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The Strength value is the distance that the geometry is displaced and can be positive or negative. The Decay value causes the displacement to decrease as the distance increases. The Luminance Center is the grayscale point where no displacement occurs; any color darker than this center value is moved away, and any brighter areas move closer.

The Bitmap and Map buttons let you load images to use as a displacement map; the amount of displacement corresponds with the brightness of the image. A Blur setting blurs the image. You can apply these maps with different mapping options, including Planar, Cylindrical, Spherical, and Shrink Wrap. You can also adjust the Length, Width, and Height dimensions and the U, V, and W Tile values.

Cross-Reference

The Displace Space Warp is similar in function to the Displace modifier. The Displace modifier is discussed in Chapter 17, “Adding Material Details with Maps.” •

Figure 42.9 shows two Displace Space Warps with opposite Strength values.

FIGURE 42.9

The Displace Space Warp can raise or indent the surface of a patch grid.

Deflector Space Warps

The Deflectors subcategory of Space Warps includes POmniFlect, SOmniFlect, UOmniFlect, Deflector, SDeflector, and UDeflector. You use them all with particle systems. This category includes several different types of deflectors starting with P, S, and U. The difference between these types is their shape. P-type (planar) deflectors are box shaped, S-type (spherical) deflectors are spherical, and U-type (universal) deflectors include a Pick Object button that you can use to select any object as a deflector.

Figure 42.10 shows the icons for each of these Space Warps. All the P-type deflectors are in the first column, the S-type deflectors are in the second column, and the U-type deflectors are in the third column.

Tip

When you use deflector objects, the number of polygons makes a big difference. The deflector object uses the normal to calculate the bounce direction, so if the deflector object includes lots of polygon faces, then the system slows way down. A solution to this, especially if you're using a simple plane deflector, because all its polygon normals are the same, anyway, is to use a simplified proxy object as the deflector and hide it so the particles look like they are hitting the complex object. •

FIGURE 42.10

The Deflector Space Warps: POmniFlect, SOmniFlect, UOmniFlect, UDeflector, SDeflector, and Deflector

POmniFlect, SOmniFlect, and UOmniFlect

The POmniFlect Space Warp is a planar deflector that defines how particles reflect and bounce off other objects. The SOmniFlect Space Warp is just like the POmniFlect Space Warp, except that it is spherical in shape. The UOmniFlect Space Warp is another deflector, but this one can assume the shape of another object using the Pick Object button in the Parameters rollout. Its Parameters rollout includes a Timing section with Time On and Time Off values and a Reflection section.

The difference between this type of Space Warp and the other deflector Space Warps is the addition of refraction. Particles bound to this Space Warp can be refracted through an object. The values entered in the Refraction section of the Parameters rollout change the velocity and direction of a particle. The Refracts value is the percentage of particles that are refracted. The Pass Vel (velocity) is the amount that the particle speed changes when entering the object; a value of 100 maintains the same speed. The Distortion value affects the angle of refraction; a value of 0 maintains the same angle, and a value of 100 causes the particle to move along the surface of the struck object. The Diffusion value spreads the particles throughout the struck object. You can vary each of these values by using its respective Variation value.

Note

If the Refracts value is set to 100 percent, no particles are available to be refracted. •

You can also specify Friction and Inherit Velocity values. In the Spawn Effects Only section, the Spawns and Pass Velocity values control how many particle spawns are available