# Grooms — Tutorials **Process note:** [[Grooms for MetaHuman — Considerations]] Collected 19–20 September 2026 for UE 5.8 / MetaHuman 5.8. ## Official (Epic) | Title | Link | Notes | |---|---|---| | Hair Rendering and Simulation (5.8 hub) | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/hair-rendering-and-simulation-in-unreal-engine | Start here | | **Groom Platform Support** | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/groom-platform-support-in-unreal-engine | **Strands:** Windows, macOS (M2+), Linux, consoles. **Cards/meshes:** all platforms. Quest and phones need cards | | Groom Scalability and Performance | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/groom-scalability-and-performance-with-unreal-engine | Groom LODs and cost | | Setting Up Cards and Meshes for Grooms | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/setting-up-cards-and-meshes-for-grooms-in-unreal-engine | Strands, cards or mesh per LOD | | Groom Asset Editor | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/groom-asset-editor-user-guide-in-unreal-engine | | | Groom Components and Assets | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/groom-components-and-assets-in-unreal-engine | | | Groom Materials | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/groom-materials-in-unreal-engine | | | Hair Card Generator (experimental) · in Dataflow · video | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/hair-card-generator-for-grooms-in-unreal-engine · https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/hair-card-generator-in-dataflow-in-unreal-engine · https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/tutorials/pwbl/unreal-engine-metahuman-hair-card-generator-video-tutorial | Cards for headsets | | **Groom Starter Kit (Maya XGen)** | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/groom-starter-kit | Maya 2023–2026. XGen → Groom Exporter → Alembic → Groom Asset → Binding → Wardrobe Item → Creator | | Houdini Groom Starter Kit · Advanced Kit · MetaHuman for Houdini | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/houdini-groom-starter-kit · https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/houdini-groom-advanced-kit · https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-for-houdini | | | Parametric Hairstyle Generator (Houdini 20.5+, experimental) | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/parametric-hairstyle-generator | No facial-hair coverage | | Tailoring Your Own Wardrobe Items (packaging grooms for Creator) | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/tailoring-your-own-wardrobe-items | | | UE 5.8 release notes (Chaos Hair paint attributes, skin weighting, guide swap; Nanite grooms; cards to skeletal mesh) | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/unreal-engine-5-8-release-notes | | | MetaHuman 5.8 known issues | https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-known-issues-5-8-in-unreal-engine | Check before starting | ## Community | Title | Provider | Link | |---|---|---| | Advanced Grooming Tips and Houdini to Unreal | SideFX | https://www.sidefx.com/tutorials/advanced-grooming-tips-and-houdini-to-unreal-engine-tutorial/ | | UE 5.6 MetaHuman parametric grooms (+ cards) using Blender | YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttoj9EHAn40 | | Blender hair into Unreal's groom system (2026) | iRender (Medium) | https://medium.com/@irenderofficial/how-to-get-blender-hair-into-unreal-engines-groom-system-without-losing-your-mind-2026-f2248ff49bd4 | | MetaHuman Groom Guide (UE 5.6–5.7, PDF) | Viirtuals | https://viirtuals.com/guide/metahumanGroomGuide-Viirtuals.pdf | | Export MetaHuman grooms from Maya XGen | Yelzkizi | https://yelzkizi.org/export-metahuman-grooms-from-maya-xgen-to-unreal/ | | Binding your own groom to a MetaHuman (forum) | Epic forums | https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-bind-my-own-groom-to-metahuman-character/228544 | | MetaHuman groom "explosions" in 5.7 (check fixed in 5.8) | Epic forums | https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-grooms-hair-explosions-in-ue-5-7/2684304 | ## 19th-century hair reference | Source | Link | Use | |---|---|---| | Nantucket Historical Association, Cased Photographs Collection (c. 1845–1875) | https://nha.org/research/the-collections/finding-aid/guide-to-the-cased-photographs-collection-circa-1845-1875/ | **Primary:** islanders' hair and beards by decade | | NHA on Digital Commonwealth | https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/institutions/commonwealth:gm80j226v | Browsable images | | Library of Congress Daguerreotypes collection | https://www.loc.gov/collections/daguerreotypes/ | Public-domain reference | | Mark Campbell, *Self-Instructor in the Art of Hair Work* (1867) | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38658/38658-h/38658-h.htm | Period hairdressing and hairpieces | | FIT Fashion History Timeline (by decade) | https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1840-1849/ | Hairstyles in context | | Victorian Web, women's hairstyles 1850–1900 | https://victorianweb.org/art/costume/nunn10.html | | | Shenandoah / chin-curtain beard (whaling-era captains) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_(beard) | Secondary; confirm with photographs | | WVU Libraries, men's facial hair of the late 1800s | https://news.lib.wvu.edu/2015/06/01/fashion-forward-mens-facial-hair-of-the-late-1800s/ | | **Remember the plates' colour bias:** blond and red hair photograph dark. Hair colour comes from written descriptions ([[ZBrush — Likeness and Age Research]]). ## Local tutorials (Augmented Traveler) | Tutorial | Covers | Owner | |---|---|---| | [[Tutorial — Period Hairstyles from Evidence]] | Reading photographs for hair; decade guide 1830s–1880s; Quaker plainness; evidence sheet; labelling interpreted colour | Groom artist, historian, costume designer | | [[Tutorial — XGen Period Hair for MetaHuman]] | Groom Starter Kit (XGen Description), guides and modifiers, Groom Exporter, binding, Wardrobe Item; Mitchell's 1840s style | Groom artist | | [[Tutorial — Period Facial Hair Grooms]] | Chin curtain, mutton chops, full beard, moustache for captains; Creator's beard/moustache slots; binding to the face | Groom artist | | [[Tutorial — Hair Under Caps and Bonnets]] | Cap-compressed groom variants, hiding hair, collision limits, per-surface approach | Groom artist, cloth artist | | [[Tutorial — Hair Cards and Groom LODs for Headsets]] | Strands vs cards per platform; Hair Card Generator; LOD set-up; budgets; profiling | Groom artist, XR engineer | ## Every groom tutorial the project needs Status: ✅ written · 🔗 an external tutorial is enough · ✏️ local tutorial to write. | Need | Status | Where / plan | |---|---|---| | Groom basics: import Alembic, Groom Asset, binding to a MetaHuman | 🔗 | Groom Starter Kit + Hair Rendering hub | | **Period hairstyle from evidence** (reading photographs, parting, cap and bonnet fit, age) | ✅ | [[Tutorial — Period Hairstyles from Evidence]] | | **XGen period women's styles** (centre parts, smooth bands over the ears, back buns, 1840s–1860s) in the Groom Starter Kit | ✅ | [[Tutorial — XGen Period Hair for MetaHuman]] (uses the Starter Kit's XGen Description; Interactive Groom export unconfirmed) | | **Facial hair** (chin curtain, mutton chops, full beard; whaling captains) | ✅ | [[Tutorial — Period Facial Hair Grooms]] (no Epic facial-hair doc; built from Starter Kit + Wardrobe Items) | | **Hair under caps and bonnets** (collision, flattening, hiding hair under a Quaker cap) | ✅ | [[Tutorial — Hair Under Caps and Bonnets]] | | **Cards for headsets and phones** (Hair Card Generator, groom LODs, texture budgets) | ✅ | [[Tutorial — Hair Cards and Groom LODs for Headsets]] | | Groom physics (Chaos Hair) for gestures and head turns | 🔗 | Hair Rendering hub + 5.8 release notes; write up tuning once tested | | Packaging a groom as a Wardrobe Item for Creator | 🔗 | Tailoring Your Own Wardrobe Items | | Houdini groom route | 🔗 | Only if we hire a Houdini groom artist | | Eyebrows and lashes matched to the likeness | ✏️ | Short local tutorial after the first figure | | Performance: strands on kiosk, cards on headsets | 🔗 | [[Tutorial — Performance Profiling]] section 5 |