Overview
The Particle Group nodes are automatically created by Phoenix in order to expose several different particle systems (groups) available in only a single node. Such is the case with Phoenix Simulator nodes which load data from Phoenix cache files and can expose several particle systems at once - Foam, Splash, Liquid, WetMap, Mist, or Drag particles. The nodes are named "PGPhoenixFD[...]_[...]" where the first slot is the name of the node that provides the many particle systems, and the second slot is the name of the particle system that is represented, such as Foam, Splash, etc.
The nodes can be easily accessed from the Particle Shader's Particle Systems rollout, where all available Particle Group nodes are linked.
The Particle Group nodes are required in order for other nodes such as the Phoenix Particle Shader and the Phoenix Source to be able to select only a specific particle system in case more than 1 are available.
Particle Group nodes for Foam and Splash are created when enabling Foam and Splash simulation from a Liquid Simulator and accepting the creation of a Particle Shader. Particle System nodes would also be created when selecting a Simulator from a Source or Particle Shader, if the Simulator’s cache sequence (for any frame, not just the current) contains particle systems that don’t have a Particle System node created yet.
A Particle Group node can be assigned to a set, or used to create a Maya nParticle System.
Attributes
Particle System Name | groupName – The name of the particle group in the Simulator. Don't edit manually.
Simulator Instance | instance – The instance number of the Simulator that created this particle group. Note that each instance of the Simulator has it's own content and the particle groups are not instanced. Don't edit manually.
Create nParticles From This System | createPartSystem – When enabled, an nParticle System will be created for this group. Note that this will take more memory than using the particle group directly.
Render Time Only | renderTimeOnly - Used only when Create nParticles From This System is enabled. If checked, will not create the nParticle system in the viewport preview, but only during rendering.
Use Simulator's Cache | exportAsCache - Used only when Create nParticles From This System is enabled, and Render Time Only is disabled. If enabled, the nParticle system would read the Simulator's cache files during rendering, so they would need to be present and accessible to the rendering. If disabled, the nParticle's radii and colors would be baked in the rendered vrscene so that the Phoenix cache files would not be needed.
