With all the 3d designs now appearing on social media, you might think it is easy to turn a simple idea into a real-life 3d design. Especially people who do not know the insights of the app have no clue of what it takes to make a 3d design work well.
I sometimes had to deal with incomprehension of clients who could not understand the amount of time it takes to make a workable flat technical drawing. It depends, of course, of the kind of product you are making, but 3d design can even be more time consuming.
For instance, a simple dress with a clear flat pattern can be turned into a 3d model pretty fast and the outcome is so much better than a flat drawing would ever be. But a detailed outdoor jacket is a different story.
"Designing in Clo3d takes considerable knowledge of pattern drawing and sewing and know-how about sampling and production."
And I like even bigger challenges. So, instead of designing a simple dress, I made an entire decorated Christmas tree with garland and balls for December (previous post). During the last few weeks I have been working on a backpack. And I can tell you, it has not been easy. And this is not even a very detailed design. So…
No, it is not just one push on the button and then plop… a 3d backpack
Designing in Clo3d takes considerable knowledge of pattern drawing and sewing and know-how about sampling and production. I also realized that, not every pattern or fabric behaves the way you want it to.
"I designed all buckles and clips myself in Clo3d and turned them into objects, because I could not find any suitable ones on the market."
For this backpack, for instance, it was very difficult to keep the back panel flat and standing with the shoulder straps, buckles and clips attached to it. The fabric, like real fabric does, will collapse… And that is not what you want with a backpack. Actual outdoor backpacks work with internal frames that shape the back panel and this is hard to achieve in 3d apps like this.
This backpack is a bicycle backpack. This bag is made of a dull Tarpaulin, a sturdy fabric. The shoulder straps make it more comfortable to wear the bag and they can be stowed behind the elasticated band at bottom. The clips on the back can be fixed on the back carrier of your bicycle. Therefore, the back panel should be flat. To keep it flat I ‘froze’ the back panel, so it won’t collapse, and it worked. But due to this ‘freezing’ the cushioned airmesh has not worked out the way I wanted and the embossed logo at the back panel totally disappeared and that’s too bad. I designed all buckles and clips myself in Clo3d and turned them into objects, because I could not find any suitable ones on the market. They do not look exactly as original, but they come close enough. To work the straps through these buckles and around the bag was a complete nightmare, but with pins and a huge amount of patience it finally worked.
In the end I am satisfied with the result and proud of what I have achieved so far. I consider this project as another challenge on the road towards being a Clo3d professional.