GenPeriodic

Generator. Periodically generates particles at a steady rate.

Particles are emitted at regular time intervals determined by the Rate property. The generator interpolates the exact emission time within each frame for smooth results, even at low frame rates.

The rate is specified as a percentage of emitter capacity per second — the same convention as the other generators. A rate of 100% emits the emitter's whole capacity worth of particles every second. Each emission event (shot) produces Burst particles, so the time between shots is 100 × burst / (rate × capacity) seconds — the percentage always describes particle throughput, regardless of the burst size.

Setting the rate from particle life. As with the other percentage-based generators, pick the rate straight from how long your particles live: rate = 100 / life (2-second particles → 50%). The Particle average life helper field in the block properties does this calculation for you.

Legacy absolute rate. In effects saved before this convention, the rate meant absolute shots per second. Fixed rate values are converted to percent automatically when the effect is loaded — the emission stays exactly the same. If the rate input is connected to another block, the connected value keeps its absolute shots-per-second meaning: such a block is marked as legacy on the scheme (@rate/sec.), in the block properties (the Legacy absolute rate checkbox) and in the Emitter Guide. Use Convert to % in the Emitter Guide to convert guide-managed values automatically (value graphs are rescaled so the emission does not change), or multiply your connected value by 100 × burst / capacity and clear the legacy checkbox when the value graph is hand-made.

Properties & inputs:

• Rate (input | property): Generation rate as a percentage of emitter capacity per second.
• Particle average life (property): Helper to pick the rate by eye — enter roughly how long your particles live and the rate is set to 100 / life.
• Fixed time (property): When enabled, the generator stops after the specified duration in seconds.
• Fixed shots (property): When enabled, the generator stops after the specified number of bursts.
• Start delay (input | property): Delay in seconds before the generator starts.
• Start Phase (property): Phase offset from 0 to 1. If 1, the first particle is emitted immediately. If 0, a full period elapses first.
• Burst (property): Number of particles generated per emission event.
• Burst pos mode (property): Controls how the Burst Pos. output is spread across the particles of one burst. Normalized (default) runs the first particle to 0 and the last to 1 (index / (burst − 1)). Linear runs the first particle to 0 and the last to 1 − 1/burst (index / burst), so the value never quite reaches 1 — useful when Burst Pos. drives a looping or tiling gradient where the last particle should not land on the same value as the first.

Outputs:

• Burst Amount (float): Number of particles in the current burst.
• Burst Pos. (float): Position of a particle within the burst. The range depends on Burst pos mode: Normalized gives [0; 1] (last particle = 1), Linear gives [0; 1 − 1/burst] (last particle < 1).