Houdini 20.0 Shelf tools

Groom shelf tool

Creates a Guide Groom SOP ready to draw & brush curves.

On this page

Overview

This tool creates a Guide Groom SOP and switches the viewport to the grooming state, setting you up to start drawing guide curves.

Make sure to switch to the Grooming radial menu from the top menu bar. This lets you quickly switch tools and set tool options. For node parameter help as well as more information on the Grooming radial menu see the Guide Groom SOP node help.

For more information, see the Creating and styling guide hair with Guide Groom page.

Using the Groom Tool

  1. Click the Groom tool on the Guide Process tab.

  2. Select the character’s skin geometry or an existing Guide Groom object and press Enter to confirm your selection.

If there is no associated Guide Groom object with a Groom SOP yet, this shelf tool will create them for you. The viewport will switch to the grooming state, and you’ll be ready to start drawing curves.

Grooming radial menu

When using the Guide Groom SOP, make sure to switch to the Grooming radial menu from the top menu bar. This menu lets you quickly switch tools options in the viewport, and is the recommended workflow when using this node.

After switching to the Grooming radial, you can open it by pressing C. This brings up a menu that contains all the Tool options for the Guide Groom SOP, and reflects the options available in the Tool dropdown parameter on the node. It’s a quick way to switch between the options on this node.

For example, if you hover your mouse over Create & Move, you will see the 4 options available for creating and moving hair. You can either choose one, or navigate back to the previous level by hovering your mouse over the double arrows.

Each Tool has a Tool Options menu that is unique to that mode. For example, the tool options available in Draw mode are different than the ones available in Plant mode.

Shelf tools

Using the shelf

  • Customize the shelf

    How to change the look of the shelf, change and rearrange its contents, and create your own shelf tools.

Technical