Best solution for real-time hair?

Silva_Spoon

Im looking to cross the ugly bridge called realtime hair. Im looking for a technique that will yeild the most realistic results. We are considering using an anisotropic shader to give it that extra zing. We are limited to alpha masking (no transparency due to the cost of lit transparency). What are some of the ways you guys tackle this beast?

Daz

Take a look at Oblivions hair. Whilst generally the Art quality is imho poor, the actual hair *shader* is really quite convincing. So yes, anisotropic is most definitely the way to go. The problem with the Oblivion hair is that it suffers from that helmet hair look. It's just not broken up enough. It could really benefit from a specular mask to break up the sheen. I also think what's crucial is where the hairline meets the face. It's too abrupt in Oblivion and could have used some alpha edge softening. Generally it needs to be broken up more and some use of alpha strips would have helped. But then you get into the age old sorting issues.

Eric Chadwick

ffxview is also worth seeing.
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=3&Number=77520&page=11&fpart=1

And then there's Shadows of the Colossus, if you're going for beasties.
http://www.dyingduck.com/sotc.html