I need advice on cloth-modifier

Hello,

at the moment I try to do some clothing, but since I'm very bad at sculpting I'd like to do it with the cloth modifier.
What I'd like to know right now:
1. Can I make the Cloth-object react with another object, that I for example shrink to the cloth surface? (How???)

2. I tried to make something out of leather with some metal parts to it. Is there some kind of workaround if I want some parts of a mesh not affected by the cloth-modifier?


If somebody knows a tutorial or some documents that teach about this or tailoring clothes with blender I would be soooooo happy if you point that out to me.

Greetings
tobles

  • spikeyxxx replied

    Hey Tobles, you've got yourself quite a challenge there; although what you want is certainly possible, it is not going to be easy.

    #1. A cloth object can have one or more collision objects it can react to. Also you can Shrinkwrap another object to the cloth, on any frame of the cloth simulation you want. ( Try experimenting with different shrinkwrap modes, nearest surface point doesn't always give a good result.)

    #2. You can have parts of a mesh not affected by the cloth sim, through Pinning a vertex group; in 2.79 in the physics panel under cloth, there is a Pinning checkbox, in 2.80  in the physics panel under 'Shape' there is a 'Pin Group'. The problem is, that this vertex group is not affected at all by the cloth sim, unless you assign it with a weight less than one.

    If I understand correctly what you want to achieve, my first advice is to try and sculpt it, even though you think you're very bad at it...

    If you decide to try it with the cloth sim, first make sure that you've got the cloth the way you like it (which will probably take a long time of tweaking the settings). Then if you're happy with your cloth, apply the cloth modifier. then you can go into edit mode on the cloth, and select the parts that you want to be metal, duplicate them, separate by selection (P) and give it a Solidify Modifier or manipulate it however you need. Or, Shrinkwrap something to the cloth.

    Be aware, that you can also go into Sculpt Mode and (not using Dynamic Topology) just Smooth or Flatten parts of your mesh (I mean for the metal parts).

    The main thing about sculpting, is not to be afraid!


  • spikeyxxx replied

    Hi tobles, there is something else you might wanna try.

    First, watch  https://cgcookie.com/lesson/blocking-fabric-with-cloth-simulation.

    Now use the Shape keys method to move certain vertex groups  to the metal parts during the beginning of the simulation. That should give the best result.



  • tobles replied

    spikeyxxx I actually watched that video some days ago since I'm working on this course right now :D
    Biggest problem for me right know is to set up a fn-graph that would do the trick. Do you maybe know about a video that teaches some advanced stuff on this topic?

  • spikeyxxx replied

    ttobles I'm sorry, but I do not know what you mean by a 'fn-graph' and Googling it didn't help me either;)

    I do know however that cloth sims ( and physics in general) usually take a long time to set up right. Tutorials that I've seen only tell you what different settings are for, but every simulation is unique, so there are no general rules as how to get what you want.

    I did notice that Jake (Korosi) is working on the same course (see his Polybook) and he said he'd spend a few hours to get his, relatively simple, cloth look natural. I am sure that that was not exaggerated.

    Please tell me what a fn-graph is and maybe you could ask Jake in his Polybook for his expertise...

  • tobles replied

    spikeyxxx My bad, it's called Graph Editor. 
    @theluthier used it for his pants simulation in Week 3 of the cours you mentioned above, but I have some troubles setting it up.
    My plan was to let a cloth modifier run first and then (while it's still runing) let the metal parts shrink to it so the metal parts would affect the cloth simulation but won't be affected by it.

    Maybe these pictures help a little:
    That's the character I'm working on

    And my goal is to exchange the scale vest with something like this brigantina.

    Therefore I made this tunic but the metal plates give me a headache >:(


    Cheers

    tobles

  • spikeyxxx replied

    ttobles I've been trying out several complicated ideas and none of them worked;)

    Maybe, in your specific case, it might work if you make some bad topology like this:

    Then run the cloth sim.

    I think it's worth giving a try...

  • tobles replied

    Hey spikeyxxx ,
    I gave it a try and it kind of worked. It didn't give me the exact result that I was looking for, but it definitely forwarded me. For now, I think I will fiddle around a little with this and I think I'll call a quit on this one soon. In case I don't get it done I will let this "project" rest for some time and come back to it when I improved my sculpting.
    Thanks a lot for your help!

  • spikeyxxx replied

    ttobles If it kinda worked, you might need to do some manual 'fixing'. For instance, it can happen that some  (or all) of the rectangles are 'twisted', in this case use W > Loop Tools > Flatten (Loop Tools is an Addon, that comes with Blender) on those.

    If you are more or less happy with the result, just duplicate the rectangles, cancel the transform, P > Separate by Selection, and make them into metal plates.