Today we’re excited to preview some upcoming changes to the Layered Clothing fitting algorithm. These changes will address 3 classes of fit defects (detailed below) and together we believe they will greatly improve the visual quality of avatars wearing Layered Clothing. We intend to roll these changes out to all users by the end of the month (~3/31).
Fitting Defects Addressed
Flaring / Bellbottoming
The edges of clothing (e.g. pant hems and sleeves) flare uncontrollably when multiple layers are stacked in the existing algorithm (left image). The new algorithm (right image) maintains straight ends to clothing items.
Old algorithm (left avatars) vs. New algorithm (right avatars)
Bulkiness
Layers of clothing stack as if every layer is thick and puffy in the existing algorithm (left image). The new algorithm respects clothing settings and keeps layers closer together (right image).
Old algorithm (left avatars) vs. New algorithm (right avatars)
Inner Layers
Inner layers unnaturally show through outer layers in the existing algorithm, with the shape of inner layers observable through outer layers of clothing (left image). The new algorithm smooths out these discontinuities (right image).
The following WrapLayer and WrapTarget properties that are used to adjust the layered clothing fit and how the avatar body conforms to it are no longer needed and will be deprecated with this release:
WrapLayer.Puffiness
WrapLayer.ShrinkFactor
WrapTarget.Stiffness
These properties are ignored on existing LC assets and body parts with non-default values set.
Thank You
Your feedback was crucial to these improvements, so please keep it coming! We eagerly anticipate your questions and concerns as we roll out these changes and continue improving Layered Clothing.
Technical Details
Read More
The LC fitting algorithm is being upgraded in 2 significant ways:
Using Linear Deformer to locate cages across layers - all Layered Clothing items are mapped to an avatar cage. The cage is universal and allows appropriate clothing stacking. The current algorithm both aligns cages and fits clothing using a Radial Basis Function. This is smooth but has a tendency to overshoot. We are replacing the cage alignment step with a linear deformer, which directly offsets each cage point to position the next cage, while retaining the radial basis function for clothing fit. This addresses the overshoot issue while retaining smoothness. Furthermore, while the current algorithm uses just the inner cage to inform clothing fit, we now sample both the inner and outer cages to further reduce clothing bulk and layer penetration. Performance is expected to be the same or better in all cases.
Improved compression - designed to reduce lumpiness created by underlying layers (e.g. a t-shirt puffing up the sleeves of a jacket. We first compute the initial cage positions assuming all layers maintain their shape. Second, we compute what the outer silhouette of the clothing should look like, with the premise that when a piece of clothing is layered on top of another, both layers should influence the look, with one layer pressing down and the other pushing up. Finally, we use the Linear Deformer to compress the initial cage stack such that the outer silhouette matches what we computed in the second step.
This will be a great update! Finally, more people will use layered clothing. Also, it’s great to see so many updates have come and are coming in the clothing market!
There is one thing that this update clearly addresses, and it’s the bulkiness that layered clothing was known for.
When many thought about layered clothing, they immediatly thought of a thick 3D accessory that’s always oversized, this update changes that though.
Now my impression and surely the one of many other people is that it just fits, the sleeves and the inner layer correction are the cherry on top that make this truly authentic 3D clothing.
For layered clothing to work, character models need to have an additional cage mesh to define how the layered clothing fits.
R6 bundles do not have these cages, so unless Roblox decides to update the old bundles that support R6, Layered Clothing will never work with R6 (by default at least, as a dev could still implement it themselves)
Flaring was especially frustrating since it forced you to only use a single layer and made wearing shoes and pants properly impossible. I’m so glad this is getting fixed!
Thank you for this change! This will really improve the quality of layered clothing for Roblox in the future. I expect more users will adopt it as time goes on.
Amazing improvements here! Part of why I hadn’t gotten into making layered clothing was because it hadn’t quite reached that “It just works.” level yet, but this update might be the one to bring us there!
Is there any way for 3D artists to try this out early in Studio?
Is there going to be a studio beta feature so we can test this out before it releases, like last time?
The last time you guys tried this, I discovered a number of issues related to Puffiness, which negatively affected my avatars, which heavily rely on it:
But Puffiness is being removed now?
With no way to test this, I’m worried about this change breaking my outfits, just like last time.
This is an issue that I also stressed before. I do rely on puffiness for my avatars to not make my characters look very thin and size up the paws. After the update, my avatars look way too skinny, and there is no way to puff them up without using those sketchy avatar bodies. I like my avatars to be a bit more puffed up than shrinkwrapped
I personally think that puffiness should be kept to retain backwards compatibility with older outfits. Maybe you can use puffiness to puff up certain clothing to stretch it away from the wrap layer so that if you want to keep the puffiness of certain clothing, you can choose to keep it. It can also puff up when underneath other clothing assets if desired
I don’t think more customization for layered clothing is a bad thing, and can definitely address some of the issues people have as a result of this change. It’s why I use Ro-seal to properly adjust my avatar puffiness
Currently, the only way we can “test” it is using the outdated beta
This change can improve certain clothing assets, but can also hinder others. The smaller details can change the whole avatar more than expected imo
