Before I attempt to write a mini-essay, I'd like to ask 'is this thread being monitored by Bondware for ideas and suggestions?

Hello, JeniferC,

I must thank you very much indeed for being so kind as to deal with this for me.

The mistake was my own but now I will look to use the credit to buy something else from the same vendor. Then I will get the value for the money spent and the vendor won't lose either!

Naturally I will delete the downloaded .zip file which I haven't used yet.

Thanks again!

Well, I posted my questions after trying to find answers for myself.

Having tried delving deeper, it looks to me that I would need to take up the matter with the vendor. I don't want to waste that person's time so I guess they have gained a few dollars.

I gather that the extended licence is for exported files to be distributed as components of games and such.

I'm just dropping in quickly to say that Carrara has been greatly improved by the plugin by Philemo(t) to enable the use of Virtual World Dynamics (VWD) Cloth and Hair Simulator.

There is a forum thread dedicated to VWD and a previous 'sticky' thread on the main Poser discussion which will show links and examples of the software working in Poser. DAZ doesn't seem to like VWD being discussed but it can be used in Carrara and Studio as well as Poser. It is amazing.

@ 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.

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!)

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

@ 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.

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.

Ah - you have a V4 Preset? I need to load the latest version!

Anyway here is the vid at last. As you see, what I did worked but I haven't verified that I'm doing it properly.

Here is the video (click)

It seems to need another half hour! The video is very short and in real-time apart from a few moments I cut out while zooming in on the simulation to avoid the full unclothed figure being shown. When I paint the hair vertices I click and drag, then add more with Ctrl click and drag. The program should have a drop-down list of pre-sets for popular figures to automate this but I don't have any list. The hair I used is Ibby Hair and I've done nothing to cater for the bows in it. Also I haven't started with any morph - which VWD would recommend trying, depending on desired results.

This simulation is actually using movement which is really too fast and would need refinement because there is a touch of penetration of the at the back towards the end. It doesn't show in the simulation from the angle it's viewed from and is actually the only time that has happened for me with this hair.

I'm uploading a quick Vid using another Hair which I have. When it's live on YouTube I'll post the link.

I really am quite a novice with Poser but I'll try!

When I've wanted to simulate hair, I too have only followed the tutorial. In Poser I fit the hair to the character. The hair should move with the character's head before going in to VWD's program. Is that happening?

Then, once the figure and hair have been selected in VWD go to the scene viewer. You need to paint some vertices on the figure's head and then -on the 'Hair Parameters' tab press 'Compute Head Vertices'. (Paint with mouse click and drag; remove vertices with Alt mouse click and drag).

Then press 'Show Hair Vertices' and then Generate Springs and Finish'.

Now you can go to the 'Simulation Parameters' tab and run the simulation.

I haven't compared the above with the tutorial steps in the manual but have just run such a simulation. On my system I sometimes run out of memory with some of my hair assets, otherwise the above works OK.

Edited for clarity

Hi Glen,

I'm no expert with Poser runtimes but I think it is probably a good thing to simply unzip the VWD package into an easily-reached folder created specially for it. The program creates and uses a set of folders (Exchange, etc.) of its own and if you ever need to do some housekeeping you can do so without searching through runtimes.

I've tried some first attempts at using the program to simulate hair movement. These aren't polished, I need more practice. Here's the link:Place display text here