Feathers using hair
 

Our team, for which I am the animation team, is doing an animation in which we show several (a flock) of geese. The model turned out nicely but the materials are going to be a problem. Aside from that however th real problem is making a realistic looking feather surface. What i mean is we want to put feathers on the body of the goose realistically. I know that using the Hair and Fur Modifier it is possible because Max put a tutorial about it in. However when i did the tutorial and tried to process for my feather it refused to work.

And yes i know i could just make a material that appeared that it was textured properly but up close (how id like to start the animation) it just doesnt look proper.

Any suggestions are welcome as are any tutorials. If you need more info jsut ask.

Re: Feathers using hair
 

at this point of the game, i would just go with a really high-res bump map or displacement map. saves a lot of time/anger.

if you Really want to use hair, good luck. i tried it a few times, but the objects i was using as hair stood at wierd angles and all. even if i took off the frizz from the hair, they were still rotated all over the place.

when you choose the object to use as your feather, make sure the pivot point is located near the bottom. that way, it will be more likely to align properly. also, turn down the hair segments and completely remove frizz and kink.
good luck. this hair and fur thing is pretty cool, but right now it seems to be really buggy, and doesn't like working correctly. maybe in max 9 it'll be better...

Edit: w007,/\/\y 116th p057!111!!!!!!11!

Re: Feathers using hair
 

Thank you for the reply. Due to a lack of time the animation has been put on hold until this summer when i wil finish it and submit it for next year. Ill play with the hair and if i get anything ill post it here... though if anyone has any good ideas that will save time please still post them...