n the latest update of Blender 5.2, we are getting what i think is the biggest Geometry Nodes update since simulation zones were introduced, and that’s the new Dynamic Cloth node, which lets you simulate cloth directly inside Geometry Nodes. Even in its infancy, you can already see how far ahead this is compared to the traditional way of doing cloth simulations. Right away it ships with features like tearing.
and this clip from Celestialmaze shows how you can create a powerful explosion effect with it. The tearing can either be random or driven by something like a Voronoi texture. Unfortunately, right now there’s no self-collision, so wrinkles still pass through each other, but i’m pretty sure that’s something that will be added very quickly.
for now you already get object collision, realtime interactivity, custom forces, and tearing. One great use case is demonstrated by Kevin Lim, where the plant is actually a cloth simulation setup that triggers tearing when it collides with another object, breaking the plant into hundreds of chunks of different sizes, all in realtime. The simulation also supports pin groups like the old cloth system, and these groups can be animated independently to drive the simulation itself.
even in its beta state you can already see the huge range of possibilities. Take a look at Faustkeinz’s sewing animation, the threads are procedural and so is the fabric itself. I also believe the thread closing animation is procedural as well, creating a very satisfying result that would have been almost impossible with the older workflow.
if that was not impressive enough, watch Cartesian Caramel tear through the fabric of space with this dramatic entry into the list. The tearing is obviously being controlled by the Dynamic Cloth simulation, and because you can now create your own forces, from gravity to turbulence and more, the level of control is far beyond what we had before. You can even animate the strength of these forces, which becomes incredibly useful for creating slow-motion effects like the ones shown here.
i have always complained about the lack of control when simulating in Blender, especially with fluids and cloth simulations, and this node finally feels like the answer, at least for cloth. What Ashlee demonstrates gives us a glimpse into how much control artists will soon have over cloth simulations in Blender. One thing i really appreciate about the tearing system is that it does not pre-cut the mesh beforehand. The cuts happen dynamically during the simulation itself, meaning you don’t see visible pre-cut edges in the render, so there’s no need for old tricks like swapping meshes once the tearing begins. Another thing you’ll notice in Ashlee’s demo is that you can actually paint where the tearing happens while the simulation is running, all in realtime. That’s a fantastic way to introduce extra layers of detail and break up the generic look that procedural workflows can sometimes create. After painting, you can simply save the cache so you don’t lose the animation, since the weight-paint animation itself is not stored.
there are so many more demos worth watching if you really want to understand how powerful this feature already is, and if you want a full step-by-step guide, Topchannel1on1 already has a tutorial covering how to use the new Dynamic Cloth feature.
https://superhivemarket.com/products/divine-cut-smart-cloth-generator?ref=311
since we are already talking about cloth simulations, i think you guys will also love some of these amazing cloth-related addons that have been making cloth workflows in Blender much easier for years, including Divine Cut, which comes with its own realtime cloth manipulation tools. Watch the demos and you’ll honestly be blown away by what it can do.
https://superhivemarket.com/products/cascade--cloth-simulation-library?ref=311
you also have the Cascade Cloth Library, which is a really neat collection of pre-simulated cloth animations that you can drag and drop directly into your scenes, things like waving flags, banners, hanging clothing and more. They already come UV unwrapped with textures and materials ready to go.
https://superhivemarket.com/products/librx-cloth?ref=311
another great one is LibrX Cloth. This is also a collection of pre-simulated cloth animations, but this time aimed more at artists working on advertising and motion graphics, with effects like tearing fabrics, waving cloth, cushions, ribbons and much more.
if you don’t want pre-simulated assets, you can also simulate your own clothing using Simply Cloth. This addon is geared more towards character animation, and comes with presets for shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, as well as a cloth pattern drawing assistant for creating sewing patterns.
https://superhivemarket.com/products/simply-cloth?ref=311
https://superhivemarket.com/products/simply-clothing-pack?ref=311
finally, another great one from the same artists is Simply Clothing Pack, which is just a collection of ready-made clothes that you can quickly slap onto a character with no simulation needed at all.
and that’s it from me today
