Quote - > Quote - the poly count was close to 3,000. 

i left the calc steps at 2.0. 

thanks!  - i'll experiment again with the steps

For a final version you could easily subdivide the shorts. I love detailed drapes, and for that you need more details in the mesh. It'll take longer, but looks very nice. 10k polys shouldn't be a problem for the shorts.

I've found that if i want a bit more detail in a given area, I'll go ahead and add some mesh (subdivide) that area only - did this for this dress:

...right around the abdominal area, where I knew I needed a bit more mesh to make finer folds. Is this a reasonable strategy? No clue. This is a conforming dress that was well-enough designed to convert nicely to dynamic, with a few tiny mods.

Monterey/Mint21.x/Win10 - Blender3.x - PP11.3(cm) - Musescore3.6.2

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