Dunno if will help.

#6

Ah! Got it!

My problem was I left the force on the position lock/bond at 100%

Thanks!!

#7

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