Tutorial: Panel Cloth - Editor Walkthrough & Updates (5.4)

In the following document, we’ll give an overview of the Beta Panel-Based Cloth Editor in Unreal Engine for 5.4. We’ll list the updated features of 5.4 then demonstrate how to access and navigate the new default Dataflow Node Graph Cloth Template with an example using USD import from Marvelous Designer. We’ll provide an overview into the many updates added to the Cloth Editor you can use to enhance your workflow and Chaos cloth simulations.

https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/tutorials/Mpze/unreal-engine-panel-cloth-editor-walkthrough-updates-5-4

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Thank you so much for making this awesome tutorial! I’ve learned so much from the insane amount of detail you provided. Would it be possible to include the example files used in the tutorial, similar to Panel Cloth Example Files (5.3) | Tutorial?

The tutorial is well done and I am learning a lot from it, however it would great if I can go along the steps with the actual nodes so I can take a deeper look at the settings/setups used. I am personally running into issues on my personal clothing while trying to follow the tutorial, so seeing a working 5.4 example would be super helpful!

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once i import my usda via cloth panel node and select skeleton in transfer skin weights node i get the below and cannot see my garment in the cloth panel editor tho folders/mats/mesh come through as the tutorial describes.

edit: I got it to work exporting .usd, not .usda as the tutorial shows. may have to do with how i’m only exporting one garment at the moment to test the feature. will continue updating

edit 2: you need to click ‘include garment simulation data’ in the export window of MD, the image of which is cut off in the tutorial.

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okay i got all this to work except for the kinematic collider - to echo @Charles_■■■ can we get a 5.4 example files? see below for graph

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Also requesting example files to use as a reference. Some of these instructions are hard to follow and there are a lot of chances along the way to mess something up.

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agreed. although i think they are going to make us wait for the talisman demo release :frowning:

@MixMasta you are correct about the 'include garment simulation data; That was a last minute addition by Clo, we didn’t even have that in our cut of the software. I’ve added the additional reference to that checkbox in the docs.

I will try to get out some example files next week. I need to clean things up. It will be the ClothAsset, Dataflow, Physics Asset with extended leg collisions (to the 5.3 PA) the LOD2 Kinematic collider, USD directory and probably the MD file, too.

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thank you so much for responding!! and adjusting the doc :slight_smile: very excited to see if i can get all the layers of my garment working with kinematic collider. using MH skeletal mesh converted to static mesh in-editor to transfer weights, closed the mesh in-editor.

not sure if there’s some secret sauce maya is cooking when you export/imported quinn for the tut? but many of us do not have access to maya.

any chance you can include an MH static mesh as an example with the lod2 kinematic collider? if not all good

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@gozerKeymaster

I have a question regarding the workflow in combination with Metahumans.

In general, Metahumans come in 2 parts - body and head mesh.
However, the head mesh contains part of the neck / shoulders as well, which is an area that is crucial for cloth simulation.

Now, when I want to use the cloth simulation with metahumans, I am having trouble with 2 steps:

  1. Transferring weight
  • I have to decide whether I want to transfer weights either from body or from the head mesh of a metahuman. As I see it, there is no way to do both, as it would require a joint skeletal mesh, which does not exist.
  1. Physics Assets
  • There is no way to create a combined physics asset that has a good representation of the body as well as the shoulder / neck area. I can create great physics assets for the body and the head mesh separately, using Convex Hull or Level Set, but never a good combined asset.

  • Kinematic collider looks very promising, but for that I would also need a joined skeletal mesh that contains skin weights. Which is something we don’t have with Metahumans.

Is there a solution to this when it comes to Metahumans? I looked into merging skeletal meshes in Maya but that does not work out too well.

All in all, great work with the cloth assets and the tutorial :slight_smile:

Edit: I have created a separate question thread for this, outlining the problem in more detail - UE 5.4 - Panel Cloth - Metahumans - Collisions and Physics Assets

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+1 for example files please! :slight_smile: I have most things working, except the layer split and kinematic collider. I wonder if it has to do with specific naming and other minor details - I don’t know.

It would be amazing to get an example of the layer setup + kinematic collider (ie. A garment split into layers so we can set the proper layer order and it stops poking through etc, plus the kinematic collider set up as the collider) without the branching - it’s quite confusing. The branching isn’t necessary, right? It was just included so that the blueprint could be switched between kinematic and standarr/physics asset?

I wonder also whether there is something wrong with my “whole body static mesh” that I use for the input into the kinematic collider. I made it by exporting the combined lod 0 mesh of the metahuman from the source file in Maya. I wasn’t sure how else to make one! The example is the mannequin but that is far more straightforward.

Hi all,

I’ve made a page with a free download to my Dataflow graph that matches Tim’s document as close as possible - for the Project Talisman setup of the Kinematic Collider and the layers etc.

Let me know if there is anything specific I’m doing wrong? :slight_smile:

NOTE: IGNORE THIS. This has been superceded by Tim’s example files!

Example File document released… Panel Cloth Example Files (5.4) | Tutorial

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This is amazing, thanks so much Tim!!

Perfect, thank you so much for this Tim! (sadly UE5.4 crashes on me when trying to Simulate) :frowning:

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I’ve been trying to problem solve in the comments on that actual example files. Tim would you prefer us to post in here?

@WILDLAND-IA-DEV and I have projects setup and enabled but the clothing layers etc are a bit of an issue if you make the branches FALSE and TRUE (ie. you actually enable the kinematic collider):

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Thats interesting! is that DA_5_4_Demo_Proxy DataFlow Asset you are showing here? or ClothAsset? It does not populate the preview for me on the DataFlow. Also, for me, the issue you have usually results in tweaking SimulationSolverConfig try to increase the Max num Iterations to about 7 or 8 and Num to 4, Substeps to 3 and see what it gives you

Ooph turns out what I thought was kinematic collider was not actually it!

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Yes it doesn’t seem to work - Tim could we maybe be on a different version of Unreal entirely to you? :slight_smile: that’s the only thing I can think of for why our results are so different?

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Hey @gozerKeymaster thanks again for putting these files together. One small thing, not sure if others were experiencing this but the skeleton for the Quinn file provided is broken, so had to re-assign. This might explain the crash someone else was experiencing b/c if you try to test an animation asset on that skelly from within the cloth panel editor UE will crash.

As for the Kinematic Collider graph, for me it breaks down when it gets to the Vest_Bind_Sel node, see below error.

edit 1: Is it possible these errors are popping up on both ‘sides’ of the proxy graph BECAUSE the skeleton is borked on adding the example files to a project? Maybe best to wrap these files into a new project? Going to test with the MH SM you provided.

image

We all re-assigned Quinn yes - see above thread and also the other thread buddy. All have the same issue - tims files don’t work unfortunately, even when you change the dataflow asset over, re-assign the missing items, reimport usd etc.