PM is fall-down easy to use and doesn’t require a trip to the documentation. All feature sets are clearly labeled and logically organized. However, should you like to read-up on the tool, there is an adequate 16 page .pdf file for your perusal.
The presets display a large and impressive range of capabilities helping users begin imagining directions to take the PM that cover interests from wedding videographer to filmmaker to television - cheesy to waaaay cool.
Examining the options reveals the power under the hood. Neatly organized into categories--Animation, Wipe, Particles, Velocity and Gravity--PM has a full set of controls for each category.
To be clear, PM is a transitional particle tool. It’s not meant for sustained particle emissions or omnipresent effects. Consequently, the controls all presuppose that you will be beginning and ending the effects you control.
The Animation options are brief and concise letting you set the animation duration: Manual, length of clip, or specific seconds.
Wipe provides options for either hiding or revealing the source object plus controls: Angle, Radius, Offset and Time Scale options
Things get a little more robust from this point forward. Particle controls for origin fidelity and types including custom ones of your choosing, time related colors, masking, count, size, scale over time and blend modes are at your fingertips.
Likewise, the Velocity and Gravity sections have the appropriate amount and nature of controls to permity you to control anything you’d want to adjust.
