Particles node
Particle Vector Field 2D
GPU vector-field force driven by an image. Add inside a Particle System and connect an image: its silhouette becomes a force field with sixteen styles -- outline tracing, contour bands, directional sweeps, zig-zags, vortices, curl noise, brush strokes along the image's features, edge condensation, skeleton collapse, ripples and more. Brightness can scale the force, edges feather, and live sources (camera, video) rebuild in realtime.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableTurns this force field off without removing it. The particles keep whatever other forces the system has. | bool | true |
| ImageThe picture whose silhouette becomes the field. Connect any generator, image, camera or segmentation output — without one the node does nothing. | image | 0 |
| ModeWhich field style the silhouette is turned into — outline tracing, sweeps, vortices, curl noise, brush strokes and more. Numbers outside the sixteen styles snap to the nearest end of the list. | int | 0 |
| ApplyHow the field pushes: Flow steers particles along the field at Speed, Force adds a raw push that stacks with gravity and drag. Anything other than Force reads as Flow. | int | 0 |
| StrengthHow hard the field acts on each particle. Not clamped; negative reverses the direction, and roughly 0…5 is the useful band before motion snaps. | float | 1.0 |
| SpeedIn Flow mode, the travel speed particles are steered toward. Not clamped; 0 stalls them and past about 2 the motion smears into streaks. | float | 0.5 |
| ChannelWhich part of the image defines the silhouette — Alpha, Red, Green, Blue or Luma. Clamped to those five. | int | 0 |
| ThresholdThe cutoff in the chosen channel that separates shape from background. Clamped to 0.0001…1; lower values pull in more of the faint areas. | float | 0.05 |
| InvertSwaps shape and background, so the field forms around the picture instead of inside it. | bool | false |
| RegionWhere the field acts — Inside the silhouette, Outside it, or Everywhere. Clamped to those three. | int | 0 |
| FeatherSoftens the silhouette edge, measured in Grafit units of distance, so blurred edges become slow gentle zones. Clamped to 0 and up; about 0…0.5 reads naturally. | float | 0.1 |
| Image PowerHow much the image's own brightness scales the force, turning a gradient in the picture into a gradient of push. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0 |
| AngleDirection of the sweep for the directional styles, in degrees clockwise. Any value works; it simply wraps around. | float | 0 |
| FrequencyHow many bands, waves or cells fit across the field. Clamped to 0.01 and up; roughly 1…20 stays readable, higher turns into fine noise. | float | 6 |
| DriftScrolls the pattern's phase over time so bands crawl and ripples travel. Not clamped; 0 freezes it, negative runs it backwards. | float | 0 |
| SwirlBends a radial or edge-hugging field sideways into a spiral. Not clamped; 0 is straight, around ±1 is a strong curl. | float | 0 |
| Center XHorizontal center of the radial, vortex, ripple and lattice styles, in Grafit units. Any value works, including off screen. | float | 0 |
| Center YVertical center of the radial, vortex, ripple and lattice styles, in Grafit units. Any value works, including off screen. | float | 0 |
| Noise AmountExtra curl jitter layered on top of the chosen style. Clamped to 0 and up; 0 is clean, around 1 is a strong stir. | float | 0 |
| Noise ScaleSpatial frequency of that jitter — small values give broad swirls, large ones fine grain. Clamped to 0.01 and up. | float | 3 |
| Noise SpeedHow fast the jitter evolves. Not clamped; 0 freezes the pattern in place and negative runs it backwards. | float | 0.3 |
| ScaleScales the rectangle the field is mapped over. Clamped to 0.0001 and up; 1 covers the whole render view. | float | 1 |
| ResolutionGrid detail along the long side of the view. Clamped to 64…1024; higher traces fine features, lower is cheaper and smoother. | int | 256 |
| Live SourceRebuilds the field every frame so camera, video or segmentation input keeps up. Leave off for a still image. | bool | false |
| Show FieldDebug overlay drawing the grid the particles actually read — hue is direction, opacity is strength. | bool | false |
| FieldCable a Vector Field 2D — through one of the Particle System’s inputs — and the particles follow its field. Without one this node does nothing. | structure | — |
How It Works
Add this inside a Particle System and connect an image: the silhouette becomes a force field. The picture is converted on the GPU into a signed distance field (by jump flooding) and a brightness landscape, both baked into a small vector grid — after which every particle reads its force with a single bilinear sample. A live camera source therefore costs the same as a still image.
Strength and Speed are applied per particle rather than baked, so dragging them never rebuilds the grid. Up to four fields per system, each with its own grid slot; Show Field draws the hue-wheel overlay.
The Sixteen Styles
- Outline Flow — particles orbit the contour.
- Contour Bands — flow concentrated into offset outlines; Drift scrolls them.
- Directional, Zig-Zag, Wave, Radial — classic shaped fields.
- Vortex — Swirl spirals particles around the shape.
- Curl Noise, Turbulence — divergence-free organic motion.
- Gradient Climb — particles climb from dark to bright.
- Brush Flow — strokes that follow the image's own features.
- Edge Attract — particles condense on the outline; Swirl traces it.
- Skeleton — collapse toward the medial axis.
- Ripple, Shear Bands, Vortex Grid (a Taylor–Green lattice).
Use Cases
- Draw with particles — a logo in the Image input, Edge Attract, and the particles write it.
- Camera-driven flow — a segmentation mask makes a person a moving force field.
- Painterly motion — Brush Flow over a photograph makes particles follow its brushwork.
Tips
- Region (Inside / Outside / Everywhere) and Feather decide where the force acts and how it fades in.
- Apply chooses Flow (steering, particles keep their own speed) or Force (a raw push).
- Image Power lets brightness scale the force, so a photograph is a strength landscape, not just a shape.
Open Particle Vector Field 2D in the interactive catalog →
Particle Vector Field 2D is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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