50. Creating a Necklace. This uses part of a jewelry product purchased from Daz combined with a primitive torus to make a necklace.
a. Create a primitive torus using the values in the image. Add a dForce dynamic modifier to it. Set Self Collide to Off in the Surfaces pane.
b. Position the torus around the figure’s neck.
c. Use the Geometry Editor to select a single face in the lower edge of the torus in the center of the neck. Right click in the viewport and select Geometry Assignment/Create Rigid Follow Node from Selected… An i-beam icon will appear as a child under the Torus in the Scene pane.
d. For the necklace’s pendant, I used the product C-Elegance Jewelry. Although no longer sold at Daz, the steps would be the same for similar products.
e. Load the necklace. Using the Geometry Editor, select one face on the ribbon (or chain or any other part of the jewelry you need to remove). Then type Ctrl+* to select all connected faces. Then right click in viewport and choose Geometry Visibility/Hide Selected Polygon(s).
f. Now right click in viewport and choose Geometry Editing/Delete Hidden Polygons. This eliminates the ribbon so we can use the torus as the chain.
g. From the Tool Settings pane, choose the Joint Editor. You will see a lot of bones indicating the product was rigged as a figure. (If your jewel is already a prop, you can skip steps g-i).
h. Select the necklace and then Edit/Figure/Rigging/Convert to Prop. This removes the bones.
i. With the Joint Editor active, zoom out and you will find the Center (green) and End (red) points far from the pendant. Drag the red and green dots up until they are next to the pendant. Then zoom in and adjust so the green dot is at the center top of the bail and the red dot is at the center bottom of the pendant. After these adjustments, the center of rotation of the pendant is the green dot.
Here are the Joint Editor settings I used:
j. Add the pendant as a child of the rigid follow node. Using the universal tool, position the bail of the pendant around the torus at the point of the rigid follow node (the node location is indicated by a red-blue-green icon; see image at right).
k. Hide the pendant by clicking on the eye in the Scene pane. If left visible, the pendant will interact with the chain and may cause it to explode.
l. Run an animated dForce simulation. Images show result after the pendant is turned back on. The pendant and chain drapes as you would expect from gravity.
m. An iRay render is below. I used a braided metal shader for the chain.
EDIT: a continuation of this topic can be found here. The next part shows how to create a V in the necklace chain.
Oh, that's neat! Must try that - I have so many pendant pieces for necklaces where the necklace part doesn't autofit well - or rather, it autofits so "well" that it goes mis-shapen to follow all the nooks and crannies of the collar bones etc.
@barbult I didn't keep the scene file that gave a V in the necklace but I did recall I was testing a cube helper. I went back and recreated it and found some parameters that minimize elongation of the chain. It doesn't work as well as what I posted before, but with a few hand adjustments at the end, it's passable. I'll write up an addition to what I posted previously showing how it's done. Below is a render.
@ RGcincy That bucket and wrap mechanism are super cool! Amazing things! Going to have to try some things with necklaces now too. I haven't been back in this thread for too long!
May I ask what your HDR is? I need something with a woodsy look.
Errr no; carnivors don't smile.
Actually some breeds of dogs do appear to make smile-like expressions in "happy"/"feelgood" situations. It's believed to be a side effect of them imprinting on us, and the long generations of breeding to make that imprinting happen.
More than likely. I took a quick look at a pair that's a companion to the necklace I used. It has an ear hook instead of a chain, so I'll have to work out what's needed to use it.
@ RGcincy That bucket and wrap mechanism are super cool! Amazing things! Going to have to try some things with necklaces now too. I haven't been back in this thread for too long!
More than likely. I took a quick look at a pair that's a companion to the necklace I used. It has an ear hook instead of a chain, so I'll have to work out what's needed to use it.
Based on my experience wearing earrings, most styles probably won't benefit much from dForce. Morphs, simple rigs, and/or rotations are probably more accurate in many cases. That said, there are some styles that probably could use dForce. Just not many.
n. Create a V in the chain. You may have noticed the lower end of the chain is curved. For some types of chains (e.g., braided metal) that may be appropriate but for a light chain, the pendant would pull the chain into a V. I could not find a combination of dForce settings that would create the V but you can use a cube helper to do so.
o. Create a small primitive cube using the parameters shown in the image. Parent the cube to the torus and position it to be right over the location of the rigid follow node. Set overall scale to 50% and Y scale to 300% so you have a long rectangular box.
p. Add a Dforce modifier to the cube. Be sure the pendant is hidden otherwise it will interfere in the simulation and at least on my computer crashed Daz Studio. Run an animated simulation for 40 frames but no keyframes or positioning is needed.
q. With default surface parameters, the box will cause extreme elongation of the chain and eventually an explosion of the mesh. I found reducing the Dynamics Strength on the cube to between 0.85 and 0.90 works to suppress elongation and mesh explosion. Lower values (<0.85) give a shorter chain but the cube (and hence the location of the pendant) will deform the chain into a W as the cube doesn’t fall far enough. Higher values (>0.90) result in too much stretching. My best value was 0.88.
1.0 Dynamics Strength (frame before mesh explosion). You can see how the chain has stretched:
0.97 Dynamics Strength (frame before mesh explosion). You can see the chain has stretched to the floor:
0.85 Dynamics Strength. The cube/pendant has twisted and formed a W in the chain.
0.88 Dynamics Strength. The cube/pendant has twisted but has formed a V in the chain. Unlike simulation without the cube, the rigid follow node has twisted and I had to rotate the pendant after simulation so it would hang down.
r. Another issue with the use of the helper cube is the chain hovers away from the chest. Frame 12 gives a somewhat better position but I could not achieve what was done without the cube. In both images below, the pendant has been rotated to be parallel with the chain.
s. You can correct both the problems mentioned by running a simulation, going to frame 40 and moving the cube closer to the chest and rotating the pendant into position, then running the simulation a second time. Be sure to hide the pendant before resimulating to avoid a crash.
If you make a big change in the figure’s pose, you’ll want to delete the added key frame for the cube in frame 40 then do the double simulation (simulate-move cube-simulate).
A finished render of the V chain:
dForce V jewelry cube params.jpg
244 x 309 - 26K
dForce V jewelry cube position.jpg
391 x 389 - 60K
dForce V jewelry cube default dyn stren.jpg
277 x 437 - 60K
dForce V jewelry cube 0.97dyn stren.jpg
356 x 442 - 68K
dForce V jewelry cube 0.85dyn stren.jpg
316 x 345 - 53K
dForce V jewelry frame 40 pendant bef rotation.jpg
328 x 363 - 52K
dForce V jewelry frame 40 pendant.jpg
256 x 330 - 40K
dForce V jewelry frame 12 pendant side.jpg
280 x 324 - 24K
dForce V jewelry frame 40 pendant side.jpg
242 x 297 - 20K
dForce V jewelry frame 40 pendant side after move.jpg
Based on my experience wearing earrings, most styles probably won't benefit much from dForce. Morphs, simple rigs, and/or rotations are probably more accurate in many cases. That said, there are some styles that probably could use dForce. Just not many.
Based on my experience wearing earrings, most styles probably won't benefit much from dForce. Morphs, simple rigs, and/or rotations are probably more accurate in many cases. That said, there are some styles that probably could use dForce. Just not many.
This is exact in stills but I do animations.
My assessment still stands. Both as someone who wears earrings and someone who's made them.
It's frequently only a link or two that actually allows movement, and d-force isn't yet really capable of handling that sort of physics better than a joint or even a pinned point of rotation. Even in animation, where keyframes on the earrings would, at least it seems to me, just as well.
The primary excceptions would be earrings that include lots of chain, or strings of beads. But if it's only a drop - or even several drops at the end of a larger loop - using dForce seems like a lot of fuss for no real improvement.
Comments
50. Creating a Necklace. This uses part of a jewelry product purchased from Daz combined with a primitive torus to make a necklace.
a. Create a primitive torus using the values in the image. Add a dForce dynamic modifier to it. Set Self Collide to Off in the Surfaces pane.
b. Position the torus around the figure’s neck.
c. Use the Geometry Editor to select a single face in the lower edge of the torus in the center of the neck. Right click in the viewport and select Geometry Assignment/Create Rigid Follow Node from Selected… An i-beam icon will appear as a child under the Torus in the Scene pane.
d. For the necklace’s pendant, I used the product C-Elegance Jewelry. Although no longer sold at Daz, the steps would be the same for similar products.
e. Load the necklace. Using the Geometry Editor, select one face on the ribbon (or chain or any other part of the jewelry you need to remove). Then type Ctrl+* to select all connected faces. Then right click in viewport and choose Geometry Visibility/Hide Selected Polygon(s).
f. Now right click in viewport and choose Geometry Editing/Delete Hidden Polygons. This eliminates the ribbon so we can use the torus as the chain.
g. From the Tool Settings pane, choose the Joint Editor. You will see a lot of bones indicating the product was rigged as a figure. (If your jewel is already a prop, you can skip steps g-i).
h. Select the necklace and then Edit/Figure/Rigging/Convert to Prop. This removes the bones.
i. With the Joint Editor active, zoom out and you will find the Center (green) and End (red) points far from the pendant. Drag the red and green dots up until they are next to the pendant. Then zoom in and adjust so the green dot is at the center top of the bail and the red dot is at the center bottom of the pendant. After these adjustments, the center of rotation of the pendant is the green dot.
Here are the Joint Editor settings I used:
j. Add the pendant as a child of the rigid follow node. Using the universal tool, position the bail of the pendant around the torus at the point of the rigid follow node (the node location is indicated by a red-blue-green icon; see image at right).
k. Hide the pendant by clicking on the eye in the Scene pane. If left visible, the pendant will interact with the chain and may cause it to explode.
l. Run an animated dForce simulation. Images show result after the pendant is turned back on. The pendant and chain drapes as you would expect from gravity.
m. An iRay render is below. I used a braided metal shader for the chain.
EDIT: a continuation of this topic can be found here. The next part shows how to create a V in the necklace chain.
50 topics posted to date. Never thought I'd be at this so long when I started!
Oh, that's neat! Must try that - I have so many pendant pieces for necklaces where the necklace part doesn't autofit well - or rather, it autofits so "well" that it goes mis-shapen to follow all the nooks and crannies of the collar bones etc.
This can work for earrings too?
i can say we all are grateful you are! Wish I wasn't still trying to figure out my cloth through ring thing.
And they're much appreciated
It works!
Awwwwwwwwww
Awww, how sweet! And he's smiling about it.
May I ask what your HDR is? I need something with a woodsy look.
Cute dog! Good idea to use for a dog tag
Now how can we get the chain part to droop as if the pendant had weight, pulling it down to more of a V shape in the front?
That is Autumn Crossing.
Thanks! Don't know how I missed that. I've been to the site multiple times.
I've had trouble with that, although my first attempts gave the V but with a lot of elongation of the chain. I'll have to look at it again.
@barbult I didn't keep the scene file that gave a V in the necklace but I did recall I was testing a cube helper. I went back and recreated it and found some parameters that minimize elongation of the chain. It doesn't work as well as what I posted before, but with a few hand adjustments at the end, it's passable. I'll write up an addition to what I posted previously showing how it's done. Below is a render.
@ RGcincy That bucket and wrap mechanism are super cool! Amazing things! Going to have to try some things with necklaces now too. I haven't been back in this thread for too long!
Errr no; carnivors don't smile.
Actually some breeds of dogs do appear to make smile-like expressions in "happy"/"feelgood" situations. It's believed to be a side effect of them imprinting on us, and the long generations of breeding to make that imprinting happen.
You are correct that teeth-baring is a hostile sign in large chunks of the animal kingdom (calling it a carnivore thing is not accurate. Check out #3 on this list: http://ihearthorses.com/reasons-why-horses-show-their-teeth/ )
We smile!
Dana
But we - humans you mean, I guess - ain't carnivores, but omnivores
Maybe that's why we smile...there's always something to eat.
Dana
More than likely. I took a quick look at a pair that's a companion to the necklace I used. It has an ear hook instead of a chain, so I'll have to work out what's needed to use it.
Thanks!
Based on my experience wearing earrings, most styles probably won't benefit much from dForce. Morphs, simple rigs, and/or rotations are probably more accurate in many cases. That said, there are some styles that probably could use dForce. Just not many.
Are you still working on posting the V necklace settings, or did I miss where you posted it, Rich?
I'm just about done writing it up. Should be posted later tonight or tomorrow.
Thanks
(Continued from previous post here)
n. Create a V in the chain. You may have noticed the lower end of the chain is curved. For some types of chains (e.g., braided metal) that may be appropriate but for a light chain, the pendant would pull the chain into a V. I could not find a combination of dForce settings that would create the V but you can use a cube helper to do so.
o. Create a small primitive cube using the parameters shown in the image. Parent the cube to the torus and position it to be right over the location of the rigid follow node. Set overall scale to 50% and Y scale to 300% so you have a long rectangular box.
p. Add a Dforce modifier to the cube. Be sure the pendant is hidden otherwise it will interfere in the simulation and at least on my computer crashed Daz Studio. Run an animated simulation for 40 frames but no keyframes or positioning is needed.
q. With default surface parameters, the box will cause extreme elongation of the chain and eventually an explosion of the mesh. I found reducing the Dynamics Strength on the cube to between 0.85 and 0.90 works to suppress elongation and mesh explosion. Lower values (<0.85) give a shorter chain but the cube (and hence the location of the pendant) will deform the chain into a W as the cube doesn’t fall far enough. Higher values (>0.90) result in too much stretching. My best value was 0.88.
1.0 Dynamics Strength (frame before mesh explosion). You can see how the chain has stretched:
0.97 Dynamics Strength (frame before mesh explosion). You can see the chain has stretched to the floor:
0.85 Dynamics Strength. The cube/pendant has twisted and formed a W in the chain.
0.88 Dynamics Strength. The cube/pendant has twisted but has formed a V in the chain. Unlike simulation without the cube, the rigid follow node has twisted and I had to rotate the pendant after simulation so it would hang down.
r. Another issue with the use of the helper cube is the chain hovers away from the chest. Frame 12 gives a somewhat better position but I could not achieve what was done without the cube. In both images below, the pendant has been rotated to be parallel with the chain.
Frame 12, Dynamics Strength 0.88: Frame 40, Dynamics Strength 0.88:
s. You can correct both the problems mentioned by running a simulation, going to frame 40 and moving the cube closer to the chest and rotating the pendant into position, then running the simulation a second time. Be sure to hide the pendant before resimulating to avoid a crash.
If you make a big change in the figure’s pose, you’ll want to delete the added key frame for the cube in frame 40 then do the double simulation (simulate-move cube-simulate).
A finished render of the V chain:
This is exact in stills but I do animations.
My assessment still stands. Both as someone who wears earrings and someone who's made them.
It's frequently only a link or two that actually allows movement, and d-force isn't yet really capable of handling that sort of physics better than a joint or even a pinned point of rotation. Even in animation, where keyframes on the earrings would, at least it seems to me, just as well.
The primary excceptions would be earrings that include lots of chain, or strings of beads. But if it's only a drop - or even several drops at the end of a larger loop - using dForce seems like a lot of fuss for no real improvement.