Hello! I’m still a beginner and I have a simple question for you. How can I create realistic hair & fur in ZBrush? I have used the fiber tool, the result is quite good, but not so realistic. Maybe a good alternative would be photoshop + ZApplink… but I guess there are many tricks and alternatives out there.
I would like to put together all these suggestions and methods under the same thread. Can you help me?
Really depends on thetype of hair you want. Careful setup of several materials within Zbrush (fibers) can yeild amazing work.
Or searching the forum can help as many people have done amazing things…
Here are some that I keep bookmeaked…
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=1312
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=4666&highlight=hair+step
If you follow the zsphere thread in my signature and just view the thread gallery, you can find some pretty interesting fur type hair ideas. 
Thank you Jason. Now I have another question for the perfect ZBarber:
when I use the fiber tool I obtain a solid bush of straight hair. Can I “comb” this tangle? Is there a trick for modeling fiber hair in a realistic way? :idea: 
Well it juts out along the surface normal so you can experiment with that. I don’t think combing is really available yet. However if you combine techniques, it should be possible. Say zsphere hair, with fiber material then you could adjust the main strand. It will take you a little experimenting.
Fibers can be “combed” using the other 2.5D tools such as the Smudge brush. Using this brush with different alphas you can turn fibers into hair, fur, flames, etc.
I wonder, if the fiber hair was on a seperate layer, could you also use the Liquid plugin to shape the hair (before rendering)? Even pull it longer? My Zbrush is at home right now, or I’d try this out myself.
Sure, and Aurick is correct, assuming you are no longer desiring to have 3d ability. Paint tools in Zbrush rock!
Thank you boys, I’m noting carefully all your wise hints on my notebook!
I have a curiosity about photoshopped hair: I have seen in the gallery many clamorous examples, but I have a suspect: maybe the result is good only in that particular shot and maybe the 3D model with photoshopped hair is flat and disappointing outside the right angle.
What do you think about it? Is it right? i have no experience about it… at the moment I have only created a bald guy! :lol:
The really awesome hair that you see in illustrations is almost always painted after the render. Some artists only use 3D to render the figure, and then they paint everything else – hair and clothing, both – with 2D.
ZBrush makes it kind of nice because it blends 2D and 3D. This gives you a lot of interesting options if you take the time to really learn the 2D and 2.5D brushes.
This is a revelation for me. I thought that “photoshopped” hair effect was always obtained with ZApplink + Photoshop! :o
It can be. 