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Unity VR Maya nCloth Dynamics & Blend Shape Deformers

ncloth_blend

Tutorial animated Maya Ncloth curtain and blend shapes imported  into Unity.
Assignment 1 by Isaiah Baiseri


In Maya:  Make a curtain
Switch over to the Modeling section, choose from upper left, status line.
modeling_module

Create two different snaky curves in the top view.
    
Create->Curve Tools->CV Curve Tool->option
   Curve degree 3 Cubic

Move the curves apart from each other.

Select the curves.

Select Surfaces->Loft->option
Choose Output geometry: Polygons
     Choose Quads
     Choose Tessellation method: General
     Change U type to: Per span # of iso params
     Change V type to: Per span # of iso params
     Input Number U: 3   (If this is too jaggy, increase)
     Input Number V: 3
Click Loft


Add a backside to the curtains
Choose EditMesh->Extrude
     Pull out the blue arrow .1 for thickness and double sided geometry. (for Unity)




Add nCloth dynamics
Switch to theFX Module
fx_module 

Select the curtain
Choose nCloth->Create nCloth

Constrain the curtain to an imaginary curtain rod
Select the top row of vertices
Select nConstraint->Transform Constraint

Add wind
Select the curtain
Bring up the Attribute Editor
Arrow over to the nucleus1 tab
     Under Gravity and Wind

          Change Wind Speed to 4
          Change Wind Direction to 1, 0, 1



Use the simulation to model a Blend Shape
Make at least 3 copies from various frames of the animation:

Hit the play arrow on the time slider to play and stop when you like a model. timesliderplay.jpg

Select the curtain
Choose Edit->Duplicate   Ctrl d

Choose Display->Hide Selection   Ctrl h

The copies will not have any dynamics. Do this 3 times

Delete the original nCloth nucleus and curves

Use Display->Show All to show the hidden copies

Keep the 3 duplicated curtain meshes

     1 will be the base shape, name this curtain
     Name the other 2 curtains curtain1 and curtain2


Remove invisible nCloth nodes that mess you up in Unity:
Do this before animating if you are making a blend shape for Unity.
Select File->Optimize Scene Size->option
     Select Remove: Unknown nodes

Or if that did not work when you bring the files to Unity, try this:
Select one shape at a time
Select Windows->General Editors->Hypergraph: Connections
     Select the light grey node
     Hit delete
     Close the Connection window
Repeat for each shape



Blend Shape
Switch to the Modeling or the Animation Module
modeling_module  or  animation_module

Select the first curtain (base)
Choose Anim Deform->Blend Shape
(This adds blend shapes options in the channel editor)

Select curtain1 (target), use shift to select the first curtain(base) too.
(The order is important)

Choose Anim Deform-> Blend Shape->Add
Do this again for curtain2

Delete the target curtains.

Animate the Blend Shape
Select the curtain
Open blendShape1 in the Channel Box
Animate the channel named after the second curtain between 0 and 1

The time slider should be the length of your animation.

Choose File->Save As select  Desktop->Maya_Tutorial->Assets
(Or the name of your Unity Project folder.)  Maya scene files will transfer straight into your Unity file.

Any animated items should be separate Maya files. It will be easier to manage



In Unity:
Add your Maya File to your Unity scene
Select the Maya file in the Assets list
     Select the Model tab in the Inspector
    
Change the Scale Factor to .3

     Uncheck Import Cameras and Lights
Hit
Apply

unity_import_scale

Drag your Maya file from the Assets list over to the Hierarchy tab.


Loop the animation
The example loops the animations continuously, no pause.

Select your Maya Model in
Assets
Switch to the Rig tab in the Inspector
     Change Animation Type to Legacy  (default was Generic)
     Hit Apply

Switch to the Animation tab
Rename Take 001 to a unique name
Select Wrap Mode Loop, twice, I don't know why twice...
     Hit Apply

Select the Maya Model in the Hierarchy
     Select Play Automatically in the Inspector



You can now test your scene by selecting the Play arrow.
unity_play_arrow


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EXAMPLE

https://classes.dma.ucla.edu/Fall20/156-1/projects/examples/ncloth_blend_Isaiah_Baiseri_player



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