aframe-particle-system-component

Particle system component for A-Frame.

Particle System

Examples

Properties

This component exposes only a subset of the ShaderParticleEngine API.

Property Description Default Value
preset Preset configuration. Possible values are: default, dust, snow, rain. default
maxAge The particle's maximum age in seconds. 6
positionSpread Describes this emitter's position variance on a per-particle basis. 0 0 0
type The default distribution this emitter should use to control its particle's spawn position and force behaviour. Possible values are 1 (box), 2 (sphere), 3 (disc) 1 (box)
rotationAxis Describes this emitter's axis of rotation. Possible values are x, y and z. x
rotationAngle The angle of rotation, given in radians. Dust preset is 3.14. 0
rotationAngleSpread The amount of variance in the angle of rotation per-particle, given in radians. 0
accelerationValue Describes this emitter's base acceleration. 0, -10, 0
accelerationSpread Describes this emitter's acceleration variance on a per-particle basis. 10 0 10
velocityValue Describes this emitter's base velocity. 0 25 0
velocitySpread Describes this emitter's acceleration variance on a per-particle basis. 10 7.5 10
dragValue Number between 0 and 1 describing drag applied to all particles. 0
dragSpread Number describing drag variance on a per-particle basis. 0
dragRandomise WHen a particle is re-spawned, whether it's drag should be re-randomised or not. Can incur a performance hit. false
color Describes a particle's color. This property is a "value-over-lifetime" property, meaning an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime. #0000FF,#FF0000
size Describes a particle's size. Either a single number, or an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime. 1
sizeSpread Per-particle variation in size. Either a single number, or an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime. 0
direction The direction of the emitter. If value is 1, emitter will start at beginning of particle's lifecycle. If value is -1, emitter will start at end of particle's lifecycle and work it's way backwards. 1
duration The duration in seconds that this emitter should live for. If not specified, the emitter will emit particles indefinitely. null
enabled When true the emitter will emit particles, when false it will not. This value can be changed dynamically during a scene. While particles are emitting, they will disappear immediately when set to false. true
particleCount The total number of particles this emitter will hold. NOTE: this is not the number of particles emitted in a second, or anything like that. The number of particles emitted per-second is calculated by particleCount / maxAge (approximately!) 1000
texture The texture used by this emitter. ./images/star2.png
randomise When a particle is re-spawned, whether it's position should be re-randomised or not. Can incur a performance hit. false
opacity Either a single number to describe the opacity of a particle, or an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime. 1
opacitySpread Per-particle variation in opacity. Either a single number, or an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime. 0
blending The blending mode of the particles. Possible values are 0 (no blending), 1 (normal), 2 (additive), 3 (subtractive), 4 (multiply) 2
maxParticleCount 250000

Usage

<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: dust"></a-entity>
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: snow"></a-entity>
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: rain"></a-entity>
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: dust; texture: ./images/star2.png; color: #0000FF,#00FF00,#FF0000"></a-entity>

Functions

startParticles

Enables the emitters. Useful to start the animations when enabled is set to false.

stopParticles

Disables the emitters.

Usage

this.el.components['particle-system'].startParticles();
this.el.components['particle-system'].stopParticles();

Browser Installation

Install and use by directly including the browser files.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>A-Frame Particle System Component Example</title>
    <meta name="description" content="Hello, World!">
    <script src="https://aframe.io/releases/1.2.0/aframe.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/aframe-particle-system-component@1.0.x/dist/aframe-particle-system-component.min.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <a-scene>
      <!-- Particle system uses 'default' preset, setting custom colors. -->
      <a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="color: #EF0000,#44CC00"></a-entity>

      <a-sphere position="0 1.25 -1" radius="1.25" color="#EF2D5E"></a-sphere>
      <a-box position="-1 0.5 1" rotation="0 45 0" width="1" height="1" depth="1"  color="#4CC3D9"></a-box>
      <a-cylinder position="1 0.75 1" radius="0.5" height="1.5" color="#FFC65D"></a-cylinder>
      <a-plane rotation="-90 0 0" width="4" height="4" color="#7BC8A4"></a-plane>

      <a-sky color="#000000"></a-sky>
    </a-scene>
  </body>
</html>

npm

https://www.npmjs.com/package/aframe-particle-system-component

npm install aframe-particle-system-component

Local Development

npm install
npm run dev

To rebuild:

npm run dist

Credits

Based on the ShaderParticleEngine by Squarefeet.