iOS Sprite Kit particles or video

[devQ]

Hello,


I was wondering if someone could help me with following problem. I want to create something like this http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-4668353-stock-footage-flickering-particles-loop-blue.html but only 2 options crossed my mind:

1. with sprite kit it's probably impossible. If there is too many particles, frame rate is killed, and if there's too few it doesn't look good. Another problem is that I want to scale up and then scale down particles, but particle editor offers only one direction at a time.

2. with video it is possible but I don't know if it's a good idea. Also don't know which resolution to choose for both iPhone and iPad, which format and size. It can drain battery quickly probably and use too much space.


Every advice is appreciated and I would love to hear some suggestions.
Thanks.

 

[rjain]

RE: Sprite Kit particles or video

You might like to user SKEmitterNode.

Check out this video:

 

[devQ]

Yeah, that's how I did it. But it won't work. I'm probably going to use video or simplify particles with editor.

 

[dejo]

But it won't work.

It won't work? Care to elaborate?

 

[devQ]

Sure. Using SKEmitterNode is probably best (and proper ) way to do it, but since I use too many particles and movement, frame rate is low and everything is choppy. With firefly particles only, it works fine, but adding smoke to whole screen kills everything.

 

[chrono1081]

Sure. Using SKEmitterNode is probably best (and proper ) way to do it, but since I use too many particles and movement, frame rate is low and everything is choppy. With firefly particles only, it works fine, but adding smoke to whole screen kills everything.

Are you trying this on an actual device or just the simulator?

 

[omenatarhuri]

Are you trying this on an actual device or just the simulator?

This is a valid point, at least for me the simulator gives awful performance even with a couple image sprites. iPad Mini with Retina however runs perfectly at 60fps.

 

[devQ]

At that time it was simulator I even managed to freeze my mac in one iteration.

I decided to use video at the end.