How to Make Realistic Curtains in Blender (Tutorial)

Blender tutorial showing how to use the cloth simulator to create realistic curtains, ready for archviz rendering in Cycles.
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Curtain Texture: www.poliigon.com/texture/fabr...
Free Texture: www.poliigon.com/texture/fabr...
Creases Texture: www.poliigon.com/texture/fabr...
Buy the final curtain model: gum.co/pEDQQn
Chapter Marks:
0:00 Start
9:38 Adding Pleats
23:24 Quick Curtain Variations
23:59 Detailing the Pleats
29:07 Texturing
32:48 Translucency
39:24 Creating the Rail
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[@davidgeorge6278]

I make almost $1000 every month selling 3D stl files. I learned almost everything I know from the Blender Guru channel. If it were not for your tutorials and the fact that Blender is generously free, I probably would have starved or turned to crime during the lockdowns. From the end of January until now, I have kept the bills paid and my family fed off of what I learned from you. To think, it all started with a tourus and a donut model. As soon as I can afford it, I am coming for more poliigon textures.

[@lolmao500]

How do you make money doing 3d stl files? I wanted to live off 3d for a while

[@rbettsx]

That's great! When you can, if you're consistently making money, chuck a little bit back to the Blender Development Fund. Then it would be free, because of people like you 😘

[@PixellateYT]

@@lolmao500 He is creating 3d model (miniatures) for 3D printing, they sell very well. There are many 3d selling model sites but I will recommend CgTrader.

[@dzignerdigital3331]

i hope you did at least one donation to encourage him !

[@Chilcutte]

I feel you - I am doing side work and I found that half of my income last year was art.

[@razeenshaikhmohammed3788]

I'm sure he's making a house to fill it with donuts

[@DProgger]

Yes, pls!

[@themadmoon]

I hope so

[@kelvinsenteza]

and that's where the couch comes in

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@Valer44]

Even I think so!

[@deva_69]

Alright we're going to make a complete home here. 🏡

[@KennMandey8]

Wkwkwkw

[@dewchame]

I like this!

[@themadmoon]

To fill it with millions of donuts

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@sanjaipandey5315]

No you are wrong He is making earth Watch his tutorial kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4KbgaqZed-Vbrs

[@andriskaratson94]

5:55 To insert the Keyframe for the shape key hower over the value field and hit "I", then repeat at frame 50 after changing it to a value of 1

[@asgoodasgoose6202]

omfg thank you. I spent an hour trying to figure what was wrong

[@TowkirIslam96]

Thank you so much, I was struggling to figure out what happened there.

[@FairiesFamilyTV]

thank you so much!!! I was confused

[@aliceus3315]

i added key frames but curtain not moving in object and edit mode. Value is also 0 and 1 on 50

[@darwinwatterson666]

You are a life savoir seriously thank you so much

[@designfreedom3651]

This is literally what I need right now for my project! Thank you so much Blender Guru for your architecture and interiors related tutorials!

[@KillerGameDev]

I just wanna call out how easy you make this stuff to learn. Its so overwhelming at times. Even my young children(between the ages of 8 and 11) all really enjoy your friendly attitude and thorough teachings. Thanks for taking something potentially hugely complicated and making it a lot easier for a lot of people.

[@playproduction8853]

Nevermind the current topic, I would like to say some general things considering your videos. I've been following you tutorials for months (perhaps even years) and I learned great things about modelling, animating, techniques etc etc mostly from your dedication and effort. You simply hit the sweet spot we all need to improve. Thank you very much, you're so outta of this world. Keep it up!

[@Lophotrochozoan]

Okay this is freaky... literally just yesterday I was banging my head against the wall trying to make realistic curtains for a project. And turns out you uploaded this that same day. Andrew you mind reader!!

[@brando132]

For creating the pleats you can save time and work by selecting the first vertex of the first pleat, shift 7 vertices away for the next pleat, then use Control+Shift+Numpad+ to continue the selection pattern across the mesh. Repeat this for the second vertex of each pleat and so on, this way you only need to modify the mesh for one pleat and it will be copied along the mesh.

[@laroachespoosay]

I don't have a numpad :( but nice tip

[@ShadyRonin]

Thanks Andrew. This series is amazing. I really appreciate all the attention to detail and information. Longtime fan and your content is better than ever!

[@borisgonzalez5608]

your sense of humor whilst explaining (in a very clear way) makes learning even more fun. thank you!!

[@pushkarc28]

Me : Hits play button after adding keyframes. My computer : This little mistake is gonna cost you 52 years..!

[@abdullaishfaq3166]

"This little maneuver is gonna cost us 51 years"*

[@pushkarc28]

@@abdullaishfaq3166 yeah !! i couldn't remember it than.

[@simonvanzyl7743]

Pc: its not possible Me: no it’s necessary

[@pushkarc28]

@Dhritwan Choudhary haha nice

[@michaelpenco546]

Blender Guru is the very first site I consulted on opening my very first Blender program and for all the years I have learned he has been both inspirational and a blessing to me. Much thanks extended to you and your family and do enjoy the Christmas season.

[@Mohajer..]

Ten years have passed since the first video you posted on KZbin. Thank you very much for your help. I just got acquainted with Blender and my situation is like the ninth video you posted 😁

[@brennanconley3110]

Hey Andrew! I hope you don't stop making uploads. Your stuff has helped me learn a lot.

[@RyanKingArt]

Awesome! Thanks for this Andrew!

[@ali32bit42]

from my testing. using shapekeys is sometimes very buggy. i use hook modifier instead. its more animation friendly too . edit also note if you dont want to make a soild fabric to keep things low poly. you can use translucent shader instead it works better for that case.

[@aserlink]

Tbh, I had checked out most other videos because I needed to make a realistic Curtain and this here, this just saved me big time. Thank you sir!!

[@dirkschmitfranz3114]

I‘ve been waiting for THIS! Thank you, mate! 🤠

[@harshitsingh7945]

I love your tutorials because unlike other tutorials you explain each and every thing you do

[@mamadshonazaramonov3010]

Thank You so much. Was desperately looking for this for my interior scenes, so happy for timing.

[@jurgenvantomme]

Great! Your tutorials are so helpful and well explained. Thank you!

[@revenger211]

Oh wow, I never ended my bedroom project from weeks ago because I couldn't do the curtains properly. Thank you as always Andrew!

[@richardphipps5268]

I absolutely love your tutorials, If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be working in the industry, it's not using blender, but it's where it all started, with the doughnut. thanks again.

[@rafvanraevels]

Nice tutorial, Andrew! Keep them coming.

[@Hobaiue]

this helped me as a newbie blender user. as a 11yr old, this is very helpful and i will continue to use this. thank you.

[@MyAnia1993]

These tutorials are too useful! It would be nice to have some tips for the outside too! Heavy scene management, tips for creating realistic grass and for a photorealistic exterior

[@davidmaina6637]

You read my mind Andrew, just the information I was looking for. Thanks bro

[@YashKadamYT]

Man! You always inspire us! Great tutorial, thanks!

[@jtoly08]

Try creating cleats using Edit: Select: Checker Deselect. It makes it easy to control the pattern across the pin group working from patterns of deselected, selected, and offset. I wanted to create a gentle sine wave (without Python!) so selected the pin group (the rest was hidden, as you suggested), then used Checker Deselect to set Selected (3), Deselected (5), Offset (eyeball it). I pushed those forward a little bit, generating the start of the pleat into the room. Reselected all, and used Checker Deselect with the same settings but changed the Offset so the three selected were the middle three of the 5 deselected the first time; pushed those sets of three backwards toward the wall/window/screen. Then, to smooth the curves a little, select all, Selected (1), Deselected (7), Offset (eyeball the middle of one of the threes); push that selection group just a little bit further, making a nice rounded curve. Repeat by changing the Offset so the other middle of three can be pushed a little further along its curve. Voila!

[@SamsTopBarBees]

Always good stuff, thanks!

[@straightpathnetworks1658]

The thing I like abt ur tutorials is that they are very detailed. thanks for that. please make more tutorials.

[@attilaracz2034]

Thx Andrew. Perfect and very useful as usual!!!

[@imyasharya]

The old style big tutorials are back. I like it

[@stellaachenbach]

Awesome tutorial, thank you

[@jamieedgington7958]

Eendroo (Aussie) is the best tutor ! always goes way beyond normal tuts into the nitty gritty stuff - love it !

[@divyabhagtani1515]

I am working on a scene which has a curtain. I was searching for some tutorials on how to make a curtain in blender. And the Guru is here with another tutorial. Thanks Buddy ! 😀 I Really Love Your Work. 👍

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@dasenn]

For someone who is lazy as me for modelling pleads, I've used checker deselect tab (which you can find at the top of the viewport, next to Object/edit mode sign under Select section) with those settings: Deselected 2, selected 1, offest -2 for plane with 100 subdivs. It gave nearly the same shape you can see in video, but with smaller gaps

[@briansolomons744]

Fantastic tutorial. I made some lovely theatre drapes. Thanks so much.

[@HasanKhan20]

I've waited months for a tutorial like this. I haven't watched it yet, but I know this is the one.

[@agerausten6630]

You are amazing. At one point I was quitting learning blender until i saw your videos.Thumbs up

[@GisleAune]

If you're in 2.9 and the cloth is going haywire, set the top option under Playback to the far left of the animation controls to No Sync. You may need to change a setting in the cloth mod afterwards for it to drop its cache.

[@jrejabathjr1114]

Long time no see... And finally another realastic tutorial.... Thanks.... We're waiting for it

[@aneszerrouki252]

your tutorials are diffrent than the others, keep going!

[@fg594]

loving this and thank you very much!!!!! signing up now!

[@extreem573]

Thanks, I feel like a connoisseur of curtains now. My life is complete, my spirit devoted and my body ready.

[@onerawartist]

I love how blender guru is aiming for the archviz blenders ^^ , thats the missing type of videos in KZbin. I wish you do some sverchok videos someday

[@Gavrev]

Very nice tutorial bud! Thanks :)

[@jamesfromteamrocket6499]

Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am learning a lot.

[@eseperio]

Mesmerizing, as all your tutorials.

[@SinaH-xi2il]

WooooW amazing Thank you so much please continue

I was working on a personal project and didnt know how to make curtains. I knew this video existed and it was the first thing that came into my mind😁.

[@elshadwiputrilestari7358]

Cant wait for archviz tutorial 🙌

[@florianbarbera5368]

Thanx for your tutorial. I just needed to make 5 curtains for my scene and it was the perfect way to learn how to do it !

[@Filipincho]

Nice job Mr. Guru, please continue with the interior items, they are very interesting to make

[@droida9751]

I love to watch movies like this ;) Thank You Guru!

[@Akniy]

For the creases you can use checker deselect in the select tab to make that less tedious

[@MariamArmeroWorld]

Oh thanks for sharing this informative stuff.

[@robertprescott9577]

this is great stuff!!!

[@sridharerror]

Nicework man

[@skylight6904]

I've been trying to do this for a long time.. thank you...!!

[@MohamedHusseinCEO]

Really amazing, thank you very much 😇👌

[@bhargo2058]

I have been seeing you vids from the 2 million special vid youre vids are amazing and when I downloaded blender I did not have any idea but because of that donut series it was super easy

[@Adnancorner]

thank you so much for this.. lovely and such great help

[@pranjalbhowmik8656]

wow...subserf for translucency. Never Thought of that myself. Thank you again

[@gottagowork]

Subsurface scattering is *not* a replacement for translucency. I recommend using diffuse (or no spec principled) mixed with translucency, with a slightly darker and more saturated translucency (rays gets more absorbed - tinted - as they pass through the material) - perhaps mixed with geometry/incoming based rough refraction if you need it to catch highlights from the backside. Translucency let light pass through the surface and cause proper shadow on the backside - i.e. a telephone pole on the outside would create a shadow on the backside of the curtain. Translucency is the same as standard diffuse, except it operates only on the backsiding face of the lightsource. Tweaking SSS radius you can get a (not good looking) shadow, but you can't get it to pass light through. Unless you really know what you're doing, using a mix shader to mix them together rather than adding them to conserve energy. Except on the rim in some cases to add the appearance of thickness, I don't bother with solidify (why add tons of geometry for no good reason?), but I will add a lacing effect using a transparency mask at the end. You may want to modulate the transparency "hole size" depending on viewing angle in order to make up for missing solidify. And unless you want them to catch highlights, I wouldn't bother with fresnel and glossy at all. Yes, theoretically everything has fresnel - on a flat representation of the material. But on fabrics like this the weave makes it so rough fresnel is practically pointless and only serve to reduce light transport (if caustics are turned off). On the modelling side, I'm not sure why go through all that pain. Do one (or better yet plan for it in advance), delete the rest of it and just apply an array modifier with more repeats than you need. Alternatively checker deselect might have been useful. Then redo the vertex group stretching if you prefer the shapekey approach. I prefer the copy scale constraint.x with a line I just change while the animation is playing. Delete the excess vertical strips to get rid of any weird looking corners.

[@estebangomez2581]

I dont get the part of the lacing effect and transparency mask. Change the BSDFs seams to work pretty nice and reduce considerably render times (Almost half the time) end gave a more realistic look in my opinion!

[@mikaelrouca8960]

What a wonderful tutorial as always ! You can use a curve modifier on the vertex group (all the top vertices, the whole line of the curtain) and apply it as shape key. So you don't need to shape this line. A sinusoidal curve does it for you (or whatever the curve is to respect your reference). What do you think of that suggestion ?

[@silvermodding]

When we newbies finally become adept at 3d modeling, there will be a certain guy lying on a comfy couch by the curtains with his legs resting on an expensive soborg chair, he slowly sipping coffee while cuddling with his teddy bear, but his eyes are fixed on a delicious donut on the kitchen counter. Still, he cant have that donut. His wife isnt happy about him spending too much time making donuts. So he's just sitting there, dreaming about a land full of donuts, million of donuts.... Oh wait, that's it, I finally understand your lesson of story telling in "scene composition". Thank you!

[@HamzaScreamer]

Thank you For Everything You make Blender Easier

[@yatenko]

Thank you Andrew!

[@Donbros]

Dude how did you know I am making my own room model and upload this because I am about to start making curtains. Blender guru it is second time you guessed the guide I want XD nice

[@valentinzunec9960]

great as always, your tutorial is excellent, one can learn very much from, TY for sharing Bests

[@wahyueka6404]

I like every single your tutorial. Imagine what happen if blender without Andrew.

[@TheKwiji]

I often feel like blender tutorials are just 10 year later posted copies of 3ds max tutorials. All the functionality and how to do this is exactly the same no critic on blender or blender guru, it just feels weird. Love that theres free software for this

[@Fishnberg]

learning blender with someone else: no learning Blender with Blender Guru: Yes

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@user-th2ii9xx1m]

Thank you so much.Very useful)))

[@TheDevian]

Once you have your zigzag, you can select all of the bottom vertices, right click and hit align to grid to straighten them out.

[@inventoruz]

Thank you for tutorial.

[@j1nfx411]

thx great vid always

[@PhantomWowfull]

There was another very good curtain tutorial out there ! But im sure Guru is gonna make us regret all the other ones !

[@deepankarahlawat7920]

The time consuming part to select vertices individually can be shortened by selecting all the vertices in the top and then using a checkered select option and the moving the alternate vertices. You are defy the best guru but i just thought i will share my experience as to how this particular effect can be achieved

[@indepth3d648]

Started from the donut now we here! 🎵 😂 I learned so much from your tutorial and now I'm addicted in doing interior scenes. Thank you! BTW. I'm using a macbook pro 2012 (non-retina) and still surviving. 😂

[@go360ph7]

Does it crash during render? I'm using an iMac, it crashes sometimes when I render.

[@indepth3d648]

@@go360ph7It's all fine aside of course the render time is slow. But it crashes every time I (accidentally) switch to EEVEE render preview so I only use cycles or just the plain wireframe mode.

[@coma4454]

At 4:50, a quicker way than moving the cursor is to set your pivot point to active element, select the row and then deselect and reselect the vertex you want to use as the pivot point

[@muhammadbadrulamin7721]

Tittle : how to realistic curtain in blender me : hold my doughnut

[@sridharerror]

😂

[@RyanKingArt]

Lol!

[@sharath2273]

And my coffee. Please save my chair and make sure nobody touches that anvil. You can sit on the couch if you like.

[@muhammadbadrulamin7721]

@@sharath2273 you watch every tutorial of him, nice

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@sunreiz]

I love you Andrew Price- you still use cycles wow! I love cycles so much

[@mridulsarmah5974]

I was waiting for such a long time. Finally it's here😌

[@electrosaiyan7730]

Me too

[@mridulsarmah5974]

@@electrosaiyan7730 ☺️☺️Blender guru fans we are

[@electrosaiyan7730]

@@mridulsarmah5974 Yes,we are,dude!

[@mridulsarmah5974]

@@electrosaiyan7730 man I'd love to see this kind of fun tutorials in the future too.

[@electrosaiyan7730]

@@mridulsarmah5974 We are on the way to complete a house

[@riley530]

Ahh yes, I’ve aliased wanted to realistic curtains in blender! (For those who missed it, the title was wrong for a bit) - jokes aside, thanks for the video!

[@leojohnson1627]

awesome, thank you so much : )

[@mogaplusgaming6357]

Whoa this guy looks stunning.

[@rajasarkar8173]

him: 40 min tutorial me: a week take it or leave it

[@andypeacock7230]

Finally :3 I can at last cover my windows with something other than blinds and shutters

[@nodezero9828]

Love the new haircut!!

[@robsterthelobster420]

I love the title... Ah yess I’d like to learn how to Realistic curtains.

[@fortkochitechetraveller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYOveqCqeN1leLs

[@franktseng2425]

what can I say...u r the best!

[@DrunkenUFOPilot]

Oh wow! My first Blender crash in many months! Happened while I was tweaking the physics cloth parameters. What was I twiddling right then? Self Collision, Stiffness, Damping... something in there is funky.

[@ogbbillions]

supeeeeer nice i love this thankk you

[@AleCat97]

yaaaaay new tutorial! :DD

[@pink_3d]

Awesome, I tried curtains a few days ago but they looked horrible. Solidify for sss and the details are exactly what I needed, Thanks!

[@TalJenkins]

Please do a whole video series on nodes for beginners! even if you don’t cover everything it would be really helpful

[@razeenshaikhmohammed3788]

No one: Blender guru: *imitating speakers with beat boxing*