Display Tab

The Display tab controls how hair appears in the Blender viewport — visualization, colors, performance settings, and debug tools.

Viewport Display

Display %

Percentage of strands shown in viewport (1–100%, default 100%).

Lower values for faster viewport during styling. Affects viewport only, not final render.

Thickness

Viewport strand thickness in pixels (0.1–10.0, default 1.0). Purely visual — doesn't affect actual hair width.

Steps

Subdivision steps for smoother curves (1–10, default 3). Higher = smoother, slower.

Color Modes

| Mode | Description | Use For | |------|-------------|---------| | Material | Uniform hair color | Basic preview | | Random | Random color per strand | Debugging individual strands | | Clump ID | Color by clump assignment | Debugging clumping | | Length | Color by strand length | Checking length variation | | Root to Tip | Gradient from base to tip color | Checking flow direction | | UV Coordinates | Color by UV position | Texture mapping verification |

Base / Tip Colors

Click color buttons to set primary and tip colors. Used in Material and Root-to-Tip modes.

Color Presets

Quick access to common hair colors: Brown, Black, Blonde, Red, Gray, White.

Visibility Toggles

  • Show Guides — Toggle guide curve visibility
  • Show Strands — Toggle generated strand visibility
  • Show Root Points — Highlight strand root positions (debugging)
  • Show Clump Centers — Show clump center points (debugging)

Performance

GPU Acceleration

Faster modifier evaluation when enabled. On by default.

Max Strands

Cap on total strand count (1,000–500,000, default 50,000). Prevents accidental performance issues from high density settings.

Shading

Preview Shader

Enable custom specular highlights in Solid mode for a more realistic preview.

  • Specular — Highlight intensity (0.0–1.0, default 0.5)
  • Roughness — Surface roughness (0.0–1.0, default 0.4)
  • Antialiasing — Smooth hair edges

Debug

  • Show Normals — Display strand normal vectors
  • Show Bounds — Display bounding box
  • Stats — Shows strand, CV, and guide counts

Tips

  • During styling: Display % at 25–50%, reduce Steps to 2
  • For preview: Display % at 100%, enable Preview Shader
  • For debugging clumps: Use Clump ID color mode + Show Clump Centers
  • For checking distribution: Enable Show Root Points, zoom in on scalp