In this article, we'll be looking at the Hairstyle tab in detail to see how to create and edit custom items.

 

Table of Contents

• Creating New Hairstyle Custom Items
• Creating New Hair
  • Drawing hair chunks with the Brush
  • Generating procedural hair after setting hair count and shape
• Editing Custom Hair
  • Adjusting the parameters
  • Changing materials
• Setting Hair Bounce

• Right-click menu for the Hair Groups list (on the iPad, tap twice to access the menu)

Creating New Hairstyle Custom Items

To create new custom items for hair, you will need to go to the category you wish to create hair for first. Once you select the desired category from the icons on the left, click (or tap, on the iPad) on the Custom tab, and then on the + button.
Now select the newly generated custom item, and click (or tap, on the iPad) on "Edit Hairstyle" on the top of the right panel to open the editor.

 

You can also edit existing preset items, just by doing the same thing.
Select the item you want to edit, and click (or tap, on the iPad) on "Edit Hairstyle" on the right panel.

 

Creating New Hair

There are two ways to create new hair:

• Drawing hair chunks with the Brush
• Generating procedural hair after setting hair count and shape

 

Drawing hair chunks with the Brush

1. From the tools above the model, select the brush icon, and then select "Freehand Group 1" from the hair list on the left.
   
   
2. The guidelines (grid) for hair will display, and you'll be able to draw new hair with brushstrokes along the grid. You can also adjust the shape of the guidelines by moving the green dots around.
   
   
3. If you want to change the shape for a group of hair, you will need to use the Retouch Brush.
   Select the hair group you want to edit, and then click on the Retouch Brush. Stroke again along the guidelines to see that hair change its shape and follow your brush.
   
   
4. If you want to adjust the length, or maybe the point some hair fixes to the head, use Control Point.
   
   
5. To create a new set of guidelines, click (or tap, on the iPad) on "Add Freehand Hair Guides".

 

Generating procedural hair after setting hair count and shape

1. From the top left, click (or tap, on the iPad) on "Add Procedural Hair Guides".
   
   
2. A new hair group will be displayed on the list on the left. Click on it for its parameters to display on the right of the screen. From here you can adjust hair count, cross-section, twist, and much more.

 

Editing Custom Hair

Adjusting the parameters

Hairstyle tab > Edit Hairstyle to open the editor like the one showing below.
Using the sliders on the right hand of the screen you can adjust various features, such as length, thickness, etc.

 

 

Changing materials

Hair color and texture are set by what we call Materials. Select a hair group on the left panel, and open the Materials menu on the right panel to see what you can edit.

 

Editing materials

The "Edit Texture" button in the Materials list will open the texture editor for those materials.
Here you can edit the design of the hair group, by playing around with colors and the balance of base and highlight textures to give a sense of three-dimensionality.

 

Setting Hair Bounce

Hairstyle tab > Edit Hair Bounce to open the editor like the one in the image below.
From this screen you can set the way hair bounces and sways as your model moves.

If you want to know more on how to set hair bounce, see the article below.

I want to edit hair bounce

 

Right-click menu for the Hair Groups list (on the iPad, tap twice to access the menu)

• Rename
  Rename hair groups or hairs.
• Toggle Visibility
  Show or hide hair groups or hairs in the 3D view.
  If you export a model while certain hair groups or hairs are hidden, they will not be displayed on the exported model.
• Smoothing
  Reduce hair control points.
  When applied to a hair group, reduces the control points for all hairs within that group.
• Duplicate
  Duplicate selected hair groups or hairs.
• Flip
  For hair groups, flip their position horizontally using the model's center as the axis.
  For individual hairs, reposition them symmetrically based on the hair guide.
• Delete
  Remove selected hair groups or hairs.
• Convert to Freehand Hair
  Change a Procedural Group into a Freehand Group.
  You will no longer be able to edit the procedural parameters, but you can modify each hair's individual control points.
  

*The Smoothing and Flip options are not available for Procedural Groups.
*The Smoothing, Clone, Flip, Delete, and Convert to Freehand Hair options are not available for individual Procedural Hairs.
*The Convert to Freehand Hair option is not available for Freehand Groups.