Working with Hair Presets

Hair

Instance Objects

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Hair and Cloth Tutorials > Hair > 

Working with Instance Objects

Organic growths such as feathers, leaves, flowers, and scales have properties similar to hair, and present similar challenges for modeling. The Hair And Fur modifier lets you model these objects by growing instances of an object.

When you work with instances, please keep the following points in mind:

• You’re creating geometry, even if it is only at render time, so memory is a limitation on hair count. For this reason, use an object with a low polygon count, and a comparatively low Hair Count.
• The material applied to your growth is inherited from the growth object, not the instance itself; only UVs come from the instance.
• The root of the instance, where the 3ds Max pivot is, will be at the root of where the hair would otherwise be.
• The shape or grown instances, including their size, bend, and so on, result directly from the hair settings, including styling.
• Despite the expression “instance,” objects created with Hair's Instance Node tool are not true 3ds Max instances of the original object: they do not automatically reflect subsequent changes to the original. To updated instanced hairs, you must click the button in the Instance Node group after you edit the source object.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

• Select an instanced object to use as a replacement to hair or fur.

Skill level: Beginner

Time to complete: 10 minutes