Making a Sweater with Marvelous Designer in Unreal Editor for Fortnite | Unreal Editor for Fortnite Documentation

This tutorial walks you through creating a custom garment for imported MetaHumans in Marvelous Designer.

You're going to create a crewneck sweatshirt from a sample garment provided in Marvelous. Then, you'll craft your sweatshirt by editing each pattern, such as the sleeves and collars.

At the end of this tutorial, you should have a customized crewneck sweatshirt file that you can import into Unreal Engine (UE) to create a cloth asset.

Add a Custom MetaHuman

To import a MetaHuman into Marvelous Designer, follow these steps:

Navigate to File > Add > Avatar to import a custom MetaHuman.

Import and load a MetaHuman with the following settings.

Option	Value
Load Type	Open
Object Type	Avatar
Auto Create Fitting Suit	True
Camera	False
Joint Animation	False
Cache Animation (MC)	False
Automatically Add Arrangement Points	True
Scale	cm (DAZ Studio)
%	100.00%
Axis Conversion	X, Y (Up), Z
Align Bottom to Ground	False
Move Garment to Start Position	False

Click on any part of the MetaHuman. Then, in the Property Editor, navigate to Smooth Avatar, and check the box for the Smooth option.

Use a Garment as a Starting Point

To create a crewneck sweatshirt using a T-shirt as a starting point, follow these steps:

In the Library, select Garment, and drag "Tshirt.zpac" into the 3D window.
Select the entire garment, then use the Select/Move tool to place the garment closely to the MetaHuman.
Click the Simulation button.
The garment should now be simulated for you to unfold and sew your garment into patterns.

Unfold Symmetric Editing

To unfold and then sew the garment patterns together to create your sweatshirt, follow these steps;

In the 2D Pattern window, right-click on the body pattern, then select Remove Linked Editing.
Delete one side of both the front and back parts of the pattern.
In the 2D Pattern window, navigate to the Edit Pattern icon, and select Edit Pattern.
Click the center segment of the body pattern, then right-click to select Unfold Symmetric Editing. Repeat this step for the back body pattern.
Click the Simulation button.
In the 3D window, click the Sewing icon, and select Segment Sewing.
Click on the pattern's segments to sew it together.
Hover over a segment to ensure its sewing is not twisted. The blue lines on the segment should connect in a straight line.
If your sewing is twisted like the photo below, navigate to Edit Sewing, then click on the sewing segment to delete it before reapplying the sewing.
Click the Simulation button to apply your changes.

Extend the Sleeves

To extend your pattern's sleeves:

In the 2D Pattern window, click Edit Pattern. Then, select the segments on the end of the sleeves.
Drag the sleeves to a desired length. Then, click the Simulation button.

If you notice the garment incorrectly colliding with the avatar, use the Select/Move tool while simulating to adjust the pattern by clicking and dragging it.

Your garment's sleeve should now be at your desired length.

Adjust the Garment's Shape

To edit the garment's shape, follow these steps:

Using the Edit Pattern tool, make the garment's neckline tighter by moving points along the neckline.
Before
After
In the 2D Pattern window, click the Sewing icon. Then, select Check Sewing Length.
As you change the patterns, make sure the lengths of the two sewing segments are stitched together match.
Navigate to Edit Pattern, and select the Edit Curvature tool.
Select and then drag a segment to make adjustments to the garment's curves.
Use the Edit Pattern tool to tighten the armholes. You can see the value of the armhole's angle near its point. The images below show the armhole's angles decreasing in size to create its shape.
Before Size
After Size
In the 2D Pattern window, navigate to the Sewing Machine icon, and select the Check Sewing Length tool.
Click on the armhole's segment to check its length.
Select the segment's sleeve that's sewed to the armhole. Then right-click it and select Change Length to match the length of the armhole segment.
Repeat for the sleeve segment connected to the back pattern.
Use the Edit Pattern tool to taper the sleeves.
Before
After

Your garment should now be shaped to your preferences.

Create the Sleeve and Waistbands

To create the sleeve and waist bands for your garment, follow these steps:

Use the Edit Pattern tool to select a segment line on the sleeve. Then, right-click on the segment, and select Offset as Internal Line.
Right-click the segment, then select Cut and Sew for the internal line you just created.
Use the Edit Pattern tool to adjust the points on the sleeve band.
Use the Transform Pattern tool to adjust the size of the sleeve band.
Repeat steps 1 - 4 to the bottom body patterns for both the front and back of the garment to create the waistband.
Select Simulate, and use the Move/Select tool to adjust the garment to your desired position.

Continue to adjust the pattern until you achieve your desired shape.

Make the Collar

To create the collar for your garment:

Select the neckline segments from the front and back body patterns to determine the total length of one side.
Select the Rectangle tool to create a rectangular pattern from the measurements above.
Right-click on the segment of your new pattern, and select Unfold Symmetric Editing (with Sewing).
Click the M:N Segment Sewing tool to sew the collar and body together, making sure there are no twisting in the sewing.
Click Simulate to attach the collar to the body in the 3D window.
Navigate to the Segment Sewing tool to sew the collar patterns together.
Click the Fabric tab to create a new Fabric and name it "Collar".
Click the folder icon. Then, under the collar fabric's Property Editor, change its Physical Property option to Trim_Fusible_Rigid.
Drag the collar fabric onto the collar patterns to assign it.
Select Simulate, then use the Edit Pattern tool to adjust the collar height as needed.
Using the Edit Sewing tool, select the sewing line that connects the collar from one end to the other.
In the Property Editor, navigate to 3D Seamline, and set its Intensity and Thickness options to 0 to remove the seamline in render.

Your garment should now have a collar.

Add Details

To add details to your garment, follow these steps:

Select the shoulder line segment then use the Edit Pattern tool and select Offset as Internal Line.
Repeat the step above for the back of the body pattern.
Right-click your segment, and select Cut and Sew to edit the internal lines.
In the Edit Pattern tool, use Offset as Internal Line to add internal lines to the top of the sleeves.
In the Internal Line Options window, select Optimize Curve Points. This reduces the number of curve points and makes transforming the line easier.
Use both the Edit Curve Point and Edit Curvature tools to adjust the internal line. Then use Cut and Sew.
Right-click on the internal line. Then, navigate to Offset the Internal Line, and offset the edge segment of the shoulder as panel as an internal line. Then, select Cut and Sew.
Right-click the front of the body pattern, and select Remove Linked Editing.
Use the Internal Polygon/Line tool to draw the cutout shape that you want to make. You can then use the Edit Pattern tool to continue adjusting the internal shape.
Extend the internal shape so that it doesn't intersect with the pattern's edge.
Use the Transform Pattern tool, and select the entire internal shape.
Use Cut and Sew for your internal shape.

Every pattern that has its own fabric should now be in separate pieces.

Assign Fabrics to Patterns and Adjust Properties

To assign fabrics and patterns to your garment, follow these steps:

Add a new fabric for each of your fabric styles, then adjust their properties in the Property Editor.
Drag each newly created fabric onto your patterns.
Add the provided texture maps provided in the default Marvelous Asset Library or import your own.

For example, the body panels fabric uses textures downloaded from Megascans and uses AO for the Texture setting and Normal for the Normal Map setting.

Above is an example pattern used in this project.

Add Buttons

To add buttons to your garment:

Navigate to the Button panel, then access the Property Editor. Choose your desired button style, and adjust it as needed.
In the 3D window, use the Button tool and place the button on the garment.
Use the Select/Move tool to adjust the button's placement.
Click the Simulation button, then click on the button.
In the Property Editor, adjust the simulation settings so that the button sits correctly on the garment without colliding or floating on it.

Your finished sweater garment should look similar to the photo above.

Export your Garment

To export your sweater, follow these steps:

In the UV Editor, navigate to the UV Packing icon.
Check the box for 0-1 (Default) to pack the UVs, and click Apply.
The UV shells will be rearranged and scaled as you change the patterns. When there are no UV shells overlapping or going out of bounds, they should similar to the image below. Be sure to do this step before exporting if you have made changes to your pattern .
Navigate to File > Export > USD to export the .usda file.

Use the following settings in the Export USD window.

Option	Value
Mesh	Prim Path: /Mesh
Material	Prim Path: /Material
Select All Patterns	True
Select All Avatars	False
Select All Graphics and Trims	True - Thick
Unified UV Coordinates	True
Image Size	2048 pixels
Fill Texture Seams	5 pixels
Diffuse Map	True
Metalness Map	False
Normal Map	True
Roughness Map	False
Opacity Map	False
Displacement Map	Map
Include Garment Simulation Data	True

Select OK to export your sweater as a .usd file.

You can then import this .usd file into UE to convert it to a cloth asset.

Downloadable Learning Assets

As part of the Talisman: MetaHuman template, you can access several downloadable assets including the Marvelous Designer garment files and an Unreal Engine project with the Captain Elli MetaHuman wearing the sweater from this tutorial. To learn how to access the downloadable files, see the Talisman MetaHuman Template tutorial.

You can view these assets set up within the Talisman template by navigating to Content Browser > Characters > Cloth > Captain > Sample and opening "CA_Cap_Sweatshirt".