Ornatrix 9 Masks Pipeline | Guide Groups & Stack Cleanup | Ep 3

Ornatrix 9 Masks Pipeline Guide: Modifier Stack Cleanup & Guide Group Management

Welcome back to CHARLY TUTORS. I am Andrew Krivulya (Charly), and today we continue our "Ornatrix 9 Masks Pipeline" series. In Episode 3, we dive into the technical hygiene of your grooming project: cleaning up the modifier stack and mastering guide groups for precise control.

THE PAIN POINT: VIEWPORT LAG & STACK CHAOS

A cluttered modifier stack is the enemy of any 3D Grooming Artist. Without proper cleanup, 3ds Max scenes become heavy, and managing thousands of guides becomes a nightmare. Gaps in hair coverage and messy intersections often result from a lack of organization in guide groups.

THE SOLUTION: HARDWARE POWER & SOFTWARE PRECISION

To maintain a fluid workflow in 2026, I rely on the MSI Titan 18 HX AI. Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 with 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, this machine allows me to handle high-density previews of 100,000+ hairs with Path Tracing enabled without breaking a sweat. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor ensures that complex hair simulations and stack collapses are processed in seconds.



PIPELINE BREAKDOWN (EPISODE 3):

  • Stack Cleanup & "Collapse To": To keep the scene optimized, we use the "Collapse To" function. Right-click the top modifier and select "Collapse To" to bake your progress into "Baked Guides". Ensure the "scalp" remains attached during this process to avoid breaking the groom. Pro Tip: Before deleting the "Strand Length" modifier, copy its parameters for later use.
  • Mastering Guide Groups (Group IDs): Working with separate parts is essential for complex hairstyles. Assign specific IDs (like Group 14) to your current selection to isolate them later. Use the "Select by Group" function to quickly toggle between different hair sections.
  • Refining the Groom: Plant Tool & Intersections: Use the "Plant Tool" to fill gaps between existing guides, ensuring a natural transition. Enable "Affect Select Only" when trimming to fix intersections without disturbing surrounding guides. Fix unevenness using the "Smoothing tool".
  • Advanced Visualization: Hidden Guide Behavior: In the "Hair From Guides" modifier, set "Hidden Guide Behavior" to "Hide". This allows the system to generate hair only for the guides currently visible or isolated in your viewport.

MY HARDWARE SETUP:

  • Device: MSI Titan 18 HX AI
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 24 GB GDDR7 (175W TDP)
  • CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (24 cores, up to 5.5 GHz)
  • RAM: 96 GB DDR5 5600 MHz
  • Monitor: Samsung LC34H890WGIXCI (21:9 Ultrawide, 3440x1440p)

CONCLUSION & CTA

Maintaining a clean pipeline is what separates professional grooming from a hobbyist approach. Do you have questions about the "Plant Tool" or "Hidden Guide Behavior" in Ornatrix 9? Drop them in the comments!

HELPFUL LINKS:

#Ornatrix9 #3dsMax2026 #3DGrooming #MSITitan #RTX5090 #CharlyTutors #GroomingPipeline

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