Intro To X-Particles from Greyscalegorilla on Vimeo.
GreyScaleGorilla is a very experienced user of Cinema 4D & of X-Particles and subsequently has a large archive of information on the software which is very useful to learning the basics on both. The video above is a short introduction to X-Particles and gives lots of useful information on basic set-ups of the plug-in (notes below):
BASICS
Particle System – Adding a particle system: X-Particles > Particle System > Add Basic Set-up
Emitter Shape – When the particle system is added, the emitter shape defaults to a square which can be changed within the settings to become any shape: Shape > Emitter > Object > Emitter Shape
No. of Particles – The particle emitter can be edited to create more/less particles from the source: Emitters > Emitter > Emission > Birthrate
Modifiers – A numerous amount of modifiers can be added to affect the particles (such as turbulence, wind and gravity): System > Add Objects > Modifiers
Texturing – Texturing works differently to normal C4D materials, to texture an x-particles system it needs to be an x-particles material: New Material > Shader > X-Particles Material (> Add to Emitter)
Size – The size of the particles can also be changed, however, this is done within the material: Emitters > Emitter > Emission > Radius
Size Variation – The size can also be varied by a % entered by the above route: X-Particles Material > Size > Variation
Colour – The colour of the particles can also be varied by picking a gradient as to what colours the particles can be: X-Particles Material > Colour > Colour Properties > Mode > Random (from gradient)
Lighting – The particles can be illuminated the same way as normal C4D particles would be: Add a Light > General > Shadow > Select Shadow
DYNAMICS
Gravity – Although its not necessarily relevant for my animation, gravity dynamics can be added to affect the particles: System > Add Objects > Modifiers > Gravity
Tags – Like C4D, x-particles tags can be applied to the objects to give them specific characteristics to adhere to: Tags > X-Particles Tags
Key to note that the Collider Tag would be most relevant to me as it means that the particles will react to other ‘solid’ objects in the scene when they contact each other (meaning they wont pass through each other – act like real world objects).
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