Cineversity

Hi there,
I got a problem with a connectors and springs ragdoll setup.
All is behaving fine except one thing…
As soon as I enable my hands connector the sim is freaking out
and I cant find the reason.
Is there a possibility to send you a file to take a look?
Thanks in advance!
Mark

Hi Mark,

I have sent a link to your Cineversity Private Message Box.

At the moment the file is uploaded to the provided link, Dropbox will send me an email. I will look into your file and will share my findings.

Cheers

Thanks Sassi, its up. I was able to figure out the big Hand-Problem. Now I got a smaller one-
some limbs are freaking out/ not dampened enough in simulation, although I set spring dampening/stiffness quite high in my opinion.
I hope you can give me a hint. Thanks for taking a look in advance!

Hi Mark,

This is quite an elaborate setup, and I assume that the art direction follows closely.

These are some suggestions, but given the massive drop that the little guy has to endure, I’m not surprised about the substantial motions.

Perhaps try the following:

For the Collider

Set the Nails to 16 instead of 8 Segments.
The Collider Friction for the Nails should be lower (perhaps instead of 100%, start with 90% or much more moderate, increase the bounce to at least 3%)
Set up a Friction Object, start with Friction strength 12 and Angular Strength of 0.5

The Shoulder Springs might need a second look, regarding their orientation, but it is (I admit) quite tricky to determine, how it would be placed correctly. The shoulder-arm joint allows for much more movement than the 2D spring.

In the Doll

The Dynamic Tag> Force, you might set the Linear and Rotation Dampening to something higher than 0%

Hand Connector>Angular Limit, here I would say to set it to -30 to +30, as I saw that the Hand went 180º to the lower-arm.

All values play in concert, and the Friction Object can be set even with Fields in the Falloff. So you have full control.
To set this up for you, without knowing your exact target seems impossible. I hope my little pointers will help.

My best wishes for your project.

Hey Sassi, thanks for your time!
The cylinder drop was just a quick test, I try to build a stable rig that allows for everything possible, hit by a brick/ fall from a skyscraper.

I got two springs each for shoulder and upper leg movements which cover 90% of all possible rotations.

What is a Friction-“object”? I just know the friction “setting” in the dynamics tags?
Thanks for all your input… I’ll give it a try…

You’re very welcome, Mark, thanks for the reply.

Please have a look into the Main Menu> Simulate> Forces: Friction.

Your project sound like fun.

Enjoy

Ah, I get it, sure theres a force: Frisction of course. Didnt think about thatt! That really opens new control possibilities! Thanks!

Thanks for the reply, Mark, yes, the more options, the easier it is to balance and manage the energy in the system.

Cheers

Hey Sassi,
can you check another file for me? Is the old destination you send in pm still ok to upload?

Its a parenting problem that drives me crazy…
I like to pull my ragdoll on its foot with a crane…
Made the foot dynamic Tag kollision only…
added a parent constraint to it that leads to an object I’dl like to animate (add to crane hierarhcy),
but its buggy as animating my parent cube offsets my foot and looks very unstable…
Priority issues?

I dont get it
Thanks in advance!
Mark

Hi Mark,

I have set up a new upload link. I wish we could have a simplified file as well, so others can explore it. I will try to set set up a simple version if it makes sense to do so.
The idea of reduced files is not primarily to make it easier for me, it is based on the experience, that a project file that only contains the problem, often unveils ideas for a solution. The more complex a setup will be, the more this has worked. That others can follow is the main effect, of course.

As usual, I get an email from dropbox when a new file arrives. No further actions needed.

I’m happy to look into it, of course.

Cheers

Thanks for the file, Mark.

The problem starts with Parent Constraint. This is the part that breaks the flow.

As you have described it, the foot goes wrong, but anything else not.

My suggestion, add another connector to the foot and set the other object of that connector as the crane. This crane object is then the only one with the Collider setting.

That one is the hook of the crane, and all stay in the same system.
I have marked my entries with yellow Layer Browser chips.

As a side note, the P.Y parameter is, of course, a local position, not a global. The movement reflects the motion of the character, it is dynamically after all.

Cheers

Hi Sassi,
thanks for your explanation…
I dont get the last sentence… maybe thats why it doesnt work?
As soon as I move the Crane object everything freaks out.
How do I adress an animatable parent to this setup?

Ok now I got it, didnt see you send the file back also…
I was confused bwcause in the screenshot the cranecube is inside the doll hierarchy.
You rock!
Thanks!

But what means the position y value sentence?

Mark,

Yes, my bad, I was under the impression that the crane just pulls it up.

Up means here just the (positive) P.Y parameter. Since it is inside of the hierarchy, and especially at the lower end of it, it creates a weird relationship.

The more it moves, the more it pulls on all parent (“grand” parent, etc.) objects. With that, the position from which it animations changes: a chain-reaction. Call it crazy when it goes really berserk. However, with just up-movement that gave such a natural movement that I left it in.

You want to move it in all directions, I get it. In this case, the Crane-object needs to be outside of the hierarchy. Which means it can’t take any motions from the little guy into account. So the Crane-object needs more attention perhaps.

Let me know if there is anything else.

Cheers