Here is my latest headache -- I cannot get Poser 5 to perform cloth simulations. I am using dynamic cloth props and trying to drape them over a figure. I have done this in the past, and it worked fine. For some reason, now when I start calculating the simulation, it just runs and runs but never finishes. (I have left Poser running overnight, just to be sure that I wasn't being impatient -- and this is for simulations that in the past have taken no more than 10 minutes or so. The next morning, it was still "calculating" without any output.) I've gone through several of the very basic cloth room tutorials step by step, just to make sure I hadn't missed something, but the result is always the same. Endless processing time, no simulation.

Have you tried reinstalling Poser?

Hello Amadan, Only thing I can think of is that a portion of your cloth is intersecting with your figure. You might try moving the cloth a bit at the start of the sim -- be sure the cloth is NOT touching the figure. Best Wishes, Rance

No. I've considered that, but I was hoping someone might have another idea before I do that, and redownload all the service packs, etc.

You don't need to install all of the service packs. You'll only need SP4, and the SP3 Figure update.

Sometimes the cloth room does take a lot of time to work or the counter keeps going up if something is wrong with the cloth as Rance01 said.

I'm only really posting to emphasise the point. If your simulation has not started within 5 minutes then cancel and find out what is wrong. There is no point in letting it run longer any longer. Most probable cause as mentioned above is that some part is intersecting the figure. Other possibilities may be poorly formed mesh, n sided polygons or very long thin polygons, a turned in cuff that now has the polygons facing the figure rather than away from it.

Well, I have tried several different simulations, including some that have worked before. I've tried some of the basic tutorials such as using Judy with the Beach Dress that comes with Poser 5. All of them have the same problem -- the simulation never starts.

Amadan, Can you post the steps you are taking as you load the scene and set up your simulation? It might help us to figure out if you are missing something. Shogakusha

Well, the three tutorials I have used are the ones from the Poser 5 manual, the Poser 5 handbook, and HMann's clothing tutorial. For all, the steps are basically the same: 1. Add a figure (either Vicky or Judy). 2. Add a dynamic clothing prop (for Judy I used the Beach Dress). 3. Zero Pose Judy/Vicki in frame 0. 4. Choose the final pose I want in a later frame (15 in some cases, 30 in others, or using HMann's tutorial, just a 6-frame animation, which has worked in the past). 5. Create a new simulation. 6. Simulator settings: In some sims I have left it at zero drape frames, in others I set 20 drape frames, though as I understand it this is not necessary for most props, if there isn't a lot of draping (like with a T-shirt). If I click the "Calculate Drape" button I get the same result as for "Calculate Simulation": it just runs forever. 6. Clothify the clothing prop. Add Judy/Vicki as the object to collide against. I've tinkered with decreasing the collision offset and depth settings, I've done it with and without "Start drape from zero pose," I've set it to ignore hand, head, and feet collisions. 7. Calculate Simulation. And wait forever.