Cannon controls for the Particle Playground effect (Pro only)

The Cannon is on by default (to use a different method to create particles, first turn off the Cannon by setting Particles Per Second to zero). It creates particles in a continuous stream, as though they were shot out of a cannon.

You can adjust the following Cannon controls:

Position

Specifies the x, y coordinates from which particles are created.

Barrel Radius

Sets the size of the Cannon's barrel radius. Negative values create a circular barrel, and positive values create a square barrel. For a narrow source such as a ray gun, specify a low value. For a wide source such as a school of fish, specify a high value.

Particles Per Second

Specifies how often particles are created. A value of 0 creates no particles. A high value increases the density of the particle stream. If you don't want the Cannon to fire continuously during the composition, set keyframes for this control so that the value is 0 at the times when you don't want to create any particles.

Direction

Sets the angle at which particles are fired.

Direction Random Spread

Specifies how much each particle's direction deviates randomly from the cannon direction. For example, specifying a 10-degree spread sprays particles in random directions within +/-5 degrees of the cannon direction. For a highly focused stream such as a ray gun, specify a low value. For a stream that widens quickly, specify a high value. You can specify up to 360 degrees.

Velocity

Specifies the initial speed of particles in pixels per second as they emanate from the Cannon.

Velocity Random Spread

Specifies the amount of random velocity of particles. A higher value results in more variation in the velocity of particles. For example, if you set Velocity to 20 and Velocity Random Spread to 10, particles leave the Cannon at velocities ranging from 15 to 25 pixels per second.

Color

Sets the color of dots or text characters. This control has no effect if you use a layer as the particle source.

Particle Radius

Sets the radius of dots, in pixels, or the size of text characters in points. This control has no effect if you use a layer as the particle source.