Did You Know 3D Garment Visualization Can Be Outsourced?

The architecture, automotive, and medical industries have been using 3D visualization for quite some time now. Sadly, the fashion industry is a laggard in adopting this technology, and it is high time for you to see the benefits of using 3D garment visualization applications in your business.

CHANGING THE GAME WITH VIRTUAL CLOTHING DESIGN

The fashion industry hasn’t changed much in terms of prototyping designs. Although the process for textile manufacturing has evolved, the sampling process remains mostly the same.

Fashion design companies still use 2D drawing apps for their sketches. The drafts are sent to the fabric mill to continue the sampling process. Adjustments are made in between until the final sample is approved for mass production. 

During the prototyping stage, manufacturers churn out a lot of samples before the final piece gets the nod. This results in inefficient operations and tons of textile waste. Not only is this practice time-consuming but also unsustainable and resource-intensive.

Using 3D garment visualization technology, you can rapidly prototype designs without wasting any fabric. Virtual sampling makes apparel development more flexible since businesses don’t have to wait for the actual apparel to be manufactured before it’s examined and approved.

Logistics can be expensive, especially when your contacts are not readily available within your area. 3D clothing design makes it practical for both designers and garment factories to exchange drafts and prototypes, especially when they’re half a world away from each other.  Implementing 3D garment visualization in your business can be done by hiring professionals or by outsourcing the task to a specialist.

WHY OUTSOURCE VIRTUAL CLOTHING DESIGN?

It’s not that easy to incorporate the method of creating 3D clothing designs in your existing business process. This is why many fashion brands prefer outsourcing this task to professionals that specialize in creating 3D renders from 2D sketches.  Here are the primary reasons why you should outsource your 3D garment visualizations.

1. It’s more cost-effective
   
   Paying for a fashion designer and a 3D apparel design artist separately can be costly to your business. Training the fashion designer in virtual clothing design isn’t a cheaper alternative either since lessons for this are also expensive.
   
   With an in-house team, you have to think about the overhead of keeping them in the company. Their salary, benefits, and training may cost a significant amount, especially for start-ups in the clothing industry.
   
   Outsourcing has long been proven to be more cost-efficient compared to having an in-house professional to do the same work. It’s the obvious choice if you’re trying to reduce costs and increase profit margins.
   
   Having your 3D garment visualization outsourced to an agency is cheaper and less of a hassle. By outsourcing the job, your company can focus on making designs instead of worrying about how to convert drafts to 3D models.
   
   
2. You get a better render
   
   Outsourcing your 3D apparel design gives you access to experts and experienced professionals in the field. They can give justice to your drafts and enhance them to give almost life-like projections. Even the tiniest detail can be visualized when the image is rendered to life by a professional.
   
   The high-quality render makes it easier to visualize how your design will look like when it’s developed. This enables you to make micro-adjustments before having it manufactured by fabric mills.
   
   
3. They have access to better resources
   
   Aside from the cost of having an in-house 3D professional, you also have to think about the equipment they need to do their job. You have to purchase licensed software, high-end computers, and other special peripherals they need. There’s also the cost of maintaining the hardware and ensuring everything is updated.
   
   Professional 3D renderers from an outsourcing agency have relevant training and use up-to-date equipment. They can work on your designs quicker and in a more efficient manner because they have everything they need at their fingertips, from skills and training to software and hardware.
   
   Several applications designed for 3D garment visualization are now connected to a centralized textile platform like Frontier. Frontier provides a vast number of fabric swatches from thousands of suppliers around the world. This helps 3D professionals create several mock-ups according to the fashion designer’s specifications.
   
   
4. They can handle more tasks at a time
   
   An in-house team may become unproductive if they’re juggling between 2D designing and 3D textile projection. Cramming everything into schedule often results in inconsistent and low-quality work.
   
   Having a dedicated, outsourced team that can work on your virtual clothing designs promotes focus to get the best work quality possible. Concentrating only on the 3D clothing design requirements helps them finish the output in a shorter amount of time.
   
   Outsourcing your 3D garment visualization also eases the burden of managing employees. You don’t have to check the team now and then because they have a supervisor to do that on their end.
   
   When you’re confident that your team – that includes the outsourced 3D renderers – can commit to deadlines, you can take in more projects and increase your profitability.
   
   
5. It helps you visualize different perspectives for your designs
   
   There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to clothing. Each person has their measurements and designers can only categorize them according to a certain size range.
   
   How a dress looks for a medium-built woman may be different for a plus-sized lady. A shirt that looks good on a muscle-bound male may not look as attractive when worn by a skinny man. Sure, you can have many sizes for a single design, but sometimes it just doesn’t look good for other body types except for the one you envisioned.
   
   With a 3D garment visualization, you can determine whether your design will look good for all sizes. Combined with research, you can make an intelligent assumption which sizes are more marketable over the other. You’ll avoid overproducing a size that’s predicted to sell less, thus increasing business profitability.
   
   Virtual clothing design has made it possible to see how garments will fit on different body sizes. This eliminates the conventional sizing for clothes and accommodates diverse body shapes for a more inclusive marketing strategy.
   
   

EXTENDING POSSIBILITIES WITH FRONTIER

Frontier has recently partnered with Virtuality.Fashion – a cloud-based platform that offers 3D garment visualization technology to help users get a better perspective on their apparel designs.

Users of the platform can select from the vast selection of textile swatches available in the Frontier database. Increasing the number of fabric choices empowers designers to be more creative in their fashion ideas, resulting in more unique garments that will capture the market’s attention. 

Additionally, Frontier’s integration of AI technology makes it easier for designers to intelligently search the database for similar fabric patterns and styles. If designers have their sketches, it can be uploaded into the system and have the AI handle the search for similar swatches. With this, garment design companies don’t have to guess if a supplier has the desired textile pattern in stock. 

TOWARD MORE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION

It should be a simple decision to outsource your 3D garment visualization process. Among its advantages are cost-efficiency, professional expertise, faster task completion, and hassle-free management. You’ll also benefit from the advanced technology and equipment that virtual clothing design companies use for their clients. 

When searching for agencies where you can outsource your 3D apparel designs, go with those that use a powerful textile database for 3D clothing design applications like Frontier. This gives the renderer access to thousand of fabric swatches for improving design options. 

As a fashion design company, you can also use the Frontier platform to look for suppliers that can meet the required textile for your creations. If you’re interested in broadening your supplier options, register on our platform or contact us for assistance.