Hello VWD Friends!

The new VWD Cloth And Hair Version 2.2 products have been released!

The full version and the upgrade version (requires verification of VWD Version 1.x to extract the full installation package) are now available in our Virtual World Dynamics Renderosity store.

Let's post and track installation and usage conversations in this thread.

Release information:

1. If you own the VWD Cloth And Hair Product Version 1.x from any source (Renderosity or Direct), buy the Upgrade version, and we will be sure to make the proper verification file available to you if you cannot find it. (Renderosity users should be able to extract the proper file from the zip file in their product libraries.)

2. There are installation instructions in the installation zipfiles.

3. The installation packages that come from both versions (full and upgrade) will be identical. The installation package that comes with the upgrade version must be extracted (with a verification first), but is identical to the full version, once extracted.

4. The same installation will work for both Poser and DAZ Studio (Poser 9+ /Pro 2012+, DAZ Studio 4.10+)

5. There are separate installation steps for both Poser and for DAZ Studio - to make VWD visible to both applications

6. The "What's new" features will be listed just below this post, but are also listed in the product page "Editorial" tab(s) and kept current on our VWD website (in my sig below).

We hope you enjoy the new version, and share your questions, successes, and renders with all of us in these forums.

Thanks for waiting it out with us - we appreciate your testing help, patience, and support!

(more to come),

VWD_dan / VWD3D

From the product "What's new" section in the "Editorial Tab"

What’s New in Version 2.x?

This updated version includes all of the features and capabilities of the original VWD Cloth and Hair product, and has been updated with performance improvements, bug fixes, updated in-program hints, and comprehensive program documentation.

- Native integration with DAZ Studio 4.10+

- GPU support for NVIDIA-based graphics cards

- New configuration ‘assistant’ tabs for clothes and hair simplify the dynamic-actor import and configuration process.

- New wind simulation system, with configurable randomness, strength, and directional settings that can vary over the duration of an animation sequence. The wind properties can also be adjusted in real-time during dynamic simulation sequences.

- Improved vertex selection and management tools that now include ‘soft-selection’, which is the ability to apply materials and attachment effects with graduated or softened influence for better control and natural looking results.

- Interface updates, including improved function hints, pop-up messages, and ‘toggle’ buttons that allow for quick changes to a button’s function, improving productivity.

- Simple body dynamics simulation mode for DAZ Studio users, where motions can be tracked on a figure and mapped to available morph-sliders on that object or figure. This is very popular for generating realistic body jiggle on the breasts and glutes of animated human figures.

- New mesh editing functions for DAZ Studio users, allowing for powerful slicing and saving of mesh sections using the already powerful vertex-selection tools. An example use might be to cut the entire top off of a dress, and save and use the bottom skirt as part of another outfit. Kind of like ‘mesh-bashing’ (vs. kit-bashing).

- Included presets for attaching hair to popular DAZ-3D figures, popular body dynamics, and sample wind settings.

- Tools to save various settings as presets and to preserve simulation results for future reference.

- Volumetric simulations of closed mesh items (e.g. water-balloons)

- Adjustable inflation/deflation forces that add pressure to mesh faces, based on their polygon normals.

- An adjustable ‘gravity’ level and inertia that can be enabled or disabled during static and dynamic/animated simulations.

- Apply various ‘weight’ values to specific mesh areas, allowing for fine-tuned control of the lightness or heaviness of specific areas on a single mesh.

- New simulation ‘reset’ functions that allow users to stop and reset a simulation, make some parameter changes, and start the simulation again. This is wonderful for quickly making adjustments to settings before rendering an entire simulation sequence.

- The ability to save the VWD working files with a project for future use.

    ... and more!

Please see the product page Description and Editorial tabs for the full details.

Cheers,

VWD_dan / VWD3D

Quick Upgrader utility tips for VWD Upgrade version purchasers:

The upgrader utility instructions should be be clear, but here are some quick tips/notes:

1. The original version of VWD 1.x does not need to be installed completely or correctly for the upgrader utility to work. All you need is to have the proper V1.1.522.3630 VWDClothAndHair.exe file from the installation zipfile package available anywhere on your system (e.g. your Desktop or a temp folder) for the upgrader utility to browse-to and 'see' and verify that it exists.

2. This exe file only has to exist for the upgrade utility to find once. After the new full-installation zipfile is extracted/generated by the utility, the old VWD version can be (backed up and) removed. (It can be kept available for Poser users, and DAZ 4.10 users (only) who have philemot's bridge product for V1.x. These users should probably rename the VWD 1.x folder to avoid issues)

3. The original and proper VWDClothAndHair.exe file (V1.1.522.3630) is found deep within the original installation zipfile's Poser Runtime directory structure at:

    ...RuntimePythonposerScriptsVWDVWDClothAndHair.exe
   

4. After the upgrader utility has complete, you must then do a normal installation of that complete package. The Upgrader is simply a verification-based generator of the complete installation package.

Again, full instructions are included in the installation packages, so please take a look before getting worried that something is amiss!

If anything about this can be clarified, or if you have any experiences to add, please post below, and/or let us know!

cheers,

VWD3D (aka VWD_dan)

Got it - no problems at all :) thank you!

movida posted at 3:37AM Tue, 24 December 2019 - #4374254

Got it - no problems at all :) thank you!

Yay! That's great news!

For those who are new to this, or prefer video-based overviews on how the Upgrader or Poser/DAZ Studio installations should go, take a look at the installation/Upgrade videos on our new Tutorial-centric YouTube channel and playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-DvUNKDXdk&list=PLJATUIvNVha0pVTQrmGcje-VznZJakyuT

Let us know if these little hints help!

cheers,

VWD3D / VWD_dan

Hi, first of all merry christmas and congratulations on the release. I got my upgrade installation working nicely, and just started testing. I'm really glad that there's 64 bit version included, and I'm using that one.

I thought I'll try those new jiggle dynamics, and dynamic morphs seem to work just fine with base G8F, but if character has geografts like genitalia ( I tried Daz or some third party ), then those dynamic morphs for G8F breasts end up in the left foot Heh, then simulation result is quite interesting Any hints how to fix that?

Also I can't find the manual anywhere. Upgrade notes says that after we unpack that upgrade package, they should be in the documents folder of the full product, but there's only 3 txt files there ( rendo licence, release notes and readme ) . Any user guide like what assistants does ( checkbox in the import window ), any hair simulation tips etc. I own the previous version and tried beta version too, but didn't really have much time to test any of these thing out. Just used it for cloth sim, and now during holidays, I thought maybe I could play a little bit more.

Oh, and happy holidays, these are not critical for me, so have your deserved holiday and response when you have time

EDIT: Actually there seems to be a youtube channel with some videos ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOpGh2GKgryXyMlbcTQ45dg/videos ) and at a quick glance there seems to be some hair simulation videos. I'll start with those

Hi there Mendoman,

It looks like you're diving right in! nice!

The PDF documentation files are located in the main VWD installation folder, in a subfolder called Documentation. The folder you were looking at contains the product and readme sort of docs that Renderosity requires - sorry for the confusion.

In DAZ Studio, if you run the "VWD Help" script, it should open the proper Documentation folder directly in a Windows browser and you can open/view the pdf documents from there. Poser users need to use a Windows browser to find their main installation folder (e.g. C:VWD then open the included 'Documentation' folder to find the same files.

Re: your 'jiggle' and body-dynamics issue, I believe Gérald will be able to help you out. Geografts are (as you might expect) a special case, but I believe they can be made to work.

Until he responds, you might try importing the figure using the new 'Import with Obj files' check-box and 'New Animation' check-box as well. I believe this helps with geografts and similar issues with certain mesh imports and see if that works any better! If this doesn't work, I would imagine we'll have to (show you all how to) make new presets for figures with geografts. It seems like the vertex order gets altered and the numbered vertex on a breast is no longer on that breast. Making new presets is fickle, but not too difficult, and I would guess that you only need to do it (and save it) once per figure+geograft scenario.

I'm sure a few folks are curious about this scenario, so please let us know how you progress!

Happy holidays back at you, and take your time getting to this as well!

cheers,

VWD3D / VWD_dan

Very excited to upgrade! Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Are there still plans for a Patreon?

Leonides02 posted at 12:47PM Tue, 24 December 2019 - #4374314

Very excited to upgrade! Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Are there still plans for a Patreon?

Thanks Leonides02!

Yes, we plan on doing many small interim updates via Patreon from now on, and then major updates (e.g. V2, V3, V4... - that consolidate the many small updates and add bigger new features) here at Renderosity when the times are right (annually, maybe?).

We think this will compliment our own working styles, and allow customers to get 'the latest' new, but more tested, features as they become available - rather than saving far too many features for far too long between our major updates.

Kind of a mixed development mode: agile/beta model from Patreon - for the adventurous folks who might need a specific feature, or want the latest, or wish to help keep VWD alive with Patreon sponsorship - along with the usual traditional major releases that can be counted on as being more stable and tested from here at Renerosity.

We'll revive the other Patreon forum thread with details when we have more concrete plans. The site is up and available for those who wish to sponsor early! :^)

Getting this baseline version 2.x in place here at Renderosity is/was key to the long-term model, and will help set the foundation for our ongoing mini-updates on Patreon.

As always, we appreciate the consistent support of our core users and hope this model will work for everyone - especially Gérald - who can now work with his own inspiration (he has many ideas in mind), as opposed to the deadlines of his crazy friend and partner (me).

cheers to all,

VWD3D / VWD_dan

Hello,

I hope this version will help you to do beautiful renders and beautiful animations.

@Mendoman, characters with geographs are exported differently by OBJ file or by script in DazScript. Using this box allow to use the same method to import the dynamic actor and to import its animation. It is for this reason there is the "export by OBJ" box in the collision tab. But, I don't know if it is possible to manage a dynamic deformation on the geographs (genitalia, wings, ...) I will try this option and I will reply to you. There is a video in the YouTube channel you quoted, that explains how to use the dynamic deformation function and another one that explains how to create dynamic deformation wires and how to choice and apply the values on the morph linked to the wire. Perhaps, this second video can help you to find a way to do so.

Hello. I am currently the owner of the VWD version 1.1.522.3630. This version works without any problem with my Poser 2014 64-bit. Encouraged by the possibilities offered by VWD, I bought upgrade 2.2. Unfortunately, after installing upgrade 2.2 and trying to run, I get a message saying:

VWD starts but I can't run the simulation. What may be the problem.

Sorry for my English.

So i purchased this program and it does not work correctly. i have viewed a few videos and none of them really focus on the basics of clothing. So i add the g8f as collision and unclick the 0, and it is added, then i add the clothing as cloth with assistant and click what i need and then it is added. i go to simulate/static start and NOTHING. the cloth does not move no matter what i do. AT ALL. i wait and wait and wait, nothing. the clothing will not move. seriously ticked right now.

so i also tried a animated scene and the clothing stays in the stock pose position and does not animate with the character too. The character runs through the animation but again the cloth does NOTHING. it stays static in the base pose position while the main character G8 moves into the pose position. so again we have a program that does not work with clothing items as advertised. and these are dForce clothing as well. i see the creator online but has not responded to the inquires to these posts.

so still trying with the 2.2, and i tried hair this time. it pops up an error every time..... in french.... this is so ridiculous i cant even believe that this is so difficult to use, even if it did work and i am really DAZ savy.

yup, so i tried loading all and a lot different types of clothing on my g8 and when animating or in static the cloth doesn't move it stays static while the body moves through the clothing. no matter what clothing i add the clothing is a static obj and not animated.

just to add this is doing this inside the script view window so i cant send it back to daz as it did nothing,

jackjump posted at 1:10PM Thu, 26 December 2019 - #4374557

Hello. I am currently the owner of the VWD version 1.1.522.3630. This version works without any problem with my Poser 2014 64-bit. Encouraged by the possibilities offered by VWD, I bought upgrade 2.2. Unfortunately, after installing upgrade 2.2 and trying to run, I get a message saying:

VWD starts but I can't run the simulation. What may be the problem.

Sorry for my English.

Hello JackJump,

Your English is clear, and I'm sorry for the frustration.

Can you give us a bit more information about the figure, cloth and scene you are using? I assume you are using Poser Pro 2014, and that you are using VWD in a similar manner as you did with V1.x, except that you may be using the assistant to help set up the materials?

I also assume you are seeing the error when you start the simulation. Are you doing a static sim or dynamic?, and are you trying to use the GPU, or have you check-boxed the "Use multithread" to use CPU instead.

Please try the "Use multithread" check-box and see if using the CPU helps get you going.

More information will help us recreate your scenario and maybe we can help get your scenes working. Let us know which figure, cloth or hair, and if you are using Poser 2014 w CPU or GPU.

Thanks,

VWD3D (dan)

StarLabz posted at 1:23PM Thu, 26 December 2019 - #4374572

So i purchased this program and it does not work correctly. i have viewed a few videos and none of them really focus on the basics of clothing. So i add the g8f as collision and unclick the 0, and it is added, then i add the clothing as cloth with assistant and click what i need and then it is added. i go to simulate/static start and NOTHING. the cloth does not move no matter what i do. AT ALL. i wait and wait and wait, nothing. the clothing will not move. seriously ticked right now.

Hi StarLabz,

I'm digesting your notes and efforts now (I hate when support folks don't actually pay attention to the customer's symptoms/steps).

I see you are a DAZ user and DAZ savvy, Using G8F and a variety of clothes and hairs - trying to get anything to work...

First, like JackJump, maybe try the "Use MultiThread" checkbox in the Simulation tab.That tells VWD to use the CPU, which I find more stable, and with the many NVIDIA devices out there, maybe it will at least get us on the right track for where your problem is.

Questions of note: are you using DAZ Studio 4.10 or newer?, and is VWD installed in a simple path location like C:\VWD - at least for now?

I'm sincerely sorry for the frustration. The program does work in many contexts (it was tested a lot) but your system seems to have identified a problematic combination.

Your time is valuable, we'll treat it that way.

I'll study your efforts more and get this to you now. (BTW - being online means I left the browser window open from yesterday, but am probably in a later timezone, so you were truly not being ignored!)

We'll get this working for you.

Be Well,

VWD3D (dan)

Hi again StarLabz ,

A quick 'does it work' test to try with the simple test scenes that come with VWD 2.2:

• find the test scenes directory in your DAZ Studio Library->Scripts->VWD folder
• find and open the DS_PlaneSphere scene
• start VWD
• down in the Utilities tab, press the 'Restore default parameters' button (about five down?) to clear any odd settings
• import the sphere as the collision, by selecting it, clicking collision (no assistant), and then the bigger Collision button that appears very nearby (really simple mode).
• import the plane as the cloth, by selecting it, clicking cloth (no assistant), and then the bigger Cloth button that also appears very nearby. No other settings for now.
• In the simulation tab, enable the CPU with the "Use Multithread" check-box and set it to use a couple (all) of your CPUs
• press the "Start static simulation" or "Start dynamic simulation"

The place should fall onto the sphere like a towel on a beach-ball.

If it does what you expect, try the same steps and leave the "Use Multithread" unchecked if you have a GPU to try.

From my read, your steps so far seem correct, and dforce items work very well, and on G8F. I've tried on DAZ 4.10,11,12, and 12 public build, so I know these things can work, but that doesn't help you if they don't work (yet).

Report back to us! If this doesn't work, something unique is happening with your system that we need to explore and rectify ASAP.

thanks,

VWD3D (dan)

JackJump,

As I describe above for StarLabz, please try a simple scene.

For Poser users, that equivalent scene (Psr_PlaneSphere.pz3) is in the VWD main folder's Working_Files // Scenes directory.

(e.g. C:\VWD\Working_Files\Scenes\Psr_PlaneSphere.pz3)

Maybe give that scene file a quick run-through with the above steps and see what we can learn.

I'll try and see if I can get Poser 2014 actually working on my system, now that Bondware/Rendo own it, I don't know if it will start/license properly. I use Poser 11.2 to be sure it works with the latest changes. I'll report back if I have any luck.

Thanks, VWD3D (dan)

well that worked a bit. and thank you for helping. now when i animate it crashes the script but not daz. it gets about half the way through. i have 4.12 and the latest download of your prog.

StarLabz posted at 2:32PM Thu, 26 December 2019 - #4374601

well that worked a bit. and thank you for helping. now when i animate it crashes the script but not daz. it gets about half the way through. i have 4.12 and the latest download of your prog.

Oh good news - but still looking for better.

If I read you right, you are running the scripts through the script-IDE interface? Can you describe this a bit more, and can I ask if you might consider running it the 'usual' way until we get you working, then we can push the edges again? I'm intrigued by your approach, but would like to get a working baseline for you ASAP.

RE: your mentioned progress, what worked for you? - the CPU works with real clothes/hair, or the simple plane-sphere test works, or ... ?

cheers,

VWD3D (dan)

Hello JackJump, I will help you with pleasure but I need more informations on the scene you want to simulate. Please, can you tell me after what action the error message appears. A button, an action in the scene viewport, ... If you want, you can do a sceen capture to show the issue.

Hello StarLabz, I suppose your problem is the program sees a graphic card usable in the simulation by using OpenCL, but there is an issue in the OpenCL settings. Perhaps, your graphic card driver is not up to date. To resolve this issue, you can use the multithreading mode and use the power of your CPU to do the simulations. You can also try to update your graphic card driver. Tell me if this issue goes on after you made these tests. Could you tell me what kind of computer you currently use (laptop or desktop computer) and the graphic card you have in this computer?

For both, we are sorry for your problems.

i'll get back to you on this. It has been working somewhat with just the MultiThread checked. and what is the usual way? i run the script inside DAZ...in the script folder. i have never owned your previous version, only the 2.2...

What i really don't like about this script is that this isn't an easy thing to use. TO MANY TECH KNOW HOW is what is really needed, which is disconcerting. i want a program that is easy to use, with a better interface. like the clothing, it should be an easy script with a way to mark up the cloth of where you want it to catch, and where you want it to be loose. the way this is setup is REALLY DIFFICULT to get used to quickly. you have to really delve into each tweak and check this and uncheck that. WAY TOO MANY things you have to tweak for something that could be really simple to use.

With that said, I do understand that there are a lot that went into this i bet and for what i see that it can do, this is great! Although, you should really put a disclaimer on your product stating that this is not an easy program to use. Easy script to load but VERY DIFFICULT to learn and i can learn things pretty fast, but this is a bit much to swallow.

StarLabz posted at 3:16PM Thu, 26 December 2019 - #4374617

i'll get back to you on this. It has been working somewhat with just the MultiThread checked. and what is the usual way? i run the script inside DAZ...in the script folder. i have never owned your previous version, only the 2.2...

With this comment, I'll assume that you actually are using the script the 'usual' way. Just a double-click to start the script is all that is needed. There were some terms used above that made me wonder if that was your usage mode. Sorry for the confusion on that.

What i really don't like about this script is that this isn't an easy thing to use. TO MANY TECH KNOW HOW is what is really needed, which is disconcerting. i want a program that is easy to use, with a better interface. like the clothing, it should be an easy script with a way to mark up the cloth of where you want it to catch, and where you want it to be loose. the way this is setup is REALLY DIFFICULT to get used to quickly. you have to really delve into each tweak and check this and uncheck that. WAY TOO MANY things you have to tweak for something that could be really simple to use.

With that said, I do understand that there are a lot that went into this i bet and for what i see that it can do, this is great! Although, you should really put a disclaimer on your product stating that this is not an easy program to use. Easy script to load but VERY DIFFICULT to learn and i can learn things pretty fast, but this is a bit much to swallow.

I jumped into this VWD world with the idea of doing some tutorials - pretty much for the same reasons you describe. The program does magic, but I can't defend the complexity of its interface - just the amazing results of its operation.

Both Gérald and I are now able to do some videos (now that the mechanical aspects of the build/test/release/notify process are finally done) that can walk a mere-mortal through the process of setting up (and understanding) a full-fledged physics simulation on a 3D-cloth or hair mesh.

I hope you will hold on to this bucking bronco of a simulator until we can help settle her down - with good information about the amazing power that's just under the hood.

And... while we do qualify the package's complexity in the product description, I, like many who bought the first version, saw the slick results and ignored the warnings, since I can usually figure these things out... heh. silly me. :)

That said, hold on to your investment. Given my recent year of testing and learning VWD (I'm not the programmer), I now think the tutorials that are coming might actually be useful.

When you get to the point where you are manually sculpting these meshes with some comfort and control, you'll probably never do a render without some VWD involvement again.

I hope this is the case!

VWD3D (dan)

i totally agree and will hold on to this as i can see its quiet a bit more than daz's dForce and is like marvelous designer quick. i do see the opportunities this script provides, and i really hope these tutorials wont take forever to get out there. Ive been fiddling with it since the issues and it's way more difficult than i thought.. i know it will get better by using it. so far it can animate but the clothing is seriously too jagged on the character as when it falls on the skin it rips though and ive tinkered with a lot of settings including using the cloth assistant.... i used really stiff and still when i animate its like dropping a weighted cloth on the skin and even with a good distance it still has serious rip through...when i watch the vids that are out there this doesn't happen and its real smooth, which is great for those that have the right settings, but a headache for those that have to sit in front of a small script window with 20-30 things jto tinker with just to get the clothing right for 20-40 minutes, per item. this is what i am getting at. The manual is seriously crazy! this is why there should have been already in place vid tutorials to set up clothing quickly or an auto setting you can pick from. no offense, but i don't have time to read a manual while trying to understand the actual script at the same time. Even if i can understand most of what is written in the manual it's still way to wordy for something that in my opinion could have been easy to explain without trying to confuse the user with techno jargon. Like the Vertices Selection: it looks like a figging calculator, and its hard to understand how to use this tool and after even looking at the tut that is kinda available with poor english (no offence) i wanted to throw the computer against the wall. i can see the versatility that can be used with that, but man...what a headache trying to tweak that over and over and over again, just like the force and springs.....too many unknowns and how to use it.....

mainly i think what has me up in arms is that i see that this could be one of the best products on the market but you failed to provide a REAL how-to, but instead spent time on promo vids....not good business imho. Like zBrush which i am really good at, they make both. promo and tut. this is your second version so there should have been time to really show what this thing can do by instructional videos already completed before release. People don't want to sit and read a manual anymore, they want real-time-vids to show how to use each feature; which there are a lot to use in your script. i really tried with the manual, but i don't want to nit pick there, its just way to uninformative of how to really USE the product in real time setting. please forgive my argument this isn't personal but i really wanted this thing to be user friendly and not have to really sit down and try to learn a new language...just dont have that type of time any more. time is money.

Your candor is seriously appreciated, as is your willingness to share specific critiques, rather than generic grumbles.

All I can promise now is that the two of us (Gérald and I) will be working to share how-tos and to fix issues. The two of us are not a Z-brush... trust me, but that you also see the potential of this little gem is very telling, and it is the only reason I am here too. I still think it's magic, but it's very much a labor of love, not a living (even for one of us) by any means - not even close! :) - but you folks all paid good life-energy (money) for our promise, and we will always treat our ongoing relationship with its due respect.

Please stay in contact and look for the bits of news and help that will follow - and this is the best place (these forums) to look for VWD news of any sort.

Time is not just money to me (us), it is everything, so I appreciate your closing sentiment far more than you might realize. Life is way too short for manuals, but as I hacked through writing the thing, I reminded myself that life sucks a lot when you can't help yourself. The manual, as written, is intended as a VWD "what". I think videos are a better "how", so we'll see how it goes as they come out.

cheers, and thanks again for your ideas and comments,

VWD3D (dan)

No really, thank you for your candor. I really see that you care about your customer. You have gained much respect for that. My comments are really to ellivate your product as I really can see that this gem can go really far. In actuality, DAZ should hire the both of you to develop a real time integrated product within thier program for animation with clothing and hair.

Happy Holidays and I look forward to more from you guys in the near future.

now i am running into the issue where it gives me errors on clothing. a pop up window states that the "clothing item name".obj does not exist when i try and add clothing and then gives an violation error. at the bottom it has the preparing clothing still active but nothing happened afterward. i closed the script and it crashed my daz. i wonder if it has issues with certain clothing. i used this on my character: Dewdrop dress.

this is the error : violation address 006FC320 and lecture address 852F4BB8.

also i tried to add 2 collisions like a seat and will it also collide with that as well while seated?

Hello VWD3D.

Changing the check box from GPU to "Use multithreading" has helped! Static and dynamic simulation works!

Thank you for help VWD3D !!!

jackjump posted at 1:39PM Fri, 27 December 2019 - #4374688

Hello VWD3D.

Changing the check box from GPU to "Use multithreading" has helped! Static and dynamic simulation works!

Thank you for help VWD3D !!!

Great news.

It seems to me that the NVIDIA/GPU functionality may rely on certain Hardware/Driver/System specifics than we could test. We only have a few systems of our own to test with, and the GPU problems that the beta-testers found were fixed, to the best of my understanding.

FWIW, I have older GeForce 760s with the NVIDIA drivers that are recommended for DAZ's IRAY (430.86). I'm pretty sure Gérald has the much more current 1080 series card(s).

(I'm drooling at the 2080rtx, but not today...).

We've also seen more stable results with the Simulation tab 'Double sticks' (GPU related) and 'CPU sticks' checkboxes enabled. These are optimizations that may add time to your simulations, but may also allow them work well with certain outfits.

I'm glad you are able to see VWD working!

cheers,

VWD3D (dan)

StarLabz posted at 1:51PM Fri, 27 December 2019 - #4374686

this is the error : violation address 006FC320 and lecture address 852F4BB8.

also i tried to add 2 collisions like a seat and will it also collide with that as well while seated?

Yes - you can import as many collision-items as you like in a VWD session, but only one (1) dynamic-actor (hair or cloth) that will be simulated during that session. To create a result with multiple dynamic-actors at the same time in a scene, you simulate each one separately in its own session, and consolidate them (before your renders) with the VWD 'Restore DAZ Mats + Anims' button. To layer sims, you'll run a sim, which you'll see creates a new item (e.g. sim a 'summer_dress' and you'll get 'summer_dress_VWD' with the simulation applied, and the 'summer_dress' will be left alone and hidden in the scene). The next session you will import the 'summer_dress_VWD' version as a collision-item, and it will show the animation/sim results, and you can sim a new sweater or scarf on top of that 'summer_dress_VWD', and the new sim will flow over that animated item as if it were a 'solid' in the scene. Kind of a layering effect.

For your mentioned scenario, you would import the figure (G8F) and the chair as collision-items, and the dress as the dynamic-actor (cloth). My usual workflow is to animate the figure in a T or A pose, with the fitted outfit, then over 30 to 120 frames, animate the figure to the desired pose on the chair, then do the import to VWD and run the simulation as a 'Start dynamic simulation' and you'll see the outfit do what clothes should do if the materials are close to correct.

I need to get these videos done! It shows so much better than can be written!

I hope this helps,

VWD3D (dan)

StarLabz posted at 2:06PM Fri, 27 December 2019 - #4374679

now i am running into the issue where it gives me errors on clothing. a pop up window states that the "clothing item name".obj does not exist when i try and add clothing and then gives an violation error. at the bottom it has the preparing clothing still active but nothing happened afterward. i closed the script and it crashed my daz. i wonder if it has issues with certain clothing. i used this on my character: Dewdrop dress.

urg. First, be sure that both the DAZ and VWD are truly not still running after a quirky crash/termination like this - taskviewer->end-process.

second, if you are still experimenting, you can clear the VWD files without risk of removing a sim result worth saving. Open DAZ, load your scene, start VWD, but before importing things, clear the relic working files in VWD using the Utilities tab 'Delete all "Exchange" files' button, then do your import. This will clear all side-effects. I also 'Restore default parameters' in that same tab when things get wonky.

Dewdrop (DAZ?) is a beautiful dress - perfect for this kind of tool. It has some details that might make it interesting to import. I'd like to see a video of Gérald working this outfit - just for the approach/thinking.

Yes - the outfit does matter. I believe the 'does not exit' message is the result of the processing/import taking longer than the program expects - very non-deterministic. This was one of the last fixes done before release, and it still may not have nabbed the 'bug'. I will bounce this to Gérald asap, and see if we can get a workaround identified.

dewdrop should not be too much for VWD to handle in any context. Stay tuned on this one.

My only thought is to be sure not much else is going on with your system when you do the import and see if that helps. Maybe Gérald can correct me here with a better answer.

More to come,

VWD3D (dan)

Any news about geoshell support?

hello stger,

Based on my testing, I did not see any activity/changes that related to geoshell propagation into/onto the xxx_VWD items that VWD creates and manipulates.

My gut conclusion is that to use a simulated xxx_VWD item with a geoshell, you will need to create and texture a new geoshell on that VWD-produced item.

Perhaps Gérald made some other changes that I missed (there were a lot of tweaks done in the last two years!), but if the Utilities tab's 'Restore DAZ Mats + Anims' button does not produce the desired effect, I would imagine you'll have to re-create the geoshells on the xxx_VWD items manually.

Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but I hope it saves you some head-scratching. Maybe Gérald has some better news.

VWD3D (dan)

oh sorry... I meant geocraft not geoshell ;)

if using a character with a geocraft there is glitch in the simulation

Ah, OK,

Well, I think there's better news there, but as you know, geografts are inherently 'special', so here's what I think I know.

I believe Gérald's new "Import with Obj files" checkbox in the 'Collision parameters' tab was added to address this need.

Maybe a quick try of the collision-item import with the 'Import with Obj files', 'New animation', and 'Use animation' check-boxes will import and perhaps generate the desired effects.

This is another place where Gérald knows the subtle details and intent, but I'm pretty sure this was part of the inspiration for that check-box. It may slow the frame-to-frame simulation down a second or two (each) for the first run, but should otherwise be pretty low-impact to use this option.

Give it a go with your scene/items and let us know!

VWD3D (dan)

Hello StarLabz, Hello all,

when I started to write the program, my idea was to create a product which would be able to simulate easily many clothes.

As things progressed, I found so many differences in the cloth meshes that I had to add parameters to be able to manage the simulations. These parameters are necessary to resolve all the situations. I certainly will add other parameters in the future but I never will delete one of them. If a parameter is in the interface, it is because it is useful.

I come from the simulation field and professional simulation programs like Abaqus certainly have tens of thousands parameters. These programs have these parameters because they are useful. One cannot say these programs are bad because they have a lot of parameters or they are difficult to use. I don't want to compare VWD to Abaqus but in both case, we try to do the best simulation results. Modestly for me.

ZBrush is a marvelous program and I will not compare VWD to it. I and now, with Dan, we work on the program, its documentation and its tutorials slowly. My incomes for this year with VWD, before the start of the V2, are less than 2 days of my other activity. "Time is money", perhaps, even though I am not, as Dan, so sure of the truth of this sentence. "Passion is time but not money", this corresponds better to VWD currently for I and Dan.

To come back to the simulation, a lot of ingeneers tried and try again to simplify the simulation programs. The result is not good. Not because they are not competent, but because a complicated field has to be transformed in complex field. The first one has almost no solution, the second one has a solution based on a decomposition in simple actions. The program which will allow to work on a complex domain will be complex itself, but not complicated.

I fully agree with you, we have to explain VWD using tutorials. Sorry if my tutorials have been made with a bad English, I can do them in French (I would like to do so) but I don't think they will be useful to you. I want to do many tutorials in (Bad) English because Dan does not understand perfectly French. If these tutorials are understandable, they will be uploaded as is, otherwise, Dan will help me to redo them with a perfect English or will redo them himself.

I consider this new V2 version as the start of a new life for VWD. We know we have a lot of improvements to do with the program. Every days, I do simulations, I had some issues I tried to correct, but many simulations work fine. I think my first work will be to explain the good rules in the use of the program. This will help everyone to reduce the error messages even though I will have to correct them in the program later.

Please, understand that this message is not against someone or something, it is just here to say that I am happy to work on VWD. I will be happy to continue to do this work with the help of the users and Dan. It is necessary to know that I asked to Dan to accelerate the generation of this version because that was, for me, its last chance. Too much time, not enough money. At one point, this ratio is no longer acceptable. I thank him a lot for that.

Have a great day.

   Gérald

... what he said ...

there are a lot of cool things we want to do to VWD, and with VWD, and we now have a good foundation to do it with. Let's see where this adventure takes us.

a big thanks to Gérald for sticking with us all

I once read that "life is what happens while you're making other plans" ... I like the truth in that.

let's do this!

Cheers,

VWD3D (dan)

Hey StarLabz,

I picked up the dewdrop outfit from DAZ. It has a lot of 'features' that will make it a good demo for VWD capabilities, and some useful videos can come of it. Things like ribbons, buttons, elastic waistlines, straps - all make dynamics 'interesting', and I think this outfit can showcase VWD's strengths, even if others don't use the techniques on this particular outfit. And it's a dforce item, which lets folks see how well those items can work in VWD.

I'll explore using it right away and see what we can learn and share with everyone.

more to come,

VWD3D (dan)

Hi Dan

Many thanks to you and Gérald for your work on VWD. I have used version 1 quite a lot (with animations) and while I sympathise with those who find it complicated, it is also very powerful and flexible. I have had some nice results, and some difficulties along the way, and I am still learning. I have found Gerald's videos extremely helpful. (Also Toonces "cheat sheet" in the Daz Dynamic Clothing forum).

For those about to plunge into VWD I would remind them that you say on the store page that the program is powerful and complex and you recommend trying the free trial version first.

Now a question: I have stayed with Daz v4.10 so VWD v1 continues to work. Now I have VWD v2 ready to install. Should I continue with Daz 4.10 or upgrade Daz first to 4.12? If I stay with 4.10 I can revert to VWD v1 if I have a problem with v2? But is VWD better integrated with Daz 4.12? (My graphics card is not NVidia and I think this has caused some issues with other plugins). There are a few people on here with various problems with VWD v2, and a couple who are happy - But are there many more who have no problems and so keep quiet!? Thanks again - And keep up the good work!

fuqol217 posted at 11:53AM Sat, 28 December 2019 - #4374800

Hi Dan

Many thanks to you and Gérald for your work on VWD. I have used version 1 quite a lot (with animations) and while I sympathise with those who find it complicated, it is also very powerful and flexible. I have had some nice results, and some difficulties along the way, and I am still learning. I have found Gerald's videos extremely helpful. (Also Toonces "cheat sheet" in the Daz Dynamic Clothing forum).

Hello fuqol217,

Thanks for the vote-of-confidence - and I'm really glad the original version has worked well for you. I appreciate the 'if-it-aint-broke' position you are now in with this upgrade... :)

For those about to plunge into VWD I would remind them that you say on the store page that the program is powerful and complex and you recommend trying the free trial version first.

It's a tough line to walk - selling a great little tool, and not overselling it. We're careful not to use the word 'easy' or 'simple', but there's still the implication in today's market that tools like this should be more 'artist' friendly rather than technical in nature, so it's a tough dance. I see the complex shader product authors bump into this often as well, and I'm certain we are all wishing that our customers could get the great results with a couple of button presses - but with the huge variation in scenes, visions, and goals, it's not often that everything 'just works' in a given scene. With good information, we hope to help "teach folks to fish" rather than just "giving them the fish". That said, providing some good fish to eat while learning how to bait your hook is a noble goal.

What frustrates me most about this tool and this context we work in, is that the folks in here are really smart, and tools like this can make us feel otherwise. I think very often that the right small gem of information is all that is needed to get folks moving, if not running, to their successes. We'll soon see!

Now a question: I have stayed with Daz v4.10 so VWD v1 continues to work. Now I have VWD v2 ready to install. Should I continue with Daz 4.10 or upgrade Daz first to 4.12? If I stay with 4.10 I can revert to VWD v1 if I have a problem with v2? But is VWD better integrated with Daz 4.12? (My graphics card is not NVidia and I think this has caused some issues with other plugins).

Ok, this is a really good question. Let me answer in couple of ways:

• The lowest risk for a DAZ Studio 4.10 user is to stay on 4.10 and tweak your new V2 installation a bit to co-exist with V1.

V1 and V2 can co-exist with DS 4.10 only. (although I bet you let V1 go pretty quickly, as it is truly a subset of V2 - and V2 should look and act very familiar to V1). You can keep them both for a while to be safe - that's what I do.

Doing this installation tweak is pretty simple: Set up your system to use both versions by installing the new VWD V2 main program stuff into a folder/directory named something like C:\VWD2\ instead of the recommended C:\VWD). Only DAZ Studio 4.10 users can take advantage of this co-existence anymore because 4.11 breaks philemot's DS bridge, and our V2 plugin doesn't work in 4.9 or below. Also, to be clear, when you install the plugins and scripts into DAZ Studio (any) in the normal (copy files...) way, they should not overwrite or impact the V1 files or philemot's DS-bridge product files at all.

When you first run the V2 scripts in DAZ Studio (setup, start, help), it will ask you to find your new VWD V2 folder/program - and you should tell it (by browsing to the folder/files when prompted) where you installed the new V2 program files (e.g. C:\VWD2\ if you followed my example).

Give this a go and see if you can get V4.10 to start and run VWD V2.

We were careful to set VWD 2.x up to co-exist for exactly this reason. You should be able to get it working by simply doing the normal install with a slightly different VWD 2 program folder name - that's it! Again, DS 4.10 only!

Also - this slightly different folder name will work with DS 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, and 4.12 public-build at the same time (quick note: you must also install the VWD V2 plugins in the DS 4.12 public build 'plugins' folder if you need the public build versions to work with VWD on your system. A lot of folks don't realize this, or forget.)

Other notes:

• I have tested VWD with 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, and 4.12 public-build. They all work fine as far as my tests went. I also test almost exclusively in 4.12 - mostly because that's where DAZ is going, so we (VWD) need to be there early and find problems first. I'm not usually a 'latest and greatest version' guy at all. (Also tested and works with Poser 11.2 and Carrara 8.5)

• In DS 4.12, the animation system is quite different, so doing the upgrade will not only require you to learn new VWD-isms, but new DAZ-isms too. The new 4.12 timeline is not bad!, but it is different, and you can use your original graphmate and keymate in DS 4.12 if you need to. The 4.12 public build (not the standard release) already has some new fixes and updates for animators, so trying 4.12 public-build might be a good way to see what you are getting into as you keep your 4.10 installation safe. It's not too scary or complicated if any of you haven't already got a public-build install going.

• FWIW, a single installed version of the main VWD program folder works with Poser, DS, and Carrara. That said, if you pull the pdf docs (20 megs) from the main folder, the whole VWD program folder is only 10-ish megs, and having a VWD program folder of this size dedicated to each application is a viable option with today's disk/storage.

There are a few people on here with various problems with VWD v2, and a couple who are happy - But are there many more who have no problems and so keep quiet!?

We can only guess on this one. We (VWD) don't track usage, and I know there are many folks in this 3D business that 'collect' content and tools, as much as they actually use their goodies (dan sheepishly shuffles and looks down at his shoes... :)

And... I also know that I am much more likely to post items in a vendor/product forum when I have a need, rather than when things are going fine, so it's hard to measure customer success from the activity levels in these forums. Cool renders that get posted and cool tips and tricks are the best overt proof that things are working for folks.

Thanks again - And keep up the good work!

It's slow going, but your feedback is great motivation. It is much easier to put energy in to a project when you know it's being appreciated. Thanks for your supportive comments! and good luck on getting VWD working with your 4.10 version, or if you choose to upgrade. (or both, with a public build install!).

And post some renders and tips as you explore it all!

cheers,

VWD3D (dan)

Wow - What a quick, comprehensive and useful reply - Thanks Dan! I'll let you know how I get on!

Got the upgrade, and managed to install it. I have a few questions, some may be a bit 'silly' due to lack of practice (and reading of manuals) with the product (both 1.* and now 2.*).: The plug-in itself (the .dll) is 64-bit, but the external program itself is 32-bit only - is that correct? Simple, static simulations seem to go ok, but I get a general 'lack of memory' error on any dynamic (animated) simulation I try (this is with a G8F and one dress, over the default 30 frames) - it gets up to about 800MB (reported in bottom right of screen) then has the memory issue. I have 64GB RAM and gfx card has 12GB, neither of which are remotely maxed-out at the time.

SimonJM :

The DLL is only to work with the correct running version of DS, but yes, the program is 32-bit, so no matter how much RAM you have you will never use more than 2 Gigs RAM for this x86 program - It is not Large Address Aware, so is capped at 2 Gigs.

However, I just tested (ver2 demo EXE) making the program LAA which gives the maximum x86 cap to 4 Gigs RAM on a x64 system. I only tested the included plane/sphere testing scene to confirm making the program LAA works or not.

I used Large Address Aware-2.0.4 to enable the LAA.

Now, this is old from pre-GPU days, and is in regards to CPU usage - I am not sure how this affects GPU usage, or if springs are only being stored in general RAM, which is where the cap comes in. Gérald will have to confirm the differences/usage allowances.

My suggestion would be to make it LAA, re-run your animated sim, and see if you still get the out of memory error on springs creation. Using 'Spring reduction' (check box) in Scene Import Tab often helps as well.

• EDIT: I know you said it gets to 800MB in corner, but from what I remember testing/using version 1, there is initial spring creation, and then compounded spring creation depending on different settings enabled - you might only see the initial springs creation reported, and the out of memory error due to further springs creation for the animated drape -- Corrections for this, Gérald/Dan - I could be wrong.

Gérald/Dan :

Just wanted to report that my nVidia GeForce GTX 650 (2048MB RAM) is working fine with ver2 demo so far with static drape testing. Still need to test animated drapes, but it looks like minimum requirements can be below the recommended 700 series.

Also, just an FYI - you have two script folders for install - 'ver2 demo' and 'ver2.x' -- The DSE scripts in the demo folder (which I believed should be installed) do not work - just unspecified 'failed to start' error, look in Log File, which just states script 'failed to start'.

The scripts in the 'ver2.x' work, but this might be confusing to newcomers wishing to try the demo -- As I am not a newbie at this, I knew the avenues to pursue to get a working version (first used the beta DSA scripts), but I would not have installed the 'ver2.x' folder where I believed this would be for when I purchased the upgrade -- Using the demo, I only would install the demo folder...

So, going over the install specs, and touching on SimonJM's question/issue, and from what I know regarding x86 software :

Why are the suggested RAM specs 8G (min.) and 16 - 32G ('good' mid-range) when x86 programs can only utilize up to 4G (if LAA) max?

The CPU simulation runs via cores, and I am guessing the GPU does the same (Cuda cores?). So isn't the base RAM only for springs storage along with object files in memory?

Is VWD somehow utilizing RAM beyond the x86 4G cap?

Hi Dan - I followed your advice (above) and your videos and was soon running VWD v2 in Daz 4.10 and 4.12 Public Beta. Thanks!

Generally all is good for me, however I have found an issue which is new to VWD v2. When I make the actor's arms invisible (because they brush the cloth during the animation and spoil the simulation) it causes the dynamic simulation to go wrong at the first frame. (See attached for what happens - It sort of shrink-wraps the actor, who is in T-pose). Static simulation is ok.

I tested this in Daz 4.12 and 4.10, and confirmed that VWD v1 does not exhibit the problem. To be sure it was the visibility I tried it "off" (problem), visibility "on" (ok), and then "off" again (problem returns).

I'm sure you have higher priorities, but it would be good if this could be fixed sometime as it is a useful technique!

Many thanks! VWD issue.JPG

I bought the upgrade. I followed the instructions. I ran the exe and then I located the older specified version. I saw it create a zip file. Then I try to extract the created zip file, but I get all kinds of errors about the path being too long for a number of files. I can skip them but then is the extract any good. Or am I suppose to extract the created zip? Or am I suppose to do something else with the zip file that gets created?

When I run the original exe that came with the upgrade, there is a button that you click on. Then a window opens and I find this file Vwdcothandhair.exe. It is in a folder labeled vwdclothandhair v1.1532.3630_206702. The instructions say that it doesn't matter where the exe of the older file is located, so I choose the one that is in my download folder from Renderosity. That is the one I have specified The choice is Open or Cancel, so I click on open and that is when I see it create the zip. So am I doing it right? And if so why all the errors when extracting the zip that gets created? I am using windows 10 pro. I have the latest version. 64 bit.

I also saw where you said to create a directory on the c drive like c:vwd

Is that where you are suppose to copy the files after you unzip them? Or are you suppose to somehow install them to that location from the zip?