Has anyone devised a trick to merge or weld sections of old props for draping?

WillowRaven

Has anyone devised a trick to merge or weld sections of old props for draping?

I have a simple harse blanket I want to drape rather than colform, but I don't want to lose the tassles or other accessories.

AllenArt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc7ANwKokk0

You can use weight maps to hold things in place. I've done it with conformers to keep some parts from falling off or coming apart.

 

WillowRaven

AllenArt said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc7ANwKokk0

You can use weight maps to hold things in place. I've done it with conformers to keep some parts from falling off or coming apart.

Thanks :) I'll go check it out right now.

WillowRaven

This video is very confusing ... This must be using terms and tools from an earlier version of Daz.I hope someone makes an updated tutorial soon. I'll try to figure this out for now, though.

WillowRaven

I can't get to the weight map brush tool stage ... I found the node weight brush tool under tools, but it just flashes for a micro second the is gone. I can see the double circle, but nothing happens.

Richard Haseltine

What do you mean - the cursor vanishes entirely?

WillowRaven

The double circle is there, but the tool's tab/window doesn't stay open. I hit the tool and get a flash of the node weight map brush's window trying to open, and that's it. So I can't seem to continue with the tutorial. I can't get past selecting the brush. Something seems to have changed since the tutorials I can find and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if I am having a problem with Daz itself.

Richard Haseltine

You mean the Tool Settings pane? That's the only window the tool has.

WillowRaven

I'll make a small video to show what I'm seeing

 

WillowRaven

Thanks to Alora's video () I figured out what steps I was missing to get the weight brush to work, but the tassles I'm trying to keep attached to the horse blanket fall away if I don't weight map them, but if I do, then the blanket doesn't drape right because the tassels are held in place while the blanket drapes, rather than just staying attached to the blanket. I've heard of pinning during simulation. Is that a different/better process for what I'm trying to do?

Daventaki

I can't help you directly with the problem or even if these links will help but you might try L'Adairs DForce thread and RGcincys dForce thread.

felis

I don't think there is a simple solution for this.

There is acouple of ways you can make the tassels stay with the blanket.

- Weight paint: but in order to keep them on, you need the base of the tassels to be unpainted, i.e the blanket itself will not simulate (or only little)

- Rigid follow node: on the items you would attach the tassels as own objects with a rigid folloser node (that is what is done for buttons). But this requires you to divide the mesh up in individual parts and then reattach with rigid follower nodes.

- dForce add-ons: you might be able to create dForce add-ons and thereby keeping the tassels attached under simulation. But that requires that these add-ons are generated in a modelling program.

In my view is using rigid follower nodes "the right way" of doing it, but that is quite a bit of work even when you know what to do.

WillowRaven

For those who have seen me pop in here in the forums since DS3 ... have I ever wanted to do something that had an easy solution? ... lol ... And all I ever want is an easy solution. Just one time I'd like to be able to say, "duh ... that was so easy ... why did I bother all of y'all?" But, alas ... I always seem to want to do more than what I know how to do, lol. 

I someone could create a force or DCC plugin that would let me treat it like a safety pin or virtual snap/button/pin ... I'd pay a month's worth of freelance income for it.