--- title: Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with... description: 3D artist and CG animator Nagyunagi created an intricate anime-style braided side ponytail in Blender, compressing a week of work into a one-minute time-lapse... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with 800 Shape Keys | daily.dev og:description: 3D artist and CG animator Nagyunagi created an intricate anime-style braided side ponytail in Blender, compressing a week of work into a one-minute time-lapse... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Y60A3uUdb.png og:image:alt: Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with 800 Shape Keys og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with 800 Shape Keys **[80 LEVEL](https://daily.dev/sources/80lv)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary 3D artist and CG animator Nagyunagi created an intricate anime-style braided side ponytail in Blender, compressing a week of work into a one-minute time-lapse video. The technique relied on 700-800 Shape Keys set up to revert the finished, detailed hair mesh back to its pre-refinement shape, with the values sequentially animated from 1 back to 0. The artist used a single-color shader and checked the silhouette from multiple angles throughout the process. The piece also points to related Blender hair work, including a Wuthering Waves-style hair tutorial and a free Hair Bone Generator tool. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I use shape keys in Blender to model detailed hair like an anime braided ponytail? Set up a large number of shape keys, roughly 700-800, that transition the completed detailed hair mesh back to its pre-refinement shape. Animate the shape key values sequentially from 1 back to 0 to show the hair reverting to its base form. Use a single-color shader and check the silhouette from multiple angles while modeling. _Developers tracking creative Blender workflows like this one can follow similar breakdowns on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Watch Kensyouen\_Y's New Beautiful Hair-Modeling Animation](https://daily.dev/posts/watch-kensyouen-y-s-new-beautiful-hair-modeling-animation-ok3nixxfh) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Procedural 3D Ponytail Simulated in Blender](https://daily.dev/posts/procedural-3d-ponytail-simulated-in-blender-0bqxjlccv) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How To Make Stylized Hair Look Like Curves In Maya](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-make-stylized-hair-look-like-curves-in-maya-umxls5tdg) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Artist Spent 150 Hours on This Anime-Inspired Blender Animation](https://daily.dev/posts/artist-spent-150-hours-on-this-anime-inspired-blender-animation-ppoeg1kpi) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [This Free Blender Tool Makes Hair Rigging Easier](https://daily.dev/posts/this-free-blender-tool-makes-hair-rigging-easier-t8doyrp1i) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#blender](https://daily.dev/tags/blender) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with 800 Shape Keys","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb"},"datePublished":"2026-10-01T07:17:55.480Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T07:18:12.350Z","description":"3D artist and CG animator Nagyunagi created an intricate anime-style braided side ponytail in Blender, compressing a week of work into a one-minute time-lapse...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7ba53a2d23caf17bbd903c2013988a0?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7ba53a2d23caf17bbd903c2013988a0?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"80 LEVEL","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"80 LEVEL","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/78eebcd76c154e6bbfd565fed7dc4093","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"blender","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"80 LEVEL","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Artist Creates Anime-Style Braided Side Ponytail with 800 Shape Keys"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/artist-creates-anime-style-braided-side-ponytail-with-800-shape-keys-y60a3uudb#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I use shape keys in Blender to model detailed hair like an anime braided ponytail?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Set up a large number of shape keys, roughly 700-800, that transition the completed detailed hair mesh back to its pre-refinement shape. Animate the shape key values sequentially from 1 back to 0 to show the hair reverting to its base form. Use a single-color shader and check the silhouette from multiple angles while modeling. Developers tracking creative Blender workflows like this one can follow similar breakdowns on daily.dev."}}]} ```