Plugins like Look At My Hair are taking DAZ Studio 4 to new levels.

Look AT My Hair for DAZ Studio is changing Hair for good

Here comes RawArt’s Sasquatch for Freak 5 (current introductory price $9.07). This furred humanoid, a possible missing link to humanities evolutionary past, is a fantastic example of just what is possible with the recently released Look At My Hair for DAZ Studio 4.5 (also on special at thirty percent off), and the first comercial use available on the DAZ 3D store.

Plugins of LAMH’s calibre are bringing new possibilities and functionality to DAZ Studio that, for the most part, are only available with much more expensive programs. For those interested in seeing some of the plugin’s content in action a free LAMH viewer is now available at the DAZ 3D store. “The Look at my Hair Player allows you to load most pre-made Look at my Hair presets or .duf scenes, modify color and shader properties, hair count, thickness and render!”

Check out this Tube clip of LAMH designer, Alessandro Mastronardi, using the plugin to turn and elephant into a mammoth.

Garibaldi Express Hair System: a new challenger

LAMH is not the only recent hair tool for DS. Garibaldi Express Hair System For DAZ Studio came out not long after LAMH. Gabibaldi isn’t among my tools but taking one look at the promo images I wish it was. While both programs have good external interfaces for creating hair on any mesh surface (just about anything you could import into DAZ Studio – furry car!), watching the beta video (which might be a little outdated considering the product is now at full version) I can’t help but be struck with a grass is greener effect.

The only real downside to these products for most of us is that they will take some time and perserverance to get the results we want, but for those who do hang in there, wave good-bye to traditional hair props with their transmaps and geometry that often looks funny when viewed from certain angles. Now if only these were dynamic models. That would truly be a revolution for DAZ Studio users. But then again the persistent user will find that the system allowes for a level of on-the-fly customisation that just isn’t possible with traditional hair props. With the included tools it is possible to create hair poses to meet any conditions imaginable. It is fantastic to see so many high quality plugins for DAZ Studio. It is undoubtedly a sign of even better to come.

INFINITO: Terrain editor and creator for DAZ Studio

Another great DS plugin by Alessandro is INFINITO, which brings terrain generation and customisation to the game. Typically this meant exporting DS scenes to other programs like Bryce, Vue, Carrara, or any other program that has detailed terrain generation features.