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[NEW] GS CurveTools - Workflow Tutorial - Maya Plug-in, Hair Cards, Game Hair
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- ► Plug-in Available Here (ArtStation): www.artstation.com/a/16202
► And Here (FlippedNormals): bit.ly/FN_GeorgeSladkovsky
GS CurveTools v1.3.6 - Plug-in for Autodesk Maya 2018-2025 for Windows and Mac
This video will cover the fundamentals of GS CurveTools plug-in for Autodesk Maya. Creating new cards, setting the textures, adjusting the UVs, using layers and more...
► Companion video (Full Tutorial):
• [NEW] GS CurveTools - ...
► How to install GS CurveTools:
www.artstation.com/blogs/slad...
► Recommended Maya Versions:
- 2018.6
- 2019.3, 2019.3.1
- 2020.4*
- 2022.3, 2022.4
- 2023, 2023.1, 2023.2, 2023.3
- 2024, 2024.1, 2024.2
- 2025
*Maya 2020 has some issues: bit.ly/40qI8jT
► Full Documentation:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/
► If you wish to support the development of these free updates, you can buy me a coffee :)
www.buymeacoffee.com/videonomad
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.3.3:
• GS CurveTools v1.3.3 M...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.3.2:
• GS CurveTools v1.3.2 M...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.3:
• GS CurveTools v1.3 Maj...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.2.8:
• GS CurveTools v1.2.8 U...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.2.7:
• GS CurveTools v1.2.7 U...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.2.5:
• GS CurveTools v1.2.5 U...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.2.4:
• GS CurveTools v1.2.4 M...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.2:
• GS CurveTools v1.2 Maj...
► Previous Update Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.1:
• GS CurveTools v1.1 Maj...
► Release Video for GS CurveTools Version 1.0:
• GS CurveTools v1.0 Tut...
► Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:13 - Templates, textures and UVs
04:33 - Layers basics
05:30 - First hair Layer, shaping the cards, Duplicate and Delete
12:40 - Creating large braid, Bind
18:39 - Creating small braids, Bind
21:20 - Export and Import Curves and Templates
21:55 - Finishing with the braids
22:58 - Fill
25:22 - Details, Layer Filters
26:08 - Advanced Visibility and Conclusion
27:14 - Quick overview of other functions (Subdivide, Randomize, Extract and Export)
30:24 - Outro
► Discord Server (Ask questions, send suggestions):
/ discord
► ArtStation Portfolio:
www.artstation.com/sladkovsky3d
![[NEW] GS CurveTools - Full Tutorial - Maya Plug-in, Hair Cards, Game Hair](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MrTz-6CqabM/mqdefault.jpg)
![[NEW] GS CurveTools - Full Tutorial - Maya Plug-in, Hair Cards, Game Hair](/img/tr.png)
For more detailed information, here's the online documentation: gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/
Full tutorial video: th-cam.com/video/MrTz-6CqabM/w-d-xo.html
Support the free updates: www.buymeacoffee.com/videonomad
How to install the tool: www.artstation.com/blogs/sladkovsky3d/Nz4m/
you save me a lot, thanks
This is the biggest lifesaver i ever seen.
good work George , that help me a lot ! Thanks!
Hello George. I just bought your plugin and loving it so far. Is there a way i can have the thickness and colour of the curve and points to be exactly like yours. In my maya it’s very thin, and the points color is blending to the hairs and is hard to see.
Could also be a setting in Maya im not aware of. Would appreciate the help. It’s been driving me nuts 😅
Hi. There are a few things you can do:
1. Change the color of the CVs in Maya (Windows->Settings/Preferences->Color Settings->Active->Highlight Components). I find that white color works very well.
2. Enable Advanced Visibility in the Curve Control Window: gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advanced-visibility.html
3. Change the default curve thickness in the GS CurveTools->Options->Global Curve Thickness: gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/options.html#global-curve-thickness
4. Use X-Ray mode from Maya.
I hope this helps. Cheers!
❤
can you scale each control point of the curve to modify the mesh on that part of the curve specifically? thanks
Hi. You can use the Width Curve Graph to modify the card along the curve, similar to Twist Curve Graph:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/_images/twist-curve-graph-demo.gif
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/_images/curve_width_demo.png
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/attributes.html
However, you can't scale the CVs themselves to achieve this effect, you need to use the provided graph.
Hi there ! Thanks for your tutorial ! I have a question, the hair cards are clipping when in Unreal (in maya too), is there any way to fix that or is it just the card placement in cause ? (it's my first time with hair cards and i watched several tutorials, and this does not seem to be a problem for them lol)
Hi. What do you mean by "clipping"?
If you mean the cards are intersecting and it is visible - it can be fixed by repositioning the cards a bit. However, intersections are unavoidable and good-looking hair cards will always have them. They add randomness and complexity. You just need to make sure there's no visible seams, like when you intersect two cards right on top of each other.
Also, check your normals. If you use two-sided lighting in Maya, make sure everything is set up properly in Unreal as well.
There's also camera "Far/Near Clip Plane" in Maya that can cause clipping when you go too far from the mesh.
Hi, dear, this is so cool but just I need to know before buying this amazing plug-in, I want to know if it comes with material alpha and normal maps or if I have to create them?
Hi. No, it has no diffuse, alpha or normal map material built in. You will have to render them yourself. You can do that easily with X-Gen in Maya or use some third-party program to do that. You can even hand-paint the hair textures, as some people do for stylized work.
Thank you dear for replying and I will buy it soon :)@@GeorgeSladkovsky
Hey George, the default card size is atleast 10 times smaller than what card i require for the head that i am using. Any tips as to how i can increase the card size?
Hey. Yes, all you need is to increase the Scale Factor in the Options -> Scale Factor and Precision:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/scale-factor-and-precision.html#scale-factor-and-precision
This will only change the new cards, not the old ones.
Hi, hope you can offer me some help as I'm unable to figure it out and I cant find a solutionin the documentation.
I was working on a project and I exported the curves, as well as saved the maya scene. When I re-open the project or when I import the curve file, using the Import feature the curves are no longer attached to the geometry? is there a way to fix this?
I can no longer manypulate the hair cards previously laid out, but I can see that everything is still present in the outliner.
Hope that made sense. Hope you can help : )
Hi,
The most likely cause of this issue is that you accidentally (or intentionally) cleared the construction history of the entire scene.
GS CurveTools uses node connections (history) to make the cards procedural and dynamic. When you clear the history, it deletes all the nodes and their connections, leaving only the curve and the geometry behind.
You CAN clear the history on the curves themselves, but not on the scene, geometry or groups.
Only ever use this: Edit -> Delete by Type -> History.
Never clear the history of the entire scene when you work with GS CurveTools.
As for how to solve this there are two possible ways:
1. You can just use Curve Card command on the "broken" curves to get the geometry back. This will generate new geometry, so make sure to delete the old detached one. It will inherit most of the parameters (twist, orientation, etc.) from the original objects as those parameters are stored on the curve itself. You will have to apply the material again.
2. Use a backup file if you have one.
I hope this helps.
Hey George, I just bought your tool, using it right now, I was wondering is there any way to properly modify the UV islands in a non perfectly rectangular/squared way? Because I have some wavy hair texture and some of it go beyond the rectangular UV island, or if I scale my UV island then some parts of the other strands start entering into my UV island, I did use already this texture for hair cards but I moved the uv vertex in order to not include other hair strands into it. Is it possible to move some UV island vertexes with your tool?
Hi Samuel,
You can manually adjust the UVs on the geometry; however, I will warn you that some of the procedural functionality will stop working properly after that. Length Divisions (and Auto Divisions) and Width Divisions will not work after the adjustment.
So, how do you do that?
Option 1:
1. You enable the geometry selection on the layer where your card is. Hold RMB on the layer and select Toggle Geometry Edit: gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/layers.html#marking-menu
2. Select the geometry card directly and use Maya UV editor to adjust the UVs.
Option 2:
1. Create a normal maya geometry card in the shape that you want.
2. Adjust the UVs normally (Maya UV editor)
3. Bind the card to an empty curve using Bind.
All these options are trade-offs, as you will inevitably lose some functionality this way. However, in some specific cases those options can be quite handy. Cheers!
I did try converting my haird cards into curves using Geo to Curve but that still rectangularize them, what you mean Binding the card to an empty curve using Bind? Specifically what do you mean with empty curve? @@GeorgeSladkovsky
Empty curve means just the regular maya NURBS curve without anything attached to it. Bind is just a function used to bind geometry or other procedural cards to a single curve to create clumps. gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/bind-unbind.html
Geo to Curve will not work with custom UVs, it will approximate them to the rectangles during the conversion. gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/edge-to-curve-card-to-curve.html
help! how to always show curve& points like you do in 6:44 ? Im new to this, I can't see the point I want to select , and whenever I try to box select the points I don't know exist or not, it selects and move another curve I already placed... 😭😭😭
Hi. You need to enable Advanced Visibility in the Curve Control Window. gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advanced-visibility.html
You can also use X-Ray mode in Maya to see your curve better.
thank you!! much better@@GeorgeSladkovsky
Pls reply-
can we bind a curve to an already bended tilted haircard? when i pick a tiled and bended haircard and click card to curve, i got a curve along the middle edge. but when i bind them together, the shape of the haircard changed to wierd. so i cant control the card with the curve at all. is there any solution? waiting for ur rply
Hello,
When you use Bind it will keep the original card/geometry deformation when attaching it to the curve. That is intentional, as you can bind various shapes to a curve (braid, clump, etc). So no, you can't attach a deformed geometry to a curve and expect it to be somehow straightened in the process.
More about Bind here:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/bind-unbind.html
Cheers
Hello. I have a question. I created eyelash textures. And I'm trying to make the card size smaller. But I can only change vertically; horizontally they don’t allow me to do this.
How can I resize the entire card?
You can change the UVs horizontally or vertically:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/uv-editor.html#select-move-rotate-scale-and-draw
If you are trying to resize the card itself - use "Width" slider or "Width Curve Graph":
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/attributes.html#main-attributes
@@GeorgeSladkovsky Thank you very much for your answer, it helped me!
But it would be nice if you added one slider that is responsible for scaling the entire card. It takes quite a long time to jump from one menu to another to set up scaling. But thanks anyway!
Hi! Please tell me if maya 2025 will be supported?
Hi. Yes, there is a blog post about it:
www.artstation.com/blogs/sladkovsky3d/EKQeW
I tried to bind several times but it doesnt work..
Hi! To bind something you need to have two things:
1. A regular Maya curve (that you can create using Create -> Curve Tools -> Pencil Curve Tools or any other tool from that menu)
2. One or multiple cards/tubes created in GS CurveTools.
You select both the "empty" curve from Maya and the curves from GS CurveTools and click Bind.
This will bind those Curves (and their geometry components) to the "empty" curve from Maya.
Here's the online documentation on the topic:
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/bind-unbind.html
@@GeorgeSladkovsky i figured it out! i was using a saved template for a different maya scene, somehow binding was not working, but it did with a new card set created from the start.. i dont know if it's a bug or if i didnt export it properly.. thank you anyway
This might be a bug. I will check it. Thanks!
Hi, when I try to flip/mirror curves it doesn't work. In mirror, it only duplicates the curves and gives me this Python error.
File "gs_curvetools\core\utils.py", line 227, in wrapper
File "gs_curvetools\core\functions.py", line 320, in mirror_hair
IndexError: list index out of range
I've been trying to fix but couldn't find anything
maya version: 2023, gs curvetools:1.3.7, but it gives the same error with older versions
Hi,
The error indicates that what you selected is not the correct curve. Maybe you accidentally duplicated one of the pathCurves and didn't notice (Ctrl+D). Please make absolutely sure that what you are trying to mirror is the Warp/Extrude Card/Tube.
Best way to check is to create a "fresh" Warp Card and try to mirror it.
@@GeorgeSladkovsky I have tried and it does work with a new warp card, I also cleaned every control curve that was duplicated. After that, I tried to mirror individual hair cards, some mirror and some won't for some reason. I appreciate your help, I will probably try to re-make the other part from scratch
no image shows in the uv editor
Check your material setup. It is important to have compatible texture formats for both color (diffuse) and alpha texture files.
Currently supported formats are:
PNG, JPG/JPEG or TIF/TIFF (LZW or No Compression) texture file is recommended. TGA (24bit and no RLE) is also supported.
gs-curvetools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/uv-editor.html#material-setup
Note the bit depth and compression, it is VERY important.
@@GeorgeSladkovsky Apparently it was TGA that was the problem. I re-exported my haircards to JPG and it worked for some reason. Probably had the wrong bit depth for TGA, idk - but jpg def worked. Thanks
Here's the export window of Photoshop with the correct TGA settings:
i.imgur.com/dkpNVk7.png
Just as an example.
@@GeorgeSladkovsky Appreciate it. I exported straight from Fibershop, didn't pay attention to if their export options had the option to export at 24. For next time I'll keep that in mind