Particle Systems

Particles are essentially 2D images rendered in 3D space. They are primarily used for effects such as smoke, fire, water droplets, or leaves. A Particle System is made up of three separate Components: Particle Emitter, Particle Animator, and a Particle Renderer. You can use a Particle Emitter and Renderer together if you want static particles. The Particle Animator will move particles in different directions and change colors. You also have access to each individual particle in a particle system via scripting, so you can create your own unique behaviors that way if you choose.

Please view the Particle Scripting Reference here.

The remainder of this page's text is from the Particle Component Reference pages.

Particle Components

Particle Systems

Particle Systems in Unity are used to make clouds of smoke, steam, fire and other atmospheric effects. Particle Systems work by using one or two Textures & drawing them many times, creating a chaotic effect.

A Particle System included in the Standard Assets

A typical Particle System in Unity is an object that contains a Particle Emitter, a Particle Animator and a Particle Renderer. The Particle Emitter generates the particles, the Particle Animator moves them over time, and the Particle Renderer draws them on the screen.

If you want your particles to interact with the world, add a Particle Collider Component to the GameObject.

Ellipsoid Particle Emitter

The Ellipsoid Particle Emitter spawns particles inside a sphere. Use the Ellipsoid property below to scale & stretch the sphere.

The Ellipsoid Particle Emitter Inspector

Properties


Emit	If enabled, the emitter will emit particles.
Min Size	The minimum size each particle can be at the time when it is spawned.
Max Size	The maximum size each particle can be at the time when it is spawned.
Min Energy	The minimum lifetime of each particle, measured in seconds.
Max Energy	The maximum lifetime of each particle, measured in seconds.
Min Emission	The minimum number of particles that will be spawned every second.
Max Emission	The maximum number of particles that will be spawned every second.
World Velocity	The starting speed of particles in world space, along X, Y, and Z.
Local Velocity	The starting speed of particles along X, Y, and Z, measured in the object's orientation.
Rnd Velocity	A random speed along X, Y, and Z that is added to the velocity.
Emitter Velocity Scale	The amount of the emitter's speed that the particles inherit.
Tangent Velocity	The starting speed of particles along X, Y, and Z, across the Emitter's surface.
Simulate In World Space	If enabled, the particles don't move when the emitter moves. If false, when you move the emitter, the particles follow it around.
One Shot	If enabled, the particle numbers specified by min & max emission is spawned all at once. If disabled, the particles are generated in a long stream.
Ellipsoid	Scale of the sphere along X, Y, and Z that the particles are spawned inside.
MinEmitterRange	Determines an empty area in the center of the sphere - use this to make particles appear on the edge of the sphere.

Details

Ellipsoid Particle Emitters (EPEs) are the basic emitter, and are included when you choose to add a Particle System to your scene from Components->Particles->Particle System. You can define the boundaries for the particles to be spawned, and give the particles an initial velocity. From here, use the Particle Animator to manipulate how your particles will change over time to achieve interesting effects.

Particle Emitters work in conjunction with Particle Animators and Particle Renderers to create, manipulate, and display Particle Systems. All three Components must be present on an object before the particles will behave correctly. When particles are being emitted, all different velocities are added together to create the final velocity.

Spawning Properties

Spawning properties like Size, Energy, Emission, and Velocity will give your particle system distinct personality when trying to achieve different effects. Having a small Size could simulate fireflies or stars in the sky. A large Size could simulate dust clouds in a musky old building.

Energy and Emission will control how long your particles remain onscreen and how many particles can appear at any one time. For example, a rocket might have high Emission to simulate density of smoke, and high Energy to simulate the slow dispersion of smoke into the air.

Velocity will control how your particles move. You might want to change your Velocity in scripting to achieve interesting effects, or if you want to simulate a constant effect like wind, set your X and Z Velocity to make your particles blow away.

Simulate in World Space

If this is disabled, the position of each individual particle will always translate relative to the Position of the emitter. When the emitter moves, the particles will move along with it. If you have Simulate in World Space enabled, particles will not be affected by the translation of the emitter. For example, if you have a fireball that is spurting flames that rise, the flames will be spawned and float up in space as the fireball gets further away. If Simulate in World Space is disabled, those same flames will move across the screen along with the fireball.

Emitter Velocity Scale

This property will only apply if Simulate in World Space is enabled.

If this property is set to 1, the particles will inherit the exact translation of the emitter at the time they are spawned. If it is set to 2, the particles will inherit double the emitter's translation when they are spawned. 3 is triple the translation, etc.

One Shot

One Shot emitters will create all particles within the Emission property all at once, and cease to emit particles over time. Here are some examples of different particle system uses with One Shot Enabled or Disabled:

Enabled:

Explosion
Water splash
Magic spell

Disabled:

Gun barrel smoke
Wind effect
Waterfall

Min Emitter Range

The Min Emitter Range determines the depth within the ellipsoid that particles can be spawned. Setting it to 0 will allow particles to spawn anywhere from the center core of the ellipsoid to the outer-most range. Setting it to 1 will restrict spawn locations to the outer-most range of the ellipsoid.

Min Emitter Range of 0

Min Emitter Range of 1

Hints

Be careful of using many large particles. This can seriously hinder performance on low-level machines. Always try to use the minimum number of particles to attain an effect.
The Emit property works in conjunction with the AutoDestruct property of the Particle Animator. Through scripting, you can cease the emitter from emitting, and then AutoDestruct will automatically destroy the Particle System and the GameObject it is attached to.

Mesh Particle Emitter

The Mesh Particle Emitter emits particles around a mesh. Particles are spawned from the surface of the mesh, which can be necessary when you want to make your particles interact in a complex way with objects.

The Mesh Particle Emitter Inspector

Properties


Emit	If enabled, the emitter will emit particles.
Min Size	The minimum size each particle can be at the time when it is spawned.
Max Size	The maximum size each particle can be at the time when it is spawned.
Min Energy	The minimum lifetime of each particle, measured in seconds.
Max Energy	The maximum lifetime of each particle, measured in seconds.
Min Emission	The minimum number of particles that will be spawned every second.
Max Emission	The maximum number of particles that will be spawned every second.
World Velocity	The starting speed of particles in world space, along X, Y, and Z.
Local Velocity	The starting speed of particles along X, Y, and Z, measured in the object's orientation.
Rnd Velocity	A random speed along X, Y, and Z that is added to the velocity.
Emitter Velocity Scale	The amount of the emitter's speed that the particles inherit.
Tangent Velocity	The starting speed of particles along X, Y, and Z, across the Emitter's surface.
Simulate In World Space	If enabled, the particles don't move when the emitter moves. If false, when you move the emitter, the particles follow it around.
One Shot	If enabled, the particle numbers specified by min & max emission is spawned all at once. If disabled, the particles are generated in a long stream.
Interpolate Triangles	If enabled, particles are spawned all over the mesh's surface. If disabled, particles are only spawned from the mesh's vertrices.
Systematic	If enabled, particles are spawned in the order of the vertices defined in the mesh. Although you seldom have direct control over vertex order in meshes, most 3D modelling applications have a very systematic setup when using primitives. It is important that the mesh contains no faces in order for this to work.
Min Normal Velocity	Minimum amount that particles are thrown away from the mesh.
Max Normal Velocity	Maximum amount that particles are thrown away from the mesh.

Details

Mesh Particle Emitters (MPEs) are used when you want more precise control over the spawn position & directions than the simpler Ellipsoid Particle Emitter gives you. They can be used for making advanced effects.

MPEs work by emitting particles at the vertices of the attached mesh. Therefore, the areas of your mesh that are more dense with polygons will be more dense with particle emission.