<hr>Hi everyone! I’m beyond excited to share something I just discovered that completely changed my workflow – and I had to post it here because I know I can’t be the only one who needed this!🔍 I’ve always loved working with VMODs for fabrics in CLO, but as someone who renders mainly in external software (Unreal, Blender, etc.), I always felt limited – like I was missing the full power of those textures outside of CLO. Until now.✨ I started experimenting with Fur Strands inside VMODs, and the results blew my mind. Turns out, you can totally bake strand-based effects directly into the 3D model, and then render them outside of CLO – without rebuilding the entire shader from scratch. No more starting from zero to simulate that delicate fiber look!<hr>🔄 Before &amp; After – Render Comparison<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202505/2014fe3da04741ff949f9c1465d403b7/images/1909bd239af846589b549ce418e393bd1.png" alt="1909bd239af846589b549ce418e393bd" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="1909bd239af846589b549ce418e393bd" data-width="1920" data-height="1080">Left: VMOD 3D with Fur Strand Right: Original VMOD 3D What’s crazy is this used to be just a render-time effect. But now… it’s actual geometry inside the 3D view! No tricks, no illusions – those fibers are real mesh strands you can see and work with before even hitting render.<hr><h3>🧵 True 3D Vision – No More “Render-Only” Magic</h3><img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202505/2014fe3da04741ff949f9c1465d403b7/images/41a5e9f5e5e7453185cdf320e069adf42.png" alt="41a5e9f5e5e7453185cdf320e069adf4" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="41a5e9f5e5e7453185cdf320e069adf4" data-width="1920" data-height="1080">On the left: VMOD with Fur Strand – you can clearly see the strand geometry right inside the 3D viewport. On the right: Original VMOD – the texture is there, but it’s just a visual placeholder until render. And here’s the amazing part:🔁 Once you copy over the fur settings (shape, density, roughness map, etc.), 🎯 The final render looks almost identical to the original! But now you’re working with actual geometry — not a preset shader effect that only comes alive at render time.This opens up a whole new world of flexibility: ✅ You can preview and tweak fur in real time. ✅ Export it to external engines like Unreal or Blender. ✅ And finally bridge the gap between hyperrealism and workflow control. <hr><h3>💡 Why This Matters (at least to me!)</h3>This discovery means:<ul><li>I can re-use my entire library of custom VMODs outside CLO.</li><li>No need to rebuild complex shaders in other tools.</li><li>Textures look richer, fuzzier, and closer to real fabric, especially for knits, fleece, and delicate materials.</li></ul>Honestly, it felt like unlocking a secret power-up. If you’ve ever wanted to push the realism of your renders while keeping a smooth pipeline, this is for you.<hr><h3>🔧 Super Tip!</h3>When transitioning from Fur Render (render-only) to Fur Strand (real-time), some settings reset or behave differently — but with a few adjustments, you can recreate the original look or even enhance it.Here’s my personal checklist and advanced tips after testing:✅ Base, Normal, Metallic, Displacement texture → This is preserved. No changes needed.⚠️ Fur parameters → These reset, so you’ll need to reapply:<ul><li>Hair shape</li><li>Shine</li><li>Gravity</li><li>Curl</li><li>Variation</li><li>Roughness → Switch from value to map input for more accurate surface behavior.</li><li>Density &amp; Seed → Play with different seed settings to discover subtle or dramatic variations. A single seed change can alter the entire flow without touching the base design.</li></ul>🌓 Opacity Map → I recommend increasing contrast, especially in darker areas, to restore the sense of translucency and depth seen in the original render. Without this, the material can look flat or less realistic.🧩 Custom Density Mapping (Advanced) → If your fabric has different fur behavior in specific areas (e.g. front vs. sides), unlink them:<ul><li>Separate the textile into front and side sections using the properties editor</li><li>This lets you control density, length, and hair direction by faces.</li></ul><hr><h3>🗣️ I’d love to hear from others:</h3>Have you tried integrating strand-based textures into your external workflow? Any tips, feedback, or renders you want to share? 👀 Can you tell which one this is? <img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202505/2014fe3da04741ff949f9c1465d403b7/images/fbd6d41e40ae4f5c973bdb717e841ef8VMOD%203D%20ORIGINAL.png" alt="fbd6d41e40ae4f5c973bdb717e841ef8" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="fbd6d41e40ae4f5c973bdb717e841ef8" data-width="1500" data-height="2000">Thanks for reading! — Seer <img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202505/2014fe3da04741ff949f9c1465d403b7/images/a356275c837f4137ac1e77ca099f22c63.png" class="custom-image hidden-thumbnail" data-id="a356275c837f4137ac1e77ca099f22c6" data-width="1500" data-height="2000">