Blender | How to Bake Cloth Simulation Results
- Blender
I added a Cloth simulation to create an animation that sways in the wind.
I struggled with how to bake it, so I’m leaving these notes for myself.
Prerequisites
Version
Blender: v4.0.2
Add-on
NewTek MDD format
▼ Appearance ▼
▼ During the Animation ▼
▼ Modifier ▼
The Bake Process
1. About the Modifiers
First, apply all the modifiers you’ve set, such as Subdivision Surface.
However, since I didn’t want the Subdivision Surface applied before the cloth simulation this time, I removed it and planned to add it back again after baking.
If you bake while the Subdivision Surface is still applied, exporting and importing the animation as .mdd ends up looking like crumpled-up paper.
2. Clear the Transform Values
Clear the transform values with control + a.
This is because when you import the .mdd file, the transform data gets applied relative to the world origin, which can make things end up extremely small or large.
3. Bake Inside the Cloth Simulation
Bake as many frames as you need.
4. Bring the Animation Back In via .mdd
▼ When Exporting ▼
▼ When Importing ▼
After importing, you can confirm that keyframes have been placed on the timeline, as shown below.
5. Play It Back to Check
⚠️ Before playing it back, delete or hide the Cloth simulation modifier.
Once I confirmed it played back correctly, I added back the Subdivision Surface I had removed earlier.
結果的に原因はなんだったのか？
The three things that tripped me up were the following.
- Not clearing the transform.
- Not applying the non-cloth modifiers.
- Not baking the cloth simulation beforehand, before exporting to mdd.
Lesson learned…
