From LightWiki

Contents 1 Description 2 Input 3 Operator 4 Deform 4.1 Collision 4.2 Root 4.3 Limit 5 Bump 5.1 Wave

Description

SoftFX is a plugin which allows you to do some interesting things to a mesh. It can be used for wobbly flesh, but it has other features, like wave generation, which make it a bit of an oddity.

Input

• Group: Controls which Dynamics Group this effect belongs to.
• Delay: Delays the SoftFX effect by a set number of frames. This is used by the below settings when the corresponding Delay toggle is active. It can be controlled by the FX Button.

The deformation of a softFX object is down to 3 things.

• Motion Force:This is the motion of the item itself, through whatever means, like normal Keyframes, Bones, Texture Displacement etc.
• Wind Force: Determines how much effect WindFX has over the softFX dynamics.
• Force Direction: An extra force which can be used, to simulate gravity or whatever.
• Force: The strength of the extra force.
• Force by Key:Will apply the force at every keyframe of the SoftFX item.

Operator

• Operator Maps - SoftFX uses these to control how an effect varies over the mesh. A Weight Map for example would use the full effect at places where the map is 100% and no effect at map values of 0%, or you can have all or nothing affected by the SoftFX.
• Mode - Changes the falloff over the weight map range 0% to 100%. Consists of:
  • <none> - direct linear correlation between weight map and effect, 0%=0 effect, 50% = half effect, 100%= total effect.
  • Square - Squares the weight map for calculating the effect, so the distortion falls off quicker than linear. 0%=0 effect, 50% = .25 effect, 100%=total effect.
  • Invert - reverses the range. 0%= total effect, 50%=half effect, 100%= no effect.
  • Quad - Even stronger version of Square, so the effect falls off quicker as the weight decreases.
  • Iv-Square - A combination of square and inverted.
  • Iv-Quad - A combination of quad and inverted.
• Effect Size - The strength of the SoftFX effect.
• Wave Cycle - How many 'wobbles' the SoftFX causes through the mesh.
• Wave Size(s) - How quickly the mesh wobbles due to SoftFX.
• Op 1 Motion/Op 2 Wind - Makes the Operator1 controlled by the motion of the mesh, while Operator2 is controlled by the wind which affects the mesh.
• Calculate Op 2 Last - Makes the Operator2 deformation occur after everything else.
• Operator switch -This allows you to blend between operators, or use a texture to control this blending.

Deform

Collision

• Collision Detect: Select 'none','all' or a VMap to determine which part will have collision calculated on it.
• Exclusive Collision: Allows you to isolate one object for the soft object to collide with.
• Collision Size: This spreads the collision deformation through the object.
• Delay:

Root

The below settings allow drooping or trailing effects on your object.

• Keep Root: This works a bit like Fix in ClothFX in that it restricts the drooping/trailing effect to polys/points NOT in the group selected here.
• Follow To: This determines the type of effect to use. It can be
  • <none>
  • Follow Path - The non-root area will drift behind the motion of the object, like a flag or streamer would.
  • Follow Wind - The non-root area will be deformed by any WindFX effects.
  • Follow Gravity - The non-root area will be deformed by any GravityFX effects.
• Path Shift:
• Ring:

Limit

The following settings allow you to limit how far points can deviate from their unmodified positions.

• Limit:
• Limit size: Sets the maximum distance the point can get from its original position.
• Vector Limit: Allows you to choose the direction the points can move. A useful setting is the NV Front which means along the front normal vector, so that the object won't collapse in on itself, useful for close fitting clothes and flesh.
• Limit Ratio: Determines how limited the points are. 100% is fully limited, whilst 0% is not limited.

Bump

This section adds bump effects, with an FX Button to control the area affected. A weight map with higher (going up to 100%) values seems to work best.

• Compress Bump: This will inflate any polygons which become compressed along their normal, creating a wrinkle effect.
• Negative Bump: This deflates any polygons in areas where they are stretched.
• Cycle: This creates multiple wrinkles in areas with either a Compress bump or Negative bump active.
• Bump Offset: You can use this to inflate or deflate your entire object.
• Bump Limit: This limits how much these bump effects can deform the mesh.

Wave

This will create a wave effect through your object.

• Make Wave by: Uses a weight map's falloff to determine the wave's direction. 0% is where the wave starts, 100% where it finishes. You can have quite complex effects by having multiple start points.
• Wave Size: The amplitude of the wave.
• Loop Cycle: The period (number of peaks) of the wave.
• Loop Speed: The speed of the waves.