Particle Sim
The Particle Sim mode runs a Lagrangian spring simulation on the GPU. Each particle has a rest position it is pulled back toward; force generators apply impulses that scatter, spin, or drag particles away from rest. The result is elastic, bouncy motion with a physical feel.
← Point Cloud Displacement overview
Enabling
Section titled “Enabling”- Open the Point Cloud Displacement card in the inspector
- Click the PARTICLE SIM toggle to enable it
When Particle Sim is active, the FLUID DISPLACEMENT and TRACK DISPLACEMENT sections become inactive — Particle Sim takes exclusive ownership of position integration. NOISE still stacks on top.
Simulation parameters
Section titled “Simulation parameters”| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Spring | How strongly particles are pulled back to their rest position — higher = snappier return |
| Damping | Reduces oscillation as particles return to rest — higher = quicker settle, less bounce |
| Friction | Fixed speed subtracted from each particle per frame — higher = particles slow and settle dead; 0 = off |
| Strength | Scales how far particles can be displaced from rest |
Reset Particles snaps all particles immediately back to their rest positions.
Force generators
Section titled “Force generators”Click Add Force to add a generator. Each force has Strength, Pos X/Y/Z, Radius, and a Falloff mode that controls how the force diminishes with distance (Linear, Quadratic, or None).
| Force type | What it does | Extra parameters |
|---|---|---|
| Directional | Pushes particles in a fixed direction | Dir X, Dir Y, Dir Z |
| Radial Out | Pushes particles outward from the emitter | — |
| Radial In | Pulls particles inward toward the emitter | — |
| Rotation | Spins particles around an axis | Spin X, Spin Y, Spin Z |
| Vortex Sink | Swirling inward drain | Spin X/Y/Z (axis), Pull, Lift |
| Pulse | One-shot impulse triggered by a mappable trigger | Trigger, Decay |
| Noise | Turbulent per-particle force field | Scale, Speed |
| Drag | Slows particles proportional to their velocity | — |
Up to 8 force generators can run simultaneously.
All force parameters are full modulation targets — right-click any slider to map it to an LFO, sequencer, audio range, MIDI, or OSC. Map a Pulse trigger to an audio onset or MIDI note for beat-reactive explosions.