Tips

Aim Curve Vs Auto Normals

By default, strand aim mode are set to use Aim Curve. However, if you prefer to use Auto Normal mode on create, you can go to Menu->Scene Presets, and find "Aim Mode On Create", set it to Auto Aim instead. Hit Apply/Save Preseets. From now on, all new strands will be created with Auto Normals as their default aim mode.

Reusing A Curve

Sometimes we may want to duplicate a curve from a strand that's already built into strands. If we simply select a Hair Strand Builder strand curve, and click on CTRL + D keyboard, chances are that the curve will be duplicated, yes, but if we try to 'Create' a strand from that curve, we will get an warning like:

Warning: Broken Structure - can not be used anymore.

With these duplicated curves selected, we can clean these newly duplicated curves by going to Main UI > Menu > "Clean Selected Curve", and we will be able to create a strand from this curve again.

Pinching Fix

There are two cases where a pinch may happen:

Pinching Along A Strand

This can happen anywhere along the length of a strand.

• To fix this, try setting the Aim Mode to Auto Normal or Aim Curve mode. Using Aim Curve mode, we will be able to 'spot' fix the problematic area by moving the CVs on the aim curve to address this issue.

Tip Pinching

This issue is also caused by the underlying curve normals, in conjunction with the 'scale' value being larger. (Imagine a '1 cm curve' with a scale of '3 cm'). It usually happens at the 'tip' of a strand.

• To fix this, we can either:

• Click on the Normalize button - sometimes it's due to sharp turns between CVs, and that fixes it right away.

• Lower the 'Sampling Accuracy' - shorter curve may require even lower value.

• Or, using the Aim Curve mode and move the aim curve, or its CVs.

Profile Curves

When there are profile curves, we may notice overlapping or 'double' edgeloops sometimes on our strands. This is due to the way the tool is setup, lofting along multiple profile curves makes it inaccurate when the sampling is too low. To fix this issue, try adjusting the sampling accuracy higher. Open the Strand Editor, Advanced Controls -> Sampling Accuracy.

Utilizing The Rest of Groomer's Tools

Not only the Interactive Curve Tools are designed to fit the Hair Strand Builders, many other tools can also come in handy.

• For example, we can use the Curve Cut Tool to cut multiple strands. Or use the Curve Clump/Repelto make clumps of strands.

• Try them, and please let me know if any are not working.