The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique that uses a large number of very small sprites or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques - usually highly chaotic systems, natural phenomena, and/or processes caused by chemical reactions.
Examples of such phenomena which are commonly replicated using particle systems include fire, explosions, smoke, moving water (such as a waterfall), sparks, falling leaves, clouds, fog, snow, dust, meteor tails, stars and galaxies, or abstract visual effects like glowing trails, magic spells, etc. - these use particles that fade out quickly and are then re-emitted from the effect's source. Another technique can be used for things that contain many strands - such as fur, hair, and grass - involving rendering an entire particle's lifetime at once, which can then be drawn and manipulated as a single strand of the material in question.
Particle systems may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional.
Read more about Particle System: Typical Implementation, "Snowflakes" Versus "Hair", Artist-friendly Particle System Tools, Developer-friendly Particle System Tools
Famous quotes containing the words particle and/or system:
“You don’t hold any mystery for me, darling, do you mind? There isn’t a particle of you that I don’t know, remember, and want.”
—Noël Coward (1899–1973)
“If mothers are to be successful in achieving their child-rearing goals, they must have the inner freedom to find their own value system and within that system to find what is acceptable to them and what is not. This means leaving behind the anxiety, but also the security, of simplistic good-bad formulations and deciding for themselves what they want to teach their children.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)