Flapping Wings in Visual Effect Graph?

Hello,
I want to build flapping wings out of VFX particles, but I'm unsure of where to begin.
I've used VFX for some small features, but this seems to be something a bit higher level.

Can anyone provide insight on where I should start or which examples to look at?

 

Start with something VERY VERY simple. A butterfly, like this:



The particle mesh should be 2 quads, side-by-side. Apply a butterfly texture to start so you can see it clearly.

First thing. Make sure it flies forward. So you want to align the particles by the direction it's going.

Now for animation...

You've got the edges on either side; the outer part of the wings. This is the bit you animate first. They go up and down.

Start with a sine wave, on their local Y (I think..?) position.

They'll look like they stretch a bit, and they are. That's because you're moving them, rather than rotating them around the body like in real life. So you have to move them back inwards towards the body on the X (?) axis as they reach the extents...


Actually, come to think of it, isn't there a VFX Graph example with butterflies?

 

Hmm. Thank you. I will work off of this.

 

Do you mean "i want lots of flapping wings" or "I want a pair of flapping wings made out of particles"? I suspect the former but your wording makes it sound more like the latter.