Lace Maker

Description

Procedural shoelace generation, done right. Create realistic, fully-detailed lacing for any model. from eyestays to aglets, all from a single mesh strip.  No more painstaking manual lace modeling. Define your shoe opening, pick a pattern, and let Lace Maker handle the rest.

What It Does

Lace Maker turns a simple grid mesh into a complete shoelace assembly. Eyestays, eyelets, lace paths, lace geometry, aglets, and even tied or untied lace ends, all generated procedurally and ready to render.

Start with your shoe model, lay down a mesh strip across the opening, and Lace Maker builds everything on top of it. Every component follows the surface of your shoe, so laces sit naturally no matter the shape.

Requirements

• 3ds Max 2022+

Features

• 9 Lacing Patterns
  Criss-cross, over-under, straight bar, serpentine, army, bow tie, sawtooth, waffle, and train track. Pick the style that fits your design, or swap between them instantly to explore different looks.
  
• 4 Eyelet Types
  Holes, hooks, rings, and loops — mix and match them on the same shoe. Each type has its own offset, rotation, and scale controls, and the lace path automatically adjusts its threading to match. User can specify custom meshes for each eyelet type.
  
• Realistic Lace Ends
  Choose between untied laces with natural droop and waviness, or tied laces with a full knot and loops. Each side gets its own randomized variation so nothing looks copy-pasted.
  
• Full Mesh Generation
  Go beyond splines. Lace Maker extrudes your laces into renderable mesh geometry with rectangular, circular, or fully custom cross-section profiles. Aglets cap the ends automatically.
• Eyestay Support
  Automatically generates the reinforced strips along both sides of the shoe opening, complete with eyelet holes punched at each position.
  
• Aglet Support
  Automatically places aglets at the end’s of the laces generated with a user provided custom aglet mesh.
  
• Surface-Conforming Paths
  Lace paths follow your shoe’s surface using bilinear interpolation across the mesh grid. Over-segments sit above the surface, under-segments tuck below it, and transitions blend smoothly between the two.
• Adjustable Tension & Detail
  Control curve tightness with separate tension settings for eyelet regions and mid-span segments. Add more control points per segment for tighter surface conformity, or keep it minimal for a cleaner look.
• Real-Time Preview
  See changes as you make them. Adjust a parameter and the preview updates live, so you can dial in the exact look you want without waiting for a full rebuild.
• Non-Destructive Workflow
  Your source mesh stays untouched. Tweak any setting, swap patterns, or change eyelet types at any time. Lace Maker regenerates everything from your original mesh strip.

How It Works

1. Set up your mesh strip — Create a simple grid mesh across your shoe’s opening. Rows define eyelet pairs, columns define the surface shape between them.
2. Assign eyelet types — Tag each row with the hardware you want: holes, hooks, rings, or loops. Mix them freely.
3. Pick a lacing pattern — Choose from 9 built-in patterns. The lace path, crossing behavior, and segment visibility are all handled automatically.
4. Generate — Hit generate and Lace Maker creates eyestays, eyelets, lace splines, lace meshes, aglets, and lace ends — all properly grouped and ready for rendering.
5. Refine — Adjust any parameter and regenerate. Or edit the output splines directly in Max for final tweaks.

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