I just went through this in Maya 2017 with a scalp mesh. I wanted to change the name from GEO_Scalp to GEO_Scalp_Hair. Initially I thought it would be straight forward. It wasn't. Below are the steps I went through to get it done. I will use my situation for the steps. Also, I use a Mac. Your folders may be slightly different. However, the process should be the same:
1. Open the Maya file containing the groom and change the name of the mesh from GEO_Scalp to GEO_Scalp_Hair. Do nothing else! Save the file and exit.
2. In the sourceimages/3dPaintTextures folder you will have a folder for the groom (mine was sourceimages/3dPaintTextures/MyGroom). In that folder, there will be .iff files that represent your painted groom maps before they are converted to ptex. The automatic naming convention includes the name of the mesh. You need to change that portion of the file name. In my case, I changed one of my files from GEO_Scalp_Shape_MyGroom_MyGroomDensityMask.iff to GEO_Scalp_HairShape_MyGroom_MyGroomDensityMask.iff. Change the names all of such .iff files
3. Go to the XGen collections folder (mine is xgen/collections/MyGroom). In all of the subfolders, change the .ptx and .xuv file names from the old mesh name to the new mesh name (e.g., GEO_Scalp.ptx to GEO_Scalp_Hair.ptx).
4. In your scenes folder, you should have a .xgen file. Open this file in a text editor and replace all of the instances of your old name with the new name. In my case, I replaced all instances of GEO_Scalp with GEO_Scalp_Hair. I had approximately 6 instances. The number of instances will depend on the geometry and number of maps you have.
5. Once you have completed the above steps, open the Maya file containing the groom. Everything should be connected and working now. If so, then save the Maya file.
6. Continue making artistic greatness 🙂
The process is not yet very user friendly. Although, Maya 2017 is a lot easier than previous versions. I hope Autodesk streamlines the process for migrating xgen grooms and renaming referenced meshes. It currently seems unnecessarily complicated. Time will tell.
If you are using a version of Maya earlier than 2017, then check out this link from LightCollab: Light Collab>>Help Documents>>XGen Hair.
In section II, it covers the process (and difficulties) of rebuilding XGen hair in other locations. Please note that it addresses normal XGen hair. It does not address the Maya 2017 XGen Interactive Groom. The interactive groom seems to be a whole lot less complicated (in terms of file structures and such).
It may not be exactly what you are looking for. However, it will give you some insight into the difficulties you will face in transferring pre-Maya 2017 XGen hair and its related files.
TO THOSE WHO KNOW THE PROPER WAY TO DO THE ABOVE...
Please provide a step-by-step process. I have not yet been able to find a good tutorial for migrating and editing grooms. I would love to know the right way to do it.
