3D Virtual Prototyping in Apparel Design

Abstract

<p>Three-dimensional (3D) virtual prototyping, i.e. simulation of stitching 2D garment patterns and draping them onto body models, minimizes lead times and costs of producing physical prototypes (2-10 per style); and provides flexibility and efficiency for product development and communication among globally distributed teams of designers, manufactures, and retailers. In the competitive global apparel industry, there is an increasing demand for the professionals who are competent in using 3D virtual prototyping. Therefore, it is very important to understand the potential of current technologies (e.g. 3D body scanning and 3D CAD) for virtual apparel prototyping, data exchange among these technologies and eventually determine how to implement virtual prototyping in apparel design education. This research mainly focused on identifying the usability and limitations of a new software, Marvelous Designer 2, in virtual apparel prototyping; the possibility of importing 3D body scan avatars to the software; comparing it to a widely-used industry patternmaking software, OptiTex; and preparing case studies based on the findings. The ultimate goal of this study is to use the case studies to measure interests and willingness of: a) apparel design students to learn virtual prototyping, and b) apparel design and merchandising educators’ to employ virtual prototyping in their courses.</p>