Animating with Blender

Materials

When using particle systems for effects such as fire and smoke, it is the materials that do the heavy lifting toward believability. Hair and fur are no different. While it is true that you must groom your strands properly to achieve believability with each particular character, good materials can make even a simple fur ball look realistic. A bad material can ruin the illusion of believability on an otherwise well-constructed character. Figure 14.71 demonstrates this effect.

Figure 14.71. The mother with crummy hair materials, and a ball of fur with effective particle materials

The two most important components of a good material ...