The digital pattern cutting gibberish

Ever wondered what those mistic words used by your CAD pattern cutter mean?

I've got you covered, read on :D

Digitizing- is making a digital version of the paper/ manual pattern. For the exact digitizing all paper patterns need to have clearly marked seam allowances all crucial information such as pleats, darts, folds, creases, button/buttonholes. Please make sure a pattern sent to be digitized has all this information as without it the pattern is incomplete and creates problems in further work.

Plotting - is literally big format printing. Plot files are .plt and .hpgl

When sharing files for plotting please make sure you send all necessary files. You need to send a dxf TOGETHER WITH: a .rul file (for sizing information), pattern list - to verify pattern count, and screenshot to visually check all the pattern presence.

CAD/CAM - CAD stands for a Computer Aided Design, it is a program that uses vector data to draw lines/images, in our case patterns

CAD/CAM is a specialised CAD program used in fashion industry

CAD 2D and CAD 3D and the difference between the two - 2D CAD is a standard CAD program used to draft the patterns. 3D CAD is used for simulating/rendering a 3D garment on the avatar – in other words digital sewing, fitting, adjusting and developing of the digital garment. The garment can be visualized in 3D from a 2D pattern block. Alterations can be done directly in 3D. Alterations done in 3D CAD will be made simultaneously to the base pattern uded in CAD 3D and the garment. Alterations done in CAD 2D will have to be re-simulated (re-stitched in 3D)

.dxf file - a unified standard file that is interchangeable, readable and editable by CAD programs.

A specialised CAD program is needed to open the file properly.

.plt or .hpgl file - An interchangeable plot file readable by plotters. The file can be opened in any place that provides plotting/printing services. In order to get the best fit to the paper, a plotting width of your local printing shop should be inquired.

avatar - an icon or figure representing a particular person - in our case the fit model, the dressmaking mannequin.

3D tolie - is literally a digital 3 dimensional version of a regular toile, a first quick mock-up of new base patterns, new blocks, new style

3D toile

digital/virtual fitting - '(...)is achievable in CAD 3D thanks to three-dimensional body modeling, three-dimensional virtual sewing, fabric texture attribute setting, and dynamic display. The clothing deformation algorithm based on human input posture is used to deform the clothing model, which presents the physical characteristics of virtual clothing more truly. At the same time, the image acquisition equipment is used to obtain the real-life image, and the clothing image transfer algorithm is used to superimpose the virtual clothes and the real-life image. The position of human joints is obtained by feature extraction technology, and the scaling ratio of the virtual clothes is calculated so that the virtual clothes are closely combined with the real-life image. The results show that the virtual fitting technology can give users a realistic fitting experience.(...)'

In simple words - the 3d garment/toile, simulated on the avatar set to the size and posture of the physical model and with the digital fabric set to be your physical fabric sibling, will give an image very close to the real garment. Fit and shape of the garment can be assessed and adjusted with the help of see-through view and fit maps.

3d toile and virtual fitting

Fit Maps - when the fit maps are turned on in the 3D program the 3D Garment will be covered in colorful mesh each indicating either the tightness of the 3D Garment, the stress on the body, stretch of the used fabric or where the fabric touches the body. Your pattern cutter will know how to read the maps and how to use them to fit the garment

3D garment simulation - is the process of developing a 3D prototype out of a 2D digital pattern. With the help of 3D technology a 3D garment is stitched-up on the avatar set to specified size. 3D simulation software takes a digital (CAD) pattern and a set of fabric values (such as stretch, weight, etc.) and creates a digital sample of the garment, draped on a 3D virtual fit model.

detailed 3d simulation

3D rendering - is the process of creating a photorealistic 2D image from 3D models. 3D rendering is the final step in the process of 3D visualisation, which involves creating models of objects, texturing those objects and adding lighting to the scene

3d simulation on the left and the render on the right