Trapcode Particular

Light Emitter Group

Using Light(s) as Emitters gives you a 3D control within After Effects. The light’s 3D motion path can be conveniently edited, and many Lights can be used to emit multiple Emitters at once.

Particles/sec Modifier

When Light(s) is active as the Emitter Type, the Particles/sec Modifier alters the Particle/sec emission rate depending on properties of the Light being used.

Particles/sec Modifier has four choices, each utilizing a different light property. These can be found either in the Light Settings panel, or in the Light Options within the timeline. For example, if you choose Light Intensity and set the light’s Intensity value is set to 90%, then the Particle/sec value will be 90% of the set value in the plug-in. In other words, a value of 100 particles/sec would become 90 particles/sec.

• Light Intensity uses the Intensity value.
• Shadow Darkness uses the Shadow Darkness value.
• Shadow Diffusion uses the Shadow Diffusion value.
• None does not change the emission rate based on any of the Light's properties. Useful when light intensity is used for other things (such as actually lighting a scene).

After Effects Light Settings panel

Light Naming

Below the Emitter Type parameter is the Light Naming button. Click Choose Names… , then enter the name for your light in the Light Emitter Name Starts With : field. Using the same name as a Light in your composition will show Particular which light to use as the emitter.

By default, this Light Name is named 'Emitter'. But the Light Name can be changed to anything as long as the Light's layer name matches. You can point to multiple lights with this method, naming them 'Emitter 1', 'Emitter 2' and so on.

Set Color From Light Emitter

When emitting particles from Lights, the particle color can be controlled by the Light's Color property. In the Particle > Set Color parameter, select the option for From Light Emitter .