Rocket Launch

Maya’s particle system is a powerful and extensive collection of tools and features
for simulating a variety of effects such as dust, sand, fire, clouds, explosions, smoke,
and liquids. Effects such as these are found in countless feature film and broadcast
shots and have become part of every day effects work for many in the industry.
This tutorial explains how to set up and render a rocket launching. The focus is
placed on setting up the smoke trail of the rocket using software particles.
The following topics are discussed:
■
What are particles in Maya?
■
Creating particles and emitters
■
Parenting an emitter to animated geometry
A Taste of Maya

■
Adjusting particle attributes
■
Adding fields to affect particle motion
■
Keyframing emission rate in the Graph Editor
■
Changing particle radius with respect to particle age
■
Assigning shaders to particles with Hypershade
■
Rendering considerations.
Rocket Launch Questions? visit www.aliaswavefront.com/tasteofmaya

Note: Before you start: This tutorial requires Maya scene files. If you haven’t installed the tutorial files go to the
“Try Maya” section of the “Taste of Maya” CDROM to install.

Starting Maya: You can start Maya by double-clicking the Maya 2.5 Evaluation icon on the desktop or from
Start → Programs → Maya 2.5 Evaluation → Maya.

In Maya: Once the tutorial files have been installed you will need to set the current project in order to access
the Maya scene files. To set the current project from within Maya select File → Project → Set... and
Navigate to the directory where you installed the Maya scene files. Select the directory: Maya_tutorial_data
and press OK.

Rocket Trail
To create the smoke trail in the above image three different particle objects that each have slightly
different motion and shading characteristics. All three particle objects will be emitted from one emitter
that is parented to the rocket.
“thick” particles: provides base layer of particles for chunky appearance
“softer” particles: provides a layer of wispiness
“trail” particles: used to simulate the streaking effect in the smoke trail.
Once you tune the motion and emission of the particles using fields and animation curves, lighting and
shading will be added then you will render.

What is a Particle Object in Maya?

Particles in Maya differ from geometry in the following ways:
■
Particles are points in space. They require special handling at render time because they do not
contain surface information.
■
Particles can be rendered using hardware or software rendering methods. The particle Render Type
attribute controls which of these two methods is used. The rocket example uses software render
types only. Software render types render slower but allow for details such as shadows, detailed
texturing, and reflections.
■
In Maya, Individual particles belong to a common collection called the particleShape object. Just as
CVs of a geometric object belong to their shape node, individual particles can be thought of as
components to the particleShape node.

Creating the Thrust Emitter

A particle emitter is like a cannon that fires particles into space.

1 Open scene file and playback

■
File → Open; select rocket_start.ma
This file contains a rocket on a launch pad. The rocket launch has already been keyframed.
Playback to see the rocket launching.

2 Add a directional emitter

■
Press F4 to switch to the Dynamics menus
■
Use the Outliner to select thrust (within the rocket group)

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■
Select Particles → Add Emitter → ❐, and set the following:
Emitter Name to thrustEmit;
Emitter Type to Directional;
Max Distance to 5
Min Distance to 1
Rate to 45;
Spread to 0.15;
Direction X, Y, and Z to -1, 0, 0 respectively;
Speed to 150;
■
Press Add then Close
Min and Max distance determine a distance from the emitter in which emission can occur. The
values are used here keep the particles from overlapping with the tail of the rocket. Rate is the
number of particles per second emitted, Speed controls how quickly the particles leave the
emitter.

3 View and rename what was created

■
Press play on the timeline to watch the particles emit.

Particles trailing behind the rocket

Note: Make sure Playback Speed is set to Free in Options → General Preferences → Animation. Otherwise,
the emitter may appear to “sputter” particles instead of providing a constant emission.

■
Open Window → Outliner to see the newly created particle object called particle1 and thrustEmit
emitter.
■
Double click on particle1 in the Outliner and rename it thick

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Outliner showing emitter and associated particle object

■
Select the particle object and set Level of Detail to 0.25 in the Channel Box.
Level of detail controls what percentage of the particles will be displayed on the screen and in the
final render. Lowering this value lets you quickly evaluate motion while testing. Remember to set
this back to 1 when rendering. Using level of detail is very important to working with particles
efficiently.

Tip: To create a “stand-alone” emitter that does not get placed within an object hierarchy you can use Particles
→ Create Emitter. This emitter can still be parented to an object later if desired.

Adjusting particle attributes

Now that the emitter is in place, you can begin to make some preliminary changes to the particles so they
are easier to see and so they behave more like a smoke trail would.

1 Open the Attribute Editor for thick particles

The Attribute Editor window for the thickShape object is where most particle attributes are adjusted.
Changes made here affect every particle component that belongs to the currently selected particle object.
■
Continue on from the last step or open the file rocket_thick.ma
■
Select thick in the Outliner
■
Ctrl - a to open the Attribute Editor

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Attribute Editor window for thick particles

2 Set the Particle Render Type and associated attributes

■
Set Particle Render Type to Cloud (under Render Attributes)
■
Click the Current Render Type button
A list of attributes associated with the cloud render type is displayed. Change the following
settings:
Surface Shading to 0.8
Threshold to 8.250
These settings control some rendering properties of these clouds that will be more important
later on. You will not see any change in the perspective window.

Setting thick particles to cloud and adjusting some attributes

3 Add per object lifespan

Adding a lifespan attribute allows you to control how many seconds each particle will be displayed in
the scene.
■
Press the Lifespan button under Add Dynamic Attributes
■
Choose Add Per Object Lifespan Attribute

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■
Set lifespan to 5 in the Render Attributes section of the Attribute Editor

Adding Fields
Fields act like forces to move the particles around in different ways. Here you will add gravity, turbulence,
and radial fields and connect them using three different methods.

1 Create gravity and connect it using Connect/Add

Here you will create a “stand-alone” field and connect the field to the particles so they fall more
realistically.
■
Make sure nothing is selected
■
Choose Fields → Create Gravity
■
In the Outliner select the thick particles then Ctrl-select the gravityField1
■
Choose Connect/Add → Connect to Field
This connects the gravity field to the particles. If you switch to wireframe mode (press 4) and
select only gravityField1, the particles highlight in pink to indicate a connection is present.

2 Playback and adjust particle conserve attribute

As you playback, the particles quickly fall instead of just floating. To obtain a look of ejecting and easing
to a stop, you can adjust the amount of momentum the particles conserve each frame.
■
Open the Attribute Editor for thickShape
■
Adjust the Conserve attribute near the top of the Attribute Editor.
A value of 0.1 works well.
This means that each frame each particle keeps only 10 percent of the velocity it had in the
previous frame. Try experimenting with other conserve values.

3 Create turbulence and connect it using dynamic relationships

Now you will apply some turbulence so the particles scatter a little bit and will use the Dynamic
Relationships Editor to connect the field. This editor can be used for managing many types of dynamics
connections including fields, collisions, and emission.
■
Rewind to Frame 1 and make sure nothing is selected
■
Choose Fields → Create Turbulence - ❐
Set the following:
Magnitude to 100
Attenuation to 1
Press Create then Close

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An Attenuation of 1 causes the field influence to diminish over distance causing particles further
away from the field to be less turbulent.
■
Press W to invoke the Move tool then translate the field’s icon to roughly the same location as the
thrustEmit object (near the back end of the rocket).
■
With the field still selected, Ctrl-select the thrust geometry object in the Outliner (not the emitter),
then Edit → Parent
This causes the field to follow along with the rocket.

Outliner showing parenting of turbulence field

■
Open Windows→Relationship Editors → Dynamic Relationships...
■
Make sure the Selection Mode in this Editor is set to Fields
■
Highlight thick on the left side and turbulenceField1 on the right
■
Notice that gravityField1 is also highlighted confirming it is connected as expected.

Dynamic Relationships Editor showing gravity and turbulence connected

4 Add a radial field to push the particles outward.

The next step is to make the particles expand slightly after they have left the rocket. This can be
achieved by adding a radial field.
■
Select thick then choose Fields → Add Radial - ❐

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Set the following options:

Magnitude to 0.8
Attenuation to 0.5
Apply Per Vertex to On
Use Max Distance to On
Max Distance to 8
Press Add then Close
Add Radial is used here so the field is automatically parented to the particles. Turning apply per
vertex on causes each individual particle to behave as though there is an independent radial field
attached to it. This keeps all the particles pushing away from each other.
■
Use Window Relationship Editors → Dynamic Relationships to connect thick particles to
radialField1.
■
Playback to test the motion.
■
The file rocket_with_fields.ma is a set up version of this scene up to this point.

Particles pushed away from the center by a radial field

Changing Each Particle’s Radius Over Time

Currently every particle in thick has the same radius (1.0) You can give each particle its own radius value
and change that radius value over the course of the particle’s lifespan by adding a per particle radius
attribute (radiusPP) that is controlled by a ramp. This way you can make the particles exit small, then
grow, then get smaller again by the time they die, similar to how puffs of smoke behave.

1 Add radiusPP to thick in the Attribute Editor

■
Select thick and open the Attribute Editor
■
Click the thickShape tab at the top of the Attribute Editor
■
Click the General button under Add Dynamic Attributes
■
Click the Particle tab on the resulting window and select radiusPP then press OK

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Adding a radiusPP attribute

Note: The particles disappear because radiusPP is currently 0. In cases such as this where a radius and radiusPP
attribute are present, the radiusPP values override the radius attribute.

radiusPP shown in thick’s Attribute Editor

2 Assign a pre made ramp to thick’s radiusPP

Since radiusPP is currently 0, you need to assign a value to it so the particles grow and shrink. Assigning a
pre-made ramp is a quick way of doing this. A ramp is just a gradation between values.
■
In the Attribute Editor for thick, RMB in the field next to radiusPP, and select Create Ramp - ❐

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Selecting a premade ramp from the Create Ramp Options Box

■
Set Map To to RadiusRamp. This is a gradation of values that has been set up for you so the radius
grows and shrinks at the right times. Leave InputU and InputV as they are. Then press OK
■
Rewind and playback. The file rocket_radiusPP.ma contains a setup version of the scene up to this
point.

Particles with changing radius values

The Takeoff Burst

A rocket exudes more smoke at initial takeoff. Therefore, you will need to animate the emission rate on the
thrustEmit emitter to simulate this.

1 Open file or continue on from above steps

■
rocket_radiusPP.ma can be used as a starting point

2 Keyframe thrustEmit rate

■
Select Windows → Saved Layouts → Persp/Graph/Outliner
■
Select thrustEmit and open the Channel Box
■
Use the timeline to go to frame 18
■
Set rate to 0 in the Channel Box
■
RMB click on rate in the Channel Box, choose Key Selected

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This keyframes the rate to 0 at frame 18

■
Set 4 more keyframes using the values below.
frame 22: rate = 10
frame 26: rate = 6
frame 39: rate = 40
frame 70: rate = 0
■
The goal is to have an animation curve in the Graph Editor that looks similar to the picture
below. Note that the last two keyframes in the picture below use stepped tangents. For more
information about adjusting keyframe tangents and weights in the Graph Editor refer to the on-
line documentation.

Animation curve in the Graph Editor controlling emission rate

Tip: If there are too many particles for you to see what is happening or if the playback is too slow you can
temporarily lower your emission rate in the Graph Editor or lower the Level Of Detail attribute on the
particle object. Temporarily setting the Render Type to Points will also help.

The result of the keyframed emission rate

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Rendering
Now the focus will shift to getting these particles to render like smoke. You will use a scene file that has
some additional particle objects added to it and which has lighting set up for you. Your task is to assign the
appropriate shaders to the particles.

1 Open file and analyze contents

■
Open rocket_render.ma
This file contains 2 additional particle objects that are emitting from the same emitter as the thick
particles.
softer: These particles are slightly larger than the thick particles
trail: Tube render type particles whose length is determined by how fast they are moving. These
particles will create trailing streaks behind the rocket.
■
There are display layers for each particle object. Use these display layers to toggle the visibility of
the particles on and off. This helps you to manage the number of particles displayed on the screen
and aids in speeding test renders. The launcher has been templated to speed test renders.

Render speed considerations

■
You will be doing some test renders in with this scene. Keep in mind that the speed of the render
will be greatly affected by the number of particles and the percentage of screen space those
particles occupy. It is best to choose framings for test rendering that keep this in mind. Also,
don’t forget to use the level of detail attribute and the display layers in your scene to help manage
the speed of your renders.

Assigning Shaders for the Particles

You will use two volumetric particle cloud shaders that are provided within the scene file.
■
thickCloud: Provides a chunky edge appearance to the thick particles. This will be applied to
thickParticles
■
softCloud: More transparent than thickCloud. Provides a softer boundary overlaying the
thickCloud and also tones down the brighter highlights found in the thickCloud. This will be
assigned to softer and trail particles.

2 Using Hypershade
The Hypershade window is where you build and assign shaders in Maya.
■
Open Windows → Outliner and select thick
■
Shift-select the thickClouds shader in the Hypershade window
■
RMB on the text label of thickCloud shader and select Assign Material to Selection
■
Repeat the process for softer and trail except assign the softCloud shader to both of them instead.

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The RMB menu for assigning shaders in Hypershade

3 Test Rendering individual layers

To get an idea of what each shader and particle object is contributing to the image, use the display
layers to display only one particle object at a time then render a frame. Generally when adjusting
shaders, it is best to focus on one particle object at a time. This keeps rendering times lower and helps
you to see what is going on.
■
Make sure the layer bar is displayed (Options → Layer Bar)
■
Play up to frame 40,
■
Hide softer and trail using the layer bar
RMB in the Layer Bar on softerLayer, trailLayer and toggle visible off.
■
In the Render View Window choose Render → Render → Current (persp)
■
Repeat the process (two particle layers hidden, one visible) so you have rendered one still image
of each particle object.
■
Finally, test render a frame with all three particle objects visible so you can see how they appear
when combined.

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Default shading Thick

Softer Trail

A small render of each particle object and the default particle shader

Thick, Softer and Trail Combined

The three particle layers combined.

Tip: Press the 1:1 button in the Render View window to view the Render at the accurate aspect ratio.

Final Rendering Considerations

You have now completed the steps in this tutorial. This final section discusses some other options that
are important to consider when rendering this type of shot in Maya. Rendering in Maya is done using
Windows → Render View.

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Lighting
The lighting in this scene is set up so the particles are lit independently of other objects. Two directional
lights illuminate the rocket and one spotlight illuminates the particles. There is also a colored point light
that is parented to the back of the rocket.
■
Lights can be created using the Lights menu under the Rendering menuset. Press t with the light
selected to invoke special manipulators.
■
A spotlight with linear decay, a slight color tint, wide cone, and high intensity work well for this
shot.
■
Setting Illuminates by Default to OFF on the lights allows you to set up light linking relationship
so certain lights only shine on certain objects. Light linking is done using Window → Relationship
Editors → Light Linking → Light Centric. Pick the desired light on the left and the objects you
want it to illuminate on the right.

Setting up light linking

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■
Experiment with the placement of lights in the scene or try creating some of your own to see how
they affect the rendered image.
■
Raytraced Shadows: In order for the particles to have self shadowing the scene must be raytraced
with raytraced shadows on the lights. To enable raytraced shadows select the light and enable
raytraced shadows in the shadow section of the Attribute Editor. This is another benefit to linking
lights. You can use depth map shadowing (which render faster) on lights linked to geometry in
the scene.

Render Globals Settings

The Render Globals window (Windows → Render Globals) is where many important rendering controls are
set. For the rocket scene, the following settings are especially important to note. You should open the
Render Globals window so you can see where these settings are found and experiment with them to see the
results they produce.
■
Raytracing: Enabled under Raytracing Options, required to obtain particle self-shadowing as
mentioned above. Raytracing a scene slows things down considerably since much more
computation is being done. Therefore, it is best to leave raytracing off until you are tuning the
particle shadows for the final look.

Without Raytraced Shadows

With Raytraced Shadows

■
In the above image, The upper smoke image is lit from above and rendered without raytracing.
The lower smoke trail was raytraced with raytraced shadows, it contains shadows within the
smoke volume.
■
Motion Blur: 2D motion blur adds realism for the rocket motion. Note that particles do not get
motion blurred. Keep this off when test rendering.
■
Anti-Aliasing Quality: Set to 3D Motion Blur Production when rendering the final shot, use
Preview quality when doing test renderings.
■
Shadows obey light linking: Located in the Render Options section, this option must be enabled so
shadows from particles do not cast onto the rocket (the rocket is lit by different lights).
■
The scene file rocket_final.ma contains all of the above render global settings and is set up for a
final quality render pass.

Better Illumination
Better Illumination is a checkbox option found on the particle object just below the render type setting in
the Attribute Editor. Enable this option when doing final renders only. This option is for cloud particles

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Questions? visit www.aliaswavefront.com/tasteofmaya Rocket Launch
Conclusion

only and increases the quality of the lighting on the particles and helps to prevent artifacts and shadow
popping.

CONCLUSION
You have now seen how a typical software particle workflow session is done in Maya. To recap, this
tutorial covered the following areas:
■
Creating particles and emitters
■
Parenting an emitter to animated geometry
■
Adjusting particle attributes
■
Adding fields to affect particle motion
■
Keyframing emission rate in the Graph Editor
■
Changing particle radius with respect to particle age
■
Assigning shaders to particles
■
Rendering considerations.

 January 2000, Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. All rights reserved. By using this tutorial, you have agreed A Taste of Maya 17
to the terms and conditions which can be found in the setup.exe file in the Install Tutorials folder of the Taste of Maya CD-ROM.