Timing particle emissions So I'm making a Minecraft sword fight in Blender 2.8. I'm really just doing finishing touches, and I've been trying to make sparks fly from the swords every time they collide/clash with particle emissions. Apparently you can't make the emitter stop emitting once it starts. 

I know I could use hundreds of particle systems but that's way too hectic and would get in the way if I change a few animations. 

Is there a way I could do this with just one particle system?
It is currently not possible to directly keyframe the emission of particles in Blender.

But you can use a collision object that completely surrounds the emitter object. Make sure that you check the "Kill Particles"-checkbox and then keyframe the Permeability-setting to let particles through the collision object when you want them to "escape".

You can find more info on Collisions in the Blender manual.