Modeling and Styling	Parametric Effects	Animation	Rendering	Import/Export
Edit Guides _Modifier	Surface Comb _Modifier	MassFX Dynamics _Modifier	MentalRay _Object	Alembic Export _Exporter
Ground Strands _Modifier	Curling _Modifier	Strand Multiplier _Modifier	Strand Animation _Modifier	Ornatrix Hair _Exporter
Guides from Surface _Modifier	Frizz _Modifier		Fast Ray Tracer _Atmospheric	Shading and Materials
Guides from Mesh _Object	Hair Clustering _Modifier		Accurate Ray Tracer _Atmospheric	MR Hair _{MR Shader}
Guides from Shape _Modifier	Guide Clustering _Modifier		Hair Draw _Effect	Hair Texture _{2d Map}
Hair from Guides _Modifier	Propagation _Modifier		Render Settings _Modifier	Cheap Shader _Shader
Baked Guides _Object	Gravity _Modifier		Shadow Maps _Shadow	Expensive Shader _Shader
Baked Hair _Object	Length _Modifier		Raytraced Shadows _Shadows	Translucent Shader _Shader
Hair Presets _Object	Detail _Modifier		Deep Shadow Maps _Shadow
Hair Preset Maker _Object	Symmetry _Modifier		VRay _Modifier
Guides from Guide Mesh _Modifier
Guides on Spline _Modifier
Hair Shells _Modifier
Mesh from Strands _Modifier
Hair from Mesh Strips _Object

Symmetry Modifier

Symmetry Modifier

Videos

Description

_{Only one side of the distribution mesh is used to generate hair}

When working with meshes symmetry is often used to speed up the process. Similar technique can be applied to Ornatrix strands (hair or guides). You can model only side of your hair and watch the other side update automatically to reflect the changes.

_{Symmetry is applied to mirror hair onto the other side. Because symmetry is on the top of the stack, grounding strands isn't necessary but there is a seam. Solution: Apply symmetry to guides to get good interpolation.}

The best strategy is to use symmetry on guides, collapse them down after modeling, and use the ground modifier to ground both sides onto the mesh. Because symmetry doesn't produce any surface information the guides on the other side have to be re-projected onto the surface to get sensible results. Note that if you're applying symmetry on top of your stack, then you shouldn't really worry about surface information since all of the work on hair requiring it is already done.

Editing Symmetry Plane

The symmetry modifier has a single sub-object component which allows to you edit the symmetry plane. This plane determines how the strands are mirrored. Once in sub-object mode, use standard 3ds Max select and transform tools to rotate the plane to the desired position.

Parameters

X/Y/Z

Changes the orientation of the symmetry plane

Ground Mirrored Strands

When turned on, this option will attempt to automatically place the mirrored strands onto the distribution surface. This allows hair from guides modifier to be applied directly above this modifier to generate dense hair without having to add a ground strands modifier in between.

Use Ignore Distance

When on, any strands which are closer to the symmetry plane than a predefined distance will not be mirrored onto the other size.

Distance

Determines the distance from plane to use along with the "Use Ignore Distance" option

MaxScript Access

You may use standard properties exposed by showProperties myModifier to access and change this modifier.

Examples

You can find examples on usage of this modifier by examining the unit tests in Test_SymmetryModifier.ms.

Missing Something? Let us know if this page needs more information about the topic.