Using Dynamic Clothing

Dynamic clothing offers the most powerful means of clothing figures, allowing for realistic cloth draping and wrinkles. Additionally, it is very easy to create clothing props for use as dynamic clothing. Dynamic cloth retains its dynamics when saved to the Library palette, but you will need to create a new simulation whenever you add saved cloth objects. To add dynamic cloth to your current figure:

Select the item from the Library palette and add it to your scene, then switch to the The Cloth Room.
Create a new simulation group, and select Body as your desired collision object.
Recalculate the simulation.

Cloth Parameters & Properties

To access a cloth object’s parameters and properties, you must first select the desired cloth object.

Dynamic cloth objects have the same properties as props. Please refer to Prop Parameters for information about prop properties.
Dynamic cloth has the same parameters as strand-based hair objects. Please refer to Hair Properties & Parameters for information about hair object parameters.

Using Dynamic Clothing without a Figure

Dynamic cloth retains its dynamics when saved to the Library palette, but you will need to create a new simulation whenever you add saved cloth objects. To add dynamic cloth without a figure:

Select the item from the Library palette and add it to your scene, then switch to the Cloth room.
Create a new simulation group, and select your desired collision object(s), if any.
Recalculate the simulation.

Adding Dynamic Cloth to the Library Palette

Adding dynamic cloth to the Library palette is a special case that merits its own topic. To add dynamic cloth:

If not done yet, load your desired figure and be sure to disable Inverse Kinematics (see Inverse Kinematics (IK)). Next, open the Joint Editor palette (see Working with Joints and Weights) and click the Zero Figure button.
If not loaded yet, load or import your desired cloth object and ensure it fits the figure without obvious intersections. If importing a static prop, convert it into dynamic cloth using the Cloth room as described in this chapter.
Select the cloth, then open its Properties palette and click the Set Parent button (or select Object > Change Parent)
The Choose Parent window appears. Select Hip, being sure not to check the Inherit bends of parent checkbox.
Open the Library palette to the Props category and select your desired subcategory as described above. Save the cloth object.
You will be prompted to save the object as a smart prop. Click Yes.

If your cloth object is not tied to a figure (such as a tablecloth), simply save it as a prop.

Creating Props and Morph Targets

You can convert cloth objects into static props or morph targets for use in scenes where a cloth-like look is desired without the need for a dynamic cloth object. For example, you could create a tablecloth using dynamic cloth and a table prop then convert the dynamic cloth object into a static prop for use in future scenes. If you did this, you would only need to include table legs where visible between the floor and the edge of the cloth, thereby giving you full realism while reducing your scene’s polygon count.

As another example, you could drape a sheet over a figure to create a ghost. Then you could convert the draped sheet to a static prop and use the Setup room to turn it into a poseable ghost.

To create a prop from your dynamic clothing object:

Clothify an object as described above.
Use the Animation controls to move to your desired frame (the cloth shape changes with each frame as the simulation plays).
Use the Grouping tool to spawn a new prop. Please refer to The Group Editor for information on using the Grouping tool and the Group Editor palette.

Creating a prop in this method preserves the shape of the original cloth object at the time you created the prop but removes all transformation (position, rotation, and scale). For example, if you stretch a square into a rectangle, the new prop will appear as a square deformed by the cloth simulation. In this case, reapplying the transformations applied to the original clothified object restores the original appearance to the static prop.

To create a morph target, follow steps 1 & 2 above, then spawn a morph target as you would for any other prop/body part as described in . You can then apply the morph target to a prop.

Morph targets created in this manner work in exactly the same manner as other morph targets, meaning that all dynamic motion is lost.

You can also export clothified props just like you would any other scene object. Exported cloth objects become static mesh objects in your chosen export format. To do this, follow steps 1 & 2 above, then export the object as described in Exporting Files.