Help with Emitting Particles from Vertex Colours

[gt19]

Hello,

I am very new to Maya and I have created a mesh and then painted a black vertex paint onto a part of the surface. My aim is to emit particles from only the black area. Is it possible to do using Maya on its own or with an expression? I hope someone can help.

Thanks,
Grant

[chartt]

Hi Grant,

I would assume that you have a texture map - use the 3DPaint tool to get one if not and paint what you described.

1) select the surface 
2) particles > emit from object   -> emit particles from the surface
3) select your emitter - make sure it says emitter type: surface
4) in the attribute editor for the emitter, scroll to the bottom
5) turn on Enable Texture Rate
6) drag + drop your texture to Texture Rate
7) check ON emit from dark.

Playback - Voila!  Particles should be emitting from the black areas on the surface. 

C