Yeti Documentation
A powerful node-based toolset for creating fur, hair, feathers and procedural geometry in Autodesk® Maya®.
Getting Started
New to Yeti? Start here:
- Install the Maya plug-in and set up your license.
- Read The Basics for an overview of how Yeti works and the terms it uses.
- Build your first graph to grow fur on a mesh.
- Learn to style the fur with grooms.
Release Highlights
5.3
Maya 2027
Yeti 5.3 adds support for Maya 2027 alongside Maya 2026, and follows the VFX Reference Platform CY2026 for the Maya 2027 build. See the System Requirements for details.
Copy and Paste Strands
Strands can now be copied and pasted in the Grooming context, making it quicker to reuse a shape across a groom.
Stability and Performance
A thorough review of the codebase has fixed a large number of crashes, hangs and inconsistencies across the graph, the grooming tools, the Graph Editor, caching and every renderer. Graph evaluation is faster and uses less memory, and the Graph Editor slows down playback much less than before.
A few of these fixes change what a graph generates, so check the 5.3.0 release notes before you move a production over.
5.2
Feather De-intersection with Plume
The new Plume node resolves feather-to-feather and feather-to-geometry intersections.
Feathers can also use custom geometry, which the Plume workflow supports too.
Evaluation SDK
A C++ API for evaluating Yeti graphs, with CMake integration and a command-line example.
Cross-Platform Path Mapping
Path mapping lets the same scene find its files on Windows and Linux.
Resolve Node and Geometry Sampler
The new Resolve node resolves intersections and collisions between fibres and geometry, and the new Geometry Sampler samples values from nearby geometry.
5.0
Viewport Updates
Yeti 5.0 introduces a new Viewport 2.0 shader for Maya, designed to match common production hair shading techniques, with new controls for melanin, IOR and other properties.
The Groom node's display has also been overhauled, with clearer feedback and controls for the size and transparency of its strands.
XGen Integration
You can now import Maya's XGen Interactive Grooms into a Yeti graph. Use XGen to start a new groom, or use Yeti to render an XGen groom with extra detail.
Soft Selection
All of Yeti's Maya nodes now support soft selection and weighted transforms, with context-sensitive marking menus for faster editing.
Groom Sampler
The new Groom Sampler lets a groom's paintable attributes (and its strand length) drive any node's parameters directly.
4.0
Sampler Nodes
Sampler nodes are a new type of node that gives you a more visual and flexible way to control parameters. Wire samplers together and into any number of parameters, and Yeti builds a context-aware expression from them that it compiles and evaluates at run time.
There are three new samplers (Curve, Noise and Expression), and the Texture node has become a sampler so it can be wired directly into parameters.
Graph Editor, Grouping and Presets
Nodes can now be grouped to keep a graph organized, and groups or selections of nodes can be saved as presets to reuse and share across a studio. Press Tab to open a quick node menu, and enjoy the new UI theme.
Strand Simulation
Yeti's simulation engine has been rewritten for more accurate and stable results, with improved collision detection and response.
A new Density Gradient field approximates strand-to-strand collisions to better preserve volume.
Region of Interest
Add a Region of Interest to a Yeti node to limit graph evaluation to a bounding volume. It lets you focus on fine details and speeds up iteration, because Yeti only evaluates what's inside the region.
Clumping
The Clumping node has been rewritten to clump volumetrically, the way guide curves do. A second input is now optional: without one, the node uses a fractal clumping method to clump the fibres to a subset of themselves.
Component Editing
Component Editing mode has more options for editing grooms, including editing along the length of a strand and stretching or pulling strands for finer control.
3.0
Braids
The new Braid geometry type is a simple but robust way to create braided hairstyles. As with feathers, a braid is a Maya node attached to an input curve, which you use to design the braid visually before importing it into a Yeti graph for further adjustment.
Groom Deformation Layers
Groom nodes now have Deformation Layers, which let you layer guides and grooms on top of a hero groom, much like layers in Photoshop but for strands.
You can reorder layers and adjust each layer's weight, for a new level of control over complex grooms.
Scattering on Fibres
Points can now be scattered onto fibres, giving you more control over placing debris, snow and other instances, and letting you grow fibres from fibres.
Braids and feathers can also be converted to fibres in the graph with the Convert node, so you can scatter points on them too.
Graph Editor
Some of the most requested Graph Editor improvements are now available:
- Auto-Layout, in the Utilities menu.
- Search across all of the nodes in the graph: press Ctrl+F to open it.
- Full undo and redo in both the Graph Editor and the Inspector.