Is there a way to make a hair particle system look softer towards the roots? I know you can change the scale and clump curve if you have children hairs, but I’m looking to make the base of the hair look more blended.
Kind of like this.
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You could add a little blur in the compositor. Here I mixed the original render with the blurred image so that not all details are lost.
That’s true… But I wish there was an easy way to blur the hair before I render anything.
I guess you could get a similar result if you use three times as many strands and make them really thin.
I bet the compositor is much faster though,
Yeah, I’m just terrible at the compositor. 
This will probably be easier for me, as long as I don’t add too many hair dynamics.
By the way, how did you create that hair material?
Now you have a good incentive to learn the compositor. 
The hair is shaded with Principled Hair BSDF.
2.8 right? Yeah… I’m still on 2.79 for a while until I finish my project.
But in the meantime, I’ll try adding more hairs that have smaller roots/tips.
Could you post your particle settings and node set up?
At the moment, I think a couple things could help. Though full disclosure I haven’t used 2.79 for hair in quite a while and can’t remember all the differences.
So first thing I would try is hdri lighting.
If 2.79 has the hair info node, or something that functions the same as the intercept output option on it where you can control the which shaders go where along the length of the strands, then you could try mixing a transparency shader into the roots.
And then last of all, and you’re already headed this direction, just crank up the children.
Oh gosh!!! I forgot about this thread!! I’m sorry for making you wait! 
To be honest, I don’t really have much experience with hdri lighting. I suppose a transparency shader could work for the hair, but I think I’m trying to go for something more like this.
No worries, I forgot too if I’m being honest.
Is that picture form a game? It’s low res so I can’t tell for sure, but that might be hair cards. In which case your issue is one of texturing rather than particle settings.
Yes! It is from a game! 
Hoo boy I am not on here regularly enough. How’s the project going? Have you found a solution?
It’s going pretty well! I’ve learned much more about hair and a few other ways to make it.
Pop quiz, can you guess what game that image is from? I ask because the game has a terrible reputation,
but it’s graphics are absolutely stunning! I’ve been trying to go for that kind of style, it’s just hard to get the fps looking right and stuff.
Nope, no idea. My gut says jrpg prerendered cutscene? Late 2000s to early 2010s?
Actually, it’s from this game!
