View source for Hair and Beards: Skinning and Snapping

This guide covers skinning and snapping for hair and beards. It assumes a working level of familiarity with skinning, rigging, and 3D modelling. 

= How Does Snapping Work? =
Snapping in BG3 works by snapping skinned joints to a marked location on the body rig. Our body rig has has special '''sockets'''.

A socket is an in-engine transform. The socket names match the skinned joints inside our skin rig.

The engine will move a skinned joint of the hair to the socket location in the body skeleton.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 01.gif|center|thumb|A skinned hairstyle being snapped to the different race/gender sizes.]]

= Hair =

=== Before You Start ===
In order to skin hair, you need two things ready:

* A skeleton – use the <code>.fbx</code> files provided below
* Your hair model

We have provided three versions of the hair skeleton for you to use [TODO]:

* Human Female – for the tall races
* Dwarf Female – for the short races
* Half Orc Male – for the Half-Orc male

<blockquote>''ⓘ Important! The snapping system is entirely dependent on the naming conventions of the joints. We have provided the <code>.fbx</code> files above so that you have the correct positions and names of the joints.''</blockquote>If hair is skinned to the Human Female rig, the in-engine systems will automatically snap the hair to the other races. Technically, this will work for all races, but due to differences in skull shapes and sizes, we recommend creating a version with each of the three separate rigs.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 02.png|center|thumb|505x505px|The hair skinning joints.]]

=== Hair Skinning Joints ===
The hair skinning joints can be sorted into 3 groups:

* Head joints
* Neck joints
* Body joints

While not all joints are needed to achieve nice snapping, we recommend at least having the head joints.

==== Head Joints ====
The head joints will move with the head animations.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 03.png|center|thumb|550x550px|The head joints.]]

==== Neck Joints ====
The neck joints will move with the neck animations.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 04.png|center|thumb|597x597px|The neck joints.]]

==== Body Joints ====
The body joints will move with the chest animations.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 05.png|center|thumb|541x541px|The body joints.]]

=== Important Joints ===
The most important joints are the '''forehead, lowerEar,''' and '''neck2''' joints.

The '''forehead''' joints ensure that your hairstyle matches the foreheads of the various races and genders that it will be snapped to. It is best to keep the hairline of your hairstyle roughly alligned with the forehead joints. Moving it further back may cause hair to clip too much, or to hover above the scalp on other races or genders.

The '''lowerEar''' and '''neck2''' joints ensure that the hair stays on the neck of the character.

== Joint Naming Conventions ==
As mentioned earlier, the naming of the joints is very important. The engine uses the names to know which sockets to snap them to.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Joint Naming Conventions
!Head Joints
!Neck Joints
!Body Joints
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Back_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck2_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Chest1_L
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Back_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck2_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Chest1_R
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Back_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck2_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Chest2_L
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Crown_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Chest2_R
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Crown_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Scapula1_L
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Crown_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Scapula1_R
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_CrownTop_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Scapula2_L
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_CrownTop_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Scapula2_R
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_CrownTop_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Ear_Adjust_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Ear_Adjust_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Ear_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Ear_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Forehead_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Forehead_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Forehead_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_FrontTop_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_LowerEar_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_LowerEar_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Neck1_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Sideburn_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Sideburn_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Temple_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Temple_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Top1_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Top1_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Top2_L
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Top2_R
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Socket_Hair_Top_M
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |
|}

= Turning On Snapping in the Editor =
Once you’ve imported your hairstyles (see '''Hair and Beards: Assets'''), you can enable automatic snapping. Select the hairstyle’s mesh (the VisualResource file) in the Resource Manager. Find the '''Needs Skeleton Remap''' option and make sure it’s turned on.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 06.png|center|thumb|399x399px|The “Needs Skeleton Remap” option, found in the settings of the selected VisualResource.]]
The engine will now know to snap the hair to different races and genders.

= Beards =
Beards use a similar system, but because beards need to move alongside each different face, we have locators instead of sockets. These locators are in the facial rig itself, and move with the face. 
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 07.gif|center|thumb|900x900px|The beard locators moving with the face.]]

=== Before You Start ===
To skin a beard, you need two things:

* The skeleton – use the <code>.fbx</code> file provided below
* The beard model you want to skin

We have provided a Male Human beard skeleton for you to use [TODO]:

* MOD_Default_HUM_M_Beard.fbx

=== Joint Naming Conventions ===
The naming of the joints is very important because they are what’s used to snap to engine socket locations.<blockquote>''ⓘ Important! Due to differing pipelines, the capitalisation of the joints is slightly different. To avoid issues, please make sure you are using the exact names provided.''</blockquote>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Beard Joints
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_cheek_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_cheek_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_chin_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_chin_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_ear_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_ear_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_jaw_base_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_jaw_base_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_jaw_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_jaw_m
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_jaw_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_labiomental_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_labiomental_m
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_labiomental_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_lower_lip1_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_lower_lip1_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_lower_lip2_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_lower_lip2_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_lower_lip_m
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_philtrum_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_philtrum_m
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_philtrum_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline1_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline1_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline2_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline2_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline3_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_smileline3_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_upper_lip1_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_upper_lip1_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_upper_lip2_l
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_upper_lip2_r
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |beard_upper_lip_m
|}
Beard skinning works similarly to hair: you will need to enable '''Needs Skeleton Remap''' on the beard’s VisualResource, just as you did for the hair.
[[File:Hair and Beards Part 4 06.png|center|thumb|399x399px|The “Needs Skeleton Remap” option, found in the settings of the selected VisualResource.]]
To get the best snapping across a variety of faces, skin your mesh to as many of the beard joints as possible.

[[Category:Hair and Beards]]