3D & SimulationParticles
Vortex Effector
A tornado: swirl around the axis, an inward pull, and lift along it.
The Vortex Effector spins particles around its axis while drawing them in and lifting them.
- Swirl Strength, Inward Pull, Lift (Along Axis), Radius
- Found in the node graph under Particles → Effectors
The image on the right is the example patch itself. Drag and drop it onto the app, or load it with File → Load, to open the full graph. The default vortex on a sphere emitter.
Inputs and outputs
| Port | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Effectors In | Effector | The previous effector in the chain, if any. |
| Field Image | Texture | A texture read by the Image field shape. |
| Origin Object | Surface | A Null to parent the effector to. |
| Effectors Out | Effector | Wire it into the next effector, or into the Particle System's Effectors port. |
Parameters
- Swirl Strength (−40 to 40, default 6). Negative reverses the spin.
- Inward Pull (−20 to 20, default 2). Negative pushes out.
- Lift (Along Axis) (−20 to 20, default 0).
- Radius (0.5–60, default 10).
- Particle Use Amount (0–1, default 1) — the share of particles this effector acts on. Two effectors with the same amount act on different particles.
- Speed Variance (0–4, default 0) and Speed Bias (−1 to 1, default 0) — scatter the force per particle.
Field
- Field (default off) — limits the effector to a region. Field Shape (Sphere, Box, Plane, Image), Field Size (default 3), Falloff (default 0.5), Inner Radius, Invert Field, Field Follows Mouse, and Image Channel for the Image shape. The Field Position / Heading / Pitch / Roll / Scale block places it.
Every slider has a per-parameter animation bar, so it can be animated, audio driven, or MIDI mapped.
Examples
Tornado — Lift 4, Inward Pull 3, with a Kill Box Effector above to recycle.
Troubleshooting
Nothing moves. The effector's Effectors Out must reach the Particle System's Effectors port, directly or through the last effector in a chain.