Groomable splines are non-renderable spline primitives that you sculpt and position using XGen's brush-based grooming tools. Use groomable splines to create realistic fur and hair, particularly short-hair styles, beards, and stubble. Groomable spline Descriptions bind to the mesh surfaces like other XGen Descriptions and render as default spline primitives.
When you create a groomable spline Description, XGen randomly populates the bound geometry with the groomable-splines. When you preview (
) the Description, XGen generates default splines with the same shape and at the same locations as groomable splines.
As you sculpt the splines, XGen automatically updates a series Ptex maps for each attribute that you paint. These maps drive the corresponding default spline primitives. The maps are saved as PTEX files in the Description's groom folder (see Map file locations). After you finish sculpting and posing the splines, you can continue to shape the groom as default splines using XGen modifiers, Ptex maps, and expressions.
Groomable Splines do not follow deforming or animated meshes. Grooming must be done on the static pose of the mesh that is bound to the Description. To see your groom follow the mesh, you must preview the XGen default splines version of the groom before playing the animation.