dForce Menu Access

ebergerly

I was never really interested in dForce until now, primarily because I was sure that it only worked on store-bought meshes, which apparently isn't true. And I also thought it didn't have a "shrink-wrap" type of simulation, which again is apparently untrue. 

So now I'm interested. By the way, thanks much to RGcincy for the amazing tutorials in the Commons.

Anyway, to apply the dForce modifier to a simple mesh I tried selecting the object, then Edit/Geometry, but there's no Add dForce Modifier in the list. Instead I have to go to the Simulation tab and do it from there. I saw a recommendation that you can go to Workspace/Update and Merge Menus, and that seems to work (though I'm not sure what it does), but at the same time it messes up my main menu by removing my Scripts menu item. 

Anyone know how to do this without messing up the existing menus?

ebergerly

Also, a couple more questions...

Does dForce assume everything in the scene that isn't a cloth object is automatically a collision object? I searched everywhere and can't find a way to limit collision to only selected objects.

Also, is there any way to, during the simulation, grab a part of the mesh and tweak it? 

Richard Haseltine

You can add the commands to any menu (or toolbar) you like through Window>Workspace>Customise - drag commands from the list on the left to the target location on the right. Update And Merge Menus adds new commands, but on layouts that haven't been updated and merged for a very long time it will remove customisation - this shouldn't be true with more recent customisation.

Yes, anything is a potential static dForce surface (with default values) unless the item's Visible in Simulation is switched off in Parameters.

No, dForce is not interactive - it would be a nice feature, but I don't know how likely it is to be added.

margrave

ebergerly said:

Also, a couple more questions...

Does dForce assume everything in the scene that isn't a cloth object is automatically a collision object? I searched everywhere and can't find a way to limit collision to only selected objects.

Also, is there any way to, during the simulation, grab a part of the mesh and tweak it? 

AKAIK, DForce treats everything as a sim object. To isolate only the objects you want, you need to hide everything else. Get used to right-clicking on the scene tab to select all objects.

I don't think you can grab something during an animation because Daz doesn't work like Blender. You simulate on a per-frame basis. Well, you ''can'' simulate an animation, but due to Daz's lackluster animation abilities, I don't. You can use add-ons like Mesh Grabber or dForce Magnets to adjust the mesh before or after simulating.

ebergerly

Ahh, okay...Visible in Simulation is under Parameters/Display for the object. 

Thanks much. 

margrave

ebergerly said:

Ahh, okay...Visible in Simulation is under Parameters/Display for the object. 

Thanks much. 

Actually, I have no idea what that really does because it never seems to work for me. I mean you have to physically hide it, with "Visible" or the eye icon.

Also, use "Freeze Simulation" to lock an object once you sim. But beware, you will still clear it by hitting the "Clear" button in the Simulation tab. You need to click the little dropdown, the play button with four lines, and choose simulate or clear selected. Why they have a big button that clears everything with one click is just one of those wonderful Daz design decisions we all have to learn to live with.

barbult

dForce Magnets offer some additional control, but they are tricky and not interactive.