Why Groomer’s Tool Exists
Groomer’s Tool did not start as a business idea. It started from a real production where XGen was just getting its popularity and everyone around were just as new as we were. Long nights in production, doing the same steps or fixing the same problems over and over in Maya, wishing there were more plugins/scripts that focuse on the field of grooming in Maya.This toolkit came from that reality, from wanting tools that actually make our day job easier, not from theories, or fancy power point presentations.
A Bit of History - From XGen Groomer to Tool Writer
We started as XGen groomers long before we ever touched a single line of code. No technical degree. Just a script editor, a deadline, and a lot of frustration. What began as tiny scripts to survive production stress slowly grew into a whole ecosystem of tools.
There were always something that kept blocking our creative flow as artists, and someone needed to do something about it. We tried to fix this, one issue and one small script at a time. Back then (and still applies nowadays), studios all had their own naming rules. Assets were bouncing between teams that never followed the same structure. XGen would break for reasons and no one had the time to figure out. Bodybase model keeps on changing and messed up our grooms. Those little problems piled up.
Instead of accepting the way it was, we pulled many off hours, trying to find the root cause for issues, and looking for solutions. At the same time we started learning how to code. Slowly, small scripts were created, and one by one. Overtime, all the scripts we created started to occupy our custom shelf space in Maya and we dedcided to pack them together instead. This is how Groomer’s Tool first UI was born. It became our way of clearing a smoother path, not just for us, but also for everyone who loves grooming as much as we do.
Birth of Groomer's Tool V0.5
Born From Real Problems
Every tool inside Groomer’s Tool has a story behind it. None of them exist “just because.” Earlier tools like such as:
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The XGen Renaming Tools (Collection/Description/Scalp Mesh) came from passing XGen files between studios and watching them break simply due to a different naming convention.
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The Deep Backup Utility came from the panic of “Art Directors made a decision to roll back a groom 20 days ago, XGen is live… so we (the unfortunate artists) ended up spending several days trying to match a look.”
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The Guide Color Tool was made after staring at endless orange guides until our eyes begged for mercy.
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etc..etc...
In the early years of Groomer's Tool the idea started the same way: A real artist hit a wall and wished there was a magical button somewhere that says "fix this".
We tried to build mgaical buttons in the beginning, simple functions that speed things up. The entire XGen Tab in Groomer's Tool now, stores those memories, and thats what we used to battle with real production requirements.
Why Maya Curves Became Part of It
Groomer’s Tool started with some XGen helper tools, and we soon realized that was not enough. Many tasks needed direct curve work in Maya. Maya has always felt natural to many artists, even artists working on Houdini shows still came back to Maya to block the first pass of curves. Shaping with Maya curves in the viewport is faster and more intuitive, so we built around that.
Curve Extraction Tool
For longer hairstyles, most of the time, modelers would hand us tube proxies from ZBrush. Extracting curves one edge loop at a time was slow. This tool was created to extract everything we needed in one go (center curve, topological edgeloops, custom amount of curves, or even filling a tube with curves). It later evolved with the capability for cards and direct edge loop extraction.
Curve Snap
In production, base meshes can change alot. XGen handles mesh updates poorly. This tool was built because of that, allowing artists snapping curves to the new mesh, then converting them back to guides. It saves hours every time the model changes.
Trim / Curve Fill / Copy & Paste Curves:
These tools came from those “I wish there was a button for this” moments that keep showing up from multiple artists working on different assets and styles.
PaintFX Curve Tool
For creatures or short hairstyles, artists wanted a quick, painterly way to lay down curves/guides on the base mesh. This tool was created to do that. Artists also use it for short haircuts, fur or feather patches, and even precise eyebrows. We later added simple pre-defined length option to speed up short-hair workflow.
The Interactive Curve Tools
Inspired by XGen's sculpt tool and Houdini's Guide Groom node. Maya curves always felt more direct and intuitive to many of us, so we wanted to see if it were possible to 'sculpt' directly on Maya curves. Now Groomer's tool can interactively sculpt, add, cut, attach, extend, or move Maya curves in the viewport without artists having to use Maya's native transform tools.
There are many other use cases for these tools, not limited to the ones mentioned above. Quite often, artists would discover ways to utilize a tool that we did not even know about. And that's what makes grooming fun isnt it?
From Curves to Cards, Tubes, and Beyond
In many traditional productions, animators still rely on proxy geometry inside Maya to preview hair shapes and motion. Cards and tubes keeps Maya scene light and it's a fast way to visualize how groom moves or interacts in the viewport.
In many studios, approved grooms were always re-modeled back in 'proxy' geometries. Depending on studios, some may wrap the groom to geometry cards/tubes, allowing the groom to follow animation, or run simulation on these proxy geometries.
That is where the first Curve-to-Proxy Managers began. They were created to turn curves into geometry proxy cards and tubes.
Over time, these early tools grew into the Hair Tube Builder and Hair Card Builder, designed with even more features and controls. The Interactive Curve Tools naturally expanded with them, keeping everything procedural, so shaping those geometry cards/tubes can now be done directly with a strand curve/geo selection.
Built by Artists, for Artists
Groomer’s Tool is not a big-studio product. It is a toolkit made by artists who struggled through the exact same production challenges many artists face around the world.
Every feature begins with a simple question: “What would make this task easier for the next artist?”
Sometimes a feature starts from a user request. Sometimes it comes from a late-night emergency when nothing works and we wish there were a one-click fix. Sometimes it is a tiny annoyance that keeps slowing the workflow down.
No matter the source, the purpose is the same, to remove slowdowns and keep creativity flowing.
The Journey and What Keeps It Going
Groomer’s Tool has grown far beyond what we expected. There are about 40 tools now, within them are well over a hundred features shaped by real production needs. We work to keep the documentation clear and detailed. If you are curious, all details are available on the Documents page.
Sometimes a user shows a workflow they discovered and we end up thinking, “Wow… didn’t even know it could do that!.” Moments like that reminds how much this toolkit has evolved through real use.
There is no big team behind this. Everything is built mostly with Python, one module at a time. Some days are smooth. Some days are debugging marathons. We stay involved, looking for small, practical improvements that make a real difference.
Groomer’s Tool continues growing not because people pushed to add more, but because the real challenges artists face keep inspiring smarter, simpler, and faster solutions. As long as grooming stays active in our industry, this project will too.
Why Groomer’s Tool is valuable
It has evloved to became a "curve" toolkit for Maya. In a traditional workflow, shaping curves, creating proxy cards or tubes, or cleaning up curves often requires constant mode switching between component and object mode, hunting through Maya menus, and repeating the same clicks over and over.
Truth is, if working on Maya curves is not a regular part of your work, you might not use Groomer’s Tool every single day. It is built for the times when curves becomes a major focus and from there, finishing a groom in half the time is not just faster, it is less stressful and much more enjoyable.
Groomer’s Tool is built for both individual artists and studios. It is not here to replace any other grooming plugins. It sits besides, and cooperate with them. It is not to lock you into a narrow use case. It is not "only for XGen", "only for games", or "only for films/animation".
It continues to evolve this way because the subscription supports active development, rather than tools becoming abandoned after version 1.0. Features are added, improvements are made, and compatibility is maintained throughout the year to keep the toolkit alive. For many artists, the investment is small, roughly the cost of a coffee each month. The return? Hours of saved work and a smoother, more enjoyable Maya hair styling experience.
