← ArchivePaper2022
Revamping the Cloth Tailoring Pipeline at Pixar
Reviews the evolution of Pixar's cloth authoring tools from 2001 and presents the updated tailoring pipeline deployed on Turning Red and Lightyear.
Abstract
This work presents the most recent updates to the cloth tailoring pipeline at Pixar. We start by reviewing the evolution of cloth authoring tools used at Pixar from 2001 to the present day. Motivated by previous approaches, we introduce a structured workflow for cloth tailoring that manages multiple mesh versions concurrently. In our implementation, artists interact primarily with a low-resolution quad-dominant mesh, which defines the garment look as well as setups for rigging and simulation. Our system then converts this coarse input model into a triangulated mesh for simulation and a quadrangulated subdivision surface for rendering. To this end, we developed a new remeshing tool that outputs surface triangulations with adaptive resolution and conforming to edge constraints. We also devised procedural routines to generate render meshes by applying fold-over thickness, refining the mesh, and inserting seams. In addition, we introduced a suite of algorithms for transferring input attributes onto the derived meshes, including UV shells, face colors, crease edges, and vertex weights. Our revamped pipeline was deployed on Pixar’s feature films Turning Red and Lightyear, producing hundreds of high-quality garment meshes.
How to read this
- Category
- Production talk: Pixar cloth tailoring pipeline
- Contributions
- Demonstrates a structured cloth-tailoring workflow where artists drive a low-resolution quad-dominant mesh that defines look, rigging, and simulation setup
- Shows automatic conversion to a simulation triangulation and a quadrangulated subdivision render surface, including a new adaptive remeshing tool conforming to edge constraints
- Presents procedural render-mesh generation (fold-over thickness, refinement, seam insertion) and attribute transfer for UVs, face colors, creases, and vertex weights
- Context
- Continues Pixar's costume and cloth production lineage (e.g., Art-Directed Costumes at Pixar, de Goes et al. 2018), reviewing tool evolution from 2001 to the present.Builds on: Art-Directed Costumes at Pixar: Design, Tailoring, and Simulation in Production
- Correctness
- Studio practice rather than peer-reviewed method; results are production-proven, deployed on Turning Red and Lightyear, so trade-offs reflect Pixar's specific pipeline and tooling rather than a general benchmark.
- Clarity
- Accessible and practitioner-oriented; a first pass conveys the multi-mesh workflow, a second pass surfaces the remeshing and attribute-transfer specifics.
- How to read it
- Read for the concurrent multi-mesh-version concept and how one coarse mesh feeds sim and render; revisit the remeshing and attribute-transfer sections if you build authoring tools.
Built upon by
Related work
- Art-Directed Costumes at Pixar: Design, Tailoring, and Simulation in Production 2018 / SIGGRAPH Asia Courses
- Simulating Wind Effects on Cloth and Hair in Disney's Frozen 2014 / SIGGRAPH
- USD in Production 2023 / SIGGRAPH Courses
- Zero to USD in 80 Days 2018 / SIGGRAPH
Keywords
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