SOL Manual

Installation

SOL installs like any other Blender add-on. No external libraries, no compiled binaries, no internet connection required.

1. Open Blender and go to Edit › Preferences › Add-ons.
2. Click Install… (or Install from Disk) and pick the sol.zip file.
3. Enable the SOL checkbox once it appears in the list.
4. Press N in the 3D Viewport — a new SOL tab is added to the sidebar.

Quick start

The shortest path from "empty scene" to "glowing particles". Four steps, roughly half a minute.

1. Select a mesh object — it becomes the emitter (particles come off its surface).
2. Open the SOL panel and pick a preset from the dropdown (Sparks, Magic, Fire, Fireworks…).
3. Press Apply / Replace.
4. Play the timeline (Space) from the first frame. Watch the particles come to life.

The presets

Each preset builds the particle system, an emissive material and a collection of ~18 varied shapes for you. Pick one from the dropdown — if the object already has an effect, choosing another preset swaps it instantly. Each preset is a starting point: every value below is yours to tune.

Panel reference

Field-by-field description of every control in the SOL sidebar. The collapsible sub-panels (Colors, Forces, Domain, Guide curve, Glow) appear once an effect is applied.

Main Core controls

Mode	Continuous emits steadily over time (welding, fire). Burst releases every particle at once — a single impact (a hit, an explosion).
Count	Number of particles emitted.
Lifetime	How many frames each particle lives before fading out.
Emission (frames) · Start	First frame particles are emitted. Independent per object, so you can stagger several effects in time. In Burst mode it is the frame the burst happens.
Emission (frames) · End	(Continuous only) Last frame particles are emitted. Ignored / greyed in Burst.
Velocity	Initial push along the surface normal.
Spread	Randomness of the initial direction and speed.
Velocity per axis (XYZ)	Extra initial velocity along the emitter's X / Y / Z axes — launch particles in a chosen direction (e.g. all upward) on top of the normal push.
Min Size / Max Size	Each particle's size is random between these two values, giving variety.
Emission	Emission strength of the material — how bright the particles glow.
Show Emitter	Show or hide the emitter mesh, in the viewport and the render at once (synced with Blender's native "Show emitter" toggles). Default: visible in the viewport, hidden in the render.
↻ (reset preset)	Restores that preset's default values, including its color palette.

Sub-panel Colors

An editable color palette, per object. Loading a preset fills it with that preset's characteristic colors; change it however you like.

+ / −	Add a color to the palette, or remove the selected one.
Click a swatch	Open the picker to change that color.
Randomize Colors	On — each particle takes a random color from the palette (multicolor sparks, varied magic). Off — the color evolves with the particle's age along the palette (classic hot → cold gradient).

In both modes the glow fades smoothly as the particle dies. Color changes are live if the object already has an effect.

Sub-panel Forces (local)

SOL isolates each effect: the particles only respond to forces you add here, not to the scene's global force fields. Press Add force and pick a type:

Wind	Constant push in one direction (blows along the field's Z axis — rotate it to aim).
Force	Attracts (negative) or repels (positive) radially.
Vortex	Spins the particles in a spiral.
Turbulence	Chaotic noise that agitates them (great for fire and magic).
Drag	Slows the particles down.
Magnetic	Deflects them like a magnetic field.

Each added force shows: Strength (negative inverts), Flow, Limit range → Max range, a cursor icon to select it in the viewport (move / rotate), and an X to remove it. Even with no force added, the particles are isolated from global winds the moment you apply the effect.

Sub-panel Domain (boundary)

A boundary around the emitter: particles that cross it die instantly. Use it to cap the reach of an effect (keep sparks from flooding the scene).

Shape	Box or Sphere.
Size	Radius of the limit — distance from the emitter to the wall.
Add domain	Creates the limit around the emitter (it follows if you move it).
Select / X	Once created: select it in the viewport to move / scale by hand (G / S), or remove it.

The domain shows as a wireframe box/sphere in the viewport but never appears in the render (F12) — no shadows, reflections or refractions. Works in EEVEE and Cycles.

i

Unlike forces (which are local), Blender's collisions are global. If two effects overlap in the same space, one's domain can also clip the other's particles. Size the domain around its own effect.

Sub-panel Guide Curve

Makes the particles follow the path of a curve — spiraling sparks, a winding magic trail, a hand-drawn arc. Press Add curve and SOL drops a curve (rising vertically from the emitter by default); the particles take its shape.

Select / Tab	Select the curve, then press Tab to enter Edit Mode and move its points to draw the path. Move / rotate with G / R.
Force	How tightly the particles hug the path. At max they ride it fully; lower it and they let go sooner.
Spread	How much they spread around the curve, in a spiral. 0 = glued to the path; higher = a looser, fuller trail.
X	Remove the curve (particles return to free movement).

The guide is local (like forces). Particles copy the curve's shape from where they are born, so for a clean result let the curve start at or near the emitter. Works in EEVEE and Cycles.

!

Curve + forces: at max Force the curve overrides the local forces. To combine them, lower the Force so the particles loosen up and the wind / vortex can deflect them again.

Sub-panel Glow

EEVEE Next no longer ships bloom; SOL adds it for you by wiring the compositor's Glare node with one click. It affects the whole image, but since the particles are the brightest thing, they glow most. The viewport compositor is set to "Always" so you see it live.

Three effects, separated by tabs, each with its own independent settings — exactly the options of Blender's native Glare node:

Bloom	Soft halo of light around bright areas.
Streaks	Lens-flare rays shooting out of bright points.
Ghosts	Repeated lens-ghost reflections.
Settings	Intensity, Threshold, Smoothness, Clamp/Max, Saturation/Tint, Size (Bloom), Streak count, Angle, Iterations, Fade and Color modulation — depending on the type.
Particles Only	Isolates the glow to SOL particles via an Object Index mask. Requires Cycles, and applies to the final render (F12) — the viewport shows a whole-scene preview.
Reset	Returns all three effects to their defaults without switching them off.

Live editing & baking

Settings are per object — each mesh stores and edits its own effect independently. Move any control on an object that already has an effect and the change applies live; no need to press Apply again.

Several objects & duplicates

• Apply SOL to as many objects as you like; each can have a different preset and values. Selecting an object shows its values.
• Duplicating an emitter with Shift+D shares the particle data. SOL auto-separates the copies the moment you edit one or change its preset — or press Make independent.
• After a change that affects the simulation (Amount, Velocity, Duration…), press Reset (⏪) and replay from the start to recompute the motion.

Bake to freeze it

When you like the effect, press Bake to freeze the simulation into a cache. From then on you can jump to any frame without bunching, playback is smooth and the render doesn't recalculate. Live editing pauses while baked — press Free bake to tweak again. Bake all freezes every SOL effect in the scene at once (ideal before rendering a multi-emitter animation).

Buttons

The full button row sits at the bottom of the main panel — see FIG 03.

Rendering

SOL works in EEVEE Next and Cycles with no extra setup. The particles emit their own light, so they stand out on dark backgrounds — a dark background enhances the effect.

Emitter hidden in the render

When you apply an effect, SOL hides the emitter mesh from the render so only the particles show — the normal behavior for a particle effect. The emitter stays visible in the viewport so you can place it. The Show emitter toggle controls this in both the viewport and the render at once, synced with Blender's native toggles: enable it if you want the emitter mesh to appear in the render too (e.g. sparks jumping off an object that should be seen). Clearing the effect restores the original visibility.

Lens glow

For bloom, streaks and ghosts use the Glow panel (§4) — SOL configures the compositor for you and shows it live in the viewport.

Support

SOL is published under the GNU GPL v2 (or later). It is built by Anlace and shipped through CLOUDY SKY.

Thank you for using SOL. Happy emitting.