Working with cloth banners - Maya
by Michael "Doodle" Golden · in Artist Corner · 05/20/2006 (8:35 am) · 3 replies
To whom it may concern,
Hello there! I have been working on an in game model currently, and have come across a slight issue that I would like to take up wtih everyone here. What I am trying to learn, is how to get a long flat polygon that's wide (resembling a cape or a bed sheet.) and make it flow. I am also wondering, once I do get it flowing, how do I rig the character to push the sheet away should it come in contact with her. The thing is, I had intended her character design to be simple, as she will be my first completed design. The problem is however that she has a drape which runs down her front from the waistline. Generally speaking, if I deform her legs, they cut right through it improperly, instead of pushing it away. I could of course paint it with weights, but the weights, as far as I know, would simply cause it to act as a skirt (Very stale.).
Any help would be most appreciated,
Doodle.
Hello there! I have been working on an in game model currently, and have come across a slight issue that I would like to take up wtih everyone here. What I am trying to learn, is how to get a long flat polygon that's wide (resembling a cape or a bed sheet.) and make it flow. I am also wondering, once I do get it flowing, how do I rig the character to push the sheet away should it come in contact with her. The thing is, I had intended her character design to be simple, as she will be my first completed design. The problem is however that she has a drape which runs down her front from the waistline. Generally speaking, if I deform her legs, they cut right through it improperly, instead of pushing it away. I could of course paint it with weights, but the weights, as far as I know, would simply cause it to act as a skirt (Very stale.).
Any help would be most appreciated,
Doodle.
About the author
#2
05/20/2006 (2:02 pm)
I'm sorry, could you be more specific? I'm quite new at this, and have absolutely no clue what IK controls or FK solutions are. What I am trying to achieve is an effect similar to the Banners in the TSE Dojo Demo, except on the character herself. Have any screenshots of the IK controls? Or at least a tutorial of which I could work with? Currently, I am working with the TGE demo, but will be moving on to the complete TSE once it is released. 
#3
05/21/2006 (11:26 am)
You would need to add joints and weighting for the cloth on the character itself in Maya. This isn't anything that is TGE-specific at all, just regular character rigging. I recommend that you look up "IK" or "Inverse Kinematics" in the Maya help files. That should give you a brief explanation of what IK and FK are (Inverse and Forward) and how they work in Maya.
Torque Owner Danny Ngan
My personal suggestion would be to just suck it up and hand-key the joints using FK. Yes, it can be tedious, but you do get absolute control over the movement of your cloth. An automated solution could be problematic. You could still get geometry passing through each other. Also, chances are the motions of the cloth would not loop corrrectly for things like run and walk cycles.