realistic beard on game characters

coelho93

Hi, my question is: How does one make realistic, engine ready, beards for a game character?
Something like geralt's beard from witcher 3
 i also heard of xgen, but i use 3ds max, not maya.

JordanN

For some games this generation, I believe they're using proprietary tech. Like hairworks or tressfx, which allows for dynamic hair simulation (but at a cost of frame rate).

If you don't got that luxury, then I imagine it's the alpha cards/shell method. 

https://docs.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/CreatingHairUsingAlpha.html

Actual hair that looks "realistic" is a matter of accurate material and good lighting. The above example is from last gen, so check out this hair breakdown from Uncharted 4 for PBR. The Naughty Dog guys are very on point.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JOY4A

coelho93

Wow this is good stuff, just what what I was looking for!
Thank so much!:D