Class ParticleBuffer

The particles simulation data container. Can allocated and used many times. It's designed to hold CPU or GPU particles data for the simulation and rendering.

ParticleBuffer
Assembly: FlaxEngine.dll
File: Engine/Particles/ParticlesData.h
Syntax
public class ParticleBuffer

Constructors

~ParticleBuffer()

Finalizes an instance of the ParticleBuffer class.

Declaration
public ~ParticleBuffer()

ParticleBuffer()

Initializes a new instance of the ParticleBuffer class.

Declaration
public ParticleBuffer()

Fields

Buffer

The particles data buffer (CPU side).

Declaration
public Array<byte> Buffer
Field Value
Array<byte>

BufferSecondary

The particles secondary data buffer (GPU side). Used as a write destination for GPU particles and swapped with Buffer after simulation.

Declaration
public GPUBuffer* BufferSecondary = nullptr
Field Value
GPUBuffer

Capacity

The buffer capacity (maximum amount of particles it can hold).

Declaration
public int32 Capacity
Field Value
int32

Count

The active particles count.

Declaration
public int32 Count
Field Value
int32

CPU

Declaration
public struct ParticleBuffer::@180 CPU
Field Value
struct ParticleBuffer::@180

Emitter

The emitter.

Declaration
public ParticleEmitter* Emitter = nullptr
Field Value
ParticleEmitter

GPU

Declaration
public struct ParticleBuffer::@181 GPU
Field Value
struct ParticleBuffer::@181

HasValidCount

The flag used to indicate that GPU buffers data contains a valid particles count.

Declaration
public bool HasValidCount
Field Value
bool

IndirectDrawArgsBuffer

The indirect draw command arguments buffer used by the GPU particles to invoke drawing on a GPU based on the particles amount (instances count).

Declaration
public GPUBuffer* IndirectDrawArgsBuffer = nullptr
Field Value
GPUBuffer

Layout

The layout descriptor.

Declaration
public ParticleLayout* Layout = nullptr
Field Value
ParticleLayout

Mode

The simulation mode.

Declaration
public ParticlesSimulationMode Mode
Field Value
ParticlesSimulationMode

ParticleCounterOffset

The particle counter (uint type) offset. Located in Buffer and BufferSecondary if GPU particles simulation is used to store the particles count in the buffer. Placed after the particle attributes.

Declaration
public uint32 ParticleCounterOffset
Field Value
uint32

ParticlesCountMax

The maximum amount of particles that 'might' be in the buffer. During every simulation update we spawn a certain amount of particles and update existing ones. We can estimate limit for the current particles count to dispatch less threads for particles update.

Declaration
public int32 ParticlesCountMax
Field Value
int32

PendingClear

The flag used to indicate that GPU buffers data should be cleared before next simulation.

Declaration
public bool PendingClear
Field Value
bool

RibbonIndexBufferDynamic

The ribbon particles rendering index buffer (dynamic GPU access).

Declaration
public DynamicIndexBuffer* RibbonIndexBufferDynamic = nullptr
Field Value
DynamicIndexBuffer

RibbonOrder

The sorted ribbon particles indices (CPU side). Cached after system update and reused during rendering (batched for all ribbon modules).

Declaration
public Array<int32> RibbonOrder
Field Value
Array<int32>

RibbonVertexBufferDynamic

The ribbon particles rendering vertex buffer (dynamic GPU access).

Declaration
public DynamicVertexBuffer* RibbonVertexBufferDynamic = nullptr
Field Value
DynamicVertexBuffer

SortedIndices

The particles indices buffer (GPU side).

Contains sorted particles indices for GPU rendering. Each sorting module from the emitter uses a dedicated range of this buffer.

Declaration
public GPUBuffer* SortedIndices = nullptr
Field Value
GPUBuffer

SortingKeysBuffer

The GPU particles sorting buffer. Contains structure of particle index and the sorting key for every particle. Used to sort particles.

Declaration
public GPUBuffer* SortingKeysBuffer = nullptr
Field Value
GPUBuffer

Stride

The stride (size of the particle structure data).

Declaration
public int32 Stride
Field Value
int32

Version

The emitter graph version (cached on Init). Used to discard pooled buffers that has been created for older emitter graph.

Declaration
public uint32 Version
Field Value
uint32

Methods

AllocateSortBuffer()

Allocates the particles sorting indices buffer.

Declaration
public bool AllocateSortBuffer()
Returns
bool

True if failed, otherwise false.

Clear()

Clears the particles from the buffer (prepares for the simulation).

Declaration
public void Clear()

GetParticleCPU(int32 particleIndex)

Gets the pointer to the particle data.

Declaration
public byte* GetParticleCPU(int32 particleIndex)
Parameters
int32 particleIndex

Index of the particle.
Returns
byte

The particle data start address.

Init(ParticleEmitter* emitter)

Initializes the particle buffer for the specified emitter.

Declaration
public bool Init(ParticleEmitter* emitter)
Parameters
ParticleEmitter emitter

The emitter.
Returns
bool

True if failed, otherwise false.