How to make inZOI clothing mods in Blender
inZOI has official mod support: its maker publishes a free ModKit with plug-ins for Blender and Maya. That makes clothing one of the most approachable things to create for it. Here is the road in plain steps, and how it compares with the Second Life clothing work our courses teach.
The steps
- Get the official ModKit. Install the inZOI ModKit and its Blender plug-in. It brings the character body and the templates your clothing has to match.
- Model the garment. Build your piece in Blender over the Zoi body from the ModKit, close to the body and without poking through.
- Unwrap and texture. UV-unwrap the mesh and make its colour, normal and other material maps.
- Skin it to the Zoi skeleton. Bind the garment to the character's skeleton and copy the weights from the body, then correct them by hand where the body bends.
- Export and set up the mod. Export through the ModKit plug-in, set the item up in the ModKit (category, thumbnail, variations) and try it in the game.
- Share it. Mods are shared through the game's official mod platform. Follow its rules on what may be uploaded.
Second Life and inZOI, side by side
| Second Life | inZOI | |
|---|---|---|
| Tools | Blender, then upload in the Second Life viewer | Blender (or Maya) and the inZOI ModKit |
| File you deliver | Collada (.dae) and textures | A mod packaged by the ModKit |
| Fitted to | Mesh bodies such as Maitreya, Legacy, Reborn, Kupra | The Zoi body |
| Where it ends up | The buyer's inventory, sold in-world or on the SL Marketplace | The game's mod platform, then the player's game |
What is the same craft
- Modelling a garment over a body
- Clean topology within a polygon budget
- UV unwrapping, baking and texturing
- Skinning: weight transfer and hand-corrected weight painting
- Testing the piece on a moving character
What is different
- Export goes through the ModKit instead of a Collada upload
- One game body with sliders instead of many competing mesh bodies
- Mods are shared on a mod platform; Second Life items are sold for L$
- The game is young and its tools change - always check the current ModKit guide
Where SL Designers fits in
SL Designers teaches 3D clothing design through video courses recorded for Second Life, and builds Blender addons for clothing creators. The courses do not cover inZOI's own export steps. They teach the part every world shares: making a garment that is well built, well fitted and well rigged. See the courses and the tools.
Questions people ask
Do the SL Designers courses teach inZOI modding?
No. Our video lessons are recorded for Second Life. What they teach - building a garment, fitting it to a body, UV-mapping, texturing, rigging and weight painting - is the same craft inZOI clothing needs. The ModKit steps are something you add on top, from the game's own documentation.
Do I need Blender to make clothes for inZOI?
For a new shape, yes: a new garment is a 3D mesh, made in Blender or Maya and brought in with the ModKit. The game also has built-in tools for patterns and simple objects, which need no modelling but cannot make a new cut of clothing.
Can I bring my Second Life clothing into inZOI?
If the mesh is your own work, yes in principle: fit it to the Zoi body, skin it to that skeleton and export it through the ModKit. Meshes you bought usually may not be moved to another game.