Controlling Particle Animation

Creating Explosions

Adding Motion Blur

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Animation Tutorials > Creating Explosions > 

Setting Visibility Keys to Make the Asteroid Disappear

The asteroid particle system explodes into pieces; however, the original asteroid object is still visible in the scene. To make the explosion seem more realistic, the original object needs to disappear as it explodes.

Setup:

• Continue working with the previous file, or open exploding_asteroid_with_particles.max.

Create a visibility key:

1. Go to frame 11 and turn on Auto Key.
2. To select the asteroid, press H to open the Select Objects dialog, and select Sphere01. Click Select. Then right-click and choose Properties from the quad menu.
3. In the Object Properties dialog > Rendering Control group, right-click the Visibility spinner arrows to set this value to 0.0.

   A red outline appears around the spinner arrows to indicate an animation key has been set.

4. Click OK to close the Object Properties dialog.
5. Turn off Auto Key.

Adjust the new visibility keys:

1. In the track bar, under the time slider, right-click the key at frame 0. Choose Sphere01: Visibility.

   

2. If necessary, set the Value to 1.0.
3. Change the Out interpolation to Stairstep.

   

   This will make the object visible until the next key.

4. Drag the time slider and observe the animation in the viewport.

   The asteroid disappears and the fragments fly outward.

   

5. Close the key dialog by clicking the X button in its title bar.

Render a frame to preview the explosion effect:

1. Right-click a viewport and choose Unhide All.

   The planes are now visible again.

2. Go to frame 21.
3. On the toolbar, click Quick Render.

   The single image shows you what the effect will look like so far. Verify that the asteroid is invisible, and that only the particle fragments and the explosion planes are rendering.