Introduction

You can create hair on NURBS and polygonal surfaces. For polygons, UVs should be non-overlapping and fit between 0 and 1. Automatic mapping is a quick way to achieve this. (See Automatic UV mapping in the Mapping UVs Guide in the Maya Help.) In this lesson you are creating hair on a head model.

Start Curves/Position

This is the position of the hair at the start frame of the simulation. When first created, the Start curves stick straight out from the surface.

Rest Curves/Position

This is the position of the hair when no forces (such as gravity) are acting upon it. You can use these curves to influence the shape of the hair.

Working with Rest curves is like styling hair with hairspray. The Rest curves are styled into curls and flips, etc. When the simulation is played back, the hair adheres to the Rest curves position as much as possible depending on dynamic forces and attribute settings in the hair system and follicles. For example, if your hair is not very stiff and you’re simulating a windy day, the hairspray (Rest curves position) is less likely to hold the hair in position.

Current Position

This is how the hair behaves when you play the simulation, which includes dynamics. Do not edit the Current Position; just view it.

The Stiffness and Iterations attributes in the Hair system’s Dynamics section are what control the tolerance of the Current Position achieving the Rest Position.

In this lesson you are introduced to some of the basic concepts of hair by creating a simple long hairstyle. In this lesson, you learn how to: