WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.066 Blender 3.5 is out, and it ships with a 00:02.078 --> 00:04.000 bunch of built-in node group assets, 00:04.100 --> 00:05.779 which are aimed at a procedural hair 00:05.791 --> 00:06.660 grooming workflow. 00:07.120 --> 00:09.395 That means a lot of the tools of the old 00:09.407 --> 00:11.360 hair system, and much more, is now 00:11.361 --> 00:13.351 available for the new grooming system, 00:13.363 --> 00:15.160 supporting the new grooming tools. 00:15.720 --> 00:17.760 And even better, it's all powered by 00:17.772 --> 00:18.660 geometry nodes. 00:19.840 --> 00:20.759 But don't worry, that 00:20.771 --> 00:22.146 doesn't mean that you need to 00:22.147 --> 00:23.167 be a pro at nodes to be 00:23.179 --> 00:24.480 able to use the new system. 00:24.940 --> 00:26.944 If you prefer, you can stick to the 00:26.956 --> 00:29.140 modifier interface, and use all of the 00:29.141 --> 00:32.320 main functionality and stack operations that way. 00:32.880 --> 00:34.908 But if you want to take your workflow to 00:34.920 --> 00:36.960 the next level, you can move your system 00:36.961 --> 00:39.163 to the node editor and unlock the full 00:39.175 --> 00:41.560 potential of this node-based hair system. 00:42.140 --> 00:44.308 To give you a smooth entry into this new 00:44.320 --> 00:46.500 way of doing procedural hair grooming in 00:46.501 --> 00:47.503 Blender, let me give 00:47.515 --> 00:48.731 you an introduction of 00:48.732 --> 00:49.805 how to get started and 00:49.817 --> 00:51.000 what to watch out for. 00:51.420 --> 00:53.210 There is one small disclaimer that I want 00:53.222 --> 00:54.380 to give right away though. 00:54.660 --> 00:56.961 Although the idea is to replace the old 00:56.973 --> 00:59.460 hair system in we are not quite there yet. 00:59.840 --> 01:02.133 The focus so far has been on static use 01:02.145 --> 01:04.680 cases, so simulation hasn't been added yet. 01:05.340 --> 01:07.417 Full support for hair dynamics is another 01:07.429 --> 01:09.220 target for another Blender release. 01:09.860 --> 01:10.878 So keep that in mind if 01:10.890 --> 01:11.964 you're already looking 01:11.965 --> 01:12.842 to replace the old hair 01:12.854 --> 01:13.860 system in your workflow. 01:14.260 --> 01:15.925 But that said, let me show you a little 01:15.937 --> 01:17.740 bit of what the new system can do already. 01:18.260 --> 01:20.648 The new node-based system is a lot more 01:20.660 --> 01:22.640 modular than the old system was. 01:23.100 --> 01:25.349 That means, instead of having a lot of 01:25.361 --> 01:27.680 parameters in one big list, whether you 01:27.681 --> 01:29.879 need them or not, and with no way of 01:29.891 --> 01:32.160 extending the functionality yourself, 01:32.700 --> 01:35.137 the new system is based on individual 01:35.149 --> 01:36.760 modular building blocks. 01:37.440 --> 01:40.260 You can combine and stack them however you need. 01:40.820 --> 01:42.647 And the fact that everything is using 01:42.659 --> 01:44.740 geometry nodes means that if you know your 01:44.741 --> 01:45.759 way around them, you 01:45.771 --> 01:47.367 can build all sorts of custom 01:47.368 --> 01:48.793 operations to what exactly 01:48.805 --> 01:50.021 you need them to do. 01:50.340 --> 01:52.326 The setup for building blocks can be found 01:52.338 --> 01:53.360 in the asset browser. 01:53.940 --> 01:55.117 They are node group 01:55.129 --> 01:56.881 assets in the new built-in 01:56.882 --> 01:58.221 essentials library that 01:58.233 --> 01:59.701 ships with Blender now. 02:00.160 --> 02:02.580 They can be added either as modifiers 02:02.592 --> 02:05.280 directly on your hair object, or for full 02:05.281 --> 02:07.308 control as nodes in your geometry nodes 02:07.320 --> 02:08.000 node tree. 02:08.420 --> 02:09.762 Here you can also find 02:09.774 --> 02:11.374 them just as any regular 02:11.375 --> 02:12.644 node in the add menu 02:12.656 --> 02:14.321 under the hair category. 02:14.580 --> 02:16.341 You can see that they're organized in 02:16.353 --> 02:17.520 different subcategories. 02:18.160 --> 02:20.783 Deformation for general operations that 02:20.795 --> 02:23.100 deform the individual hair curves. 02:23.660 --> 02:25.147 Generation for operations 02:25.159 --> 02:26.478 that create new hair 02:26.479 --> 02:27.812 curves, either from an 02:27.824 --> 02:29.780 existing base or from scratch. 02:30.320 --> 02:32.037 Guides for operations that 02:32.049 --> 02:33.910 enable a workflow based on 02:33.911 --> 02:35.221 guide curves that other 02:35.233 --> 02:36.900 curves are deformed around. 02:37.420 --> 02:39.979 Read for nodes to retrieve data from the 02:39.991 --> 02:42.500 hair curve in the geometry nodes setup. 02:43.000 --> 02:46.700 Utility for general utility operations hair curves. 02:47.280 --> 02:48.810 And write, which currently 02:48.822 --> 02:50.541 only contains one operation 02:50.542 --> 02:51.937 to set the thickness of the 02:51.949 --> 02:53.460 hair curves with a profile. 02:54.140 --> 02:55.267 Some of these help you to 02:55.279 --> 02:56.782 have an easier time when you're 02:56.783 --> 02:57.909 building your own hair 02:57.921 --> 02:59.680 operations using geometry nodes. 03:00.120 --> 03:01.170 But most of them are 03:01.182 --> 03:02.243 meant to be usable 03:02.244 --> 03:03.342 directly as they are in 03:03.354 --> 03:04.560 your grooming workflow. 03:05.060 --> 03:06.761 The fact that these are individual 03:06.773 --> 03:08.780 operations now rather than one big block 03:08.781 --> 03:10.034 means that you can add 03:10.046 --> 03:12.002 multiple of them and add them in 03:12.003 --> 03:13.379 any order that makes sense 03:13.391 --> 03:14.940 for your specific use case. 03:14.941 --> 03:17.360 And that allows for a whole lot of flexibility. 03:17.860 --> 03:20.001 But how do we actually now go ahead and use 03:20.013 --> 03:22.020 these new tools for a grooming workflow? 03:22.500 --> 03:24.602 If you're starting from an existing base 03:24.614 --> 03:26.780 that you manually groomed the easiest way 03:26.781 --> 03:28.896 to add these procedural operations is by 03:28.908 --> 03:30.880 dragging them directly from the asset 03:30.881 --> 03:33.840 browser onto the curves object in the 3d viewport. 03:34.200 --> 03:35.465 They are then added as 03:35.477 --> 03:37.740 modifiers in the modifier stack where 03:37.741 --> 03:38.908 you can adjust and tweak 03:38.920 --> 03:40.640 the settings in the familiar way. 03:41.100 --> 03:42.272 Some of the modifiers 03:42.284 --> 03:43.637 require you to set the 03:43.638 --> 03:45.204 surface object and the 03:45.216 --> 03:47.081 UV map to work properly. 03:47.120 --> 03:49.587 For example the interpolate hair curves 03:49.599 --> 03:52.140 modifier which interpolates the existing 03:52.141 --> 03:54.440 hair curves over a surface mesh with a 03:54.452 --> 03:55.460 certain density. 03:56.180 --> 03:58.629 This workflow is quite similar to the 03:58.641 --> 04:01.621 interpolated children in the old hair system. 04:01.860 --> 04:03.156 One way of giving yourself 04:03.168 --> 04:04.577 a head start when starting 04:04.578 --> 04:05.814 from scratch is to just 04:05.826 --> 04:07.400 use the quick fur operator. 04:07.640 --> 04:10.105 You can find it in the add menu under the 04:10.117 --> 04:11.120 curves category. 04:11.460 --> 04:13.715 Just make sure to have the object to 04:13.727 --> 04:16.300 receive the fur set as active and it will 04:16.301 --> 04:18.300 flood the mesh surface with new hair curves. 04:18.660 --> 04:20.105 You can tweak some basic 04:20.117 --> 04:21.877 settings in the redo panel, 04:21.878 --> 04:23.081 but all of this is now 04:23.093 --> 04:24.640 using the new hair system. 04:25.120 --> 04:27.285 So the building blocks of the essentials 04:27.297 --> 04:29.420 bundle are added in the modifier stack. 04:29.820 --> 04:32.078 There you can tweak all the parameters of 04:32.090 --> 04:34.360 the procedural setup like the density and 04:34.361 --> 04:36.720 the scale of the noise deformation for example. 04:37.420 --> 04:39.208 Something that's super important when 04:39.220 --> 04:41.020 you're working with hair is to have a 04:41.021 --> 04:43.011 setup where you can select specific guide 04:43.023 --> 04:45.120 curves that the others are deformed around. 04:45.760 --> 04:48.880 For example for clumping, braiding and curls. 04:49.620 --> 04:50.372 When using the 04:50.384 --> 04:52.131 interpolation workflow there's 04:52.132 --> 04:53.584 already a set of selected 04:53.596 --> 04:55.001 guides for each curve. 04:55.300 --> 04:57.185 So when you're adding another operation 04:57.197 --> 04:59.000 like clumping or curling for example, 04:59.420 --> 05:01.960 this guide map can automatically be used. 05:01.961 --> 05:04.420 You can see here that when I'm in curve 05:04.432 --> 05:06.780 sculpt mode, I see the overlay of the 05:06.781 --> 05:09.089 original curves, which are the guides, 05:09.101 --> 05:11.540 and when I move these around you can see 05:11.541 --> 05:14.091 how the clumps are exactly matching the 05:14.103 --> 05:15.000 guide curves. 05:15.580 --> 05:18.195 If instead I want to create a new guide 05:18.207 --> 05:20.900 map and not rely on the previous guides, 05:21.340 --> 05:23.940 I can just disable the existing guide map 05:23.952 --> 05:26.440 toggle and create a new one on the fly. 05:26.920 --> 05:29.322 Whenever a new guide map is created, 05:29.334 --> 05:32.140 it will propagate to the operations after. 05:32.340 --> 05:34.561 To get more granular control of how this 05:34.573 --> 05:36.860 guide mapping works, you can either use a 05:36.861 --> 05:38.066 create guide index map 05:38.078 --> 05:39.792 modifier or get another layer 05:39.793 --> 05:40.808 of control if you're 05:40.820 --> 05:42.360 working with nodes directly. 05:42.660 --> 05:43.987 But yes, so that means that 05:43.999 --> 05:45.437 finally you can do multiple 05:45.438 --> 05:46.514 layers of clumping with 05:46.526 --> 05:48.040 the different granular levels. 05:49.060 --> 05:50.860 Whenever the modifier workflow is not 05:50.872 --> 05:52.780 enough to give you the flexibility that 05:52.781 --> 05:55.614 you need, you can just move your existing 05:55.626 --> 05:57.320 modifier to a node tree. 05:57.600 --> 05:59.744 There's a new operator that allows you to 05:59.756 --> 06:01.860 do that by just simply going to the drop 06:01.861 --> 06:04.202 down menu here and running the move to 06:04.214 --> 06:05.180 nodes operator. 06:05.900 --> 06:09.468 This will wrap your existing modifier in a 06:09.480 --> 06:13.060 separate node tree that just contains your 06:13.061 --> 06:13.942 one node of that 06:13.954 --> 06:15.406 modifier and now you can 06:15.407 --> 06:16.383 connect anything to 06:16.395 --> 06:17.800 the inputs that you need. 06:18.280 --> 06:20.635 This is a very convenient workflow of 06:20.647 --> 06:23.200 starting with simple modifier setups and 06:23.201 --> 06:25.355 then whenever you need more flexibility, 06:25.367 --> 06:26.740 move everything to nodes. 06:27.260 --> 06:29.071 And whatever kind of setup you're 06:29.083 --> 06:31.120 creating, because everything is based 06:31.121 --> 06:32.368 around the new curves 06:32.380 --> 06:33.999 type, you can always just 06:34.000 --> 06:35.611 apply the modifier and 06:35.623 --> 06:37.541 then it's real geometry. 06:37.600 --> 06:39.366 That means if you're happy with your 06:39.378 --> 06:41.300 procedural result, but you want to make 06:41.301 --> 06:42.574 small tweaks here and 06:42.586 --> 06:44.361 there you can't quite do in 06:44.362 --> 06:45.762 a procedural way, just 06:45.774 --> 06:47.700 apply and tweak it manually. 06:48.140 --> 06:50.835 By default your hair curves do deform with 06:50.847 --> 06:53.240 the underlying surface, but full hair 06:53.241 --> 06:55.410 dynamics in terms of simulation are not 06:55.422 --> 06:56.240 supported yet. 06:56.520 --> 06:58.437 And that is about as far as I want to take 06:58.449 --> 06:59.840 it in this introduction video, 07:00.100 --> 07:01.816 but there's another video that you can 07:01.828 --> 07:03.600 watch where I'm walking you through the 07:03.601 --> 07:06.039 process of creating this procedural first 07:06.051 --> 07:07.860 setup of a fuzzy highland cow. 07:08.100 --> 07:09.159 Check that out and get 07:09.171 --> 07:10.389 a more slowly paced and 07:10.390 --> 07:11.855 detailed explanation of 07:11.867 --> 07:13.601 how to use the new nodes. 07:13.640 --> 07:14.640 Bye for now.