The anisotropic node won't quite get what we need, although it's better than using specular or even blinn.

As with the latest skin, what you really need is an anisotropic reflect node, and not one for children, but one that let's me say what angles I want to send out rays.

SoJ - your shader is nice work - the hair pattern is pretty good, although I think you did more work than needed. A single node blended with some white is all I see really needed.

The tricky part is the reflection/specularity.

There was a new hair node briefly introduced into P9/PP2012 but didn't work right and got pulled. I had hoped to see it restored in SR3, but alas it has not.

SoJ - there is a mistake in your shader. You have the two specular nodes, which produce a color, going into math nodes, making them pure gray-scale. You should be adding them with Color_Math.

Also, as can be seen in my VSS hair shader published a while ago (way ago) you need to do something about the anisotropic node that goes berzerk at certain shallow angles. I was using an edge blend to tone it down. I never had the patience to really work out what exactly is needed.

Also - this is again a shader where linear workflow will trump non-linear. If you try the same shader in PP2012 with render GC, it will come out COMPLETELY different. I suggest two different shaders or one with auto-GC built in.

Without linear workflow, this shader will never be able to look real in all lighting regimes. Certain situations will work, and in others you'll think it needs adjusting.

A shader that is built for realism produces the right response in all lighting regimes.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)