Tutorial — Getting Started with Marvelous Designer

Augmented Traveler local tutorial. Back to Marvelous Designer — Tutorials · process: Marvelous Designer to MetaHuman — Considerations

The starting point for anyone new to Marvelous Designer (MD) on the studio. It explains what MD does, gets a seat set up, lists the official videos to watch in order, and shows where each of our local tutorials fits. Once you have finished it, you can take a garment from a flat pattern to a MetaHuman outfit.

Draft. Written for MD 2026.1 (released 24 August 2026) and Unreal 5.8. Check menu names on your seat and correct them here.

1. What Marvelous Designer does for us

MD builds clothing the way a tailor does:

  1. You draw 2D pattern pieces.
  2. You sew their edges together.
  3. You arrange them around an avatar.
  4. You simulate, and the cloth drapes under gravity with real fabric properties.

It is the right tool for period dress, because the silhouette comes from the cut, not from sculpting.

Where it sits in the pipeline:

Period pattern (book, museum garment)
  → MD: draft, sew, fit on the MetaHuman avatar, set fabrics
  → USD export
  → Unreal: Cloth Asset (Chaos Cloth) → Outfit Asset → Wardrobe Item
  → MetaHuman Creator: Hair and Clothing → the character wears it on every surface

MetaHuman doesn't make clothes. It wears them. MD (or CLO) makes the garment, and Unreal's Chaos Cloth and the Outfit Asset turn it into something MetaHuman Creator can fit and resize to the body. The full answer is in Tutorial — MetaHumans in Unreal.

2. Set up a seat

Item Our choice
Version MD 2026.1; at least 2025.2 for the MetaHuman DNA importer and UE 5.6+ compatibility
Licence Enterprise ($2,000/yr) or the Indie licence (for companies with at least 2 staff and under $500K revenue; price on application). A Personal licence is not allowed for studio work; MD can revoke it
OS Windows 11 (the same machine class as Maya seats; MD simulation uses the GPU)
Units Centimetres, to match Maya, Unreal and MetaHuman
Plug-in LiveSync for Unreal (free on Fab), optional; see Tutorial — Marvelous Designer Garment to MetaHuman Outfit
Files Characters/<Figure>/Costume/MD/ in source control: .zprj project, .zpac pattern files, exported USD

3. Official videos to watch first (about 2 hours)

From Marvelous Designer's help centre, Quick Start series, in this order:

# Title Link
0 Beginner Stream https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358163107737
1 Windows and Modes (UI) https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358205408537
2 View Control https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358202002073
3 Files https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358205126169
4 Pattern Making https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358234730905
5 Arrangement https://support.marvelousdesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/47358281785369

Then, for tailoring:

Reference:

4. Your first garment (practice, 1–2 hours)

  1. File → New. Load a default avatar (Library → Avatar).
  2. Draw a skirt: use the Rectangle tool to make two panels (front and back), each about 90 × 100 cm.
  3. Sew the side seams with Segment Sewing.
  4. Show arrangement points and click each panel onto the avatar's hip points.
  5. Simulate (Space bar). Watch it drape, then stop.
  6. Add a waistband: a thin rectangle sewn to the top edge. Pin it (Pin tool) at the waist.
  7. Change the fabric: Object Browser → Fabric → duplicate the default and raise Weight and Bending. Simulate again and see a heavy wool fall differently from a light cotton.
  8. Gauge the skirt into the waistband with Free Sewing (a long skirt edge sewn to a short waistband edge). This is the basis of 1840s–1860s gauged skirts.
  9. Save as .zprj. You now know the core loop: pattern, sew, arrange, simulate, fabric.

5. The studio path from here

Work through our local tutorials in this order:

  1. Tutorial — MetaHuman Avatar into Marvelous Designer: dress the real character, not a default avatar.
  2. Tutorial — Drafting a Period Garment from a Historical Pattern: from a book diagram or museum garment to MD patterns, with the costume designer.
  3. Tutorial — Period Layers, Hoops and Skirts: undergarments, crinolines, bustles and heavy skirts, in MD and in Chaos Cloth.
  4. Tutorial — Marvelous Designer Garment to MetaHuman Outfit: USD, Cloth Asset, Outfit Asset and MetaHuman Creator.

Skinning instead of simulating (small rigid pieces such as collars, cuffs, bonnet brims and aprons on phones): Tutorial — Skinning Garments and Props to a MetaHuman.

6. Community courses (optional, paid or free)

Title Provider Link
Introduction to Marvelous Designer The Gnomon Workshop https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/workshops/introduction-to-marvelous-designer
Creating Clothing for Characters in Marvelous Designer The Gnomon Workshop https://w.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials/creating-clothing-for-characters-in-marvelous-designer
Learn Marvelous Designer Udemy https://www.udemy.com/course/fundamentals-of-marvelous-designer/
Marvelous Designer Tutorial for Beginners (playlist) YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh7HzEYi88LIMEtSddDzBCpMIPU4pvP-f
80 Level's ratings of YouTube tutorials on Marvelous Designer 80 Level https://80.lv/articles/80-level-ratings-great-youtube-tutorials-on-marvelous-designer
Embodying the Victorian era in clothes (case study) 80 Level https://80.lv/articles/007gai-new-orleans-embodying-victorian-era-in-clothes

Sources