Generating textured polygon strip hair from strand-based hair for a virtual character

Abstract

Computer generated (CG) hair for a virtual character can include strand-based (instanced) hair in which many thousands of digital strands represent real human hair strands. Strand-based hair can appear highly realistic, but rendering strand-based hair in real-time presents challenges. Techniques for generating textured polygon strip (poly strip) hair for a virtual character can use as an input previously-generated strand-based hair for the virtual character. Poly strips can be generated for a sampled set of strands in the strand-based hair. Additional poly strips may be generated near hairlines or part lines. Hair textures from a hair texture library can be matched to the poly strips. The matched textures can be scaled and packed into a region of texture space (e.g., a square region), which provides improved computer access, efficiency, and speed. A rendering engine can use the poly strips and the packed hair textures to render the character's hair in real-time.