Hi everybody,
I have not used particles in Blender a lot, and here I need help ! I want to create a bed of seaweed undulating on the ocean floor. How can I make the particle instance use a cloth simulation ? Right now the cloth sim operates on the initial particle instance (the single seaweed model) which is only then duplicated on the emitter. So all the particles have the exact same movement. How can I solve this ?
Thanks !
Hadrien
Maybe you could create a few different particles systems. Or (but I don’t remember how) you can transform your particles into individual meshes. And then play w/ force fields. Last thing I think of: couldn’t you set your particle system to hair. Hope it gives you ideas.
Bty it’s funny we speak english… both being french. À plus!
Merci Gieop_Joze (I’ll keep writing in english in case someone else drops by).
Transforming the particles into a mesh (done by applying the particle system modifier) is possible but I want to avoid it since it is both a huge load in the viewport (many polygons) and into the cloth sim.
The second solution (hair system) looks like a good lead, I followed this tutorial but the hair thing is very glitchy and is not giving good results (it works on a simple test plane but not on my mesh which is a little bit more complex). One time it works during three frames then stops suddenly, another time it works but ignores completely the forces I’ve set up (when the one on the test plane reacts to them just fine)…
I’ll keep fiddling with the hair system but since my goal here is a still image, I only need to make this once, so I’ll probably end up doing the mesh conversion thing. Merci pour tes suggestions !
Hadrien
As you’re aiming for a still image, maybe you should model and shape a few individual sea weeds using the curve modifier, then make a group out of those and use it as the source for your particle system. Then tweaking the randomness of the particle system settings could give interesting results.
Or use a particle hair system to distribute your seaweed models, then comb them to pose them as you like.
Meshmonkey : I am trying to do this, but the mesh won’t follow the hair strand, see screenshots : in comb mode first, then in object mode. I am using a particle instance modifier on the basic seaweed model, these are the modifier settings and the particle system settings.
Gieop_Joze : it is very hard to obtain natural looking results. Thanks for your suggestion though !
UPDATE ! It works ! This thing is glitchy af ! Widen your ears, travellers of the future, lone googlers : to make this work, you have to add the particle instance modifier at the very end. Then the mesh will follow the hair strands. Gah.
Oh, and the hair system has to be set to “path” in the render panel, and “normal” must be checked in the particle instance modifier. This is a memo for the hairy adventurers of the future.
Hadrien