mcjJet script: basic particle effects for DS 1-4 - with Burst mode!

mCasual

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * *
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it’s ready ( knock on wood )

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

The new mcjJet 2 with color-ramps lives here :

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts4/mcjjet2
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it's Friday afternoon and i thought, lets make a new script

but i don't know yet what

( it was kind of hard to repress ideas as i was heading to write this post )

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a script has the advantage of not saddening Mac users like when i write plugins or exes

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ok, the thing i want to make is, pixie dust particle effect

we'll limit the effect to 255 billboards

first i'll reacquaint myself with the particle effect script i wrote and used long ago

the movie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZcZf_LGsbQ

the old script - https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

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figure 1, our animated fairy and her wand ( i.e. our animated particle emitter )

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so we want our 50 sparkles to be emitted ( and maybe we'll re-use some )

the rate of emission should be zero for a while, ramp up, sustained flow, ramp down, zero

an individual sparkle life cycle will be .... not sure yet

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mCasual

first results show that either

A - i must read the manual i wrote
B - something aint working in the script

note that i'll probably modernize mcjJet ( example, save the last used settings upon exit ) instead of writing a pixie-dust script

mCasual

if i use the pre-simulation option, i hide the problem,

but i think i have to fix mcjJet, ( already i added last-settings-used saving on exit .... update will be published soon )

mCasual

the next version of mcjJet will be able to hide the particles that are not "born"

it's not a very complete particle engine, but it was written mostly for simple smoke/steam ( exhaust of a steampunk ship )

the particles are little billboards striving to keep facing the camera

in another video ( with a supercar ) we can see there's a problem for zero-crossing camera angles

... i may fix that too

SimonJM

Just decided to write something, eh? :)

mCasual

SimonJM said:

Just decided to write something, eh? :)

well i did study the maths of the lattice deformers a bit but wanted a divertimento

( notably, 1 x 4 lattices would be useful and easy to work with, for long hair animations ... and could be driven by a 4-segmets physics simulation .... or for dresses )

mCasual

and here is the completed effect i wanted

today i'll publish the updated mcjJet ( just gave to make sure it still works with DS1, 2, 4 )

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figure 2 shows my settings, the effect was "built" with the frame rate set at 30 fps

if i wanted a stronger burst, i could "build" the animation with a frame rate of 60 fps , and still, render at 30 fps or 15fps

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the stars are emitted from frame 20 to 40

they start their life opaque with a size of 1.5 and end it transparent with a size of 0.5

so we get a bouquet of stars with different sizes

the speed settings are the defaults

Aiko is holding a primitive cylinder by its tip, since the base of the cylinder is the origin and the emitter point

the emitter size is 1cm, so the stars are deemed to come out of the tip

(maybe i didnt need to set it since the emitter mode is set to "point"

Ivy

Casual said:

and here is the completed effect i wanted

today i'll publish the updated mcjJet ( just gave to make sure it still works with DS1, 2, 4 )

---

figure 2 shows my settings, the effect was "built" with the frame rate set at 30 fps

if i wanted a stronger burst, i could "build" the animation with a frame rate of 60 fps , and still, render at 30 fps or 15fps

--

the stars are emitted from frame 20 to 40

they start their life opaque with a size of 1.5 and end it transparent with a size of 0.5

so we get a bouquet of stars with different sizes

the speed settings are the defaults

Aiko is holding a primitive cylinder by its tip, since the base of the cylinder is the origin and the emitter point

the emitter size is 1cm, so the stars are deemed to come out of the tip

(maybe i didnt need to set it since the emitter mode is set to "point"

wow this is super.. I'll have to give them a try.. Though to be honest I'm no where near as good with working with scripts- and coding as you are, but hs looks like ti could be useful...

Thank you for sharing it :)

mCasual

here you can see a new feature for the upcoming mcjJet update,

the billboards/stars/smoke-puffs are made to face the camera,

even if the camera moves,

and the billboards remains upstanding

this was set up and rendered in Daz Studio 1.8 software render

another new feature is that in "burst mode" the unused particles are properly hidden

RAMWolff

Interesting. How about something other than the sparkles. Like just some simple colored balls with a really faded out edge and a lighter center to look like an energy dot. Get enough of those going will look really cool.

mCasual

RAMWolff said:

Interesting. How about something other than the sparkles. Like just some simple colored balls with a really faded out edge and a lighter center to look like an energy dot. Get enough of those going will look really cool.

initially it was used for smoke and steam effects in Steampunkettes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZcZf_LGsbQ

note that one could load many, even, say, 10 50-billboard props and get 500 dots moving

mCasual

new features will be

- support for burst mode ( aka pixie dust effects )

- better handling of the settings

- automated billboard re-orientation so that they face the camera

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mCasual

well it was all going smoothly, with daz studio 3 and 1.8

then i test Daz Studio 4 and aWWWWWwwwwh, the changes to Studio broke usability of the 50billboards fiigure

so i made a 50billboards prop, but there too, i get weird results

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so if anyone is following this, the new mcjJet script launch will be delayed to tomorrow

who knows maybe we'll add a feature while we're at it

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actually it's not too bad, the replacement prop seems to work moderately weirdly, not totally weirdly

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figure 2, well this was normal behavior, though i had to re-position the prop centers and infert the flow of the particles
so i'll add that option named "reverse flow"

mCasual

worked a few minutes on the DS4.5 compatibility issues
using a 50billboard prop instead of a 50billboard figure

for now each billboard is made to stand vertically and turn (YRotate) to face the camera
but i think i may modify it to really really face the camera,
maybe using mcjFaceTheCam's equations

hmm i could also do something that works with mcjTracer ... maybe not

...later that evening

i think i fixed DS4.5 issues regarding 50billboards figures
this was somewhat important because figure animations can be saved as pose presets and maybe BVHs too

so the the improved mcjJet for DS 1, 2, 3, 4 may be out tomorrow !

RAMWolff

Oh, I like the last one. Hey, that's an idea.... blow bubbles!

mCasual

since i had to rebuild the 50billboards figure for Daz Studio compatibility i'll use the occasion to
give you 60, 120 and 240 billboards figures.

i think over 255 "bones" in a figure would cause problems ( in old versions of Poser for instance )

mCasual

RAMWolff said:

Oh, I like the last one. Hey, that's an idea.... blow bubbles!

bubbles ..... sort'of :)

zigraphix

This is so cool! I want to be you when I grow up. ;)

mCasual

zigraphix said:

This is so cool! I want to be you when I grow up. ;)

thanks! i'll be able to delegate work to my yourself then :)

mCasual

you liked the animated gifs you'll love the movie

more than 1 minute of non stop particle drama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZLmLpprLSg

RAMWolff

Oh, that was just wonderful. Snow could totally happen with this. The last effect is really nice.

mCasual

the "burst mode" will allow re-using the same billboards-prop , shown here, 2 bursts

RAMWolff

Very nice. Your so creative and talented.

mCasual

last thing i want to do is make sure looping animations still work

mCasual

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

it's ready ( knock on wood )

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

SimonJM

Casual said:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * * mcjJet now for DS 4,5 * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

it's ready ( knock on wood )

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

Woohoo!

Thanks for this, should be fun to try out and make use of! :)

RAMWolff

Awesome. Thanks so much. WOOT!

RAMWolff

Hmm, keep getting a "Page Not Found" notice.

mCasual

RAMWolff said:

Hmm, keep getting a "Page Not Found" notice.

mcjJet page
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

direct link to the mcjJet 's zip package
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet/mcjJet.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

mcjBillboards page
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts3/mcjbillboards

direct link to mcjBillboards zip package
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts3/mcjbillboards/mcjBillboards.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

all seem to work for me

maybe the version Google serves you is on the old server in the tool shed :)

patience55

Casual said:

RAMWolff said:

Hmm, keep getting a "Page Not Found" notice.

mcjJet page
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet

direct link to the mcjJet 's zip package
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjjet/mcjJet.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

mcjBillboards page
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts3/mcjbillboards

direct link to mcjBillboards zip package
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts3/mcjbillboards/mcjBillboards.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

all seem to work for me

maybe the version Google serves you is on the old server in the tool shed :)

It's from the link in the first post that one gets the page 404.

THANK YOU! Looking forward to playing with this one.

I have noticed with interest this phrase ... I might borrow it sometime ;-)
To avoid incomprehensible effects ...

mCasual

Patience55 said:

....
It's from the link in the first post that one gets the page 404.
THANK YOU! Looking forward to playing with this one.
I have noticed with interest this phrase ... I might borrow it sometime ;-)

To avoid incomprehensible effects ...

welcome !

thanks i corrected the link ( which was merged with the word "so" )

indirectly related to the word "So" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmnDXRJ7btE