Blog
What’s New in Stylezone January 2023
With this feature drop, we're bringing our users an even more collaborative and interactive collection management experience than ever before.
The 2023.2 Edition has arrived, bringing a wealth of exciting new features and improvements aimed at enhancing your 3D garment creation experience. Join us as we explore the key highlights of this edition, which include significant enhancements to VStitcher, seamless integration with Adobe Substance, the introduction of the Ellipse tool, the revolutionary Soft Avatar, and a whole lot more.
Enhanced Lighting Options
We’ve introduced significant enhancements in lighting options, with a primary focus on Parametric lights. Parametric lights revolutionize your lighting choices, offering custom options that reduce reliance on HDRI lighting, resulting in faster rendering times. These lights come in four distinct types: Area Light, Spotlight, Directional Light, and Point Light, each of which enables diverse scene illumination techniques, elevating the overall visual quality of rendered images. In addition, we've also added a valuable "Link HDRI to camera" checkbox that further enhances HDRI lighting for those who prefer it.
Advanced 2D CAD Features
The 2023.2 Edition brings a range of enhancements to 2D CAD, making pattern-making workflows more efficient. The upgraded Ellipse tool simplifies pattern creation, allowing for precise design details, especially for circular patterns like circle skirts. Radius and Sector options provide greater control, making it easier to create precise bell-shaped patterns.
Full Integration with Adobe Substance
VStitcher now offers complete integration with Adobe Substance, allowing users to utilize Substance files as materials or effects. With 4K support, you can fine-tune material presets for fabrics, artworks, and seams or create unique material artworks. Access a wide range of content from the Substance Assets Store or craft your own material designs using Substance 3D Sampler.
"We are thrilled to take the Substance 3D integration to the next level in VStitcher 2023.2. This integration is a game-changer and will deliver unprecedented value to our mutual users, enhancing interoperability, saving time, and exploring new creative territories with Substance 3D parametric digital materials and filters. We couldn't be more excited about the transformative impact this collaboration will have on the fashion design workflows. "
Director Strategy & Alliances, Substance 3D, Adobe
Pierre Maheut
The New Soft Avatar
One of the standout features of the 2023.2 Edition is the Soft Avatar. This innovative technology simulates visual deformations, allowing pattern makers and fashion designers to accurately visualize how garments interact with the body. Four pre-made custom soft avatars, available in regular and plus sizes, are ready for download. Soft avatars provide a clear understanding of garment fit, making it easier to create well-fitting designs.
UI Makeover and Improved Performance
The first noticeable change when you launch VStitcher is the revamped User Interface (UI). The Resources Tab has been reoriented vertically for improved navigation, making it easier to access different sections such as 2D, Params, 3D, Materials & Libraries. This version incorporates subtle yet impactful performance improvements. Notably, the upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 extends to the 3D Review Workspace, ensuring consistency when transitioning between workspaces. Additionally, this enhancement facilitates even faster production renders, particularly when utilizing GPU rendering.
Advanced Stitch Construction
Fashion designers will appreciate the upgraded stitch construction tool, offering greater flexibility and options for visualizing stitches and puckering with accuracy. New sliders for washes and puckering provide precise control over the seam's appearance. Puckering presets like cotton, denim, and puffy allow for experimentation with different looks. Additionally, the new "Use Displacement" option and the ability to copy stitch construction settings from one edge to another enhance the efficiency of the design process.
Improved Avatar Editing
Editing avatars has become more user-friendly with the introduction of checkboxes that allow you to remove hair and ear covers. This feature simplifies garment styling, especially for avatars with specific hair or accessories. Technical designers can also use this feature to improve the fit and shape of simulated garments, ensuring accuracy and realism.
Upgraded Grading Capabilities
Pattern makers will appreciate the enhancements in grading capabilities. The addition of the 'Link piece position between sizes' checkbox allows for independent adjustments of pattern pieces for each size, improving garment fit across various sizes.
Manual Position by Grade for Artworks
Fashion designers now have the ability to set individual artwork positioning for each size while maintaining the artworks within their original size groups.
The 2023.2 Edition brings a wealth of new features and improvements to streamline your fashion design process. With enhanced performance, advanced tools, and the introduction of the Soft Avatar, you can expect increased efficiency, accuracy, and creativity in your digital fashion workflows.
Explore these features, and don't forget to check out the Help Center for more in-depth information on these upgrades.