Graphics [RELEASED] Hair Composer (nVidia HairWorks)

So clear, I did copy that.
Sure, I will support you when your stuff release(v1.4).

PS: Damn nice about hair simulation, thumb up to hair composer.
See you at August.

 

Just bought this yesterday.

The problem is, I can't find HairWorks 1.3.1 in NVIDIA download center.



Am I doing something wrong?

 

no they never released 1.3.1 to the download center. you need to get access to their GitHub.

assuming you already have an nivida developer account, go here: https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks



click the green button to apply for GitHub membership. you'll need to provide your GitHub account ID so make that first If you don't already have one. After a couple days you'll be approved and given access to the GitHub projects.

you'll be able to tell because you will be added as a team member on GitHub and it will show on your GitHub home page.

 

Hi Ken,

I made an answer by email. Just in case I will copy a quote from there:

Spoiler: Quote

To download NVIDIA HairWorks 1.3.1 you will need GameWorks access on GitHub. Please open this link in your browser: https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks. Then click on "Click Here to Join GameWorks Access Team on GitHub" button.

After approval you will find all downloads at:
https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/HairWorks/releases

For HairWorks 1.3.1 please follow by this link:
https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/HairWorks/releases/tag/v1.3.1

Or you may download directly by one of the links below:
https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/HairWorks/archive/v1.3.1.zip
https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/HairWorks/archive/v1.3.1.tar.gz

Indeed, like ceebeee said, since 1.3.1 they stopped publishing at Download Center. Likely because they require your consent with GameWorks EULA before downloading binaries or sources.

Thank you for your support. I will make sure this part is also documented.

 

Hello Simod, i am getting an error here, after downloading the contents, Failed* General Error Ocurred. Sometimes de bar goes a little bit forward and get error compiling (x86). I am using the v2019.4-1. x64. My windows is x64 and i using the hairworks 1.3.1 from directly link above.

 

Tried to update my visual studio, tried with 1.4 Hair Works, trying in a friend computer and still same error.

 

Hi r3ndesigner,

Seems like it can't compile the sources. Please could let me know your Key by a private message, I will quickly try this Key on our side, and see what is going on.

 

Hi Simod,
I have same problem. "BUILD Failed * General error occurred"

Does the Unity 2018.3.11f1 (or 12f1) need to be installed before building?
(HairWorks 1.3.1)

 

Hi puzzic,

The Builder should compile without Unity installed just fine.

According to our investigation build flow has several issues:

1. "BUILD Failed * General error occurred" occurs just after "Unpacking HairWorks"
   The cause: For some reason MS Build Tools don't tolerate special characters in the path. This may happen for example, when User has special characters in it's name, and Builder is running from a desktop folder
   
   A temporary workaround: to put Builder in a folder which does not include special character in the path
   
   Solution: next release it will create a temporary folder and run MS Build Tools from there
   
   
2. Compilation may fail at x86 or x64 stages. Unfortunately I could not reproduce this, hence still collecting details
   
   
3. Builder may fail at MS Build Tools installation step. Confirmed on Windows 7
   The cause: MS Build Tools installer does not respect "-wait" argument, and returns result code before finishing installation

Just to confirm please could you let me know if #1 is your case and you have special characters in Windows Username?

 

Thank you support.

I am currently using Windows 10.
And I'm not writing a folder containing special characters.
I think for a moment that the message is seen in the progress bar, it seems to skip step 2 or 3.
The directory path information is d:\work\devLibs\NVidia HairWorks.

 

Thank you for your reply.

Yes the progress bar may jump from one step to the next one - this is normal and expected behavior.

Most important is the last faulty step. If you let me know exactly what do you see just before "BUILD Failed" message, that would help to recognize the step.

PS. To make sure your project does not have delays I sent you e-mail with instructions. Please let me know if that works for you

 

Thank you Simod!
It works well without problems.

However, the build is still not working.

PS. I've sent you e-mail about the build step where the problem occurs.

 

Thank you Kevin,
Glad to hear the main package is working well.

The video you sent is very informative. It showing exactly same symptoms like if Builder.exe is running from the path with a special characters.

You may also run Build Tools Installer directly from "[Builder Root Folder]\thirdparty\microsoft\build-tools\vs_buildtools.exe". It should also fail.

Please could you try this too?

 

Hi, Simod,

I tried to run vs_buildtools like the guide.
The update for VS2017 Community version has been performed normally. Of course, in the beginning of the update, there was a pop-up prompting to quit the associated program.
However, the update proceeded normally.

Do you include support for multilingual support?
What if the directory path is, for example, the topmost one in Korean?
Of course, my directory path is not.

my system information :
OS - Windows 10 Home, 64bit, Korean
Build tool path - D: \ CRYOMEN-Build-Tools-2019.4-1-x64
HairWorks 1.3.1 - D: \

I'm really curious.

 

Thank you Kevin,

This is valuable information indeed. Seems like we got several issues with the same symptoms.

It does not have multilingual support. But the code itself should work on Windows with any language. Just in case I will make sure our QA tests are running on Windows with custom language.

Currently our team is working on a special solution which will allow to run vs_buildtools in offline mode. This will give more control and hopefully will help to address these issues.

 

Just released a new version for Unity 2019.1.2f1, 2019.1.11f1 and 2019.1.13f1. Though still no blend shapes support. This version took lot of resources to improve the Builder code, which supposed to fix all issues found previously.

Blend shapes development is stuck about mixed indices. For optimization purposes Unity got aggressive algorithm which in most cases will change vertices amount and order. To workaround this, we need to build a map table between two worlds - Unity and HairWorks. Initial algorithm is quite simple, but can be heavy to execute (complexity unity_vertices*hairworks_vertices).
Surprisingly NVIDIA did same approach in the Unreal Engine, so I guess this is the only way.

The latest version is available at: https://www.cryomen.com/downloads/

 

Hi. Some Unity BuitIn RP with PPV2 related questions.

Are Motion Vectors supported?
These are needed to work with PPV2 TAA or CTAA.

How it works in combination with AO methods from PPV2?
Are both AO modes supported?

Are the hairs properly written to depth?
How PPV2 DOF reacts to the hairs?

Per implementation TressFX use per-pixel link lists for an order-independent transparency solution. Hairworks does not use any order-independent transparency solution.
How the transparency from Hairs behaves in an Unity scene?
How the transparency from Hairs behaves in combination with other transparent objects in an Unity scene?

How the Hairs behave with MSAA in Forward Rendering in an Unity scene?

Do you have an example to test these common PostProcessing V2 features with the Hairworks hairs?

 

Hi keeponshading,

This is a quick answer.

Good you mentioned this. It had working motion vectors and TAA with old version of PPV. I will let you know if it works with PPV2 now.

Yes, it has it in depth buffer. DOF effect also worked fine. I will check DOF with PPV2.

Hairs are fully opaque. It has option which allows you to setup alpha channel for the hair roots. But this is solely for blending between hairs and the scalp, AND YES this setting may show visual artifacts

It performs perfectly well. I would strongly suggest to use hairs in combination with MSAA and Motion Blur. This video is showing how it looks with three combined:

Unfortunately not at that moment.

PS. I will let you know extra details, and answer the rest of questions after some research.

 

Motion Vectors are now broken. I made a quick check of the shaders and these seems identical to Unity. Something is missing, so I will check that a bit later

It seems working with AO. Though this require a deep check with a proper visual tests.

DOF looks great. No visual issues in the tests

 

Thanks for the fast answer.
This were the common issues with hair solutions.

From my side it s ok when there are issues with both AO methods.
All others became show stoppers.)
The video is pretty nice. Hope you reach some good compatibility with latest PPV2.

 

Hey there, how its going the hdrp version?

 

It does not support HDRP at that moment

 

Hello, I would like to know whether it is possible to directly edit hair in Unity3D?Instead of generating apx files in 3DMax.

 

Hi,

No, it's not possible at that moment.

 

When do you plan to make support for HDRP ?

 

Hi,

Currently there is no deadline for HDRP.

 

Insta-buy for me if you support HDRP

 

Noted

 

Hi! I've just bought your plugin, but I have a problem using it with a skinned character which also has blendshapes. I'm using Hairworks 1.4 and Unity 2019.3. I've found that the "skinned control guides" in debug mode seem to move correctly with the blendshapes, but the hair in general doesn't seem to work with blendshapes. Well, at least some hair strands seem to change with the hair when a blendshape is pulled up, but certainly not those hairs which should be affected. So what am I doing wrong? Should I expect your plugin to work with blendshapes? Are there some specific import settings which should be set when importing an FBX mesh which has blendshapes?

 

Hi zoltansostai,

It does not support blendshapes at that moment. You may find a full list of supported features at Downloads Page or first message of this thread.

We found HairWorks 1.4 beta has blendshapes implementation slightly wrong/unfinished. In addition 1.4 beta got regression with Frame rate Independent Rendering if using together with blendshapes related API.

As long as GameWorks Binary SDK EULA denies change of sources, blendshapes support is currently postponed. Nothing we can do about this.

 

How do I get a Beta license?
I must test the effect before I can decide whether to buy

 

HDRP means custom render pipeline. Why developer should release assets for that?

 

Because it's a new de-facto pipeline for high quality projects in Unity? Or maybe because I have my game written in HDRP and use assets bought in Unity Store built for HDRP as well?

 

Hi ~, I'm a unity 2019.3.06 user. I download the documentation you give, and I want to try this hair Composer on Unity 2019.3.06 I try to follow the steps in your video. But I stuck at the "license key", I don't know how to get a license key number. Would you please tell me how to get it ? I really want to try this Demo in Unity. Is there any way for UNITY URP? Can this plug-in also be used?Thanks you.

 

Hi kelvinkou,

The license key can be purchased at: https://www.cryomen.com/. Though please keep in mind it does not have demo licenses. Also it does not support URP. You may find a full list of supported features at: https://forum.unity.com/threads/released-hair-composer-nvidia-hairworks.453136/

 

Thank you for your answer. Is there a way to clearly inform about the date of HDRP support? I will purchase the plugin soon

 

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. The release date with HDRP support in not known yet. Currently the project is at maintenance stage, t.e. bug fixing, minor improvements and next version Unity support.

But you may follow this forum thread for latest news. We will announce HDRP support here.

 

Hello, I can't download in INSTALLATION, HairWorks 1.4 Beta and HairWorks 1.3.1，How to solve this problem，This is my email account：gaisitabo@126.com

 

Hello MoYing,

I believe you tried direct links at the product documentation.
Before doing that, it is important to login to GitHub and make sure you got free access to the NVIDIA GameWorks repository.

In case if you don't have access yet, please try the steps describes at documentation page.

Should you still have difficulties, please let us know.

 

1:I have registered an account with NVIDIA Developer here and joined the developer program, and I have not seen the latest version of hairworks1.4beta.


2:I know that some operations are incorrect. I download HairWorks version 1.2.1, fill in the License Key in the cryomen build tool, follow the video operation, wait for a while, the download is not successful


Please tell me how to change the above 2 steps?

 

Hello MoYing,

Nvidia did not update that page for a long time. All latest versions are available at their GitHub.

If you got access already, please login to your GitHub account and go to NVIDIA GameWorks repositories.
For your convenience I will put a direct link here: https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/HairWorks/releases

 

Show 404 after login

 

Oh, you don't have access yet. It's not instant and require some time to Nvidia team to review the application.

It will look like this after approval.

 

hi, does it work with URP ?

nevermind, i just saw it doesn't, XBOX ONE and PS4 are not in priority list.
so i supposenot the nintendo switch

no console no mobile, just PC i'm correct ?

is there any plan ?

 

Hi,

Sadly Gameworks EULA denies use of binaries on non-Windows devices. Nothing we can do about this.

 

Hi Simod,

Another one here for blendshapes and HDRP support. Any idea on when the blendshape support will come?

Thanks, Jake

 

Hello Jake,

We are currently waiting for HDRP to mature enough. Currently implementation will be a tricky task.

With blendshape enabled Hairworks 1.4 beta broke Frame rate Independent Rendering. Also surprisingly 3dsmax and Maya plugins does not export blenshapes as a part of the Growth Mesh. In that case we have to transfer blenshape using (potentially) different topology (from main model to growth mesh), which is no easy task either.
We don't have a legal right to modify Hairworks sources, unfortunately we have to wait for NVIDIA too...

 

anybody tested this on next gen consoles if it's work ?

 

Hi,

Gameworks EULA denies use of binaries on non-Windows devices. Nothing we can do about this, sorry.

 

alright thank you for the info any chance you create your own solution or try to port tressfx from amd