Armorsmith - New Costume Design/Building Tool

[Dancin_Fool]

I've been developing a new application to aid in building costumes. I've been working on it for the last year or so and it's beginning to enter alpha.

I actually had the idea for this tool many many years ago. I kind of put the idea on the back burner though after I discovered Pepakura Designer. After using Pep for a few years though I started to get the itch to work on the tool again. There were just a lot of things about Pep that kind of bugged me. Some of them small like the lack of non-uniform scale. Some of them bigger, like not being able to load in multiple parts to see how those parts scaled next to one another.

With all these things in mind I set out to design a tool that was tailored more towards building costumes and try to solve some of these problems that were bugging me.

So here I am, one year later with a tool that has some of the initial functionality I was looking for. Some of the features in the current tool are:
*Loading in multiple PDO files.
*Loading in and unfold 3d model files.
*Save out multiple parts in a "Costume" file.
*Tools to translate, rotate, and cut/join unfolded patterns.
*Uniform and non uniform scale.
*Printing of the unfolded patterns.

This is some of the core functionality in place right now. Not a whole lot more than what's available in Pep but I plan on expanding this out a lot over the next year.

I posted up a video on Youtube going over some of the initial functionality:

In the next alpha release, the two big features that I'm hoping to get in are:
*A customizable mannequin, basically a dummy with adjustable limbs that you'll be able to mount parts on to help make scaling easier.
*3D Editing, first pass at a set of tools for editing the 3d models inside the tool. Nice if you want to make some simple edits to the model without disrupting your unfold too much.

So here's a link to the first alpha build for anyone that would like to try it out. Please remember that it is an alpha build, there will be bugs and crashes. The demo's only really been tested on Windows 7. There was a crash on startup on other version of windows that I believe I've resolved but I haven't gotten confirmation yet.

*Edit* - Updating to the latest build.
Armorsmith_Alpha_0_4_0
Armorsmith_Alpha_Nightly.zip

If this in the wrong spot mods, feel free to move it. It wasn't really an off topic conversation, but it's not exactly a costume either.

*Edit* Adding some screenshots from a recent build.
View attachment 487677View attachment 487676

*Edit* Adding latest dev video

*Edit* Adding a screenshot from the latest build.

 

[madmax]

i've downloaded ,i'll let you know how it works when i find some time..Thanks

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Thanks for giving it a try, I'd love any feedback you can provide.

 

[blue2k]

I have a few gripes with pep designer also.

Non uniform scale, terrible render lighting, not displaying an "actual" print area (minus margin ofc). Another "bug" it seems to have is when you scale an entire model (costume/outfit) and take note of the scale number, if you apply that same scale number to a single part (in a seperate file), it will not match when printed and built. The lag when viewing a complex model with edge numbers displayed, the edge numbers overlap because they are a set scale but the edge numbers could be vector and scale appropriately etc. It will display a grid, but no option for a ruler (not counting the measurement tool, but an actual ruler on the side and bottom like photoshop).

These are in no particular order, just annoyances. Now as for your planned upgrades, have you seen an application called "make human"? http://www.makehuman.org/ This has a mannequin which you can change the scale of, with several customisable options. Perhaps this may give you a bit of a shortcut programmingwise, because it is open source.

 

[kialna]

interesting, I'll give it a go as well!

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Thanks Kialna!

Hey Blue2K, what do you mean about displaying the "actual" print area? I agree with you that scaling is just a mess in Pep Designer. I think part of the problem is that it's not clear what the scaling represents. Thanks for all the great points, I'll add some of that to my task list!

I have seen MakeHuman, my plan is to have a bit of a simplified version of their interface. I think they have a bit more control than what's actually needed for my application. I worked on an application called Virtual Me while I was at EA which was very similar to MakeHuman, though it never really saw the light of day outside of Europe.

 

[collinE83]

Wow. I don't know if everyone will appreciate the work you've put into doing this. It's a relatively small community with a specific application and you would definitely not see an immediate monetary return on all the work, so thank you. Hopefully we can see this through to full release because you have some great improvements planned.

I'd be happy to support this and hope this can improve this hobby.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Thanks CollinE83, it's definitely a bit of a labor of love. My plan is to add support for designing sewing patterns as well to hopefully expand it into all aspects of costume building and make a general purpose tool for the cosplay community. I was actually surprised when I started looking around at the tools for designing sewing patterns. There's really not much out there, and the interfaces are pretty primitive.

I found when I made my Captain America costume that there was actually a fair bit of overlap between designing sewing patterns and designing a good pep file.

 

[RoboTrap]

Downloaded, and will try out when I get the chance!

This suggestion might only come about because of recent troubles I've had, but how difficult would it be incorporate some type of "Foam/Cloth Unfold Mode" that would allow for some tolerance during unfolds before faces split? Perhaps even a user-set number, where 0 would represent the standard paper/cardstock tolerances, i.e. none at all, with higher settings giving more leeway in unfolds at the cost of accuracy to the original file...

I haven't the slightest what would be involved in doing that, but it's something I've wanted to see.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Yes definitely! There was a paper from siggraph from a few years ago that went over unwrapping a model to create plushie toys that has a lot of overlap with generating patterns for foam builds. It's in my task list to take a shot at implementing it as a feature.

 

[Yrien]

This sounds like a brilliant idea, and I can't wait to try it. Hopefully I can find some time this weekend. I'm especially excited about the ability to design fabric patterns, because I have no skill/knowledge in that area.

 

[abwchris]

Once this gets up and running completely it could be a game changer for those who work primarily in foam. Good work! Will download and test shortly.

 

[stigmorgan]

How about being able to change a single dimension or even stretch out a section? For instance my arkham knight shin fits around my calf perfectly but the whole thing is 100mm too short, if I scale it up so it is the right length then the whole thing becomes ridiculously massive.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Hey Stigmorgan, I have been thinking about adding something similar but I haven't figured out how to expose the UI for it. Some kind of weighted scale. I was thinking about maybe having a 3 axis stick that you'd paint a white to black gradient on so you could control exactly what scales. Or maybe something like 3ds max's FFD cages where it generates a cage around the model and you can manipulate points on the cage to only scale specific parts.

 

[blue2k]

Hey Blue2K, what do you mean about displaying the "actual" print area?

I like to minimise paper wastage when laying out a pattern. My pattern pieces are always very close together. I sometimes have to split a piece to put it on a separate piece of paper because I have run out of space on the virtual A4 display. After printing, even with the margin set to minimum, I see I could have left the piece intact and not split it. If that makes sense to you? This doesn't really matter for large intact areas, but its pretty annoying for lots of small pieces. Here is an example of how I lay out a pattern:

I agree with you that scaling is just a mess in Pep Designer. I think part of the problem is that it's not clear what the scaling represents. Thanks for all the great points, I'll add some of that to my task list!

Thank you for considering my points. I hope it helps create a polished product.

I have seen MakeHuman, my plan is to have a bit of a simplified version of their interface. I think they have a bit more control than what's actually needed for my application. I worked on an application called Virtual Me while I was at EA which was very similar to MakeHuman, though it never really saw the light of day outside of Europe.

People come in all different shapes and sizes, I would recommend against skimping on body type and height options.

 

[Diegator]

This is great! Definitely fulfilling a great need, for those of us that are more versed in 3D modeling than free hand pattern making.
This is by no means a suggestion of something you should look into or try to implement in your build, but one of my long time modeling wishes is to be able to start off with a scaled mannequin, like you're implementing, define an offset distance from the mannequin (to simulate a layer of clothing) and then draw seam lines or split lines directly onto it, and of course unfolding the resulting model. So basically draping a pattern over a dress form... digitally.
Anyway, your tool looks great so far! I'll give it a spin when I get home... there's some gray fox models I've been meaning to scale/unfold as of late.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

I like to minimise paper wastage when laying out a pattern. My pattern pieces are always very close together. I sometimes have to split a piece to put it on a separate piece of paper because I have run out of space on the virtual A4 display. After printing, even with the margin set to minimum, I see I could have left the piece intact and not split it. If that makes sense to you? This doesn't really matter for large intact areas, but its pretty annoying for lots of small pieces. Here is an example of how I lay out a pattern: View attachment 483061

Ahhh I see now, even though you have your margins essentially turned off, after printing there's still some space left on the paper? I can definitely investigate this.

Thank you for considering my points. I hope it helps create a polished product.

Thank you for the points and suggestions!

People come in all different shapes and sizes, I would recommend against skimping on body type and height options.

Don't worry I'll try to include all the options to represent most body types. I more meant the bit of an obtuse interface MakeHuman has where it exposes everything, like "left lower forearm scaleX", "left lower forearm scale Y"...etc. I'd prefer to keep it simpler like with a single forearm radius value, you know like more what you would give a tailor when they ask for your measurements. That being said it'll take some time to get there. My first pass implementation is likely to just have basic limb and height scaling.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

This is great! Definitely fulfilling a great need, for those of us that are more versed in 3D modeling than free hand pattern making.
This is by no means a suggestion of something you should look into or try to implement in your build, but one of my long time modeling wishes is to be able to start off with a scaled mannequin, like you're implementing, define an offset distance from the mannequin (to simulate a layer of clothing) and then draw seam lines or split lines directly onto it, and of course unfolding the resulting model. So basically draping a pattern over a dress form... digitally.
Anyway, your tool looks great so far! I'll give it a spin when I get home... there's some gray fox models I've been meaning to scale/unfold as of late.

Thanks Diegator!

I'd definitely like to get things to that kind of a point. That was one thing that really surprised me about other sewing pattern software was none of them seemed to have any 3d capabilities. No previews, no cloth simulation, just mostly barebones drafting software that had terms more in line with sewing.

 

[blue2k]

*snip/ one thing that really surprised me about other sewing pattern software was none of them seemed to have any 3d capabilities. No previews, no cloth simulation, just mostly barebones drafting software that had terms more in line with sewing.

Are you familiar with this application? http://www.marvelousdesigner.com/

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Are you familiar with this application? http://www.marvelousdesigner.com/

No I never came across that one! This looks fantastically simple to use. I'll definitely be bookmarking this one for feature ideas. Thanks for posting it.