Flying Letters from a Custom String

--The ChannelsUsed handler defines the channels
--to be made available to the script.
--For the list of all channels, see
--Interface: MaxscriptParticleContainer
--The parameter pCont passed to the handler
--contains the Particle Container the script is applied to
on ChannelsUsed pCont do(
pCont.useShape = true --enable changes to the shape
)
 
--The Init handler is called on initialization.
--In this case, it is used to define the string, font name
--and create the text objects for every letter
 
on Init pCont do
(
--Define a global variable to store the array of letter objects
--Use different unique ID if reusing the code
--multiple times in the same scene
 
global pflow_letter_array17b02b680
 
local text_source = $PFlowText17b02b680
 
--If the unique source is missing...
if not isValidNode text_source do
(
--Create new text source object
text_source = text text:"Enter Text Here"
--Give it the unique name - use a different ID
--throughout the script if you need to use multiple
--scripts in the same scene
text_source.name ="PFlowText17b02b680"
--Add an extrude modifier to the text object
addmodifier text_source (extrude amount:10)
--make the source invisible to the renderer
text_source.renderable = false
)
--If the array has been initialized before...
if pflow_letter_array17b02b680 != undefined do
(
txtpos = 0
--Go through all elements of the array
for i in pflow_letter_array17b02b680 do
(
txtpos += 1
--If any of the array nodes is invalid (deleted),
--or the font does not match the source's font name,
--or a letter does not match the letter in the source text,
--reset the whole array so it can be reinitialized
if not (isValidNode i) or i.font != text_source.font or i.text != (substring text_source.text txtpos 1) do
pflow_letter_array = undefined
)
)
 
--If the array is newly created or reset (see above)
if pflow_letter_array17b02b680 == undefined do
(
--Initialize to empty array
pflow_letter_array17b02b680 = #()
--Get the string to display by the particle system from the
--source text object in the scene. You can edit the
--text's source to display any text you want!
--Moving the time slider will update all letters!
local str = text_source.text
--Delete all possibly existing letter objects by name
delete $PFlow_Letter_17b02b680_*
--Loop from 1 to the number of letters in the string
for i = 1 to str.count do
(
--Create a copy of the source object with
--the i-th letter from the string
letter = copy text_source
letter.text = (substring str i 1)
--Give the object a unique name
letter.name = (uniquename"PFlow_Letter_17b02b680_")
--Set the font to the font of the source
letter.font = text_source.font
--Append the new text object to the array
append pflow_letter_array17b02b680 letter
--Hide the text object
hide letter
) 
) 
)
 
--In the Proceed handler, we will assign the letters to the
--available particles
 
on Proceed pCont do
(
--Get the current particle count
count = pCont.numParticles()
--Get the number of text objects in the global array
maxcount = pflow_letter_array17b02b680.count
--Create an empty mesh
empty_mesh = triMesh()
--Repeat for all particles
for i = 1 to count do
(
--Set the current particle index
pCont.particleIndex = i
--If the particle index is less than the number of letters
if i <= maxcount then
(
--If the node is not deleted, set the particle shape
--to the mesh of the i-th text object
if isValidNode pflow_letter_array17b02b680[i] do
pCont.particleShape = pflow_letter_array17b02b680[i].mesh
)
else
(
--If there is no letter for this particle,
--set the shape to an empty mesh
pCont.particleShape = empty_mesh
)
)
)
 
--The Release handler is used to do cleanup work.
--Not used in this case.
on Release pCont do
(
 
)