New Cloth Curves Creation Toolset For Houdini

While the traditional method of creating clothes in CGI relies on color textures, bump maps, displacement, and other techniques, it doesn't always deliver the desired result. For example, the clothing may not interact with light as realistically as intended, or it may appear flat and lacking depth.

Pepe Buendia and Agustin Gonzalez teamed up to introduce a new toolset developed in Houdini, designed specifically for creating clothing and other fabrics using only curves. This solution offers a more realistic approach to clothing creation, where the fabric is represented by a set of intertwined threads as in real life. The process begins with a base geometry (such as the T-pose of the clothes), which serves as a guide for positioning the fabric on the surface.

The toolset has width control by image and multi-threads generation with two types of fabric generation:

• Weft/Warp based on a bitmap image
• Traditional knitting
  

Following the generation module, the toolset includes a stitching module that lets you create various types of stitches by selecting edges, drawing curves on the geometry or UVs, or using an image.

Additionally, there's a tearing module that allows you to damage the clothing based on masks or images and a stickers module for adding vinyl or decals to the fabric. Lastly, the deformation module enables you to transform the clothing created in the T-pose, adjusting it to match the simulated movement and behavior of the fabric.

All modules are interconnected, sharing information to ensure seamless functionality throughout the toolset.

The simulation doesn't require the vertex order to match the original geometry used to create the garment. The only requirement is that the UVs remain consistent. This approach allows for the creation of assets with multiple clothing pieces that can interact and collide without intersections or artifacts, ensuring that the curves follow the simulation accurately.

As this toolset is still under development, you can learn more about it here and follow Pepe Buendia and Agustin Gonzalez on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for updates and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.