Hold on to your socks everyone. It seems there is a new particle system plugin coming to an After Effects near you. It is called Stardust, and it looks spectacular.
Stardust is a modular particle system, featuring a node based interface. It will let you build complex systems in a single 3D space. You can start with a preset or create your own node network.
There are nodes for particle replication, emitters, forces, space deformers and more. Simply connect the nodes that you want working with your particles.
There isn’t much known about Stardust yet, other than an impressive promo video. Still there is a lot that can be gleamed from the visual barrage. Stardust looks to finally be the particle system After Effects users deserve. No word on a release date yet (other than soon), so stay tuned to aescripts + aeplugins Stardust page for more information.
