Cineversity

I am closely following Donovan Keith’s tutorial on using the cloth belt tag, but my results are very different. The cloth geometry is super stretchy at the anchor points, whereas the rest of the cloth behaves as expected. In the tutorial, he turns up the iterations to reduce the stretchiness, but in this instance I turned the iterations up to 200 and it made little difference.

Model is here: https://adobe.ly/2uAmmSh

Also, even with the cloth surface and subdivision surface applied, my scarf is looking very chunky. Might be due to the high iterations, so going around in circles on that one.

In the end, I want the figure to be holding up the scarf to look at it. As it happens now, he’s not admiring but bewildered. As am I :(

I suspect it’s another one of those check boxes hiding out - but so far as I can tell, I’ve checked all that apply.

Thanks.

Hi mford610,

Yes, sorry, the algorithm has changed a little bit.

If you need an answer to a tutorial, please use the next time the “Help With this Tutorial” button. I know, since you tried it on something with your own model, it feels awkward to post there. Not a problem. However, it might have let you to some answers already. Hence why we try to keep things organized here.
https://www.cineversity.com/forums/viewthread/2463/

You need to select more points and evaluate those points with a Weight map. Anything else would be based on changing the fabric settings.

Here is your file and the first 90 frames cached.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/5Y4ImS1FsKyx1N042rWb6GaxgyVUNT7StjegGyhFOAQ

Perhaps replace the 50% stiffness with a Weightmap set mostly to 50% while the parameter is 100%.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/2gFa8xxXE2MunQddZFcT20Vd83ep0OqLEL9ABNKnemk
Also here cache included.

All the best

Ah - so things ARE different now. I’m glad to know it’s not just my incompetence at issue

Your sample model is very helpful and demonstrates the new approach well. However, I am not able to duplicate it for myself. I followed the setup as best I understood it, read the help sections on the relevant elements, and reviewed the notes with picturedrift, but could not figure out how to make the newly-selected vertices “stick” to the belt objects (though I’m sure it’s very simple to do if you know how). I created a vertex map for each belt object using a spherical field, and it appeared to my eye to be very similar to your setup, but it wouldn’t recognize the vertices no matter how many times I clicked “Set.”

Here’s the revised model for review:

https://adobe.ly/2OUQrCZ

This is one of those experiences where you are tempted to think things were simpler in the good ol’ days. If I can’t figure this out, I may have to brush off my copy of R17 and try the Donvan Keith approach :(

Is this where we ask for an updated tutorial on the cloth simulator?

Hi mford610,

Thanks for the file, and for using a trusted cloud service, very much appreciated.

There are certainly more combinations. It is mostly dependent on the art-direction. Every fabric has its own qualities.

Here is a little screen capture, showcasing how much influence alone the iterations have. Of course, the gravity settings and the mass play a considerable role as well.

However, I found no connections from the Belt to the fabric. I switched the drawing off, please have a look. The links are weighted with the specific maps. (I use here a little c in the cR or cL naming, camera left and camera right, to make clear what right or left I’m talking about).

I know that the Stiff-map that I use is highly unnatural, but again, art-directing is what I’m after. You might change that, of course.

I have cached the example as well.

Screencapture and project-file
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/Ue985UvJmj1QiAeGbv9ITym7IlSgSDYRfW1BVvdIJBC

Cheers

Thank you! Please explain in more detail the parts:

1. “I found no connections from the Belt to the fabric.” Yes, this is the big question - how to connect!? I could see the spherical field influence in color, but I could not figure out how to get the belt object to accept the vertices.

2. “I switched the drawing off…” How does switching the drawing off affect the behavior of the belt tag?

3. “The links are weighted with the specific maps.” Are these the spherical fields?

My next step is to wrap the scarf into this form (attached). I was planning on rolling the scarf into a cylinder with a bend object, then using a spline wrap to tie it into a knot. Once in position, I would initiate the cloth simulation so that it falls and folds in a natural way. Or is that a crazy idea?

mford610,

1
You select a group of vertices, then set the belt. If this were done without the Weight-map, all vertices/points would be acting like glued on cardboard. To have gradually less impact, the weight-map limits this.

2
No change other than visual. I switch those off (drawing) as they are not needed to be always seen. I was not sure if their “invisibility” made you think they are not set at all.

3
You have set them as Fields, and when they are frozen, all is fine. Otherwise, the fabric moves out of the Field, and the weighting changes. (Which can be interesting at times…)

My best wishes with the scarf exploration. It is this exploration that gives you certainty, not just knowing how to get it done. I’m not sure if all falls into place that easy. Not a crazy idea, but explore it, you will gain much from it.

Cheers