JANUARY 15, 2003
Inside the Studio Artist Paint Synthesizer, Part 2
More about Time Particles
 by David Nagel
Page 6 of 6

The next parameter we'll look at is Angle Inc, which stands for Angle Increment. This determines how many steps go in between the computation of the path's angle. So, by cranking it up, we create smoother, wider angles. Angle Inc works in conjunction with your Path Diverge setting so that, for example, if you're using "Color" as a modifier for divergence, an Angle Inc of 1 will see the angle affected by Color in every frame. A higher value will set it on its normal course, only to be affected by color in the number of steps specified in Angle Inc. Sound complicated? Here's how it works. The first example shows an Orient path with an Angle Inc of 0. Notice how it gets stuck inside the flower?


Orient path with 0 Angle Inc. (Click Play to watch.)[an error occurred while processing this directive]
The same stroke with an Angle Inc of 100 skipping past the flower. (Click Play to watch.)

Again, the effect will vary widely based on your source image, Path Type, Path Angle and Path Diverge settings.

Angle Slew applies a percentage to the recalculation of the Path Angle whenever it's recalculated. A smaller percentage means smoother paths.

And Angle Mult ("Multiply") literally multiplies the angle by the percentage entered, allowing the path to "overshoot" the angle being applied.

And that covers all of the settings available in the Time Particles Paint Synthesizer parameter. If you wish, you can visit our new "Quick Reference Guide" for Studio Artist's Time Particles, which includes links to tutorials and individual examples, here. And, if you have any other questions, be sure to visit me in the Studio Artist forum at DMN here.

Contact the author: Dave Nagel is the producer of Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; host of several World Wide User Groups, including Synthetik Studio Artist, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe LiveMotion, Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; and executive producer of the Digital Media Net family of publications. You can reach him at dnagel@digitalmedianet.com.

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