Download source files scene & LScript.

First of all we need an animated model, you can use one of your own or download my object and scene above. Once we have the model we need to make the clothes, the clothes must have more polygons than the original object. We 're going to use the body as a collision object.

My model uses an Lscript called muscler for making a setup like in Messiah , you can also download it above.

In order for it to work properly, copy the Lscript under:

C:\LightWave®_3D_7.0\PLUGINS\3DPARTY\VARIOS\MUSCLER-2.LSC

or edit the scene with a text editor and replace the path to where muscler2 is.

Ok Lets go on.

1. Open modeler and load PastorTut. The object has 3 Layers:

   1. The first layer is the body.

   2. The second layer is the bones.

   3. The third layer has the muscles in it.

   

2. Select layer 1,
   copy,
   make a new object,
   paste the body in Layer 2,
   and save it as PastorTutClosion.

   Open the options panel (shortcut o) and set patch divisions to 1.

   Freeze layer 2 (shortcut D). This layer will serve as collision object. We could have frozen with patch division 2 or 3 but then the MD calculation time would go up. It`s not worth waiting longer than necessary.

   

3. Make a new object,
   paste the same body we copied from the original object in Layer 2.

   Select the upper poly's,
   delete the selected poly's (del).

   Select the surface PstrCuerpo (you can easily select a surface in the statistics panel (shortcut w).

   Select invert (shortcut "). You should now have the boots selected delete the selected poly's (del).

   Save this as PantalonTarget (pantalon = trousers).

   Now we'll make the trousers.

   

4. You can put layer 1 of PastorTutClosion as a background for reference (Ctrl+F5 to open the objects/layers window).

   At the abdominal part of PantalonTarget there is to much geometry, reduce it like the figure below.

   Tip:
   Weld points (shortcut w) is useful here, after welding go to polygon mode (shortcut ctrl H), open the statistics panel (shortcut w), select 1 and 2 point polygons, and delete them (shortcut del).

   

5. Rename the surface to Pantalon, (shortcut q) and check double sided.

   Select all polygons except the first upper row of polygons and smooth-shift 1.5 cm,
   adjust the waist with the background.

   Use stretch, drag, dragnet, and magnet to change the form to the one in the pic.

   I also used bandsaw on the selected polygons in the picture to add extra geometry where necessary.

   

6. Now we need to assign fixed and moving parts of the geometry this is where we begin testing with Motion Designer (MD).

   Start off by assigning the upper row of poly's a new surface, PantalonFix, (you can also create an object part, MD support this too. I have used surfaces because the different surface colors help to explain things better).

   

7. Deselect everything,
   copy,
   paste in Layer 1,
   open the options panel (shortcut o) and set patch divisions to 2,

   Convert to nurbs, because if we had tripled, the poly's would cast strange shadows.

   Hide layer 2, it´s only for modification purposes.

   

8. Select the collision object (PastorTutClosion) you saved earlier.

   In layer 2, select the poly's between the waist and the boot(including the upper half of the boot) and paste in Layer 1 (to accelerate the MD calulation).

   Hide layer 2 and give a name to each layer. (Ctrl+F5 - double click a layer to rename)

   

   Move the points between the legs and boots up for a better calculation as shown here.

   

9. Switch to Layout.

   Open scene MDTut. This is a stand walk and stop scene of the character. the motion past frame 60 doesn´t affect the trousers so we can set the maximum frame 60 for the trousers, subdivision order is set to last so MD can work with nurbs.

   Open the MD option panel and set calculate resolution to 50,
   select property, environment and set gravity to -9.8 on the y axis,
   leave the rest of the parameters set to 0.

   On the Objects panel,
   set PantalonTarget:Pantalon target ON,
   set PastorTutClosion:Piernas Collision ON.

   

10. For the Surface Pantalon set these values weight 5, weight +- 2, spring 500, visciosity 5, resistance 2, parallel resistance 40 %, substructure 1000, stretch limit 80 %. PantalonFix fixed ON.

    Now, for the collision object PstrCuerpo, set skin thickness 0.02, friction 10, bound force 2; PstrBota set skin thickness 0.01, friction 10, bound force 2.

    Press start. This takes a while, (for example on an Athlon XP 1800 with Quadro2 it takes 4 to 5 seconds per frame). Have a look when finished, what has happened?

    It looks ok, but from frame 45 onwards the trouser hangs up with the boot.

    Raise the substructure to 3000 and there is no problem there but now the pants go through the boot.

    Set PstrBota skin thickness to 0.015 and pantalon sub structure to 10000, start again and now it hangs a little at the right knee.

    What has happened is this:
    the trousers have weight maps left over when we copied the collision object (they are used to make the muscles bulge). This is not what we want.

11. Switch to modeler PantalonTarget layer 2, change the trousers fix surface as in the next pic. This reduces calculation time in MD. The pic shows only half of the trousers to illustrate you better.

    

12. Open object PastorTut.

    In layer 2, select the skelegons affecting the trousers copy and paste it in layer 2 from PantalonTarget.

    Delete all weight maps (best having plugin Delete_xMap from D-storm ).

    Execute vertex paint.
    Go to weights,
    calculate,
    press calculate weights,
    save.

    Copy all except skelegons,
    go to layer one,
    delete everything,
    freeze and nurbs.

    Switch to Layout.
    MD go to properties surface and Pantalon, weight 5, weight +- 2, spring 1000, visciosity 15, resistance .5, parallel resistance 40 %, substructure 10000, stretch limit 80 %.

    And now collision objects. PstrCuerpo skin thickness 0.02, friction 10, bound force 2; PstrBota skin thickness 0.015, friction 10, bound force 2.

    Now it looks Ok.

    Now we need to have shear wrinkles in he fabric, there is a parameter called Shear, raise that to 1000 and lower viscosity to 10.

    Looks better, don´t you think so?

Here, you can see see the preview as avi or quiktime.

Here, you can see the caracter with a vest, only divxavi.