Particles node
Particle Debug
Debug overlay that renders real-time particle system statistics directly on the output viewport. Displays particle counts, emission rates, frame timing, and trigger states for monitoring performance and verifying emission behavior during development.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableOff removes the statistics overlay from the output entirely. | bool | true |
| XHorizontal position of the overlay text, in Grafit units from the centre. Not clamped; around -1…1 keeps it on screen. | float | -0.9 |
| YVertical position of the overlay text, in Grafit units from the centre. Not clamped; around -1…1 keeps it on screen. | float | 0.9 |
| SizeHeight of the text, in Grafit units. Not clamped; roughly 0.02…0.05 stays readable while larger values quickly swallow the frame. | float | 0.025 |
| Show EmittersAdds one line per emitter with its spawn mode and how many particles it is creating each frame. | bool | true |
| Show TimingAdds GPU and CPU timings plus the full frame-pipeline breakdown — the first place to look when the frame rate drops. | bool | true |
| Show TriggersAdds this frame's death, collision and lifetime trigger counts. The lines only appear when something actually fired. | bool | true |
How It Works
Particle Debug renders a text overlay directly on the output viewport showing real-time statistics from all active particle systems in the graph. It does not require a Canvas node — the overlay is drawn directly to the viewport as a post-render pass.
Position the overlay using the X and Y inputs, which use standard Grafit coordinates (origin at center, range typically -1 to 1 on the shortest axis). The default position of (-0.9, 0.9) places the overlay near the top-left corner of the viewport.
When Show Emitters is enabled, the overlay displays per-emitter information including the current active particle count and emission rate. This helps verify that emitters are producing the expected number of particles and that particle lifetimes are behaving correctly.
When Show Timing is enabled, the overlay displays frame timing data including the time spent on particle simulation and rendering. This is useful for identifying performance bottlenecks when working with large particle counts or complex configurations.
When Show Triggers is enabled, the overlay displays the current state of any trigger-based emitters, showing when triggers fire and how many particles are emitted per trigger event.
Use Cases
- Monitoring particle count during development to stay within performance budgets
- Verifying that emission rates match the configured Particle Spawn settings
- Identifying frame timing spikes caused by particle simulation or rendering
- Debugging trigger-based emission to confirm triggers fire at the correct times
- Comparing performance before and after optimization changes to particle configurations
Tips
- Place the debug overlay in a corner that does not obscure the main particle effect
- Disable individual sections (Emitters, Timing, Triggers) to reduce visual clutter when focusing on a specific aspect
- Use the Size parameter to scale the text for readability on different viewport sizes
- Remember to disable or remove the Particle Debug node before final output or presentation
- The overlay renders in Grafit coordinates, so X and Y values within the range of -1 to 1 keep it visible on any aspect ratio
- This node has zero impact on particle simulation — it only reads and displays statistics
Open Particle Debug in the interactive catalog →
Particle Debug is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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