pKill

pKill has no separate blur, force or color effect. Its operation is particle deletion. Its relevant controls are therefore Conditions and Region, and the main question is which particles pass all restrictions.

The main orange Particles input accepts a particle stream. Bitmap/Mesh exposes a separate Region input for an image or 3D geometry. This is not a normal blue Effect Mask restricting finished pixels.

Probability is evaluated for each particle on each frame. A low chance can accumulate deletions when a condition persists. Use Style Fade for a smooth visual fade and pKill for actual removal.

Age is a fraction of a particle’s lifetime. Start 0.5 means the second half of its own lifespan. Different birth times and Lifespan Variance prevent that boundary from matching one shared composition frame.

Sets are assigned before pKill. Ignore Sets disregards the checkboxes, Affect Specified Sets selects checked sets, and Ignore Specified Sets excludes them. For a clear test, create two colored populations, assign different sets and combine them with pMerge.

Region and Region Mode have different jobs. One chooses shape; the other chooses an inside/outside condition or a transition event. Inside, Intersecting, Entering and Leaving are not interchangeable switches.

A thin rectangle, line or open mesh requires careful spatial alignment. Screen-coordinate overlap does not prove an intersection in Z. When unsure, start with a simple volume, Probability 1 and slow motion.

A particle already deleted from this stream does not return after leaving the region or passing the Age window. Recalculate from the start after changing conditions. All three original PNGs are retained, with unverified native Time Lock and boundary behavior identified explicitly.