How to use nCloth for Maya

How to use nCloth for Maya

nCloth is a very powerful simulation tool that ships natively with Maya. It works with Mayas nucleus system which is intuitive and easy to use. nCloth is also able to interact with other nucleus basedsimualtio9n such ads nParticle, nHair nDynamics etc.

One of the most common first steps into using nCloth is to generate a waving flag. This course will be using this common entry level activity as this is an easy way in. As well as explaining the tools and techniques in depth, this course will also be taking this exercise a step further. We will be looking at additional techniques such as tearing cloth, lighting and rendering the scene and compositing the flag in VFX plate. For the compositing of the flag, I will show you how to approach the shot in Nuke and then after Effects. The course will summarise with a final assignment where you will need to utilise the skills and techniques learnt in the course.


The only pre-requisites to this course are as follows:

A basic understanding of navigating Maya
A working copy of Maya
A working copy of Nuke and/or After Effects


The rest I will teach you from the ground up across 1 main exercise

Course outline

Lesson 1 – Lesson One – Making our flag with nCloth (A walkthrough of how to use nCloth where we will end up with a fully simulated flag

Lesson 2 – Tearing material in nCloth (In this session we will take a look at how we can tear material with nCloth)

Lesson 3 – Compositing the flag in Nuke (This session will show a breakdown of the compositing process in Nuke)

Lesson 4 – Compositing the flag in After Effects (This session will show a breakdown of the compositing process in After Effects)

Project Task (Assignment) – (This lesson will walk you through the final assignment that you have been tasked with, summarising the skills and techniques learnt in this course)

As mentioned above in the course outline, the course will finish with a really fun assignment where you will have the opportunity to practice the skills that you have learnt in this course! I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys create so please upload your work!

I hope you enjoy this course as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Create a torn flag simulation in Maya

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What you will learn

• Learn how to use nCloth
• Learn how to use Mayas nucleus system
• Learn how to tear material in maya

Rating: 4.5

Level: Beginner Level

Duration: 42 mins

Instructor: Jonathon Parker