Animal Fur Using 3ds max Part 1

by Didik Wijaya

So, you've tried to create dog 3D model like you've seen in Bolt The Movie? Now, like I promise, it's time you add animal fur. Using 3ds max you can create fur with ease, because 3ds max equipped with bulit in Hair And Fur modifier since version 8. In this tutorial I will show you how to create animal fur using 3ds max. You can apply techniques in this tutorial to create any fur. If you don't familiar with Hair And Fur modifier try our Basic Hair And Fur Tutorial first.

1.First, you need to download dog 3D model (zip). If you want to know how to create this dog 3D model, read Dog Modeling tutorial here

First step is to create simple material. You will use Multi/Sub-Object Material. To learn more about Multi/Sub-Object material, read this first. Open file. Select object. Go to Modify tab. In Modifier Stack, highlight Editable Poly. Activate Polygon selection. In viewport, select all polygons and in Polygon Properties rollout, enter Set ID=1..

2. Basically, we try to assign each body part with different ID. Then each ID is assigned with different material. Select polygons in nose area and enter Set ID=2. Repeat above process with different body parts like image below. When finished, turn off any sub-object selection.

3. Open Material Editor. Select one material slot assigned to object. 3D dog model is already assigned with green color material. Rename this material if you want. Click Standard button, in Material/Map Browser choose Multi/Sub-object material. This material type allows you to assign different sub-material to each polygon ID.

In Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters click Delete several times until you have only 5 sub-object material. Or you can click Set Number button and enter 5. Click button under Sub-Material where ID=1. In Blinn Basic Parameters change color to white. Click Go to Parent to go back to Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout.

Repeat above process until all color in sub-object material is changed.

4. Here's final result off all sub-object material.

5. Try to render, and you'll have nice rendered dog model. Next step is applying fur.

1.Continue from previous lesson. Select object. Go to Modify Panel. In Modifier Stack highlight Editable Poly and activate Polygon selection. In Polygon Properties, enter 1 in text box right next to Select ID. Then, click Select ID button. All polygons with ID=1 will be selected. We will apply fur to these polygons.

If you want, you can deselect several polygons at ears (inside) or paws. These area should not have fur.

2. Make sure polygons still selected. Add Hair and Fur modifier from drop down list. You will see fur applied to selected polygons automatically.

Note: Step 1 & 2 above only works in 3ds max ver 9. For other 3ds max version, you can use Mesh Select modifier. Read explanation below. Thanks to Kok Aun Chee for giving me this information In Editable Poly, make sure polygons still selected. Apply Mesh Select modifier Activate Polygon selection. The same polygons is selected. Name this selection in Named Selection Set, for example I type "fur". Pres Enter after typing. In Mesh Select Parameters rollout, click Copy button. Apply Hair And Fur Modifier. In Selection rollout, activate Polygon. Click Paste button. And Update Selection.

3. Next, set several fur settings. For a moment, leave Hair Count and Root Thick values untouched. We will adjust these values later.
Shorten fur by entering Cut Length=30. Change Tip and Root color to white. In Frizz Parameters use Frizz Root=0 and Frizz Tip=30. And in Display use Percentage=10 so you can see more hair samples in viewport.

4. After changing above values, fur in viewport should like image below.

5. Now it's time to be a hair sylist. In Styling rollout, click Style Hair button. Automatically Translate feature will be active. Click and drag in Left viewport with direction like image below to style dog's fur. When finished, click Recomb button to make fur stay above the dog's skin.
Also try to style hair in different viewport.

6. Next, you need to modify some fur length. Fur in ears, face, legs, and feet should be shorter. Also you need to lengthen fur at the tail. To shorten or lengthen fur, activate Scale button and just click and drag in viewport.

7. Click Finish Styling button when finished. Try to render. Image below shows our first attempt. We need more fur. Animal fur always require more hair count than human hair.

8. There are 2 values you need to adjust when render animal fur. Hair Count and Root Thick. Balance these two values. If your computer slow, you can use less hair count with thicker root. If you have faster computer, try to use more hair count and less root thick. You will get softer fur render.
Experiment by yourself and congratulation you have finished Animal Fur Tutorial using 3ds max