V15.03.08

***NEW LAUNCH COMMAND REQUIRED IF YOU ARE FROM V15.02's OR OLDER

V15.03.08

XGen Guide Color Tool:

• [FIX] Fixed a problem where color maps did not export correctly. On export, the tool now always switches paint mode to Vertex.

Curve Fill Tool:

• [NEW] Added a Deform option that pushes apart or compresses (if you set the snap CVs higher) in-between curves based on a reference mesh.

Interactive Curve Tool:

• [FIX] Draw - When you start drawing, the near clip plane is set to 0.1 and when you exit it returns to the user default. This prevents curves from appearing to grow or shrink while you draw.

• [FIX] Cut/Attach/Extend - Fixed an issue where having lights parented under the persp camera caused AttributeErrors.

Curve Cut Tool:

• [CHANGE] The auto preview display felt confusing in real use and has been removed.

Hair Strand Builders:

Internals:

• [NEW] Strand/Layer Structural Guard: A new guard system now watches for accidental duplicate, rename, or parenting changes on important strand data nodes so they are less likely to break during work.

  • [Creations] When you create a new strand and required structural nodes already exist in the scene, the system now jumps to the next available index for the new strand.

  • [Strands] When you select strands or run actions such as duplicate, copy and paste, or move, any broken strands now trigger a clear red warning. Stop and repair those strands first. Not every case can be auto fixed. To reduce issues, please read the Important notes in the documentation and treat this system as an early warning.

  • [Layers/Shaders] Added Refresh Layer in the menu so you can use it to repair layer color/node links.

• [IMPROVE] Both Hair Strand Builders have been fully refactored for better stability and easier maintenance.

Shaders and Layers:

• [NEW] Added Blinn shader support with specular for Hair Card Builder. The cond_spec node is now part of the setup.

• [NEW] After you assign a texture to a layer and later remove it from the Color A of the layer cond_diffuse node, or from cond_alpha and cond_spec in the Card Builder, the layer color used to be lost. You can now restore it by clicking the refresh icon or by setting the color again from the layer color swatch.

Selection and Toggles

• [NEW] Marking Menus are now available for both Strand Builders so you can run common actions quickly without opening the main UIs.

• [NEW] Ability to See Root to Tip of strands with two methods:

  • Vertex Painter: Colors strands directly and does not require UVs. This is not compatible with the tube ramp shader.

  • Root Markers: Places a light weight sphere at the root of each strand curve.

• [NEW] Added a Hide All Aim Curves button that hides all currently visible aim curves at once.

• [NEW] Improved strand and layer selection. Selecting strands in the viewport now also highlights the matching layer in the Layer UI so it is easier to see which layer a strand belongs to.

• [CHANGE] When multiple strands are selected, the following sections in the Strand Editor are disabled:

  • Tube: Profile, Crease, and UV sections

  • Card: Profile section

• [IMPROVE] Changing the path curve spans slider now correctly restores the previous selection mode, either Geo mode or Curve mode.

• [IMPROVE] Right clicking a layer now shows the layer name in the menu so you can confirm you are working on the intended layer.

• [IMPROVE] Library items can now be saved while using Geo mode selection.

• [IMPROVE] Profile curve selection no longer jumps back to the root curve when the UV retaining system is active and the topology changes while the script job restarts.

• [IMPROVE] Isolated strands now display in a dull blue color. Isolated layers still display in light grey.

• [FIX] Isolate toggles now correctly lock and unlock both profile curves and aim curves.

• [FIX] The Layer Lock toggle at the bottom of the UI now correctly locks and unlocks profile curves and aim curves.

• [FIX] Fixed an issue where applying a user preset to mirrored strands could flip tube normals.

Aim Curves:

• [FIX] Aim curves now mirror correctly even when they have transforms.

• [FIX] Reset Aim Curve button now works as intended and fully restores aim curve shape and spans.

• [FIX] Hair Tube Builder now sets aim offset to 0.5 on creation to give a better default direction for most cases. This only affects aim mode at creation time.

Scene Presets:

• [NEW] You can now restore default scene settings in the Scene Presets UI under Edit then Restore Default Settings.

• [IMPROVE] Scene Presets UI is now grouped into clearer categories.

UV:

• [IMPROVE] Maya could sometimes crash when moving or selecting UVs while the Strand Editor was open, likely because viewport motion blur was enabled. When the Strand Editor opens, motion blur is now turned off automatically if it is on to avoid this.

• [FIX] The first card strand now unwraps correctly when you click the UV Retaining toggle button in the Strand Editor.

• [FIX] Tube - Added a new UV logic for tubes that use more profile curve CVs so the UVs stay in a clean strip layout.