Maya cloth and importing patterns

[allynn]

Hi,

I'm working on a 'virtual archive' of 19th century clothing based on original patterns. I plan to scan the patterns, convert them into vector files and use Maya Cloth to create the models.

I only have access to Maya on weekends and so I'm hoping to do the bulk of the actual patterning work in another program and only use Maya for the actual 'stitching' of the garments. The finished models will NOT be animated. I'm hoping to convert them to the Metastream format for a webpage/CDROM.

I have some experience with 3D programs but I don't know Maya. I've completed the basic cloth tutorials and I'm getting a feel for the cloth functions. I'm just not sure if it's possible to import .dxf files and have them keep the separate 'curves' needed for stitching. My initial patterns will most likely be created by tracing original scans in Adobe Illustrator. I can convert these .ai's to .dxf's in Truespace. Will this work? I know I can trace the patterns directly in Maya but since my time using Maya is limited I'd really like to use it only for the things I can't do in any other program.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Allynn

[vernakata]

If you're planning on using imported .dxf splines it won't work. Maya cloth only works with NURBs curves, but you could just use your initial work as a pattern.