Shifter

Shifter does one sum on many rows at once. It multiplies, divides, adds to or subtracts from every ticked row of every selected emitter. Shifter is a tab of the PropertyTools panel, beside Clipboard.

What it makes possible:

• Every layer of an effect fired a little later. Tick EmitDelay, enter 0.1, press +. Each Delay grows by 0.1 seconds.
• Half the particles in a scene. Select every emitter, tick Rate and EmitCount, enter 0.5, press x.
• Every spawn offset of a selection moved by the same amount, with +.
• A graph’s random spread widened together with its values. Switch on Scale Envelope and press x.

Opening and closing

To	Do this
Open the panel	Press ≡, then Tools, then PropertyTools. Click the Shifter tab if Clipboard is showing.
Close the panel	Press PropertyTools again, or press X in the header.
Fold the panel away	Press the minimise button beside X. A chip reading PropertyTools appears in a row under the HUD.
Bring the panel back	Click the chip.

The panel folds away by itself when nothing the plugin can edit is selected, and returns when an emitter is selected again. The shortcut action Toggle Shifter brings the tab forward. Panels describes tabs and folding in full.

The controls

Control	Kind	Starts at	What it does
Value box	Box	1.0	Holds the number the four buttons use.
x	Button		Multiplies every ticked row by the number.
/	Button		Divides every ticked row by the number.
+	Button		Adds the number to every ticked row.
-	Button		Subtracts the number from every ticked row.
Scale Envelope	Switch	Off	Makes the operation act on a graph’s random spread as well as its values.
Search…	Box	Empty	Narrows the list to the rows that match.
List of rows	List of rows, each with a tick box	Every row unticked	Chooses which rows the operation changes.

The list and the search box work as they do in Clipboard. See Ticking rows and Search.

Procedure

Step	Control	Action	Result
1	Explorer	Select the emitters to change	The list shows their number rows.
2	Shifter ▸ list	Click each row to change	Each clicked row shows ☑.
3	Shifter ▸ value box	Enter the number	The box holds the number.
4	Shifter ▸ x, /, + or -	Press one	Every ticked row of every selected emitter changes at once.

There is no preview and no Apply. The press is the change. Each press is one step in Studio’s undo history, named Part-Icles: Shift.

Which rows are listed

The list shows only rows that hold numbers:

• A row of one number.
• A pair of numbers, a lowest and a highest, such as Lifetime.
• A graph.
• A set of two or three numbers, such as SpreadAngle or Acceleration.
• The screen position and screen size of an ImageLabel.
• The HUD boxes, as EmitCount, EmitDelay and EmitDuration.

Switches, lists, text boxes, colours and events are never listed. To shift colours, use Hue.

A stock ParticleEmitter shows these rows:

Category	Rows
Emission	Rate, Lifetime, TimeScale, EmitCount, EmitDelay, EmitDuration
Spawn	ZOffset
Motion	SpreadAngle, Speed, Acceleration, Drag, Rotation, RotSpeed, VelocityInheritance
Appearance	Brightness, Size, Transparency, Squash, LightEmission, LightInfluence
Flipbook	FlipbookFramerate

The Duration of a stock Trail is not listed.

What each operation does

Kind of row	x and /	+ and -
One number	Multiplies or divides the number.	Adds to or subtracts from the number.
A pair of numbers, lowest and highest	Acts on both. The two are put back in order if the result reverses them.	Acts on both.
Graph	Acts on the Value of every keypoint.	Acts on the Value of every keypoint.
A set of two or three numbers	Acts on each number.	Adds or subtracts the same amount on each number.
Screen position or screen size	Acts on the scale part and the pixel part.	Acts on the pixel part only.
EmitCount, EmitDelay, EmitDuration	Multiplies or divides. The result never goes below 0.	Adds or subtracts. The result never goes below 0.

Worked figures, with 2 in the value box:

Row	Before	After x	After +
Rate	10	20	12
Lifetime	1, 2	2, 4	3, 4
A graph from 0 to 4	0 to 4	0 to 8	2 to 6
Acceleration	0, -40, 0	0, -80, 0	2, -38, 2

A Position range of 1, 2 multiplied by -1 gives -1 and -2. The row then reads -2, -1, lowest first.

Scale Envelope

A graph can carry a random spread around its line. The graph editor describes the spread. Scale Envelope decides whether Shifter changes the spread. It starts off.

Scale Envelope	x and /	+ and -
Off	The spread is unchanged.	The spread is unchanged.
On	The spread is multiplied or divided with the Value.	The amount is added to or subtracted from the spread too. The spread never goes below 0.

Take a keypoint with Value 5 and a spread of 1, and 2 in the value box:

Scale Envelope	After x	After +
Off	Value 10, spread 1	Value 7, spread 1
On	Value 10, spread 2	Value 7, spread 3

Limits

• / with 0 in the value box does nothing.
• Text that is not a number does nothing. An extremely large number does nothing.
• A row that cannot be negative stops at 0. Most graphs, Speed included, may go below 0.
• EmitCount is not rounded after x or /. A count of 5 multiplied by 0.5 gives 2.5.
• + and - put the same amount on every number of a set such as Acceleration. They cannot change one of the three alone.

On a stock ParticleEmitter these rows stay inside limits:

Rows	Limit
Size, Rate, Lifetime, Drag, FlipbookFramerate, Brightness, TimeScale, SpreadAngle	Never below 0.
LightEmission, LightInfluence, VelocityInheritance	Never below 0 and never above 1.
RotSpeed	May go below 0.