Animated Guide Curves + Noise/Frizz/Clumping (Curve IDs change per frame)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently trying to set up a proper hair workflow in Blender using externally simulated guides, but I’m running into an issue with Curve IDs.

Setup

The hair itself is created with Geometry Nodes.

The final look of the hair is already defined using stacked modifiers (Noise, Clumping, Frizz) in Geometry Nodes, and it is essential that this appearance is preserved after simulation.

The guide curves are simulated externally (e.g. in Houdini or with Blender’s particle system).

These animated guides are then exported as Alembic or USD and imported back into Blender.

I use the Mesh Sequence Cache Modifier to bring the animated guides into Blender.

Goal

I want to apply the Noise, Clumping, and Frizz modifiers on these animated guides.

The aim is to keep the defined look consistent across the animation, without the modifiers jumping or changing unpredictably each frame.

The Problem

With Mesh Sequence Cache + Noise/Clumping/Frizz active, the curve IDs change every frame.

Because of this, Noise and Frizz flicker or completely change their pattern every frame, making them unusable.

Without Mesh Sequence Cache (e.g. using static curves directly inside Blender), the IDs remain stable and the modifiers work as expected.

My assumption: The issue is very likely caused by unstable IDs after the Mesh Sequence Cache is applied. I can’t say with 100% certainty, but it seems to be the root of the problem.

What I Already Tried

Moving the Mesh Sequence Cache Modifier to the end of the modifier stack → doesn’t work, the appearance is not preserved.

Capturing and forwarding IDs → not sure if I did it correctly. I captured the ID before interpolation, but the IDs still jump per frame afterwards.

Simulating hair directly in Geometry Nodes with addons → IDs remain stable, but the simulation quality is much lower compared to Houdini.

Simulating guides in Houdini, exporting as Alembic/USD, importing in Blender → animation works, but the ID problem persists.

Summary

I need animated guide curves onto which I can apply Noise, Clumping, and Frizz so that the defined hair look is preserved.

Right now, with Mesh Sequence Cache, the curve IDs seem to change every frame, which breaks Noise and Frizz.

Has anyone found a way to stabilize the IDs after using Mesh Sequence Cache, or a workaround to get Noise, Frizz, and Clumping to work consistently on cached animated guides?

Thanks in advance!

kunemann