Where do i adjust cloth simulation settings in Blender for realistic folds?

[Nora_T]

I’ve been trying to get better at creating realistic fabric folds for my character’s clothing in Blender, but my simulations always seem to come out either too stiff or unnaturally floaty. I’m not sure if the issue is with my cloth brush settings, the underlying mesh density, or something in the physics properties.

[MasonC]

I had the same problem. I cranked Quality Steps to 8–12, enabled Self Collision with a small distance, and lowered the bending stiffness a touch. The drape softened and folds started to form more naturally. Pinning the edges to the body for the first few frames helped stop the garment from floating. If it still jitters, add a bit of damping and run more simulation steps.

[NatalieJ]

Mesh density matters more than I expected. A coarse garment will look stiff no matter what. I used a higher density around the joints or used a proxy garment for the sim, then baked and transferred to the final mesh. Don't forget to enable Self Collision and tweak Collision Distance so it can stack folds without intersecting.

[BenjaminXM]

What if the real issue isn't the cloth but the body? I ran a quick test with a simple cube for collision. If the cube produces the same stiff folds, then it’s the cloth settings; if not, it’s the collision scale or the body mesh. Have you tried a plain collision object to compare?

[Addison91]

One time I forgot to apply scale, and gravity felt off. I fixed it by applying scale to 1.0 on both garment and body, then re-ran. The folds looked closer to real, even if not perfect. Also make sure your scene units are consistent with gravity direction.