Digital Hair Basics

Maya Hair is a dynamic system of curve-driven Paint Effects brushes. The system itself is based on NURBS curves; you can add any Paint Effects brush to them. The curves can be used for a variety of things from simulating ropes and chains to tongues and tails.

When you create hair, three nodes are created:

  • The hair system node holds the majority of the attributes that define the look of the hair.
  • The hair follicle node dictates where the hair is grown from.
  • The pfxHair node controls the display quality of the hair. If your system is bogged down by the hair, you can reduce the quality to lighten the load. In addition, the pfxHair node controls the mesh quality if the brush is converted to polygons.

You can use three sets of ...

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