Ice Crystals

Ice Crystals grows frost on an object: six-pointed snow crystals sprout from its surface, leaning out like hoar frost, glint as the view changes, then fade away and grow back. Their shape can range from flat hexagonal plates to feathery branching stars.

How it works

Every crystal has the six-fold symmetry of real snow. Its shape is a blend between two forms: a hexagonal plate with a raised ridge, and a dendrite, a main arm with side branches at 60 degrees that are longest near the centre, where they started growing first. Crystals grow quickly at first and then slower, the way frost grows, hold for a moment and then fade away, each on its own timing. Each sector of a crystal catches light at a slightly different angle, so sparkles move across it as you orbit. The diamond dust is a swarm of tiny tumbling plates spiralling slowly down, each flashing when it mirrors light toward you.

Settings

• Habit: 0 for hexagonal plates, 1 for feathery dendrites.
• Branches: side branches per arm.
• Spike Count and Spike Length: how many crystals, and how big.
• Pulse Speed: how fast they grow, hold and fade.
• Sparkle: the strength of the glints.
• Frost Enabled: the drifting diamond dust.
• Ice Color.

Use it for

Winter campaigns, frozen products, cold magic, holiday scenes. The Frost object effect frosts the surface itself, and the Ice material makes an object out of ice.