AnimWires modifier options

Use this modifier to animate Spline primitives. To animate the splines, Maya curves are added to the Description, which use control maps to specify which primitives are animated by each wire. These maps are typically curve clumping maps or derived from procedural clumping maps. See Animate spline primitives using an Anim Wire modifier.

To improve playback performance and render time, add a Groom Bake modifier above the AnimWire in the modifier stack.

Note: You can also use a painted map as long each wire can be in its own uniquely colored area. There can be no blending of colors.
Mask

Lets you control how the modifier affects primitives in specified areas of the surface. For example, use Mask to load or an expressions or create a Ptex map that masks out the effect of the modifier.

Magnitude
Sets the strength of animation applied to the splines by changing the amount of vertices displaced on the curves.
Magnitude Scale

Lets you vary Magnitude values along the spline length starting at the spline root to its tip.

Interpolation

Sets the amount of interpolation between wires. A value of 0.0 is off, while 0.5 is a typical value.

Mode

Live Mode

When on, XGen uses the output curves from a hair system in the scene for rendering.

Wires File

Specifies the file that contains the wires, including both reference and animation wires.

Ref Wires Frame

The frame number in the Wires File where reference wire is saved.

Control Map

Region

When on, XGen uses the region maps to control interpolation between animated primitives.

Clumping

When on, XGen uses the clumping maps to control interpolation between animated primitives.

Default

When on, XGen uses the maps generated by your settings. The guides can be used as the generator for the wires or a random point generation can create wires at those points. Anim Wire uses the same method to generate clump guides that can be used to create the curves in an nHair system.

Create Maps

Opens the Generate Maps window, which lets you create a Region or Clumping map for the animation wires.

Preview Wires

Displays the locations of animation wires on the geometry surface.

Create Hair System

Creates an nHair system using the set AnimWire attribute values.

Options

Affect Collision

Specifies whether the wire should be used to influence the results in the collision module.

Animation Only

Animates primitives only and does not preserve clump shape from reference pose.

Color Preview

Turn on to display the animation wires with the color preview.

Attach Hair System

Creates a Maya Nucleus node and a nHair system used to dynamically simulate the animation wires.

Preview Regions

Lets you preview the spline primitives for selected wires. Select an output wire to preview its associated animated curves.

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