nCloth properties

nCloth object properties determine the physical characteristics of the cloth. These properties affect how the cloth behaves when it moves and interacts with other objects. There are six types of properties you can adjust: Collisions properties (including Collisions Properties Maps), Dynamic Properties (including Dynamic Properties Maps), Force Field Generation properties (including Force Field Maps), Wind Field properties, Quality Settings properties, and Pressure properties.

Collisions properties determine the characteristics of your nCloth when it collides with other Nucleus objects. You can set properties like Bounce, Friction, and Stickiness. These properties determine the nature of your nCloth. When setting Collisions properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• Does this cloth have a springy, bouncy or cushy nature, like cotton batting?
• Is this cloth smooth, like silk, or rough, like burlap?
• Does this cloth move or bounce after a collision with another Nucleus objects?
• Will this cloth cling to other objects after a collision?
• Is the clothing made of a thick material, such as wool, or is it made of sheer material, such as silk?

Dynamic Properties determine the behavior of nCloth when interacting with other objects, when being animated, and when being acted on by other forces. The Dynamic Properties augment the nature of your nCloth during simulation, stretching, bending, deforming, and compressing based on the dynamic properties. When setting Dynamic Properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• Should this cloth stretch (like a loose knit sweater) when pulled?
• Should this cloth crumple (like crinoline) when compressed?
• Is this cloth heavy, like canvas?
• Should this cloth bend over the edge of a surface, like a tablecloth on a table?
• How much should this cloth deform when it is impacted by another object?
• How easily or not easily is this cloth moved by wind?

Force Field Generation properties determine the orientation and strength of forces that push Nucleus objects away or pull Nucleus objects toward your nCloth. When setting the Force Field Generation properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• Does this cloth generate a force to keep it from colliding with other objects?
• Does this cloth push Nucleus objects away?
• Does this cloth pull Nucleus objects toward it?
• How strong are the pushing and pulling forces?
• How large is the force field’s active area?

Wind Field Generation properties determine the characteristics of wind fields that can be generated by the motion of an nCloth object. These properties can also be used to block an nCloth object from the dynamic wind of its Nucleus system. When setting Wind Field Generation properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• Does the motion of this cloth create wind that affects other Nucleus objects?
• How far does the wind field generated by this cloth motion travel, and how many other Nucleus objects will the wind field affect?
• Does the wind force generated by the motion of this cloth circulate and rotate, creating realistic cloth flapping effects?
• Is this cloth obstructed from the dynamic wind of its Nucleus system?

Pressure properties determine how your nCloth maintains its internal air volume, and how the pressure within your nCloth increases or decreases. When setting Pressure Properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• How quickly does this cloth inflate or deflate?
• Does this inflated cloth have any holes?
• How much does this inflated ncloth resist being deformed or compressed? Meaning, how much pressure is it under.

Quality Settings properties determine how the Maya Nucleus solver tries to resolve undesirable cloth behavior like interpenetration and trapped nCloth. If the components of your nCloth fail to collide properly, adjusting these settings may help resolve these collision failures. When setting Quality Settings properties, ask yourself questions like the following:

• Does this cloth penetrate other cloth or collision objects in its system?
• Does this cloth penetrate its own geometry?
• Does this cloth penetrate itself and then get stuck?
• Does this cloth penetrate other cloth or collision objects in its system and then get stuck?

For more information on nCloth properties, see nClothShape.

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