Hair and Fur - Study num #1

The Idea

Autodesk 3ds Max has a Hair and Fur modifier. It can be used for things like human hair, animal fur and items like carpets. In our class we haven't really touched on this topic. Since my field of interest is architectural visualization, and I wanted to make fluffy looking carpets, it motivated me to try to understand the options of this complex modifier, or at least try to experiment with a part of them.

What you will see in this test project is my first few attempts at using Hair and Fur modifier in 3ds Max, using Corona Renderer, and applying it to several animals and items.

Pom Pom Keychain

Hair and Fur project num #1

Pom pom keychain real photo vs. render

Pom pom keychain render and viewport view

This item seemed like an easy task to getting to know the Hair and Fur modifier. In essence, pom pom is just a sphere with hair applied to it. Straightforward enough, right?

Straight forward, but not easy. It took me a while, tinkering with the length of the hair, understanding the tips and roots and their behavior, shading, clumping and styling. Tried combing a little bit but didn't feel that confident about it. So there's a lot to absorb here for a beginner. I highly recommend watching a video on rug creation in 3ds Max by Denis Keman who really breaks down all options that are within this complex modifier. Any video on Hair and Fur modifier will help demonstrate what happens with hair and what can be done.

This keychain I made is my first attempt. It's not good. But the goal I set out to do was accomplished. This pom pom keychain is here to test if any likeness to the real thing can be achieved and what can be manipulated within the modifier to make it work. At the end of the day it made me learn the basics of it.

White Bunny

Hair and Fur project num #2

White bunny real photo vs. render

White bunny render and viewport view

To study Hair and Fur modifier, white bunnies came to mind. Did a ton of combing the hair and I can say I'm quite comfortable with the tool now. Learned to make long individual hairs for whiskers as well, which use a completely different set of settings in the modifier. What helped me create the whiskers was this tiny piece of information from Artimus 3D video on Hair Part 1 (3:52) where he turned off Interpolate and used Multistrand parameters on splines. While he demonstrated how those parameters are not ideal for creating carpets or human hair since the hairs are so few, I saw this as a way of creating whiskers on animals, which are essentially few spaced out hairs along their face. I'm glad they turned out well.

Black Cat

Hair and Fur project num #3

Black cat real photo vs. render

Black cat render and viewport view

From white hair to black hair, the goal was to create something furry and dark. This time I really went all out on randomization of length of hair, combing, splines for whiskers. Painted the eye texture in Photoshop. Tried to make this cat as close as possible to the photograph. It's funny how the cat seems encased in black accept for the eyes that look up at its owner.

Puffy Carpet & Fur Blanket

Hair and Fur project num #4

Carpet render

Fur blanket render

Learned that making a carpet is challenging, both for the modeler and for the computer as it's memory was pushed to its limits. Especially if there is a lot of it in the scene. I wished to make a modern short haired carpet that would include the colors presented in The Den project, but as deadline approached I had less time to work on it. So I opted for a fluffy and pure white one. Video made by Pikcells on creating a realistic wool rug was incredibly helpful. Although the classic Morrocan lines are left out, I hope to recreate it in it's full glory for the next project.

The fur blanket was made with the knowledge gained from previous experiments, with added slight Kink to make it look more like wool. I hope it looks as cosy and warm to you as it does to me.

Conclusion

These small tests helped me learn a lot about Hair and Fur modifier from 3ds Max. Every render took me about 5 days to complete. I'm also really happy that Corona Renderer has their own hair material, making the fur look really nice.

I look forward to doing more tests with hair and fur. :)