I have a problem with draping hair. No matter how I do it, my character ends up being bald on the forehead. This is what the hair and the guides look like inte the model room:
http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doc33kp9.jpg

And this is the render result:
http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doc32km8.jpg

I been following some tutorials on the web. Most of them are excellent in describing the different hair tools in the model room. But I can't find a tutorial or anything about really long hair. Short hair is easier to deal with, it seem stiffer and fluffier somehow and doesn't sink into the skull. But I want long hair, falling backwards over my characters head down on her back. And this is where the problems start.

I thought long basically unstyled hair would be easier to create. Simple make long enough hair, pull it backwards and drape it. Theoretically, the hair should now fall in a realistic way down over her shoulders and back. That also appear to happen with the hair guides. But why oh why does she end up being bald? Do I have too few hairs? Do I have too few guides?

This is how I set up the hair group...and I used a 1024x1024 density map:
http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doc34un9.jpg

I also tried using fewer segments to make the hair stiffer, as you can see there's only 8 segments per hair guide in my example above. It kind of helps on the sides a little. I also tried increasing the Collision under the Dynamics tab to 2, also being used in the screenshots above. It also kind of helps a little more on the sides.

Increasing the number or hairs or hair guides make virtually no difference at all. Already visible hair get thicker, yes. If I increase the number of hairs to ridicilous values, such as 100,000 I begin to cover her scalp. But the rest of the hair will look very distorted an unnatural, not to mention the render time that will increase vastly.

The only way to cover her scalp is to use the push tool. I could leave it at that but the entire hair get very...big. She starts to look like Al Bundy's wife, Peg. I'm after the long Elven (you know, Legolas and his buddies) kind of hair. Long, straight and backwards.

I get the feeling that I'm doing something fundamentally wrong here. Is there a reccomended setting for draping the hair, not to make it sink into the scalp? Please, oh masters of Carrara, help me out!

I think that after you brush your hair you need to add more segments so it get more smoothed in render...

Hmm, well she actually gets more balder the more segments I add. If I have let's say 30 segments, the hair falls so close to te scalp she looks like a monk. So far, I get less baldness having fewer segments when I drape, then I can add more segments and brush it to get it smoother. But the baldness occurs during the drape process.

Are you using Carrara or Poser to develop your hair--I assume Carrara.

Try closing your software, turning off your computer for around 10 seconds and see if that corrects your problem.  Jan  

Try using the "push" tool. During the course of styling the hair, the angle of the hair leaving the scalp is too low and the hair is beneath the surface. The push tool brings the hair back above the surface.

Quote - Try using the "push" tool. During the course of styling the hair, the angle of the hair leaving the scalp is too low and the hair is beneath the surface. The push tool brings the hair back above the surface.

Like I said, the only decent result I can produce is from using the push tool. But here it goes again, I have to push the hair quite much to cover her scalp so the entire hair get all big and fluffy. Like al Bundy's wife, Peg. Are you saying it's possible to use the push tool on only the roots?

When you click on the push tool button you get the options in the "window on the right", where the dynamics, etc. are. Under the tool tab are some options. The important ones are "distance" and "restrict to selection". If you type in a low number (say, 0.1) in the distance box, it lifts the hair only that tiny bit above the surface. 
 

Quote - When you click on the push tool button you get the options in the "window on the right", where the dynamics, etc. are. Under the tool tab are some options. The important ones are "distance" and "restrict to selection". If you type in a low number (say, 0.1) in the distance box, it lifts the hair only that tiny bit above the surface. 

I think we're getting to the core of the problem. Small push values doesn't do it. The hair gradually get visible on the edge of the scalp if I use small values. I have to use values between 0,5 - 0,8 to get a decent cover. However, the push tool of course pushes the entire hair outwards, not only the roots. So a go with the push tool around 0,5 make her look like Dee Snider or Tina Turner. Actually, I used to have posters of Twisted Sisters when I was a kid so I have to say that Dee Snider had his moments but it's not really what I'm after.

But, I think I solved the issue. I made a separate hair group on the scalp just on the top of her head. I drape the hair and then use the push tool. The hair on the sides belong to another hair group and stay draped. This works for me.

What still bugs me is that the hair guides look perfectly good, but the hairs don't conform to them smoothly. I mean, if the hair guides fall perfectly neat over the head when I drape them, why do the hairs fall through it?

The drape will be more accurate if you up the number of segments, but too many takes forever. The way I fix this problem is to shift the control points all the way to the scalp, then click them to one segment above the scalp. Use a really large brush with low settings to grab the control segments and slightly lift up the hair above the scalp.