Hi,
there are things out there, which only bends in one direction:
Think of a belt (for fixing my trousers 
: It bends in direction
of its length but it does not in direction of its width.
Or think of a fire hosepipe: Most of them bend also in length
it does neither collapse nor bend in the length of its radius.
As I understand weight painting it influences the behaviour
of softbody in relation to “the environment” (right word?
I doubt… :O)
But even in space (no gravitiy) the things described above will
act as described.
And: Heavy weights in weight painting will “nail” the softbody
to the environment : There will no move in relation to it
anymore.
Last question concerning such those things (belts, hosepipes etc:)
How can I prevent softbodies from intersecting themselves.
I dont want to make animations…:
The “final result” of all this should be a way to model
things “collapsed in a natural way”.
As an example: Take a hosepipe and throw it on the floor – try to model this by hand: A LOT OF WORK.
Take a softbody: Add gravity and let the hosepipe collapse
by itsself. TADA! :O)
Thank you very much in advance for any help or hint !
Keep rendering!
mcc