Table of Contents - Introduction to LW Particles and Hypervoxels

Introduction to this series
   - What we will and won't cover
   - What you should expect to get from this series
   - Background Sessions
   - Nature of future classes
   - My LW setup

Background Session 1
   - Nature of particle systems
         - Simple particle equations (see Particle Path.jpg)
   - Particles in CG versus Scientific Viz
   - Whats the deal with Fluids (Part 1)

Particles in LW
   - Pros and Cons of LW's current system
   - Alternatives

Exmples, why use Particles

Types of Particles in LW
   - Partigons
         - Pros and Cons
             - Shading, Lighting and Rendering
             - Saving out to .lwo files
             - Expensive
             - Can't add directly to a Null via Properties

Particles
   - Pros and Cons
              - Cheaper and easier to work with
              - Its the type most commonly used
              - Can't Texture them with Surface Editor
              - Can't save them back out to .lwo files directly

Ways to setup PFX (Particle Effects) in LW
    - Add directly
    - FXBrowser
    - Objects
    - Nulls
    - Scripting & SDK
    - We'll work almost exclusively with Null or Object based emitters

Quick over view of Particle panels

Setting up a remedial system
    - Diagram reprise and how it relates to LW particles
       - Start Frame
          - Fixed
    - Life Time
          - The magic of 0
       - Birth Rate (simple introduction more later)
       - Particle Limit
       - Gravity (simple introduction more later)
       - Velocity (simple introduction more later)
       - Calculating and FX_Start

Visualizing particles
    - Default
    - Hypervoxels
    - Size

Particle Generation Part 1
    - Nozzle
    - Primitives
    - Objects
    - Parent/Child combinations (simple introduction more later)

- Q&A

- Fireworks 01

- Fireworks 02

- Background session 2: Particle systems from a code standpoint
    - Basic particle system breakdown
    - Particle data structures
    - Particle manager
    - Rendering

- Changing Object colors for multiple emitters

- Groups
    - Creation of groups and what they are
    - Demo of Groups using our Homework 1 scene.

- GENERATION TAB
    - Birth Rate Control
        - Envelopes
        - Texture
            - Procedural
            - Gradients
            - Image Based

- Generate by
    - Speed
    - Collision 'Event' Event is the keyword here!
    - Wind
         - Motion->Threshold1(m/s) <Minimum value needed to generate with
           wind!>
        - Motion->Threshold2(m/s) <No effect with wind>
    - Wind Speed same as Wind but Wind->Power effects Birth Rate

- Nozzle
    - Question from Object-Line demo. How do I make a predetermined set of
       'arms'?
    - Parent-Emitter
    - Parent-Emitter(End)
    - Parent-Collision (Broken - so will demo how it will work when its finally
      fixed)

- Size Effect and Object stretching

- Key Effect
    - Key
    - Parent-Key
    - Key-Env
    - Parent-Key-Env

- PARTICLE TAB
    - Overview
          - +-'s
    - Particle Weight
    - Particle Size (This has no effect on particle calcs other then for collision
      events!)
    - Particle Resistence

- Homework - Update your ParticleBase_1.lws to have individual colors and add

- What are collisions

- What is collision detection

- MOTION TAB
    - Velocities
    - Explosion
    - Vibration
    - Thresholds
        - Wind (Only Threshold 1 is used and is the minimum velocity before
          particles are born).
        - Vibration (Threshold 1 = minimum threshold, Threshold 2 = 100%,
          everything in between is a congruent gradient)

- ECT TAB
     - Gravity
    - Center Position

- Position Blur (Best used used 'Fixed Random' is unchecked!)
    - Parent Motion
    - Max Speed
    - Loop Frame
    - Record Step Frame

-Mid Point Questions

- PARTICLES FOLLOWING A PATH
    - Layout keyframed paths
    - Following a modeled path

- ROTATION TAB
    - Rotations
    - Rotations in relation to HV's

- TARGET

- INTERACTION TAB
    - Force
    - Viscosity
    - Self Interactions
    - Multiple emitter interactions

- Wrap

Benefits of this Video

Even the best animators on the planet have a hard time with physics, particles and collisions.  Well not any more! Tim Dunn has spent years in school learning physics and matmatics as they apply to 3D and specifically LightWave 3D.  Tim has a great way of conveying this information without you haveing to have a Doctorate in Physics.

This DVD will save you from the headache of trying to get particles and hypervoxels to work by showing you the basics of physics as they apply to LightWave 3D as well as helping you setting up scenes and using all aspects of LightWave's particle engine.

Artists Biography
Tim "aurora" Dunn, is a freelance CG artist and programmer specializing in scientific visualization. He lives in a little town north of Boulder, Colorado and has two beautiful daughters that live in Aspen. He is also the Content Director for CGFocus.com and a moderator for several CG related forums. He is currently back in school at the University of Colorado studying more math, physics and programming.

From day to day, Tim can be found on SpinQuad LightWave 3D community (www.spinquad.com) or on NewTek's forums (www.newtek.com).

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