Editing Operator Properties
When you select an operator in the The Operator Stack or a node in the The Node Graph, its parameters appear in the Operator Properties panel. This is where you do the detailed work of tuning a groom: setting values, drawing curves, and assigning texture maps.
Kinds of parameters
Operators expose several kinds of controls:
- Numeric values and sliders for amounts, lengths, counts, and similar settings.
- Toggles and choices for switching behavior on or off, or picking a mode.
- Ramps and curves for values that vary along the length of a strand or across a surface, edited directly in a small curve editor.
- Texture maps for driving a parameter from an image, so the effect varies across the base surface.
- File paths for operators that reference external files, such as a baked Alembic cache.
Driving parameters with maps and curves
Many parameters can be controlled by more than a single number. A ramp lets a value change smoothly from a strand's root to its tip; a texture map lets a value vary across the mesh, following an image you paint or supply. These are the tools that turn a uniform effect into a natural, varied groom. For painting maps directly in the App, see Paint Texture Tool.
Embedding referenced files
Some operators point to external files on disk, such as a baked Alembic mesh or hair cache. For each such file path you can choose whether to keep it as an external reference or to embed the file inside your groom. An embedded file travels with the groom when you save it as a compressed .oxz archive, so the groom stays self-contained and can be shared without missing assets.
The Operator Properties panel marks an embedded file path with a distinct (green) tint, and hovering the field shows an Embedded tooltip with the file name. A button beside each file path embeds the file or releases it back to an external reference: embedding pulls a copy of the file into the groom, while releasing writes the file back out next to the groom on disk (so the groom must have been saved at least once). Parameters that hold several files, such as a baked mesh with multiple source files, can be embedded one entry at a time. For how external files are located when they are not embedded, see Managing External File Paths.
Presets
A preset is a saved set of values that you can re-apply to a tool, operator, or groom with a single click. The Tool Properties, Operator Properties, and groom properties panels each show a preset bar at the top, beside the tool, operator, or groom name and icon: a drop-down that lists the saved presets, a Save button, and a Delete button. Selecting a preset applies its values immediately as a single undo step, so Ctrl+Z restores the previous values. While a properties panel is focused you can also step through its presets from the keyboard, with Ctrl+; for the next preset and Ctrl+' for the previous one.
Where a preset is stored depends on what it belongs to:
- Tool and operator presets are saved on your computer, one set per tool type and per operator type, and are shared across all of your grooms. A preset saved on, for example, a Frizz operator is then offered on every Frizz operator you later select.
- A groom's presets are stored inside the groom itself, so they travel with it when you save it as a
.oxzarchive and are available to anyone who opens that groom. The presets shown for a selected The Groom Operator are the same ones the groom properties panel offers for that groom. These are presets of a groom's parameter values, and are unrelated to the starting-point grooms described in Template Grooms.
Presets carry only the settings that are meaningful to reuse, such as numeric values, toggles, choices, colors, and ramp curves; they do not carry inputs like meshes, hair, or texture-map connections. A preset also stays usable as a groom evolves: if an operator or groom has since gained, lost, renamed, or changed the type of a parameter, the entries that no longer match are simply skipped and the rest are applied.
Groom properties
Settings that apply to the groom as a whole, rather than to a single operator, are presented in a separate groom properties panel. See The Ornatrix App Workspace for an overview of the panels.