Basics

Get started with the basics of GTA V cloth modding

Introduction

Before opening Blender, it helps to understand the files and clothing categories used throughout this guide.

YDD

This is a 'drawable dictionary'. If you've worked with mapping, you'll probably have seen these used as building LODs. For what we're doing, the YDD is your 3D model and (in most cases) its LODs. A YDD can also contain embedded textures used by the model.

YTD

This is a 'texture dictionary'. In the normal Durty Cloth Tool clothing-variation workflow, keep one intended diffuse texture in each YTD. Additional textures inside the same YTD do not create additional selectable variations. For multiple clothing textures, we make multiple YTDs. Durty Cloth Tool supports up to 26 external variations per drawable, named down the alphabet from "A" to "Z".

YFT

YFT is a fragment file. In this workflow, the matching Freemode YFT provides the multiplayer skeleton. We won't be editing or adding it to our Durty Cloth Tool project, but you should understand its importance. When authoring rigged clothing components, you need this YFT as an 'external skeleton' reference while importing the YDD into Blender. Without the correct skeleton, the bone names and weights cannot be handled reliably.

The YFT is only needed while authoring a rigged component. Durty Cloth Tool builds the finished YDD, texture variations and resource metadata; it does not add this skeleton file to the clothing resource.

For more information about the YDD structure, see the Sollumz Drawable Dictionary documentation. The Complete Walkthrough shows how these files are prepared for a first Blender edit.

Components and Props

MP Freemode appearance items are split into components and props, and they are handled differently in Blender. Components are usually skinned clothing that uses the MP skeleton to move with the body. Their vertex groups and weight painting control that movement. Most reference components also contain several LODs (levels of detail), commonly High, Medium and Low.

There are 12 components:

1. ACCS: undershirts

2. BERD: masks

3. DECL: decals

4. FEET: shoes

5. HAIR: hairstyles

6. HAND: bags and backpacks

7. HEAD: MP heads

8. JBIB: tops, shirts and jackets

9. LOWR: pants

10. TASK: body armor

11. TEEF: accessories such as parachutes and scuba equipment

12. UPPR: torso and upper-body parts, including gloves

Props, on the other hand, are closer to objects attached to a ped anchor, such as the head or wrist. Their exact hierarchy and rigging can vary, so follow a working reference from the same prop category instead of assuming every prop needs weights or a bone constraint. Props can also contain LODs. The five commonly used Freemode prop categories are:

1. P_HEAD: hats

2. P_EYES: glasses and sunglasses

3. P_EARS: earrings

4. P_LWRIST: bracelets and watches

5. P_RWRIST: bracelets

Polygon Count

This is something to pay attention to whether you're converting an asset or modeling it yourself. There is no single vertex number that makes every item safe. A tiny earring and a full jacket do not need the same budget, and Blender's vertex count can increase during export where UV seams, sharp edges and face-corner data split vertices.

Instead, compare your item with a similar working Freemode asset and pay attention to triangles, texture memory and how many items may be streamed together. For multiplayer clothing, keep the High LOD only as detailed as it needs to be and make each lower LOD meaningfully cheaper while preserving the silhouette. See Levels of Detail for the modeling workflow. Durty Cloth Tool's Cloth Analysis Report can warn about excessive polygon counts, but those thresholds are configurable guidance rather than format limits.

You can inspect the reference asset in CodeWalker and review the completed item in the Cloth Analysis Report.

Showing the vertex count of a piece of GTA clothing with High, Medium, and Low LODs.

Notice the high, medium, and low details. Those are the LODs.

Vertex Colors

Like mapping, clothing commonly uses two vertex color channels that affect its appearance. Current Sollumz versions label them Color 1 and Color 2; older tutorials may call the same channels colour0 and colour1. For an ordinary Freemode ped material, orange #FF8000 for Color 1 and black with zero alpha for Color 2 are useful starting values. Copy a comparable working asset when using wind, sweat, emissive or other special material behavior.

See Vertex Colors for the Blender setup and current Sollumz attribute names.

An example of vertex color 1.

An example of vertex color 2.