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UVs from imported OBJ garment get trashed

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  • Official comment
    anhle
    Hi,
     
    Unfortunately, it's currently not possible to retain the UV mapping. CLO isn't capable of converting OBJs into pattern pieces, which is how a garment draped in CLO generates a UV map. So when you import an OBJ as a garment, the object is in a limbo state and the maps become unusable. Since CLO is intended to be used for physical garment production, where the patterns are created and draped within the software, there is not really a need for UVs to be used as much as in our sister software, Marvelous Designer. I know they've included UV map exporting and editing for their most recent release and I'm sure they are working on this issue of OBJ to Garment conversion. I'm mentioning Marvelous Designer because, depending on your intended use of the software (whether you intend to go into real life production or not), Marvelous may be a more useful software to you. Even though CLO and Marvelous share many features, the motion graphics/FX related functions are added to our new releases much later than on the Marvelous side or sometimes not at all, depending on what users are requesting. (Though hopefully CLO will eventually get the same UV capabilities as Marvelous, since more and more users have recently been requesting it!)
     
    In the meantime, I've found some work-arounds for working with OBJs as Garments without the UV map conversion. These are resources created by Marvelous users, but the UI is similar to CLO, so you may be able to try them out even if you are only using CLO currently. Maybe one of the solutions can work with your project. 

     

    I hope this is helpful!

    Anh

  • mmilne

    Ok, thank you for your response.

    I'm already aware of the use of blendshapes (morph targets) as a workaround.  I was hoping to avoid it, especially when exporting an OBJ Sequence, 'cos that means I have to do this for every OBJ file.

    I don't want to pay for both CLO and Marvelous Designer so that's not a great option for me as well.

    I know CLO can't turn an OBJ into pattern pieces but it definitely can read UV mapping.  It does this when importing an avatar.  All we need is for CLO simply to pass through the UV mapping instead of discarding that information on Import. 

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  • anhle

    Hi mmilne,

    I'm sorry there's not a more efficient way to carry out your project currently. I'm definitely going to forward this issue to our development team as a new feature request, so please hang tight!

    Of course, in the future you won't have to use both CLO and MD. As more users request these UV compatible features, CLO will be updated to match MD and you'll be able to continue working in just one software. 

    Thank you for your patience.

    Anh

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  • anhle

    Hi again,

    I apologize, but I'm totally wrong about MD not reading OBJ > Garment UVs. It's actually an available feature in the current release. I understand you don't want to use two software, but it may be worth checking out to see if it's helpful at all. I would just play around with the 30 day free trial. Otherwise, the morph targets workaround is currently the best solution for keeping the UVs. 

    Anh 

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  • anhle

    Hi!

    I wanted to follow up on this issue. CLO 4.2 was just released today and has the option to trace patterns from UV information now. Hopefully, this can help in your process.

    https://support.clo3d.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000494107

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  • pinarer

    I have been following a tutorial so looks like CLO doesn't have the UV editor like Marvelous Designer? so then how can I create UDIMS to allow for higher texture quality? or is there a way to alter the UVs and create UIDMS outside of Clo? Thanks!!

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  • pabloquintana

    Hey Pinar. Nice seeing you back in the forums. You can export the OBJs with their respective UVs outside of CLO. If you mean exporting the UV and then bring it back to be applied to the avatar, I don't think that will work.

    What are you trying to accomplish exactly?

     

    P

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  • pinarer

    Hi Pablo.. Thanks for the reply.. basically on the tutorial i need to export the patterns to substance painter for realistic texturing.. The tutorial was from marvelous designer ,that time i realized Clo doesn't have some of the UV edit features..  So trying to find out what would be the options to create UIDMS.. if there is,, 

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  • pabloquintana

    Hey Pinar. I don't think you can export UDIMS from CLO. I'm still trying to understand your workflow. If you export from CLO you'll get an UV map that is useful in Substance Painter. You can't import that texture back into CLO without importing the garment as an OBJ (avatar). Here you lose a lot of flexibility to work with the garment. As you've read above, you can't import the OBJ and convert to garment again without destroying the UVs in CLO.

    My suggestion is to export from CLO into Substance Painter and then render somewhere else. Other 3D software are more powerful in terms of dealing with the UV maps and the textures.

    What do you think?


    P

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  • pinarer

    Hi Pablo, yes the plan is not bringing back to Clo  for rendering.. will use octane render, will try on daz with it but not sure if that would  work yet after the substance painter, or i will download trial cinema 4d which is the tutorial actually using the Cinema 4d with Octane for the rendering.. But on Clo  not able to export the UDIMS is not a good news  :/

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  • ottoline

    pinarer why do you need UDIM inside CLO3D ? They have an internal work-flow that uses batch renders fabric swatch colorways for still look book shots across a range - that also works with cloud rendering. If you are doing many garment renders from CLO3D for fabric/textile color variation wouldn't you use that workflow ?

     

    If you are importing a character avatar as object from outside CLO3D to use in CLO3D (and then re-export) there is absolutely no need to have any of those avatar textures export with the scene model as you already have that character in an external scene that you imported. If you animate cloth in CLO3D it's a similar situation, you import your character animation for the collision surface not the texture detailing, simulate your CLO3D garment and only export that garment track (with fabric tiled textures and pattern ID base colors)  and bring that together externally in a scene with the original textured character.

     

    Why do you need UDIM in that instance - isn't it irrelevant to the workflow ? For example prior to MD7.5 they never had UDIM, yet it did not prevent CG film animations - it was irrelevant until they added in the SANSAR and VR direct export format for the avatar with cloth garment. And that was perhaps the only reason they added UDIM for game based/VR LOD texture map work. Up to that point you could still get your garment and object model with animated cache mesh out to any film CG software and create your UDIM maps there. That workflow is still valid, and should be possible with CLO3D today.

     

    Maybe you need to look at workflows from MD using versions prior to MD7.5 > you will see that CLO3D has that same capability today.

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  • pinarer

    Hi ottoline   thanks for the reply.. I heard that not able to create the UDIMS will not allow to have higher texture quality on the garment when I actually  export to substance painter.. i heard it would be limited with the resolution..  But what i heard might be wrong..  or may be there might be other ways..I dont know that. yet.  Not for every clothing that i create, but  for some of the clothing that i want to create in CLO, i would like to work on zbrush to give more volume, shaping etc for editorial kinda works.. ... so after working on the zbrush with the clothing that created on CLO , i want to export that to substance painter to texture and paint etc..  and then probably  export that work to daz or blender to create editorials with scenes.. So from what i heard, when i export the clothing to substance painter from zbrush, i need UIDMS... so do you think that is not necessary? 

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