Cloth Sim Magic

Toonces

DaremoK3 said:

Oh, I thought you had discovered something new, but that is the defacto way VWD works.

Just to let you know, or anyone else who may not already know, this can be done for multiple drapes via same open VWD session.  No need to close VWD to envoke the changed cloth name if you wish to work further on same cloth piece, because a new VWD session creates a copy anyways.

What you do is when you are working in VWD, and you accomplish a drape you like, send the current pose to host, make a duplicate copy of that cloth object with Studio's Duplicate Node command (Edit Menu), change that _vwd suffix to whatever (2, new, drape01, etc), reselect the original sent pose to host _vwd cloth object, and continue working in VWD on another/further drapes.

Each subsequent drape can be sent back to host, repeat the steps above, and continue working until you have all drapes on the cloth you like.  These can later be used for creating morph targets, used as is, or sent back to VWD in a new session for further work per your description.

That's pretty neat!

 

ebergerly

Keep in mind that you can stop the sim, change parameters, and hit Start again and it will continue where you left off. And often you can change parameters in real time (like wind and forces). There may not be a need to stop VWD and then do another drape. 

Also, there's the "History" feature where you can stop the sim, hit the "History" button and reload the previous sim from the beginning automatically. That makes it nice if your sim didn't go as planned, and you want to re-do it with different settings. 

nicstt

Toonces said:

It's not really a workflow, just a trick I discovered.

Basically you just select the vwd item in Scene. Then in the little scene menu, go to Edit > Scene Idnetification. Replace the 'VWD' in node name and node label with '2' or something else.

That's all there is to it. Then it becomes eligible for VWD again.

I don't use the technique a lot. Usually 1 drape is enough.

But it comes in handy. For example, let's say you want to make a simple ghost costume for halloween. You drape a plane over a figure and use geometry editor (assuming you gave the mesh enough subdivisions) to cut out a few eye/arm holes. It looks rough, just like a home-made costume should. You like it so much you remove the 'VWD', convert to figure, transfer utility for rigging, and save it as a wearable preset: 'ghost costume'. Now you've made your own clothing.

Because you removed the VWD from it's name, it's also eligible to go through VWD again so you can add wind effects, bending, crumpling or whatever else the situation requires. Pretty neat.

Renaming the item (which has _VWD at the end) also allows for the item to be reused.

I often Duplicate Node Hierarchies (Edit Menu) to save what I have, which also saves the IRAY mats if you save the scene file - thus saving one for copying them over again.

Toonces

nicstt said:

Toonces said:

I often Duplicate Node Hierarchies (Edit Menu) to save what I have, which also saves the IRAY mats if you save the scene file - thus saving one for copying them over again.

Dude! If that works, I'll be amazed!

I hate that I lose my material settings for VWD objects upon reloading a scene file. Now I just need to Dupe Node Hierarchy on the VWD object and hide the original VWD object...the dupe should keep the material settings after save/reload (if I'm understanding you correctly).

ebergerly

But as I recall when you do a VWD sim, it generates a new mesh, but the new mesh doesn't copy over the same materials from the base mesh, correct? So the "xxx.VWD" mesh has no materials applied, and you have to manually copy them from the base.

Or maybe I'm mis-remembering...

nicstt

It will copy whatever is there; you can end up with some interesting names of material zones. :) But duplicating them keeps the materials in a saved scene, and doesn't usually (as far as I recall never) change anything including names.

... And if you do resend to VWD, then copy it again, and no matter the material zone names, they will be kept if you save the scene again; I can end up with multiple copies saved.

Oso3D

The first version was annoying with shader materials. The update fixed that, I think.

 

nicstt

timmins.william said:

The first version was annoying with shader materials. The update fixed that, I think.

 

Yeh it has.

... And a recent update to the bridge has also got rid of the annoying confirmation boxes when transferring the obj to VWD.

ebergerly

Yeah, I recall it makes new materials and gives them new names, but they were blank and I had to manually go thru and copy from the base mesh.

Maybe I'm doing something dumb...

Toonces

I assume this is a new version of the bridge, not the core program?

How does one go about downloading the update? It would be cool if the other site had a way to see what updates were available for purchased products (like daz).

Panzer Emerald

Still waiting for the Mac version of VWD... :'(

Sorel

I didn't even know this software existed >_> How does this work for clothes that have dangly things like buttons and stuff?

ebergerly

I haven't tried buttons specifically, but I think there are settings for "rigidity" that allow you to select parts of the mesh and define how rigid it is. I recall there's also a video showing how to do that, but I may be mis-remembering. So a button would be a very rigid part of the mesh. 

Though if it's not connected to the rest of the mesh it might pose some difficulties...

There's a VirtualWorldDynamics youtube page with a bunch of tutorial videos. Though some are in French...

Oso3D

It's tricky, but it's at least POSSIBLE.

There's a pane devoted to vertices, and it has surface zones in it. So you'd go in, select 'Buttons' (assuming Buttons are one of the surfaces, which is probably the case), you'd increase rigidity. It might be good to do a + so that it's not just the buttons but also part of the base. Might also do ... there's some bit about connecting nearby vertices, I forget, but that will help keep the buttons from flying off.

(In the middle of a render so can't easily check)

 

Diomede

This example has buttons.  Easy to use.  Use the vertex selection and group tools.  Easier to select if you have a separate shader for buttons in the clothing content or that you made yourself.  Most content will be set up that way.  Once selected, you can make more rigid.  You can also "nail" the buttons in place if desired.  .

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2723241/#Comment_2723241

Diomede

Similar to buttons, here is an example with a belt and belt loops.  The belt is selected as a group and "nailed" in place.  See how the shirt is tucked in?  The folds in the stomach area of the shirt align with the twisting torso as if trapped by belt?

 

ebergerly

Thanks, but is there a tutorial somewhere to show how to do that? I thought Gerald had done a video a while back with buttons, but maybe not. I've always had some confusion over the "vertices extension" and "rigidity" and "vertices neighborhood" and "nail to collision". 

Diomede

There are some video tutorials at other sites that I don't think I can link to. Have had similar posts and threads deleted in the past.  However, should be able to find them by searching for vwd cloth tutorial biscuits. Also, search for vwd cloth tutorial sickleyield. Will see if I can narrow it down. Am on my IPad now, so will look through for more resources when on my main computer.

Diomede

OK, here is a resource I saved in another forum thread.  And it by Toonces, who has been contributing quite a bit here as well.

 

Toonces cheat sheet for VWD

 

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1966681/#Comment_1966681

Diomede

And here is a post by Sickleyield on rigidify 

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1969501/#Comment_1969501

Diomede

And more on rigidity and the neighboring polygons by Daremok3

 

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1973046/#Comment_1973046

Toonces

My cheat sheet is old. I wouldn't advise it.

Found out how to update products from other site. My Account > Item List > sort by Updated column.

The updates are pretty nice! LOVE that they got rid of the import dialogs. And they even added some new buttons and widgets to play with.

Materials still don't save with scene so I'll have to give that duplicate node trick a try.

Diomede

I probably have an old version. Will check it out.  Thanks. 

mindsong

lurking and taking copious notes here...

appreciated all,

--ms

ebergerly

Okay I did a quick sim with the equivalent of a button (using the latest, just-downloaded Studio bridge...).

Not sure why the collision isn't colliding, but I probably did a stupid.

Anyway, I just selected the "button" material (you can also drag select or lasso or whatever), and assigned a Rigidify to those vertices, and cranked it up to 10. The rest of the mesh was just a cloth. Note the ball/button retains its shape, but follows the cloth. 

By the way, for those who haven't downloaded the Studio bridge recently, there's a new version that's only a week or so old. Or new. Whatever. 

Check your download zip file, and if it isn't version 210066, then you need to update it. 

Sorel

Thank you for this info

ebergerly

Why is my collision not working? I first thought it was because the sphere was a DAZ primitive, and maybe it wasn't a real mesh. But I imported a sphere from blender and same result. And I'm sure I set the sphere to collision object...

Did I forget something basic? All you do is set a collision object right, and no other settings to make it collide? 

Geez I've done this so many times and suddenly not working. 

Toonces

When you do an import of cloth, there's a checkbox you can pick: subdivide.

If it exists for collision, give it a shot.

If not, just create sphere from Daz using more verticies/sides.

Toonces

Come to think of it, if that square (the 'cloth') is just a plane, make sure you subdivide it in VWD and/or create it initially with more divisions.

nicstt

Geometry is the issue; it can be not enough, but conversley I've solved the problem by using less. :)

The cloth looks to have a decent amount, so try sub-Ding the sphere when you send it through; if it has lots of geometry try it with less.