Modelling Hair.

#1

Since a lot of us are not that rich [probably students and freelancers and maybe hobby-ists], we rely on free applications for our workflow.

Now, I am trying to model hair using wings3d using this method:
http://mr2k.3dvf.com/tutorials/max/polygones/joan_of_arc/part03/part03_cheveux01.htm

And it is extremely difficult to follow with it. This is because edge extrudes cause in poly’s on the sides of that extrusion. and ofcourse face extrusion and then…aargh…too frustrating.

Basically, I wanted a stahlberg quality to my hair. Or hell, maybe even make it look like real hair [I know, I know…I have to use alpha’s and whatnot to the poly-groups so each of them have different attributes so it ends up looking like real hair.] but that is where I am having problem with.

I am modelling a female head so the hair is obviously long [atleast compared to the hair that most guys have]. So, what would be the best way to approach this?

#2

I thought WINGS couldn’t do poly by poly modeling. Hmm. Unless you’re starting with a cube, disolving all but one of its sides and then extruding the edges of that? If not, have you tried that? I saw some hair made from parts of primitives but for the life of me, I can’t recall where. Have you tried selecting edges from the head and extruding them? sometimes you have to have a few N-polys and tris to get the job done, the important thing is that it all looks good in the end. Let us know if you find anything because I’ll be venturing into thie realm soon.

#3

wings cannot do poly by poly modelling. That is why I posted here for an alternative method. I saw a hair modelling tutorial here:
http://www.wings3d.com/hairtute.php

but that is the only hair tutorial I know about to do with wings3d. But frankly, that method does not seem good enough to do what I need to do. Make nice long complex type hair. Maybe I should try this with Anim8or. But after being used to the straightforward workflow in wings3d, its difficult for me to use any other application.

With Blender, I only get all tri’s when I import my model in as obj or 3ds. And then trying to model in there without any good undo is a pain. I have to load up like a gazillion scripts to make something simple work. No thank you.

Anim8or is the only solution that I can think of. And even that is quite hazy because I just don’t find the modelling tools “fun” enough to play with. It is extremely frustrating.

I know I can do this with Maya just fine. But I intend to use this hair modelling stuff for some portfolio type work which will be submitted on a few places and I don’t want that big watermark on there.

So, if anyone can figure out a way to do this in wings3d or maybe an alternative free applications, it would be great!

#4

I have had some success box modelling hair… Just draw out what you want your head of hair to look like… draw your edges by hand on some trace paper to get the plan together and then model it like anything else. I usually start with an extract region of the scalp from the head and fix up the open face… then start to get the DO the way you want it.

#5

Either that or I can subdivide the scalp part of the head one or two times…extrude region. So I get the base from where the hair sorta comes out from or grows from there. then, I have to extrude a lot…

a lot. Ofcourse maintaining everything well would be a huge problem…but it sounds like a cool solution. If not…there is always sigh anim8or sigh

[mind you, i love anim8or. I just can’t use it for modelling. Its frustrating and annoying.]

#6

You can smooth the scalp a few times first… but it is not neccessary… you’ll smooth it when it’s done I’m sure… good luck :thumbsup:

#7

Yeah. I’ll post some results atleast by the end of the week. I may be pretty busy this week due to the workload I have from school.

Thanks
-dpv

#8

dpvtanks, sorry for the Blender advocacy within a Wings forum, but just wanted to note a few things.

A.- Newer versions of Blender do have a propper Undo, just re-enter edit mode and press U, you even have counter-undo by pressing Shift-U.

B.- For those unwanted tris, have you tryed the Faces-> Convert Triangles to Quads or the Faces -> Flip Triangles Edges commands? Sure they won’t do all the work for you, but will give you a huge jump start. Tris are necesary when passing a model from Wings to Blender because Blender doesn’t suppor n-sided polys, while Wings does.

C.- ¨I have to load up like a gazillion scripts to make something simple work.¨ Haven’t you noticed? Scripts now load automatically when you start Blender and are available from the drop-down menus… but still I doubt that you REALLY need all those scripts.

#9

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