Particle group
The Particle group contains all the basic settings for the particle's appearance. Controls include Size, Opacity, Color and other settings which determine how these properties vary over a particle's lifespan.

Life [sec], Life Random [%]

Life controls how long the particles live, as measured in seconds. High values give a long particle life but mean that more particles will created over time, leading to slow rendering. Low values give a short particle life. When keyframing this setting, all particles born at a certain frame will get the current lifetime.

Life Random sets the randomness for Life, as measured in a percentage. When non-zero, the particles do not die all at once. Instead, they get slightly different life lengths. This is useful for creating natural looking effects such as trails. When the value is set above 0, the particles get slightly different lifespans. Higher values mean the randomness is higher, and that particles have more variation in their lifespan.

Particle Type

There are 8 different particle types. See the Particle Type page.

Sphere Feather

Controls the softness of the following Particle Types: Sphere, Glow Sphere, Cloudlet and Streaklet. Grayed out for the other particle types. Low Feather values give the look of sharp circles. High Feather values give a more organic, smooth look.

Left to right, Sphere Feather set low and high. Particle Type is Glow Sphere.

Texture group

The Texture group controls the custom layer, or 'texture', used for the Sprite and Texture Polygon particles. These features are covered in detail on the Texture group page.

Rotation group

The Rotation group rotates the particles independently on the X, Y, and Z axes. You can even give the particles a random rotation so they rotate in different directions. Read more on the Rotation group page.

Size, Size Random [%]

Size sets the dimensions of the particles in pixels. Higher values create larger particles. When keyframing, all particles born at a certain frame will get the current Size value.

Size Random sets the randomness for Size, as measured in a percentage. When non-zero, the particles get slightly different sizes up to the maximum size set in the Size control. Higher values means the randomness is higher, and the particles have more variation in size.

Size over Life

This graph control sets the particle size value over the particle's life. Read more on the Over Life page.

Opacity, Opacity Random [%]

This control defines the opacity of the particles. The default is 100 percent, which makes the particles completely opaque. Low values give greater transparency. When keyframing this, all particles born at a certain frame will get the current Opacity value.

Opacity Random sets the randomness for Opacity, as measured in a percentage. When the value is set above 0, the particles get slightly different transparency values. A higher value means the randomness is higher, and particles will have more variation in their transparency.

Opacity over Life

This graph sets the particle opacity over the particle's life. Read more on the Over Life page.

Set Color

Set Color is the method for setting the particle's color. There are four options. Each option activates other color-related Particle controls.

The four Set Color options.

At Birth |  | Sets particle color at birth and maintains it over its lifetime. Use the Color setting below to set color.
Over Life |  | Uses Color over Life so the particle's color can vary over its life. Read more on the Over Life page.
Random from Gradient |  | Selects a random color from the colors in Color over Life.
From Light Emitter |  | Causes the color of the particles to be set by the color of the Light set in the Light Options. This option allows you to recreate the way Particular version 1.5 used a Light's color property to set the particle color.

Color, Color Random [%]

Color controls the particle's color. Active when Set Color is set to At Birth. There is no numeric value for Color. When keyframing, all particles born at a certain frame will get a certain color.

Color Random sets the randomness for Color, as measured in a percentage. When non-zero, particles get slightly different colors. When the value is set above 0, particles get slightly different coloration. A higher value means there is more randomness, and particles will have more variation in color.

Left to right, Color set to white and green.

Left to right, Color Randomness at 0, 50, 100. Color is white.

Color Over Life

The gradient control defines color variation over a particle's life. This control is active when the Set Color popup is set to Random from Gradient or Color Over Life. Consult the Over Life page for graph editing information.

The default Color Over Life gradient control. Each color point blends with the next on the horizontal band.

Transfer Mode

The Transfer Mode controls how particles are composited together. There are six options.

The six options for the Transfer Mode

Normal |  | One particle appears in front of the other, based on their position on the Z axis.
Add |  | Particles are added together. Useful for light effects and fires, especially in 32-bit AE projects.
Screen |  | The values of the pixels in overlapping particles are inverted, multiplied, and then inverted again. The result is brighter. Useful for light effects and fires, especially in 8- or 16-bit AE projects.
Lighten |  | When blending particles together, Lighten takes the lightest pixel from each particle.
Normal/Add over Life |  | Uses a graph to switch or smoothly blend between Normal and Add modes over the particle's lifespan.
Normal/Screen over Life |  | Uses a graph to switch or smoothly blend between Normal and Screen modes over the particle's lifespan.

Transfer Mode over Life

This graph controls how the particle transfer mode varies over a particle's life. It becomes active when either the Normal Add over Life or the Normal Screen over Life mode is selected. Consult the Over Life page for more information on graph editing.

Mode Over Life is useful when transforming a volume of particles from one appearance to another over time. For example, let's say that you are creating flames that turn into smoke. While the particle is in the flame, the Transfer Mode should be Add or Screen, since flames are a light source, and you want the particles to appear to add to the brightness in the scene. As the particles becomes smoke, the Transfer Mode should become Normal, since smoke particles should obscure other particles and objects in the composition.

The default Transfer Mode over Life graph shows no blend of the particle compositing mode over time.

Glow group (revised for v2.0)

This control is only active when the particle type is Glow Sphere or Star. Glow Size is the relative size for the glow compared to the particle. Opacity, Feather and Transfer Mode control the look of the glow. Consult the Glow group page for more information.

Streaklet group (new to v2.0)

This is a new section for a new kind of Particle Type. Consult the Streaklet group page for more information.

Particle Count

This is a feature that appears in the After Effects interface, not in Particular's Effect palette. The current number of particles in the simulation are displayed in the Info window during render. The particle count is useful when trying to optimize render times. A large Visible particle number means that Particular is having to render many particles, which can slow down the overall process.

Two numbers are displayed. The goal is to keep both numbers as low a possible!

- Total is the total number of particles at the current frame.
- Visible is the number of particles actually visible in the frame, others may be behind the camera or hidden by other opaque particles.

Normally the Visible count is less than the Total count. This is reversed when Motion Blur is enabled. This is because Motion Blur creates in-between particles that do not contribute to the Total count, but do contribute to the Visible count.