Working with Particles in POPs

Overview:

The Particle POP serves as the central engine for GPU-accelerated particle systems, capable of simulating millions of points. Like its cousin, the Feedback POP, the Particle POP has a Target POP parameter that’s used for completing the simulation loop used by the Particle POP. A best practice when using the Particle POP is to add a Null POP to the output of the Particle POP and set this Null POP as the Target POP for the Particle POP. Add operators between the Particle POP and Null POP to ensure that the results of those operations are used in the particle simulation on the next frame.

The Particle POP has several parameters for controlling emission — allowing for constant emission rates or by mapping input attributes to parameters.  This allows you to define initial states, mass, and drag variations directly from attributes.

To drive complex motion, the operator utilizes a feedback loop where a downstream node (typically a Null POP) is referenced in the Target Particles Update POP parameter to re-inject the system’s state each frame.  This architecture enables the application of cumulative forces (PartForce) and velocity damping, allowing the simulation to evolve continuously based on the constraints and interactions defined throughout your network.

• Particle POP – Derivative Wiki
• Feedback POP – Derivative Wiki
• Null POP – Derivative Wiki