Enter the ID of the desired Particle Batch. In our example above, the result file contains results from 8 batches and the first three are loaded.

For Particle to follow, enter the ID of the particle the camera should follow. How to obtain this ID number is explained in the example below.

Video Duration controls the length of the video in seconds. The smaller the number, the faster the particle flies through the structure.

Distance to Particle defines the distance from the camera to the particle. The default distance is fine for most cases if the Visualization - Diameter Factor in the Custom Particle Selection dialog was not changed (see Visualization handbook). When the particle is large, increase the Distance to Particle to avoid having the camera “enter” the particle. The effect in this case is that the particle would appear as a ring instead of a sphere.

You may want to create a great video of a single particle moving through the structure. This could be a particle that is not filtered but runs from inflow region to the outflow region through a fibrous media. After having loaded the structure and the particles, it is possible to locate this individual particle to follow and obtain its ID.

Look at the View Controls above the Visualization area and do the following:

In the Particles tab, select the number of the Batch. This number will be later entered in the Follow Particle dialog as Particle Batch.

Move the Time slider all the way to the right to observe the position of the particles in the outflow region at the end of the batch.

From the Particles pull-down menu, select Custom and click Edit Custom…. and in the opening dialog, click Add Selection. Click the icon to unfold Selection 1.

Check and unfold ID Selection and move the slider for max to the right until you can see some (good looking) particles in the outflow region, i.e. particles easily visible and around the center on the final position for the batch. Slowly move the slider for min (you can also directly insert numbers or click the up-arrow) and see how the particles start to disappear. Visually locate a single particle and adjust both sliders in this way until they show the same ID number and only this single particle can be seen above the microstructure in the Visualization area.

If also the other particles, and not only this individual particle, should be visualized in the final video uncheck ID Selection before going to the next step (in the Follow Particle dialog).

It is also possible to change the color of the single particle to make it stand out from the others. For more information on how to do this, refer to the Visualization user guide.

Back in the Follow Particle dialog, enter the Particle Batch as 1, the ID number of the selected Particle to Follow as 1715. Leave the Video Duration at 15 s or increase the time for a longer and slower animation. For larger particle sizes increase the Distance to Particle, for smaller particles decrease it. For our example the default value generates a good result. After clicking OK, the Python script is executed, and the video generated.