Thursday 9 August 2012

Ragdoll Physics Tutorial


This tutorial shows some of the more advanced options in the ragdoll system used by PoserPhsyics.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Final SR1 Release Notes

This is the final list of SR1 changes.  SR1 will now be incorporated into the PoserPhysics 2012 installer, and will hopefully be available in the next month (after final testing).  If anyone would like a pre-release version, pls email me you proof of purchase and I'll email you the update.



New Features
  1. Universal Joints have been added.  The UniversalX is like a ball joint, but with no SPIN/TWIST in the X Axis direction (as the props are positioned in frame 1).  UniversalY has no spin in the Y direction, and UniversalZ has no spin in the Z direction.  Universal joints are great for simulating things like chain links.



  2. The system will now ignore Invisible props (since this adversely effect the simulation).
  3. Added joint rotations around the Child origin and endpoint.  The original "Origin" and "Endpoint" selections have changed to "Join To Origin" and "Join To Endpoint".  Use the "Prop Origin" or "Prop Endpoint" for prop ball joins to the GROUND so it rotates on it's own Origin or Endpoint point.


  4. You can now join a prop to the GROUND for fixed joints, and other joints where the anchor point is "This Prop Origin" and "The Prop Endpoint".
  5. Added Cylinders.  Use the PoserCylinder to add cylinder elements to your scene.  IMPORTANT: The ODE does not support Cylinder to Capsule or Cylinder to Cylinder collisions.  So the PhysicsCylinder will only bounce (collide) off boxes, spheres and static trimesh shapes.  The cyclinder has been included for use as car wheels, where cylinder to cylinder and cylinder to capsule collisions are generally not required.
  6. Added Damping to the simulation, so that objects do not spin or roll forever.  In the unlikely event you need to change the default settings, change the PoserPhysics-LinearDamping and PoserPhysics->AngularDamping parameters on the UNIVERSE actor.
  7. For joining props, you NO LONGER USE THE POSER PARENTING system.  Instead, simply select the prop to join the current prop to in the "Join To" combobox in the Prop/Figure Settings tab of the PoserPhysics window.  Any parented prop in your scene will be unparented when the simulation is run.
  8. If a prop has other prop joined to it, you can click the “Create Group” button to make a Poser Grouping prop with the current prop, and all props joined to this prop in the group.  You can then scale, rotate and move the group as required.
  9. Added the setGravity(gravity) function to the API.  Removed the PoserPhysicsEngine(gravity = ?) option - simply call as PoserPhysicsEngine() now.
  10. Motors have been added.  These are a special type of Hinge joint, which has twist force applied.  Select the MotorX, Y or Z joint type.  The velocity of the rotation is set in the PoserPhysics->Velocity dial for that actor, and the acceleration is set by the  PoserPhysics->MaxForce dial.  For a simple sample, load a box, lift it a little, join it to the GROUND, set to MotorX, anchor point Child Endpoint.


  11. A new ragdoll keyframe movement type has been added called "Locked". This mode creates the ragdoll, but locks the joints in a fixed position.  There are additional dials added to the ragdoll called PoserPhysics-RagdollERP and PoserPhysics-RagdollCFM, which is you set this to anything other than the -1 default, applies this value to the ERP and CFM of the joints.  In effect, you can make the joints rigid (with an ERP of 1 and CFM of 0), or flexible (with an ERP of 0 and CFM of 1).  This is experimental at this stage, so use at your own risk!

  12. A force prop has been added.  Load the PhysicsForce prop from the Primitives folder, parent it to a ragdoll or prop, and then set the force amount and frame to apply that force in the parameter dials for that prop.  


Fixes
  1. The PoserPhysics 2012 window will now not dock onto the Poser UI.
  2. There is now user input validation of the numeric input fields of the PoserPhysics dialog.
  3. You can now no longer have two PoserPhysics windows open at the same time
  4. Fixed the instance where checkbox inputs were not being saved in the Scene Settings tab
  5. The capsule has been renamed to PoserCapsule.  Delete the capusle.pp2 (not ppZ!) file from the primitives folder.  The standard Poser capsule and cylinders are not supported - use the PhysicsCapsule and PhysicsCylinder instead.
  6. Fixed an instance when the old version of PoserPhysics had been installed on Poser 9/Poser Pro 2012, stopped the new version from working.