Hi all, I'm working on this monster head and i wanna add some hair . In fact, i'd like to make something between some dreadlocks and a mane . Kind of . Do you have any idea how to do that ? I know Carrara is not the good software for that, but there must be some techniques, right ?... Or maybe you know where to find that kind of hair model, so i could watch it to see how it is made . Anything that can help me can help me ! litst

Did you make that head in Carrara? If yes wich technique did you use Vertex or Spline modeling? Looks great by the way Serge

BigSerge, I did the head in the vertex modeller . I started with a profile and gave it some volume . It is still low-poly at this point, i just subdivided it and decimated to see how the shape was .

Spiraling circles make pretty good dreadlocks. You can then apply the deformer of your choice to make them curve. Mark

Very nice! Keep us updated! Clint

Clint Hawkins
MarketPlace Manager/Copyright Agent

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All my life I've been over the top ... I don't know what I'm doing ... All I know is I don't wana stop!
(Zakk Wylde (2007))

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Thanks for your answer, Mark Unfortunately, i can't use the solution you suggested, because my computer is way too slow ! For info, i use a little Celeron 400 with only 64 kB ram ( oops, i mean 64 "mB" . 64 kB was on my Amstrad CPC ! ) . Look the message Carrara gives me ( who say there's nothing new about that prog ??? ) when i use a too complex spiral : it's not a crash, but the process takes minutes . And i have already used this technique for the horns . The program calculates the deformed spline object each time i open the file . It's slow enough for me ! But thanks anyway, i didn't think of it . litst

That is one cool face. Would it be possible for you to go into a little more detail on how you made it? Maybe when you finish the project you could hit us with a tutorial on it. -Grimpup

Grimpup, OK for the tutorial, i was thinking about it ... Who wants to translate it from french ? Y'a-t-il un volontaire ? litst

Prehaps you could post a drawing or picture of the hair you are looking for? There is a fair amount of models around, mabey one can be modified to suit your needs. Will the final object need to be a mesh?

Hi willf, Here are two sketches that show what shape i want to give to the hair ( and to the face ) . The hair doesn't have to be dreadlocks like i said, but the more natural it will look, the better it will be ! The more important is the shape . A mesh would be great, and even if my computer can't handle complex meshes efficiently, decimation can do miracles :) Nearly six o'clock in the morning, i'm going to bed now ! Tomorrow, i will try a weird technique and show you the results . litst * yaaaaawn ! ***

I'll look through the hairs I've accumulated & see if something comes close. Several of the Poser hairs may be workable with some morphs or magnets. The magnets in Poser are good, wish Carrara had something as intuative & easy to use.

I can give it a shot translating the tutorial from french. Serge

Thanks for your support, guys Willf, i'd love to see what has be done for Poser before . You were talking about morphs and magnets . Lost Horizon Software did a extention to simulate morph targets in Carrara . Unfortunately, no demo version available . Anyone knows if it is good ? And magnets ... what's that really ??? I'll try the demo of Poser on the Carrara CD . Wilf, if you have something that could fit my needs, you can send me a mesh at litst.@freesbee.fr . Thanks . Serge, i keep you in my "carnet d'adresses" ( don't remember the word in english ! ) and if i do the tut, i will recontact you . In fact, there is no way to do a step-by-step tutorial for that kind of job, just a kind of "lesson" to explain some of the techniques involved . I'll grab tuts for Raydream ( "free-form modeller", right ?) to find inspiration ... So now here is the weird technique i was talking about : duplicate the head . edit a new master . delete all the part of the head where there will be no hair . subdivide twice . decimate twice (i use distance) to give irregularities . name vertices . subdivide . deselect . select the named vertices . scale them up ( i used x:130% y:150% z:200% ) . move the selection to the back of the head . you can rotate it if you want . select all and crease edges . back in the assemble room, apply the bend and twist deformer . to edit the mesh, insert a blank vertex object, then select the two objects and boolean them . The result is so-so, what do you think ? At least this technique can be used to deform meshes and give them irregularities . litst

I think it actually looks pretty cool. Anime-like. I don't know about the dreadlocks to begin with. But I love your character. Hoborg

The Lost Horizons morph target feature is outstanding. Love the hair! Mark

I've improved the shape of the head and it is finally getting to something nice, compared with the beginning . There is still a lot of work to do, though ( eyes, ears... ) . I think i will not make hair, cause i can't figure out how to do realistic one in Carrara . Maybe later we'll get some good extension to do that . So, no rasta hair or complicated things, i'm too lazy for that . But above all, i can't wait to texture that buddy ! litst

You can always let the T-Map do the hair illusion? applied to a separate form of mesh. Exp: select the vertices that make up the area that the hair will be, duplicate then reposition the Duplicate along the Z axis about a .05"'s then resize along all axis 105 or 110%. Next reposition selected vertices of the duplicate using the sphere of attraction to achieve the desired look, and finally it's all up to the T-Map you've made in your 2D paint program. Check the tutorials section on this site on how to make realistic looking hair VIA T-Map. Sorry I do not remember where it is but it was a really good one. Love and Peace Serge

litst- The Magnets in Poser are a deformation tool that can be applied to user defined areas (zones) or groups of vetices. By scaleing, rotating and/or reposintioning the magnet along the z,y,z coordinante, many effects can be achieved. The tool is somewhat similar to the magnet tool & shere of attraction in Carrara, however it is much more intuitve (at least for me). To get an idea of what can be done see the links below for tutorials. I havn't had a chance to look through my files of hair meshes yet as I'm very busy at work. I'll see what I can find. Bonne chance! http://mail.curiouslabs.com/poser/magnetTutorial/magnets.html http://morphs.bbay.com/html/tutorials.html http://jupiter.spaceports.com/~omnitut/poser/index.html

Thanks a lot for your help and explanations, guys . I check the tutorials right now ! litst