A particle system is referred to in Unity as a system — rather than a component — as it requires a number of components working together in order to function properly. Before we begin to work with the systems themselves, we need to understand the component parts and their role in the system.
Within any particle system, the emitter component is in charge of instantiating individual particles. In Unity, there is an Ellipsoid Particle Emitter and a Mesh Particle Emitter available.
The ellipsoid is most commonly used for effects such as smoke, dust, and other such environmental elements that can be created in a defined space. It is referred to as the ellipsoid because it creates particles within a sphere that can be stretched to accommodate the system.
The mesh emitter creates particles which are tied directly to a 3D mesh and can either be animated along vertices of a mesh or simply emitted upon the points of the mesh. This is more commonly used when...
