ParticleSystem
Script interface for the Built-in Particle System. Unity's powerful and versatile particle system implementation.
Read time 13 minutesLast updated 2 days ago
Definition
- Type: Class
- Namespace: UnityEngine
- Assembly: UnityEngine.ParticleSystemModule
- Inherits from: Component
[RequireComponent(typeof(Transform))]public sealed class ParticleSystem : Component
Remarks
General parameters
The Particle System's general parameters are kept inside a special Main module. These parameters are visible in the Inspector above all the other modules.
In script, these parameters are accessible through ParticleSystem.main.
Accessing module properties
Particle System properties are grouped by the module they belong to, such as ParticleSystem.noise and ParticleSystem.emission. These properties are structs, but do not behave like normal C# structs. They are simply interfaces directly into the native code, so it is important to know how to use them, compared to a normal C# struct.
The key difference is that it is not necessary to assign the struct back to the Particle System component. When you set any property on a module struct, Unity immediately assigns that value to the Particle System.
Also, because each module is a struct, you must cache it in a local variable before you can assign any new values to the module. For example, instead of:
ParticleSystem.emission.enabled = true; // Doesn't compilewrite:
var emission = ParticleSystem.emission; // Stores the module in a local variableemission.enabled = true; // Applies the new value directly to the Particle SystemModule effect multipliers
Every module has special multiplier properties that allow you to change the overall effect of a curve without having to edit the curve itself. These multiplier properties are all named after the curve they affect - for instance rateMultiplier controls the overall effect of rate in a given system.
Constant value shorthand
Parameters support a shorthand notation for simple constant values. To set a constant value for a parameter, all you need to do is assign a number to it. It is not necessary to create a ParticleSystem.MinMaxCurve or ParticleSystem.MinMaxGradient object in the ParticleSystemCurveMode.Constant mode.
For example, instead of:
var emission = ParticleSystem.emission;emission.rate = new ParticleSystem.MinMaxCurve(5.0f);write:
var emission = ParticleSystem.emission;emission.rate = 5.0f;Performance note: When setting properties on particle modules, the settings are passed immediately into native code. This gives the best performance. This means that setting properties on a module struct doesn't set something in script that requires setting back to the Particle System; it all happens automatically.
Additional Resources: ParticleSystem.Particle.
Properties
Property | Description |
|---|---|
| collision | Script interface for the CollisionModule of a Particle System. |
| colorBySpeed | Script interface for the ColorByLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| colorOverLifetime | Script interface for the ColorOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| customData | Script interface for the CustomDataModule of a Particle System. |
| emission | Script interface for the EmissionModule of a Particle System. |
| externalForces | Script interface for the ExternalForcesModule of a Particle System. |
| forceOverLifetime | Script interface for the ForceOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| has3DParticleRotations | Determines whether the Particle System rotates its particles around only the Z axis, or whether the system specifies separate values for the X, Y and Z axes. |
| hasNonUniformParticleSizes | Determines whether the Particle System uses a single value for the width and height (and depth, when using meshes), or if the system specifies different values for each axis. |
| inheritVelocity | Script interface for the InheritVelocityModule of a Particle System. |
| isEmitting | Determines whether the Particle System is emitting particles. A Particle System may stop emitting when its emission module has finished, it has been paused or if the system has been stopped using Stop with the StopEmitting flag. Resume emitting by calling Play. |
| isPaused | Determines whether the Particle System is paused. |
| isPlaying | Determines whether the Particle System is playing. |
| isStopped | Determines whether the Particle System is in the stopped state. |
| lifetimeByEmitterSpeed | Script interface for the Particle System Lifetime By Emitter Speed module. |
| lights | Script interface for the LightsModule of a Particle System. |
| limitVelocityOverLifetime | Script interface for the LimitVelocityOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. . |
| main | Access the main Particle System settings. |
| noise | Script interface for the NoiseModule of a Particle System. |
| particleCount | The current number of particles (Read Only). The number doesn't include particles of child Particle Systems |
| proceduralSimulationSupported | Determines whether this system supports Procedural Simulation. |
| randomSeed | Override the random seed used for the Particle System emission. |
| rotationBySpeed | Script interface for the RotationBySpeedModule of a Particle System. |
| rotationOverLifetime | Script interface for the RotationOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| shape | Script interface for the ShapeModule of a Particle System. |
| sizeBySpeed | Script interface for the SizeBySpeedModule of a Particle System. |
| sizeOverLifetime | Script interface for the SizeOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| subEmitters | Script interface for the SubEmittersModule of a Particle System. |
| textureSheetAnimation | Script interface for the TextureSheetAnimationModule of a Particle System. |
| time | Playback position in seconds. |
| totalTime | Total playback time in seconds, including the Start Delay setting. |
| trails | Script interface for the TrailsModule of a Particle System. |
| trigger | Script interface for the TriggerModule of a Particle System. |
| useAutoRandomSeed | Controls whether the Particle System uses an automatically-generated random number to seed the random number generator. |
| velocityOverLifetime | Script interface for the VelocityOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
Methods
Method | Description |
|---|---|
| AllocateAxisOfRotationAttribute | Ensures that the axisOfRotations particle attribute array is allocated. |
| AllocateCustomDataAttribute | Ensures that the customData1 and customData2 particle attribute arrays are allocated. |
| AllocateMeshIndexAttribute | Ensures that the meshIndices particle attribute array is allocated. |
| Clear | Remove all particles in the Particle System. |
| Emit | Emit count particles immediately. |
| GetCustomParticleData | Get a stream of custom per-particle data. |
| GetParticles | Gets the particles of this Particle System. |
| GetPlaybackState | Returns all the data that relates to the current internal state of the Particle System. |
| GetTrails | Returns all the data relating to the current internal state of the Particle System Trails. |
| IsAlive | Does the Particle System contain any live particles, or will it produce more? |
| Pause | Pauses the system so no new particles are emitted and the existing particles are not updated. |
| Play | Starts the Particle System. |
| SetCustomParticleData | Set a stream of custom per-particle data. |
| SetParticles | Sets the particles of this Particle System. |
| SetPlaybackState | Use this method with the results of an earlier call to ParticleSystem.GetPlaybackState, in order to restore the Particle System to the state stored in the playbackState object. |
| SetTrails | Use this method with the results of an earlier call to ParticleSystem.GetTrails, in order to restore the Particle System to the state stored in the Trails object. |
| Simulate | Fast-forwards the Particle System by simulating particles over the given period of time, then pauses it. |
| Stop | Stops playing the Particle System using the supplied stop behaviour. |
| TriggerSubEmitter | Triggers the specified sub emitter on all particles of the Particle System. |
Static Methods
Method | Description |
|---|---|
| ResetPreMappedBufferMemory | Reset the cache of reserved graphics memory used for efficient rendering of Particle Systems. |
| SetMaximumPreMappedBufferCounts | Limits the amount of graphics memory Unity reserves for efficient rendering of Particle Systems. |
Structs
Struct | Description |
|---|---|
| ParticleSystem.Burst | Script interface for a Burst. |
| ParticleSystem.ColliderData | Script interface for particle Collider data. |
| ParticleSystem.CollisionModule | Script interface for the CollisionModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.ColorBySpeedModule | Script interface for the ColorBySpeedModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.ColorOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the ColorOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.CustomDataModule | Script interface for the CustomDataModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.EmissionModule | Script interface for the EmissionModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.EmitParams | Script interface for Particle System emission parameters. |
| ParticleSystem.ExternalForcesModule | Script interface for the ExternalForcesModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.ForceOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the ForceOverLifetimeModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.InheritVelocityModule | The Inherit Velocity Module controls how the velocity of the emitter is transferred to the particles as they are emitted. |
| ParticleSystem.LifetimeByEmitterSpeedModule | The Lifetime By Emitter Speed Module controls the initial lifetime of each particle based on the speed of the emitter when the particle was spawned. |
| ParticleSystem.LightsModule | Access the ParticleSystem Lights Module. |
| ParticleSystem.LimitVelocityOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the Limit Velocity Over Lifetime module. |
| ParticleSystem.MainModule | Script interface for the MainModule of a Particle System. |
| ParticleSystem.MinMaxCurve | Script interface for a Min-Max Curve. |
| ParticleSystem.MinMaxGradient | Script interface for a Min-Max Gradient. |
| ParticleSystem.NoiseModule | Script interface for the NoiseModule. |
| ParticleSystem.Particle | Script interface for a Particle. |
| ParticleSystem.PlaybackState | Script interface for storing the particle playback state. |
| ParticleSystem.RotationBySpeedModule | Script interface for the RotationBySpeedModule. |
| ParticleSystem.RotationOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the RotationOverLifetimeModule. |
| ParticleSystem.ShapeModule | Script interface for the ShapeModule. |
| ParticleSystem.SizeBySpeedModule | Script interface for the SizeBySpeedModule. |
| ParticleSystem.SizeOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the SizeOverLifetimeModule. |
| ParticleSystem.SubEmittersModule | Script interface for the SubEmittersModule. |
| ParticleSystem.TextureSheetAnimationModule | Script interface for the TextureSheetAnimationModule. |
| ParticleSystem.TrailModule | Script interface for the TrailsModule. |
| ParticleSystem.Trails | Script interface for storing the particle trail data. |
| ParticleSystem.TriggerModule | Script interface for the TriggerModule. |
| ParticleSystem.VelocityOverLifetimeModule | Script interface for the VelocityOverLifetimeModule. |
Inheritance
Operators
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| operator == | Compares two object references to see if they refer to the same object. |
| bool | Determines whether the object exists. |
| operator != | Compares if two objects refer to a different object. |