TP Geom Instance and Surface Follow need helps

#1

Hi everyone,
I created a scene that there are 2 groups of particles “A” & “B”.
“A”'s shape(a circle plane) is generated from geom instance operator. I want “B” to be able to follow on the surface of “A” from the pivot point toward outside(like a circle) as it moves.
I researched that surface follow operator can archive this effect but the problem is it requires a floor node. Any suggestions?

#2

Hi,

As long as your “A” particles are completely flat, this sounds like a good place to try an orbit operator.

To set it up, you would have your “B” particles spawn from the “A” particles and use a memory operator to remember their parent.

In the next dynamic set, you would access the memorized parent particle and use it as the source for the position and alignment inputs on the orbit. The distance input would be controlled by the age (and possibly lifespan).
At birth it would be 0 distance. At death it would be half the size of the parent (which can be extracted from the memory operator by a particle data helper node).

Hope this gets you in the right direction. I can put up a test file if you get stuck.

CZ

#3

Thank you for your help but yea I’m kinda stuck=(

So the “B” spawned from the “A” and I linked a memory operator to the output of the “B” particles. And in the next dynamic set I linked an orbit operator to the “B” particles(distance, alignment and position were also linked), but the “B” particles just travel along the y-axis. Did I miss something??

Also, if you don’t mind, a test file would also be appreciated. Thanks!

#4

No worries man. Going by your description, it sounds like the memory operator may need some setup, or perhaps the orbit operator needs a speed value set. Test file is attached (Max 2010 format).

If it is the memory operator, check the setup in the second dynamic set. The B particles must be spawning from the A particles. B goes into the primary input. Particle data type is added to the list on the memory operator, drag it into the “input” box and the A particle gets plugged into that. In the last dynamic set another memory operator is created, again with B as the primary input. The particle data type built in the last dynamic set gets dragged to the “Output” box this time and all the needed info is taken from that.

If it is a speed issue, just increase the value of the speed field on the orbit operator (it should be fast enough that you can toggle edit on the fly and watch it update in realtime). Check the “Angle speed” checkbox to have a constant speed regardless of how far it is from the center.

good luck!
CZ

#5

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