The MetaHuman Groom Starter Kit for Maya demonstrates how to author a MetaHuman-compatible groom that can be applied to a MetaHuman Character or published on Fab. It gives an example of creating and styling a groom in Maya that can be exported and integrated into a basic groom setup in Unreal Engine.
The provided XGen scene features a collection with one description containing guides, interpolated hair, and various styling modifiers. Use the Groom Exporter to export grooms from XGen to Unreal Engine. Refer to the Maya documentation for more information on grooming with XGen.
Prerequisites
Maya 2023-2026.
The MetaHuman for Maya plugin installed.
The MetaHuman Groom Starter Kit for Maya downloaded from Fab.
Unreal Engine 5.6+.
Maya Project
The starter kit includes a Maya project called Maya_Groom_Template. It contains the .mb scene MH_Groom_Template. The Maya scene contains the MH Groom Head geometry and region grooming meshes. It also features a basic XGen groom setup consisting of a collection called head with a single description called buzzcut that contains both guides and interpolated hair.
The description uses a basic density map to control the distribution of follicles and includes Noise and Cut styling modifiers. Hair width along the length of the curve is defined using the Width Ramp, which is supported by the Groom Exporter. However, taper values are not read by the exporter.
To export an Unreal Engine compatible groom, use the Groom Exporter tool.
Unreal Engine Project
The Unreal Engine project provided in the starter kit contains a level with basic lighting setup, a MH Groom Head skeletal mesh with assigned Groom Asset, Groom Binding and MetaHuman Wardrobe Item.
The Hair_MyGroom Alembic file contains basic attributes groom_width, groom_rootuv, groom_group_id, groom_id and groom_guides. The Groom Export tool in Maya allows for other attributes to be exported with Alembic files as well.
The Hair_MyGroom Groom Asset was created by importing the Hair_MyGroom Alembic file into Unreal Engine.
The Hair_MyGroom groom asset contains MI_Hair material which is assigned in the Materials tab. MI_Hair is a MetaHuman-compatible hair material instance.
Groom Binding
SKM_MH_Groom_Head is a skeletal mesh that corresponds to the Maya MH Groom Head mesh.
SKM_MH_Groom_Head can be used as a Source Skeletal Mesh or Target Skeletal Mesh in the Binding Asset. In order for Groom Asset to be accurately attached to the skeletal mesh and move and deform with it, Groom Binding needs to be created.
If the aim is to attach Groom to SKM_MH_Groom_Head, this skeletal mesh should be assigned to Target Skeletal Mesh of the Groom Binding.
If the aim is to attach a groom to another MetaHuman-compatible head skeletal mesh, SKM_MH_Groom_Head needs to be assigned to the Source Skeletal Mesh and the MetaHuman-compatible head skeletal mesh should be assigned to Target Skeletal Mesh.
If the aim is to use the groom in MetaHuman Creator in Unreal Engine, SKM_MH_Groom_Head should be assigned to both Source and Target Skeletal Mesh.
Once the Groom Binding Asset is set, the Groom Asset can be assigned to the Head Skeletal Mesh in the Level. SKM_MH_Groom_Head is imported into the level and Groom Component is assigned to it. In the Groom Asset slot Hair_MyGroom groom asset is assigned, and in the Binding Asset slot GB_Hair_MyGroom. With this setup in place, Hair_MyGroom will move and deform together with SKM_MH_Groom_Head.
MetaHuman Package File
The starter kit also includes a MetaHuman Package file (.mhpkg) - this is the format used when packaging MetaHuman-compatible assets to buy and sell on Fab. This is an example of how to structure the groom assets ready for packaging if you are making MetaHuman-compatible grooms to sell.
Drag and drop this file onto the Content Browser in Unreal Engine to add the contents to the project.
Once added to the project, you will see a Hair_MyGroom folder which contains a Groom Binding (GB_Hair_MyGroom) and MetaHuman Wardrobe Item (WI_Hair_MyGroom). The subfolder Hair_MyGroom contains all the dependent files, the Groom Asset (Hair_MyGroom) being one of them. The subfolder GroomMesh contains Grooming Head Skeletal Mesh SKM_MH_Groom_Head and accompanying skeleton and physics asset, while the Materials subfolder contains all the Hair and Head Materials, Material Functions and Textures.
The MetaHuman Wardrobe Item asset contains all relevant information for a Groom that is intended to be used in the wardrobe of a character in MetaHuman Creator. It allows the groom to be customized when worn by the character in their costume. It references Groom Binding Asset, ensuring the groom will move and deform with the MetaHuman character head. Secondary colors can be configured here, as well as material overrides. Baked Groom Textures are configured to appear on a particular LOD. The MHC Groom Thumbnail Image and Display Name are also set in MetaHuman Wardrobe Item.