Particle Type

• Billboard — Textured quad that always faces the camera. This is the default rendering mode. Supports custom textures via the Image input. Best for classic particle effects like sparks, smoke puffs, and magic effects where particles should always appear front-facing regardless of camera angle.
• Stretched — Quad stretched along the particle's velocity direction. The Stretch Factor controls how elongated the particle becomes — higher values produce longer streaks. Ideal for fast-moving particles like rain, speed lines, and laser bolts.
• Point — Minimal single-pixel dot rendering. The lightest rendering mode with no texture sampling overhead. Useful for very high particle counts where individual particle detail is not needed, such as star fields or distant dust.
• Circle — Smooth circular particle rendered as a filled circle with anti-aliased edges. Provides a clean, resolution-independent look without requiring a texture. Good for bubble effects, soft dots, and stylized particles.
• Trail — Connected line segments following the particle's path over time. Trail Length controls how many segments are stored. Trail Gradient fades opacity from head to tail, and Shrink Trail reduces width along the trail. Creates ribbon-like effects for comet tails, motion paths, and flowing lines.
• Cube — 3D cube geometry rendered with PBR (physically-based rendering) materials. Configure Metallic, Roughness, and Emissive Color for realistic material appearance. Responds to directional lighting. Suitable for debris, confetti, and blocky particle effects.
• Sphere 3D — 3D sphere geometry rendered with PBR materials. Same material controls as Cube mode. Creates solid spherical particles with realistic lighting and shading. Ideal for bubbles, orbs, marbles, and any effect requiring volumetric-looking particles.

Particle Type controls the visual appearance and rendering method of each particle within a Particle Emitter. Connect the Type output to a Particle Emitter's Type input to configure the rendering style.

Billboard and Stretched modes use textured quads and support custom images via the Image input. When no image is provided, a default white texture is used which can be tinted by the particle's color settings in the emitter.

Trail mode maintains a history of each particle's positions and renders connected line segments. The trail follows the particle's movement path, creating ribbon-like visuals. Trail Length determines how many historical positions are stored, directly affecting the trail's visual length. Segment Spacing controls the distance between recorded points.

Cube and Sphere 3D modes render actual 3D geometry for each particle using PBR materials. The material system supports Base Color, Metallic (0 = non-metal, 1 = full metal), Roughness (0 = perfectly smooth, 1 = completely rough), and Emissive Color (self-illumination independent of lighting). A directional light can be configured with direction and intensity to illuminate the 3D particles.

• Classic fire and smoke with Billboard mode and animated textures
• Rain and speed effects with Stretched mode and high stretch factor
• Star fields and background dust with Point mode for maximum particle count
• Clean stylized effects with Circle mode for resolution-independent rendering
• Comet tails and light trails with Trail mode
• Debris and confetti with Cube mode and varied colors
• Glowing orbs and bubbles with Sphere 3D mode and emissive materials
• Realistic metallic particles with Cube or Sphere 3D using high Metallic values

• Use Point mode when you need maximum particle count with minimal GPU cost
• Billboard mode is the most versatile — start here and switch modes as needed
• For Trail mode, balance Trail Length against particle count to avoid excessive GPU memory usage
• Enable Trail Gradient and Shrink Trail together for natural-looking comet tail effects
• In Cube and Sphere 3D modes, set Emissive Color to create glowing particles that are visible even without a light source
• Roughness of 0 creates mirror-like reflections on 3D particles; 0.5 is a good starting point for most materials
• Face Camera should generally stay enabled for Billboard mode unless you want particles to rotate freely in 3D space
• If no Particle Type node is connected, the emitter defaults to Billboard rendering