I was trying some tests with the flex and I found a cool effect it can be used for. I noticed that soft bodies can be attached to multiple shapes. This means you can take a skeletal mesh, convert it to a soft body and attach it to skeletal shapes. Then if you use a script you can move the shapes with a animated skeletal mesh. It's probably overkill for gameplay but could be useful for cut scenes or maybe a modeling program.
Benefits
Looks more realistic
Maintains volume e.g twists, bends.
Jiggle effect / fat. The effect increases the more space there is between the bone shape and the skin.
Self collision. When bending the arm the mesh doesn't intersect (creates a fold)
Interacts with other flex effects e.g cloth, water. Does have some intersecting issues.
Easier to set up for a novice user. Only need a few bones and no weight painting. e.g created a pelvis / thigh bone and two shapes. It was then easy to set gymnastic style poses (normally I need a lot of helper bones).
Issues
Can create a bit of an uncanny valley effect.
Doesn't work well on detailed areas like the face or hands (keep as separate meshes).
Cloth can pass through character when moving fast.
Can't set rigid parts attached to soft body parts e.g metal shoulder pads would look like rubber, need a separate mesh.
Slow performance (would probably be ok for about five characters).
Funny side effects
Because the soft body maintains its volume and the skeletal mesh bone area is fixed it can create overlapping shape issues e.g if there's a cube shape that the character walks though then the character will inflate to match the volume of the box.
The soft body parts attached to the skeleton will not be affected by flex while the other parts are e.g a character's skeleton won't float in water (can walk through water) but any other parts will (belly fat)
Possible tool extensions.
It would be cool if I could create the flex particles in a program like blender. Then I could create a more accurate shape (maybe even use muscle shapes) and maybe set the strength between particles (bone / clothing / armor / muscle / fat areas).
I'd also like to be able to stitch pieces together e.g model muscle areas in a compressed state. Then stitch them together on the skeleton (stretch the muscle to match the skeleton). Then when the character bent their arm it would change from the stretched state back to the modeled compressed state.
I hope this method hasn’t already been mentioned and that it was useful to someone. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for the issue of clothing passing though a soft body attached to a moving shape.
Benefits
Looks more realistic
Maintains volume e.g twists, bends.
Jiggle effect / fat. The effect increases the more space there is between the bone shape and the skin.
Self collision. When bending the arm the mesh doesn't intersect (creates a fold)
Interacts with other flex effects e.g cloth, water. Does have some intersecting issues.
Easier to set up for a novice user. Only need a few bones and no weight painting. e.g created a pelvis / thigh bone and two shapes. It was then easy to set gymnastic style poses (normally I need a lot of helper bones).
Issues
Can create a bit of an uncanny valley effect.
Doesn't work well on detailed areas like the face or hands (keep as separate meshes).
Cloth can pass through character when moving fast.
Can't set rigid parts attached to soft body parts e.g metal shoulder pads would look like rubber, need a separate mesh.
Slow performance (would probably be ok for about five characters).
Funny side effects
Because the soft body maintains its volume and the skeletal mesh bone area is fixed it can create overlapping shape issues e.g if there's a cube shape that the character walks though then the character will inflate to match the volume of the box.
The soft body parts attached to the skeleton will not be affected by flex while the other parts are e.g a character's skeleton won't float in water (can walk through water) but any other parts will (belly fat)
Possible tool extensions.
It would be cool if I could create the flex particles in a program like blender. Then I could create a more accurate shape (maybe even use muscle shapes) and maybe set the strength between particles (bone / clothing / armor / muscle / fat areas).
I'd also like to be able to stitch pieces together e.g model muscle areas in a compressed state. Then stitch them together on the skeleton (stretch the muscle to match the skeleton). Then when the character bent their arm it would change from the stretched state back to the modeled compressed state.
I hope this method hasn’t already been mentioned and that it was useful to someone. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for the issue of clothing passing though a soft body attached to a moving shape.
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