Particle Renderers

Particle renderers add particles to the visible scene graph according to the information stored in the particle objects and the type of renderer. All particle renderers have the following parameters:

Variable	Definition	Values
alphaMode	Alpha setting over particle lifetime	PR_ALPHA_NONE, PR_ALPHA_OUT, PR_ALPHA_IN, PR_ALPHA_USER
userAlpha	Alpha value for ALPHA_USER alpha mode	Boolean

The following list contains the different types of renderers and their unique parameters.

PointParticleRenderer

Renders particles as pixel points.

Variable	Definition	Values
pointSize	Width and height of points, in pixels	[0, infinity)
startColor	Starting color	(r, g, b, a)
endColor	Ending color	(r, g, b, a)
blendType	How the particles blend from the start color to the end color	ONE_COLOR, BLEND_LIFE, BLEND_VEL
blendMethod	Interpolation method between colors	LINEAR, CUBIC

ONE_COLOR: point is always the starting color.

BLEND_LIFE: color is interpolated from start to end according to the age of the point

BLEND_VEL: color is interpolated between start to end according to the velocity/terminal velocity.

LineParticleRenderer

Renders particles as lines between their current position and their last position.

Variable	Definition	Values
headColor	Color of leading end	(r, g, b, a)
tailColor	Color of trailing end	(r, g, b, a)

SparkleParticleRenderer

Renders particles star or sparkle objects, three equal-length perpendicular axial lines, much like jacks. Sparkle particles appear to sparkle when viewed as being smaller than a pixel.

Variable	Definition	Values
centerColor	Color of center	(r, g, b, a)
edgeColor	Color of edge	(r, g, b, a)
birthRadius	Initial sparkle radius	[0, infinity)
deathRadius	Final sparkle radius	[0, infinity)
lifeScale	Whether or not sparkle is always of radius birthRadius	NO_SCALE, SCALE

SpriteParticleRenderer

Renders particles as an image, using a Panda3D texture object. The image is always facing the user.

Variable	Definition	Values
texture	Panda texture object to use as the sprite image	(r, g, b, a)
color	Color	(r, g, b, a)
xScaleFlag	If true, x scale is interpolated over particle’s life	Boolean
yScaleFlag	If true, y scale is interpolated over particle’s life	Boolean
animAngleFlag	If true, particles are set to spin on the Z axis	Boolean
initial_X_Scale	Initial x scaling factor	[0, infinity)
final_X_Scale	Final x scaling factor	[0, infinity)
initial_Y_Scale	Initial y scaling factor	[0, infinity)
final_Y_Scale	Final y scaling factor	[0, infinity)
nonAnimatedTheta	If false, sets the counterclockwise Z rotation of all sprites, in degrees	Boolean
alphaBlendMethod	Sets the interpolation blend method	LINEAR, CUBIC
alphaDisable	If true, alpha blending is disabled	Boolean

GeomParticleRenderer

Renders particles as full 3D objects. This requires a geometry node.

Variable	Definition	Values
geomNode	A geometry scene graph node