Join Joel Bradley for an in-depth discussion in this video What you should know, part of Blender: Cloth Simulation.
As we work through this blend a cloth course together, I will do my best to keep you informed as to the location of tools and user interface elements that I make use of, as well as hopefully remembering to call out any keyboard shortcuts as and when they are used. That having being said however, I will be assuming that you have at least a reasonable level of familiarity, with the Blender application. And so we'll know how to work with standard Blender tools, such as the Select and Transform options, along with being able to perform typical view port navigation operations.
If you are completely new to Blender and need to learn how to master these basics before going ahead and working through this cloth simulation course, then I would strongly recommend that you check out the Blender titles already available here on lynda.com, especially Blender 2.6 Essential Training by Josh Mainstreet. That having been said there are a couple of alterations to Blender's default way of working that I would like to make, before we go ahead and get started with the cloth tools. As I am spending quite a bit of time, switching between Blender and 3DS Max these days, I want to make a quick alteration to Blender's default navigation controls.
To do that, I'm going to come up to the File menu, and open up the User Preferences dialog. In here, I want to select the Input tab, and from the Presets drop down, choose the 3DS Max option. This sets Blender up so as to work in as 3DS Max-like a fashion as possible with the most noticeable change being the use of the left mouse button for selection operations. To finish, I just need to click on the Save User Settings button, and then exit out of the dialog.
I also want to come into the Scene tab, over on the Properties panel and make certain that the unit setting we are working with here in Blender is set to metric. This will help us get clean and clear readouts in some of the numeric fields that we'll be working with at times. Now, in order to follow along with and benefit from this course, you do not need to take these steps. You can continue to work with Blender just as it is. You will, however, need to keep the difference in our setups in mind as we work through the exercises.
Other skills that you will probably find helpful as you work through this course would include a basic understanding of the principles or laws of Physics, especially gravity and motion. The workings of 3D animation in general, and probably even the knowledge of cloth simulation tools found in other 3D applications such as 3DS Max, Maya, and Cinema 4D to name just a few that are featured here on lynda.com.
Learn how to create realistic garments and fabrics, from T-shirts to tablecloths, with Blender. Join author Joel Bradley as he shows how to simulate cloth, control its appearance, and make it interact realistically with other objects in your scene. First, he helps you prepare for cloth simulation by understanding the importance of physics and mesh subdivisions. Then Joel shows how to set up and work with the Cloth modifier—the core hub of the system—and Blender's cloth caching and baking features. Chapter 3 concentrates on the controls for the various cloth properties: Quality, Material, Damping, and more. Then learn how to control how your cloth interacts with other objects in your scene (including forces like wind) with collisions. Last, Joel covers special features introduced in Blender 2.7: force fields, wind absorption, and the new cloth sewing features.