CURVE TO PROXY TUBES
This tool is created to simplify the conversion of Groom curves into geometry tubes. Converting hair curves to tubes will allow a visual ​proximate representation of actual groomed hair volume in animation.
  • Last updated:  V.13.03
Tube Layer UI
Tube Info: 
  • Displays the layer name of current selected tubes.
S-M-L:
  • Size of the UI. Small, Medium, or Large.
Refresh Button:
  • Sometimes a layer is deleted or when a new Maya scene is opened, click on this button to refresh the layer list so it can pick up correct layers in current scene.
Create Tube Layer:
  • Select curve(s), and click on this button to create a new tube layer.
Separate Layers:
  • When this is turned on, a layer will be created for each selected curve.
Extract Selected Layers:
  • Makes a duplicate of proxy tubes from selected tube layers.
Extract All Layers:
  • Makes a duplicate of proxy tubes from all tube layers.
Remove All Layers:
  • Delete all layers and the setup.​
Layer Name Button - 
  • Left Click:
    • ​​​​​selects the tubes in the layer
  • Right Click:
    • ​​shows menu for add/remove tubes, copy/paste tubes from one layer to another, or rename this layer.
  • Ctrl + Click or Shift + Click:
    • ​ select multiple layers
Color Swatches:
  • Change the color of tubes by clicking on the color swatch.
Layer visibility (V):
  • Like Maya Display Layers, turn on/off tubes in that layer. When multiple layers are selected, all will be toggled
Layer Lock (L):
  • Like Maya Display Layers, set template/lock on tubes in that layer to keep them from being selected. When multiple layers are selected, all will be toggled
Editor (E):
  • Opens up the UI for tube controls.
Add Selected Curves (+):
  • Add selected curves into this layer. The tool will apply the global settings. When multiple layers are selected, curves will ONLY be added to the layer that was clicked on.
​Remove Selected Tubes (-):
  • Select geometries in the viewport, and click on - to remove them from the layer.
Delete Layer (x):
  • ​Delete entire layer. 
The tool comes with Visibility, Lock and Up/Down buttons:
​1. Toggle all layer Visibility ON
2. Toggle all layer Visibility OFF
3. Invert current layers Visibility states
4. Toggle all layer Lock ON
5. Toggle all layer Lock OFF
6. Invert current layers Lock States
7. Move selected Layer(s) Up
8. Move selected Layer(s) Down 
9. Move selected Layer(s) to the top
10. Move selected Layer(s) to the bottom
Tube Control UI
Select Tubes:
  • Users can now click on this button on the very top of the UI to quickly select all tubes in this layer.
Template On Curve Toggle:
  • When this is turn on, curve toggling will also set template to the geometry. Sometimes this allows easier viewing of the geometry while moving CV's of curves.
Toggle Tube Curve(s):
  • Display the underlying curve that is controlling the tubes. You can toggle the curves and use the interactive tools for more adjustment to the tubes.
Re-Cal Curve:
  • After manipulating curve CVs, if the length of the curve has changed, click on this button to re-length geometries to the length of curves.
Root Extend:
  • Sometimes the underlying head/body geo have curvatures, this allows the proxy tubes to ‘go into’ the head/body geo so there are no ‘gaps’.
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Global Tab

Length SubD:
  • Controls the length subdivision of all tubes in the current layer.
Width SubD: 
  • Controls the width subdivision of all tubes in the current layer.
Scale: 
  • Controls the size of all tubes in the current layer.
​Scale X: 
  • Controls the scaling in the X-axis of all tubes in the current layer.
​Scale Z: 
  • Controls the scaling in the Z-axis of all tubes in the current layer.
Rotation:
  • ​Rotates all tubes in layer in degrees.​
Twist:
  • Twists tubes around the central axis. This setting needs to be coupled with the twist ramp.​ ​
Target Tab
  • This tab displays the settings for individual selected tubes. If you change any settings in this tab, the corresponding setting in the global tap will be locked.
  • You can unlock the global settings by 'middle mouse clicking' on the greyed out text. Just be careful that by unlocking global settings, it will apply the value for that setting to all the tubes in this layer.
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