Free Blender tool Braidify turns curves into hair braids

3D artist Nino (aka defoq) has released Braidify, a free Blender tool that lets users create hair braids simply by drawing freehand curves in the viewport of the open-source 3D software.

The Geometry Nodes set-up generates both geometry-based hair for use on stylised characters, or in games and real-time applications, and strand-based hair for use in more realistic animation and visual effects work.

Create stylised or strand-based hair braids simply by drawing freehand curves
Although Blender 3.5 ships with its own Braid Hair Curves set-up for turning existing hair guide curves into braids, Braidify looks appealingly simple to use.

Users draw freehand curves in the Blender viewport, and Braidify generates a braid procedurally along the curve, attaching the base to a designated attachement object: in most cases, a 3D character’s scalp.

The size of the curve relative to the attachment object determines the scale of the braid, with users also able to adjust parameters for overall thickness, and for the thickness and frequency of individual parts.

It is also possible to toggle the braid between solid geometry and strand-based hair.

Nino has a number of other free Geometry Nodes set-ups for working with hair in his Gumroad store, including a cornrow hair generator and a more general hair system.

Price and system requirements
Braidify is provided as a .blend file for Blender 3.5. It’s a free download.

Download free Blender hair braid generator Braidify from Nino’s Gumroad store