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Thanks very much for the author RGcincy to give us such a detailed and brilliant tutorial.
Now I have one question: is there a summary on how to SAVING all these different dforce-results? and what is the efficient way to reuse them?
So far I know the obj to morph and scene are the only 2 way to save, anything else? How about those middle frames? and many times it was sad for the 'morph loader pro' to announce 'warning' when reuse an obj.
Thanks @function.
I pretty much just save what I do as a scene file or a scene subset (either one can be merged into an existing scene).
The surface parameters which contain the dForce settings for an object could be saved as a shader or material preset (I believe the shader is only the one surface selected and the material is all the surfaces of the object). Then you can apply that shader/material to a new object (for the material, the object needs to have the same surface names). That will not save the simulation settings but those vary less between scenes.
If you are using dForce weight maps, I'm not aware of a way to save them other than by saving the scene or scene subset.
Just wanted to give a huge THANK YOU! for this wonderful tutorial. I needed to strap G8F into an airplane seat with a 4-point harness. Used a vatiation of this method - I added a torus shape to the middle of the lap belt, then ran two shoulder belts from it up over each shoulder. Worked out perfectly, and I couldn't have done it without this tutorial!
Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate it. If you can, post an image of your result, I'd like to see it.
Hello there,
Could somebody please tell me, if it is worth buying the latest two tutorials by Richard Schafermeyer...
https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-experiments-tutorial
https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-expert-guide--tutorial-course
...If I already own the products in the following bundle:
https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-complete--tutorial-bundle
I couldn't find any information considering this question in the product descriptions of the items, could somebody help me please?
As I didn't receive an answer to this question in a seperate thread, I assumed the answer was a resounding "no", until I stumbled upon this thread, which is my last hope...
Honestly I don't have any of them but it looks like they are from the same author ,so the expert guide might be a continuation of the one you already have ..... bigger question is have you used the one you already have? That's the question I have to ask myself alot ....don't know if this helped or not .
Thankyou very much for reacting to my question!
I have finished the first one which I liked very much, and want to follow up the next two now. Maybe it is too early to already get the latest two already, still, at that price i can't Imagine that i am the only customer, who would like to get that information before buying. Yes it might be as you indicated, but if so, it seems very strange, that this wasn't mentioned in the product description. At a price of 30$, such an information may be omitted, but not at >$150! These people seem to be nice guys when you listen to them in their tutorials, I just don't understand, why they persistently remain silent on this question.
Have you tried sending a private message ? I don't know how long you waited for an answer but sometimes real life takes over and the thread message isn't seen, or the creator is busy .......so it could take a couple of days to get an answer.
@carrie58: this post i did this morning, so I haven't given up yet. Private Messages are way more likely to be overlooked, in my experience, and often people prefer to communicate in the public forum and rather not get PMs from strangers, lol. So if i don't get a reaction again, I guess i will let it go and possibly, after finishing the two remaining tutorials, I won't feel any need for further dforce tutorials anyway, as the first one already was pretty thorough and very well done - in that you were definitely right!
Hello @mding. Just getting online today and saw your post. I really can't give you a good answer as to whether they are worth buying as I'd be tooting my own horn (I'm the presenter) but I can comment about them. There are a total of six video products. The first three were also made available as a bundle which you have. The last and most recent one was from an in-depth coaching group we conducted. Each of the first five tutorials reflect the experiments I was doing at the time so can be a mix of examples. Many but not all of them have a written tutorial in this thread. The most recent video dForce Expert Guide : Tutorial Course was created from scratch and was organized to build up from the basics. It has more examples on clothing and hair but it also has repeat examples contained in the prior videos. If you had none of them, I'd recommend this last one. Since you have 3, you may be better off with dForce Solutions Tutorial : Nine Essential Case Studies and dForce Experiments Tutorial. I'd recommend finishing the three you have and then look at the "What's included" section which lists each topic by time to see if you have interest.
Thankyou @RGcincy! I know it is difficult to recommend the own product, I had just hoped for information like: about 50% new etc. But it is true, after completing the next two courses and the Solutions course, I will be able to judge by myself. Thanks again for the long answer!
I'm struggling with a model of a bag. I've created the model in blender, and am trying to get all the parts to cooperate when dforced in Studio.
The base model, a canvas tote bag, works. It drapes and folds when dforced, no longer explodes. What I'm struggling with at the moment is the grommets on the holes for the handles. I can get them to keep their shape in one of several ways (using rigid follow nodes or set them as dforce static objects), and I parent them to the bag. However, they work as 'pins' and the bag dforces suspended from them. The mesh around the grommets also tears apart a bit, but doesn't fully explode. What I want is for the grommets to move with the bag when I dforce the bag. Right now, I feel that I'm running into a dead end. Can any of the dforce experts offer any suggestions?
I don't even want to think yet about integrating the handles into the whole.
Try to post an image of what it looks like, with the wireframe visible.
The whole and the details.
Some issues as I see it.
dForce don't like 2 sided mesh. In essence 2 sided mesh will be handled as independant meshes, that will move on their own.
There is way too much geometry around the holes. Default collision distance is 2mm, and it look to be much smaller than that. That is usually the cause for explosions.
My suggestion is to make the bag singlesided, and simplify the geometry around the holes.
For thickness you can make a illusion of thickness by adding a top row of faces on the bag.
For the holes you can let the bag clip into the rings so you can do with less geometry, as the simplified geometry will be hidden by the rings. And then parent the rings to the bag with rigid follower nodes.
Illustrated below.
You might also add a dforce Add-on to each hole to keep it more-or-less in shape - e.g. a series of triangles that have vertices coinciding with the vertices of the (simplifed) hole. You can also use an add-on to hold a fold inplace at the top, to avoid a raw edge - Mada has a good video discussing this.
The double-sided mesh works surprisingly well actually. That's not where my problem is: what I'm looking for is to get the grommets to move with the bag. But I'll give simplifying the mesh around the holes and the other suggestions a go.
My first new example in over a year. Not sure how much interest there still is in these.
90. Rigid Follow Nodes
These nodes allow you to attach objects to a shape that is being deformed by dForce so the object follows along. While helping Nath with her bag, I observed some unusual behavior with the simulation results varying depending upon having or not having a dForce modifier on the object attached to the node. Results depend upon the starting state, clearing or not clearing a simulation before doing a new simulation, and whether the object attached to the rigid follow node has a dForce modifier added or not.
a. Create a 3-foot plane and set at Y-translate -3.
b. Create a Y-positive cylinder which is 12 inches high, 12 inches in diameter and has 12 segments and 64 sides.
c. Select the cylinder and use the Geometry Editor to delete the triangular polygons on the top and bottom faces.
d. Still using the Geometry Editor, use the polygon selection tool to select one face near the top edge of the cylinder. Then right click in the viewport and choose Geometry Assignment/Create Rigid Follow Node from Selected and give it the name A. In the Scene pane, the cylinder will now have a child that looks like an I-beam labeled A.
e. In the viewport, the location of the node is indicated by a 3-way axis of red-blue-green lines. It should be located at the position of the face you selected but I often times find it offset. If it is offset, use the translate dials to move it to the position of the face.
f. Create a Z-positive torus that is 1 cm major dimeter, 0.4 cm minor diameter, with 32 segments and 16 sides.
g. In the Scene pane, use the pane menu to check that Parent Items in Place is unchecked. Then parent the torus to the I-beam. The torus should end up centered in the middle of the face you selected.
h. Add a dForce dynamic modifier to the cylinder.
i. Set dForce gravity to 0.35 to avoid the complete collapse of the cylinder. Run an animated dForce simulation. You’ll see the cylinder deforms and hang from the original location of the torus.
j. If you clear the simulation and re-run it you’ll get a similar result with the bag hanging from the original location BUT if you run a new simulation without clearing the original, the bag will collapse further. Run it again without clearing the simulation and it will collapse into a different state. Repeating this process results in these two states being repeated alternatively. Not sure why this happens other than perhaps the simulation is starting from the simulated position not the original.
k. Clear the simulation.
l. Add a dForce dynamic modifier to the torus. In the Surfaces pane, under Simulation parameters, set Visible in Simulation to Off.
m. Run an animated simulation. The cylinder will drape from the location of the torus. You get less distortion than you do in step i.
n. Repeat the simulation without clearing. Unlike step j where the bag varied in its deformation, it will drape the same without clearing the simulation. This is so, even though the dForce modifier on the torus is not visible to the simulation.
o. Set gravity to 0.75. As expected, you’ll find the cylinder collapses much more but the torus stays in position.
p. Clear the simulation.
q. Remove the dForce modifier from the torus. Run a simulation. Now the bag is hanging from the original location of the torus and does not collapse as much as in step o.
These examples indicate you can get different draping results depending upon the starting state, clearing or not clearing a simulation before doing a new simulation, and whether the object attached to the rigid follow node has a dForce modifier added or not.
Level of interest: In my case, Lots. Almost every bit of my dForce knowledge has come from you & your demonstrations in this thread.
Thank you for the article, will have to study & play.
Regards,
Richard
@RGcincy I agree with @richardandtracy as I always enjoying reading your posts and learning something new! It's good to see a detailed solution to getting the grommets in Nath's handbag to follow the bag and keep their shape when running dForce simulation (and the effects of a dForce modifier and clearing the sim before each run). Thanks for all your illustrated posts on mastering dForce (and other DS tools)!
As always, your new post on this thread was an instant read, and archived for future reference.
Your time and effort in making these tutorials is hugely appreciated - Thank You!
P
What they said
Me too! I really appreciate your efforts, you have taught me a lot.
Glad to hear there is still interest, thanks for the feedback. I had run low on ideas and energy a year ago but recently started looking at what I hadn't posted and have some more I can write up.
This was a dForce topic that I heard about today. Unlike sometimes, it came together pretty quickly.
91. Cling Wrap
Bluefeathers posted to the Daz Forum looking to get the effect of a character breaking through a sheet of cling film. I gave it a try and came up with a reasonable representation of that happening.
a. Create a plane with 250 divisions.
b. Add a dynamic dForce modifier to the plane.
c. In the Surface pane, set the Simulation parameters as follows:
d. Add a dForce modifier weight node to the plane. Using the Node Weight Map tool found in the Tool Settings pane, click Add Map to create an influence weight map. Then right click in the viewport and choose Selection Type/Polygon Selection. Draw a rectangle on the plane slightly end from the borders. That will select the center of the plane.
e. Right click in the viewport and choose Geometry Selection/Invert Selection to select the outside faces of the plane.
f. Right click in the viewport and choose Weight Editing/Fill Selected and choose 0%. This will lock the edges of the plane in place, while allowing dForce to deform the center of the plane.
g. Add a figure (I’m using Genesis 2 Male) and pose it how you like. Move the figure so it is almost touching the plane.
h. With the figure selected and using the timeline, click on the +key to add a keyframe at frame 0.
i. Go to frame 15 and move the figure so it is protruding through the plane to whatever depth you want. When animated, the figure will move towards the plane and push it forward. Moving the figure and not the plane prevents dForce momentum effects on the plane.
j. In the Simulation Settings pane, set Environment/Gravity to 0. All we want is deformation from movement, not gravity.
k. Run an animated simulation. You can stop after frame 15 is reached as once the figure stops moving momentum effects begin to take over.
l. Select whichever frame you like best to render.
m. For the pose I used, the hand presses forward and stretches just a few polygons giving a triangular look to the film. One way to correct this is to use a product like MeshGrabber to move any offending vertices to a more suitable position. You will need to do this after every simulation.
n. Another way to correct this is to use an animated sphere so more polygons are located by the hand.
ETA: You can leave off the weight map, scale down the plane, and use a more extreme figure movement to get something like this:
What can I say? You've done it again - Thank You!
(scurrying off to try it for myself...)
P
Thanks Praxis!
-----
I was trying some less stretchy parameters and got an explosion. I rendered it and it looks pretty cool.
Cool Looks like he's smashing through something
Yeah, that does look like it's splintering into thousands of bits. Amazing. Thanks.
Regards,
Richard
92. Putting Goggles Straps on Over Hair
When you use an item such as goggles on a figure with long hair, you would expect the person to put the goggle straps on over the hair rather than take the time to pull the hair out and over the goggle straps. You can use dForce to do this. This approach could also be used for headbands and scarves that are wrapped around the hair.
a. Load a Genesis 2 female figure (I use G2F as it is faster to load). Add a hair. I used Kyle Hair
b. Load the helmet from Pilots Uniform of WWII. Go to the parameters pane and set GogglesUp to 0%.
c. We only want the goggles, so choose the Geometry Editor in the Tool Settings pane. Right click in the viewport and select geometry Selection/Select By/Face Groups/Helmet. Right click again in the viewport and select Geometry Editing/Delete Selected Polygon(s). That will leave the googles without the helmet.
d. Position the goggles over the eyes of the figure. Go to frame 10 on the animation timeline and add a keyframe by clicking on the +key icon. Go to frame 0 and scale the goggles to be clear of the hair. I used Scale 95%, X-Scale 175%, Z-Scale 138%.
Frame 10: note goggle strap under hair which is the default
Frame 0: goggles scaled to be clear of the hair
e. Add a dynamic dForce modifier to the hair.
f. Add a dForce modifier weight node to the hair.
g. Select the Node Weight Map brush in the Tool Settings pane. Add an influence weight map.
h. Hold down the Alt key and use the paint brush to remove influence weight around the top of the hair above the goggles. Paint with the brush so the color changes from red to purple. This will keep the hair in place on the head while allowing the hair with a red color to change with dForce.
i. In the Simulation Settings pane, set Gravity to 0. We want the movement of the straps to change the hair, not gravity.
j. Run an animated simulation.
k. If you look at the right eye, you’ll see hair is partly locking the eye. Not good for a pilot! We can use a helper object to pull the hair aside.
l. Create a thin torus large enough to go around the lock of hair we need to move. Use the geometry Editor tool to select half the torus and delete those polygons so we have a hook. This is so we are moving the front hair and not the hair on the side and back of the figure.
m. At frame 0 position the torus half at the front of the face. At frame 10 set it so it is pulled back.
n. Run an animated simulation.