Pants, Jeans, Slacks, Trousers, Capri's?

Okay, so here is my problem. I can design tops, jackets, gloves, socks, stockings, bikini's, skirts, etc etc etc.. I'm not the best (by FAR) but i don't suck (that bad ), and i can make my way around the templates pretty easy.

I tend to make ALL of my outfits as dresses, or top/skirt. I can't seem to work out a way to make pants (Any type) i have searched google, and SL related websites/blogs, and i even searched forums before posting. I've been trying to think of a way to make jeans/pants for about a year now and i struggle every time i start. I don't like to spend days on end creating something because i only create for myself, and some close friends of mine.

I've seen hundreds of tuts on skins, tops, skirts, dresses, eyes, hair, etc.. But i have yet to see a tut on pants/jeans. Can any help me? I think my main problem is knowing where to place the butt and pelvic area's. I have a rough time with the zippers, my butt's never look good (lacking texture, or something?) my pelvic area always looks plain because the zipper, buckle, and pockets baffle me.

Any help would be utterly appreciated!

Have you taken a look at Chip's topography guides?

/109/eb/155651/1.html

These guides are a great way to judge where to put things (especially the highlights and shading to improve the booty).

You can also take snapshots of your av wearing the templates and use those to judge where to put the buttons/zippers.

Pockets on the butt are tricky because they can stretch depending on the av's shape. This takes trial and error to find out if you personally like larger pockets or smaller ones.

There are so many ways to give your fabric an interesting texture, but what graphics program are you using?

If you're using Photoshop, I can give you some tips to get you started.

Best,
~Ari

OMG i used those a long time ago (not that long i suppose, 2007) and i forgot about them! Thank you for reminding me. These will definitely help with the shading!

Now, does anyone have help on the placement and method of making the 'jean' type pockets/zipper/buttons? I'm guessing i could figure out the placement, but the method.. I use dodge/burn but it doesn't look right, and when i use blur it makes it too blurry (Even on the lowest setting)

Instead of using Dodge/Burn tools to make the flies, pockets..etc, use masks to create the item over the fabric layer. You'll then be able to add shading underneath which will give you depth.

Add stitches, wrinkles...etc to make them more realistic.

~Ari

In addition to Arikinui's good advice, layer blending effects are your friend for this kind of work. Give your back pocket a quick bevel, a drop shadow, and subtle gradient overlay, and it will spring to life as a separate piece of fabric, sitting on top of the base garment.

And for the stitches that hold it on, same thing. A small amount of beveling will go a long way.

You'll find that these same effects will also work extremely well for rivets, zipper parts, buttons, and any other ornamentation that needs to look 3-dimensional.

One nice thing about layer effects, by the way, is that they're parametric, and non-destructive, so you can change them at any time. If you burn & dodge, the results are permanent. But if you use layer effects, you can change or undo any or all of it whenever you want.

Arikinui, you're advice sounds really interesting; would you be able to expand on how you use the masks to create pockets, seams etc?
Thank you )

Hello Milla,

Using a mask is very simple and gives you a lot of freedom when adding details and such. Here are the steps I use:

-Above the general/base fabric layer > new Layer, fill with the fabric (color or texture) you want for your pocket, fly, seams or whateva.
-Add a mask (the square icon with the circle in the middle of it on the bottom of the Layers Palette), fill that with black paint.
-Now you won't be able to see the new layer, but using white paint on the mask layer you can draw the pocket over the original pants layer. On a mask (just like on an alpha channel) whatever is black will be hidden, what is white will be seen.

The beauty of a mask is that if you create a line or something you don't like, using black paint on the mask acts like an eraser....without being destructive to the pixels on the layer itself.

I then create a new layer between the pocket layer and the general pants layer and fill with 50% gray paint, set to multiply or color burn, add a mask, fill with black, then using white paint on the mask I draw a light shadow "under" the pocket to give it depth. Add a little Gaussian blur and rinse and repeat making wrinkles and such around the outside of the pocket.

To add details on top of the pocket, just create a new layer, fill with color or texture, add mask, fill with black, then make stitches or rivets using white paint.

I hope that gives you a starting point to work with masks to add details.

~Ari

Thank you Ari! This has most definitely given me something new to play with; can't wait to try it out

have fun!
~Ari