Cloth as mesh deformation driver

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#1

Hi!
As the title says, I was wondering whether it is possible to use a cloth simulation to drive another mesh?

That would be like having a reasonably low poly cloth simulated mesh drive a higher polygons mesh (or set of meshes), making it possible to have clothing with thickness and hair cards get nice movements for cheaper in terms of resources. This system basically is high polygon mesh wrap deformed around the cloth simulating mesh, to put it simple.

Is it even possible already and I can’t see the option? Or should I just file a feature request on GitHub?

#2

In theory, you could use Cloth.GetParticles to access Float3[] array of particle positions - where each particle is simulated cloth vertex. Then use it to move other kinematic actors (eg. attached to cloth).

#3

Thanks for the pointer mafiesto, that’s good to know :slight_smile:
However, what I’m asking is slightly different. It’s the way that Maya cloth simulation (and by extension, many years later, UE) is done: a single sided, light weight mesh set to simulate, and another mesh, higher resolution for rendering, following the simulated plane’s deformations. We can call it simulation by proxy.

This video shows what I mean better than words :slight_smile:

#4

@mafiesto4
Seeing that the roadmap now includes Destruction support, it’s probably not the right time to place requests like this but… just as a question, do you think it could be a feasible feature in the future? :slight_smile:

#5

Well, yeah it would be good to add such proxy mesh simulation feature for complex cloths. Maybe even some auto-LOD that would run low-res simulation for far characters or just stabilize sim when the update rate is lower due to LODing (as it works now).

Also, in Flax 1.12 anim graph will get a new node to similate some realistic physics on characters for small clothing elements or other things via a Spring Bone node: FlaxDocs/manual/animation/anim-graph/physics.md at master · FlaxEngine/FlaxDocs · GitHub

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#6

Yes I saw that earlier also on Discord, that’s damn cool and useful for lots of things! Can the spring joint chain also interact with colliders?
Can’t wait to get my hands on Flax 1.12! :smiley: