realistic hair

[zmurdz]

Hi,

I have to make a realistic hair. To do this I need a way to :
1. make neighboring strands have some variation in color.
2. apply a color variation along the strands themselves.
3. make the strand ends somewhat thinner than the roots.
Is this possible?

In order to better understand the process I will very much appreciate an explanation about how the hair rendering is implemented in the exporter script (I do not use the custom build, but the script). Unfortunately in the VRay docs there is almost nothing about fur/hair and about applying textures to the various Vray materials.

The exporter script doesn't allow me to use procedural textures - this option exists only in the custom build, right?
I haven't tested to use a bitmap assigned to the emitter mesh to achieve (1.), because of the speed with which the hair is rendered on my machine, but this should work, right?
I am using a standard VrayMtl - any advice about the optimal settings?

Now I have this, but am not satisfied - refl: white, glossiness: 1.0, fresnel: on, IOR:1.6

In the Texture tab, when I click on the "Show particles textures" the panel is empty, which is not the case with Blender internal renderer, but that, along with some other stuff I will post in the "bugs" topic.

Thanks for your time and greetings!

[bdancer]

Re: realistic hair

>>I do not use the custom build, but the script
It has much faster mesh and hair export (up to 30 times) - its better to use custom build for hair tests.
So try custom build and please post a little bigger renders =)

[zmurdz]

Re: realistic hair

Sorry for the small render, but this is actually 1:1 crop render from a final size image and rendering is tooo slow on my machine even on these non-final quality settings, sooo..

As for the custom build - not that I have something against it, but... O.K., I will try it, just for the export, but I don't like the idea of having to switch constantly between different Blender builds. And in general I will be much happier to see all the functions implemented as a add-on type exporter scripts or/and small separate C programs - for me thes would mean best flexibility and smoother workflow, possibility to move along with the latest Blender SVN and to maintain the balance with other external scripts, updated on their own schedules.

And aside this, any help about my problems getting realistic hair renders, assigning texture along the strands, etc.?

[bdancer]

Re: realistic hair

As for the custom build - not that I have something against it

Thats why its optional, but if you want to wait 30 minutes to export hair in your scene you could use just plain python script.
But basically its inconvenient until final Blender release.
Btw, I'll put back all textures to texture type menu

add-on type exporter scripts or/and small separate C programs

I have no idea how to export smth from Blender using some separate C program.

any help about my problems getting realistic hair renders, assigning texture along the strands, etc.?

Apply textures in materials - lets see what will happen =)