# Rigging hair broke my model

**URL:** <https://blenderartists.org/t/rigging-hair-broke-my-model/1641824>\
**Category:** Animation and Rigging\
**Tags:** curve, characters, rigging\
**Created:** [May 22, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/rigging-hair-broke-my-model/1641824 "2026-05-22T10:20:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WolfStudioArt](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/wolfstudioart/32/1467462_2.png) [@WolfStudioArt](https://blenderartists.org/u/WolfStudioArt)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/rigging-hair-broke-my-model/1641824/1 "2026-05-22T10:20:23Z")

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i tried rigging my blender character’s hair using the cage methog, having the hig poly strand objects linked to a low poly mesh surrounding them with a mesh deform modifier and then rigging that low poly mesh, my last attempt with only 3 cages worked perfectly a few years ago but this time (12 cages for more control) it somehow bloeat my blender file so much it started lagging and stuttering and it even started crashing uppon editing those strand objects, i tried hiding the original strands collection from the viewport and have a dulicate collection of low poly versions but tat only madde things worse, so i had to sart over on a backup where they’re still just curves, any ideas?

 ![imagen](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/6/1/5/615ee18af2687cf6367e9800dc2e3fadc3f98839.jpeg)  
(of course i’m not using 12 cages for this, this is just the left half using 6)

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**Author:** ![Ethano1](https://blenderartists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Ethano1](https://blenderartists.org/u/Ethano1)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/rigging-hair-broke-my-model/1641824/2 "2026-05-23T13:40:58Z")

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> [@WolfStudioArt](#):
>
> i tried rigging my blender character’s hair using the cage methog, having the hig poly strand objects linked to a low poly mesh surrounding them with a mesh deform modifier and then rigging that low poly mesh, my last attempt with only 3 cages worked perfectly a few years ago but this time (12 cages for more control) it somehow bloeat my blender file so much it started lagging and stuttering and it even started crashing uppon editing those strand objects, i tried hiding the original strands collection from the viewport and have a dulicate collection of low poly versions but tat only madde things worse, so i had to sart over on a backup where they’re still just curves, any ideas?

It sounds like the 12 mesh deform cages may be adding too much dependency overhead, especially with high-poly strand objects. I’d keep the hair as curves as long as possible and only convert if needed at the final stage. For control, you might get better performance using fewer larger cages, curve hooks, armature deform, or simple proxy strands for animation, then linking the final detailed hair back later. Also check modifier stack order and disable viewport display for heavy modifiers while editing.