Question about particles...

General Moho topics.

Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger

Post Reply
breedrill
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:06 pm

Question about particles...

Post by breedrill »

heyy me again


so my question is this; what exactly can AS's particle engine do in comparison to the particle engine in, per say, after effects? (silly question I know, I'm just curious because I don't want to pay a monthly subscription for AE just to make nice particles)
User avatar
synthsin75
Posts: 9934
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:20 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Question about particles...

Post by synthsin75 »

The only real drawback to Moho particles is that, even thought they do have height, width, and depth, they don't respect any real 3D space. IOW, particles that look like they should be in the background often render in what looks like the foreground.

But this is only an issue for specific cases. I've never used AE particles, but I assume they don't have this limitation.
User avatar
Greenlaw
Posts: 9192
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Question about particles...

Post by Greenlaw »

It depends on what you intend to do with particles.

Moho particles work well enough for many things but they're not nearly sophisticated as Trapcode Particular for After Effect. IMO, Particular blows away any of AE's native particle systems, but the native ones can be useful if you don't have Particular. They all have their uses.

At work, I like to use either Moho Particles or Trapcode Particular, and sometimes both together depending on my needs.

What's nice with Moho's particles is that they can work directly with the Moho animation and interact with it. The options and dynamics may be limited but the system is straightforward and easy to use. I've used them for leaves, snow, animated wind lines, cartoon fire, etc.

With Trapcode Partciular for AE, it's possible to get motions and looks that are impossible to create with Moho particles, but you'll need to be clever in AE if the Moho animation needs to 'interact' with these particle fx. For example, you can create fire, smoke and liquid effects more more realistically with Particular, but since there's no direct relationship to the Moho animation, it will require manipulation in AE.

As for AE's native particle systems, AE has several. I think they're all kind of simple and some are very specialized. It's been a while since I used any of them, but for cartoon fx I'm not sure they offer a whole lot over Moho's system. I think any advantage with the native ones might be that you have more control over the looks using other AE tools.

IMO, it's good to understand how to use both systems (Moho and AE with any particle system) so you know when and where to use them best.

In general, I think AE is an amazing compositing program and well worth subscribing to, but I wouldn't purchase it solely for its native partcle effects. If you need more advanced particle effects, and you don't want to also get Trapcode Particular for AE, you might look into Fusion. Even the free version of Fusion has a much more advanced native particle system than AE's.

FWIW, the Moho animations created at my workplace are composited in AE. At my home studio, I sometimes use AE and sometimes use Fusion for compositing Moho (and other) animations. Both compositing programs have 3D environments so you can do multiplane setups and 3D effects. Trapcode can seem a little weird at first because it's set up as a 2D solid layer but exists in its own 3D space. Moho's particles, as mentioned by Wes, exists in 2D space.

Of the three programs, I think Fusion's 3D environment and camera is easiest to work with. Being a nodal compositor, it's also more flexible and efficient. And as mentioned, it has a great 2D/3D particle system already buit-in.
Post Reply