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Help Please: Rigging a Belly Chain

aaráribel caađoaaráribel caađo Posts: 690
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

I have a couple of belly chains in my collection and I like them, but they don't fit the character I typically put them on. I can model a chain in Modo easily and have it follow a path, but that's not very flexible for Daz. The chains I have have morphs that expand/shrink them in various parts (side, belly, etc.) to make them more flexible, but I'm not sure if that's the best approach. Does anyone have experience with this? Tips for the way to make it as flexible as possible?

Comments

  • kenshaw011267kenshaw011267 Posts: 3,805

    I tried modeling one for dForce. I created a string, a cylindrical torus, to fit around the character's waist and then applied a texture to give it the appearance of a chain. I never got it quite right but I'm a complete beginning at 3d modeling.

  • TheMysteryIsThePointTheMysteryIsThePoint Posts: 3,008

    This seems like a great use for Blender's rigid body physics.

    I would export your character to Blender as an OBJ and flip the normals. Them just like you did in Modo, create a reasonable curve object just above where you want the chain to rest, and apply a curve modifier. Model the first two chain links and uthem as the referenced object, and tweak it so that they intersect nicely, and apply rigid body physics modifier. Choose "mesh" and set the sensitivity to something small, like 0.005. Then "apply" the curve modifier, so you have a chain object, and then hit P and choose seperate by loose meshes. You'll end up with each link as a seperate object, but all will have the same rigid body physics settings. Then apply a rigid body modifier to the character, and mark it as "passive". Then just sim a few frames. It will be very, very slow, but it will look great.

    Then, select all the links, you can use a pattern for the name to get all of them, hit ctrl-J to join them into a single object, and then export back to Daz as an OBJ. It might take a while fiddling with the sim settings, but I've done exactly this with a necklace, to good effect.

  • aaráribel caađoaaráribel caađo Posts: 690

    Thanks, @TheMysteryIsThePoint. I appreciate the tip, but what I'm looking for isn't how to model it, but how to rig it in DS so it works better than the ones I've bought. I'd love to be able to dForce the necklace or have a rig based on curves. Have you been able to do that, or some other more fine-tuned morphing in DS with your necklaces?

  • TheMysteryIsThePointTheMysteryIsThePoint Posts: 3,008
    aaráribel caađo said:

    Thanks, @TheMysteryIsThePoint. I appreciate the tip, but what I'm looking for isn't how to model it, but how to rig it in DS so it works better than the ones I've bought. I'd love to be able to dForce the necklace or have a rig based on curves. Have you been able to do that, or some other more fine-tuned morphing in DS with your necklaces?

    Ah, I see. I've been messing around a bit with Houdini recently, and am finding that often proceduralism gives better results with a simpler solution than rigging; it's changed my technique of first resort.

    But can't one just choose a link in the middle of the chain the root bone, and rig each link parented to the previous link, working from the middle outwards, on both sides? I think there's a generic chain product on Rendo that does exactly that.

  • aaráribel caađoaaráribel caađo Posts: 690

    Modo has been movely heavily towards proceduralism. I'm often kind of lazy about it, but it is a really strong way of doing things. 

    Chain bones are too much hassle to deal with for a belly chain (or necklace, I'd think)—there are too many links to be manageable. Also, they have to link forwards and backwards, which I don't think is possible in most (any?)  boning systems. There's no way to have a top and bottom of a "chain" if the begining is also the end.

  • TheMysteryIsThePointTheMysteryIsThePoint Posts: 3,008
    aaráribel caađo said:
    Chain bones are too much hassle to deal with for a belly chain (or necklace, I'd think)—there are too many links to be manageable. Also, they have to link forwards and backwards, which I don't think is possible in most (any?)  boning systems. There's no way to have a top and bottom of a "chain" if the begining is also the end.

    That right there was probably the best argument for proceduralism that I've ever heard.

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