From BlenderWiki
User Interface
Particle Object
Particles are generally seen as a collection, i.e. usually one defines properties and rules for the particle system as a whole, instead of tweaking individual particles. For this reason particles are grouped together in a new object type called Point Cloud. Note: this name is a common term for sets of generally unconnected point data. A more abstract name without the term "cloud" in it would be preferable, but "Particle System" is already in use. This is disputable!}}
The Point Cloud is the container for a distinct set of particles. This is logically in line with other object types and their components:
- Meshes are containers for vertices, edges and faces.
- Curves are containers for control points.
Particles in a point cloud are independent from each other by default, though connecting them by lines or faces can be a powerful feature (see this video in XSI for an example) For large numbers of connected points a mesh object is usually the better choice.
Reactions between different Point Clouds
Although it may be possible to define reactions between particles in different point cloud objects, it is generally discouraged, because this can lead to a lot of temporary data storage (in the order of the number of particles) and serious performance bottlenecks. A better solution for different types of particles and the like is to use internal particle states. If necessary for some reason, these reactions should be kept as rare as possible.
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Object Data
The properties of the system as a whole can be accessed in the Object data tab in the buttons window, like other object type specific data. This will include details of buffer management as well as viewing and managing the additional attributes of particles.
Edit Mode
As is the case with meshes and other objects, the detail data (in this case the particles) can be accessed in Blender with the Edit Mode. There it is possible to add, remove, move, rotate, etc. each particle individually. As this is impractical for the commonly large number of particles, a set of brush-based editing tools should be developed for particle sets. This design however will not include details on concrete tools, but leave edit mode for later development.
