Braids
The Braid primitive makes it easy to create ponytails, beards, and other hairstyles that need braiding. Like Feathers, it uses a Maya node for visual creation and can be imported into a Yeti graph for rendering or conversion into Fibres for further adjustments.
Creating Braids
To create a braid, you first need an input curve that acts as its spine. This curve can be created in Maya and later rigged for animation or simulation.
With the curve selected, click the Create Braid icon in the tool shelf. This will create a new Braid node, and you'll see the default output in the viewport.
Since the Braid is fully procedural, moving the input curve will automatically update the Braid geometry.
After creating the input curve in your desired shape, use Save Guides Rest Position to bake its current length and reference position. This ensures the braid's geometry maintains its desired shape during deformation.
Attributes
Once the Braid geometry is created, you can edit its properties in the Attribute Editor for more detailed control.
Topology
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Controls the overall diameter of the Braid, this also affects the number of generated fibres as the larger the overall diameter the more fibres are needed to fill the volume. |
| Density | How many fibres are created to fill the Braid volume, this is tied to the Diameter parameter. |
| Barb Base Width | Width at the base of the barb, if left at 1 the barb will use the computed packed width. |
| Step Size | The segment size for the generated fibres. |
| Length Variation | How much each generated fibres length may vary. |
| Phase | Defines the phase, or how “long” each wrap in the Braid will be. |
Shape
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Profile | Defines the shape of the Braid profile along the length of the input curve. |
| Rotation | Controls how much the Braid components wrap along the length of the input curve. |
Curves
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Width | The overall width of the generated fibres. |
| Width Ramp | A curve used to define how the width of the generated fibres will change along the length of the fibre. |
Rendering
To render a Braid, import it into a Yeti graph and use the Convert node to convert it to fibers. You can use a second input to define a base mesh that supports any deformation applied to the Braid. After conversion, you can modify the resulting fibers using any downstream nodes.