FurFeedbackShape node

Related topics

Preview fur using fur feedback
U Samples, V Samples

Set the number of U Samples and V Samples to define how many fur feedback hairs display on the surface. This does not change how many hairs actually render on the surface, only the number of fur feedback hairs that appear on the surface while you are working on it.

You may want to decrease the U and V Samples on very small surfaces so you can see the effect of fur attributes more clearly while you work.

Note
Read the following about U and V Sample if you map a texture or use the Artisan Paint Fur Attributes Tool to paint fur attribute values.

The number of U Samples and V Samples define where the sample hairs are. When you paint fur attribute values on a surface, only the values for fur represented by the feedback change to the painted values. The values for hairs growing between fur feedback hairs are interpolated and blend automatically.

The following example shows a profile of rendered fur where the fur length in the fur description is 1 with a fur length of 5 painted using the Paint Fur Attributes Tool. The same brush stamp (size and shape) was used in both images.

The first image was created with 40 U and V Samples. The second image was created using only 4 U and V Samples.

If you increase the number of U and V Samples, ensure that the Attribute Map Height and Width are larger (as a rule of thumb, the Attribute Map should be at least twice as large) to account for the change in the level of detail. Otherwise, you will lose detail for attributes you painted using the Paint Fur Attributes Tool.

Fur Accuracy

Set how closely the fur feedback resembles the appearance of the final rendered fur. This is particularly useful for representing scraggle and curl. Fur accuracy ranges from 0 to 1. A value of 0 represents the hairs as straight lines, regardless of any curl, scraggle, or attraction. A value of 1 uses the same number of segments for each hair in the fur feedback that will be used for the actual render, but significantly slows interaction. A value of 0.5 uses half the number of segments in the fur feedback that will be used in the actual render, and is often sufficient to give a good indication of what the final fur render will look like.

The default value for Fur Accuracy is 1, but you can turn it down to speed up interaction.

Note
Raising the fur accuracy value will result in slower interactive performance.

Color Feedback Enabled

Sets the color of the fur feedback to be the same as the actual fur color for the fur description.

Export Wrap Theshold

Gaps can occur on combed fur along UV border edges. Adjust this value only if you need to improve the interpolation of combed fur along UV border edges when it is rendered. The values affect how the Polar attribute map are created. The default setting is 0.5, and the setting ranges between 0 and 1.

Render Stats

These are descriptions of the attributes in the Render Stats section. These render settings are unique to each fur feedback node.

Primary Visibility: When on, the fur is visible in the view and renders.

Tip
A fur shadow will render if its Primary Visibility is off and Cast Shadows is on. This also applies to reflections and refractions.
Casts Shadows: Turns on the shadow casting ability of the fur. To make shadows render faster, for fur that does not need to cast shadows, turn off Casts Shadows.
Receive Shadows (mental ray): Turns on the shadow-catching ability of the fur. Works only when using the mental ray for Maya renderer.
Motion Blur (mental ray): Turns on motion blur for the fur. You must also turn on Motion Blur in the Render Settings window. Works only when using the mental ray for Maya renderer.
Visible in Reflections (mental ray): When on, the fur reflects in reflective surfaces. Works only when using the mental ray for Maya renderer.
Visible in Refractions (mental ray): When on, the fur refracts in transparent surfaces.Works only when using the mental ray for Maya renderer.

mental ray

These are the options in the mental ray section of the FurFeedbackShape node. These mental ray settings are used when the fur object is rendered in mental ray. See FurFeedbackShape Node for descriptions.

Object Display

This attribute controls the overall display settings for the fur object.

Visibility: When this attribute is on, the current fur object is visible in the scene view. When this attribute is off, the current fur object is hidden in the scene view.
Template: When this attribute is on, the current fur object appears as a template. See Display > Object Display and Make an object unselectable (template).
LOD Visibility: If the current fur object is connected to a lodGroup node, then this check box displays the Hide/Show status of the fur object’s display level. Also, this attribute is read-only.

If the current fur object is not connected to a lodGroup node, this attribute turns off the fur object’s visibility in the scene view.

Ghosting Information

Displays and allows you to set the ghosting settings for the fur object. For more information on ghosting, see Ghosting animated objects in the Animation guide.

Ghosting: When enabled, you can modify the ghosting settings for the fur object.

Ghosting Control

Lets you choose a type of ghosting for the fur. You can select any one of the following:

Global Preferences: Uses the ghosting settings from Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences > Display > Animation.
Custom Frames: Generates ghosts at the frames specified in the Frames To Display field.
Custom Frame Steps: Controls the number and spacing of ghosts for frames.
Custom Key Steps: Controls the number and spacing of ghosts for keyframes.
Keyframes: Generates ghosts at the range of keyframes defined by the Frame Range options.

Pre Steps: Only available when the ghosting type is Custom Frame Steps or Custom Key Steps.

When the ghosting type is set to Custom Frame Steps, this field sets the number of ghosts that appear before the current frame. Spacing of these ghosts is defined by the Step Size field.

When the ghosting type is set to Custom Key Steps, this field sets the number of ghosts that appear before the current frame. Spacing of these ghosts is defined by the number of keyframes on an object and the Step Size.
Post Steps: Only available when the ghosting type is Custom Frame Steps or Custom Key Steps.

For Custom Frame Steps, this field sets the number of ghosts that appear after the current frame. Spacing of these ghosts is defined by the Step Size field.

For Custom Key Steps, this field sets the number of ghosts that appear after the current frame. Spacing of these ghosts is defined by the number of keyframes on an object and the Step Size.
Step Size: Only available when the ghosting type is Custom Frame Steps or Custom Key Steps.

For Custom Frame Steps, Step Size determines the number of frames between each ghost. For example, if the Step Size is 10, every tenth frame is ghosted.

For Custom Key Steps, Step Size and the number of keyframes control the spacing of ghosts. For example, if the Step Size is 2, then every other key is ghosted.
Custom Frames: Lets you define a list of frames at which ghosts are generated for the current object. When entering frame numbers, use the following syntax:

#, #, #, #

For example: 1, 5, 10, 15. This field is available only when the ghosting type is Custom Frames.
Start Frame: The frame at which the ghosting of keyframes begins.
End Frame: The frame at which the ghosting of keyframes ends.

Bounding Box Information

This attribute displays bounding box information for the object, but the information is not editable.

Drawing Overrides

In this section, you can view and change drawing override settings for the FurFeedbackShape node.

Node Behavior

Adjusting these settings changes the behavior of the FurFeedbackShape node. For more information, see Node behavior in the Basics guide.