Understanding Fit To Mode in Daz Studio
When you fit a clothing item or prop to a figure in Daz Studio, one of the settings that affects how it follows the figure’s movement is:
Parameters → Fit To → Fit To Mode
There are two options in this dropdown:
- Auto Follow Transforms
- Redirect Transform
This setting affects how transforms are applied to the fitted item. It applies to the entire item.
Auto Follow Transforms
The clothing item follows transforms from the figure in a way consistent with the figure’s hierarchy. Motion such as pelvis translation and bone rotations propagate to the fitted item in a predictable way. Helper bones and weight-mapped geometry will move along with the figure’s body parts according to their rig and weighting.
This mode behaves the way most users expect by default for standard clothing and organic extensions.
Redirect Transform
Redirect Transform is the other option in Fit To Mode. It is visible in the same Parameters pane and can be selected in place of Auto Follow Transforms.
With Redirect Transform the way the item inherits transforms from the figure changes compared to Auto Follow Transforms. The item may not follow some upstream movements in the same way. Child bones and rigged helper structures can behave differently when the figure is posed.
Transfer Utility Default Behavior
When you use Transfer Utility to generate rigging on a clothing item, the resulting fitted item often comes out with:
Fit To Mode → Redirect Transform
Because of this behavior, many creators check and, if needed, reset the mode to Auto Follow Transforms when they expect the item to behave like standard clothing.
Using Auto Follow Transforms
An item with this mode tends to:
- Inherit movement from the figure’s skeleton in the usual parent → child order
- Behave predictably with weight maps and helper bones
- Move consistently with figure bones without unexpected offsets
Using Redirect Transform
An item with this mode tends to:
- Produce motion behavior that may appear decoupled from higher levels of the figure hierarchy
- Display different movement inheritance than Auto Follow
- Respond differently to upstream bone motion
What if you wanted to use both options in the same item
Short answer: Not at the Fit To Mode level. That dropdown applies to the entire fitted item. You cannot have half the clothing set to Auto Follow and half set to Redirect at the top level.
But…
You can architect a rig so that different parts behave differently. That’s where structure matters.
Fit To Mode is evaluated on the top node of the fitted item. That means :
- One clothing item
- One Fit To Mode
- Entire item obeys it
If you need mixed behavior, you have to design for it.
Strategy 1 — Split the Item
The cleanest solution. If you truly need organic cloth behaving like flesh and mechanical parts avoiding double transforms split them into separate items.
Example: Mermaid armor
- Tail flesh → Item A (Auto Follow)
- Lantern / rigid plates → Item B (Redirect)
Each item gets its own Fit To Mode.
Pros: clean transform logic. easier debugging, cleaner mental model
Cons: multiple scene nodes, slightly more management
For production assets, this is often the best solution.
Strategy 2 — Use Redirect Selectively Through Structure
Even though Fit To Mode is global, you can isolate behavior using hierarchy and weighting.
Example approach:
- Leave Fit To Mode = Auto Follow
- For mechanical pieces:
- Remove weight maps
- Parent them under helper bones
- Drive them via ERC
- Avoid double transforms structurally
Strategy 3 — Hybrid Control Architecture
Keep: Fit To Mode = Auto Follow
Organic mesh uses normal weight maps.
Mechanical pieces:
- Are 100% weighted to a single bone
- Not double-parented
- Not inheriting redundant transforms
Or:
- Mechanical parts are separate child nodes (props) parented under bones.
- They are not weight-deformed at all.
This avoids needing Redirect entirely. Often the need for Redirect is a sign of hierarchy design that can be improved. You need mixed behavior when:
- Part of the mesh is biological
- Part is rigid hard surface
- Part is controller-driven
If it’s one welded mesh, your options are limited. If it’s modular (separate geometry shells or props), you gain control. Rig architecture determines whether you can avoid Redirect entirely.
To permanently change an item to Auto Follow Fit to Mode you need to change it under Parameter Settings.
Click on the gear icon next to Fit to Mode and select Parameter Settings
Change both dropdowns for Default and Value to Auto Follow Transforms
Final settings – click Accept to apply permanently.