Objective
This guide explains how to prepare avatars and garments in your CLO project for a seamless import into Twinmotion using the correct FBX export settings.
Operation
There are two primary methods for importing CLO avatars and garments into Twinmotion. For either method, you can use CLO's Import/Export Option Preset feature to save your export settings, which will help streamline the export process.
Preserving CLO Fabric Materials in Twinmotion
This process ensures that fabric textures and details created in CLO are accurately transferred to Twinmotion. Upon import, each fabric from your CLO project will become a separate material in Twinmotion, which will require texture relinking.
Step 1: Bake and Export UV Maps from CLO
In CLO's UV Editor, bake and export all necessary texture maps for your garments (e.g., Diffuse, Normal, Roughness).
Step 2: Configure FBX Export Settings
Export the project as an FBX file using the following specific settings:
- Unified UV Coordinates
- Single Object
- Thick (for geometry)
- Scale: cm
- Embed Media
Step 3: Relink Texture Maps in Twinmotion
After importing the FBX into Twinmotion, select one of the new materials derived from a CLO fabric. Manually relink the exported texture maps (from Step 1) to their corresponding channels in the Twinmotion material editor.
Step 4: Apply the Corrected Material
Once one material is correctly configured, use the material picker tool to apply this corrected material to all other surfaces that share the same fabric.
Note: For higher fidelity, ensure that details like seamlines and puckering are included in the normal map you bake from CLO. This helps create a final render in Twinmotion that is more consistent with the original CLO design.
Applying New Materials in Twinmotion
This workflow is optimized for situations where you plan to replace the original CLO fabrics with new materials from the Twinmotion library. By exporting without unified UVs, you ensure that textures map cleanly across individual pattern pieces, which is ideal for applying tiling materials.
Step 1: Configure FBX Export Settings
Export the project as an FBX file from CLO with the following specific settings:
- Unified UV Coordinates: Unchecked
- Single Object
- Thick (for geometry)
- Scale: cm
- Embed Media
- Diffuse Color Combined on Texture
Step 2: Apply Materials in Twinmotion
Upon importing the FBX, Twinmotion will automatically group the geometry based on the materials assigned in CLO.
- Behavior: All pattern pieces that shared the same fabric in CLO (e.g., "Cotton Twill") will now be treated as a single material surface in Twinmotion.
- Action: Simply drag and drop a new Twinmotion material onto any part of that surface. It will instantly update all associated pattern pieces at once.
Note: This method will not preserve Normal Maps for fine details like seamlines or puckering. However, the trade-off is superior texture mapping at the seams and edges of each pattern piece, preventing texture distortion when applying new materials in Twinmotion.
Comments