Using only storyboards and behaviours I have created a cool 3d particle effect.

Break down of effects.

Each element (circle) has it’s own storyboard that uses the projection properties to spin it around in a 360 degree fashion on it’s X axis. By increasing the centre point value of the Z axis we get a larger radius.

On top of that each element is offset by 30 degrees on it’s Y axis, this allows all the elements to form an imaginary sphere. I have also set the storyboard durations to different lengths to allow a chaotic feel to the animation.

Finally I have performed a rotate animation on all of the elements. The was no code needed to create this example, everything was done inside Expression Blend 3.

To take the animation one step further, I have replaced the coloured circles with radial gradients and changed the scale of several elements. This adds an additional dimension to the animation.

Grab the source

As usual you can grab the source here:

Projection example 1

Projection example 2

Use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out off the Wasp (Click image to gain focus first).

Imagery from Adam Wignall at Digital Diversity.

Last year was my first for blogging and after steady progress throughout the year I am happy to report the following site stats from Google Analytics:

A total of 52,882 unique visitors visiting a total of 71,978 times and viewing 132,850 pages.

Here’s to 2010 and lots more content to come, happy New Year!