Hair, much like water, is one of those things that’s incredibly hard to recreate convincingly with computer graphics, which is why we see graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturers like Nvidia compete for the best video game hair solutions.
Earlier this year, we got an early look at PureHair, a new hair solution made in collaboration between GPU maker AMD and Tomb Raider developer Eidos Montreal’s research and development lab. It looked like an improvement over what we’ve seen in games before, but Nvidia’s HairWorks 1.1 looks better.
Videos by VICE
Just check out that beautiful, feathered hairdo blowing in the wind in the video above, created by Tarkan Sarim. You’re looking at roughly 500,000 strands of hair rendered in real time using the recently released HairWorks 1.1, which added support for authoring, rendering, and simulation of long hair assets.
“The improved authoring pipeline allows artists to quickly iterate on their assets,” Nvidia said. “The grooming pipeline works in combination with third-party tools that are available for both Maya and 3dsMax. The groom is exported via guide curves and growth mesh to the HairWorks Viewer. This allows artists to iterate many aspects of hair and fur in real-time, including lighting, clumping, waviness, and many more.”
Pretty impressive, but keep in mind the video is dedicated entirely to hair, which would be harder to render in a real game that needs resources for geometry, other graphical effects, AI, and many other things more essential to the experience.
It’s an older version, but to get a better idea for what HairWorks can do in a released game, check out this video of HairWorks in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, where the protagonist’s hairstyle gets a lot of attention, or more videos from Sarim showing off hairstyles made with 22,000 strands.
