Basic usage \ Start here

Here's what it takes to add some basic secondary\overlapping\spring motion to a few objects:

1. Open UI from Maya top menu bar - BroTools - BroDynamics - Open.
2. Select one of the many simulation modes: Chain, Points, Thrower, Attribute Spring, Noise, etc. More about simulation modes below.
3. Select objects you wish to animate. Selection order is important for Chains mode (starting from base to tip).
4. Set parameters in UI.
5. Click “Simulate”.

If you hover your mouse over any parameter you will see a tooltip with a GIF showing the effects of the setting.

Also check the BroDynamics Interface chapter of this help to get the idea of how the UI works.

Simulation modes

You can read more about each of the available simulation modes in their own chapters:

• Chain
• Point
• Thrower
• Attribute Spring
• Noise
• Simple Chain

These are the primary modes, but there are more simulation modes to explore - you can find them in the menu on the left.

Animation Layers

BroDynamics will bake simulation to currently selected animation layer, because under the hood it merely issues move and set keyframe commands on animated objects, mimicking what you would do as an animator. This means that it will respect most things Maya does, including setting keyframes to currently selected animation layer.

Using animation layers may be very helpful with simulations, in fact it is recommended to run simulations on a separate animation layer. This allows you to preserve your original animation, and run iterations faster, as undo procedure often takes more time than selecting all keyframes on an animation layer and removing them, or even re-creating animation layer.

BroDynamics can automatically do that if you select the New Animation Layer checkbox. You can also use Overwirte Previous Layer checkbox to overwrite previous simulation, or leave it unchecked if you want to keep adding layers. If you ever need to overwrite an older layer, you can always disable or remove it manually, before running another simulation. This way you can always go back to previous iterations if needed.

You can also adjust weight on animation layers, turning simulation on and off, or controlling it's strength.