Strand Editor

This is the main control for the selected braid / curl layer

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Name Bar

• Shows the name of current strand layer path curve, the default name will be something like:

  • "xgt_braid2_group1_masterCrv1"

• Clicking on this bar will select the current path curve.

Strand Presets

• Presets allows you to save a strand's setting, so it can be reused in the current scene or a new scene.

Visit to learn more about Strand Presets

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Attributes

Strand Controls

• Curl / Coil: Turn braid into curl / coil shape

• Path Spans: Controls the span count of the path curve.

Geometry Controls

• Samples: An important attribute that determines how dense per braid tube subdivision is. Many braid/curl attributes use this value for the shape. Higher sample requires more computing time, but can have more accurate results.

• Count: The number of 'tubes' for the braid. For cornrows, it requires at least 2 tubes. ​

• Phase Spread: Controls how the braid strands are offset against each other as the pattern repeats along the curve.

• Tube Scale: Controls the overall thickness of the individual tube strand.

• Tube Sides: Controls how many sides the tube mesh has.

• Tube Taper: Controls how much the tube narrows along its length. This is a uniform slider that applies to all tubes in the layer.

Start / End

• Braid Start: Controls where the braid begins along the curve. Lower value = braid starts closer to the root. Higher value = more loose/unbraided space at the start

• Braid End: Controls where the braid stops along the curve. Lower value = braid ends earlier. Higher value = braid continues closer to the tip

• Blend:

  • Global: Moves both Start/End together, and controls how soft the transition is.

  • Start: Softens the transition from the loose start area into the braid.

  • End: Softens the transition from the braid into the loose end area.

  • 0 = sharp transition

  • higher value = smoother transition

• Unbraided Radius:

  • Global: Controls how far the loose strands spread apart outside the braid area.

  • Start: Controls the spread of the loose start area.

  • End: Controls the spread of the loose end area.

  • lower value = tighter loose strands

  • higher value = wider loose strands

• Unbraided Curl:

  • Global: Adds curl to the loose start/end areas outside the braid.

  • Start: Adds curl to the loose start area only.

  • End: Adds curl to the loose end area only.

  • Curl Frequency: Controls how tight or how often the curl repeats.

• Unbraided Noise:

  • Global: Adds irregular breakup to the loose start/end areas outside the braid.

  • Start: Adds noise to the loose start area only.

  • End: Adds noise to the loose end area only.

  • Noise Frequency: Controls how large or how fine the noise pattern is.

Scale

• Scale: Controls the size of the strand. ​

• Scale X: Controls the scaling in the X-axis of the strand.

• ​Scale Z: Controls the scaling in the Z-axis the strand.

Knot

• Knot Frequency: Controls how many braid turns repeat along the curve. Lower values make the braid feel larger, looser, and more open, while higher values make it feel tighter, denser, and more woven.

• Knot Bulge : Controls how full or puffed out each braid knot looks. Lower values make the braid feel flatter and tighter, while higher values make each knot feel fuller, rounder, and more pronounced.

• Bulge Sharpness: Controls how soft or how sharp that bulge shape feels. Lower values make the knot shape smoother and more rounded, while higher values make the bulge feel tighter, sharper, and more defined.

• Vary Strength: Adds variation to the knot shape so the braid does not look too even or perfectly repeated. Lower values keep the braid cleaner and more uniform, while higher values create a more natural, broken-up, or stylized result.

• Vary Seed: Changes the variation pattern without changing the amount of variation. Use it when you like the current Vary Strength, but want a different random look.

Length

• Set Length:

  • When enabled, the strand geometry will align all the way from root to tip of a curve.

  • When disabled, you can manually input a length to apply to the strand.

• Length: When Set Length is enabled, you can adjust a custom length for the strand.

Rotation

• Rotate Y: Rotates/orients the strand.​

Aim Controls

• Aim Curve Offset: When a strand is created, it automatically calculates the aim position so that the strand is always facing up. This can be a value of 0.5 or -0.5.

• Aim Spans: Changes the span count of aim curves.

• Use Given Normal: Default is set to off. For more complicated curves that twist, or curls around, twisting geometry can occur. In this case, you may want to use a custom normal to fix the issue.

• Capture Normal: Capture normal based on your viewport camera.

• Toggle Aim Curve: To further adjust the facing orientation along a strand, you can also display the aim curve and move the vertices.

• Reset Aim Curve: resets the aim curve back to its initial state.

Visit to learn more aboutAim Controls

Advanced Controls:

• Sampling Accuracy: Sometimes if you are seeing the tip of strands 'twisting', try setting this parameter lower (0.20-ish) to fix the issue. Higher sample braid may require higher sampling accuracy to avoid artifacts.