8

560 Chapter 8: Modifiers
See also
Cloth Modifier (page 1–560)
Garment Maker Modifier (page 1–587)
Cloth M odif ier
Select an object. > Modify panel > Modifier List >
Object-Space Modifiers > Cloth
The Cloth modifier is the heart of the Cloth
system, and is applied to all objects in your scene
that need to be part of the Cloth simulation. This
is where you define cloth and collision objects,
assign properties, and execute the simulation.
Other controls include creating constraints,
interactively dragging the cloth, and erasing par ts
of the simulation.
Left: Cloth modifier not yet applied
Right: Cloth modifier app lie d and simulated
See also
Object Proper t ies Dialog (Cloth) (page 1–581)
Cloth Introduction (p age 1–551)
Cloth Over view (page 1–552)
Garment Maker Modifier (page 1–587)
Basic Concepts
In a Cloth simulation, you will let Cloth know
which objects will be part of the simulation, and
which objects will not. Once you have done this,
you define what the objects are made of. You can
specify what is made of cloth, and what is a solid,
collision object.
Because Cloth is a modifier, an instance of it is
assigned to each object to be included in the Cloth
simulation. This includes all cloth and collision
objects. Be aware that two cloth objects with two
separate applications of the Cloth modifier will
not interact with one another. There are a couple
of ways to include objects in the simulation:
• Select all of the objects at once and apply the
Cloth modifier to them.
• Apply Cloth to one or more objects and then
add objects with the Add Objects button,
available on b oth the Objec t rollout and the
Object Properties dialog (page 1–581) .
Units of Measure
It is important to think about size in doing clothing
simulations. A very large flag behaves differently
from a handkerchief. If the scale is off, then
thesimulationwillbeoff. BecauseClothdeals
with real-world physics, it works in real-world
units. This means that Cloth needs to k now t he
relationship b etween units in 3ds Max and units in
its own world.
Forexample,supposeyoucreateaplanethatis
10x103dsMaxunits.Ifyouwantthisplaneto
behave like a 10 x 10 inch handkerchief, you would
tell Cloth that 1 3ds Max unit=1 inch. If you want
it to behave like a 10 foot x 10 foot bed sheet, you
would tell Cloth that 1 3ds Max u nit=1 foot.
Note that Cloth ignores the 3ds Max System Units
Setup (under Customize->Units Setup->System
Units Setup). Cloth has it own units setup, which
is determined by the cm/unit spinner in the Cloth
Simulat ion Parameters rollout. This parameter
tells Cloth how many centimeters (cm) correspond
to each 3ds Max unit. As 1 inch is 2.54 cm, the
default setting of 2.54 means that one 3ds Max unit
corresponds to 1 inch.