Particle count question

I searched the forum and couldn't find answer to this so I figured I'd ask....

I've just started experimenting with particles on a build I'm doing and I'm not sure how to tell if I'm using too many or not. I have a pretty beefy machine and it looks great on mine but not sure it'll translate if someone has their max particles way lower.

Is there is a menu option that will show me exactly how many particles are on screen at a specific time? Or any way to calculate it from the script at the very least?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Maximillion-

With a single emitter, you can determine your "concurrent particle count" with the following formula:

total = ( particle_age / burst_rate ) * burst_count

Keep in mind that the 4096 maxium is for all emitters in draw distance, not per emitter, nor just those within the field of view, so you have to take the other emitters nearby into consideration.

I haven't seen anything that specifically says how many particles are within drawing distance.

If the prim with the particle script is *small* (less than 0.2m cubed) draw distance is usually shortened to around 28m. Larger prims are visible further away. (The prim must be 'drawn' for it's particles to be visible.)

Quantity of particles isn't always a render-lag guarantee. Fewer but larger and mostly transparent particles overlapping each other can cause some video cards some grief. Typically tiny more solid particles are easier to render.

You can always try setting your max particles lower to see how things turn out. Another thing to try is to ask around and get someone to send you a screen shot of what they see.

Hope this helps!

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do math but yes, that helps a lot, thanks

=)

llShout( 1, (string) (( age / rate ) * count ));

(and have something listen on channel one adding it up?