Clump Operator
The Clump operator gathers groups of hairs together into distinct clumps, the way real hair forms tufts. You control how clumps are generated, where they sit, and how strongly hairs are drawn toward them. Each clump is defined by a central stem, and when the operator is first added it generates a few clumps automatically so you can see the effect immediately.
How clumping works
Clumping is computed on the hair currently visible in the viewport. Hairs added later - if you raise the hair count, or at render time - are assigned to clumps by following the hairs that were present when the clumps were generated, which act as clump guides. The closest clump guides decide which clump each final hair belongs to.
A practical consequence: the more hairs are visible while you generate and edit clumps, the more precise the clump borders will be. Changing the viewport hair count after clumping does not disturb existing clumps; it only changes the hair used to update the internal clump guides.
Controlling clumps
You can add, remove, and reposition clumps, and adjust how tightly hairs are attracted toward their stems and how that attraction varies along the strand length. Drive the amount with a strand channel or map for natural variation, and limit the operator to part of a groom with a strand group.
Braided clumps
The shape of a clump can follow a pattern rather than a simple cone. Combined with the Clump operator, braid patterns turn clumps into procedural braids. See Braid Patterns.
Related
- Braid Patterns - procedural braid shapes for clumps.
- Frizz Operator and Curl Operator - add variation within and around clumps.