Shape a garment

Start shape mode

1. 01

   Select a garment, then press Shape next to Outfit, Isolate and Reset view. The button stays off until a garment is selected. The garment gets a dot on each of its points, and the rest of the outfit fades so you still see it. Press Done, Shape again or Esc to leave, or select another garment.

Select points

1. 01

   Click a dot to select it, and Shift+click to add or remove one. Drag across empty space to select every dot in the box that faces you, and hold Alt while dragging to take the points on the back too. Alt+A or Select all selects every point, and Alt+Shift+A selects none.

2. 02

   Double-click a dot to select the whole part it belongs to, or point at a dot and press L. Hold Shift to add a part to the selection. Points split along a texture seam count as joined, and pieces that touch count as one part, so a double-click takes a whole ear cup, not just one of the pieces it is made of. To take only the piece under the dot, hold Alt while you double-click. Select connected grows the selection to every part it touches.

Move, rotate and scale

1. 01

   The gizmo sits in the middle of the selection. Choose Move, Rotate or Scale, or press G, R or S, then drag one of its handles. The garment changes while you drag.

2. 02

   Only the selected points move. If you move some of a part’s points, the surface between them and the rest stretches. To move a piece without stretching it, select the whole part, or turn on Soft selection so the change fades out.

3. 03

   Right-drag to rotate the view, and scroll to zoom towards the pointer. Drag with the middle button, or Shift+right-drag, to pan. Focus or F brings the selection close, or the whole garment when nothing is selected, and the view then turns around it. Reset view and leaving shape mode take you back to the usual view.

Soft edits and mirroring

1. 01

   Turn on Soft selection to let a change fade out around the selection instead of stopping at its edge. Radius sets how far it reaches, from 1 to 50 cm, and Alt with the scroll wheel changes it too. A ring on the stage shows the radius, and the dots shade from cyan to grey by how much they move.

2. 02

   Inflate or shrink moves the selected points straight out from the surface, or in, by up to 20 mm, and it follows soft selection too. The change is made when you let go of the slider, press Enter or leave it.

3. 03

   With Mirror on, each change is also made on the matching point on the other side of the ped’s middle. This only helps on a garment modelled the same on both sides of the middle. A point with no partner within 2 mm changes on its own side only, and the shape tools count how many points have none.

Keyboard and result

Selecting dots and dragging the gizmo need a mouse, pen or trackpad. With a keyboard you can still reshape the whole garment: press Select all, then move the Inflate or shrink slider with the arrow keys and press Enter.

The new shape is written into the garment’s model and keeps following the skeleton, so the garment moves with the ped as before. Its lower detail levels and alternative models follow automatically. Every change is one step in the history, so Undo takes it back. Shaping costs no credits.

Delete polygons

1. 01

   Select a garment and press Delete polygons in the inspector. The rest of the outfit fades, and the camera works as usual: right-drag to rotate and scroll to zoom. Press Done, Delete polygons again or Esc to leave.

2. 02

   Choose Brush (B), Lasso (L) or Rectangle (R). The brush paints the polygons under a circle, and Brush size or [ and ] sets its width in pixels. With the lasso or the rectangle, a click takes the polygon under the pointer and a double-click takes the whole part. Hold Shift to add and Alt to remove. Selected polygons turn red.

3. 03

   Lasso and Rectangle select every polygon inside them, through the model, including those turned away or hidden. The brush, a click and a double-click take only what can be seen. Through the model, or X, turns this on or off for the tool in hand, and each tool remembers its choice.

4. 04

   Select connected (C) grows the selection to the whole parts it touches. Grow (G) and Shrink (Shift+G) change it one ring at a time, Select all (Alt+A) selects everything and Invert (Alt+I) turns the selection around.

5. 05

   Press Delete or Delete. The polygons disappear at once, and so do the points no other polygon uses.