Not only can “a picture tell a thousand words, ” but as a result of the latest developments in imaging and design technology, it can also sell thousands of products ... at a mere fraction of the cost and time it takes to develop physical samples.

While designers have historically used computer-aided-design (CAD) software to create sketches, croquis, repeats, patterns, and silhouettes, the latest developments in texture mapping design technology have not only improved the designer’s toolset for rendering realistic looking product, but have evolved into web-enabled tools designed for use by the consumer as well for the development of customized product.

Texture Mapping, also known as “digital draping,” is a visualization tool that creates photo-realistic 3D rendering of designs, colors, surfaces, textures and patterns onto photographs for virtual product generation. It offers life-like representations of digital product samples using scanned-in photographs of furniture, models or room-sets directly from a CAD system. The process enables test marketing of new product without the need to develop physical samples.

The technique requires the user to identify areas on the photo where a pattern will be applied (often called segments), and to create a series of grid lines that “map” the drape of the fabric across the various segments. Once the photo has been prepared it may be stored and reused over and over again with alternative designs or textures.

While Texture Mapping technology has been available to designers for more than a decade and many companies have realized the time and cost benefits, the first generation tools were time consuming and challenging to use. With new releases from several vendors that include increased functionality for both offline and online use, it’s time to take another look.

Success Stories

Home Furnishings was one of the first industries to make use of texture mapping. Realizing that their basic silhouettes and styles do not change dramatically from season to season, home fashion companies quickly found how easy it was to leverage a small library of photos to create hundreds of product images cost efficiently.

Depending on the system or service used, the average cost of a texture mapped image is $75-$1,000. By using texture mapping in place of sample development and photography of new products for sales books and packaging, home fashions companies can save anywhere from $5,000 to 15,000 per bed/bath ensemble. This can lead to hundreds of dollars saved annually, when multiplied times 30-200 ensembles photographed in a year. Even though texture mapping can’t replace real product, it does provide a realistic image before the sampling begins. This helps eliminate sampling costs from product ideas that are never adopted for final production and shipped to retail. Since average sampling costs in engraved screens, fabric yardage, strike-offs and sewing for a single bed ensemble range between $10,000 and $40,000 each, the savings with texture mapping are dramatic.

“With texture mapping we are able to show complete product ideas as they are created, so that we may react quickly to changing market demands,” claims Satomi Bethea, Director of CAD at Springs Industries of Fort Mill, SC. “Both internal product reviews as well as customer presentations at Springs have been given a boost from texture mapped images, because they provide such a realistic illustration of a produce concept.”

Showbran Graphics, a service bureau in New York City, has been providing its home fashions clients with texture mapping services for many years. Experience taught them that the key to a successful image was having the right photo to begin with. To address the need for multiple style options in home furnishings, Showbran developed a library of white photo “parts”, where a client can mix and match bedding components and room scenes to create the look they want, before the texture mapping begins.

In what General Manager Tal Vinder jokingly refers to as “bed on a page”, each component in the library is prepared for texture mapping using U4ia by Lectra Systems. Showbran sells the copyright free library in whole or in parts to customers who want to do the texture mapping themselves, or will provide additional outsourcing services for design rendering. Showbran even offers to prepare library parts in whatever software system the customer uses.

While use of texture mapping has become a standard practice in the home furnishings industry, it has been slow to catch on in apparel. The rapid product development process, combined with constantly changing silhouettes, has made texture mapping difficult for many apparel companies.

However, some garment producers have found niche areas where texture mapping will benefit. VF Wrangler has been using texture mapping for several seasons to illustrate their western shirt line. Using Vision Easy Map by Nedgraphics, the design staff creates photo cards and CDs of the product line to send to their sales staff, eliminating hard samples altogether. “Not only has this saved us tons of money, but texture mapping has also been a savior in those instances where ‘oh my gosh, we go on the road in two days and have nothing to show”, says design manager Mary Brannon. “Our boy’s and men’s silhouettes don’t change dramatically each year, so we are able to keep a viable library of images and supplement with fresh items each season”. The Wrangler sales force can react faster to customer needs by sending printed or digital images of the product line to their accounts, increasing the likelihood of getting a sale.


The Current State-of-the-Art

Early adopters of texture mapping technology were discouraged by not only the time it took to prepare an image but by the cost of the software. However, with less expensive and more functional products now hitting the market, skeptics are being wooed back to appreciating the technology.

Design Works International, a design studio in New York City, has until recently turned down texture mapping projects for its clients because the cost of the system and the lengthy development time to get an acceptable image could not be justified. According to Neil Breslau, owner of Design Works, it took their designers two to three days to complete a useable bed/bath image with their old system. The studio recently purchased Vision Easy Map, Nedgraphics’ re-engineered texture mapping program, and is now producing suitable room renderings for clients in less than a day. “This is the first and only product we were able to implement right out of the box just by reading the manual” stated Breslau.

Nedgraphics will soon release version 2.0 of Easy Map, which promises improved mapping algorithms and improved efficiencies for scaling, moving, and re-coloring designs on the image.

Age Technologies has recently introduced its StyleDraper texture mapping program, an Adobe Photoshop® plug-in. At a cost of a $989 (USD), StyleDraper is being snapped up by design studios and freelance artists who could not afford texture mapping programs in the past. Sarah Herda of Third Floor, a design studio based in Hoboken, NJ and user of StyleDraper states, “It works pretty well. I really like the preview texture function that lets me see the draping as I am preparing the grids. I think it’s a great tool for creating presentation-quality images.” Herda recommends knowing Photoshop before using StyleDraper, since the two work in combination with each other.

In addition to improved functionality and lowered costs, the new generation of texture mapping tools are focusing on Web, kiosk, and CD-Rom applications. Electronic sales and marketing, commonly referred to as e-merchandising, is facilitated with the use of online texture mapping, allowing customers to play with a variety of mix and match options before purchasing. Web-enabled merchandising can be used at the consumer level with pre-defined product lines, or it can be used as a collaboration tool between designers and buyers before manufacturing begins.

DesignCom, Nedgraphics’ Web-enabled digital archiving tool, can work alone or in combination with its Easy Map program. Visitors to sites using DesignCom with the 3D visualization component can search for designs from a database, choose a product photo (such as a sofa, bed linens or carpet) and then see it rendered in real time. Examples of sites using DesignCom include decorative papers supplier Chiyoda (www.chiyoda.be) and carpet manufacturer Vorwerk (www.vorwerk-teppich.de).

Apso of Ilkley, England has also developed a Web component for its 3Di texture mapping technology. Customers can use 3Di to develop print resolution images, or move the prepared images online using their Web software development kit. One of the unique features of Apso’s technology is the ability to shift placement of a pattern on a photo in real time, such as moving the placement of a wall border or trim. Apso has teamed up with Interior Studio (www.interiorstudio.com) to create an Internet design center where consumers can “play” with different room scenes, furniture, fabric and color options, and then be directed to a retail store to buy the product of their choice.

CAD/CAM supplier Koppermann Computersysteme GmbH has recently released a Web enabled version of TEX-DRESS, a texture mapping module that works with any browser. Users can upload prepared images and fabric designs, and view any combination of the two rendered in real time. In a B2B scenario, designers can collaborate with buyers by enabling them to play with fabric and style options. Texture mapped garments can then be posted to WEB-STORE, a 3D virtual shop environment that enables users to “walk-through” in real time over the Web. The system includes an extensive library of weaving patterns and yarns.

Gerber Technology has recently announced the release of Artworks WebDraping™, a Web enabled version of their Artworks Studio software. WebDraping employs Artworks Studio Draping to create thumbnails of all available colors and textures. The software also offers a variety of web page design templates to make building pages easier.
Visitors to the site “customize” their designs by dragging and dropping different combinations of colors and textures onto images.

For garment and textile manufacturers who can’t create photos for online mapping fast enough, Digibits Interactive offers an alternative. Their WebFitting technology works with a cyber mannequin and garment specs from a CAD file to generate a 3D product simulation that can be rotated and zoomed. Users can see the garment rendered in a variety of fabric options chosen from an online database. Digibits claims to give textile sales a boost by showing fabric options on garments rather than just flat swatches.

Lectra Systems is offering two solutions that utilize the Web for product development and virtual sampling. LectraCatalog combines an Oracle-based database with texture mapping on a 2D or 3D image, where styles, fabrics and trims can be mixed and matched instantly and displayed photo-realistically. LectraCatalog can be used for face-to-face design collaboration from your own computer, or used as a Web-enabled catalog.

LectraOnline is an “e-prototyping” service that provides virtual sampling for apparel customers, by combining texture mapping with 3D garment construction. LectraOnline will automatically generate lightweight files from pattern pieces created in two dimensions, from a fabric photo or scan, or from a virtual fabric. The designer submits a file over the Internet along with a photo of the fabric, and LectraOnline sends back a three-dimensional virtual garment. The resulting image can be zoomed in and out to see more detail as well as fitted on a virtual model for size and style adjustments. Lectra’s Chairman and CEO Daniel Harari claims the solution will dramatically enhance made-to-measure garment production.

Is Texture Mapping In Your Future?

For companies who are able to work with photographed product, recent updates in functionality and lower cost make texture mapping easy to justify and hard to resist. Advances in 3D garments and cyber fit models are offering more ways in which apparel manufacturers may save time and sampling costs by communicating product concepts in a virtual format. Web-enabled solutions allow users to mix, match and merchandise products, which will drive B2B, B2C and store traffic. With all of the buzz over made-to-measure and customized garments, it is likely that texture-mapping will play in increasing role in support of these new technology driven business practices. For an industry that is constantly struggling to keep up with rapid development cycles and cost-saving measures, the recent advancements in texture mapping technology make it a welcome tool.

Katy Chapman is principle of CADmium Services, providing CAD/CAM consultancy to the textile and apparel industries.  She may be reached by email at katycad@aol.com.