Maya will be soon getting a new fur and hair toolset with Ephere’s Ornatrix. Ornatrix is a popular hair and fur system that is being ported over form 3ds Max. In fact, Ornatrix borrows from Max’s modifier stack to create more complex systems by stacking modifiers such as combing, dynamics, curling, etc. Similar to nodes, the stacks will allow you to additively and parametrically create hair and fur systems.
Here, Ephere’s Marcel Khadiyev, shows how to create a parametric fur set up using Ornatrix in Autodesk Maya, walking through important features such as the comb and length operator.
Showing how to create a fur system for a furry bat character, Marcel makes use of the Ornatrix Surface Comb operator to define initial hair shape for the character, and then stacks a Length operator to refine further.
Watch as maps are used to control both length and distribution of the fur. Images can be used in Ornatrix to drive pretty much any parameter. Although it is not a nodes-based workflow, it is the stacks system is completely non-linear and can make things much easier when you are setting up a character.
Ornatrix for Maya is currently being beta tested, but you can check out the features and information for its 3ds Max counter part.
