StickyChain - pose tool [Released]

2

Comments

  • AnEye4ArtAnEye4Art Posts: 766
    edited February 2023

    Well, it took me a few days to get around to testing it, but I'm generally pretty happy.

     I combined it here with one of SickleYield's dForce ropes to first get it in about the right place, then let dForce handle the collisions. (Making for a much shorter and more stable simulation than having dForce do all the dangling). For a final version I'd pose the end few bones of the chain manually, but this is still a massive improvement over having to do this whole process manually.

    I do however have one feature query/request - is it possible to remove StickyChains from embedding itself in every viewport right click menu? It even shows up on the menu for things like the geometry editor, joint editor and spot render tools, which is just unnecessary clutter; I don't need to be able to instantly make a sticky chain when I'm trying to weight paint a new geograft, and I'd be perfectly happy if the options were only available through a top menu.  Perhaps some people will want it all the time, but if there is some configuration file I can edit, that would be welcome. (Alternatively, just reducing it to only being on posing tool menus would be a good compromise, I'd say).

    The examples are really convincing me to buy this product but I know very well that I'll have little-to-no time to mess with it. I bought the Fisio: Physics Simulator and never had the time to mess with it.
    Post edited by AnEye4Art on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    is it possible to remove StickyChains from embedding itself in every viewport right click menu?

    blush It took me ages to work out how to do that laugh
    Sorry, currently it is not user controllable. I will look into making the behaviour user manageable. Now I just have to remember how I did it laugh

     

     

  • Matt_CastleMatt_Castle Posts: 2,579

    It doesn't necessarily have to be user manageable (although that would be great), but having it more selective about where it is would be fine.

    As is, it's an option on the right click menu of every viewport tool, including many that make little sense. If it could be restricted to the posing tools and Node Selection, those would be fairly logical, but I'd say that the Geometry Editor, Joint Editor, Surface Selection, Weight Map Brush, Spot Render tool and indeed plug-in added tools like Mesh Grabber aren't the right time to have those options at your finger tips.

    AnEye4Art said:

    The examples are really convincing me to buy this product but I know very well that I'll have little-to-no time to mess with it. I bought the Fisio: Physics Simulator and never had the time to mess with it.

    Relatively little messing is required; set start and end points of chain, let it do the work for you.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    that would be great), but having it more selective about where it is

    Thanks Matt.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited February 2023

    Here is my crazy StickyChain concoction. It has one chain with a StickyChain, and that chain is instanced 9 times. The StickyChain node is parented to the squashed sphere in the center. The 5 chains at the top are just straight chain props. I learned that when I change my StickyChain, all the instances follow - GREAT!

    (Don't ask me what this is supposed to be indecision)

    StickyChains with sintances_Camera.jpg
    2000 x 2600 - 1022K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited February 2023

    I made another version to show how the StickyChain recomputed the chain draping when I moved the sphere up.

    StickyChains with sintances_001_Camera.jpg
    2000 x 2600 - 952K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    I made another version to show how the StickyChain recomputed the chain draping when I moved the sphere up.

    Amazing. I would have never thought of using instances laugh

     

     

  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,462

    barbult said:

    I made another version to show how the StickyChain recomputed the chain draping when I moved the sphere up.

    Another great example.

    Wish I have had enough skills, to create chains objects myself.

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245

    I learned how to animate the StickyChain. Here is a little video. I rendered it very small and vertical, so the resulting quality is not very good, but you can get the idea of what StickyChain can do.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

     you can get the idea of what StickyChain can do.

    Thank you barbult.

  • barbult said:

    Here is my crazy StickyChain concoction. It has one chain with a StickyChain, and that chain is instanced 9 times. The StickyChain node is parented to the squashed sphere in the center. The 5 chains at the top are just straight chain props. I learned that when I change my StickyChain, all the instances follow - GREAT!

    (Don't ask me what this is supposed to be indecision)

    That would make a nice chandelier light.

  • Very big time saver. Just used it for about 5 mins and already can tell its highly useful.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    Very big time saver. Just used it for about 5 mins and already can tell its highly useful.

    Glad to hear smiley

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited February 2023

    I had to try the dog leash.

    Michael 9 Ivar 9 Mix Olivia Top Cherry Red_005_Camera.jpg
    2600 x 1950 - 3M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245

    I just discovered that there are video links in the first post now. I must not have gone back and looked at that message after it was first posted. Those videos are helpful. Thank you for creating them.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    barbult said:

    I just discovered that there are video links in the first post now. I must not have gone back and looked at that message after it was first posted. Those videos are helpful. Thank you for creating them.

    My pleasure

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245

    surreal said:

    barbult said:

    I just discovered that there are video links in the first post now. I must not have gone back and looked at that message after it was first posted. Those videos are helpful. Thank you for creating them.

    My pleasure

    I feel kind of dumb. I probably wouldn't have had to ask you so many newbie questions, if I had just watched those videos. blushYou were extremely helpful and timely with your assistance in this thread. I appreciate it.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168
    edited February 2023

    barbult said:

    I had to try the dog leash.

    I should do a video about how to work around the rotation limits on the first few links of the dog leash,
    which cause the kinks in that part of the leash.

    You just change the Twist rotation of the bone/node immediately before the ChainRoot. e.g. if ChainRoot is Seg02 then change the Twist rotation on Seg01.
    You will find that for an animation sequence you will have to change it at a few different frames/times to allow the StickyChain function to maintain a smooth curve across the animation sequence.

     

    I did think about having a setting to override/ignore limits and another to automatically try adjusting preceding node rotation(Twist). However, there were a lot of if-then-but criteria, so I decided to keep it simple.  

    Post edited by surreal on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    You just change the Twist rotation of the bone/node immediately before the ChainRoot. e.g. if ChainEnd ChainRoot is Seg02 then change the Twist rotation on Seg01.

    blush I should double double check things before hitting the POST button.

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245

    I redid my dog leash image and changed both ends a little. Thanks for the continued tips.

     

    leash less kinked camera wrong_Default Camera.jpg
    2600 x 1950 - 3M
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited February 2023

    Now this one got kind of carried away! I posted it in my Gallery. This is what I said there "Well, it all started with me looking through my library for items with a parented hierarchy that I could use with StickyChains. I found a product called Worms. And of course there are the bones of Genesis 9. So... a few StickyChains later, this Laocoön-like serpent wrestling match emerged from my imagination. Poor Genesis 9 is twisted like a pretzel. Photoshop was used to add the final touches.

    Gallery Link (I don't know if this works or not.)

    Earthworm Wrestling_007_Camera 2 PS.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 3M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    barbult said:

    Gallery Link (I don't know if this works or not.)

    laughGreat water effects, and I like the I like the mud textures.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited February 2023

    I didn't like the look of the horse tail as posed by the trot pose preset I applied.

    So I used a StickyChain to bring it under control.

    Horse 3 with Western Saddle.jpg
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    Horse 3 with Western Saddle Tail StickyChain.jpg
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    Post edited by barbult on
  • I feel kind of dumb. I probably wouldn't have had to ask you so many newbie questions, if I had just watched those videos. blushYou were extremely helpful and timely with your assistance in this thread. I appreciate it.

    But I am glad you did ask the questions.... it is now much clearer for the rest of us!  We have your questions + videos = profit! 

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,982
    edited February 2023

    I seem to have an install issue - my next step is to delete the package and re-download:

    Whenever I restart DIM is flags as being uninstalled, so this ytime I did an install and am now trying to manuall uninstall, with zero success thus far!

     

    2023-02-27 18:38:01.285 [INFO] :: Installing: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.597 [WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.782 [INFO] :: Install Successful: StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:05.126 [INFO] :: Install Queue Finished: 0 min 3.8 sec
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [INFO] :: Uninstalling: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [WARNING] :: Install Manifest Not Found: 

     

    Just done that (deleted and re-downlaoded and installed, etc.,) and., once again it is showing as a size of -1 bytes, with no install date.

    Post edited by SimonJM on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    SimonJM said:

    I seem to have an install issue - my next step is to delete the package and re-download:

    Whenever I restart DIM is flags as being uninstalled, so this ytime I did an install and am now trying to manuall uninstall, with zero success thus far!

     

    2023-02-27 18:38:01.285 [INFO] :: Installing: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.597 [WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.782 [INFO] :: Install Successful: StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:05.126 [INFO] :: Install Queue Finished: 0 min 3.8 sec
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [INFO] :: Uninstalling: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [WARNING] :: Install Manifest Not Found: 

     

    Just done that (deleted and re-downlaoded and installed, etc.,) and., once again it is showing as a size of -1 bytes, with no install date.

    I will do a uninstall and redownload and will get back to you.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168
    edited February 2023

    SimonJM said:

    I seem to have an install issue - my next step is to delete the package and re-download:

    Whenever I restart DIM is flags as being uninstalled, so this ytime I did an install and am now trying to manuall uninstall, with zero success thus far!

     

    2023-02-27 18:38:01.285 [INFO] :: Installing: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.597 [WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.782 [INFO] :: Install Successful: StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:05.126 [INFO] :: Install Queue Finished: 0 min 3.8 sec
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [INFO] :: Uninstalling: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [WARNING] :: Install Manifest Not Found: 

     

    Just done that (deleted and re-downlaoded and installed, etc.,) and., once again it is showing as a size of -1 bytes, with no install date.

    Uninstalling then Deleting the plugin and then redownloading and installing, appears to work ok. So I assume that the plugin file on the server and DAZ's download server is all ok.

    Can you check your DIM Downloads folder to make sure that both these two files are in the folder?

        "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.dsx"
    and
        "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.zip"

    The dsx file is only 440 bytes and the zip should be 1.67 MB

    After it has installed the plugin, you should find a "StickyChain.dll" file in your application plugin folder.
        e.g. "...\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins"
    It should be about 292 KB.

    The other file to check is the manifest file "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.dsx"
    which after installation, should be in your Installation Manifest Archive folder.
       e.g.  "...\DAZ 3D\InstallManager\ManifestFiles"
    It should be about 18.6 KB

    Post edited by surreal on
  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168

    SimonJM said:

    I seem to have an install issue - my next step is to delete the package and re-download:

    Whenever I restart DIM is flags as being uninstalled, so this ytime I did an install and am now trying to manuall uninstall, with zero success thus far!

     

    2023-02-27 18:38:01.285 [INFO] :: Installing: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.597 [WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.782 [INFO] :: Install Successful: StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:05.126 [INFO] :: Install Queue Finished: 0 min 3.8 sec
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [INFO] :: Uninstalling: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [WARNING] :: Install Manifest Not Found: 

     

    Just done that (deleted and re-downlaoded and installed, etc.,) and., once again it is showing as a size of -1 bytes, with no install date.

    On Windows, when you install the plugin you will get a "User Account Control" warning window/dialog,
    asking you if wish to allow DAZ3DIMHelper.exe to make changes to your device. 

    This is the DAZ Install Manager copying the plugin files ("StickyChain.dll" and a set of .png files) from the downloaded ZIP file to your "..\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins" folder.
    Windows normally considers the "..\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins" folder to be a system folder and will thus ask you before it allows any changes.

    If you don't allow the change then the install will fail, and you will see a "[WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running." message in your Install Manager log.

    Did you allow the app to make the changes?

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,982

    surreal said:

    SimonJM said:

    I seem to have an install issue - my next step is to delete the package and re-download:

    Whenever I restart DIM is flags as being uninstalled, so this ytime I did an install and am now trying to manuall uninstall, with zero success thus far!

     

    2023-02-27 18:38:01.285 [INFO] :: Installing: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.597 [WARNING] :: QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.
    2023-02-27 18:38:03.782 [INFO] :: Install Successful: StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:05.126 [INFO] :: Install Queue Finished: 0 min 3.8 sec
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [INFO] :: Uninstalling: 88524-2 : StickyChain for DAZ Studio 4.5+ (Win 64-bit)
    2023-02-27 18:38:12.902 [WARNING] :: Install Manifest Not Found: 

     

    Just done that (deleted and re-downlaoded and installed, etc.,) and., once again it is showing as a size of -1 bytes, with no install date.

    Uninstalling then Deleting the plugin and then redownloading and installing, appears to work ok. So I assume that the plugin file on the server and DAZ's download server is all ok.

    Can you check your DIM Downloads folder to see if either of these two files are in the folder?

        "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.dsx"
    and
        "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.zip"

    The dsx file is only 440 bytes and the zip should be 1.67Mb

    After it has installed the plugin, you should find a "StickyChain.dll" file in your application plugin folder
    e.g. "...\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins"

    The other file to check is the manifest file "IM00088524-02_StickyChainforDAZStudio45Win64bit.dsx"
    which after installation, should be in your Installation Manifest Archive folder
    e.g.  "...\DAZ 3D\InstallManager\ManifestFiles"

    Ok, checked file sizes of the .dsx and .zip file and they match what you have (440 bytes and 1.67MB) , gotthe .dll, but there is .dsx file in the manifest directory.

  • surrealsurreal Posts: 168
    edited February 2023

    Ok, checked file sizes of the .dsx and .zip file and they match what you have (440 bytes and 1.67MB) , gotthe .dll, but there is .dsx file in the manifest directory.

    If the .dll file is in your DAZStudio4\plugins" folder you must have allowed the change.
    I don't know why you would then see the "...QProcess: Destroyed ..." message in your log file.

    With the "StickyChain.dll" file in your "..\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins" folder,
    when you open DAZStudio, you should be able to see the "New StickyChain" menu item in the Create menu.

    The manual should be "...Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\docs\Plugins\StickyChain\StickyChain Manual.pdf"

     

    If the .dsx file is in you maniest directory, then you should be able to see the StickyChain plugin item in the "Installed" tab of DAZ Install Manager.

    Post edited by surreal on
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