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Particles real time preview

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:24 am
by Asterix
It would be easier to create particles if we could see in real time the result. even if it's in a seperate windows.

THANK YOU!!! AND LEAVE WINDOWS OPEN AFTER APPLYING!!

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:55 pm
by Poptoogi
I was just about to post the same thing!! I love the particle effects in AS but I HATE that every time I adjust the settings for particles I have to close the window and play it on screen. In fact, that's one thing I hate that makes me frustrated with AS in general is that every time you make an adjustment in any pop up window, it closes the window when you apply it. LEAVE IT OPEN for Christ sake! LOL! Maybe I want to place several actions, maybe I want to try different particle settings without having to reopen the tab every time! If you can't make a thumbnail example of a preview at least leave the settings open so people can adjust them without going through a series of tabs and reopening windows just to tweak stuff.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:28 pm
by jonbo
The only thing that you can make key frames for in a particle layer is the on/off. So if you push play first and then open the particle settings, you can see the changes you make in realtime. Also Guyver, I saw in your tutorial that you access the settings through the layer palette. But you can also get them by selecting the particle layer then on the left side in the tools palette select the particle layer tool. At the top in the tool options you can open the settings menu for particles. The difference is any changes you make are realtime and there is no option to apply them like when you use the settings from the layer palette.

Edit: In ASP6 and ASP7 you can have the timeline playing and open the settings through the layer palette, in ASP8 you can only do this through the layer tool. Just checked all three versions.

Thanks!!!

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:50 am
by Poptoogi
Jonbo!!

Thanks for the tip!!! I should have known there was a way to do this! I'm so use to using the layer palette for everything that I didn't even consider a different way which is crazy because just like with animating in AS itself, there are many ways of achieving the same effect! I really appreciate it as I'm experimenting a lot with particle and this is a BIG time saver! Cheers for that!!!

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:15 am
by jonbo
You're welcome. The same thing annoyed me when I first started messing with particles till I found this. I think this might be one of the reason that people tend to shy away from particles because they can't see what the many settings do. I think this might be a good subject for a tutorial. If you don't do it, I might.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:30 pm
by chucky
Download Ramon Lopez awesome' lost layer tool'. particles can be previewed in real time while playing, it is also great for masking experiments and several other layer features.
I would be without it.