Notes on CG Hair Creation using X-Gen

Introduction

• Topic: Creating good-looking CG hair.
• Context: Part of an ongoing series on creating digital characters.
• Previous videos: Sculpting and texturing.
• Focus: Workflow of making hair using X-Gen in Maya.

X-Gen Overview

• X-Gen: Plugin for Maya that specializes in creating hair.
• Origin: Developed by Disney for feature films (e.g., Tangled, Toy Story 3, Zootopia).
• Importance: Powerful tool for creating realistic hair in both real-time and offline rendering projects.

Getting Started with X-Gen

1. Creating a Project:
   • Use "Project Window" in Maya.
   • Create a project with no spaces in the directory path (use camel casing).
2. Setting Up a Scalp Mesh:
   • Duplicate the character mesh for scalp.
   • Assign a basic Maya shader (e.g., Lambert) to the scalp mesh.
   • Ensure UVs are in the 0 to 1 range for grooming.

Creating Hair with X-Gen

• Creating a Description:
  • Go to "Generate" and create a description for hair.
  • Name the groom appropriately (e.g., character name + description).
  • Use "Placing and Shaping Guides" for adding hair strands.

Hair Guides

• Adding Guides:
  • Use the add/move tools to position hair guides.
  • Sculpt guides for desired hair shape.
  • Increase resolution to smooth out guides.
• Density and Width:
  • Adjust density for the number of hair strands (e.g., 150-200 for realistic human hair).
  • Set width for hair strands for a natural look.

Modifiers for Hair

• Clumping and Noise:
  • Add clumping modifier to create natural hair groupings.
  • Use noise modifier to add randomness and realism.
• Creating Maps:
  • Create density and region maps to control hair placement.
  • Use painting tools to add detail and control hair density in different areas.

Practical Hair Styling

• Eyebrows and Eyelashes:
  • Similar process for creating eyebrows and eyelashes.
  • Pay attention to guide placement and density adjustments.
• Mirroring Guides:
  • Use symmetry for matching features on both sides effectively.

Final Hair Creation

1. Selecting Scalp Faces:
   • Use symmetry and profile view for selecting faces to create scalp description.
2. Placing Guides:
   • Start with fewer guides and add more for detail as needed.
3. Using Region Maps:
   • Create region maps for controlling hair direction based on color coding.
4. Modifiers and Details:
   • Layer modifiers to achieve complexity, including noise and clumping.

Conclusion

• Learning X-Gen:
  • Steep learning curve, but experimentation is key.
  • X-Gen is versatile for creating various assets beyond hair (e.g., foliage, feathers).
• Patreon and Future Content:
  • Consider supporting on Patreon for exclusive content and tutorials.
  • Future videos will cover rendering hair in different engines.

Call to Action

• Engage with the community through comments for questions and topics for future videos.