Simulating pillows with cloth modifier

[philvanderloo]

I'm trying to simulate 2 pillows, leaning in an angle on 2 other pillows below.

I'm having 2 issues- 1. When simulating, the pillows drop onto the other pillows and slide down onto the bed and lay flat. Which I don't want, and- 2. Something is making them hover an inch or 2 above the mattress no matter what gravity, pressure setting I use. What controls this?

[philvanderloo]

I figured out that, for some reason, when I use the sheet as a collision object the pillows won't make contact and stay an inch or 2 away. So I removed the sheet and switched to using the mattress as a collision object and now it works fine.

[Scott Schroeder]

For #1: You'll want to jack up the friction, both dynamic and static, parameters on your pillows so that they "stick" to each other rather than just slide down. I would do this on both the pillow and the collision object, if there is one.

 

For #2: In the cloth properties, in your collision object's settings, check the offset and depth numbers way down at the bottom. A setting of 1 is usually too high for both and will result in them hovering above the surface. If you use a value of around .1, you'll see them rest on the surface but not go through it. The cheap fix is to just let them hover and when you are happy with the cloth sim, collapse and just move the pillow down in space.

 

There is a really good 4 part series on Evermotion's Vimeo page about creating a couch and pillows.

I think the pillows are in part 3 and 4 but it's worth watching all 4 parts in their entirety.

[philvanderloo]

Thank You Scott. That did the trick.