Accessory Fitting Tool

The Accessory Fitting Tool (AFT) is a built-in Studio tool that allows you to test your custom models on multiple combinations of character bodies, animations, and accessories before generating the final Accessory object. When testing your accessories, you can make minor fit and positional changes to ensure that you get the best result possible.

The AFT automatically handles the conversion of the custom Model or MeshPart based on the user menu selections, allowing you to create layerable clothing accessories or rigid accessories. After generating your accessory, the AFT creates the correct Accessory object hierarchy with any updated fit edits, sets the appropriate AccessoryType property, and generates any required body attachment points.

Test and edit the cages of your layered clothing assets.
Test and edit the orientation and placement of your rigid assets.

Setting up Accessories

The first stage of the Accessory Fitting Tool allows you to configure the type of accessory to correctly populate the correct fitting tools and generate the appropriate accessory object. When selecting the type of accessory, the following options are available:

  • Clothing: Layerable accessories that use an inner and outer cage to stretch and wrap around a body and other clothing items.
  • Accessory: Rigid accessories that attach to a specific attachment point of a character and remain static in that position and orientation.

Before using the tool, ensure that you have the MeshPart or Model you intend to create into an accessory selectable in your project. As a reference, you can test the AFT using a reference clothing or rigid accessory custom model.

To setup your accessories:

  1. Ensure that your custom asset is selectable in your project. See 3D Importer for instructions on importing a custom model into your experience.

  2. In the Avatar tab, select the Accessory Fitting Tool. The Accessory Fitting Tool panel displays.

  3. Select the Part field and click on the MeshPart or Model in the viewport that you intend to preview. The text field populates with the name of the object selected.

  4. Click Next. The Asset Type menu screen displays.

  5. Select the correct Asset Type for your accessory. An additional dropdown displays for a specific AssetType selection.

  6. Use the dropdown to select the specific type of accessory to preview. This sets the correct AssetType and attachment points when creating the accessory.

  7. Select the expected scaling of an accessory. This only affects rigid accessories if the specific body part has a different AvatarPartScaleType StringValue object. This does not affect clothing accessories.

    1. Classic: Sets the scaling of the accessory to classic R15 proportions.
    2. Proportions Slender: Sets the AvatarPartScaleType value to ProportionsSlender.
    3. Proportions Normal: Sets the AvatarPartScaleType value to ProportionsNormal.
  8. Click Next to continue. A preview panel and workspace tools display.

Testing Accessories

After you provide the initial accessory details, the tool displays a preview panel. With the preview panel, you can test how your accessory looks on different combinations of character bodies, clothing items, animations, or even custom assets in your experience.

If you notice any fitting issues with your accessory, you can use the Editing tools to make minor adjustments to your accessory.

With Different Bodies

You can select different bodies to test the fit and wear of your accessories. The AFT supplies several default character models you can use to ensure your accessories fit as expected.

Bazooka Bones character preview
Goblin character preview

To test your accessory with a different body:

  1. In the tool's catalog, navigate to Avatars > Default.
  2. Click one of the character model tiles. The preview loads with the selected character model.
    1. If two character tiles are selected, click a selected tile to deselect it.
    2. In the character preview, click and drag to rotate and right-click to pan to inspect your character.

With Different Clothing

You can select different clothing accessories to test the fit and layering of your caged accessories. The AFT supplies several default character models you can use to ensure your accessories fit as expected.

Goblin character preview with reference clothing
Magma Fiend character preview with reference clothing

To test your accessory with a different accessory:

  1. In the tool's catalog, navigate to Clothing > Default.
  2. Click one or more of the available catalog items. The character preview loads with the selected clothing accessory.
    1. In the catalog, click an active tile to deselect the asset.
    2. In the character preview, drag and drop the accessory boxes to change the layer order.
    3. In the character preview, click and drag to rotate and right-click to pan to inspect your character.

With Animations

You can select different animations to test the movement of your accessory asset. The AFT supplies several default animation assets you can use to ensure your accessories fit as expected when a model is performing various movements.

Walking animation reference
Shy emote reference

To test your accessory with different animations:

  1. In the tool's catalog, navigate to Animations > Default.
  2. Click one of the animation asset tiles.
    1. In the catalog, press the play and pause icon to control the playback.
    2. In the character preview, click and drag to rotate and right-click to pan to inspect your character.

With Custom Assets

You can add custom character models, clothing accessories, and animations that are part of your workspace to the AFT preview catalog. Use this functionality to verify that your accessory works with any other custom models or accessories they may interact with in your experience.

To add custom assets:

  1. Click the ⊕ icon next to the catalog search. A prompt appears, allowing you to choose a supported object.

  2. Select any Accessory, Model, MeshPart, Animation or Folder within the Workspace or Explorer. The asset displays in the corresponding Custom category.

    1. If no selection is made, click the tool panel again to exit the prompt.

Editing Accessory Fit

The Accessory Fitting Tool populates different fitting tools depending on the type of accessory being created.

Layered Clothing

When editing clothing items, the following tools populate in the viewport:

IconDescription
Toggles the Cage Editing interface in the viewport for making minor inner or outer cage changes to your clothing.
Toggles auto-skinning between EnabledPreserved and EnabledOverride. Depending on the asset and skinning quality, auto-skinning may provide better results.

EnabledPreserved uses the asset's original skinning data applied in a modeling software.
EnabledOverride transfers skinning data from the avatar character instead of using the asset's original skinning data.
Displays a button to Bring Mannequin in View which centers mannequin in front of the camera.
Centers the camera on the mannequin.

Cage Editing

When the Cage Editing interface is enabled, additional tools display in the viewport. The viewport also displays the vertices of the selected cage over the mannequin, allowing you to make positional edits to the cage and change how a clothing item can fit on a body.

Use the following cage editing tools to help visualize and edit any cage vertices:

IconDescription
Toggles the selection for the inner and outer cage vertices. When selected, the vertices of that specific cage are available to edit.
Falloff Distance sets the radius of influence when editing vertices of the cage mesh. When editing a cage vertex, nearby vertices follow the changes for efficient cage editing.

A higher Falloff Distance applies influence to vertices further away from the origin.
Displays additional buttons:
  • Bring Mannequin in View - centers camera on the mannequin.
  • Reset Inner/Outer Cage - resets any changes made to the selected cage.
Use the slider to set the opacity of the mesh or the cage vertices. Setting the opacity allows you to better see and access certain vertices and angles of your clothing item.

To make changes to the vertices of the currently selected cage:

  1. In the Avatar tab's Snap To Grid section, disable Move snapping. This enables you to make detailed changes to a vertex's position.
  2. Select a vertex and use the Move tool to reposition. Changes to the cage apply immediately and display in the preview panel.
    1. Use the opacity sliders to better visualize the changes to your cage.
    2. Set the Falloff Distance depending on the number of vertices being adjusted at once.

Rigid Accessories

When fitting rigid accessories, a bounding box appears around the mannequin indicating the possible placement of that specific type of accessory. You can position, rotate, and scale objects within this bounding box to ensure your accessory fits on different character models.

Adjust your rigid accessory fit within the bounding box.
If the accessory is outside the appropriate space, the bounding box turns red.

Creating Accessory

You can create the accessory at any time. The tool applies any fit changes and generates the appropriate Accessory instance in the workspace depending on the type of accessory selected and any configurations applied.

When you are ready to generate your accessory:

  1. If you are creating a rigid accessory, use the dropdown and select Generate Legacy Accessory.
  2. If you are creating a layered accessory, select Generate MeshPart Accessory.
Hierarchy generated for layered clothing.
Hierarchy generated for rigid accessories.

With an accessory successfully created, you can now try the following:

  • Equip the accessory on an avatar-ready character by drag and dropping the accessory on an existing model, or using HumanoidDescription.
  • Save the accessory as an avatar asset for use in an experience later.
  • If you meet certain account requirements, you can upload your asset for moderation and start selling it on the Marketplace.