A Simple Cloud Primer Using PowerParticlesPro and AG MONDO-Clouds

This primer will show you how to create a simple stationary cloud
pattern. This type of cloud is quite useful if you are flying
over or near the cloud effect.

Setting up this type of cloud look is very simple. In the
PowerParticles Pro interface tabs here is what I did:

Emitter Tab:
1) I set the Emitter type to Volume.
2) Since I wanted to set up a still, I set the end time to 1.0.
This will allow one second of emission which will create spheres of
various ages (sizes and colors).
3) I changed the X and Z dimensions of the volume emitter to 200.
This allows the volume to be much flatter than than the cube shape it
starts out with.

Emitted Object Tab:
1) I selected Spheres as the emitted object.
2) I changed the life span to 1.0 ± .02 (to coincide with the emission
time in the Emitter Tab).
3) I changed the birth radius to 20 ± 20. This creates spheres that
range in size from 0 to 40.
4) I turned on "Randomized Initial Orientation".
5) I then opened the Color Dialog and changed the number of colors to 2.
The first color is white and the second is a very pale yellow (the white
will allow the Mondo_Cloud shader to be as opaque as possible and the
more yellow the surface becomes, the more transparent the shader will
become. My reasoning for this color setup is that as the sphere gets
larger I want it to fade a bit.

Dynamics:
I added "Air Resistance" with a setting of 5. This will slow the
spheres quickly and keep them still.

AG MONDO-Cloud Setup:
Next, I added the Mondo_Cloud shader to the diffuse channel of
PowerParticlesPro. Double click on the shader in the diffuse channel
list
and go to the Projection Tab. Set the X, Y and Z scale to 40 (which
coincides with the radius setting of 20 for our emitted spheres). I
changed the following settings in the shader interface:
1) I changed the top Pattern pull down to Fturb
2) I changed Scale to 40
3) I changed Thickness to 1.2
4) I changed Density to .8
5) I changed Falloff to 2
6) I also changed the first color in Colorspline list to a very light gray.

Finally, in Universe Animator, I slid the time slider to 1.0 seconds and
rendered out the current frame at 1.0 seconds.

This should give you a good starting point for setting up clouds of
all types using PowerParticlePro and MONDO-Clouds.

Please send your questions, comments, or requests for other primers
to support@tripleDtools.com.

by Mike Register