Adding Clothing to a Character in Blender

Introduction

• Tutorial on adding pants and a shirt to a character in Blender.
• Inspired by successful video on cloth sewing (60,000 views).
• Common questions addressed:
  • How to add pants and a shirt.
  • How to prevent pants from sliding off.
  • How to add clothing to an animated character.

Getting Started

• Import a character into Blender.
• Quick setup for those without a model:
  • Download a free model from provided link.
  • Extract the downloaded file and open the .blend file.
• Create a fresh scene in Blender:
  • Delete default objects.
  • Append the character model from the downloaded file.

Preparing the Character

1. Select Character and Armature:
   • Click on the character and armature.
   • Inverse selection and delete unneeded objects.
2. Set Up Animation:
   • Go to Front Orthographic View (1 on numpad).
   • Set end frame value to 130.
   • Pose the character in a T-pose:
     • Rotate arms slightly.
     • Insert location and rotation keyframes at frame 1 and frame 30.
     • Create a simple animation by moving bones (e.g., foot, hip, chest) and inserting keyframes at frame 75.
     • Clear pose transforms at frame 120.

Editing the Character's Model

• Enter Edit Mode:
  • Adjust vertices for better clothing fit.
  • Enable Proportional Editing.
  • Apply a subdivision surface modifier for smoothness.
• Add collision physics to ensure realistic cloth interaction.

Creating Pants

1. Organize Workspace:
   • Select armature, create a new collection called "Rig" to hide it for better view.
2. Add Clothing:
   • Create a plane (Shift + A > Mesh > Plane).
   • Rotate and place it at the groin level.
   • Edit the plane to form pants by moving vertices and extruding.
   • Add edge loops for geometry and assign materials for visibility.
   • Delete unnecessary faces and assign vertices to a "sewing" vertex group for sewing simulation.

Cloth Simulation Settings

• Add cloth simulation to pants:
  • Set quality steps to 8.
  • Enable self-collision and adjust friction to prevent sliding.
• Adjust cloth simulation settings to fine-tune appearance:
  • Max sewing force and shrinking factors can be adjusted for better fit.

Creating the Shirt

1. Model the Shirt:
   • Select pants and hide them to work on the shirt.
   • Add a new plane and shape it into a shirt.
   • Use edge loops and extrusion techniques similar to pants.
   • Assign sewing vertex group and delete unnecessary faces.
   • Test simulation to see how the shirt interacts with pants.

Finalizing the Simulation

• Cache the simulation to improve performance:
  • Set frames for caching to 130 and bake the simulation.
• Play back the animation to see the final result.
• Adjust viewport settings for real-time performance.

Conclusion

• Recap on creating clothing for animated characters.
• Reminder about the Patreon for additional content and models.
• Encourage viewers to experiment with Blender and share their results.