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

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  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    I did all the set up modeling for my mongolian tent in Hex, including (though it doesn't show) the crown and roof poles under the roof cover.  So if you need something to drape in a shape that's not a simple primitive, you can crack it out in Hex (okay, maybe not crack it out, until you get familiar with it) and then bring it in to DS to drape. :)

    I was wondering what your substructure looked like and how you made it. That is a really nice looking tent.

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    I've found Hex to work pretty well with my Windows 7 machine.  Of course, I try to keep things relatively small (file size) too.

    Or am I mixing up what you're talking about?

    I don't know.   The listing for it in the store only said Mac things.  I'll

    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    I've found Hex to work pretty well with my Windows 7 machine.  Of course, I try to keep things relatively small (file size) too.

    Or am I mixing up what you're talking about?

    I just checked again, the current 2.5 listing only has Mac OS versions and says nothing about windows.  It's free, I'll give it a try. 

    Thanks,

    Scott

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    wsgentry said:

    If anyone is working using the Windows version of DAZ, how did you get negative air resistance?  On my machine, the lowest it will go is zero.

    Thanks in advance,

    Scott

    On the slider there's a lock, a heart and a gear.  Click on the gear and then peramiter settings.  Uncheck "use limits"

    You can now set air resistance to negative.

    Thanks!  That worked.  I'm taking Neurontin for nerve pain after having four cervical vertebrae fused, so sometimes I'm a little fuzzy.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

    Thank you again,

    Scott

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    edited November 2017
    RGcincy said:
    wsgentry said:

    Edit, the two top covers in the scene explode when trying to simulate.  I had to use a plane.  They exploded because the mesh is very, very irregular.   The two pillows in the scene have a very irregular mesh, too. Anyone know how to fix that?

    Do you have Self Collide on or off (this is a surface setting found under Simulation/Collision)? I have found that some items which explode will stop if you turn this to OFF. The other thing I've seen done is to find the offending area (if it's small, like a zipper) and use a weight map to set influence to zero for those polys.

    No, but I'll try it.   Thank you!  The mesh on both exploding items are way far from square.

    Scott

    Edit:  No go. The whole thing is filled with non-square mesh items. When it explodes, it's cool to watch, but it is just a mess. :)  Thank you, though!

    Post edited by wsgentry on
  • DaWaterRatDaWaterRat Posts: 2,882
    wsgentry said:
     
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    I've found Hex to work pretty well with my Windows 7 machine.  Of course, I try to keep things relatively small (file size) too.

    Or am I mixing up what you're talking about?

    I just checked again, the current 2.5 listing only has Mac OS versions and says nothing about windows.  It's free, I'll give it a try. 

    Thanks,

    Scott

    Go to the download page via the sale page.  It lists both PC and Mac versions there.

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  • DaWaterRatDaWaterRat Posts: 2,882
    RGcincy said:

    I did all the set up modeling for my mongolian tent in Hex, including (though it doesn't show) the crown and roof poles under the roof cover.  So if you need something to drape in a shape that's not a simple primitive, you can crack it out in Hex (okay, maybe not crack it out, until you get familiar with it) and then bring it in to DS to drape. :)

    I was wondering what your substructure looked like and how you made it. That is a really nice looking tent.

    The wall frame isn't very impressive, just a cylander with the door cut out.  Since the whole thing is covered, inside and out, it didn't stike me as important to have done accurately.  The roof, on the other hand, I found a "build your own Ger" site and coppied the directions... sort of. :)

    The wall felt was draped over a version without the roof supports, but I'm thinking of going back and re-draping with some of the information I've learned from this tutorial.  Make it look more like heavy felt. :)

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  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    wsgentry said:
     
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    I've found Hex to work pretty well with my Windows 7 machine.  Of course, I try to keep things relatively small (file size) too.

    Or am I mixing up what you're talking about?

    I just checked again, the current 2.5 listing only has Mac OS versions and says nothing about windows.  It's free, I'll give it a try. 

    Thanks,

    Scott

    Go to the download page via the sale page.  It lists both PC and Mac versions there.

    I got it! Thank you again! Bad night for thinking. :(

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,060
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    I've found Hex to work pretty well with my Windows 7 machine.  Of course, I try to keep things relatively small (file size) too.

    Or am I mixing up what you're talking about?

    I've used it in Windows XP!  Bugged out on me a couple times, though.  But I heard that happens to just about everyone.  It would be nice if they made a 64 bit version!

    Dana

  • wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,060
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Do you know what enhancements they are working on?  Will it be 64 bit?  Please say yes, but only if it's true, of course.

    Dana

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Richard,

    I was able to get it and get it installed and verified.   It just took a kind forum member to point out where it was. Happy Thanksgiving!

    Scott

  • sapatsapat Posts: 1,735
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Yeah, I was just gonna say I've been using Hex on my Windows machine for years....ever since it came out.  Granted it's only ever been a 32 bit app, but I hear that a 64 bit one might be available 1st quarter 2018.  I have never had any issues with Hex.

  • sapat said:
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Yeah, I was just gonna say I've been using Hex on my Windows machine for years....ever since it came out.  Granted it's only ever been a 32 bit app, but I hear that a 64 bit one might be available 1st quarter 2018.  I have never had any issues with Hex.

    Your lucky I've only had it function once, other than that it crashes or locks up everytime I move a vertice,line,or object and have had this on multiple machines using different hardware

  • DanaTA said:
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Do you know what enhancements they are working on?  Will it be 64 bit?  Please say yes, but only if it's true, of course.

    Dana

    I don't know from any special information, but as I recall Steve said (in the thread on Hexagon) that the immediate update will have some cosemtic and stability adjustments, but that there's a bigger update due next year and I think that was going to include 64 bit.

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    The wall frame isn't very impressive, just a cylinder with the door cut out.  Since the whole thing is covered, inside and out, it didn't strike me as important to have done accurately.  The roof, on the other hand, I found a "build your own Ger" site and copied the directions... sort of. :)

    The wall felt was draped over a version without the roof supports, but I'm thinking of going back and re-draping with some of the information I've learned from this tutorial.  Make it look more like heavy felt. :)

    Thanks! Be interesting to see you capture the look of heavy felt the surface properties are still a bit mysterious to me even after playing around with all of them.

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,060
    DanaTA said:
    wsgentry said:

    Unfortunately Hexagon only works with Mac's.   My old iMac is likely compatible.  When I complete my recovery from surgery, I'll be sure to check it out!  Thanks!

    Scott

    It is mac and Windows, it's just that the mac requirements required clarification. I have pointed out that the product page is potentially confusing, though with the holidays in the US it may not be updated before next week at best.

    Do you know what enhancements they are working on?  Will it be 64 bit?  Please say yes, but only if it's true, of course.

    Dana

    I don't know from any special information, but as I recall Steve said (in the thread on Hexagon) that the immediate update will have some cosemtic and stability adjustments, but that there's a bigger update due next year and I think that was going to include 64 bit.

    Thanks, Richard!  Currently about to re-embark on learning adventure with Silo, the new one is 64 bit.  It will be interesting to see how next year's Hexagon update will work and look.

    Dana

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    edited November 2017

    18. Creating a Tablecloth and Napkin. In this example, a primitive plane is used to make a tablecloth and napkin. The furniture and other props are from Divine Dining Room. The scene portrays the time just after a diner has completed a meal and left their chair.

    Since we’ve covered in detail the making of a primitive, adding a dForce modifier, and simulating the draping, those items will not be covered again. Instead, I’ll focus on any new or unusual aspects.

    a. My first attempt at the tablecloth was to make a 100 division plane. This is the same number of divisions used for the blanket and towels. In this case, I noticed after simulation that there was a ridge at the edge of the table. Looking at the mesh, you can see the left edge lifts up before turning down.

     

    I made a 200 division plane. With smaller polygons, it makes the turn with less of a ridge.

     

    b. If you position the chair in its final location and then simulate the table cloth, it will catch on the chair as shown below.  

    To avoid this, create an animation timeline. Have the chair start to the left and slide into this position on frame 12. I found I needed a total of 45 frames for the table cloth to end up hanging vertically; if I only had 30, the parts of the cloth hanging over the table top were partially floating in space. Here's frame 7 with the chair sliding towards the table.

    Frame 12: chair in place

    Frame 17: cloth wrapping down onto chair

    c. The napkin was another 100 division plane. It was rotated so it fell like a diamond, with one tip hitting the plate first.

    To give the napkin some structure, I added a dForce weight node (see section 11. e) and painted very faintly a few spots with lower influence weight. You can barely see these bluish spots in the image below.

    I posterized the image and marked the spots with a star to make them more obvious. These need to be faint to allow the napkin to completely fall yet slow some areas to build structure.

    Here’s what the napkin looks without the weight map. It lays quite flat.

    With the map, several parts stay upright, as if the napkin has some rigidity, made from stiffer cloth.

    d. Here’s a finished render of the tablecloth. I added a smoothing modifier to remove some jaggedness along the corners (see section 4).

    A close-up render of the napkin:

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    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    edited November 2017

    19. Exploring Influence Weight Maps.

    While working on the napkin, I noticed that the weight map seems very sensitive (in the amount of change it causes) when compared to weight maps for D-Formers and push modifiers. I decided to run a test with 5 small planes, each with a different degree of influence weight in the center of the plane. The first plane had no weight map, so 100% influence everywhere. The 2nd map had barely a hint of influence removed, so little that you can hardly see the bluish color in the center of the map. The 3rd had enough removed so blue is clearly seen.

    Map 2:                                                                              Map 3:

         

    The 4th had as much as I could take off without any areas dropping to zero, while the 5th clearly has areas of zero (the gray zone in the center).

    Map 4:                                                                              Map 5:

         

    a. I first ran a simulation using default surface settings. The first plane drops right to the floor, flat and crumpled. The second also drops completely but a small amount is gathered in the center. The third drops to the floor as well but it’s more tightly gathered and the center is sticking up. 4 and 5 hover in space, and twist and turn during the simulation.

    b. I next reduced Dynamic Strength on each of the surfaces to 0.9…

    c. …and then reduced Dynamic Strength again to 0.85. This highlights how the small amount of missing influence in the center of the map is affecting the results. Even the faint hint of blue color on map 2 is enough to make a difference.

    d.I next returned Dynamic Strength to the default value of 1.0 but made the planes horizontal. I also shortened the simulation time so you can see how the maps are influencing results. You can see the little bump made by map 2.

    e. I increased the density from the default of 180 to 300 which is supposed to mimic a heavier fabric and be less affected by air resistance. As a result, the planes drop further to the ground. The right two (maps 4 and 5 also have collapsed in on themselves more.

    f. I exported the 4th napkin in step e as an .obj and reimported it into Daz Studio. I added a new dForce modifier, positioned the napkin horizontally, and used a short (0.10) Stabilization Time to keep the tip of the napkin from flattening. That gave a different look from what I had before.  Remember that map 4 has only a small reduction in influence in the center of the napkin which causes it to droop around that point. By exporting the horizontally draped plane from step e, I preserve this look and can then change its orientation and drape it again.

    g. My suggestion if you are painting influence maps is to be aware that a little goes a long way in terms of effect. It is easy to remove too much influence and get flat areas. It’s also easy to leave a faint, almost invisible area where you’ve removed influence that will impact your results. If you ever are in doubt, you can right click in the viewport (while using the node weight map tool) and choose Geometry Selection/Select All, then right click again and choose Weight Editing/Fill Selected… and use a value of 100% to completing fill the influence weight map again.

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    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • sapatsapat Posts: 1,735

    Thank you for continuing to share your experiements with us Richard.  I haven't been getting notices when things are posted to this thread so I'm having to use my feeble mental capacity to remember and check it.  That's scary....

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    sapat said:

    Thank you for continuing to share your experiements with us Richard.  I haven't been getting notices when things are posted to this thread so I'm having to use my feeble mental capacity to remember and check it.  That's scary....

    glad to do continue sharing sapat, I've referred back to these a number of times myself, easy to forget a critical step

  • DanaTADanaTA Posts: 13,060
    sapat said:

    Thank you for continuing to share your experiements with us Richard.  I haven't been getting notices when things are posted to this thread so I'm having to use my feeble mental capacity to remember and check it.  That's scary....

    Just bookmark the topic.  Then it will always be in My Bookmarks and you can click on that and see if there are new messages (it will be in yellow and have a number indicating how many new messages since your last visit).  I got rid of email notifications a long time ago.  There were iffy, anyway.

    Dana

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572

    Anyone notice that freeze simuation doesn't work sometimes?  I've got five things in my scene, two planes, one cube, and two articles of clothing. 
    Suppose I want to simulate one of the two pieces of clothing.  I freeze both frames the cube, and one of the two clothing pieces.   I hit simulate and both planes move.

    Am I doing something wrong?

    Scoltt

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    wsgentry said:

    Anyone notice that freeze simulation doesn't work sometimes?  I've got five things in my scene, two planes, one cube, and two articles of clothing. 
    Suppose I want to simulate one of the two pieces of clothing.  I freeze both frames the cube, and one of the two clothing pieces.   I hit simulate and both planes move.

    Am I doing something wrong?

    Scoltt

    Are you using an animation timeline? If so, I've seen that behavior. I think it may just be displaying the previously made animated sequence for the frozen items, not actually re-simulating them. I tested it by rotating a frozen item before re-simulating. Afterwards, the shape of the frozen item was as before but tilted by the amount I had rotated it. 

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,860
    RGcincy said:

    19. Exploring Influence Weight Maps.

    That is interesting food for thought

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  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    RGcincy said:
    wsgentry said:

    Anyone notice that freeze simulation doesn't work sometimes?  I've got five things in my scene, two planes, one cube, and two articles of clothing. 
    Suppose I want to simulate one of the two pieces of clothing.  I freeze both frames the cube, and one of the two clothing pieces.   I hit simulate and both planes move.

    Am I doing something wrong?

    Scoltt

    Are you using an animation timeline? If so, I've seen that behavior. I think it may just be displaying the previously made animated sequence for the frozen items, not actually re-simulating them. I tested it by rotating a frozen item before re-simulating. Afterwards, the shape of the frozen item was as before but tilted by the amount I had rotated it. 

    No, this is a straight up simulation.  The two planes (sorry, I was tired when called one of the planes a frame) always simulate when frozen while simulating either pieces of clothing (which are designed to fall on the floor). 

    Scott

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    That's strange. Maybe turn Freeze Simulation off and back on? Or close DS then reopen the saved scene?

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    Mattymanx said:
    RGcincy said:

    19. Exploring Influence Weight Maps.

    That is interesting food for thought

    Yes it is. I wish there was a setting to vary the amount of influence map being applied (like a 0 to 1 slider) as it seems very sensitive. 

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    RGcincy said:

    That's strange. Maybe turn Freeze Simulation off and back on? Or close DS then reopen the saved scene?

    Yep, it was strange.  Took a reboot to cure.   I've noticed with Studio that constant saving and restarting the app seems to be a good thing to do. This "freeze thing" didn't clear until I rebooted, though.  

    Tell me, is it normal behavior to have everything clear when "clearing" the simulation even though they're not selected and frozen?

    Thanks for your help, Rich!

    Scott

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    wsgentry said:

    Tell me, is it normal behavior to have everything clear when "clearing" the simulation even though they're not selected and frozen?

    Scott, yes that is normal behavior if you use the Clear button on the Simulation Settings pane. If you want to clear just selected items, use the Simulation pane menu (it's in either the upper right or left and looks like four horizontal lines with a small triangle at the corner). Left-click on that icon and select dForce then Clear dForce Simulation from Selected Item(s).

  • wsgentrywsgentry Posts: 572
    RGcincy said:
    wsgentry said:

    Tell me, is it normal behavior to have everything clear when "clearing" the simulation even though they're not selected and frozen?

    Scott, yes that is normal behavior if you use the Clear button on the Simulation Settings pane. If you want to clear just selected items, use the Simulation pane menu (it's in either the upper right or left and looks like four horizontal lines with a small triangle at the corner). Left-click on that icon and select dForce then Clear dForce Simulation from Selected Item(s).

    Cool, Rich thanks!  Part of the problem I'm having is finding everything.  I've only been using Studio for a little under a year, so I guess I'm experiencing growing pains.  Thank you again,

    Scott

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