When I use 3D particles, I typically create a looping animation and use that in Particular Set the particle to loop with a random start time. Just keep your precomp size pretty small so AE doesn't bog down.
Re: emitting 3d comps in particular by Steve Renard on Dec 18, 2008 at 6:02:03 pm
I've never tried it, but I would think that you probably would have to build the planes of the building in your particle comp, and then turn on Collapse Transformations so that it would be a 3D element in your main comp. Even then Particular might do something that would flatten your particle image, since it, like many things in AE, is not truly operating in a 3D space - more like 2.5D
Re: emitting 3d comps in particular by Mike Sev on Dec 18, 2008 at 4:22:05 pm
you can't use actual 3d objects from maya or max, but you can fake it sometimes.
1. Make a new comp the size of your particle (ie:30x30) within your existing comp.
2. Within that comp make something 3d like two 2d layers intersecting each other, parent them to a 3d null object and rotate the null. You should now have a 3d looking object rotating
3. Go back out into your main comp, pick a custom particle in particular and select your new 30x30 comp as your particle.
You should now have a fake 3D particle emitting. you can make some cool stuff this way, but it won't work for every project.
Re: emitting 3d comps in particular by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Dec 18, 2008 at 8:02:46 pm
Create your building in a precomp and nest it into the comp with Particular. Using Particular's custom particle, you can select the 3Dbuilding that you created in Particular. The only tricky bit is setting the Time Sampling for Particular. Usually you will set it to Random Loop.
Random Loop will force Particular to emit particles with a random start point and when the particle reaches its inherent end-point, the particle will loop to its inherent start point and continue again in this manner until it dies off. Also keep an eye out for the size of your particles - too small and they may pixelate if they get too close to the camera and too big and they'll bog Particular down to a crawl.
For this to work, ensure that your particle is created in such a way that it is seamlessly loopable. Also, you can use renders from 3D software as 3D particles with Particular or even Particle Playground.
HTH
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
