The design principles of a particle system can be configured through a research and iterative creative process. Let's take a look at each one of them in the following section.
Details are probably key to designing a realistic particle system. Very often, creating a particle system lies in the realm of an artist as we need an artistic touch to create a visually appealing and somewhat realistic replica of the effect that we want to create.
For starters, it is good to research a little on what the actual effect looks like. Here are some steps to help you get started:
- Identify the different components that are needed (break the particle effects down into the different components).
- Determine the relationship among the different components (the size of the particles that are relative to one another, spawn rate, lifetimes, and so on).
- Next, look at other similar effects that are created in the Computer Graphics (CG) space. The reason for doing this is that sometimes, actual effects can be a little too monotonous, and there are many amazing visual effect people out there who you can learn from to spice things up a little. So, it is a great idea to spend a little time checking out what others have done already, rather than spending a whole lot of time experimenting and not getting what you want to achieve.
Creating the perfect looking particle system that you want usually involves quite a bit of tweaking and playing around with the parameters that you have. The key to doing this is knowing what parameters there are and what they affect. During the initial phase of design, you should also try adding or removing certain modules to see how they actually impact the overall look of the system. This does not mean that more is always better. Additionally, it is also wise to save backup copies of your iterations so that you can always go back to the previous versions easily.
Being extremely proficient in creating the particle system, I think, involves a combination of good design planning, having the patience to iterate, and making small adjustments to get the look that you eventually want.