Abstract

The subject of cloth simulation has seen many advances since the mid 1980's. It would certainly be interesting to know what aspects can be simulated, how they are simulated, as well as what the limitations are. In this thesis, we set the goal to explore the task of building cloth simulators; and hopefully, identify any missing part and its solutions. We begin with the necessary overview of the topic and the reference of related works and their contributions. Two popular models are selected as the base for the construction of two respective cloth simulators. One model is mass-spring type while the second model referenced defines its mechanical forces from energy condition functions. Each model presented brings along a multitude of approaches and techniques to solve the different subtasks that the challenge of building a cloth simulator consists of: The internal mechanisms, the integration method, damping, constraint handling techniques, collision detection and response all figure among the tasks involved in cloth simulation. The two constructed simulators serve for testing and comparison purposes. The results and analyses allow the exploration of additional possible solutions in the quest of finding the most appropriate methods. Finally, we propose the definition of an additional mechanical property of cloth to help simulate the curves and wrinkles observed on real cloth. And, further discussions of possible solutions are presented for certain cloth behaviors and aspects of cloth simulation that were left unspecified previously.