ICE - particle grow effect - remove points from cluster

[klak06]

hi everyone

I hope this question isn`t a too obvious one. Here it goes:

I am recreating this nice little particle grow effect in ICE https://vimeo.com/21223643 from Siddharth Bolurker.
It is all working fine but, I would like to change the cluster from where the particles are emitted.
Turns out, I cannot remove any points from the cluster via the "Return from cluster" command.

Is it by any means possible to remove any point at all from a cluster which is used in an ICE tree?
Or do I have to create a new cluster and use that.
I am still searching thru the help files and elsewhere but maybe someone can answer this real quick.

Thank you. Klaus

Attached is a few pictures of a viewport capture of the effect. One can see the points of the cluster.
That is where I would like to remove 2 of them.

[klak06]

I am not sure but, does this already answer my question (found it shortly after pushing the submit button - what else...)

+=+=+=+=+=
From the Softimage User Guide (2015):

Working with Unsimulated Point Clouds
If you want to create clusters of points
As long as the point cloud doesn't have particles being added to it or removed from it, you can create clusters.
If you create clusters, you can constrain objects to them and you can use deformations to modify them, as well
as envelopes or shape animation.
You can also animate the clusters individually by constraining them to an animated object, such as a null.

+=+=+=+=+=
Not sure if that means what I asked above.

[Bullit]

Thanks to have posted your find. I didn't understand very well what you want to do. You want that particles grow in every place you choose in that surface? Needs to be points and clusters? can't be weightmap?

[klak06]

hi Bullit, thanks for taking the time.

Here is a link to what I have been doing.
http://homepage.bluewin.ch/EnterK/index.htm

I have a grid, on that grid are five points in a cluster (the peaks).
The cluster points define where the particles are emitted in the first place.
Then there is a weightmap on the grid which defines the movement of the particles on the grid.
(If anyone is interested I simply followed the steps in the tutorial I linked to in my first post)

All I want to do is remove 1 or 2 points from the cluster.

Seems not possible. I select the cluster, select the points of the cluster I want to remove,
but the "Edit / Remove from cluster" command does not remove the points.
The plus and minus sign next to "Edit / Cluster" button stay grayed out.

Anyway, no big deal. I only wanted to know if it should be possible or not under the circumstances.

Thanks

[Bullit]

What is the propose of removing the points from cluster?

[klak06]

Well, that`s where the particles are emitted first. I simply want to have less points from where the effect starts.
What was not clear to me is why, I cannot remove points from the cluster.
But as quoted from the help in the second post it seems to be the case once particles are emitted from those clustercomponents.

If the cluster only contains simple selections as in my example it is just a matter of deleting the original cluster
and replacing it with a new one within the ICE tree, right.

Thanks again. K.

[sant0s]

I think you mean this:

- select the object
- select the points you want to remove from the cluster
- hold ctrl + click on the point cluster under clusters menu on the right
- under Edit on the right side click on the minus symbol

greetings,
sant0s

[Mathaeus]

I am not sure but, does this already answer my question (found it shortly after pushing the submit button - what else...)

+=+=+=+=+=
From the Softimage User Guide (2015):

Working with Unsimulated Point Clouds
If you want to create clusters of points
As long as the point cloud doesn't have particles being added to it or removed from it, you can create clusters.
If you create clusters, you can constrain objects to them and you can use deformations to modify them, as well
as envelopes or shape animation.
You can also animate the clusters individually by constraining them to an animated object, such as a null.

+=+=+=+=+=
Not sure if that means what I asked above.

Not really, this is about creating the point cluster on point cloud, not on emitter, also it is talking about un simulated point cloud where 'topology' does not change.

By the way, if it's more comfortable, you could replace the functionality of point cluster by (another), static weight map. Something like, if weights of weight map A are higher than 0.9, use this as starting point of simulation on weight map B. Weight map B is filter for point cloud emission. Should give a bit more uniform method to deal with everything that comes later.

[klak06]

@ sant0s:
Thank you, that did the trick. Obviously I did not use the right series of klicks. duh...

@Mathaeus:
Thanks for the explanation. Gonna read that chapter again.
I`ll try to figure out how the ICE tree has to look like using two weightmaps as you suggested.
Will be a nice exercise for me.

cheers.Klaus.