I made some long dynamic hair for vic4 and want to let it wave in the wind.
So far, no sigar.

I use a windforce prop and dialed about evey dial on the prop and in the hair room for a few day's now.
The only result I get is hair that is straight as a wooden plank.

Any one can point me to a tutorial or something to get the hair waving?

This is a great question on both dynamic hair and the wind machine.  I haven't been able to get either to work.  I'll bookmark this to follow the discussion, if you don't mind.

Your very welcome to bookmark

Indeed, I did some searching but found very litle info on this topic.
Especialy the windforce prop is not very well explained.

You should animate the wind force. Using a force in one direction with a constant setting will apply a constant directional force and will thus produce hair that is constantly pushed in the same direction. Something should be animated, be it the direction of the wind force, the setting, your character or any combination of those.
In real life all three will vary over time.

Interesting aproach.

I had the idea that turbulence would create a fluktuating windforce to make it wavy.
But fidling with the dial did not had any influance.

I see if I can get better results with your animation idea.

Thanks

Animating...interesting idea.  I'm having enough problems just getting the cloth room to cooperate in a very basic way.  When I have some time I'll try that experiment.

Attached Link: http://graphics.smithmicro.com/article/articleview/1753/1/322/

 Maybe this helps - http://graphics.smithmicro.com/article/articleview/1753/1/322/

Thanks Stewer for the link.

I tryed that and the moving/animating the fan around but no joy.

No doubt that this is a error on my side.
But the hair keeps straight as a wooden plank.

Maybe I need to change something in the hair to make it wavy on forehand.

Now I am intrigued. What did you try exactly? Did you copy the SM tutorial? You should have had some results. As long as you remember that hair (and cloth) need some animation set up and the best result will be near the end of your animation (frame 30 or beyond). Set up a base situation to start with in the first frame and ease the pose and position to slightly beyond your goal in the final frame. Calculate the dynamic and check the last couple of frames for the best result.

Should you aim for an animation then you will need a lead in and lead out, so you can cut your animation sequence as required.

For the time being you should use the default hair values and make sure your wind will reach the hair (check the cameras in several directions: front, left, and top). Now something should happen. Then turn the wind and the head as required. Finally you can play with the hair values (small changes can have a huge impact).

Well the thing is, I do get results.

Results in that the hair responds to the windforce.
It straightens out to end up as a wooden plank.
If I move the forcefield in the animation, the "plank" moves with it.
It just refuses to wave.

Curently I experiment a bit with styling and this seems to influance the outcome a bit more in what I want.

I want to use it for a still image so I dont need to move the model around.

Try these: 1. Test the wind force so it isn't too strong, hair shouldn't become a straight plank. 2. Check hair bend resistance (in hair room) so it isn't too weak, there has to be some resistance  against the wind to show effect, start at 0.85 and see what happens. 3. Make sure you run the 'Recalculate dynamics' (menu - animation - recalculate dynamics - all hair) for the hair to be calculated against the wind for every frame.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and it can't become wavy unless the model moves or the hair is wavy from the start.

Quote - I want to use it for a still image so I dont need to move the model around.

What I wanted to make clear is that for hair (and cloth) the still image is the result of a dynamics calculation and for dynamics an animation is always required. Your intended still image is the result of preceding motion. Any dynamics calculation works best if there is something happening before it. The preceding motion doesn't have to be realistic (and often the best result is obtained when it isn't) but there must be some prior movement. A few quick head movements create a great dynamic effect. Remember that the wind force must be just big enough to lift the hair, it mustn't become a storm.
Describing hair as a plank means that you don't have enough variety in your movement, hair responds with some delay so the tip of the hair actually tells what happened a few seconds ago, and you are applying too much force. Make sure you set the wind force at some distance from your character, it should reach the hair over its full length but need not reach much further. The force should be just enough. It is a balancing act to find exactly the right combination of settings, big values give an apparently quick result but it isn't a good result. We don't want it to look almost right in frame 3 but it should look right in frame 30 (or 50 or even higher). For cloth I often needed to have 20 frames of drape and 50 frames of motion with another 20 frames for things to settle just to get a dress draped correctly on a still of a woman setting on a bench, a flick of the head in the proper frame took care of the hair. The hair was always timed after the dress was correct so the right hair coincided with the right drape of dress. Setting things up this way takes time but the result is worth it.

slaps forehead Now I get what you mean.

I used a 40 frame animation to let the hair settle on the windforce but left the model untouched.
Well acording to some info this might work, but I gues only on short hair.
For long hair it dont work anyway.

So next I try is as you sugested to move the model also.
When I read your explenation, I think this will do the trick for me.

I update on the results.

Ok, the update.

After some experimenting I ditched the windforce.
It keeps making the hair look like a plank.

However, moving the model gives a nice result, so I stick to that concept.
I move her forward and up and down in a "violent" way, this results in wavy hair.

Thanks all for the info.

It's the result that counts, as long as you get the result you wanted it's good enough.
Windforce does have it's uses but as in reality a lot of factors are involved making something look as intended. In general windforce needs to be subtle, coming from different directions, with a different force and with turbulence, combine this with movement of the character and you are beginning to simulate real line.
For a still it is often easier to use non-realistic movements to get the kind of dramatic display as intended. Combining hair and cloth can be a bit of a challenge as they respond differently to movement.
As long as you understand that in dynamics we are dealing with things happening over time, so with a history. Even for a still we have to provide that history. Movement, gravity, and wind do all play a role. Generally the picture we aim for is too dramatic to be real, it gives the impression of reality but isn't really possible (as programs try to be realistic this does create a bit of a problem, requiring "violent" moves and sometimes manipulated gravity or wind forces).
As in your case hair doesn't really behave in a wavy way unless the person moves at some speed, the up and down movement of the head, combined with some twisting and some slight windforce creates a bit of a wavy pattern but on long hair this is still minimal. It takes photographers a lot of equipment, knowledge, and time to create the dramatic pictures we are used to in the glossy magazines.

I totaly agree with you.

I was considering to use more than one windforce, and I want to try that later on.
Just curious to see what the efect is.
Windforce probably works great on cloth, but not on long hair.

I also noticed, for best result I dialed up the verts per hair to 100. (maximum)
This gives a more natural posing hair.
I only used this on the long hair to keep animation/render times as low as posible.

For those who are interested in my workflow.

First I load, dress and pose my character the way I want her in the end.
Next I add frames to the animation, up to 70.
Than I move the model a litle forward till frame 70 and move her up and down quiet a few times.
The up and down down can be dramaticly as long as she is on the floor in the end frame.
For this you can use the Graph option, this works better to control the movement.
Than I run the simulation.
I pick the frame which I want to use and than start to build my scene around it.
I noticed, if you pick a frame you like but the model is to high or low, you can savely use the Y dial to get her on the floor.
This have no influance on the posed hair.
Light it and than render the whole chebang.

Although a litle frustrating in the begining, and with a lot of experimenting.
It gives a more realistic end result than prop hair, to my idea.

Wow...kinda intensive.  I've been experimenting with the wind force and the cloth room but I can barely get the cloth room to cooperate on any given experiment. When it does cooperate, it's wonderful stuff.

Yes, to put everything up and run the simulation is quiet intensive.
But the end result is worth it.

I curently work on a idea for a image, when I get things a bit rendered I post it here to show.
I need to make a few props first though

I start to understand and learn the basics of dynamics.
So if you have any questions, just shoot them here.
Maybe we can get to a working flow for you.

And learn both from it