Particle Streaks

                                 In this post I'm going to show you how to create particle streaks. You can use this method in sci-fi or mystery movie animations. In here we are going to use nparticles, not particles.

                                 First open your scene and create a simple curve. Go to nDynamics menu. Create a new emitter(nParticles->Create nParticles->Create Emitter) and attach it to the curve(Animate->Motion Paths->Attach to Motion Path). Your default scene will look like this when you play the animation.

                                 Select the emitter and go to attributes editor. Set Rate(Particles/Sec) to 300. Go to Basic Emission Speed Attributes section. Set Speed to 0.000.
                                 Now you have to tweak particle shape attributes. In here I choose Random range for Lifespan Mode and 10 for Lifespan. Adjust the Radius Scale. Note that these values are depends on your scene scale and animation type.

                            Expand the Shading section. You can use Cloud(s/w) for Particle Render Type. Change Opacity Scale graph if you like.

                           Set your Particle Color and Incandescence. Choose Normalized Age for Incandescence Input.

                             Expand the Render Stats section. Turn on Visible In Reflections and Visible In Refractions. Now go to Hypershade and click on the nparticle cloud volume material and increase the Glow Intensity. In here I use 500. You can change noise attributes and wind direction if you like.