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.. _loading-particle-systems:

Loading Particle Systems
========================

The Panda3D engine uses text files for storing particle configurations, which
are usually created with the Particle Panel. Before being able to use
particles, you'll need to tell Panda3D to enable particles:



.. code-block:: python
    
    base.enableParticles()



This function tells Panda3D to enable its built-in physics engine which is
also used by particles.

To be able to create ParticleEffect objects, you'll need this import:


.. code-block:: python
    
    from direct.particles.ParticleEffect import ParticleEffect



Next, create a ParticleEffect object and tell it to use a particle
configuration file.



.. code-block:: python
    
    p = ParticleEffect()
    p.loadConfig(filename)



To start the ParticleEffect, do this:



.. code-block:: python
    
    p.start(parent = render, renderParent = render)


``start()`` takes two arguments:
``parent`` is the node the
particles will be "birth-relative" to.
``renderParent`` is the node level the
particles will be rendered at. If you want your particles to spawn from your
node, but not follow it around, set
``renderParent`` to something else like
``render``.

ParticleEffect inherits from NodePath, so you can use NodePath methods like
``setPos()`` on it.

To reset the ParticleEffect, use:


.. code-block:: python
    
    p.reset()



To stop the ParticleEffect, use:


.. code-block:: python
    
    p.disable()



To completely remove the ParticleEffect, use:


.. code-block:: python
    
    p.cleanup()

Note that
``cleanup()`` calls
``disable()`` internally, so you
don't need to call it yourself before calling
``cleanup()``

Like ``loadConfig()``, you can use
``saveConfig()`` to save the
ParticleEffect to a particle configuration file (\*.ptf):


.. code-block:: python
    
    p.saveConfig(filename)