Ziqi Fan shared some observations.
Using some beautiful kimonos from Naama, Ziqi Fan investigated cloth simulation using Vellum solver in Houdini. These two projects taught her important lessons about both artistry and technical discipline in achieving realistic fabric movement.
Here are her takeaways from this experiment:
- Clean collider animation saves time: Preprocessing a collision object with natural deformation and no intersections is far more efficient than fixing cloth issues afterward;
- Initial wrinkles matter: The starting state of the cloth deeply affects how folds behave during the simulation. If possible, keep the garment flat and well "ironed out" before simulation;
- Material contrast comes from parameters: Once the basic setup works, differentiating fabrics through parameter tuning is key. Running small comparative tests on density, normal drag, and bend strength helps achieve distinct material feels;
- Rest length scale is sensitive to substeps: The visual result of rest length changes dramatically under different substep settings, so it's worth testing systematically;
- Hidden body areas can be optimized: For areas of the body that remain unseen, using a slight peak (shrink/suction) can greatly reduce the amount of collision cleanup required.
For those exploring cloth simulation in Houdini, you should look into Fibric, a project by Pepe Buendia and Agustin Gonzalez that reimagines how fabric and garments are created:
Also, Ziqi Fan is currently seeking new opportunities in grooming, CFX, or character work, you can check out some of her projects below and reach out to her on LinkedIn:
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