Hi, Folks~

I'm new to modeling clothing in Blender (2.58a) and I've been trying to figure out how to finish edges on sleeves, hems, etc. I've spent quite a lot of time in the wiki triying to find a solution but I am stumped. My usual process in Hex 2.2 is to extrude the edge, scale it in a bit and then move it back to form a channel that gives a finished look to the mesh. I find that Hex just doesn't get it for modeling clothing, and I have been using Blender to model. Can't figure a way to do this in Blender so it looks right, though. Ideally I would highlight the faces and use a shell or thickness command to make them "grow". I am at a loss here. Can anyone help an old man out? I'm also trying to figure out how to make a more rounded edge on a collar so that it isn't a sharp edge that doesn't look natural. 

C~

Are you saying you want to add some thickness to the sleeve just at the end?

Quote - Are you saying you want to add some thickness to the sleeve just at the end?

Yeah - I don't want it to look like it is just cut off cloth - I am not a fashionista so I don't know what they call it. It's how the sleeve, when cut off to length, is finished off, leaving what I would call a hem. I asked my wife, who runs 2 clothings shops, and she said they are called cuffs. Regardless, I want to add thickness to the edge faces to portray that.

C~

I think I found your solution. There is a modifier called solidify. 1st add  a few lines to the mesh to define the cuff area then creat a vertex group select and assign the faces to the group. Now add your Solidify modifier. There is a tab on the modifier that lets you select the vertex group. This way you only thicken the selected area. Adjust the thickness to your taste. Voilla :)

It depends on whether the item is for dynamic cloth room or is going to be conforming. You don't want to have mesh that doesn't sim well on the edge of cloth... it will affect how it deforms (stiffens the cloth). Just a thought.

That is true RobynsVeil if you are using poser.  You mite use a bump map to achievie this same effect. If you are rendering in blender you can use the modifier with out appying it. It wont mess up the cloth simulation or any manual manipulation either.

Quote - My usual process in Hex 2.2 is to extrude the edge, scale it in a bit and then move it back to form a channel that gives a finished look to the mesh....Can't figure a way to do this in Blender so it looks right, though.

there are a lot of different methods you can use, and each has its pluses and minuses.

you could use that first method if you wanted, and it should work the same as it did in Hex.  if it's not working the same given the exact same mesh or topology, you might want to describe your process in detail because there might be an error in it.  the method is inherently flawed for creating an even edge, though.  it will present problems in certain situations.  for instance, if you just take a rectangle that isn't a square and scale it up, you won't get an even border.  the more out of square the rectangle is or the more you scale up, the more obvious the discrepancy will be. Blender also has shrink and fatten, but there's still cases where you can't use it to get an even edge. 

if you want a perfectly even edge, you can use the solidify modifier.  the drawback to the modifier is a hard edge (so place it before your subsurf modifier) and thickness on your whole mesh.  unless they've changed its functionality, even if you set it to work on a specific vertex group, it will just change the thickness of mesh to 0 where it isn't applied.  that means you'll have a layer of polys facing one way and a layer of polys facing another in the same space.  this is kind of a pain to get rid of.  

if you don't want the whole mesh to have thickness, you should go into edit mode, select your polys, and apply solidify as a function.  the drawback to this method vs. the previous one is that it's not a modifier, so you can't change it after the fact.  if you're making dynamic clothes, it can also have a problem simming in certain situations.  

the downside to modeled thickness in general is inflexibility.   if you use displacement to create thickness, you can do practically anything you want.  if you model it, then it has a specific form and it might not play nicely with displacement.  for instance, i just played with making a floating scarf type thing.  when i changed the mesh to add thickness (just for the scene), the procedural displacement i added to create waves separated the two sides.  so i went back to the original mesh, added thickness using displacement, and it works OK.  it would have been even better if i'd taken time to really make a hem (or to map it better), but that would have been overkill in this case. 

the drawback to displacement is artifacts from using regular greyscale rather than 16bit greyscale (Poser does support 16 bit tifs, so use them if you need to), it only works unidirectionally, and it won't give you an actual separate mesh.  also, you need to be good at making textures and UV mapping.  for instance, i made a displacement map for a corset Robyn made (awesome corset by the way) that added a zipper and ribbing.  the zipper looked kind of wonky if you got up close because it involved sharp changes and a regular 8 bit map.  also, i made a zipper pull (i was really pushing it), and that was just a thickness rather than a separate mesh.  so that method of adding a zipper had limitations.  there were also other issues that were just due to me still having a lot to learn in terms of texturing and displacement.  i think i'm a bit better at modeling than i am at texturing.  but mostly, it turned out pretty well, and looked kind of cool.  i could have added that zipper anywhere i wanted because i had a pretty even,  regular mesh to work with.  with displacement, you can change your hem size and design any way you want, which can be really useful if you have some basic clothes you might want to use in various situations.   but it's probably more trouble than it's worth if you're making something to have one look and you're better at modeling.

i hope that gives you some options, and a sense of their strengths and weaknesses.

Many thanks to all for their input. I am, of course, now more confused than ever. I have a lot to learn, it seems. I see a real need for a manual on modeling clothes in Blender. As a writer, I would love to be a part of that process, but my knowledge is very limited and it would be a real waste of time for me to attempt this.

If I understand what kobaltkween is saying, it appears displacement maps are the way for me to go. I appreciate the fact that you give me the pros and cons of each solution - it makes it eassier to make a decision. 

My best course of action is simply to keep learning more and more about Blender. It's not as if the app doesn't have any support. I can easily spend weeks just reading tutorials! I am glad that there is a forum here at Rendo for Blender. And I appreciate the patience of those who have commented.

C~

Try http://cgcookie.com/blender/  they have some good video tuts and youtube as well.  For me the video tuts are faster assimilate.