Random Seed
Sets the random seed so a procedural variation can be reproduced.
← Fusion node reference
ParticlesIntermediate
pChangeStyle
Restyle existing particles
Changes the appearance of particles after emission, including style, blend mode, color, opacity, color variation and life-based fading.
pChangeStyle
DaVinci Resolve · Fusion
pChangeStyle is useful when particle motion should remain intact but the visual representation needs to change later in the stream.
Overview
What pChangeStyle does
pChangeStyle is useful when particle motion should remain intact but the visual representation needs to change later in the stream.
Mental model
Think of it as changing the costume of particles without changing where they are or how they move.
Common uses
Change particle color over a section of the graph
Switch rendering style after emission
Fade or recolor particles over life
Restyle only selected particle sets
Flow anatomy
Inputs & outputs
The port structure shows how this node fits into a Fusion graph.
Particles
Incoming particle stream from pEmitter, pImageEmitter, pMerge or another particle node.
Region
Optional region or mask that limits where the operation affects particles.
pChangeStyle
Fusion node
Particles
Processed particle stream for additional particle tools or pRender.
Inspector
Important parameters
Start with these controls before reaching for more complicated workarounds.
Reseed
Sets the random seed so a procedural variation can be reproduced.
Time Lock
Locks procedural randomness to time so the same frame evaluates consistently.
Change Sets
Controls whether particle set membership is changed.
Change Style
Enables replacement of the particle render style.
Style
Selects the new particle appearance.
Apply Mode
Controls how the particle style blends when rendered.
Sub-Pixel Rendered
Uses sub-pixel rendering so very small particles move and render more smoothly.
Color
Sets the color.
Red / Green / Blue / Alpha
Provides separate controls for the red, green, blue and alpha channels.
Color Variance
Adds controlled random color variation.
Lock Color Variance
Links Color Variance so they change together.
Color Over Life Controls
Defines how particle color changes from birth to death.
Color Over Life
Changes color as particle age advances.
Fade Controls
Controls particle fade behavior over life.
Probability
Sets the probability that this particle operation is applied.
Age Start / End
Sets the particle-age range affected by this operation.
Particle age is measured over the particle lifetime; use the start and end values to limit where the behavior becomes active.
Set Mode
Selects the Set Mode used by pChangeStyle.
Set 1–32
Chooses which particle sets are affected by this operation.
Region Mode
Selects the particle region type.
Chooses the geometric region used by the particle operation. Available region types include Ignore region, When intersecting region, When inside region, When not intersecting region, When not inside region, When entering region, and When leaving region.
Region
Selects the particle region type.
Chooses the geometric region used by the particle operation. Available region types include All, Bezier, Bitmap, Cube, Line, Mesh, and Rectangle.
Practical setup
A reliable workflow
- 1
Create the emitter and motion first.
- 2
Insert pChangeStyle after the motion stage you want to preserve.
- 3
Enable only the style attributes that actually need changing.
- 4
Set color/opacity behavior.
- 5
Use Probability, Age, Sets or Region for selective restyling.
Typical node chain
Particles→
pChangeStyle→
pRender
Examples
Where this node fits in real work
Hot-to-cool sparks
Particles keep the same motion but shift color later in the stream.
pEmitterpDirectionalForcepChangeStylepRender
Two-look particle system
Only one particle set is changed to a second style.
pEmitterpChangeStylepRender
Troubleshooting
Common mistakes
Changing style and motion at the same time and making debugging difficult.
Enabling every style control when only color needs changing.
Using extreme color variance and losing art direction.
Forgetting that pRender still determines the final particle image.
Production notes
Practical tips
Keep motion nodes and style nodes conceptually separate.
Use Color Over Life for gradual transitions instead of many keyframes.
Particle sets make selective restyling much easier in complex systems.
Related nodes