How do I make this moving through space scene?

[Alistair Fellowes]

I want to make small squares (pixelated stars) that move from centre of the screen to out of edges of the screen. They need to be random in their direction from the centre, but travel in a straight line at a constant speed. The squares need to remain on their axis and not rotate at all. And finally, the squares need to jump up in size part the way through their individual paths (using key frames I imagine).

If anyone remembers the Sega Saturn dashboard menu with the space ship flying through space, it's that which I'm trying to replicate: Starship Sega: The Saturn boot animation, system menus and interface - YouTube

I've tried the particle effects, but can't get the effect with them. I've also tried setting a layer with a moving square to a random rotation and duplicated the layers, but that obviously rotates the squares too.

Thanks

[P.M.B]

CC particle systems should be fine

If it's moving too fast just pre-comp it and apply a time stretch at 150% or so

[Alistair Fellowes]

Thanks

However, I need the squares to all remain vertical and not be rotated at all, and I need them to all be on one size and part way through their journey I want them to jump up in size. They only should have the two sizes.

Partial World effect gave me almost exactly what I need, but I was unable to make them jump up in size, as adjusting the size at a point using keyframes only changed the size of new ones not the current ones already on screen.

[Kyle Hamrick]

Try this as a revision to your current setup:

Create another comp, 50x50. Create a white solid at comp size. Name the comp "Particle," add it to your original comp, and turn off the eyeball. Set your particle type to "Textured Square," set Texture Layer to that small "Particle" comp you just added. You may need to tweak the size settings, but that should accomplish your flat square look.

As far as the growing, it may not be possible to get exactly the effect you're after with the built-in particle generators, but here's a thought - inside that "Particle" comp, try going a few second in, and animate the scale on your solid from 50%-100% over 15-20 frames.

Is that close to what you're after?

[Kevin-Monahan]

Alister Fellowes,

Still having this trouble? Let us know.

Thanks,
Kevin