EFFECTS

Explode

The Effects->Explode command in the Motion module allows you to explode a polygon mesh object into its constituent polygons. You can control and animate the magnitude, duration, and location of the explosion, as well as introduce randomness to create dramatic, realistic results.

You can apply the effect to the entire object, or only to polygons that have all vertices tagged. Used together with other custom effects in the Model module such as Polygon->Breakup, Polygon->Equalize, Effect->Push, Draw->PolySkin, Tag->SplineTag, or Tag->SurfaceTag, you can create precisely the volcanic explosion or bomb blast you want!

To explode a hierarchy of polygon mesh objects, use the Effects->HrcExplode effect in the Motion module.

Procedure

Create a polygon mesh object with separated polygons.

Typically, you would apply the Polygon->Breakup effect to a polygon mesh object to create a polygon mesh with separated polygons.
Choose the Effects->Explode command in the Motion module.

The Explode dialogue box is displayed.
Set the parameters as desired.
Pick the polygon mesh object to be exploded.

The effect icon is displayed. When you play back the scene, the polygon mesh explodes.

The explosion direction depends on the relationship between the exploding object's position and the position of the effect icon on the screen. The location of the effect icon determines where the explosion originates on the object, regardless of any transformations to the object or the icon, or whether the object or the icon are in a hierarchy.

As with many motion effects, the icon can be animated and the parameters set can be further edited or animated by selecting the icon and choosing Effects->Edit Parameters in the Motion module.

Parameters

Start and End Frame

Allows you to specify the frame numbers for the start and end of the effect.

Magnitude

The relative magnitude of the effect; that is, the speed at which the parts of the object explode. This is measured in SOFTIMAGE units per second.

Decay Start and End

The distance from the explode icon at which the effect starts and ends its decay. In other words, the Start value indicates the distance from the icon at which the exploding particles start to slow down; the End value indicates the distance from the icon where the particles lose all their momentum and come to a stop.

Gravity

The relative strength and direction of gravity applied to the explosion. This is measured in SOFTIMAGE units per second.

Frame Rate

For the motion timing to be correct, this option must be set to the same frame rate being used in SOFTIMAGE, usually 30.0 or 24.0 frames per second.

Instantaneous

Allows you to specify if the effect instantaneously affects the polygons in the polygon mesh, or moves outward from the icon at a speed corresponding to the Magnitude parameter.

Tagged Polygons Only

When this option is selected, only those polygons that have all their vertices tagged will be affected.

Note:

This option is not available for the HrcExplode effect.

This option can be deselected after the effect is started, but it applies only to those polygons tagged at the time the effect was created.

Implode

This option makes the effect implode, pulling all particles inward instead of pushing them outward.

Jitter

Rotation, Translation allows you to apply jitter to the polygons.

Seed allows you specify a seed number for the random number generator.

x, y, and z amounts allows you to specify the relative amount of jittering.

Frequency defines how "jittery" the jittering is. The value should be between 0 and 1. A value of 0.05 produces a smooth random motion; a value of 1 produces a very jittery random motion.

Cumulative allows you to specify if the jittering effects accumulate over time.

Tumble allows you to specify if the jittering effects tumble the model over itself.

Group Polygons

Allows you to create groups of polygons by specifying the number of polygons to be grouped together.

This parameter is useful when the object to be exploded is composed of many copies of one model, such as an object created by applying the Duplicator effect to a tetrahedron. In this case, each copy of the tetrahedron retains its shape during the explosion if the Group Polygons option is set to 4 (the number of polygons in the tetrahedron). This parameter is also useful when Explode is used in conjunction with the Push, PolySkin, and Equalize effects to create explosions in which the pieces have thickness.

Next, Previous, Delete, Key, and Frame

For the animated effects, Next advances to the next keyframe, Previous goes back to the previous keyframe, Delete removes a keyframe, and Key sets a keyframe at the frame you specify in the Frame text box. These controls can only be accessed after you have set the initial parameters in the dialogue box and clicked Ok. To return to the dialogue box and edit keyframes for the effect, select the effect icon and choose the Effects->Edit Parameters command in the Motion module.

Last updated 02-apr-1998