ParticleStorm is a three-part design and development project
dealing with an animation technique known as particle systems. A
particle system is a group of small,
similar objects whose motion is governed by a shared set of rules.
Hollywood has long made use of particle systems for a variety of
special effects, and the technique is also increasingly appearing in
video games as well.
Currently, high-quality particle system animations are
produced with elaborate software packages that require a great deal of
training
and technical knowledge to use effectively. The artists who build
these animation effects are forced to spend time learning scripting
languages instead of focusing on the creative tasks they are best at. The goal of ParticleStorm is
to create a better user interface for creating serious particle
effects. Particle systems break down well into simple components
that are easy for users to conceptualize (see Overview), so a well-built interface should be able to greatly lower the hurdle for new users.
The project consists of two major parts: designing and
building the user interface, and implementing the animation and
rendering of
the particle system itself. A demo of the real-time rendering and
animation system can be downloaded from this site. The links
above give further details on the interface design and the graphics
implementation.
Please contact Peter Flynn for more information.
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