Particle, Commentary, and Materials Editors Released

YM

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Dec 5, 2007
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Wow, I wana go where ever you do if exams are lax enough that you can browse the internet and post on the forum :p

AS art exam, I just so happened to be doing a painting in Photoshop, so I was at the computer in the corner.......which had an internet connection :thumbup1:
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Nah, They said there still is some bugs, And that they will be updating it, But Im taking this time to learn its system.

We should build up a knowledge base.

Emmitters: They make the particles you see
Operators: They control what happens to it after it is made
Initializers: They control what happens to each particle the moment it is created

To change the colour of your particle:
- Add the initializer "Random color"
- With the "color1" and "color2" selection things pick the colour you want - It will pick a random colour between the two colours so you can easily get a little variation into your effect

To make the colour change as time goes on:
- Add the operator "color fade" then use the colour selection thing to pick the colour you want it to end up
- Change the "fade_end_time" and "fade_start_time" as you see fit to get it changing as fast/slow as you want
- It seems like these can't be layered, it will use the "color fade" operator nearest the bottom of the list.
- To reverse put the fade colour as the starting point just set the start time to after the end time (the fade colour will appear at the start until the end time now) (this method looks like it can be used when you want it to go from a single colour to a random colour)

To make it move in a direction:
- Add the operator "Movement basic"
- Change "gravity" from 0 0 0 to what ever vector you want, the co-ords are in X Y Z and of course higher values make it move faster.

Making particles spawn in random locations:
- Add either a "position within box random" or a "position within sphere random" initializer
- For a sphere adjust the "distance_max" value to set it's size (distance_min will create a sphere in the middle where none will spawn)
- For a box use "min" and "max" to set it's area, think of these as XYZ co-ords of the boxes two outermost corners

Rotating:
- Add the "Rotation spin roll" operator
- Set the "spin_rate_degrees" to what you want
- I haven't managed to get this spinning clockwise yet?

"Lifespan decay" operator appears to be tied to the "emit continiously" emitter's "emmission rate" confirm/deny?

You can make a nice "rushing away" effect with the "random force" force generator, set the min force to -1000 -1000 -1000 and the max to 1000 1000 1000 and they all fly away from their starting poitn nicely.
This (reduced to 100 not 1000) and combined with "pull towards control point" forcegenerator (force 100, fall off 0 and controlpoint 40) makes a nice fire type effect, but I can't seem to move the control points, I really don't have them figured out at all.
 

Axii

L1: Registered
May 27, 2008
47
7
We should build up a knowledge base.

Emmitters: They make the particles you see
Operators: They control what happens to it after it is made
Initializers: They control what happens to each particle the moment it is created

To change the colour of your particle:
- Add the initializer "Random color"
- With the "color1" and "color2" selection things pick the colour you want - It will pick a random colour between the two colours so you can easily get a little variation into your effect

To make the colour change as time goes on:
- Add the operator "color fade" then use the colour selection thing to pick the colour you want it to end up
- Change the "fade_end_time" and "fade_start_time" as you see fit to get it changing as fast/slow as you want
- It seems like these can't be layered, it will use the "color fade" operator nearest the bottom of the list.
- To reverse put the fade colour as the starting point just set the start time to after the end time (the fade colour will appear at the start until the end time now) (this method looks like it can be used when you want it to go from a single colour to a random colour)

To make it move in a direction:
- Add the operator "Movement basic"
- Change "gravity" from 0 0 0 to what ever vector you want, the co-ords are in X Y Z and of course higher values make it move faster.

Making particles spawn in random locations:
- Add either a "position within box random" or a "position within sphere random" initializer
- For a sphere adjust the "distance_max" value to set it's size (distance_min will create a sphere in the middle where none will spawn)
- For a box use "min" and "max" to set it's area, think of these as XYZ co-ords of the boxes two outermost corners

Rotating:
- Add the "Rotation spin roll" operator
- Set the "spin_rate_degrees" to what you want
- I haven't managed to get this spinning clockwise yet?

"Lifespan decay" operator appears to be tied to the "emit continiously" emitter's "emmission rate" confirm/deny?

You can make a nice "rushing away" effect with the "random force" force generator, set the min force to -1000 -1000 -1000 and the max to 1000 1000 1000 and they all fly away from their starting poitn nicely.
This (reduced to 100 not 1000) and combined with "pull towards control point" forcegenerator (force 100, fall off 0 and controlpoint 40) makes a nice fire type effect, but I can't seem to move the control points, I really don't have them figured out at all.
Maybe we should make a Particle Editor Tut?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Maybe, theres still a load of features to iron out. I've really not got more complex motion sorted yet.

I wen't and extracted all of the TF2 and Portal effects into their respective areas and took a look. Looking at those seems the best way to figure them out.
Start with the simple ones like the teleporter's beads or the achievement cup thing (really good example of how you can parent effects)

Please everyone have a go with it, see what you can do, if you feel something you work out hasn't been said then say it, this is a new tool, we're all in the same boat, even the best of us have to start from scratch again :p
 

Axii

L1: Registered
May 27, 2008
47
7
Maybe, theres still a load of features to iron out. I've really not got more complex motion sorted yet.

I wen't and extracted all of the TF2 and Portal effects into their respective areas and took a look. Looking at those seems the best way to figure them out.
Start with the simple ones like the teleporter's beads or the achievement cup thing (really good example of how you can parent effects)


Please everyone have a go with it, see what you can do, if you feel something you work out hasn't been said then say it, this is a new tool, we're all in the same boat, even the best of us have to start from scratch again :p
Yeah, I did the same thing, Just extracted them all, And slowly Edited them/experimented, And its really fun, And I learned the Parenting thing from the Achievement cup too :).
 
Feb 14, 2008
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Heh, I just made a commentary for a test map a few days ago, and now they release the editor...
 

YM

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Dec 5, 2007
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A new Source SDK Beta has been released. To access the Beta, go to File -> Settings, and on the Account tab will be a drop down. Select Source SDK Beta, and then allow Steam to restart itself. The specific changes for this Beta include:

Enhancements
* Particle Editor, Material Editor, and Commentary Editor are now included in the Source SDK
* Updated SDK source code for Orange Box mods
* Added example particle system files to SDK content


Bug Fixes
* Updated Linux binaries and makefiles for dedicated servers and server plugins
* The Faceposer phoneme editor now pops up a warning message when a phoneme cannot be saved


Known Issues
* SDK shaders have not yet been updated for Orange Box games
* New editors can be accessed by adding '-tools' to the launch options for Orange Box games or mods utilizing the Orange Box engine


I'm checking it out now, hopefully we can save.
 

Cdsand

L2: Junior Member
Oct 25, 2007
75
1
Hm... I use VTFEdit for materials. But this other stuff seems new to me. Can't wait for official working versions for the SDK update!
 

Hawk

L7: Fancy Member
Dec 3, 2007
419
213
Dang it, it's crunch time at my office and I've been putting in 14 hour days just to get something ready for E3. I have to wait to try this stuff out and it sounds like fun.

I'm hoping the particles can create a "settling dust" effect when a passage opens.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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I'm hoping the particles can create a "settling dust" effect when a passage opens.

I suspect so, since the teleport, portal (from portal) andpyro's flame all react to the environment I would assume your dust can 'settle'
Will be easy I suspect.
 

Spacemonkeynz

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 31, 2008
234
52
This will be useful in making good looking cart bomb explosions. I've extracted some of the particles from tf2, and are messing around with them.

There is definitely, a lot of stuff to learn.
 

zeta

L1: Registered
Jun 5, 2008
6
1
I just got the beta upate - where are the new tools though? I don't see them in the SDK role out :(
 

YM

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Dec 5, 2007
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I just got the beta upate - where are the new tools though? I don't see them in the SDK role out :(

I'm gunna be blunt.


Read the first post, it explains all

I'll highlight the important bit

Rejoice mod creators, for tonight's Orange Box update also brings about the release of the binaries for the particle editor, the commentary editor, and the materials editor. Mike Durand, via the HLDS mailing list, mentioned that he is "still working on an SDK update that includes a convenient way to
launch the tools as well as some example particles and commentary files."

For the time being, you can run any of the three games with the additional command line of '-tools' included in order to access the new tools.

Full documentation is also on the way. For the time being, have a read through of the CliffsNotes version of the changes.

* 1. These three tools run in the same process as the engine and you can switch between the tools.
* 2. The F10 button changes context between playing the game in the 'Engine Viewport' window and editing content via the current tool.
* 3. In the lower left corner is an input field that allows the user to dispatch console commands to the game while working with the tools.
* 4. Particle systems are defined in .pcf files that are located in the 'particles' subdirectory beneath the game directory. You should extract some of the TF2, Portal, or Ep2 particle files from the game caches if you would like to see some examples. The SDK update will include example particles.
* 5. Commentary node information is stored in text files in the games' 'maps' subdirectory and the established naming convention is _commentary.txt. Again, you can extract these files from our shipping games to check out the editor ahead of the SDK update and example nodes.
* 6. The material editor is a GUI front-end and preview tool that provides a more convenient way of tweaking materials settings. You can extract VMT files from our shipping games or those from your own mods to check it out.

Now if you don't know how to add the comand line stuff, in the games list click tf2 and click properties, then click launch options then in that box type -tools
 

zeta

L1: Registered
Jun 5, 2008
6
1
I knew you could add that to the TF2 launch options before and launch the tools in game, but i thought the whole point of this sdk beta update was that the tools were now added to SDK role out so they could be run externally?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Nope, they've worded their update news badly. The beta update is telling us they exist and can be used as part fo the SDK, in the known issues bit they say they can be used though the games, they probably missed the word 'only' from that sentence. I'm pretty sure they are still working on the SDK ones.
 

TheBladeRoden

L420: High Member
Oct 26, 2007
491
168
Alright, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this particle editing thing.

For any Turok fans in the audience
plasmarocket.jpg


The Pyro becomes the .. Icero, er, Freezro?

freezro.jpg