Thank you for that, that was very helpful!

Hmmm, interesting. I was missing the step where I should have set the head vertices.

Now I'm seeing another issue; the animation of V4 lying down appeared to start well and went through looking ok. When it reached the end, the program disappeared and went back to Poser on the last frame, with the hair remaining in the air at the starting position, having not animated or anything, so it appears to have crashed.

If I attempt a static simulation, it appears as though the hair gets tangled, so I suspect disabling self-collision would solve that, if that's possible.

I wonder why it has crashed, or whatever it has done. It's odd.

I did the same again, only I stopped it at the second to last frame and it's not behaving itself at all. The back portion of the hair is remaining in place and the rest of it is all over the place, almost as if it is made of matchsticks.

Has anybody tested this with AlfaSeed's Desir hair?

If I can get this working with this hair, I'll be very pleased, as ever since I created Annie, my main Poser character, I have desperately wanted this hair to be dynamic, or to have dynamic hair identical to this. I must use this hair or hair as close to identical as is physically possible, as it is what makes Annie Annie! Without this hair, she's a different character (unless it's pigtails, buns or something like that). A different 'down' hairstyle just won't work with her. It's promising because it's all I've ever really wanted, besides strand-based bodyhair, which I now have, thankfully. This is the only thing stopping me from posing Annie in the way I'd like to.

So, if anyone has experience with this promising plugin and has this hair, could we please get it working well? I'm well aware that this plugin is still very much a work in progress and, taking that fact into account, I'm very excited by it! I believe it's obstacles like this which are worked out at this stage of development which makes for really good final products. :)

Hi Glen,

I had to go away earlier but have just popped back in briefly to make a couple of comments - but none, I think, that will solve whatever hasn't worked. You seem to have tried hard today - effort well worth expending to learn how to get the results this program is capable of. I noticed you talked about selecting vertices on the hair itself. That is something I've never done or seen as part of the process. (There may be a reason to do so - I know that complex things can be done with, for example, hair with a bun - so that until I re-read the instructions I can't say for certain). But I have only ever selected vertices on the collision figure's head as shown in the quick example and I think if you are doing otherwise that may be the problem.

After running a simulation there will be a new hair item ending in _VWD in the Poser scene. This is the animated version, the original is hidden. It sounds as though your simulation failed to end cleanly for some reason and I'm not sure what was left visible back in Poser. I hope someone else with the hair you want to use will be able to help. I also hope that if I say anything that is incorrect, VWD or others will clarify.

No, I'm not doing that now. Ok, here are my exact steps from opening Poser to the final result:

Load V4.2

Load Desir Hair from the hair library, which auto-parents to the selected figure.

Navigate to frame 30 of the animation.

Bend the V4 head and neck forwards to form a simple 'nod'.

Navigate back to frame 1.

Load VWDButtons.py.

Click VWDButtons.py button.

Load VWD Plugin.

Click Poser List button.

V4 selected, import as collision.

Desir selected, import as hair.

Open scene viewer.

Apply V4 preset, highlighting the scalp area of V4 in red.

Click compute head vertices button.

Click show hair vertices button.

Click generate springs and finish button.

Click simulation parameters button.

Inertia, floor collision, gravity, air resistance and fast move are checked.

Uncheck video.

Click start dynamic simulation button.

V4 begins to lie down in the pose I set ages ago, which is no longer active in Poser!

Stop simulation at frame 28 (it only goes up to 29 anyway) before it crashes and the results are pictured below. Notice how rigid the hair has remained also. I can't zoom in again because the mouse I borrowed has stopped working.

Just to note, I have completely closed and restarted both VWD and Poser since I applied this pose to V4, yet it is still present and won't get rid of it or load any new poses or animations. Might be a bug in something there.

@Glen some ideas: it's useful to clear the exchange files (in utilities) before starting a new simulation. Exchange files stay even if you close VWD and Poser. There is also a button to refresh the animation from Poser (in the last video) I didn't try yet the hair simulation : on page 37 of the manual, VWD talk about curly hair vs smooth hair (which is for me the case of Desire Hair). We must separate the strands to make them independant. Strands which are too close will interact and make a wet hair effect.

@Glen: I apologize for not having replied you sooner. You can watch this video to see how animate hair and clothes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwBJWJpSNCM

At the end of the simulation, the program does not crash, I guess you use the demo version and this version does not save the animation of the dress or the hair. It is for this reason that the check box "Video" is selected by default. This allows to visualize the simulation without the ability to save it in Poser to see evolve or to see it in VWD at the end of the computation. I did some tests with "Desir hair" you use. I remember doing some calculations with this hair. Some parts of this hair is extremely dense and I seem to remember that the number of generated Springs is relatively large. I'll re-test and give you the settings that allow to obtain quality simulations with a reasonable number of springs.

If you wish to make renderings with clothes or hair animated by VWD, you must buy the full version. This version should now be available quickly in Renderosity because the first official tests are in course.

I hope that answers some of your questions. I give you the settings for "Desir hair" as quickly as possible.

It is at 5:30 that I knew I have to try out this plugin!

I'm no new to clothing dynamics but the ability to manipulate soft dynamics in realtime like this at 5:30 is just so sexy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAb7dnQv9e8

Good works and really looking forward to the launch!

Hello Glen,

here are the parameters for the simulation.

In Poser, put the "Puff Up" parameter to 1.0 for Desir Hair

• import Victoria4
• Import Desir Hair
  • check the "Use extension vertices"
  • uncheck "Use vertices neighborhood"
• Click "Scene Viewer"
• Select the preset "Victoria 4"
• Click "Show hair vertices"
• Click "Generate springs and finish"
• Click "Vertices groups"
• In "Vertices tools", click "M1R"
• Click "Neightbours" retaining the default value to 0.5
• Add vertices of the fringe (with Ctrl key) to the current selection
• In "Vertices groups" set "Minimum distance" to 0.4 and make sure the box is checked
• Click "Rigidify". (by neighborhood, About 400M)
• Click "Simulation parameters"
• Click "Start dynamic simulation".

Caution, do not make too rapid transition. 60 frames on very different positions.

Tell me if it worked

Hi, VWD, thank you for the clarification! I see now, my apologies for not realising that the demo version wouldn't output to Poser.

The vertices extension and vertices neighbourhood features show as number inputs in the version I'm using, so I'm unsure as to what you mean by 'check' and 'uncheck'. However, I'll leave this for now, until I get the full version, then I'll try again.

Once again, thank you for creating and sharing such a brilliant Poser toy! I'm excited to see that the Desir hair looks so good with this! :D

Glen.

I was thinking about a couple of things. Firstly, does this have limits? For example, could the Desir hair be realistically simulated in extreme situations, such as upside down, mauled by hands etc, or will that be difficult? I wonder if fingers would be too small and would have hair pass through them and so on?

Secondly, as there has been talk of making hair look wet, what about making hair float, as though it was underwater?

I honestly think, the cloth side of this plugin aside, if you could create a plugin which allowed hair to be realistically simulated in all kinds of situations and poses, appear wet and be made to float and animate as though it was underwater, reacting to motion the way that hair does underwater, you'd be onto a real winner for the Poser community!

The addition to presets is brilliant too, to save manually selecting vertices. If there's one thing I love, it's a box full of presets which just work, and I'm not alone! The Poser community as a whole loves this too; just look at how many poses and light sets are selling like fresh buns in the stores!

This plugin could easily surpass EZSkin as my favourite Poser toy. (Sorry SG, but the special effects shaders just don't do it for me. Still an awesome plugin though ;) )

Oh, also (sorry to ramble), what about having the ability to sculpt and pin sections of hair in place? Say I really like the Desir hair (can you tell? You can't tell really, right?), but I wanted it partially tied at the back, in like a half up / half down style (I actually love this style). Could something like that be done? I noticed in one of your videos that you were able to click and drag clothing areas, as can be done in Marvellous Designer. Does this work with hair too? Perhaps there could be a feature where we could manually style hair this way and insert 'pins' to hold hair portions in place, drag hair portions around to make buns etc?

I see an enormous potential for this plugin! :)

Hello Glen,

If you want to do hair renderings that are under the water, you just think in terms of physics. Underwater, gravity is much weaker and resistance to movement is much stronger. By decreasing the gravity and increasing air resistance, you should have realistic behavior underwater.

Regarding the presets, I made a long explanation in this forum about why I did not implement it and why I probably will not implement it. The behaviour of a cloth is too dependent on its mesh structure to be able to say that a preset behavior will be reproductible. The principle of recorded simulation is an equivalent principle, the difference is that it is you who set your presets.

The dynamic displacement with the mouse of a dynamic element works with the clothes and hair, but I still have to improve it to make it more effective for hair. For the movement of the hand in the hair, this can work by subdividing the animation. This must be tested. To make hair with a part tied to the top, it is possible to do so with a static pose. For an animation, it is not currently possible. It will simply necessary to add a new type of vertices interaction between vertices being simulated on the same element (between different hair vertices).

Anyway, my program remains open. Anything that can be done using springs is achievable with VWD. I think the possibilities are endless and I regularly find new simulation methods using an already existing version.

Just curious. I haven't read this entire thread, so my question is how does this work, if it does, with any of the newer weightmapped figures like Dawn?

@EClark1894 : In fact, the answer is simple, if a mesh object, animate or not is visible in Poser, it is transferable into VWD. The program reads a .OBJ file from Poser then transfers the vertices at the time of the animation. After a simulation, the movements are sent to a .DYN file compatible with the Poser's Cloth Room.

Right now, I am rewriting the dynamic deformation using two methods. - The current method which allows for a positioning on the fly - A method closer to the MD's method with a more precise positionning and permanent attachment points that can be released.

Any idea of a release date yet?

Hello,

last project (for the fun!) The dress went through VWD. Yes it's G3F (Girl7) and slip dress via obj import/export. I had the chance to test the new functionnalities: I used both positionning on the fly and permanent attachment (the dress to dog mouth for exemple)

@smaker1

That is super awesome!

@smaker1 : Thank you for this wonderful picture.

@shedofjoy : VWD is being tested to Renderosity. I hope it will be soon available to the marketplace.

The two functions of dynamic deformation, function properly and work well together.

@Biscuit and VWD: thank you! it was a little image I wanted to do since a long time. With Girl7 and VWD it was the right moment :-) and more: everything went smoothly!

@VWD: when will the previous videos be available in english? You mentioned that 3 videos released last time would also come out the next week in english too? Will there be an updated demo too?

@tomyee : I know I promised some videos in English, but my accent is really too bad, I have to read words to words for a poor result. I'll do it but with subtitles. I will work on a fast generation method of presentation videos with subtitles because I feel that this will be the best way to explain operation of VWD.

The Renderosity tests are positive and I can put VWD for sale on the market fairly quickly. The testers found that the documentation is too technical at the beginning, that is a bit off-putting. I'm trying to add an explanatory part at the beginning of documentation and I'll probably add a quick start. Next week, I can not answer the questions of potential buyers, that's why VWD will not be on sale next week. The week of March 7th, I will finalize the latest version to be able to publish it as a demo version and a distributable version. People who bought VWD via PayPal will also receive this new version.

@vwd, that is good news! I think having subtitles is a good solution. I could follow along most of the time with your French tutorials, but occasionally it wasn't sufficient. With subtitles I think it would be easier to follow.

@VWD: subtitles is also fine for me too, but please use a big font so that text is easy to read (my vision is poor, I cannot see the small fonts in videos that easily). thank you!

That's great news Gerard! Thanks for the update!

The videos you made were extremely helpful for a visual learner like myself, I was able to use the plugin after only watching the video a couple of times.

I know making tutorials can be tiring and time consuming. Maybe consider "quick and dirty" videos showing quick concise specifics of the most important processes, with paraphrased subtitled explanations may be easier for you to produce and edit, then consider adding advanced tutorials at a later date.

This way, when you release the Plugin people can get started out properly and hopefully not be sending you questions all day long.

I appreciate all your effort you put into this Plugin! Thanks Again ;-)

@VirtualWorldDynamics

I took some time to try out the latest VWD version that you sent out last week, but I am unable to get it to work. I tried replacing the old version by swapping it out and installing the new one in my VWD folder, but it just leads to an error box popping up (See Below)

I also noticed there were new script buttons for the new version that were not in in my current VWD folder, so I got the new ones by downloading the Demo version from your free item page and adding them to the Poser VDW folder as well.

The VWD program opens up fine on its own but wont open when trying to through Poser 11.

I'm not really sure if this was the correct way to do it. Help would be appreciated. (I'm using Poser Pro 11, 64Bit/ Windows 8)

Error Box

This is how my files are set up

@VirtualWorldDynamics

Gerard, If you could make a future consideration for a video or manual, that shows exactly how to properly set up the VWD folders, what's needed, where to get it, and how to install it, that would be greatly appreciated. I remember when I first tried the program a few months ago out it took me several hours of folder and file trouble shooting before I got the program to work correctly. Thanks for your help

MrFiddles22 posted at 5:34PM Thu, 03 March 2016 - #4259005

@VirtualWorldDynamics

I took some time to try out the latest VWD version that you sent out last week, but I am unable to get it to work. I tried replacing the old version by swapping it out and installing the new one in my VWD folder, but it just leads to an error box popping up (See Below)

I also noticed there were new script buttons for the new version that were not in in my current VWD folder, so I got the new ones by downloading the Demo version from your free item page and adding them to the Poser VDW folder as well.

The VWD program opens up fine on its own but wont open when trying to through Poser 11.

I'm not really sure if this was the correct way to do it. Help would be appreciated. (I'm using Poser Pro 11, 64Bit/ Windows 8)

Error Box

This is how my files are set up

Have you tried putting the VWD folder somewhere outside the Program files folder...?

@Vestmann

Thanks for the reply Vestmann,

It turns out it was a simple mistake.

@VirtualWorldDynamics said the "exe" file (The program itself) he sent out was incorrectly named, and had to be manually changed.

It was named incorrectly: VWCClothAndHair

When instead it should have been: VWDClothAndHair

So Poser could not find it when trying to launch it. I simply just changed the name to the correct one and it works now,...JOY!!!

Thanks for the offer of help! :-)

@MrFiddles22 : You can leave the Poser's default installation directory. However, it seems that this very long directory path sometimes causes read errors. Personally, I always use the "C: VWD " directory for the installation of all files, that which generates, it seems, no errors. For the .zip file, I put the classical repertoire because it is mandatory for Renderosity.

One program tester found many errors in the program. Jenn comes just to put me in touch with her to try to understand the problems she had. This may delay the release of VWD on Renderosity.

VWD ... Ok if its going to keep getting set back on Renderosity, How do I purchase it Via Paypal? I am tired of waiting for this is there a way I can?

@arcanevonoblivio : I confess I am also tired of waiting. To purchase via PayPal VWD, you can send the sum of 50 Euros on my PayPal email that is: virtualworlddynamics@gmail.com. The personal code is no longer required since the material protection has been removed.

I would still like to give some explanations of the stalemate surrounding the tests in Renderosity. I do not agree with these tests. so I'll give you the results that I received :

"""""""""""""""""""""""" I must rescind my initial recommendation. While this remains a great idea, and IS well thought out, it does not work reliably and is too fragile for casual use. The eventually successful cloth simulation ignored V4’s hands. They’re part of V4 and should have been honored.

WD Cloth & Hair from the tutorial that I didn’t find last time!!

This program seems to be very well thought out, with a great deal of care put into various contingencies. Its goal is to allow the animation & draping of Conforming clothing and both prop and conforming hair.

The tutorial is very dense and is a dry read! But it breaks very easily and is very difficult to use.

So…. Is this intended to let the clothing follow our model as she moves? The Tutorial NEVER Mentions Posing the model. I seem to recall the youtube things showed V4 Falling down.

While the Script is running, the Poser Libraries are locked out. So if I forgot to add something I have to kill the script and Start over. Since that frequently doesn’t work, have to completely start over.

Clothing doesn’t work as nicely as hair…

I’ve managed to make the majority of the options go away! See Figure 1 below.

Following the steps correctly the dress I was expecting to animate disappeared!

There are a lot of steps to allow the animation to work. If you accidently skip one (like a newbie would or someone trying to follow along from the youtube video or if you are multi-tasking). The program does not seem robust enough to recover.

Load V4

No body morphs are loaded.

Load 3D age’s Hot Girl IV, Off Shoulder Set Shorts, & the Strapless bra.

Pose V4

Import V4, the shorts & bra as collision objects. Import the Hot Girl shirt as the cloth.

Open the scene viewer. Find out the shirt has handles.

Open Hierarchy editor and hide the handles. The whole top disappears. In Poser.

Close Poser

Reload scene, remembering there are Invisible handles on the top that must be hidden via the hierarchy editor before I launch this program.

Load hair and pose in a mild pose at frame 30

Launch the VWD Cloth & Hair.

Set V4, the shorts & bra as collision objects and the shirt as the cloth. Ignore hair. We can’t add it now.

Hang the clothing on the figure via Vertices tools, Free edges, neighbors.

Remove unwanted edges

V4 is shown in the Scene viewer at an angle, so it’s un-necessarily hard to remove unwanted verts. Furthermore you have to get them all at once!!

Go to Vertices group

Click Nail to Collision.

I’m asked to validate my choice. This is not mentioned in the tutorial.

This time it sort of worked, but ignored V4’s hands. Poser’s simulation would not have ignored V4’s hands.

Following up with the hair did not give a good simulation, the hair came to rest at eyebrow level.

The VWD simulation never stopped.

There are no instructions on how to do Hair and clothing. What happens if I choose my Shirt (a cloth item in the first sim) as a collision item for the hair sim?

Restore all does not restore everything to just prior to the VWD animations, as it completely hides the shirt. It is not invisible in the Property menu, hidden in hierarchy or hidden by Hide figure. It is both visible in the Camera and Raytracing It claims to be in the scene, but cannot be seen or rendered. .

""""""""""""""""""""""""""

If you are not in agreement with these tests and / or if you would like absolutely to see VWD in Renderosity, send messages to Jenn.

For now, the sale seems blocked. Personally, I continue to develop to improve VWD.

Have there been any other people out there writing tutorials for this amazing plugin? I am finding it rather difficult to get it working properly. Question; can you only simulate one item at a time? I tried to simulate a very simple loin cloth and hair but after setting up the loin cloth, I could no longer add the hair to the simulation. I only create still images; do I actually need to do a 30 odd frame animation or can I just do the simulation on the posed figure and get the hair/clothing to drape properly? When I follow the pdf's tutorial and start with a static simulation, I can't go on to do a dynamic simulation; why? Not meaning to offend, but the manual is quite difficult to follow and really needs to be reorganised in such a way so as to explain each button whilst working through examples. Reading 20 plus pages of what each button does is mind-numbing. I was a high school teacher for 25 years (in Australia, so I do write in English; not American) and I would be happy to offer my services to help you (VirtualWorldDynamics) create a more user-friendly guide (ditto for tutorial subtitles). Obviously, my "ulterior-motive" is that I would learn the plugin through and through (ie. thoroughly; not sure whether "through and through" is a colloquialism or not). In the meantime; anyone able to answer my questions? Yeah, I know they're kinda vague, but it's after midnight and I've read half the manual and half this thread. I'm tired.

I have been beta testing this software for a while now and I have gotten excellent results.

But please remember this takes a bit of practice, like Poser's ClothRoom took practice to learn, but this does work in a completely different way.

Note it requires to think ahead, but once you've got the routine down and the order of actions, it works very fast and is very usable.

OK, but that doesn't really answer any of my questions. I can practice all I like; if I can't get to a certain stage (eg. Dynamic simulation), I can't get to it. Repetition is of little use in such a situation.............

@ Erwin0265: I don't promise that these are definitive answers to your questions, but here goes!

For a simulation to work, there needs to be a period of time for the cloth (or hair) vertices to 'relax', come under the influence of gravity, collide and so on. So, even for a static pose, you will need to run the simulation over a number of frames. It may be possible to do this with the figure in its one and only pose but - as with Poser's Cloth Room - it may often be better to let the figure arrive at the desired pose over a number of frames. I generally start from a T-pose, even for animations where frames are derived from the Walk Designer. Where a figure moves abruptly into an extreme pose, there is liable to be penetration of the figure with the cloth mesh if default settings are selected. (I'm thinking of a high-kick in a long dress, or something extreme like that). Also, if the figure is in a pose where the clothing penetrates it at the outset, then the chances of getting a good final drape are much diminished.

You can bring more than one object into the simulation as a Collision item. A figure wearing a tight top could perhaps be brought in as two collision objects for a hair simulation if the cloth top conformed well. Otherwise, if the top is loose fit, it may be necessary to run a simulation where a top would be a clothing item and the figure would be the collision item.

THEN a second simulation would be run for the hair where the figure and the top_VWD objects are collision items. What is the top_VWD object? After a simulation the original top is invisible in the Poser scene and in its place is the mesh produced from the simulation with _VWD added to the name. That can be chosen as a collision object for the hair simulation.

Running one simulation for both cloth and hair together isn't possible, as far as I can tell.

I agree 100% with Biscuits' comments.

I can't remember if I linked to this already but HEREhere are some of my efforts.

Another short vid I may have posted already (I've been contributing to a discussion on another site where Carrara user's are interested in this program and I can't remember what I showed here).

Video is HERE

My post was a try to make the tester realize not to give up yet. :)

Cause this software is a revolution in Poser for realistic results.

I answer your questions now Erwin. :)

Yes, you can only simulate one item at a time. If you want interaction between 2 items, you need to run sims after each other.

For example.

The loincloth first, after the sim is done, send it to Poser, then VWD made a VWD prop out of it and set the original invisible.

Add the hair in Poser, start VWD again, pick now your figure and the cloth as collisions. Set the hair as hair.

If you add conforming clothing, you don't need 30 frames, you can run a static sim to let the cloth drape.

If the hair touches the clothing already, morph it out of the way, either with dials or the morphbrush.

Never let hair penetrate at the start.

Static sim basically is gravity; let everything fall.... static sims do not require multiple frames. But vwd let it settle as long as you don't hit stop. So basically eternal frames.

Note it exports only how it looks at the time that you send it to Poser, so you do not have the choice of multiple frames like with dynamic sims.

If the clothing isn't conforming then you need to run a dynamic sim: For example:

Frame 1 default pose,

Frame 20 morph,

Frame 50 pose

And settle till 60

Dynamic sims i use when I need multiple frames for example:

• Fingers through hair.

• Clothing or Hair needs to touch the floor or furniture.

• Throw a figure on the bed to dent the blankets.

You can't use static and dynamic sims in the same session, only after each other.

Seeing what Biscuits has just written, it looks like I was wrong in saying that a simulation needs a number of frames for a static pose. My excuse is that I've usually run simulations with Pose to Pose animation and assumed that VWD would read every frame in a Poser scene whether the figure moved or not. However, as Biscuits says, the program keeps simulating until you hit stop (when you choose to run a Static Simulation). The position of the cloth at that point is what gets returned to Poser.

(My other excuse is that I play with Physics simulations in other programs and get confused!)

@Grimhilda...many ways to Rome! :)

Can anyone recommend to me a video-recording software that is affordable and outputs mp4 and that let's me add text?

@Erwin0265 : the responses from @Biscuits and @Grimhilda corresponds exactly to those I would have made you. Tell me if you want further explanations.

@Biscuits : Thank you for your comment about the tester. I confess that when I received this response, I was a bit angry because this person has absolutely no attempt to understand how the program works. About programs you can use CamStudio which is free and makes a screen capture with the possibility to insert tooltips. I advise you to associate it with a Xvid compressor which is also free and allows you to make quality videos with a high compression ratio. If you want to add text as subtitles, you can use HandBrake which is also free. These are the programs that I will use in the next demonstration videos that I will do soon.

Thanks for all the responses over such a short period of time! It's interesting to see that there is even uncertainty with "veteran" users as to what is required for a static simulation. I was wondering about the static sim and how long it was taking to just get the hair to drape; it now makes sense to realise that it will go on forever (well, at least until something crashes) until the sim is actively stopped. Thank you, Grimhilda and Biscuits; much appreciated. VirtualWorldDynamics; the offer to help with written guide/s remains - even if just to proof-read (Your guide is full of grammatical errors [sorry], but I believe most are due to the totally different grammatical structure of the written French and English languages. Even with a good knowledge of English [which you obviously have]; direct translation just doesn't work due to the differing grammatical structures of the two languages); mostly, your guide gets the message across but the easier it can be made for new users, the quicker users can learn the program and the quicker the widespread use will be............ Lastly, I noticed some people stating that the simulation's result can't be sent to Poser in the trial version. When I first tried it on a simple loincloth, it passed the end result onto Poser just fine; so is this still the case? Also, the fact the users are posting images and videos (to me) means the resultant simulations can be sent onto Poser, so............(?)

I never dare to touch camstudio again, I tried it before and my av/malwaresoftware went wild on it.

Any other options?

OK. I've done a bit more playing; trying as much as I can to follow the instructions (and having no idea what to tweak to try to alter start or end results) and I still have the same issue I always have with Poser (and here, it's going to be quite clear that I have yet to discover how to manipulate clothing on a figure) - nothing fits the way I try to get it to fit (ie. naturally).! Below is a screencap showing the loincloth fit at the start.

And here's how it fits in the final:

Now I have been tinkering with Poser since version 7 but the only time I get clothing to fit is when it's an item made specifically for that particular morph. So here, my request for help is not just for using VWD; it's also, just how do I get an item to sit well when the figure is in the initial T-pose? I try using the provided morphs, "Easy Pose" (yeah, right), The morph tool...... Why is this so difficult? Also, just for the record, I have purchased and watched numerous "professional" tutorial videos, read copious amounts of tutorials, worked through the user guide; I have just never really been happy with virtually any clothing fit that isn't from a character/clothing combo package (and where is the creativity in that?). I'll admit that this is my first (I think) Renderosity thread I've posted in as I am leaving myself open and raw to any and all criticisms. I've just run out of ideas as to where to search for answers........... I do have almost 30GB of started Poser projects (most of which I have left unfinished; usually due to fitting issues with clothing or hair), so it's not like I haven't tried. This may not be the correct thread to be posting this in; it's (I guess) just a sort of "pooring out" of ongoing frustration. I came to the digital are field from some of the traditional forms (oil painting, graphite pencil illustration, oil pastels/coloured pencils, air brushing [mostly automotive portraits and murals]) due to Crohn's Disease and a nerve/muscle disorder that has robbed me of the ability to go the traditional route without excruciating pain. Digital artforms have allowed me some artistic expression but this clothing/hair fitting issue with Poser (& Daz Studio) limits my expression. I guess I am hoping to understand and learn to use VWD and in the process, learn what I am missing with respect to clothing/hair posing/fitting. I apologise for basically highjacking this thread; I assure all that this was not my intention (and I should probably hit delete but I just can't)..............

@Erwin0265 : I see the problem. Could you tell me which Demo version you use?

The clothes you use is probably one of the most difficult to simulate. It includes rigid elements that often cause problems. Could you give me the name of this cloth to see if I could simulate it.

Seeing the pictures you showed, I would say that you must select all the rigid elements (balls and rigid element), attach them to the character using a "Nail to collision" then click "M1R" to select them again. They must then be stiffened by the neighborhood with a rigidity of 0.01 or less. In these two actions, I suggest you to check the "Distance min" checkbox to limit the number of springs. Optionally, you can increase the value to 0.75 to reduce even more the number of springs.

These actions will help to keep the balls on the character by avoiding that they deform too much.

These actions may seem complicated, but the purpose of VWD is to make the simulation. Thirty years in the field of numerical simulation in the research area, taught me that the principle of "click everywhere" does not work, it is necessary to carry out actions that chain themselves logically. And do not believe that you withdraw your creativity, all creative fields need work. In the words of Georges Brassens "Without work a talent is nothing but a bad habit."

The simulator uses no rigid object collision. This may be a function that I will add in the future.

@VirtualWorldDynamics am developing clothing mostly in Marvelous Designer but then getting them work correctly in Poser cloth sim is a headache. Would welcome any tool that improves this. And a question: MD provides fabric mechanical properties and (implicitly) info on initial strain in the shaped model. Can this be (made) read? The physical properties are quite straightforward in an .xml format. The strain follows from difference in length of edges in UV and XYZ space definition.

@VirtualWorldDynamics I use version 1.0.286.2290 ( the most recent version, I believe). The loincloth is part of "Zavia, Red Martian Princess for V4 (Martian Princess Base)" package by Gareeee. Thanks for your response; I truly appreciate you taking the time. I will try to follow through your suggestions and see if that helps.

@ Erwin0265 I'm glad that you found the replies helpful. The misunderstanding on my part was mainly due to the fact that I haven't concentrated on static simulations but also because I use other software. In Carrara, Iclone and even Poser's cloth room (I believe) the simulation runs for as many frames as are in the scene and in my first reply to you I was mixed up by that.

I'm by no means a veteran but my background is that I tried every imaginable way to get Carrara's implementation of Bullet Physics to produce animated clothing, without success. I'm still pretty much a novice Poser user but I was elated with the results when I tried out the Cloth Room with simple clothing items I had made and then VWD appeared to make realistic simulations possible with bought clothing! So I am in agreement with all the others who regard this as a game changer!

I think to use VWD with the clothing you've shown you would need to study some of the 'advanced' features of the program. In other words, I think you've jumped in at the deep end!

If I may offer advice, I would advise anyone simply to start with the tutorials in the manual applied to any uncomplicated clothing - even use an early Poser figure with the clothing content it came with. That way you can see how the program behaves and what options there are. (My advice is comparable to someone painting a bottle or an apple in oil paints when using them for the first time. That's probably not what they want to paint but they get to see how the medium behaves).

Regarding static poses, it may well be the case that animation could still play a part in creating images from them. A static pose could be someone waiting in a Post Office queue. But it could also be a Flamenco dancer mid-twirl with a dress swirling round or someone whose long hair has swung round as they turn. In the last two examples, some frames of animation would surely make all the difference because VWD would 'find' realistic folds in cloth at that point and would 'place' strands of hair into a realistic arrangement. The program really is amazing.

It is truly unfortunate that you are no longer able to use natural painting media. If I could be granted a second, parallel life, I would be painting, drawing and sculpting all the time. Instead I dabble in 3D. I would recommend a free, safe to download, and excellent program called fotosketcher which allows renders to be transformed into watercolour, oil, pastel, etc.

I seriously suggest you post a series of video tutorials on how to actually use the software. The results are impressive but I personally haven't gotten the demo to work properly after I installed it. Long written instructions aren't near as helpful as videos.

@Grimhilda. I had written a comprehensive response to all that you have written here but then my PC decided to delete it before I could post it (perhaps, lucky for you...). I fully agree with all that you have written. That being said, I do want to try to get this loincloth working as I tend to loose interest when I don't have a goal in mind,other than the goal to learn to use VWD (it's one of my vast collection of character flaws; I'm stubborn).......... I'm going to try to follow Gerald's suggestions and see how I go. Please feel free to advise any time I post results/questions; I can see you know what you are talking about and you have a generosity to share your knowledge; thank you. Regarding using natural painting media; I still do, but I also take a lot of painkillers simultaneously (not too great for the liver or my doctor's blood pressure, but then we all have to suffer for our art. I just tend to do so more literally than most); that's life. It just means I don't create as much as I used to and it messes with my head (ie. depression); I still hope that digital artforms will help me in the long run..........

@thehawkman. Although I do agree with you regarding the user manual; Gerald is working on it; unfortunately, he appears to not have been able to stick to his planned timeline. He has been producing videos but they are in French (he is working on solutions that will provide subtitles as he states that his spoken English is just not good enough). At the same time, he is answering everyone's questions, releasing continual updates and trying to sell the program here on Renderosity as well as RDA (with numerous obstacles to overcome in order for the program to conform to Renderosity's rules). I think we all need to remember, the program is written by a human being who can only do so much in a given timespan. I doubt that VWD's is all that he works at; I'm sure he has an actual job. A guy's gotta eat. Good things take time............