CLO Virtual Fashion releases Marvelous Designer 2025.1
CLO Virtual Fashion has released Marvelous Designer 2025.1, the latest version of the 3D clothing design software for game development, animation and visual effects.
The release adds a new workflow for drawing pattern parts for clothing directly onto a 3D avatar, support for soft-body simulation on unrigged 3D characters, and a new AI Pose Generator.
Convert 2D patterns into animated 3D clothing
Widely used by games and animation studios, Marvelous Designer lets artists design 3D garments in the same way as real-world clothes, by stitching virtual 2D pattern parts.
Users can import an animated character model, drape clothing over it, then export the result back to a 3D application in Alembic, FBX or USD format, as an OBJ file sequence, or as a Maya cache, PC2 or MDD cache.
Off-avatar pen drawing lets you draw pattern parts in 3D
Major changes in Marvelous Designer 2025.1 include what CLO Virtual Fashion calls ‘off-avatar 3D pen drawing’.
It reverses the software’s usual 2D-to-3D workflow, making it possible to draw the outline of pattern parts directly onto the surface of a 3D avatar, or the air around it, using the 3D Pen tool.
A new Flatten tool then converts the 3D parts into conventional 2D parts.
It looks to be a more intuitive way to control the 3D form of the final garment, at the cost of making it fiddlier to control the precise forms of the 2D pattern parts.
Use soft-body simulation on unrigged 3D characters and props
Marvelous Designer also now supports soft-body simulation on custom avatars: both unrigged characters imported in OBJ or FBX format, and 3D props.
The video above shows potential use cases, including visualizing more accurately how tight-fitting garments will sink into the wearer’s flesh, or how fabric straps will deform a canteen.
Experimental new AI Pose Generator poses an avatar to match a reference image
In addition, a new AI Pose Generator – currently still in beta – makes it possible to pose a 3D avatar inside Marvelous Designer without having to adjust the position of body parts manually.
You can do so by entering text prompts describing the pose you want, but an easier option looks to be to upload a reference photo and to have the software automatically match the pose.
As with Marvelous Designer’s other AI tools, processing is done online, not the user’s local machine.
New washed denim material presets
Other changes include new Wet Process options in the denim material, which mimic the look of washed denim, including stonewashed, acid washed and bleach washed effects.
Users can adjust the effect using a texture map, parametric controls, or both.
In addition, a new Print on Fabric option applies printed patterns to fabric materials.
Other feature updates and workflow improvements
Other new features include the Pattern Drafter, a new beta feature aimed at new users of the software, which makes it possible to create a garment pattern from real-world measurements, via a wizard-driven workflow.
It currently only works for T-shirts, but other garment types will be added in future updates.
It is also now possible to preserve topology when using Auto Fitting, which automatically refits garments designed for one 3D avatar to another avatar with different bodily proportions.
There are also updates to 2D and 3D workflows, animation and to file import and export: you can find a complete list of changes via the link at the foot of this story.
Pricing and availability
Marvelous Designer 2025.2 is available for Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+.
The software is rental-only. Personal subscriptions cost $39/month or $280/year.
Enterprise subscriptions cost $199/month or $1,900/year for a node-locked license, and $2,000/year for floating licenses.
Read a full list of new features in Marvelous Designer 2025.1 in the online release notes
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.