How to Use dForce: Creating a Blanket, Draping Clothes on Furniture, and Much More [Commercial]

n.aspros123

Sometimes I wish dForce was much simpler to use.

Richard Haseltine

n.aspros123 said:

Sometimes I wish dForce was much simpler to use.

Select item(s), apply dForce Modifier, simulate seems pretty simple. Fine tuning things is always going to be more intricate.

Tiffanie Gray - IDLM

n.aspros123 said:

Sometimes I wish dForce was much simpler to use.

There are a couple of products that help to simplify the process, if I remember correctly.
There are also a few tutorials under Digital Art Live, that really break it down and make it easier to understand. 

TerryD

What a wonderful resource - somehow this has passed me by, I only came across it when it came to the top of the list yesterday. Thankk you so much for all the content.

IceDragonArt

I've decided to do a deep dive into Dforce so this will be very helpful!  I also bought your tutorial, can't wait to get into it.  Thank you so much for providing this!

RGcincy

TerryD said:

What a wonYou're welcome. And I'm still around if questions come up.derful resource - somehow this has passed me by, I only came across it when it came to the top of the list yesterday. Thankk you so much for all the content.

You're welcome. And I'm still around if questions come up.

RGcincy

IceDragonArt said:

I've decided to do a deep dive into Dforce so this will be very helpful!  I also bought your tutorial, can't wait to get into it.  Thank you so much for providing this!

Thank you. And if questions arise, just ask.

Crios

I have a question for you, is it possible to create a toothpaste tube being squeezed out with dForce? You know, when you squeeze the tube until the end?

richardandtracy

I find the modern laminated plastic & foil toothpaste tubes don't stay flattened like the old metal ones did, which makes the squeezing in the middle very easy to simulate with a grip pose.

Simulating the metal ones. Hmm. If there are at least 2 materials, the tube and the end, I'd make the tube bit quite low bend stiffness and the end where the cap is maybe have a dynamic strength of zero or close to zero. Then put on a plane and try it. Would almost certainly need a crinkle texture & normal map on the tube bit because if the tube deforms it'll go smoothly when the real metal ones crinkle, cripple & buckle. If just using gravity doesn't work, use an animation of a block moving down to squash the tube to get it closer to reality.

It would be far easier to do a plastic-foil laminate tube, but look less good.

Regards,

Richard

 

Crios

Thank you very much, I would create just a morph.

RGcincy

Crios said:

I have a question for you, is it possible to create a toothpaste tube being squeezed out with dForce? You know, when you squeeze the tube until the end?

Like this? I can write up directions. 

maikdecker

Crios said:

I have a question for you, is it possible to create a toothpaste tube being squeezed out with dForce? You know, when you squeeze the tube until the end?

You need that tube and that toothpaste tube shaped object. You have to use a timeline for the simulation. Gravity should be set to zero.

Stick the flat end of the toothpaste tube into the other tube, then animate that other tube in the simulation as if you want to roll up the toothpaste tube.

Didn't try it out, but it is how I would try to do it. Probably won't work, though  

Crios

RGcincy said:

Crios said:

I have a question for you, is it possible to create a toothpaste tube being squeezed out with dForce? You know, when you squeeze the tube until the end?

Like this? I can write up directions. 

Yes, just like this

RGcincy

Squeeze the Toothpaste Tube

1. Add the following to the scene:

   a. Toothpaste tube. The one I used came from i13 Bathroom Abadine. Scale the tube to 500%

   b. Primitive Plane

   c. Primitive Cylinder

   d. Position tube slightly above plane. Position cylinder perpendicular and above the end of the tube

2. Open Timeline pane and go to frame 10. Scale the cylinder so it pushes down into the tube. Make sure the cylinder does not penetrate the plane to keep the tube from being pushed through it.

3. Apply a dForce dynamic modifier to the tube

4. Add a dForce Modifier Weight node to the tube.

5. Select weight node in Scene pane. Go to Tool Settings pane and select Node Weight Map brush.

   a. Add an Influence weight map (found in bottom half of the pane)

   b. Right-click in viewport and pick Tool Mode - Polygon Selection

   c. Right-click in viewport and pick Selection Mode - Marquee Selection

   d. Highlight the area around the cap at least. I did more.

   e. Right-click in viewport and pick Weight Editing – Fill Selected… and fill with 0%. This removes this area from the simulation; otherwise, the cap will blow up. (the area in red has 100% setting and the area in green is 0%.

6. Set the dForce surface settings on the tube to:

   a. Collision Offset = 0.01 (this reduces the number of springs in the simulation)

   b. Stretch, Shear, and Bend Stiffness = 0.1

   c. Density = 50

7. Set the Simulation Settings to:

   a. Environment - Gravity = 0

   b. Environment - Air Resistance = 0

   c. Initialization - Start Bones from Memorized Pose = Off

   d. Duration - Frames to Simulate – Animation

8. Run simulation

 

9. To empty more of the tube, on the weight map keep more of the tube at 100% fill and scale the cylinder in the X-direction so more of the tube is covered.

 

Praxis

RGcincy said:

Squeeze the Toothpaste Tube

<snip>

Clever, and so clearly explained - thank you, and well done (again!).

I bet if you had left the cap off, we would have seen the toothpaste extruding out... :)

 

Crios

But why scale at 500%?

Edit:

I've tryed, but is deformed also the cap, i haven't used your toothpast, but a mine version. I must make more attempt.

Thank you very much.

RGcincy

Crios said:

But why scale at 500%?

Edit:

I've tryed, but is deformed also the cap, i haven't used your toothpast, but a mine version. I must make more attempt.

Thank you very much.

Some meshes simulate better at large scale. I first found this out on a soccer ball (click here for the post that discusses scaling). If I have an object that shows a lot of short springs comments after starting the simulation, I decrease the collision offset and then often scale it for simulation and then unscale it after. So that's what I did in this case. After I got this working, I did check and it looks like it works at normal scale. Just something that can help in some situations.

Did you use a weight map to exclude the cap? The cap on the toothpaste I used explodes too. And since it shouldn't deform any way, I just exclude it.

Each mesh behaves differently. If you post a wire frame view of your tube, I can look at it to see which parts might cause trouble.

Imago

Quick question: How to keep the shape of toon hair like this: https://www.daz3d.com/nata-toon-hair-for-genesis after applying a DForce to them?

I set everything correctly, painted the DForce weights in the right spots but the ponytails keeps collapsing on themselves (like deflating) even if I managed to make them not fall down like a rag and partially keep them raised like the original shape.

I think somewhere there was some kind of "internal voulme" tutorial but I can't find anything right now.

crosswind

Imago said:

Quick question: How to keep the shape of toon hair like this: https://www.daz3d.com/nata-toon-hair-for-genesis after applying a DForce to them?

I set everything correctly, painted the DForce weights in the right spots but the ponytails keeps collapsing on themselves (like deflating) even if I managed to make them not fall down like a rag and partially keep them raised like the original shape.

I think somewhere there was some kind of "internal voulme" tutorial but I can't find anything right now.

The hair were made with tubes to which dForce should be more friendly.  But still, it depends on how you paint as well as smooth the weight on the dForce modifier... and how you optimize the settings on dynamic surface(s).

Usually, cranking up Buckling Stiffness as well as reducing density / buckling ratio can help with keeping the hair's shape while making them drape. Add some Velocity Smoothing as needed. Then add more Stabiliztion Time in Simulation Settings. See if they'll help.

dForce dynamic surface add-on may also help but that'll require much more effort ~~

Edit: If you have some hair products from Linday, you can check and refer to the settings on those hairs' dynamic surfaces... because Linday's hairs are almost all made with tubes.

Imago

crosswind said:

The hair were made with tubes to which dForce should be more friendly.  But still, it depends on how you paint as well as smooth the weight on the dForce modifier... and how you optimize the settings on dynamic surface(s).

Usually, cranking up Buckling Stiffness as well as reducing density / buckling ratio can help with keeping the hair's shape while making them drape. Add some Velocity Smoothing as needed. Then add more Stabiliztion Time in Simulation Settings. See if they'll help.

dForce dynamic surface add-on may also help but that'll require much more effort ~~

Edit: If you have some hair products from Linday, you can check and refer to the settings on those hairs' dynamic surfaces... because Linday's hairs are almost all made with tubes.

Thanks, I'll try that! 

Crios

RGcincy said:

Crios said:

But why scale at 500%?

Edit:

I've tryed, but is deformed also the cap, i haven't used your toothpast, but a mine version. I must make more attempt.

Thank you very much.

Some meshes simulate better at large scale. I first found this out on a soccer ball (click here for the post that discusses scaling). If I have an object that shows a lot of short springs comments after starting the simulation, I decrease the collision offset and then often scale it for simulation and then unscale it after. So that's what I did in this case. After I got this working, I did check and it looks like it works at normal scale. Just something that can help in some situations.

Did you use a weight map to exclude the cap? The cap on the toothpaste I used explodes too. And since it shouldn't deform any way, I just exclude it.

Each mesh behaves differently. If you post a wire frame view of your tube, I can look at it to see which parts might cause trouble.

How can I exclude the cap?

RGcincy

Crios said:

How can I exclude the cap?

The best way is to use the dforce node weight map brush, select the cap (multiple methods: selection by face group, surface names, painting, or geometry selection) and set its weight editing fill value to 0%. That means that part of the geometry will not be involved in the simulation. Steps 4 and 5 in my directions above.

Crios

RGcincy said:

Crios said:

How can I exclude the cap?

The best way is to use the dforce node weight map brush, select the cap (multiple methods: selection by face group, surface names, painting, or geometry selection) and set its weight editing fill value to 0%. That means that part of the geometry will not be involved in the simulation. Steps 4 and 5 in my directions above.

Thank you very much

richardandtracy

Regarding the 500% figure: If there are facets in the mesh smaller than the collision offset, they are going to grow in the simulation, and possibly explode. If, instead, you scale it up, the facets become bigger than the collision offset and also seem less liable to rounding errors in the analysis with 3 or more decimal places. The rounding error suggestion seems to be pretty spurious, but my experience suggests that a simulation with all facets bigger than 1cm in each direction is much less likely to explode. If it helps get an idea of a solution to the issues, then the explanation is working. Regards, Richard.

maikdecker

richardandtracy said:

Regarding the 500% figure: If there are facets in the mesh smaller than the collision offset, they are going to grow in the simulation, and possibly explode. If, instead, you scale it up, the facets become bigger than the collision offset and also seem less liable to rounding errors in the analysis with 3 or more decimal places. The rounding error suggestion seems to be pretty spurious, but my experience suggests that a simulation with all facets bigger than 1cm in each direction is much less likely to explode. If it helps get an idea of a solution to the issues, then the explanation is working. Regards, Richard.

Thanks a lot for this explanation. And changing the scale to 500% for the simulation and back again to 100% after it is easy and if it really helps against pixelexplosions worth the little effort it takes  

crosswind

Alternatively, you don't have to use Timeline... a dForce modifier weight node + static simulation will just do.

In addition to influence weight, you also can add a buckling stiffness map or mass density map (screenshot 1). Tweak Buckling Stiffness / Density values to have subtle changes on the shape. (screenshot 2 ~ 3).

Finally, you can add a D-Former(s) to make some squeezed shapes on partial areas as needed... (screenshot 4).

Crios

Thank you for your help