Create hair or fur using spline primitives

Create all styles of hair and fur by instancing spline primitives on your character mesh. For example, use spline curves for long or short hair, eyebrows, mustaches, and beards. You can also use spline curves to create grass, ropes, and other objects for landscapes.

1. Select the character mesh or the faces of the mesh you want create hair or fur on.
2. From the Modeling menu set, select Generate > Create Description.
3. In the Create XGen Description window, type a New Description Name and Collection name.

   XGen Descriptions store settings for positioning, generating, and controlling the splines. For more information about Descriptions, see XGen Descriptions.

   A Collection provides a way of organizing Descriptions and the associated files your Description uses. For more about Collections, see XGen Collections.

4. In the Create XGen Description window, under What kind of Primitives are made by this Description?, select Splines.
5. Under Generate the Primitives, select one of the following :
   • Randomly across the surface
   • In uniform rows and columns
   • At points you specify

     Selecting this option lets you specify the location of each spline on the surface. After creating the Description, use the Specify Points Tool to select these locations. See Add primitives to an existing Description.

6. Under Control the Primitives by, select one of the following:
   • Placing and shaping guides

     This option lets you place guides on the mesh, which you can then scale and shape. When you preview the groom, the guide shapes are applied to the splines. After creating the Description, use the Add or Move Guides tool to place guides on the mesh. See Shape primitives using XGen guides.

   • Using Attributes controlled by expressions

     Select this option if you do not want to use guides to shape and control primitives.

7. Click Create.

   If no splines generate on the mesh surface, you have either created a guides-based Description and need to add the guides using the Add or Move Guides, or Update Preview Automatically is not turned. on. See Preview hair, fur, or instanced geometry.

8. In the Primitives tab of the XGen Editor, increase Density to generate more primitives.

Related Task

• Control XGen primitives using attributes expressions and maps
• Create hairlines and bald spots using Ptex maps
• Create hairparts using Ptex maps
• Shape and control primitives using XGen modifiers