Many of the stunning special effects in computer games are implemented using a particle animation.

A particle animation is simply a collection of particles (point masses) that move in 3D subject to various rules.

Often, these rules are based on some sort of physical simulation.

Particle systems are collections of particles

• Particles are usually rendered as a collection of billboarded sprites or graphic objects (e.g., spheres, cubes, points, etc.) 
• Used to simulate complex phenomena like fire, smoke, sparks, magic spells, clouds 
• An emitter is the source of particles in 3D space and sets the initial parameters of each particle (velocity, colour, etc.) 
• Particles move based on physical simulation 
• Particles change over time: fade out, changing their colour and alpha value

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