Maya PaintFX Hair: Getting Started

Introduction

Hi all, as I see everyday a lot of people asking how to make hair or what's the best way for creating hair, etc... Just here I will show a little steps how I'm creating hair in Maya using PaintFX. This tutorial contains three parts, first understanding hair elements, second working with complete hair and third setup hair strokes.

Part 1: Understanding Hair Elements

Picture 1: Hair Heart and Hair Path

Picture 1: Hair Heart and Hair Path

To create hair in Maya using paintFX, you need three things, first (as I named) Hair Heart, second Hair Path, and finally Hair Stroke, from these three elements you can create good paintFX hair...

What I mean by these elements?

Hair Heart: I mean from where the hair will grow/born (come from), it's simply a curve, which you will attach the hair brush with it, you can make it shape as you like, I used to make it circle, but it depends how is your hair design will be.

Hair Path: It's your hair design, which you will animate in the future; you will make it from curves.

Hair Stroke: It's the hair look and how it will be, here is the real work on the hair will start.

Now I will start making a single hair group, it's just a way to make you start. Let's start step by step...

You should start with your hair design by making the hair curves (hair paths), in this test I have made a single path, single path don't mean one hair (you will control the number of hair from your hair stroke).

Take care when you are building your curves, put in mind that a lot of spans will make it hard to fix the hair design in the future, by usual I rebuild my curves in 7-9 spans.

You can use Modeling/Edit Curves/Rebuild Curve option to fix your curves spans number.

Then make your hair heart, in this test I have made it shape circle, but remember you can make any shape, it's depends how your hair will born/grow. And remember you can use one Hair Heart for many Hair Paths, so don't think you make for example 5 hair paths that you need 5 hair hearts! Look at Picture 1 to know how the Hair Heart and Hair path looking for single hair...

Now it's the time to start working on your hair stroke, the hair stroke it's like a brush, and how your hair will look, now I will show you how to connect the hair stroke with your hair heart and hair curves, then I will show you some hair attributes which will help in creating the hair.

How to connect the Hair Stroke with Hair Heart and Hair Path?You have two functions in Maya you will use for this "Attach Brush to Curves" and "Set Stroke Control Curves".

Attach Brush to Curves: You will use this function to connect your hair stroke with your hair heart, and that after choosing your brush from Rendering/Paint Effects/Get Brush... You have a good hair brushes in Maya Visor/hair, in this test I have choose "hairRed1.mel".

You can find this function from Rendering/Paint Effects/Curve Utilities/Attach Brush to Curves.

After this step the hair stroke has been created, and you can see it from the outliner.

Set Stroke Control Curves: We use this function to make the hair stroke walk with hair path, so select your hair strokes (from the outliner) then select your hair path, and click the function, you can find it here Rendering/Paint Effects/Curve Utilities/Set Stroke Control Curves.

Now this step complete and we are ready to start working into hair stroke attributes.

Look at Picture 2 to see what I got.

Picture 2: Hair Stroke connected with Hair Heart and Path

Picture 2: Hair Stroke connected with Hair Heart and Path

 

Select your stroke from the outliner and open it attribute, I will not show you all hair attributes, but I will tell you the most important.

Global Scale: This is the first value you should edit after setting stroke control curves, from this you can control you brush scale size.

Display Quality: When you are making the hair, you should change this value always, as you know paintFX is a bit slow.

Sample Density: It's the samples points on the stroke, which paint your hair.

Seed: This option sets the sequence of random numbers used for brush attributes that are randomized.

Smoothing: I used this a lot when I'm creating soft hair.

Tubes Per Step: It's simply the number of hair per point.

Tube Rand: The random places for the hair in the point.

Segments: Defines the maximum number of segments a tube can have, control the stroke ability to walk with curve.

Picture 3 shows what I got from changing some of these values.

Picture 3: The render after changing some values

Picture 3: The render after changing some values

This is simple steps to start working on paintFX hair, and remember you have a lot of attributes you should test, and your way in paintFX is very long.

Part 2: Working with Complete Hair

Now I will make a simple hair design which will made from curves (hair paths), then I will show you where you should
put your Hair Heart, then connect the hair stroke with them. So here we go...

How I can make a simple hair design in less time?

It's really a simple way, just what you need is to create a curve, and then do smart transform duplicate after rotating the
first duplicated curve.

Let's make it step by step:

In the front view I have draw a curve using CV Curve Tool, start drawing from the top of the hair to down (top where the hair heart will be).

Rebuild the curve with 7 snaps, as I said we do this to make it easy to edit the hair later.

Use Insert key in your keyboard to make the curve pivot in the first point of the hair (I mean in the top of the hair), you can use any snap methods for this, as you like.

Now select the curve and make a duplicate, but make sure that you have chosen smart transform from duplicate option.

Let the new curve selected and rotate it 15 degree in Y direction, you can make this fast from channel box.

Do the duplicate many times, until you finish the hair circle.

Always make group for all hair curves including hair heart, this will make it easy to move them from place to place while animation.

Like this I have finished the simple hair design, as you see it's very simple, but put in mind that you can make any hair design.

Where should I put the hair heart?

As I said, the hair heart is the place from where the hair will grow or born, in this test I have made it shape circle and I put it under the top of the hair, you should rotate this circle 180 degree in Z direction, because you need the hair grow to the up when you apply the brush into your hair heart. I have used circle shape because my hair design grows from circle, so you can choose any other shape (it depends how your hair design is).
Take a look at Picture 4 down.

Picture 4: Where the curve pivot should be, and hair heart place

Picture 4: Where the curve pivot should be, and hair heart place

After applying the brush in to your hair heart, select all your hair curves then select your hair stroke and choose "Set Stroke Control Curves". In Picture 5 down just I have increased tubes per step and sample density values.

Fig. 05

Fig. 05

Picture 5: Render after setting stroke control curves
Picture 6 shows how is hair heart different from hair to hair design. Hair heart shape depends on your hair design.

Picture 6: Two samples shows how hair heart shape depends on hair design

Picture 6: Two samples shows how hair heart shape depends on hair design

In all samples here I have created one hair heart because I have just one hair level.
What I should do if my hair is from many levels?

The best way to fix this, is to make more than one hair heart, for example you can make one heart for any level...
In Picture 7, the colors mean levels.

Picture 7: Hair levels and hair heart

Picture 7: Hair levels and hair heart

Part 3: Hair Stroke Setup

The real work on the hair will start, so I hope while reading that you open Maya and testing... Here I will make a little sample; from it you can understand how you can setup your stroke very fast, and step by step of thinking.

I have made a circular curve, and I make it a little up in the scene just because the hair will fall down. Now go to your Visor window then hair, as you see you have a lot of hair types, in this sample I have choose "hairBlond1.mel", after chosen apply the brush into the circular curve, then select the created stroke and open it attribute.
(Make a render and see the results.)

In any hair you create the first value you should change is Global Scale (it's under hairBlond tab), the Global Scale control the scale size of your hair, for example if your hair is long and big in the scene, you should change global scale value to something big, etc... In this sample I have changed the global scale value to 10.
(Make a render and see the results.)

As you see, you have a little hair, for example if you put anything after the hair you will see it! So now we should change a value called Tubes Per Step (you can find it under hairBlond/Tubes/Creation), if you change this value you will get more hair in this circular curve (in this step), in this sample I have change the hair value to 20.
(Make a render and see the results.)

We still in the same problem that if we put anything after the hair we will see it! We can fix that by changing a value called Sample Density (it's under strokeShape tab), sample density mean samples points on the stroke, so if you change it value you will get more hair, in this sample I have changed the value to 3.
(Make a render and see the results.)

If you continue increasing sample density and tubes per step values, Maya will be very slow, so you can go out from this problem by a value called Display Quality (it's over sample density), I can give you here some tips, if you feel Maya going slow try to decrees display quality value, and while setup-ing stroke no need to make render every time just change the display quality value to 100%, finally if you finish all your hair just make display quality value to 0%.

Now we are making a soft hair, so how we can make this hair more softness? There is a value called Smoothing (it's the last in strokeShape tab), in this sample I have choose 40.

See Picture 8, just to be sure what I got.

Picture 8: Hair Stroke setup

Picture 8: Hair Stroke setup

As you know the tutorial's title is getting started, so I will not tell you all stroke values, but here I'm telling you the steps of thinking when you are building your hair and setup-ing your hair stroke.

Now it's the time for changing the hair color, you can make all hair color effects from hairBlond tab/Shading, you have a lot of values there, so it's your time to start testing. Now my favorite menus in hair stroke attribute its Illumination menu, from this menu you can make a cool hair light effects.
Then the Shadow Effects, from here you can setup your hair shadow. Then the Glow menu, it's really very nice, you should try it.
Finally here the Tubes menu, I think if I make new tutorial I will start from here

Picture 9 shows rendered complete hair from hair heart, path and hair stroke, and the look after little setup.

Picture 9: Rendered completed hair

Picture 9: Rendered completed hair

This is all what you need to start creating paintFX hair, and this is just the start, you have many things need to learn...If you have any suggestions/corrections/questions in paintFX hair you can post it in CGTalk.com forum in this thread here, where I have started this tutorial or you can email me at eyad15@yahoo.com with email title "Maya PaintFX Hair Tutorial: Getting Started" or something like that...

Finally thanks for reading and good luck...

- Eyad (eYadNesS)

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