dForce issue...

joegerardi

Been having this problem with dForce since I started with Studio 4 last December, but didn't bring it up till now...

 

If I add a dForce modifier to s piece of clothing "as simple as a T-Shirt" then try to run the simulation, I get a dialogue window that states a (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Spring (xxxx,xxxxx) of rest..." which goes on increasing the numbers in the parentheses for upwards of 2 to 3 minutes (usually 10-20 seconds on items purchased with dForce) the simulation starts, then my video driver blows out, recovers, and DAZ quits.

 

I'm using the most recent nVidia driver (or maybe just one iteration old- I haven't checked in a couple of weeks.) so I know it's not that. This is on my older system, as I haven't gotten the chance to transfer everything to The Beast, so I'm on an older GeForce with only 2Gig of RAM.

 

Any ideas what's causing it?

 

Thanks,

..Joe

Richard Haseltine

In a dForce simulation the edges are used as springs, the process goes through trying to distribute the energy those springs produce as it runs the simulation and the cloth drapes. There is a Simulation Offset value which is the minimum separation desired between vertices. If edges (springs) are shorter than the offset value then the simulation is going to be fighting between the rest length (minimum energy) of the springs and the minimum separation - at best it will slow the process and at worst it may cause the mesh to explode. A few short edges are not too bad abut a lot are highly likely to be a problem. If the mesh is very dense it may be unsuitable for simulation, though you could go into the Surfaces pane and adjust the offset to a value that is lower than most of the edge lengths; if the mesh is not too dense it may just be detailed areas (collars, seams if they are modelled in) and you could adjust the offset for those areas, or exclude them entirely.

joegerardi

Thank you. In this case, it was the Shadow Thief top for G8. I guess it's not suitable for dForce. The skirt section looks really wonky with Auto- Fit, hence the reason I was trying to Simulate it.

 

Funny thing is, even several items advertised as dForce do the same thing with trying to distribute the energy to the springs. If it takes more than 30 seconds or so i that window, I know it's going to blow out, so I cancel the simulation as soon as I can.

 

Appreciate the information.

 

..Joe

Richard Haseltine

Yes, some items have shipped in that state - I report them as possible bugs (at least the offset should be adjusted). However, I think that if the surfaces has a non-zero Dynamic Strength its short edges will be reported, even if that part of the geometry is excluded from the simulation by a weight map so it isn't always a real issue (but exploding would suggest it was in that case).

felis

If it is an item that is not build for dForce, you can try limiting the areas affected by dForce.to increase your chance of a successfull simulation.

You can try to look at the mesh in Wire Texture Shaded to determing problem areas, or simply just reduce the dForce areas..

If you create dForce Modifier Weigth Node, and then paint (i.e subtract) weigth from the areas you want to avoid being influenced by dForce.

I often do that on non-dForce items. Not that it will always be succesfull..

FSMCDesigns

Did you mean this outfit https://www.daz3d.com/shadow-thief-outfit-for-genesis-8-female-s

If so, there are way too many detailed and rigid objects on that outfit to apply a dforce modefier to it and have it work. You would have to go in and change the parameters of what can be dforced and what can't for it to work.

joegerardi

That's what I tried to do. I just wanted the skirt to drape, as it stood out like a tutu, so I selected just it in surfaces, added the dForce modifier, and tried to simulate. That's when I saw the spring issue and cancelled it.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

..Joe