Soft selection for pinning Cloth Bind

[jackasssero]

Hi, I’m new to TyFlow and I want to ask a question,


After Cloth Bind, is it possible to use Particle Switch with a soft selection condition?

 To explain with a Blender example: if I paint an object weights red and blue, some areas stay fixed while others simulate.


In TyFlow:
• Select operator seems to only allow on/off no soft falloff
• I know this can be done by distance with Surface Test, but that’s not what I’m looking for. ( unless you tell me this is the best method   )
• I also tried Property Test with Material ID and Texmap Intensity, but couldn’t get any result (UV + gradient were set correctly but I couldn't make it work. so maybe I’m missing something ).

 What I’d like is to control the pins with vertex weights or a gradient, then use Particle Switch on that




Is there any recommended workflow for this?  ( MAX 2025 )

Thanks in advance!!

[Findus]

Test and sending out particles is binary, as ist Particle Switch. What you can do is create texures/vertex colors to drive the strength of your noise. Maybe you could do something like duplicating the particles, switch the dublicates off and have the animated ones meet them gradually, but that's just spitballing.

"Texmap Intensity, but couldn’t get any result (UV + gradient were set correctly..."

Just to double check: The particles need to inherit the UVs (set in the cloth bind)  or you need a Mapping operator that takes them from your original mesh.
Didn't look at your file (and can't,as you'd have to save it back to 2023 or 2022 for that).

[jackasssero]

Test and sending out particles is binary, as ist Particle Switch. What you can do is create texures/vertex colors to drive the strength of your noise. Maybe you could do something like duplicating the particles, switch the dublicates off and have the animated ones meet them gradually, but that's just spitballing. 

"Texmap Intensity, but couldn’t get any result (UV + gradient were set correctly..."

Just to double check: The particles need to inherit the UVs (set in the cloth bind)  or you need a Mapping operator that takes them from your original mesh.
Didn't look at your file (and can't,as you'd have to save it back to 2023 or 2022 for that).

Checking the cloth bind part now, thanks for the reply, and here’s the updated scene file for you, hopefully no compatibility issues 

[Findus]

Thanks! Can't look right now, but will do in the next days.

One thing to be aware of is that both inheriting UVs and the Mapping operator will likely mess up the UVs of your cloth mesh around the UV seams.

[betamax]

Here's my attempt using Cloth sim with ObjectTest/ObjectBind (linear spring mode). It works as a nice Falloff hack with the Cloth.

https://streamable.com/ld38qs (link expires in 2 days)

[jackasssero]

Here's my attempt using Cloth sim with ObjectTest/ObjectBind (linear spring mode). It works as a nice Falloff hack with the Cloth.

https://streamable.com/ld38qs (link expires in 2 days)

Ohh noo, it seems I've just put wrong alembic file in the zip, half of the fish is not exist.. what a shame sorry! I wish I'd see the full version but still thank you so much for your approach, greatest community!

Still, I am updating the main post attachment in case someone else would like to try it.

[Findus]

Had a quick look.
In the current version, the particles are indeed missing UVs, so your map is no use to them.
Additionally, your property test currently tests for 1 (white), but due to your UV layout, no part of your fish ever reaches white. This is probably coincidence and just the last state you left it in while trying, but I thought I mention it just in case.

If you use a Value Operator set to your gradient map (or you can read out a custom property from your distance test), you should be able to hook that into your noise (force multiplier).

Object Bind does have an integrated falloff, but you'll have to use an object or adjust your driver mesh (e.g remove the tail).

[Findus]

Had another look at this as I currently need to do something similar:

The cleanest way seems to be to do in "post", at least as far as I can tell.
You'll  want to deactivate your object bound particles (just like you did) to avoid overstretching at the cloth transitions.
You can omit the deactivation and use softer bounding methods and values, too, and stack them if need be to get a stronger, but not infinitely strong bind, and that might be enough in this case like betamax demonstrated, but the cloth bind will continue to mess with those particles. Which is good in this instance, as it hides the transition, but not always.

So for a precise transition, cache your cloth sim with a hard transition (deactivated particles) and then use a tyConform modifier to blend to your original animated mesh by vertex ID (basically a morph between animated meshes), masked by the map of your choosing (tySelect below and "Use vertex selection" in tyConform).

[jackasssero]

Had another look at this as I currently need to do something similar:

The cleanest way seems to be to do in "post", at least as far as I can tell.
You'll  want to deactivate your object bound particles (just like you did) to avoid overstretching at the cloth transitions.
You can omit the deactivation and use softer bounding methods and values, too, and stack them if need be to get a stronger, but not infinitely strong bind, and that might be enough in this case like betamax demonstrated, but the cloth bind will continue to mess with those particles. Which is good in this instance, as it hides the transition, but not always.

So for a precise transition, cache your cloth sim with a hard transition (deactivated particles) and then use a tyConform modifier to blend to your original animated mesh by vertex ID (basically a morph between animated meshes), masked by the map of your choosing (tySelect below and "Use vertex selection" in tyConform).

I ran some tests based on betamax and your suggestions and also tried out a bunch of my own experiments. I wouldn’t say this feels like the smooth workflow I was hoping for, but it really helped a lot and opened up some new ways of thinking. Thanks a lot for checking it out, I’ll keep testing the stuff you mentioned.

And if you ever think of something else, or have a scene example to share I'd really appreciate it!