1. Acquisition of PopcornFX Editor and relevant particle effects content

To download a free copy of PopcornFX Editor go to:
https://www.popcornfx.com/download/

Once installed, launch the editor to download additional particle effects content.

Find more PopcornFX learning material at: 
https://www.popcornfx.com/tutorial-full-page/

2. Handling differences in world coordinate systems between PopcornFX and iClone.

PopcornFX Editor does not have the ability to convert between different axis systems, therefore any content downloaded for PopcornFX editor and brought into iClone will be facing the wrong direction.  A simple Z-up project is provided below along with remedy for a specific case which is not a universal fix for every single particle effects content as each scenario can be quite different.

PopcornFX default axis system is Y-Up like Unity 3D:


iClone axis system is Z-Up like Unreal Engine.


Due to differences in the axis systems, particle effects downloaded from outside sources may not emit in the expected direction inside iClone, see:
CollisionSurfaceRestitution.pkfx from ReleaseHightlights_v1.12.2 inside iClone:


We suggest the following easy fix (not applicable to all scenarios):
A basic *.pkfx file is provided as an example for a proper Z-Up particle effect: Download
The axis direction can be fixed inside the PopcornFX Editor, see:


To obtain additional learning resources, go to the PopcornFX website: https://wiki.popcornfx.com/

3. Dealing with missing *.pkmm and *.pkproj upon import.

iClone's failure to locate the *.pkproj file will pop up the following dialog window:

4. Representation of PopcornFX Editor parameters inside iClone's plug-in user interface.

PopcornFX Particle Attributes is equivalent to iClone PopcornFX Attribute 
Note: All PopcornFX attributes inside iClone can be keyed and possess its own timeline track.


Sample Attribute is equivalent to iClone Emitter


PopcornFX Layer List is equivalent to iClone Particle List 

5. Dealing with mismatched attributes between PopcornFX Editor and iClone.

Why is there a mismatch between the number of attributes for PopcornFX Editor and iClone and how do I expose them for iClone?

PopcornFX content is entirely custom made.  When an attribute is not exposed in the PopcornFX editor then the said attribute is unattainable in iClone and any other 3d software such as Unreal Engine.  

Simple Tutorial: How to setup the Audio Sampler for the emitter? 
Goal: Open the audio sampler for the *.pkfx file inside iClone to switch out the audio file that drives the movement of the particle effect.

Sample: AudioSpectrum.pkfx from GDC 2015

*As already mentioned, more learning material can be found on the PopcornFX tutorial site and Wiki page. 


Turbulence attribute accessible only via scripting.
Turbulence attribute is not available inside iClone because it is only accessible via the scripting interface inside the PopcornFX Editor, see below:


Reason:
Turbulence is accessible only via the PopcornFX scripting environment and is not visible inside iClone or Unreal Engine.
Example: "Butterfly.pkfx" from GDC 2015 download pack.
Once the "Turb" sampler is designated for the Attribute Sampler, it is globally accessible across the entire PopcornFX script environment.
This has the effect of unifying multiple sampler references into one, in this case, the turbulence sampler is used for "First Flight", "Idle", and "FlyLoop".



Curve Sampler attribute (under development)
PopcornFX Editor's curve attribute is not available inside iClone.


Currently, there is no support for curve editing like the one available for PopcornFX Editor, see the video below:


We will provide a future update that allows iClone curve editing for the PopcornFX plug-in.

PopcornFX internal editor properties belong in the project scope and is not included in the *.pkfx format.  Therefore, loading the same *.pkfx file into iClone will result in visual disparity with the visual results in the PopcornFX Editor. 

Case 1 :  Differences in PopcornFX Editor and iClone for scene path animation and in-scene settings, see the following video: 
 

Content from PopcornFX Editor pack: Tutorial Particle V1.10



Case 2: Differences in PopcornFX and iClone for scene meshes and backdrops, see the following video:

 

Content from PopcornFX Editor pack: GDC2015 v1.12



Case 3: Differences in PopcornFX and iClone for scene sound and backdrops, see the following video:
  

Content from PopcornFX Editor pack: GDC2015 V1.12

 7. Fixing visual disparities in iClone caused by scripting in PopcornFX Editor.

PopcornFX content is mainly controlled via the scripting environment in the PopcornFX Editor.  This allows for much flexibility and a high degree of developer freedom, however, there needs to be some things that the user must be aware of that comes at the cost of all this freedom.

As already mentioned, the axis system inside iClone and PopcornFX Editor is different which will cause certain parts of the particle effect to face the wrong direction depending on the angle of the viewing camera.

See HUD_Radar.pkfx from GDC2015_v1.12): you'll discover that the billboard viewed from the top in iClone becomes invisible.  This is because the script was written in absolute axis that faces a fixed direction even when the axis system is swapped.

• HUD related content from 01 to 06...
• TestTextSampler related content.

• The colors of the particles become invert as the MaxDistance is adjusted.
•  Texture artifacts occur when FlameDistance is adjusted.

Reason for the error in the above video: the script that drives the particle effect was not properly error-proofed.  You'll notice that the two parameters (MaxDistance and FlameDistance) are used as divisors (denominator) to calculate DistRatio and FlameRatio respectively.  When they are set to 0, the formula has no meaning because no matter the value of the dividend, the result would be undefined, otherwise known as an indeterminate form.  In the sense of a computer program, the result is either infinitely positive or infinitely negative, both of which will cause an error, or even a crash if the error is serious.

8. Pending feature: Path Sampler for PopcornFX particle emitter.

Path sampling is not yet a feature of iClone, therefore, any particle effects that relies on a path for motion will be missing the critical path component.

One can see the following error occur: 

Content: PopcornFX Editor pack: GDC2015 V1.12

Note: Support for this feature will be available in a coming patch.

Hi,

Proper Z-UP download is missing as described above:

We suggest the following easy fix (not applicable to all scenarios):
A basic *.pkfx file is provided as an example for a proper Z-Up particle effect: Download
The axis direction can be fixed inside the PopcornFX Editor, see:

Thanks,
TS