Best tool depends on what must change
Use Character Creator to conform clothing after changing a Character Creator character’s body shape.
Consider MetaTailor for the documented Character Creator 4 mesh-to-fitting workflow.
Use Marvelous Designer Auto Fitting for a custom avatar and garment with Fitting Suit data; choose Re-Drape when the garment should keep its original size.
For a solo artist, first decide whether clothing must conform after a body change or be resized or re-simulated on one custom avatar. Character Creator’s documented conforming step addresses body changes within its character workflow, while MetaTailor covers a mesh-fitting route and Marvelous Designer offers Fitting Suit-based fitting and re-draping.
Identify the operation your outfit needs
A body morph changes the proportions of a character that remains in the same character system. The clothing then needs to fit that character’s changed shape. A cross-character conversion moves clothing or its rig information to a different character asset, where a different skeleton or body shape may affect how the garment moves.
Custom-avatar garment fitting is a third operation. It adjusts a garment to a target body, or simulates it on that body while retaining the garment’s size. In practical terms, list three things before you choose: the source outfit, the target avatar, and whether the outfit should change size, preserve size, or retain its joint and weight setup.
A rig is the character’s joint system. Skin weights tell garment vertices how to follow those joints as the character moves. A mesh that looks right in a still pose can still need rig or weight work for animation, so “fits the body” and “moves with the character” are separate checks.
Start with Character Creator for body-shape changes inside its workflow
Character Creator is the clearest starting point when the character and clothing are already in its workflow and the task is to adjust clothing after a body change. Reallusion’s Character Creator 5.2 guide to conforming clothing starts with a dressed character, changes the size of the whole body or a body part, then opens the Conform Clothing panel. The guide identifies Iteration, Subdivision Level, and Margin as controls for that operation.
After a body change, skin mesh may poke through the clothing, so inspect the changed areas and adjust Iteration, Subdivision Level, or Margin in the Conform Clothing panel.
Artists working from Character Creator 4 documentation will see an earlier version of the same task in Reallusion’s Character Creator 4 cloth-conforming guide. The CC4 guide says to set the panel parameters and click Calculate Collision to lift the clothing mesh away from the underlying mesh and cover areas where skin pokes through.
Consider MetaTailor for a Character Creator 4 fitting and rigging route
MetaTailor is a distinct option when the target character is in Character Creator 4 and a bridge-based workflow suits the project. A Reallusion Magazine expert review of the MetaTailor plugin describes exporting the CC4 character mesh through MetaTailor Bridge before fitting. The review also describes direct clothing-mesh editing, vertex manipulation, automated weight transfer, and real-time collision detection.
That makes MetaTailor relevant to a CC4 artist who needs to adjust an outfit and prepare its weights around a character. The review describes a Character Creator 4 route, so treat it as a focused candidate for that workflow and test the specific garment and receiving application before standardizing on it. For body adjustments completed inside Character Creator, its own conforming tool is the simpler place to begin; for a separate CC4 mesh-fitting stage, MetaTailor is worth testing.
Fit a custom-avatar garment in Marvelous Designer
Marvelous Designer’s Auto Fitting is the right branch when the garment and target avatar meet its Fitting Suit requirements. In the 2025.0 Auto Fitting guide, Auto Fitting adjusts a garment’s size to a custom avatar and simulates it. The target avatar must have completed Create Fitting Suit, and the garment must carry Fitting Suit data.
The documented garment inputs include a garment simulated on an avatar provided by Marvelous Designer version 9.5 or later, or one simulated on an avatar after Create Fitting Suit. For a custom avatar, the artist can create a Fitting Suit by drawing reference lines along its surface, applying the suit, and saving the avatar as an .avt file that contains the Fitting Suit data.
A second setup route creates the Fitting Suit during import. Marvelous Designer’s import guide accepts OBJ or FBX for a custom bipedal avatar with two arms, two legs, no tail, and an A-pose or T-pose. In the import options, set Load Type to Open, set Object Type to Avatar, and enable Auto Create Fitting Suit. This is useful when a supported custom character arrives as an OBJ or FBX and the artist wants to establish the fitting data as part of bringing it into the scene.
Choose Re-Drape when the goal is to simulate the garment on a custom avatar while keeping its original size. The same Marvelous Designer guide describes Re-Drape 3D Arrangement as preserving the garment’s size, UVs, and textures during simulation. That makes it a better match for checking a garment on another body without resizing its pattern.
Auto Fitting also gives the artist control over how garment details respond to resizing. Higher Maintain Pattern Curvature values resize pattern dimensions while preserving existing curvature; lower values change both dimensions and curvature. Maintain Graphic Size and Maintain Texture Size can each be turned on to keep that element’s size, or off to resize it along with the changed pattern. For example, keeping a printed graphic at its authored scale favors the ON setting, while scaling the texture with an enlarged pattern favors OFF.
Mesh topology, the layout of its vertices and edges, needs a separate decision when the downstream application depends on the garment’s mesh structure. The Marvelous Designer OBJ import and export guide says an OBJ garment export creates an MTL file containing material information. In Auto Fitting, Maintain Topology preserves the mesh layout when enabled and all pattern meshes are fully synchronized. Marvelous Designer says a simulation is the simplest way to synchronize them, and the UV map, the coordinates that place a texture on the mesh, may need readjustment afterward. This makes Auto Fitting useful for fitting a garment, while the artist still chooses settings to suit the mesh and texture handoff.
Compare the three candidates by source outfit and target avatar
| Candidate | Best fit for the job | Documented input or target condition | What happens to the outfit | Handoff or check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character Creator | Conforming clothes after a Character Creator body-shape change | A dressed Character Creator character with a changed body or body part | Conform Clothing adjusts the clothing around the changed shape | Review the changed body areas for skin pokethrough and adjust the conform settings |
| MetaTailor | A bridge-based clothing fitting and rigging stage for Character Creator 4 | The reviewed workflow exports a CC4 character mesh using MetaTailor Bridge | The review describes mesh editing, vertex manipulation, weight transfer, and collision detection | Test the actual garment and receiving application in the intended CC4 pipeline |
| Marvelous Designer | Resizing or re-draping a pattern-based garment on a custom avatar | Target avatar has Create Fitting Suit data; garment has Fitting Suit data | Auto Fitting adjusts garment size; Re-Drape preserves its original size, UVs, and textures | Auto Fitting can preserve topology when pattern meshes are synchronized; OBJ export includes an MTL material file |
Shortlist by the asset you already have
- Your character is changing shape inside Character Creator: use the Conform Clothing panel after a whole-body or body-part size change. It directly addresses clothes that shift or expose skin as the body changes.
- Your target is a Character Creator 4 character: evaluate MetaTailor if a Bridge-based mesh-fitting and weight-transfer stage matches your pipeline.
- Your source is a Marvelous Designer garment and your target is a custom avatar: choose Auto Fitting when the target and garment have Fitting Suit data and the garment should resize. Choose Re-Drape when the original garment size should stay fixed during simulation.
A good first test uses the garment that presents the greatest risk in production: a layered outfit, a garment with a visible print, or clothing that must deform across a large body-shape change. Run it through the intended target pose, then inspect fit, texture scale, mesh structure, and weights in the application that will use the final asset.
FAQ
Can Marvelous Designer create Fitting Suit data when I import an avatar?
Yes, for a custom bipedal avatar in an A-pose or T-pose with two arms, two legs, and no tail. Import it as OBJ or FBX, choose Open and Avatar in the import options, and enable Auto Create Fitting Suit.
Does Auto Fitting preserve the garment mesh topology?
Yes, when Maintain Topology is enabled and all pattern meshes are fully synchronized. Marvelous Designer identifies running a simulation as the simplest synchronization step, and the UV map may need adjustment afterward.
Which Marvelous Designer operation keeps the garment’s original scale?
Re-Drape keeps the garment’s original size while simulating it on the custom avatar. Auto Fitting is the choice when the garment itself should resize to the avatar.