Content Management

Contents are now identified with their “immediate paths”, instead of the full paths.

For content within a zip package, the identifier will be the zip file name plus the path within the zip package.
For content files in a folder, the identifier will be the immediate parent folder name plus the file name.

For example, if a model file is located in “actors/test/miku/miku.pmx”, it will be identified as “miku/miku.pmx”. You can move the entire “miku” folder anywhere within the actors subfolder and it will continue to be recognized as the same model. Its configuration will be restored correctly and any saved scene that contains this model will be able to load correctly too.

Thanks to this change, you can now reorganize your model and content files in your content library without breaking their saved configurations and references within scenes.

However, this also means older versions will not be able to find the config files saved by 2024.9 since they have new filenames that matches the new identifiers.

Additionally, you can now perform basic content management from within the application.

You can now delete models, motions and saved scenes from the content selection menu.
From the content menu there are new options to
- Find and delete duplicate items
- Migrate all the configuration files from old filenames to new

Please note that if you plan to continue to use older versions at the same time for the same content library, do not perform the config file migration since it will rename the old config files and the older versions will not be able to find them.

About Deletion

The “deleted” files are not actually deleted. They are simply moved to the “recycler” folder within your content library, so you can then go to that folder and clean up the files manually.

The program will not delete any file, and if error happens when moving the files, it will simply skip those files. So your data should always be safe.

Cloth Simulation Extensions

Particle Dynamics

The cloth simulation system has been extended to perform physics simulation previously done by the physics engine. This includes most XPS physics tools including hair, clothing (now renamed to “Dangling physics”) and skirt.

This means better performance, unconditionally stable and much smoother result. So it is now the default option for these physics tools. You can also uncheck the “Particle Dynamics” option to go back to the old physics engine.

The configurations for the “Particle Dynamics” simulation are very different from before. Instead of spring forces, limits and damping, you use compliance and drag to control the simulation behavior and they are independent to the physics properties.

Inertia
Swing compliance: resistance for swinging
Twist compliance: resistance for twisting
Reduction: Reduction ratio applied to the compliance at each level
Particle Anchor: the hanging position from one particle to the next For skirt it also has the following for controlling lateral connections
Lateral compliance
Lateral anchor

Convert Model Mesh To Cloth

You can now convert model meshes into cloth and simulate with the cloth simulation system.

Simply check the box in the mesh list within the “Mesh To Cloth” setting to convert the mesh to cloth. After this the entire mesh will start to move freely like a piece of cloth. But you can constraint it using the options below.

You can select anchor bones for each mesh to constraint the mesh to certain bones. You can also specify height limit for the constraint, meaning only the particles within that height range will be constrained to the selected bones.

Under Water Behavior

The cloth simulation system and the particle dynamics can now work the water system to achieve buoyancy and different simulation behavior when under water.

You can specify “Buoyancy” and other properties for each simulation group separately. You can find these settings in the “Particle Properties”
“Buoyance” range ran -1 to 1, negative means floats up, 0 means weightless.
“Drag (Water)” controls the drag when under water.

Improved friction & stability

The cloth simulation now has improved handling of static friction.

New LipSync system and Spatial Audio

The new LipSync system generates facial movements based on the audio. This is similar to the LipSync functionality in the AI Chat feature but we’ve switched to a different solution that works all platforms including Android.

TO use the LipSync feature, first turn it on in the Playback Options, then for each actor that you wish to have the mouth motion, go to facial settings and enable “LipSync”.

Spatial Audio allows the audio to be played from a location in 3D space. There are new options to allow the audio to be played from an actor’s head position. To use this first turn on the “Spatialize” option in Playback Options and select an actor from the dropdown list.

Other fixes and enhancements

We’ve also fixed many issues from recent users’ bug reports and our own testings. Mainly around the motion system upgrade.