Entendiendo los sistemas de partículas parte 4

How to add noise to particles in Unity?

Creating realistic visual effects in Unity can be a creative and challenging task. One of the techniques to enrich the behavior of your particle systems is to add noise. This technique will introduce erratic behavior to your particles, giving a more natural and varied appearance.

How to activate the noise module?

To start, in the Unity editor, do the following:

1. Create a new scene.
2. Generate a new particle system and give it a name (e.g., "test").
3. Select the particle system and, in the inspector, enable the noise module.

This module will add noise to the motion of the particles, which will make them move in a curved way. The noise uses an imaginary grayscale "noise map" that alters the straight path of the particles, giving a more natural behavior.

Important noise settings

1. Strength: Adjusts the degree of impact of the noise on the particles. The greater the strength, the greater the erratic motion.
2. Frequency: Controls the variation of the noise. A low value provides a smoother change, while a high value causes the particles to change direction rapidly.
3. Scroll Speed: Alters the animation of the noise map, adding dynamism to the particles.

Experiment with these values according to your needs to get the desired effect on your particles.

How to use noise for specific effects, like fireflies?

Creating specific effects, such as fireflies in a magical forest, is possible thanks to the noise settings. Here's how:

Creating fireflies

1. Material: Create a new material and assign an additive effect. Connect this material to the particle system.
2. Color: Use warm colors, such as yellows and oranges, to simulate fireflies.
3. Shape: Change the type of shape in which the particles are generated (e.g., sphere or box) and adjust their size.
4. Random Direction: Take advantage of the Randomize Direction option in the Shape module to make the particles move in random directions.

These settings will allow you to create an effect of fireflies flying in a natural and random way. Be sure to use noise to give an erratic motion that simulates the flight of a real firefly.

How to create explosions with particle stretching?

Explosions and dramatic effects require adjusting the direction and shape of the particles to simulate an explosion. Unity offers useful tools to achieve this.

Use Stretch Billboard

1. New particle system: Create a new particle system and go to the Renderer section.
2. Render Mode: Change the render mode to Stretch Billboard to stretch the particles so they look elongated and elongated.
3. Emission Settings: Modify the Emission section to generate many particles at the same time, for example, using a Burst of 30 particles.

Other settings for the explosion effect

• Shape: Change the shape to a sphere so that the particles are distributed in all directions when bursting.
• Velocity and Scale: Increase speed and length with Speed Scale and Length Scale to add drama to the explosion.

Play and experiment with these features to create a dramatic and realistic effect, giving it the dramatic character that a convincing explosion requires. Remember, the key is to practice and tweak to get the visualization that makes the best impact on your project.

With these tools and techniques, we encourage you to continue experimenting and exploring the visual world that you can create with Unity. Your creativity is the only limit - go ahead and keep learning!