aframe-particle-system-component/README.md

Particle systems for A-Frame.

# aframe-particle-system-component

Create particle systems with A-Frame.

![particle-system](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/674727/19012611/92d694fa-876f-11e6-8b6b-1b93dcd586a8.gif)

[EXAMPLES](http://ideaspacevr.github.io/aframe-particle-system-component/)

### Properties

| Property | Description                                                                               | Default Value |
| --------- | -----------                                                                               | ------------- |
| preset | Preset configuration. Possible values are: `default`, `dust`, `snow`, `rain`.                | `default`        |
| maxAge | The particle's maximum age in seconds.                                                       | `6`        |
| positionSpread | Describes this emitter's position variance on a per-particle basis.                  | `0 0 0`        |
| type   | The default distribution this emitter should use to control its particle's spawn position and force behaviour. Possible values are `1` (box), `2` (sphere), `3` (disc) | 1 (box)       |
| rotationAxis | Describes this emitter's axis of rotation. Possible values are `x`, `y` and `z`.       | `x`        |
| rotationAngle | The angle of rotation, given in radians. `Dust` preset is `3.14`.                     | `0`        |
| accelerationValue | Describes this emitter's base acceleration.                                       | `0, -10, 0`  |
| accelerationSpread | Describes this emitter's acceleration variance on a per-particle basis.          | `10 0 10`  |
| velocityValue | Describes this emitter's base velocity.                                               | `0 25 0`   |
| velocitySpread | Describes this emitter's acceleration variance on a per-particle basis.              | `10 7.5 10` |
| color | Describes a particle's color. This property is a "value-over-lifetime" property, meaning an array of values can be given to describe specific value changes over a particle's lifetime.                                                     | `#0000FF,#FF0000` |
| size | Describes a particle's size.                                                      | `1`    |
| direction | The direction of the emitter. If value is `1`, emitter will start at beginning of particle's lifecycle. If value is `-1`, emitter will start at end of particle's lifecycle and work it's way backwards.                                                     | `1`        |
| duration | The duration in seconds that this emitter should live for. If not specified, the emitter will emit particles indefinitely.   | `null`         |
| particleCount | The total number of particles this emitter will hold. NOTE: this is not the number of particles emitted in a second, or anything like that. The number of particles emitted per-second is calculated by particleCount / maxAge (approximately!)                  | `1000`        |
| texture | The texture used by this emitter.                                              | `./images/star2.png`        |
| randomize | When a particle is re-spawned, whether it's position should be re-randomised or not. Can incur a performance hit. | `false`         |
| opacity | Either a single number to describe the opacity of a particle. | `1` |
| maxParticleCount   |                                                      | `250000`        |

I am just exposing a subset of all API parameters through this component. See http://squarefeet.github.io/ShaderParticleEngine/docs/api/ for a complete API description.

### Usage Examples

```html
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: dust"></a-entity>
```
```html
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: snow"></a-entity>
```
```html
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: rain"></a-entity>
```

```html
<a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="preset: dust; texture: ./images/star2.png; color: #0000FF,#00FF00,#FF0000"></a-entity>
```


### Browser Installation

Install and use by directly including the [browser files](dist). Make sure the images directory (particle textures) is in the same
directory as the component.

```html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>A-Frame Particle System Component Example</title>
    <meta name="description" content="Hello, World!">
    <script src="./aframe.min.js"></script>
    <script src="./aframe-particle-system-component.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <a-scene>

      <!-- particle system uses 'default' preset, setting custom colors //-->
      <a-entity position="0 2.25 -15" particle-system="color: #EF0000,#44CC00"></a-entity>

      <a-sphere position="0 1.25 -1" radius="1.25" color="#EF2D5E"></a-sphere>
      <a-box position="-1 0.5 1" rotation="0 45 0" width="1" height="1" depth="1"  color="#4CC3D9"></a-box>
      <a-cylinder position="1 0.75 1" radius="0.5" height="1.5" color="#FFC65D"></a-cylinder>
      <a-plane rotation="-90 0 0" width="4" height="4" color="#7BC8A4"></a-plane>

      <a-sky color="#000000"></a-sky>

    </a-scene>
  </body>
</html>
```

### npm

https://www.npmjs.com/package/aframe-particle-system-component

### Local Development

```
npm install
npm run dev
```

### Credits

Based on the ShaderParticleEngine by Squarefeet: https://github.com/squarefeet/ShaderParticleEngine