Creating a Super Girl Character: Part 10

Creating a Super Girl Character: Part 10

What You'll Be Creating

1. Xgen Hair in Maya

Step 1

In this last tutorial, you'll be making hair for the character. 

First, duplicate the head model and assign it with lambert1. Hide the original head geometry.

Please be aware of the naming convention while working with Xgen.

• The geometry’s name must be unique. Xgen defines the data by the name and it causes problems if you have more than one geometry with same naming

• Don't contain any symbols or spacebar other than _ in the file path. Xgen won't work if the file path has a space. Use only _ or a capital letter in the naming

Step 2

Divide the hair into three regions: front, top and nape. 

Select the faces for front hair region first.

Step 3

Go to the Xgen shelf tab and click on the first icon to open the Xgen window. Click on Create New Description.

Step 4

Rename the Description Name and Collection Name, then choose Splines, Placing and Shaping Guides, and then Create.

Step 5

By using this tool, add guides on the head.

Step 6

Select the created guide, hold Right Mouse Button and select Guide Control Points.

Adjust the guide’s shape.

Step 7

By default, the guide only has four control points. Increase the number of control points by pressing Rebuild” under the Primitive tab and increase the number to eight.

Step 8

Add more guides and adjust the shapes.

Step 9

Untick Tube Shade, click on Xgen Preview (eye icon) to preview the hair. 

The previewed hair’s thickness, density is similar to rendered outcome.

Step 10

Increase the density and decrease hair width for a more realistic hair. Increase the Modifier CV Count so that it has enough CV points to hold the shape like the guides’ shapes. 

Width Ramp, left to right = hair root to tip.

Step 11

Add guides at another side.

Step 12

When you click Xgen Preview, the hair is blended together in the middle.

Step 13

Under the Region Control tab, click on the brush icon. The head model changes to a red colour.

Step 14

Go to Tool Settings, change the colour to yellow, or any contrast colour other than red. 

Paint on the head to differentiate left and right.

Step 15

Back to Xgen window, click save besides the brush icon. Change Region Mask to 1.0.

Step 16

Go to Modifiers tab > Add New Modifier > Clumping > OK.

Step 17

Scroll down and click on Setup Maps, in the Generate Clumping Maps window, click on Guide and Save.

Step 18

Adjust the Clump Scale graph until you get the result that you want. Eeither tick or untick Clump Volumize, it depends on the outcome that you're looking for.

Step 19

Add another modifier: Noise. Adjust the Magnitude Scale graph. 

Without the Noise modifier, the hair is too smooth and unnatural.

Step 20

Add a new modifier, Cut. By default, the expression is rand(0.0,0.2), which means randomly cut the hair in the range between 0 to 0.2. 

Increase the back number to increase randomness.

Step 21

We will be start making nape hair, select the faces for nape hair region.

Step 22

Descriptions > Create Description > Repeat Step 4.

Step 23

Add guides and shape them. Change the settings like front hair.

Step 24

Add modifier: clumping, noise and cut like front hair’s modifier.

Step 25

Select the faces for top hair, then create new Xgen description.

Step 26

Add guides for top hair.

Step 27

Repeat steps like front hair, add modifiers and paint region map.

Step 28

Add one more Clumping. Click on Generate. Change the density value if you want more or less clump. Then Save.

Step 29

Add a Coil modifier to add some details.

Step 30

Select the faces for eyebrows and create Xgen descriptions.

Step 31

This time use Groomable splines which is more suitable for short hair.

Step 32

Under the Grooming tab, increase the Density and Length, then select Interpolate.

Step 33

Select the Pose brush, groom the eyebrows then flip to opposite side.

Step 34

Go to Primitives tab, increase the density. Click on Show, untick Locator to hide the eyebrows splines.

Step 35

Type rand(X.XX,X.XX) in length and width column.

Step 36

Click on the arrow of Mask and Create Map. Rename the map and increase map resolution > Create.

Step 37

Go to Tool Settings, tick Reflection.

Step 38

Paint the eyebrow shape, black = no hair. Remember to click Save from the Mask region.

Step 39

Add a noise modifier then that's the eyebrows.

Step 40

Select the upper eyelid faces for upper eyelashes and create an Xgen description. Choose Splines like hair which is easier to control the shape.

Step 41

Add guides for upper eyelashes.

Step 42

Select all guides, mirror to the opposite side.

Step 43

Change the density, length and width numbers. For length, you can also add cut modifier to replace the expression: rand(0.9,1.0).

Step 44

Add noise and clumping modifier.

Step 45

Repeat steps for lower eyelashes.

Step 46

Open Hypershade, create an aiStandardHair material.

Step 47

Reduce the number of melanin and melanin redness, increase the number of roughness and diffuse. 

Change the diffuse colour to dark brown.

Step 48

Select the eyebrows, upper eyelashes and lower eyelashes Xgen description from Outliner, right click on viewport > Assign existing material and choose the material that you created just now.

Step 49

Create another aiStandardHair, change the reduce melanin number, increase diffuse and change diffuse color to yellow. 

Assign to top, front and nape hair.

Step 50

Test render to see the result.

Conclusion

In the next tutorial, I'll start working on rigging and posing, then complete the final render.