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Adaptation of Design Techniques for CAD

How CAD systems are used

Jimmy LamThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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Agenda

Just-in-time with CAD system in Garment

Today’s CAD: from concept to product

Mood-board: CAD for presentation CAD application in Textile Printing CAD application in design & product

specification 2 ½ CAD image- Draping

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Just-in-time Apparel CAD system (1)

In 1994, at Bobbin Show in Atlanta, hundreds of people witnessed CAD technology in action as a garment was designed and manufactured in a few hours

Presented by Textile Clothing Technology Corporation, it showed how various companies could work together to design, produce and distribute a garment within 48 hours

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Just-in-time Apparel CAD system (2)

The example was a woman’s top and skirt

Print modifications could be made and through a video link

The buyer from US requested a modification in the print design

Through the video line, buyers could see the revised garment from all perspectives

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Just-in-time Apparel CAD system (3)

The new approved print pattern was communicated electronically to the booth at the Bobbin Show

In-store merchandising materials, such as banners, posters, hangtags were developed by a digital printing company

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Just-in-time Apparel CAD system (IV)

Base fabric was sent Gerber cutter, then to and automatic screen-printing area

Finally assembled by modular manufacturing station at Juki’s booth

What can you learn from this Just-in-time Apparel CAD system?

Why today (2004), this technique is still seldom used in industry?

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Lectra System: 1: Concept

Idea, vision of clothes that are yet to made

Established in the imaginations of designers

Influenced by forecasting services, social trends, technologies, politics and other environment surroundings

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CAD programs are not designed for generating ideas…….

but served as a storage system for a designer’s thoughts and ideas

Information provided by inventory control system helps design team to evaluate ideas about colour / silhouette direction based on past performance

Sales figures from previous seasons show consumers’ preferences

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Lectra System: 2) Generating ideas

Once the direction of a line has been established, mood and colour are finalized

Moods are usually presented by mood boards or concept boards

It is a visual communication tool helps marketing and sales understand the seasonal direction of the line

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Lectra System: 3) Mood board presentation

For most part, CAD is not required at this stage, but often the elements for the mood boards are scanned into computers

Any kinds of graphic systems could be used to organize and work with the images

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Moodboards

Ideas or concepts Presentation by CAD system

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Moodboards

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What are the limitationsOf this Mood Board Presentation?

What are theAdvantages for theseKind of Mood board Presentation by CAD System?

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Theme boards presentationFrom concept to product

Yarns and fabric swatches can be scanned to illustrate seasonal colour palette

Theme boards – provide more specific direction for the line than the mood board, once established the theme, fabric design and selection begin

At this stage, selected CAD systems are used to design fabrics for the season

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What is the differentBetween mood board and Theme board presentation ?

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CAD for Textile Printing

How many colours you normally scanned for your images?

Is it the more the better? If not, how many colours you

normally produced on textile printing?

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Textile Printing: Colour Reduction

A useful tool to screendown scanned in colours

Not more than 8 coloursAre normally produced onTextile printing

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Textile Printing: Colour Combo

CAD allows the designer many options in working with prints

Resized, distorted, repeated, or generating new colourways

Very often, the unplanned accidents lead to exciting results

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Fabric Simulation

For presentation purposes, indicating shading and texture of the fabric without technical specifications Any Limitations for fabric simulation

By CAD system?

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Questions

What is just-in-time for apparel production?

Why implementation of just-in-time for apparel is still very limited?

Name the specific CAD requirements for textile printing?

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Flat or Technical Drawings

Containing garmentcomponents for

designeror merchandiser toassemble/

reassemble

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CAD for Fashion Design

CAD for illustration CAD for technical drawing CAD for sales presentation

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CAD for concept and design illustration

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The sketch and textile design systems can work together to show fabric on the silhouette

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Mapping of fabric ontoThe garment by CAD system

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These are then used for presentation boards, line boards, sales meetings, catalogues and in house records of upcoming season’s merchandise

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Advanced Topic: CAD Draping

What is the unique feature of garment?

It is NOT a flat surface. A real garment (fabric) is 3-dimension.

CAD with draping can make it possible.

How can you make 3-D garment onto a 2-D display monitor?

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Texture-mapped images (1)

2 ½-D representation

CAD-generated fabrics can be used with simulation program to drape the fabric on a figure

Surface is curve, not flat as a piece of paper

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Texture-mapped images(2)

The computer creates a “map” in the original photo and the new fabric replaces the old, maintaining folds and drape

Texture mapping is descriptive enough to use un place of samples

Saved cost of making prototypes

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Question

What are the fabric requirements for texture mapping to drape a textile material?