Sketching garments for virtual characters

International audienceWe present a method for simply and interactively creating basic garments for dressing virtual characters in applications like video games. The user draws an outline of the front or back of the garment, and the system makes reasonable geometric inferences about the overall shape of the garment (ignoring constraints arising from physics and from the material of the garment). Thus both the garment's shape and the way the character is wearing it are determined at once. We use the distance from the 2D garment silhouette to the character model to infer the variations of the distance between the remainder of the garment and the character in 3D. The garment surface is generated from the silhouette and border lines and this varying distance information, thanks to a data-structure that stores the distance field to the character's body. This method is integrated in an interactive system in which the user sketches the garment over the 3D model of the character. Our results show that the system can be used to create both standard clothes (skirts, shirts) and other garments that may be worn in a variety of ways (scarves, panchos)

An investigation on the framework of dressing virtual humans

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Realistic human models are widely used in variety of applications. Much research has been carried out on improving realism of virtual humans from various aspects, such as body shapes, hair, and facial expressions and so on. In most occasions, these virtual humans need to wear garments. However, it is time-consuming and tedious to dress a human model using current software packages [Maya2004]. Several methods for dressing virtual humans have been proposed recently [Bourguignon2001, Turquin2004, Turquin2007 and Wang2003B]. The method proposed by Bourguignon et al [Bourguignon2001] can only generate 3D garment contour instead of 3D surface. The method presented by Turquin et al. [Turquin2004, Turquin2007] could generate various kinds of garments from sketches but their garments followed the shape of the body and the side of a garment looked not convincing because of using simple linear interpolation. The method proposed by Wang et al. [Wang2003B] lacked interactivity from users, so users had very limited control on the garment shape.This thesis proposes a framework for dressing virtual humans to obtain convincing dressing results, which overcomes problems existing in previous papers mentioned above by using nonlinear interpolation, level set-based shape modification, feature constraints and so on. Human models used in this thesis are reconstructed from real human body data obtained using a body scanning system. Semantic information is then extracted from human models to assist in generation of 3 dimensional (3D) garments. The proposed framework allows users to dress virtual humans using garment patterns and sketches. The proposed dressing method is based on semantic virtual humans. A semantic human model is a human body with semantic information represented by certain of structure and body features. The semantic human body is reconstructed from body scanned data from a real human body. After segmenting the human model into six parts some key features are extracted. These key features are used as constraints for garment construction.Simple 3D garment patterns are generated using the techniques of sweep and offset. To dress a virtual human, users just choose a garment pattern, which is put on the human body at the default position with a default size automatically. Users are allowed to change simple parameters to specify some sizes of a garment by sketching the desired position on the human body.To enable users to dress virtual humans by their own design styles in an intuitive way, this thesis proposes an approach for garment generation from user-drawn sketches. Users can directly draw sketches around reconstructed human bodies and then generates 3D garments based on user-drawn strokes. Some techniques for generating 3D garments and dressing virtual humans are proposed. The specific focus of the research lies in generation of 3D geometric garments, garment shape modification, local shape modification, garment surface processing and decoration creation. A sketch-based interface has been developed allowing users to draw garment contour representing the front-view shape of a garment, and the system can generate a 3D geometric garment surface accordingly. To improve realism of a garment surface, this thesis presents three methods as follows. Firstly, the procedure of garment vertices generation takes key body features as constraints. Secondly, an optimisation algorithm is carried out after generation of garment vertices to optimise positions of garment vertices. Finally, some mesh processing schemes are applied to further process the garment surface. Then, an elaborate 3D geometric garment surface can be obtained through this series of processing. Finally, this thesis proposes some modification and editing methods. The user-drawn sketches are processed into spline curves, which allow users to modify the existing garment shape by dragging the control points into desired positions. This makes it easy for users to obtain a more satisfactory garment shape compared with the existing one. Three decoration tools including a 3D pen, a brush and an embroidery tool, are provided letting users decorate the garment surface by adding some small 3D details such as brand names, symbols and so on. The prototype of the framework is developed using Microsoft Visual Studio C++,OpenGL and GPU programming

A Sketching Interface for Garment Design

National audienceThe range of approaches used for clothing virtual characters is large: for incidental characters, the clothing may be no more than a texture map. For lead characters in feature films, full-fledged physical simulation of detailed cloth models may be used. And in the midrange, simple skinning techniques, combined with texture mapping, are common, providing some deformation of clothing as the character moves, but no physical realism. There are three problems one can associate with clothing virtual characters: the design of the clothes (tailoring), placing them on the character (dressing), and making them look physically correct (typically through simulation). The process of tailoring involves choosing the cloth and fitting it to the body, often making adjustments in the patterns of the cloth to adapt it to the particular person's body shape, and then sewing it. For virtual characters, clothing often has no "patterns" from which it is sewn, instead it is represented by a simple polygonal mesh that is constructed to fit the body. It's currently tedious to construct such meshes even without the issues of patterns and stitching. It's sometimes done by directly incorporating the cloth mesh into a character's geometric model, so that the character doesn't actually have legs, for instance, but just pants (see figure 1.1). In this case physical simulation is no longer a possibility, and when a character needs new clothes, it must be largely re-modeled. An alternative approach involves drawing pattern pieces for a garment and positioning them over the naked form of the character, defining stitching constraints, etc. This can be tedious, especially when the character is not important enough to merit this amount of effort; it also requires an understanding of how cloth fits over shapes, although the actual pattern-and-stitching information may not be relevant after the tailoring is completed (except in the rare case where the physical properties of the cloth -- was it cut on the bias? Does the cloth resist folding along one axis? -- are later used in a full-fledged physical simulation). Our approach combines tailoring and dressing into a single step to create a mesh that's suitable for later simulation or skinning approaches. The idea is to make it easy to generate simple garments that are adapted to an existing model. We believe that most people know better how to draw garments than the patterns which are needed to sew them. The aim of this work is thus to explore the use of a sketch-based interface for quickly constructing 3D virtual garments over a character model. This report describes simple solutions to the problems of shape generation and placement of the clothing. The resulting system is so easy to use that it takes only few minutes to create a simple garment

Interactions gestuelles multi-point et géométrie déformable pour l’édition 3D sur écran tactile

Despite the advances made in the fields of existing objects capture and of procedural generation, creation of content for virtual worlds can not be perform without human interaction. This thesis suggests to exploit new touch devices ("multi-touch" screens) to obtain an easy, intuitive 2D interaction in order to navigate inside a virtual environment, to manipulate, position and deform 3D objects.First, we study the possibilities and limitations of the hand and finger gestures while interacting on a touch screen in order to discover which gestures are the most adapted to edit 3D scene and environment. In particular, we evaluate the effective number of degrees of freedom of the human hand when constrained on a planar surface. Meanwhile, we develop a new gesture analysis method using phases to identify key motion of the hand and fingers in real time. These results, combined to several specific user-studies, lead to a gestural design pattern which handle not only navigation (camera positioning), but also object positioning, rotation and global scaling. Then, this pattern is extended to complex deformation (such as adding and deleting material, bending or twisting part of objects, using local control). Using these results, we are able to propose and evaluate a 3D world editing interface that handle a naturaltouch interaction, in which mode selection (i.e. navigation, object positioning or object deformation) and task selections is automatically processed by the system, relying on the gesture and the interaction context (without any menu or button). Finally, we extend this interface to integrate more complex deformations, adapting the garment transfer from a character to any other in order to process interactive deformation of the garment while the wearing character is deformed.Malgré les progrès en capture d’objets réels et en génération procédurale, la création de contenus pour les mondes virtuels ne peut se faire sans interaction humaine. Cette thèse propose d’exploiter les nouvelles technologies tactiles (écrans "multi-touch") pour offrir une interaction 2D simple et intuitive afin de naviguer dans un environnement virtuel, et d’y manipuler, positionner et déformer des objets 3D.En premier lieu, nous étudions les possibilité et les limitations gestuelles de la main et des doigts lors d’une interaction sur écran tactile afin de découvrir quels gestes semblent les plus adaptés à l’édition des environnements et des objets 3D. En particulier, nous évaluons le nombre de degré de liberté efficaces d’une main humaine lorsque son geste est contraint à une surface plane. Nous proposons également une nouvelle méthode d’analyse gestuelle par phases permettant d’identifier en temps réel les mouvements clés de la main et des doigts. Ces résultats, combinés à plusieurs études utilisateur spécifiques, débouchent sur l’identification d’un patron pour les interactions gestuelles de base incluant non seulement navigation (placement de caméra), mais aussi placement, rotation et mise à l’échelle des objets. Ce patron est étendudans un second temps aux déformations complexes (ajout et suppression de matière ainsi que courbure ou torsion des objets, avec contrôle de la localité). Tout ceci nous permet de proposer et d’évaluer une interface d’édition des mondes 3D permettant une interaction tactile naturelle, pour laquelle le choix du mode (navigation, positionnement ou déformation) et des tâches correspondantes est automatiquement géré par le système en fonction du geste et de son contexte (sans menu ni boutons). Enfin, nous étendons cette interface pour y intégrer des déformations plus complexe à travers le transfert de vêtements d’un personnage à un autre, qui est étendu pour permettre la déformation interactive du vêtement lorsque le personnage qui le porte est déformé par interaction tactile

Fashion? Hackers!

The philosophy of hacking has been inspired me ever since I read the autobiographical novel La’mant by Marguerite Duras in my childhood, which may seem to have no connections whatsoever with hacking in a technical sense. However, her way of writing and the story she portraits in her book was unusually beautiful and outrageous. I recognised the story as a hack of love. In this thesis, a comparison of the fashion phenomenon before and after the internet will be discussed for a better understanding of fashion discourse within the information age. On the one hand, fashion itself holds no subversive power, the commodification and incorporation of a subculture usually begin with the fashion style that represented the subculture got adopted by popular culture, subsequently, the whole content of the subculture is isolated from its original meaning. On the other hand, the internet has created a rip in fashion history by breaking the traditional local fashion autonomy and forcing it to adapt to a global platform, where more opportunities are generated, along with risks of losing the original cultural meaning and brand longevity. The practical goal of the thesis is to study the hacker subculture, therefore extract its style, philosophy, and methodology to inspire an innovative way of thinking and doing fashion design. I designed a fashion collection based on the hacker wardrobe items to express my admiration towards the hacker subculture. Code and math have been used on generating the prints, as well as designing the clothing construction. The pattern-making and tailoring process is partially computer-aided, reinforced a streamlined production process. Meanwhile, the spirit of hacking serves as the underlying philosophy of the design and production process. Ideologically, the thesis raised a question mark on the fashion industry which placed in a technological industrialised society context. The question mark may be the answer towards a new way of considering fashion either as a passion or as a career. More broadly, the hacking spirit may inspire a new way of life

Rõivaste tekstureerimine kasutades Kinect V2.0

This thesis describes three new garment retexturing methods for FitsMe virtual fitting room applications using data from Microsoft Kinect II RGB-D camera. The first method, which is introduced, is an automatic technique for garment retexturing using a single RGB-D image and infrared information obtained from Kinect II. First, the garment is segmented out from the image using GrabCut or depth segmentation. Then texture domain coordinates are computed for each pixel belonging to the garment using normalized 3D information. Afterwards, shading is applied to the new colors from the texture image. The second method proposed in this work is about 2D to 3D garment retexturing where a segmented garment of a manikin or person is matched to a new source garment and retextured, resulting in augmented images in which the new source garment is transferred to the manikin or person. The problem is divided into garment boundary matching based on point set registration which uses Gaussian mixture models and then interpolate inner points using surface topology extracted through geodesic paths, which leads to a more realistic result than standard approaches. The final contribution of this thesis is by introducing another novel method which is used for increasing the texture quality of a 3D model of a garment, by using the same Kinect frame sequence which was used in the model creation. Firstly, a structured mesh must be created from the 3D model, therefore the 3D model is wrapped to a base model with defined seams and texture map. Afterwards frames are matched to the newly created model and by process of ray casting the color values of the Kinect frames are mapped to the UV map of the 3D model

Videopelit ja pukutaide - analogisten pukusuunnittelumetodien digitalisointi

This thesis explores ways of integrating a costume professional to the character art team in the game industry. The research suggests, that integrating costume knowledge into the character design pipeline increases the storytelling value of the characters and provides tools for the narrative. The exploration of integrating a costume professional into game character creation as a process is still rare and little information of costume in games and experiences in transferring an analogue character building skillset into a digital one can be found, therefore this research was generated to provide knowledge on the subject. The research's main emphasis is on immersion-driven AAA-games that employ 3D-graphics and human characters and are either photorealistic or represent stylized realism. Technology for depicting reality is advancing and digital industries have become aware of the extensive skills required to depict increasingly realistic worlds. Also, tools for character art are beginning to lean on actual costume construction: the pattern based cloth simulation software entitled Marvelous Designer has become the industry standard for character clothing. The material of this thesis is based on the author's experience as an intern and Costume Artist at the game company Remedy Entertainment and on data collection in the form of participant observation, conversational interviews, archival searches and assorted documents as an internal employee of the company. Therefore, an ethnographical research that applies to qualitative, descriptive, nonmathematical and naturalistic research methods is utilized in this thesis. The result of this research is a costume production pipeline for integrating a costume professional into the game character design process. It is formed by comparing costuming processes of game and film industries to explore the similarities and differences in methods to analyze the most effective combination of these two. The final pipeline introduces the costume professional’s position during the different stages of the character design process. Furthermore, the thesis categorizes aspects essential for a costume designer to internalize in order to become a functional part of the Character Art team and the skills and knowledge required to support the character design in a production. This research identifies the need for costume knowledge in realistic AAA-games. When employing a costume professional into a game production, this thesis offers tools and vocabulary for collaboration. Costume designers are Character Artists, but with different tools and skill set and costume design can be seen as a live form of character art.Tämä opinnäytetyö käsittelee pukusuunnittelua peliteollisuudessa ja pukusuunnittelijan tarvetta hahmosuunnitteluprosessissa. Tutkimuksen materiaali perustuu kirjoittajan omaan kokemukseen harjoittelijana ja pukusuunnittelijana (Costume Artist) Remedy Entertainment -peliyhtiön hahmosuunnittelutiimissä. Työ esittelee eri peliyhtiöiden hahmotiimien käyttämiä pukusuunnittelumetodeja ja arvioi, miten pukusuunnittelun tiedostaminen erillisenä osana hahmosuunnitteluprosessia ja puvun kerronnallisten elementtien tunnistaminen ja hyödyntäminen tukee uskottavan pelihahmon luomista realistisissa peleissä. Tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on ajatus, että pukusuunnittelun integroiminen hahmosuunnitteluprosessiin syventää hahmoa ja kuluttajan pelikokemusta ja näin ollen nostaa pelin arvoa tuotteena. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi uusi pukusuunnittelun tuotantolinja (Costume production pipeline) peliteollisuuden käyttöön. Se esittelee pukusuunnittelijan asemoitumisen pelituotannon hahmosuunnitteluprosessiin. Teknologinen kehitys mahdollistaa yhä realistisempien digitaalisten todellisuuksien luomisen, jonka seurauksena peliteollisuus työllistää enenevässä määrin myös perinteisten alojen erityisosaajia, kuten arkkitehtejä sekä elokuva-alan valosuunnittelijoita. Myös digitaalisen hahmonluonnin työvälineet nojaavat jo tosielämän vaatetuotantoon: vaatesimulaatio-ohjelma Marvelous Designer perustuu vaatteiden kaavoihin ja on laajalti käytössä pelihahmojen suunnittelussa. Pelit, joita tutkimus tarkastelee, ovat AAA-pelejä, jotka hyödyntävät 3D-grafiikkaa ja ihmishahmoja ja jotka ovat joko photorealistisia tai edustavat tyyliteltyä realismia. Tutkimuksen materiaali on koostettu keskustelullisista, strukturoimattomista haastatteluista, kirjoittajan työpäiväkirjasta, yhtiön edellisten pelien arkistomateriaaleista, sekä yhtiön sisäisistä ohjeistuksista. Tutkimus esittelee keinoja, joilla fyysisen ihmisvartalon kanssa työskentelemään kouluttautunut pukusuunnittelija voi integroitua digitaaliseen hahmonluontiprosessiin ja osoittaa, että pukusuunnittelijat ovat analogisilla metodeilla työskenteleviä hahmosuunnittelijoita. Hahmosuunnittelun etu suhteessa esitystaiteen pukusuunnitteluun on vapaus näyttelijän fyysisen ruumiin sekä fysiikan lakien tuottamista rajoitteista. Vaatesuunnittelu keskittyy vaatteeseen ja pukusuunnittelu fyysisen ihmisruumiin ja vaatteen synnyttämään kombinaatioon ja interaktioon, mutta hahmosuunnittelu tarjoaa pukusuunnittelullisesti rajoittamattoman vapauden hahmotulkintaan