3D design creates fully digital garments from 2D patterns and physics-based meshes, replacing physical samples like CDs replaced by MP3s. It cuts sampling costs, improves fit and technical design, and lets teams collaborate on unlimited versions. Physical samples still matter, but digital simulations are reshaping how apparel gets made.
Welcome to Module 1. This one's gonna be an introduction to 3D. In this module, we'll talk about what is 3D for apparel. 3D exists in several spaces, um, but how it works in apparel specifically for, uh, wovens and cut and sew knits, uh, is a bit different than we may see in other industries, uh, like automotive. We'll also talk about who are some of the solution providers. And garments versus simulations. All right, so what is 3D for apparel? A 3D simulation is a fully digital likeness of a garment or another article of clothing. These simulations can be used in design to replace 2D illustrations. Simulations can be used in the sample process to replace or reduce samples. Simulations can also be used in fit and technical design. Simulations are also a way to connect with your end consumer by using them in retail or for presentations. As of 2020, most of the 3D solutions on the market have a 2D and a 3D component that come together to make the simulations. So they do have some digital pattern component to, uh, create the 3D simulations. Usually the stitching lines and the sewing is completed on the 2D, um, and this also gives you an opportunity in most solutions to adjust the geometry of your patterns as you're working. 3D simulations are incredibly valuable assets. In the industry, usually if we have a sample, it's a physical sample and it's confined to a location. So think about 3D simulations as being an MP3 versus a CD. Those of us who are old enough to remember using CDs and what that was like. Uh, your samples, you have to have somewhere to store them. They're again limited to location, but your digital assets, your 3D simulations, they can be replicated as much as you want them to multiple designers can work with the same style at the same time. If you need a garment to be in multiple places at once, your digital 3D simulations can do that in ways that your physical samples just cannot. We are living in the Renaissance of CAD right now. It is so great to see so many solutions on the market. Looking at the 3D landscape, we have several providers out there and all of their solutions are pretty unique. When you're looking at some of the solution providers, definitely think about where these providers came from, how long they've been around. When I say take a look at where your solution providers are coming from, that's not necessarily about their physical location, but absolutely about the heritage of their brand, how they've developed their technology. We have some brands that have been around for 30 years creating 2D pattern for every segment of industry, and we have some that come from a completely different space that have came into apparel and really revolutionized things a bit because they brought a new and fresh perspective. All right, let's talk about garments versus simulations. They are a bit different. As I said, your virtual simulations, those are your MP3s, whereas your physical samples and real garments are more like, a CD in terms of having to manage where it is and how to store it. But the difference between music and clothing is we don't wear our music, right? So eventually we do get to that physical sample, so they are needed. We're not getting rid of them anytime soon. So when we talk about the differences between garments and simulations, we have to look at how they're created. In the physical world, garments are made to be sewn. We are still using sewing machines to put these things together, and that has a direct direct impact on the geometry of the patterns, and it influences some of our decisions as to how we're going to put the garments together and create them and what some of the finishing details will look like. Our production patterns are engineered specifically to be sewn. We don't need these in 3D. 3D is going to weld your 2D geometry together. Now, there's no hardware involved in that welding, or no fire, I should say. You definitely have your hardware, your workstation, but, uh, the process is a bit different. And that sewing workflow where you're actually feeding several plies of fabric through a sewing machine doesn't exist, and that is going to have an impact. So sometimes we make modifications to our patterns for successful sewing. Again, if this is something that you're accustomed to doing with your production patterns, that's going to vary a bit when you're talking about your 3D simulations because we're not sewing it in the same way. We don't need the same considerations for our patterns. [FOREIGN] For a 3D simulation, what's really important is that you have a great sewing line defined on your patterns. Now, some of our friends in industry who have been working on patterns for a very long time don't necessarily concern themselves with the sewing line as much. We see things like swapped seam allowances, which is okay, as long as that sewing line is still there and you can identify it and you know where to stitch your patterns together in 3D environment. Once you have that sewing line clearly defined, inside of that sewing line is where your 3D mesh or your virtual mesh will be created to apply the physics to turn your patterns into cloth in the virtual world. For realism, details that are a product of the sewing process will be added to your simulations to make them look like physical garments. So things like your flat felled seams or your understitching, your top stitching, all of that stitch work that is visible on the garment will need to be added. And they're usually added as optical touches, so they don't have the same impact as those touches may have on the physical sample. So, uh, in the real world, we'll add an understitch to prevent the inside of our fabric from rolling out. That's not an issue the same way in 3D, but you do want to have it there to get that added touch of realism. So those things again will be added as optical touches on your 3D simulations. Okay, those are most of the important things to know starting out. Uh, there are several players in the field. It's an exciting time for 3D, uh, because there are so many different, uh, providers that are really out there working to provide the best solutions that they can, and also providing solutions that have a unique perspective and point of view. Some solutions designers may like more, some solutions pattern makers may like more, some solutions may work better in your factories. So it's a great time to jump into 3D. Thank you so much. That's about everything for Module 1. Our next module, Module 2, is going to be on bodies. There we'll talk about avatars, what you need to know when you're preparing to jump into the space, and how we're going to start the fit process with our avatars.
