Best Of

Subdivision sketch: soft hard surface.

This write-up is a brief look at using basic modeling operations to create a base mesh for stiffer types of soft goods. Complex folds and detailed wrinkles can be added to the base mesh using textile specific sculpting and simulation tools but the tradeoff is these processes tend to require a fairly dense mesh.

Simple fabric details, often found on smaller, less complex parts of some hard surface models, can also be added to the base mesh by using some creative subdivision modeling techniques. The details may be a bit softer with this method but the simplified mesh tends to use a lot less geometry and the surface can still be detailed later with fabric specific tools.

Modeling fabric products with a subdivision only approach does have some significant limitations but can still be an efficient way to create simpler shapes. Certain types of stiff fabrics like foam, leather, plastic, etc. tend to be used for more utilitarian or geometric designs and often have less pronounced fold details. Below is a preview of what can be achieved by making some quick changes to the topology of a simple base mesh.

Starting with hard surface shapes, that are already well defined, will help establish a sense of scale and proportion for the fabric parts that are attached to the rest of the model. The underlying hard surface components can be created using basic modeling operations like solidify, bevel, loop cut, etc.

Blocking out the fabric parts is fairly straightforward. Start by establishing the basic topology flow around the shape's profile. Extrude and add loop cuts to create a relatively consistent quad grid. Enable subdivision preview and adjust individual edge segments to form the basic shapes along the surface of the mesh. Create additional geometry to support complex surface features by using inset or loop cut operations and continue adjusting the shapes to match the references.

For softer fabrics, the quad grid mesh produced during the block out can be used as a base for sculpting or simulating fine details.

For stiffer fabrics, it's possible to create minor creases and ripples by triangulating sections of the mesh then randomly selecting individual edges and moving them into or away from the the surrounding surface. Dissolving individual vertices or edges and redirecting adjacent loops will also help produce subtle folds and wrinkles. Tools that are able to make random selections and move geometry relative to the surface normals can make this a fairly quick process.

The example below shows the final base mesh and subdivision previews. A few more details have been added by triangulating other sections and moving some of the new edges away from the existing surface. While it is possible to continue adding details by sculpting in high frequency details like micro folds, pores, weaves, patterns, etc. adding those types of micro details with texture overlays tends to be a bit more flexible. For this type of heavy fabric, the unsubdivided base mesh can also be used as the low poly model. Which can help save a bit of extra time.

Recap:

Applications like Blender, Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, Etc. provide a variety of different workflow options for modeling fabric parts. Deciding which approach should be used for a project really just depends on the complexity of the components and size of the surface details. While a subdivision only approach can be a quick way to model stiffer types of fabric, blocking out the basic shapes of soft goods can still be useful when using a sculpting or simulation workflow. It can be helpful to avoid adding unnecessary complexity to both the model and modeling process but it's also important to evaluate how the model will be used and chose a workflow that can be used to efficiently create accurate shapes.