= Changing the color of the fur using the color attribute =

NOTE:
    This tutorial is a detailed look into what goes on at the network level. An automatic way to create the same effect is to use the [Paint Root Color|/shelf/paintrootcolor] and [Paint Tip Color|/shelf/painttipcolor] tools on the shelf.

There are two ways of changing the color of the fur: changing the color of the guide hairs and changing the color of the grid. 

To change the color of the fur, you need to set up a [Icon:SOP/point][Point SOP|Node:sop/point] to control the color attribute, and append it to either the skin geometry or the guide geometry.

NOTE:
    Before you can change the color, you must remove the [Hair Material|/gallery/shop/material/hair] that you added in [Basic fur setup|basicsetup] from your grid object by deleting the path in the __Material__ field on the __Material__ tab of the `FUR` object.

    If this material is not removed, the fur will render with the color from the material instead of your color attribute.

== Changing the color of the guides ==

Changing the color of the guide hairs allows you to set a color for the guide hairs that gets interpolated with the fur. This procedure is a continuation of [Using Guide Hairs|usingguides], which explains how to use guide hairs to interpolate fur on a surface.

# Insert a [Icon:SOP/point][Point SOP|Node:sop/point] node after the [Icon:SOP/copy][Copy SOP|Node:sop/copy] in the `Fur` geometry object you created in [Using Guide Hairs|usingguides].

    [Image:/images/fur/guidecolor_nodes.png]

# Change the __Keep Color__ option in the drop-down menu to __Add Color__ in the [parameter editor|/ref/panes/parms] for the [Point SOP|Node:sop/point].

# Set some RBG values in the __Color__ field.

    For example, you can use the following values to turn the fur a solid red color.
        
    table>>
        tr>>
            td>> R
            td>> `1`
        tr>>
            td>> G
            td>> `0`
        tr>>
            td>> B
            td>> `0`
            
    [Image:/images/fur/guidecolor_red.png]
   
    You can also use [random expressions|/expressions/rand] to generate a random color for each point on the line.  Using the following values will generate a random color between black and red for each point on the line. 
    
    table>>
        tr>>
            td>> R
            td>> `rand($PT + 0.352)`
        tr>>
            td>> G
            td>> `0`
        tr>>
            td>> B
            td>> `0`
    
    If the line is a two point line, the color is interpolated between the root and tip of the hair, as well as between the individual guide hairs. 
    
    [Image:/images/fur/guidecolor_rand.png]
    
    Using a [random expressions|/expressions/rand] makes the fur appear more natural, since most fur is not one solid color. The following is a test render of randomly colored fur:
    
    [Image:/images/fur/guidecolor_render.png]
    
The color attribute will be picked up by the fur sop and procedural shader that you created in [Basic fur setup|basicsetup].
    
Remember, the [Fur SOP|Node:sop/fur] should only be used for visualization in the viewport. In order to render, it is highly recommended that you use a [fur procedural|/nodes/shop/vm_geo_fur], which will delay the generation of fur until render time. For more information on setting this up, see [Basic fur setup|basicsetup]. 
    
=== Tips ===

* Using a [random expression|/expressions/rand] will give the fur a more natural look. 

* Increasing the points on the [line|Node:sop/line] will result in more randomness, since each point is assigned a random color.

== Changing the color of the fur from the grid ==

This procedure is a continuation of [Basic fur setup|basicsetup], which explains how to create some basic fur.

# Insert a [Icon:SOP/point][Point SOP|Node:sop/point] somewhere between the [grid|Node:SOP/grid] and the [null|Node:sop/null] nodes in the `Fur` geometry object you created in [Basic fur setup|basicsetup].

    You can do this by selecting the connecting wire, pressing ((Tab)), and typing `point`.
    
    [Image:/images/fur/gridcolor_nodes.png]
    
# Change the __Keep Color__ option in the drop-down menu to __Add Color__ in the [parameter editor|/ref/panes/parms] for the [Point SOP|Node:sop/point].

# Set some RBG values in the __Color__ field.

    For example, you can use the following values to fade the grid from blue to pink.
        
    table>>
        tr>>
            td>> R
            td>> `$BBX`
        tr>>
            td>> G
            td>> `$BBY`
        tr>>
            td>> B
            td>> `1`
            
    [Image:/images/fur/gridcolor_pointsop.png]
    
    The fur picks up the color from the grid. 
    
    NOTE:
        You can also use a texture map on your grid. For more information see [Control the fur color using a color map|texturemap_color].
        
The color attribute will be picked up by the fur sop and procedural shader that you created in [Basic fur setup|basicsetup].
        
Remember, the [Fur SOP|Node:sop/fur] should only be used for visualization in the viewport. In order to render, it is highly recommended that you use a [fur procedural shader|/nodes/shop/vm_geo_fur], which will delay the generation of fur until render time. For more information on setting this up, see [Basic fur setup|basicsetup].