Yes, there are many constraints and it is quite complicated to get haircuts clean and neat ... the hairdressers are not what they were: D!

VideoDV, I also work with Cinema4D and I use partly the Hair module. With the technique you use for your haircut, can you convert the hair into polygons and say how many there are? You'll see that scary!

The Hair module is good but but it was necessary that to put up a whole workflow to arrive at something correct. With a limited number of polygons, between 3000 and 5000, it is a real battle not to leave holes and to have something that is visually light!

I'm just working on a new character for one of my productions. I made this haircut (clothes and shoes too ... it's true that we rarely find what we want exactly on the store).
It's still a girl's haircut ... sorry! : D

For this kind of haircut, without going into detail, for those who want to try, the technique is to do things in at least two parts. First generate one or more wick texture in a first file. Second, generate lines of polygons from the skull and on which the wick textures will stick.
In order to fill the holes, we also use a piece of the skull that is incorporated into the haircut and on which we will come to paint wicks that resemble the polygonal locks ....
 ....

Overall, this is explained in a few lines ... in practice ... these are hours of happiness for it to work well!

EDIT : Hey ! you have noticed ? Looks like Kaori, the "girlfriend" of Ryô Saeba in City Hunter !!! : D !!

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Hi Pixtim

I did not use the hair module in cinema I used the Hair Department Plugin it creates polys but quit a few with the settings of the last picure the poly count was 227620 Polys, will have a try with the hair module as well, but early days and lots a testing to go.

I need the an obj of Heidi and Mason to fit the hair correctly I do not have the pipeline version of Iclone so useing a generic head instead.

Like the look you have come up with.

Cheers
Chris.

Thanks all for keeping the discussion going, and also trying to figure out how we can move forward from here. It's pretty insane that developing hair has become so complicated. I'm curious to hear what RL has to say on the subject, but I don't know if they actively post on the forums. Sadly, it seems like we are at a standstill on this. It's disappointing to have iClone 7 and my ideas ready to roll, but not enough hair to bring it to life. Never thought I would be saying something like that in my life haha! Looks like CrazyTalk Animator is the way to go for me. At least I can rely on the freedom I have there.

"Firstgenerate one or more wick texture in a first file".

@Pixtim. Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by "wick texture" and "wicks that resemble the polygonal locks ...."?

Hum ... it must be my English that is not very good ...I mean, because it's not possible to do hair one by one ... you have to create textured strands. Either with 2D software or with 3D software.And then plating these hair groups on polygon sequences.Then I said that it is necessary to make a skin of the skull with a color and a material that is confused with the strands of hair to fill the holes.I hope it's more understandable ...


Edit: here is a visual example ... it will be more practical

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Pixtim, I like your hair and look forward to more... I actually like Jade's hair, one of the new IC7 characters. It's using almost 16k polygons, which seems to be acceptable now with the more powerful PCs. I wonder if we can learn from how it is done in game engines? They have to be efficient with poly's.

@tothelabyrinth: You could go the CTA3 way if you have a knack for 2D animation. I haven't, so I have to make do with whatever comes along hair-wise...

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In fact I counted in quadrangles because the modeling is generally done in quadrangles. With the hair of Jades we are therefore on 8000 quadrangles. The difference is important but not that much. Some haircuts require more polygons than others.These characters are beautiful work, but happy, they are still the characters presenting the new version of the software! .

I will think about making two categories of products ... one destined to low-poly and one geared towards maximum realism.

Pixtim'Store : Motions and models (marketplace and preview)

FaceBook group : Pixtim for Reallusion Iclone and CC3

I'd really prefer to work with 3D animation, but it's far easier/cheaper at the moment to take a 2D route. After a bit of a learning curve I think you would do just fine with 2D as well! However, I'll admit it's a pretty poor solution for the lack of 3D hair. It's just the only solution I have that will work for now.

Also, big thanks to Pixtim for listening and actively trying to provide a solution. I really appreciate it!

@Pixtim. Thanks for that. Your English is excellent. But English, alas, is always ambiguous whereas French, as they say: "ce qui n'est pas clair, n'est pas français.

In Re: “a color and a material that is confused withthe strands of hair to fill the holes”

I suggest you say rather ‘a color and material similar tothe hair material  to mask the holes betweenthe strands of hair.’

Thanks for the explanation.