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NEW dForce Discoveries for DAZ Studio

February 17, 2019 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm GMT
$59

dForce is an excellent physics engine for DAZ Studio helping to provide realism in many ways. This new webinar set provides a foundation reminder on the engine and then goes onto explore new discoveries made by Richard Schafermeyer (rgcincy) since his previous dForce webinar weekend.

In particular we’ll be showing you how to deal with clothing not designed for dForce  plus we’ll teach “clothing in action” how to show a character putting on clothing, or to have clothing out of place.

Richard has created some highly popular threads on using dForce in the DAZ 3D forums and now we show you his newest insights straight from his desktop, step by step.

dForce adds powerful new capability to Daz Studio. Its primary purpose is to help clothing better drape around posed figures but it also can be used on other objects such as primitives.

Session 1 : Saturday 16th of February 20:00 GMT (London)/12:00 PST (Los Angeles)/15:00 EST (New York)

Duration : 1.5 hours

Although easy in concept, dForce can be tricky to use because of the large number of simulation and surface settings that are possible as well as interactions between poses, figures, and collisions involving other objects. In part one of this seminar, the student is given a refresher on the basics of dForce: how to apply the modifers, use the environmental and simulation interface and properties, how to manipulate surface properties, how to setup animations, and more. Part one is especially helpful for those new to dForce or who have had difficulty getting it to work. For more experienced users, it will be a helpful refresher.

1. Brief Review of Fundamentals
– Quick start guide
– Location of modifiers and adding to an object
– Simulation Settings pane
– Helper objects
2. Momentum
– Physics, gravity and wind.
– Considering additional forces when an item is pulled or pushed.
– Delayed response for propagation of force on parts of a mesh.
– Momentum example 1 : arm moving clothing
– Momentum example 2 : fabric swirling around central point
– Momentum and animated poses
3. Momentum transfer
– Definition and examples of momentum transfer
– Example 1: A torus bouncing off another object
– How to set up dForce with a sense of physics such as bouncing.
– Example 2: Praxis’s example of bouncing a ball
4. Add-Ons – dForce modifier
– This is one of 3 types of dForce modifiers
– How the modifier can be used to create hems, stiffen collars, keep shirts closed yet show gaps between buttons, or even make a ball bounce.
– Use a modeling program and a script to enable the above techniques.
– About polylines (in public beta DAZ 4.11)
– More examples : holding a split cylinder together, holding a collar in place and a shirt front together.
5. dForce Magnets
– New product in the DAZ store by Esha/Riversoft
– Similarity to helper objects
– Advantage of how it can make a tight pull
– Examples : pulling cloth and lifting strands of hair.

Session 2: Sunday 17th of February 20:00 GMT (London)/12:00 PST (Los Angeles)/15:00 EST (New York)

Duration : 1.5 hours

Part two of the seminar covers specific examples using dForce. These are drawn from the newer examples contained in Richard’s ongoing Daz Forum thread.

Most clothing for Daz is designed to fit as it is normally worn, so we’ll show examples where clothing is “out of place”.

Our live action, interactive webinar will make it easier to appreciate these more complex examples.

More case studies with dForce : using physics to provide realism

6. Tips for Using Pre-dForce Clothing
– Can work great or not at all
– Recommendations for Bend Stiffness and Stretch Stiffness.
– Example: Merimay dress
– Recommendations before setting up a complex scene
– Add dForce modifier and a ground plane
– Run simulation – see if it falls and drapes without issues
– Focus on parts of the clothing that don’t perform well (buttons, belt loops, collars, shirt pockets, etc.)
– Recommendations on how to deal with these clothing parts.
7. Oversized clothing
– Have you ever seen children playing dress-up in adult clothing? You can create that effect using dForce!
– Two examples to demonstrate this.
8. Loose fit clothing
– A lot of Daz clothing is skin tight, not what you see in real life
– How to use dForce to loosen the fit : socks, underwear, swim trunks and others.
9. Stacked Clothing
– Features: multiple staged simulations, weight maps, push modifiers, smoothing, collision, helper objects
– Examples: (1) man with loose shirt and drooping pants (2) man sitting with pants at ankles

Want to show a character putting on clothing? We’ll show you how to do that. A dForce weight map is used to get the underwear to sag more on one side. The pants are designed to slide down more than normal, revealing more of the underwear, as if still getting dressed. Push modifiers are used to help tidy up any overlaid  clothing. All the clothing in the below image is older, not designed for dForce.

About the presenter : Richard Schafermeyer (rgcincy)

Rich Schafermeyer is a long-time 3D artist and programmer. He got his start with the original Poser and Bryce 3D. In 2001, he wrote his first 3D modeler that evolved into the still available Shape Magic. He began to use Daz Studio in 2012. With a research and engineering background, the physics of dForce grabbed his attention! He decided it would be helpful to others if he shared his learnings and has frequently done so in the DAZ forums.

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