Updates

V 13.07

1/29/2025

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V13.07

Maya Curve Color Tool:

Introduced a new tool similar to the Guide Color tool, specifically for Maya curves.
Functionality to set curves to display "on top," allowing curves to be transparent behind geometry.
Option to modify curve width for improved visibility in the Maya viewport.
Retained familiar layer controls from other Groomer's Tools.
Functionality to randomize curve color values.
Introduced a separate layer management system, independent from Maya’s display layers.
Ability to isolate selected curves or layers while keeping all other scene elements visible.

Hair Tube Builder:
- Main UI:

Added a Normalize function.
Added a Lattice function.
Enhanced copy/paste functionality to allow multiple pasting options.
Added layer isolation functionality (via middle mouse click on layers) and an Isolate button for selected strands or layers.
Added a Smoothing button to preview subdivision on selected tube strands.
Added a Geometry Toolbox button for selecting the tube’s geometry from selected strands. Users can unlock geometry to adjust UVs if necessary.
Added a Shader Toggle to switch between Maya's default shaders (Lambert, Blinn, Phong, Surface). This toggle applies globally to all strands.
Merged the strand extraction buttons and layer removal buttons into a single button with a popup menu.
Improvement: Duplicated curves from existing Strand Builder strands can now be cleaned up via the menu (Clean Selected Curves) for reuse in strand creation.
Experimental: Hair Tube Builder scenes from V13.06 can be updated via the menu (Update V13.06 scene).

- Strand Editor UI:

Added Presets functions
Added Offset X, Offset Z, and Offset Rotation parameters to enable more complex shapes.
Added 4 UV mapping options (None, Strip, Grid, Unfold), located within the editor.
Exposed the Sampling Accuracy slider to address tip pinching issues, located under Advanced Controls.
Added the ability to reset sliders to default by middle mouse-clicking on the slider label. For the Scale Ramp and Twist Ramp, use the 'R' button next to the ramp to reset.
Added options to Add, Remove, and Clear crease points.
Users can now set keyframes for most strand attributes.
Improvement: Edge loop points can now be added or removed with more intuitive control by clicking and dragging on the root or tip curve, or using Ctrl + Click to remove points.
Improvement: Crease points can now be added, removed, or cleared from either the root or tip profile curve.
Improvement: Users can collapse the shaping window for a more streamlined UI.
Improvement: A warning is displayed when selecting a custom curve that is not enclosed (periodic).

- General Updates:

Improvement: Strand curve color visibility is enhanced, with slight randomization for better contrast against strand geometry.
Improvement: The Hair Tube Builder UI now correctly displays existing layers when opening a different scene.
Improvement: Reduced warning messages during tube strand creation and layer additions.
Improvement: Hair Tube Builder layers are now separated from Maya’s Layer Editor, improving scene organization.
Improvement: UI and curve color updates.
Fix: Resolved curve display thickness issues on duplicated strands.
Fix: Resolved layout issue where Aim Curve Controls disappeared when Crease Controls were collapsed.
Fix: Mirroring now properly takes the existing rotation value into account.

- Known Issues:

Mirroring strands or pasting attributes may cause strands to reverse their normals.

Curve To Proxy Tools:

Improvement: Added a warning to ensure proper use of component tags.
Fix: Resolved an issue where deleting geometry via right-clicking layers caused Maya to crash.

- Curve To Twist:

Fix: Resolved a bug causing Maya to crash after using this tool and saving a file.

Interactive Curve Tools:

Added an option to set a Base Mesh. When a geometry is set, the Sculpt, Add, Draw, and Move tools will reference this geometry, preventing misinterpretation from other scene geometries.
Improvement: Added a command to remove temporary radius curve residue (Sculpt, Cut, Extend) left in the scene when switching tools (e.g., from sculpting to selection or transform tools).

- Sculpt Curve Tool:

Added the ability to auto-snap the root to the defined base mesh. Hold Shift + LMB to sculpt, and the root will snap to the closest point on the base mesh when the mouse is released (with the lock root function temporarily disabled).
Improvement: Minimization of curve extension in small steps when Lock Length is enabled.
Improvement: Pivot points will now automatically reset to the curve's root when moved.
Improvement: Curves will remain locked during drag operations but will automatically unlock when switching tools or re-entering a tool.

- Extend Curve Tool:

Exposed all three extension methods: Linear, Circular, and Extrapolate.

Curve Snap Tool:

Fix: Point snap now ignores geometries in invisible display layers.
Improvement: Simplified point snapping process—once the Point Snap tool is activated, pressing G will repeat the snap action for subsequent curves without needing to click repeatedly.

Curve Rebuild Tool:

The CVs Rebuild function now provides immediate feedback while dragging the sliders. The Rebuild Distance slider now dynamically adjusts its minimum and maximum values based on tagged curves.

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V13.06

11/8/2024

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Hair Tube Builder:

NEW: Introducing the Hair Tube Builder, a tool designed to create detailed hair geometries. Unlike the current curves-to-proxy tools, this feature allows for individual strand shaping, providing enhanced control for generating groom-to-geometry proxies for animation/CFX or creating geometry-based hair for 2D styles.
The tool incorporates existing layer systems from the curve-to-proxy tools, maintaining full control over layer organization.
Features include options to modify root and tip shapes, adjust curve strands with a comprehensive set of control sliders, and use Interactive Curve Tools for dynamic control. For 2D hairstyles, the tool also offers crease options to define specific points on the root curve, applying creases before export.

Auto XGen Description Switch Based on Guide Selection:

NEW: A new feature for users working with complex scenes, this option simplifies toggling XGen descriptions. By enabling this checkbox, XGen descriptions will automatically switch based on the guide selection.

XGen Attributes & Modifier Match Tool:

NEW: This tool enables users to match or copy attributes and modifiers from one XGen description to several others efficiently.

Auto Select Tube Edges:

NEW: A complementary tool for Hair Strand Builder users, designed to automatically select longitudinal edges for easier editing.

Guide Snap:

Resolved an issue where guide-to-guide snapping sometimes overlooked strength settings. Root weight is now set to 0 by default on the ramp.

Improvements and Adjustments:

Merged Curve to Proxy Tube, Card, and Twist tools into a single button. Right-click the Curve To Proxy Manager button for access.
General updates across curve-to-proxy managers, as well as curls and braids tools, reducing error and warning messages.
The IG Guides To Curves tool is now combined with the XGen Guides To Curves Tool. Right-click the button to access the IG version.
The Custom Shader Parameter Tool is now part of the new XGen Attributes/Modifiers Match Tool. Right-click the button to access both tools.

Known Issues:

Strands built by the old Curve To Proxy Managers will spit out an error if selected with the Hair Tube Builder's Editor open.
Aim Control frames on the Editor UI disappears when Crease Controls Frame is collapsed.

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V.13.04

10/4/2024

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Interactive Curve Tools:

Marking Menu is now available for installation. For how to install, please visit :

https://www.nobraintools.com/marking-menu-installation.html

Curve To Twist:

FIX: When a twist is created on more complicated curves ( such as coiling curves), sometimes the twist does not follow the shape of curves. To address this, a new slider “Source Spans” is introduced. On more complicated curves, you can increase the source spans to allow the twist strands to follow the curve shape more. There is no correct amount to set to. Most of the time a value of 30 is enough for most standard curves.

Curve to Proxy Tubes/Cards:

FIX: selection error that shows up when a vert/edge is selected instead of a geometry.

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V.13.03

7/19/2024

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Interactive Curve Tools:

UPDATE:
- Settings for each curve tool should now be retained when switching between tools on this menu.
- Draw Tool: curve CV count should now respect the slider when drawing curves.
- Extend Tool: Increased the multiplier range (currently from 2 to 5 decimal spaces) to allow finer control.

Multi Clump Bake

FIX: an issue where the “Parent” label fails to display.

XGen Ptex Viewer

FIX: resetting XGen Hair or Reset All after using Isolate Hair should now fall back to the default physical shader.

Snap XGen Guide to Curve

ADD: ability to use a fall off ramp for snapping

Clump Repel

ADD: tip/root label

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V.13.01

6/20/2024

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New Interactive Curve Tools
Sculpt/Add:

These two tools now can be found in the Interactive Curve Tool UI.

Drag Cut:

Users can now select curves and drag to display point distance to cut curves.
Reverse drag cut direction (from root, instead of tip of curves) is also available.

Draw:

Draw curves directly on mesh, with smoothing options and trajectory display in real time like the pencil curve tool.
With curve(s) selected, extend the drawn curve to selected curves

Attach:

With curves selected, drag to select along the length of selected curves to attach.

Move:

With curves selected, drag to move on a mesh. The mesh needs to have the transforms freezed.

Extend:

extend curves with % of their length

Curve To Cards/Tubes/Twist:

ADD: Ability to add/remove curves
ADD: an information box is added to show which layer selected strand is in
ADD: Clicking on the E button next to the info box will quickly open the control for selected proxy geo.
ADD: Toggle UI expansion, user can now set UI window bigger by clicking the S, M, L button
ADD: Renaming layers
ADD: Full layer selection and visibility/lock/move controls
ADD: Right clicking on a layer will allow adding/removing selected curves/proxy groups from the layer.
ADD: Users can now copy and paste settings to multiple layers now.
ADD: Users can now choose to create separate layers for each selected curve with the ‘Separate Layers’ checkbox.
UPDATE: When control UI is open and when the ‘Target’ Tab is active, it will now automatically show the controls for selected proxies, without needing to click the ‘show selected strand’ button anymore.

Curve Snap Tool:

ADD: ability to snap entire curves.

Paint FX Tool:

FIX: An issue where the manipulator is not showing up after creating volume Mesh.
As painted curves can be rebuilt with the CVs rebuild button on the UI, the Stroke Sample increased to 100% again to allow a smoother paint.

Curve Extract Tool:

FIX: curves not following the curvature of geometry tubes when using custom or fill mode is now fixed.

Misc:

Overall color template update on some UIs.
Users will be able to see the subscriptions status from the ‘Help’ menu now.
Fixed UI sizes being too small in Maya 2025.

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V.12.06

2/12/2024

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Curve Manipulator:

ADD: Ability to select next or last CVs from current CV selection.

Curve Fill

ADD: Create a unique center curve from selected curves. Users will be able to generate a center curve from selected curves, or from groups of curves.

Curve Trim V.2.0

UPDATE: Users will have the option to keep either tip ends, root ends, or both ends after a trimming operation. Please note, If a curve has more than 1 intersection with the geometry selected, the longest section will be kept.

PaintFX to Curves:

UPDATE: The selected no longer require UV. The tool will automatically duplicate a mesh and run an auto-UV for each painting operation.

Guide Cut/Extend:

ADD: ability to extend guides.

Braid Tool:

UPDATE: addressed issue when curve transform and shape node having same name causing generation of side curves to fail

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V.12.05

12/30/2023

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Curve Populate:

ADD: UV Scatter Modes: Density and Spacing.
- Density Mode: When input 100, approximately 100 curves will be scattered.
- Spacing Mode: Users can decide how close each curve is to each other.
UPDATE: Curves do not required to be on the origin anymore before scattering.

Curve Fill:

UPDATE: Users will no longer be required to ‘define curves’. Simply select curves in an orderly manner, and click on ‘create center curve’, to generate a center curve then create layers of curves by using the ‘Fill’ or the ‘Auto Fill’ button
ADD: “Card” tab option will allow you to select two or more curves, and create an inbetween from them. Users will be able to select the amount of curves to create between all the curves selected. You can even ‘divide’ the creation in groups, based on your selection order. If you set count to 2, then the selected curve 1, 2, will be treated as a batch, and curve 3, 4 will be treated as another, to create the in betweens, and so on.

Guide To Curves:

ADD: option to export as .fbx or .abc
ADD: Each time a description curve is exported, a versioned copy will automatically be created inside the mayaProject/data/xgt_backup_curves/ folder

Trim Curve:

ADD: A ‘3d’ method is added for an alternative, faster result. This is for Maya 2023 and 2024 only.
- 2023/2024:
  - clicking on the trim curve icon is defaulted to the new ‘3d’ trim method.
  - Right clicking on the icon will display options for both ‘3d’ and ‘legacy’ methods.
- 2020/2022:
  - clicking on the trim curve icon is defaulted to the ‘legacy’ method.

Guide Color Tool:

FIX: internal remesh process causes UV loss in some users, preventing the tool to work properly. A check for UV is added and UV will be transferred to the remeshed geometry for color assignment.
FIX: Transforms on growth mesh can now stay locked while using the guide color tool.

Maya Curve Sculpt:

FIX: Curves in a display layer will not lose their color after sculpting now.

Curve To Tubes/Cards/Twists:

UDATE: Sculpting multiple proxy curves is now possible.

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V12.04

10/12/2023

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Guide Color Tool:
* For the new guide color tool to work properly, user will have to delete existing guide color layers, and re-create them.

ADD: Guide Layer Info box - display the last word of the assigned color layer separated by “_”. If guides not in the current description are selected, ‘Alien’ will be displayed, and the info box will turn red.
ADD: UI Size toggle - select S, M, or L to extend the UI window.
ADD: Modify Guide Taper/Width in the layer - right click on a color layer, and select Modify Guides, this will give you quick access to modify the width and taper of all guides in the layer.
ADD: Multi layer selection to allow deleting layers, toggling visibility/locks, and adding to set.
ADD: Rename Layer - right click on a color layer, 'rename'.
ADD: Sets - allows grouping layers into a set. A set allows the user to quickly select all the layers at once, or to perform visibility lock toggles.
ADD: Push layer(s) to top and bottom of the list, you can select multiple layers (manually, or through set buttons), and rearrange all the selected layers to the top or bottom of the list for better organization purpose.
ADD: Delete Empty Layers button, to remove all empty color layers with one click.
UPDATE: An empty layer can be created now if no guides are selected prior to creating the layer. Users can choose adding guides afterwards by right-clicking on the layer as well.
FIX: Removed the isolating options when right clicking on the color layer. (Middle mouse clicking on the layer button will still isolate the layer).

Curve Populate Tool:

NEW: First version of curve scatter tool that allows users to populate straight curves or from selected curves onto a mesh base of UVs, or selected vertices. Please give it a try!
This tool is integrated into the existing Curve From Path tool, now called Curve Populate Tool all together. There are two tabs, ‘On Mesh’ and ‘On Path’.

Path From Curves:
- ADD: auto paint fx to curve and smoothing button when drawing on a mesh for the path curve.
- FIX: curves should properly have their shapes unchanged now. Previously when a start or end curve exceeds 20 CVs, using the path tool would keep them at 20 CVs, thus changing the shapes of curves.
- FIX: Removed the need to add a middle curve.

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V12.03

8/18/2023

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Curve Sculpt:

ADD: Now the sculpting tool is ‘repeatable’ through the ‘G’ hotkey (default Maya repeat last step). Please note, the Maya Curve Sculpt UI needs to be open.
UPDATE: Previously, the radius scale on shorter curves was off. Sculpt brush Scale adjustment should now respect closer to the size of curves.
UPDATE: Smoothing is now just Middle Click (the previous Ctrl + Click is no longer used, as it was slower and causes dragging effect on cursor)
UPDATE: Smoothing operation is much faster now. The ‘smooth lock’ option is no longer required so it’s removed from the UI.

Guide Color:

FIX: an error will occur when there’s no visualizing map available.

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V.12.02

7/8/2023

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Guide Color Tool:

Upgraded with a new algorithm
New Parameters:
- Threshold - color radius, lower threshold subdivides the underlying geometry more, and is more accurate, slower.
- Resolution - sharpness of color. A default of 512 (the value that has always been used in previous versions), is good in most cases. In some situations, you might want to increase this value higher to get a more precise color map to avoid color ‘bleeding’ into nearby guides.
- Preview map: Turn this on to see underlying guide color map on the scalp

Curve Copy Paste:

NEW ability to copy and paste curve orientation relative to the underlying mesh face.

Curve Extract:

NEW new extract type: Edges.
- Users can now select multiple edges from geometry and extract edgeloops. This is added as an alternative to Maya’s edgeloop to curve tool, which can only allow one edgeloop to curve extraction at a time.

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