iClone Scripts

Explosions are fun, right!? Hard to control the timing of explosions, though! And it’s also hard to switch the explosion to the smoke of the burning debris… Did I hear someone make a wish for an easier way to control particles… Well, in this lesson your wish has been answered! You will learn how to set hot keys to control your particles and to switch between your particles as well.

In this lesson we will show you how to turn on particle effects, play multiple effects with arranged sequences, play several effects at one time, as well as how to turn them off using Visibility Clips.

Preparing the Effects Settings in iClone

Add a box as the control center, i.e., the parent node to place the AML code
Add in 3 effects and name each effect.
Attach to the parent box.

In iClone3, go to Set > Props and add a box into the scene. This box will be the parent of all the effects. Rename it to "Parent".



Go to the particle tab .
Select one of the effects. In this tutorial I will select "Basic02".



Rename the effect to "Effect_01".



Go to the effect section under the particle modify panel. Click "Pick Parent" and attach the effect to the box "Parent".



Adjust emitters in the particle setting panel.



If you want to know more about how to adjust particle settings please visit Adjusting Emitters.

Set the emitter "Off" as initial state. This way you can turn it on from AML Script.



Add another effect (Torch Fire) to the scene. Name the effect "Effect_02"



Attach the "Effect_02" to the Parent and adjust the settings of the particle.



Add one more effect to the scene. Name it "Effect_03".



Attach Effect_03 to the parent and adjust the settings of the effect.



Remember to set the emitter "Off". This way you can control each effect from AML Script.

AML Scripting

Let us give you a little preview about how the particle AML script works.

In the command section, you can see 6 different perform commands.
Perform Command Name Setting
Effects01
Effects02
Effects03 ParticleClip
Turn on individual effect 01-03
Set the target one ON, and two others OFF
Combo Set the sequence of particle clips.
Effects_All Turn on all the effects.
Turn_Off Turn off all the effects.

Add a "Perform Command" from the command drop down list.



Rename the command to "Effect01" where this command controls on/off of the"Effect01".



Check "Lock Move" and "Lock Operate". This will lock both Move and Operate command from interrupting while this command is proceeding.



Check "Right Menu" and assign hot key "Perform1" for this effect.



Go to the ClipSeq section. Select Particle Clip to set clip attribute for Effect01. Rename the clip to "Effect01_on".



When Effect01_on is in selection. Go to the clip's attribute section and select "Object" for Target Type.
Set the Target Node of the effect. The node should be in the name of the parent symbolized as "$" and followed by the child name ".Effect01". The complete format is "$.Effects01".
Check the "Emitter" to ensure that the effect is active.
"Duration" sets the length of time (m/sec) for the effect to run once it emits. Let's set it "2000".



For the same perform command, Effects01, add another particle clip to set the effect OFF for effect02. Rename the particle clip "Effect02_off".



Go into the attribute section and set attributes for the selected particle clip.
Choose "Object" as the target type.
Set target node: "$.Effects02".
Since we are setting the effect02 OFF remember not to check the "Emitter".



Add one more particle clip and set effect OFF for effect03.



In the perform command, add two more perform commands to set each effect02 and effect03 ON. Set hot keys for each command.

Set Effect02 ON. Effect01 and effect03 OFF.



Set Effect03 ON. Effect01 and effect02 OFF.



Effects Sequence

After you have set ON/Off for each of the effect. Set a perform command that triggers the effects in sequence. Name the perform command "Effect_Combo". Set the hot key for this command.



Add a particle clip for the Effect_Combo command.
Name the clip "Effect01_on".
Set the attributes for the Effect01_on clip.

Target Type: "Object" This defines that the particle clip is applied to an object.
Target Node: "$.Effects01" This defines which effect that the particle clip is going to be used on.
Emitter: "Checked" When checked the particle emitter has been turned on.
Duration: "2000" Sets the length of time (m/sec) for this particle to emit.

Add two more "ON" particle clips for Effect02, Effect03 for the Effect_Combo command.



Set Trigger Clip for each effect to have all three clips play in sequence. Insert "0" in the trigger clip of Effects02_on for the Effect02_on to play after Effect01_on. Insert "1" in the trigger clip of Effects03_on for the Effect03_on to play after Effect02_on. Once the hot key y has been triggered for Effect_Combo command the effect now plays in order: Effects01_on > Effects02_on > Effects03_on.



Set All ON/OFF

Add another perform command to set all the effects with the emitter ON.
Add three particle clips for the Effects_All command. Have the identical settings as the Effect_Combo command clips. But the major difference is not to set any trigger clips. Now when you press the hot key in iClone all the effects emit simultaneously.



Since we have included an effect to turn on all the effects. Now, add a perform command and name it Turn_Off. Assign a hot key to the command.
Add three particle clips and rename them as "Effect01_off, Effect02_off, Effect03_off ". Set all of these clips with "Emitter" checked off.
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