Hi everyone,
I’m facing a challenge with a hair system and would really appreciate some advice.
My character has braids, and there’s a hair tie (geometry) attached to the braids. I’d like to simulate the hair tie to follow the movement of the braids (groom). Has anyone had experience with a similar setup?
I’ve brainstormed a few potential methods, but each comes with some challenges:
- Hair Card Method:
After importing the groom from XGen, I considered transferring it to geometry using the Hair Card Generator (UE 5.4’s new feature) or converting XGen to polygons in Maya. I’d combine the hair card with the ornament and simulate them like cloth.
This could work, but the quality may not be great, especially for close-up shots, so it’s not my preferred method. - Fake Ornament with XGen:
Another option is creating a fake hair tie using XGen and combining it with the braid groom, simulating both together. However, this limits the hair tie’s design, as it would only work for simple shapes like a rope twist. - Alembic Cache Approach:
Since XGen exports as an Alembic cache, I’m wondering if it’s possible to export the hair tie (geometry) as Alembic as well. I could then combine both caches and import them as a single groom.
I’m still unsure how to approach this, and it might present challenges with the shader.
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!