Modifiers Tab

The Modifiers tab is where you style and shape your hair. Basic strands become clumped curls, frizzy flyaways, tight coils, or any hairstyle you can imagine.

The Modifier Stack

Modifiers are applied in order from top to bottom. Each modifier builds on the previous one's output.

1. Clumping (groups strands)
   ↓
2. Coil (adds curls to clumps)
   ↓
3. Frizz (adds randomness on top)
   ↓
Result: Curly, clumped hair with natural frizz

Order matters. The same modifiers in different order produce different results.

Guide-Level vs Strand-Level

Some modifiers work on guides (before strands are generated), others work on strands (after generation):

Guide-level (shape the sparse guide curves):

  • Guide Flow, Braid, Cornrow, Guide Sculpt, Guide Add

Strand-level (shape the dense interpolated strands):

  • Clumping, Coil, Frizz, Loc, Cut, Surface Offset, Simulate

Both types cache results in memory. When you change a parameter, only the affected parts re-compute.

The 10 Active Modifiers

1. Clumping

Groups strands into natural bundles.

Use for: Wet hair, natural grouping, tight curls, any realistic hair.

Key features: Hierarchical/fractal sub-clumps, curl effect, noise effect, stray strands, tightness profile curve, per-clump expressions.

2. Guide Flow

Pin-based flow control with direction and bend profile.

Use for: Combing direction, partings, styled looks, surface-hugging fur.

Key features: FlowPin editor (click-drag on surface), smooth blending between pins, bend profile curve, optional pin length scaling.

Note: This replaced the old arrow-based "Flow Direction" modifier. Old scenes load fine but the legacy modifier is inactive.

3. Coil

Adds spiral curls and waves.

Use for: Curly hair, wavy hair, ringlets, perms.

Key features: Count/Radius with scale curves, Helix/Wave/Corkscrew modes, phase variation, clump-coherent phase, range controls.

4. Frizz

Adds random displacement and noise.

Use for: Natural variation, flyaways, messy hair, wind-blown looks.

Key features: Magnitude/Frequency with profile curve, correlation, preserve length, seed.

5. Braid

Creates braided structures from Blender curves.

Use for: Braided hairstyles, twists, ropes.

Key features: Curve-driven path, 2–6 strand weave, true over-under pattern, thickness/width/tightness/twist controls, taper section.

6. Cornrow

Creates scalp-attached braids with anchor strands.

Use for: Cornrow hairstyles, protective styles.

Key features: Draw-on-surface curve creation, anchor strand system (count, spread, offset), thickness squeeze at crossovers, noise displacement.

7. Loc/Dreadlock

Creates dreadlock-style hair.

Use for: Dreadlocks, locs, matted hair.

Key features: 18 parameters — coil structure, buildup system, frizz, multi-section buildup, debris/matting profiles, irregularity, twist. All support expressions.

8. Cut

Trims strand length.

Use for: Haircuts, length variation, layered cuts.

Key features: Length parameter (1.0 = keep all, 0.5 = cut half), profile curve, variance, expression support for procedural cuts.

9. Surface Offset

Pushes strands away from the mesh surface.

Use for: Preventing scalp penetration after clumping/frizz, maintaining clearance.

Key features: Offset distance, strength, preserve length, smoothing passes. Typically placed after styling modifiers.

10. Simulate

Physics simulation with GPU acceleration.

Use for: Animated hair, dynamic movement, physics-based styling.

Key features: GPU-accelerated solver (8–20x faster), body collision, self-collision, wind with turbulence, shape matching, film-quality mode, timeline sync with frame caching.

Using the Modifier Stack

Adding Modifiers

Click "Add Modifier..." dropdown → select type. Modifier appears in the list.

Removing Modifiers

Select modifier → click × (delete) button.

Reordering

Select modifier → click ↑/↓ buttons. Order affects the result.

Enabling/Disabling

Each modifier has a checkbox. Uncheck to skip without deleting.

Renaming

Double-click or click ✎ to rename. Use descriptive names for complex stacks ("Base Clumping", "Tip Frizz").

Modifier Order Guidelines

Recommended Order

1. Guide Flow (direction)
2. Clumping (structure)
3. Coil (shape)
4. Frizz (detail)
5. Cut (final shaping)
6. Surface Offset (prevent penetration)
7. Simulate (physics — always last)

Why This Order Works

  • Structure first: Clumping defines the overall grouping
  • Shape second: Coil adds curls to already-grouped strands
  • Details last: Frizz adds chaos on top of structured hair
  • Physics last: Simulate acts on the final styled result

Bad Order Example

1. Frizz (randomizes first)
2. Clumping (tries to group random strands — looks wrong)

Texture Masks

Every modifier supports texture masks to control where it has effect.

  • White (1.0) = full effect
  • Black (0.0) = no effect
  • Gray (0.5) = 50% effect

Mask Workflow

  1. Click 🖌️ (paint) button next to the mask checkbox
  2. Paint white where you want the effect, black where you don't
  3. Click 💾 (save) to apply
  4. Enable the mask checkbox

Separate Masks

The Clumping modifier has independent masks for curl and noise effects in addition to the main mask.

Presets

Save and load modifier stacks as presets.

Built-in Presets (7)

  1. Natural Wavy
  2. Tight Curls
  3. Dreadlocks
  4. Straight Sleek
  5. Messy Bedhead
  6. Braided
  7. Afro

Custom Presets

Build your stack → click Save → enter name. Load later from the Presets dropdown.

FollicleScript in Modifiers

Most modifier parameters support inline expressions:

# Per-clump tightness variation
rand3(0.6, 0.9, clump_id)

# UV-based frizz gradient
lerp(0.05, 0.3, v)

# Per-strand random variation
rand(index) * 0.5

Click the ƒx button next to any parameter to switch between slider and expression mode.

Tips

  • Start simple. Add one modifier at a time. See its effect before adding more.
  • 2–4 modifiers is typical. Don't use all 10 at once.
  • Use masks for localized control instead of uniform effects.
  • Disable, don't delete. Use the checkbox to temporarily skip modifiers.
  • Save presets for reuse across projects.
  • Expressions add realism. Uniform values look CG; per-strand/per-clump variation looks natural.

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong order: Frizz before clumping. Always structure first, details last.
  • Too much frizz: Start with magnitude 0.5–1.5, increase gradually.
  • No variation: Uniform parameters look artificial. Use expressions or texture masks.
  • Ignoring Surface Offset: After heavy clumping/frizz, strands may penetrate the scalp. Add Surface Offset to fix.