Connecting particles with spline

In this recipe we are going to learn how to connect particles with splines in 3D.

Getting started

In this recipe we are going to use the particle's code base from the recipe Creating a particle system, from Chapter 5, Building Particle Systems. We are going to use the 3D version.

How to do it…

We will create splines connecting particles.

1. Include the necessary header file inside ParticleSystem.h:

   #include "cinder/BSpline.h"

2. Add a new property to the ParticleSystem class:

   ci::BSpline3f spline;

3. Implement the computeBSpline method for the ParticleSystem class:

   void ParticleSystem::computeBspline(){ 
    std::vector<ci::Vec3f> splinePoints;
    std::vector<Particle*>::iterator it;
    for(it = particles.begin(); it != particles.end(); ++it ){
     ++it;
     splinePoints.push_back( ci::Vec3f( (*it)->position ) );
    }
    spline = ci::BSpline3f( splinePoints, 3, false, false );
   }

4. At the end of the ParticleSystem update method, invoke the following code:

   computeBSpline();

5. Replace...