I ran into another problem. When I save a file with a thickened object in it and later reopen that file, the thickened object no longer has the resolution of the original object. It looks like the thickened object reverts to base resolution. If I disable and reenable the dynamic thickened object, it regains the high resolution of the original object.
Dynamic Thickened Object loses the high resolution of the original after saving and reopening the file.
Disabling and Reenabling the Dynamic Thickened Object restores the high resolution
Sorry, I was away from my computer.
The way Daz Studio manages the cached geometry (the "final world-space transformed mesh") isn't completly transparent, at least to me. Suddenly, the mesh could change for high to low resolution. Although I managed to control this behavior of the Dynamics objects in the scene, the saving and loading could be not as controlable.
It's much better to disable the Dynamic object before saving the scene. Otherwise, besides the changing resolution behevior, the .duf file will be unnecessarily larger. When realoading, simply enable again.
I'm playing around with Static thickening now. There seems to be an issue with a strange border being created on a G8F's teeth when using the "Scale duplicated facets" option. (NOTE: the Thickener manual recommends using the default method (not scaling) for characters.) Only the teeth seem have the problem. The problem gets worse if "Subdivision in border" is applied. The border can be hidden in the surfaces tab to get around this issue. I wonder why it happens only to teeth?
It seems that there are open meshes in the teeth that the plugin closed. And this, combined with the effect this methods have in figures, gives the odd result.
The following is not a bug just a consideration when using textures with regions of low or zero opacity. The thickener will duplicate the mesh but if the texture has opacity cutouts you will have two surfaces floating apart. This may or may not look good and in some circumstances it could even be desirable. Just something to keep in mind.
Here's a closeup of a lace scarf.where you can see the two surfaces (I colored the thickened surface to differentiate them):
Here's the original scarf made from a 2D plane:
Use the Stretch UV map option instead (and a moderate or low thickness to better effect).
I ran into another problem. When I save a file with a thickened object in it and later reopen that file, the thickened object no longer has the resolution of the original object. It looks like the thickened object reverts to base resolution. If I disable and reenable the dynamic thickened object, it regains the high resolution of the original object.
Dynamic Thickened Object loses the high resolution of the original after saving and reopening the file.
Disabling and Reenabling the Dynamic Thickened Object restores the high resolution
Sorry, I was away from my computer.
The way Daz Studio manages the cached geometry (the "final world-space transformed mesh") isn't completly transparent, at least to me. Suddenly, the mesh could change for high to low resolution. Although I managed to control this behavior of the Dynamics objects in the scene, the saving and loading could be not as controlable.
It's much better to disable the Dynamic object before saving the scene. Otherwise, besides the changing resolution behevior, the .duf file will be unnecessarily larger. When realoading, simply enable again.
Thanks for the advice and explanation.That disappointingly means I can't queue up scenes for rendering with Man Friday's Render Queue, but I understand the limitation and can live with it. I suppose render servers wouldn't work either, for the same reason.
I have had the resolution change on me in the scene also, not just when saving and reloading scenes. It got very frustrating. If I applied a material preset to a different object in the scene, the resolution of the thickened object reverted to low resolution. This was with a different scene and different object thickened. I will try to repeat it and describe a repeatable scenario.
Hmmm. I just had a thought. Is there a quick way to convert a dynamic thickened object to a static thickened object of the same shape, so it can be saved and queued for final render?
Question: Why does applying a materials preset or shader preset to one object in the scene, cause the Dynamic thickened object of a different scene item to be rebuilt? I think this is the source of the problem I am having with resolution changing on the Dynamic thickened object in the open scene.
After creating the Dynamic thickened object for my character's dress, I hid the original dress object with the eye icon in the Scene pane. When I applied a materials preset or shader preset to my character, (for example a different eye color or lip color), the Dynamic thickened object for her dress was rebuilt and ended up as low resolution.
Dynamic thickened dress high resolution.png
1499 x 1941 - 3M
Dynamic thickened dress low resolution after applying fingernail material.png
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
Hmmm. I just had a thought. Is there a quick way to convert a dynamic thickened object to a static thickened object of the same shape, so it can be saved and queued for final render?
Set the same options in the Thickener pane, select the original object and create the Static object.
Question: Why does applying a materials preset or shader preset to one object in the scene, cause the Dynamic thickened object of a different scene item to be rebuilt? I think this is the source of the problem I am having with resolution changing on the Dynamic thickened object in the open scene.
After creating the Dynamic thickened object for my character's dress, I hid the original dress object with the eye icon in the Scene pane. When I applied a materials preset or shader preset to my character, (for example a different eye color or lip color), the Dynamic thickened object for her dress was rebuilt and ended up as low resolution.
OK. You're right. The main problem is that if the original object is not Visible, then the base mesh is choosen to recreate the dynamic object.
I solved it just now and it will be ready for the update. It solves the saved scenes problem too (and thus, your problem with the render queue).
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
Hmmm. I just had a thought. Is there a quick way to convert a dynamic thickened object to a static thickened object of the same shape, so it can be saved and queued for final render?
Set the same options in the Thickener pane, select the original object and create the Static object.
Question: Why does applying a materials preset or shader preset to one object in the scene, cause the Dynamic thickened object of a different scene item to be rebuilt? I think this is the source of the problem I am having with resolution changing on the Dynamic thickened object in the open scene.
After creating the Dynamic thickened object for my character's dress, I hid the original dress object with the eye icon in the Scene pane. When I applied a materials preset or shader preset to my character, (for example a different eye color or lip color), the Dynamic thickened object for her dress was rebuilt and ended up as low resolution.
OK. You're right. The main problem is that if the original object is not Visible, then the base mesh is choosen to recreate the dynamic object.
I solved it just now and it will be ready for the update. It solves the saved scenes problem too (and thus, your problem with the render queue).
This is wonderful news! Thank you for taking my problems into consideration and finding a solution.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
Hmmm. I just had a thought. Is there a quick way to convert a dynamic thickened object to a static thickened object of the same shape, so it can be saved and queued for final render?
Set the same options in the Thickener pane, select the original object and create the Static object.
Question: Why does applying a materials preset or shader preset to one object in the scene, cause the Dynamic thickened object of a different scene item to be rebuilt? I think this is the source of the problem I am having with resolution changing on the Dynamic thickened object in the open scene.
After creating the Dynamic thickened object for my character's dress, I hid the original dress object with the eye icon in the Scene pane. When I applied a materials preset or shader preset to my character, (for example a different eye color or lip color), the Dynamic thickened object for her dress was rebuilt and ended up as low resolution.
OK. You're right. The main problem is that if the original object is not Visible, then the base mesh is choosen to recreate the dynamic object.
I solved it just now and it will be ready for the update. It solves the saved scenes problem too (and thus, your problem with the render queue).
This is wonderful news! Thank you for taking my problems into consideration and finding a solution.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
Yes, I saw the instructions. I was about to try it.
Here is the thickened dress that was giving me resolution problems. I'm looking forward to the Thickener update to make it easier to keep the correct resolution on the thickened item. Meanwhile, I now understand the cause and can workaround it.
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
My suggestion is to either
1) wait to create the dynamic thickened object until AFTER you have finished simulation or
2) hide the dynamic simulated object while you simulate the original. Then Disable and Enable the dynamic thickened object to make it update to match the simulated original. Unhide the dynamic thickened object. Voila!
These techniques work for me. You are just suffering "Thickener Growing Pains" until it clicks in your head. Then it is easy.
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
My suggestion is to either
1) wait to create the dynamic thickened object until AFTER you have finished simulation or
2) hide the dynamic simulated object while you simulate the original. Then Disable and Enable the dynamic thickened object to make it update to match the simulated original. Unhide the dynamic thickened object. Voila!
These techniques work for me. You are just suffering "Thickener Growing Pains" until it clicks in your head. Then it is easy.
So I used a combination of your two suggestions. I loaded a figure, added the skirt, posed her and ran the simulation THEN I added the dynamic object and it followed the original skirt nicely.
Next, I reset (cleared) the dForce on the original skirt and, of course, the dynamic object did not follow. So I quickly hid and disabled and then enabled the dynamic object and it snapped into place.
Just a thought - have you tried this in an animation like a walk? I hope you don't have to go through frame by frame hiding and diabling as the pose changes?
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
Ah, OK!
Then, if you enabled the Dynamic object before applying dForce in a still scene, disable and enable again the Dynamic object to resinchronize it.
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
I have a figure in the scene with a dForce skirt.
I added a dynamic thickened object for that skirt.
I posed the figure (sitting on the ground).
Then ran the simulation with the setting: "start from memorized pose" enabled.
The figure and the original skirt, as expected, returned to zero pose but the new mesh remained in the posed position (on the ground) and did not follow the dforce skirt.
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original objectbeforecreating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
My suggestion is to either
1) wait to create the dynamic thickened object until AFTER you have finished simulation or
2) hide the dynamic simulated object while you simulate the original. Then Disable and Enable the dynamic thickened object to make it update to match the simulated original. Unhide the dynamic thickened object. Voila!
These techniques work for me. You are just suffering "Thickener Growing Pains" until it clicks in your head. Then it is easy.
So I used a combination of your two suggestions. I loaded a figure, added the skirt, posed her and ran the simulation THEN I added the dynamic object and it followed the original skirt nicely.
Next, I reset (cleared) the dForce on the original skirt and, of course, the dynamic object did not follow. So I quickly hid and disabled and then enabled the dynamic object and it snapped into place.
Just a thought - have you tried this in an animation like a walk? I hope you don't have to go through frame by frame hiding and diabling as the pose changes?
In an animation, the dynamic object updates by itself at each frame.
So I used a combination of your two suggestions. I loaded a figure, added the skirt, posed her and ran the simulation THEN I added the dynamic object and it followed the original skirt nicely.
Next, I reset (cleared) the dForce on the original skirt and, of course, the dynamic object did not follow. So I quickly hid and disabled and then enabled the dynamic object and it snapped into place.
Just a thought - have you tried this in an animation like a walk? I hope you don't have to go through frame by frame hiding and diabling as the pose changes?
I have not tried any animation of a character moving around while wearing a thickened dforce item. I've been wondering how that would work.
Just a thought - have you tried this in an animation like a walk? I hope you don't have to go through frame by frame hiding and diabling as the pose changes?
In an animation, the dynamic object updates by itself ate each frame.
Ah so. Thanks. That makes sense.It would be nice if it could update itself with every change in dForce/pose but I guess that's asking a lot.
I loaded an animation, thickened the dress and hit the play button to see what happened. It keeps playing in an infinite loop from start to end over and over. I can't stop it.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
I examined this issue. Very strang behavior of Iray. The plugin doesn't touch the rendering process. I notices the pixelation if I change the subdivision in border from 1 to 2 when the Dynamic object is enabled only.
But, I noticed the the pixelation should be the expected result if you set the Manipulation resolution to 1/8. When the pixelation issue occurs, if you change the resolution to 1/16 and 1/32 you see more and more pixelation. I you set 1/4 or 1/2 the pixelation diminishes. And, practically, there isn't pixelation at normal.
What I noticed was that if you don't use the dynamic object, the pixelation is the same at any Manipulation resolution, as if you have selected the normal resolution one. Then, the resolution you see is the normal one, and you're not saving anything by choosing a low Manipulation resolution. Is this Iray behavior the correct one?
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
I examined this issue. Very strang behavior of Iray. The plugin doesn't touch the rendering process. I notices the pixelation if I change the subdivision in border from 1 to 2 when the Dynamic object is enabled only.
But, I noticed the the pixelation should be the expected result if you set the Manipulation resolution to 1/8. When the pixelation issue occurs, if you change the resolution to 1/16 and 1/32 you see more and more pixelation. I you set 1/4 or 1/2 the pixelation diminishes. And, practically, there isn't pixelation at normal.
What I noticed was that if you don't use the dynamic object, the pixelation is the same at any Manipulation resolution, as if you have selected the normal resolution one. Then, the resolution you see is the normal one, and you're not saving anything by choosing a low Manipulation resolution. Is this Iray behavior the correct one?
The Manipulation Resolution is only supposed to be in effect while you manipulate the viewport (rotate it, etc.). If you are just sitting there looking at the screen, the Iray preview will always display the normal resolution. If you are doing something like loading items into the scene, changing materials, etc. the viewport should stay in normal resolution. The manipulation resolution is designed to make your viewport more responsive while you are modifying the view (rotating, etc.). As soon as you stop manipulating, the viewport should jump right back to normal resolution. Changing border subdivision is not a viewport manipulation. I don't understand why it changes Iray preview to manipulation resolution. And even worse, it usually doesn't change it back to normal resolution.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
I examined this issue. Very strang behavior of Iray. The plugin doesn't touch the rendering process. I notices the pixelation if I change the subdivision in border from 1 to 2 when the Dynamic object is enabled only.
But, I noticed the the pixelation should be the expected result if you set the Manipulation resolution to 1/8. When the pixelation issue occurs, if you change the resolution to 1/16 and 1/32 you see more and more pixelation. I you set 1/4 or 1/2 the pixelation diminishes. And, practically, there isn't pixelation at normal.
What I noticed was that if you don't use the dynamic object, the pixelation is the same at any Manipulation resolution, as if you have selected the normal resolution one. Then, the resolution you see is the normal one, and you're not saving anything by choosing a low Manipulation resolution. Is this Iray behavior the correct one?
The Manipulation Resolution is only supposed to be in effect while you manipulate the viewport (rotate it, etc.). If you are just sitting there looking at the screen, the Iray preview will always display the normal resolution. If you are doing something like loading items into the scene, changing materials, etc. the viewport should stay in normal resolution. The manipulation resolution is designed to make your viewport more responsive while you are modifying the view (rotating, etc.). As soon as you stop manipulating, the viewport should jump right back to normal resolution. Changing border subdivision is not a viewport manipulation. I don't understand why it changes Iray preview to manipulation resolution. And even worse, it usually doesn't change it back to normal resolution.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
I tried an animation of a character with a dForce dress. I did an animated simulation. Then I enabled the dynamic thickened object and rendered with Filament. I thought I could see the original dress poking through the thickened dress, so I changed the color of the original dress to a bright green to contrast with the thickened dress. I rerendered. Yes, the green original dress pokes through the thickened dress. Maybe this will be fixed by the update, but I thought I'd better mention it, in case it is a separate problem. Here is a frame from the animation.
Edit: This issue may be limited to Filament. So far I am not seeing it with Iray. Unfortunately, Iray animation takes much longer.
I tried an animation of a character with a dForce dress. I did an animated simulation. Then I enabled the dynamic thickened object and rendered with Filament. I thought I could see the original dress poking through the thickened dress, so I changed the color of the original dress to a bright green to contrast with the thickened dress. I rerendered. Yes, the green original dress pokes through the thickened dress. Maybe this will be fixed by the update, but I thought I'd better mention it, in case it is a separate problem. Here is a frame from the animation.
Edit: This issue may be limited to Filament. So far I am not seeing it with Iray. Unfortunately, Iray animation takes much longer.
The solution is to set invisible the original object, but it implies that the dynamic object will copy the base resolution. The update solve the resolution issue. In the meantime, instead, you could set the opacity to 0 in the surfaces of the original object.
Comments
Sorry, I was away from my computer.
The way Daz Studio manages the cached geometry (the "final world-space transformed mesh") isn't completly transparent, at least to me. Suddenly, the mesh could change for high to low resolution. Although I managed to control this behavior of the Dynamics objects in the scene, the saving and loading could be not as controlable.
It's much better to disable the Dynamic object before saving the scene. Otherwise, besides the changing resolution behevior, the .duf file will be unnecessarily larger. When realoading, simply enable again.
It seems that there are open meshes in the teeth that the plugin closed. And this, combined with the effect this methods have in figures, gives the odd result.
Use the Stretch UV map option instead (and a moderate or low thickness to better effect).
Thanks for the advice and explanation.That disappointingly means I can't queue up scenes for rendering with Man Friday's Render Queue, but I understand the limitation and can live with it. I suppose render servers wouldn't work either, for the same reason.
I have had the resolution change on me in the scene also, not just when saving and reloading scenes. It got very frustrating. If I applied a material preset to a different object in the scene, the resolution of the thickened object reverted to low resolution. This was with a different scene and different object thickened. I will try to repeat it and describe a repeatable scenario.
Hmmm. I just had a thought. Is there a quick way to convert a dynamic thickened object to a static thickened object of the same shape, so it can be saved and queued for final render?
Question: Why does applying a materials preset or shader preset to one object in the scene, cause the Dynamic thickened object of a different scene item to be rebuilt? I think this is the source of the problem I am having with resolution changing on the Dynamic thickened object in the open scene.
After creating the Dynamic thickened object for my character's dress, I hid the original dress object with the eye icon in the Scene pane. When I applied a materials preset or shader preset to my character, (for example a different eye color or lip color), the Dynamic thickened object for her dress was rebuilt and ended up as low resolution.
Just satrted to play with this plugin but the fact that I can't see how it looks in IRay preview is something of a show-stopper for me. The IRay viewport is pixelated so that I can't see any detail.
The second problem is that I have no idea how to get this to work with dForce. There is absolutely no mention of dForce in the manual. I've read through this thread and it seems that some have figured it out but I am lost.
Set the same options in the Thickener pane, select the original object and create the Static object.
OK. You're right. The main problem is that if the original object is not Visible, then the base mesh is choosen to recreate the dynamic object.
I solved it just now and it will be ready for the update. It solves the saved scenes problem too (and thus, your problem with the render queue).
You have to apply dForce to the original object not in the thickened objects.
If you create a Static object, apply dForce to the original object before creating the Static object.
If you create a Dynamic object, you can apply dForce to the original object at any time.
The IRay viewport pixelated issue I've not seen... yet. I'm still working.
This is wonderful news! Thank you for taking my problems into consideration and finding a solution.
I posted step by step instructions to recreate the pixelated viewport Iray preview here. Does it not pixelate for you? I have a 6GB RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps if you have better, it works differently for you.
You're welcome! It's my duty.
Yes, I saw the instructions. I was about to try it.
Here is the thickened dress that was giving me resolution problems. I'm looking forward to the Thickener update to make it easier to keep the correct resolution on the thickened item. Meanwhile, I now understand the cause and can workaround it.
I'm sorry but no. I did create a Dynamic object (I assumed that was the only way to work with dForce because the manual doesn't explain anything about it). I did not try to apply dForce to the dynamic mesh. I did not parent that mesh to the figure or to the original skirt. I just enabled it.
My suggestion is to either
1) wait to create the dynamic thickened object until AFTER you have finished simulation or
2) hide the dynamic simulated object while you simulate the original. Then Disable and Enable the dynamic thickened object to make it update to match the simulated original. Unhide the dynamic thickened object. Voila!
These techniques work for me. You are just suffering "Thickener Growing Pains" until it clicks in your head. Then it is easy.
Thanks @barbult - very helpful as usual.
So I used a combination of your two suggestions. I loaded a figure, added the skirt, posed her and ran the simulation THEN I added the dynamic object and it followed the original skirt nicely.
Next, I reset (cleared) the dForce on the original skirt and, of course, the dynamic object did not follow. So I quickly hid and disabled and then enabled the dynamic object and it snapped into place.
Just a thought - have you tried this in an animation like a walk? I hope you don't have to go through frame by frame hiding and diabling as the pose changes?
Ah, OK!
Then, if you enabled the Dynamic object before applying dForce in a still scene, disable and enable again the Dynamic object to resinchronize it.
In an animation, the dynamic object updates by itself at each frame.
I have not tried any animation of a character moving around while wearing a thickened dforce item. I've been wondering how that would work.
Ah so. Thanks. That makes sense.It would be nice if it could update itself with every change in dForce/pose but I guess that's asking a lot.
I loaded an animation, thickened the dress and hit the play button to see what happened. It keeps playing in an infinite loop from start to end over and over. I can't stop it.
Edit: Finally the Escape key got me put of it.
I examined this issue. Very strang behavior of Iray. The plugin doesn't touch the rendering process. I notices the pixelation if I change the subdivision in border from 1 to 2 when the Dynamic object is enabled only.
But, I noticed the the pixelation should be the expected result if you set the Manipulation resolution to 1/8. When the pixelation issue occurs, if you change the resolution to 1/16 and 1/32 you see more and more pixelation. I you set 1/4 or 1/2 the pixelation diminishes. And, practically, there isn't pixelation at normal.
What I noticed was that if you don't use the dynamic object, the pixelation is the same at any Manipulation resolution, as if you have selected the normal resolution one. Then, the resolution you see is the normal one, and you're not saving anything by choosing a low Manipulation resolution. Is this Iray behavior the correct one?
The Manipulation Resolution is only supposed to be in effect while you manipulate the viewport (rotate it, etc.). If you are just sitting there looking at the screen, the Iray preview will always display the normal resolution. If you are doing something like loading items into the scene, changing materials, etc. the viewport should stay in normal resolution. The manipulation resolution is designed to make your viewport more responsive while you are modifying the view (rotating, etc.). As soon as you stop manipulating, the viewport should jump right back to normal resolution. Changing border subdivision is not a viewport manipulation. I don't understand why it changes Iray preview to manipulation resolution. And even worse, it usually doesn't change it back to normal resolution.
Thank you for the explanation!
barbult said:
Certainly, it's not a viewport manipulation. It's a change of geometry. Let me see...
Well. I fixed this too.
Awesome!
I tried an animation of a character with a dForce dress. I did an animated simulation. Then I enabled the dynamic thickened object and rendered with Filament. I thought I could see the original dress poking through the thickened dress, so I changed the color of the original dress to a bright green to contrast with the thickened dress. I rerendered. Yes, the green original dress pokes through the thickened dress. Maybe this will be fixed by the update, but I thought I'd better mention it, in case it is a separate problem. Here is a frame from the animation.
Edit: This issue may be limited to Filament. So far I am not seeing it with Iray. Unfortunately, Iray animation takes much longer.
The solution is to set invisible the original object, but it implies that the dynamic object will copy the base resolution. The update solve the resolution issue. In the meantime, instead, you could set the opacity to 0 in the surfaces of the original object.