Very interesting, do you use a darker skin colour texture to bring out the hair? Also what is the regular hair count for the character?

The skin texture is more grey with hints of color (depending on the character and fur color). For Fox I use a dark grey overlay that looks more like his fur density map with hints of color. I also assign colors to the roots and tips. So, it has a dark root that moves up to actual color at the tip. For Fox's body with no clothes he has about 200 million individual hairs on his body. (Which might be overkill, but I think it gives the best overall look.) For this shot (the full picture) he has about 65 million hairs about 100 thousand on his head alone. I tend to over do hair when I do it, but it does give it a nice dense realistic look.

Hope all that made sense. I use Lightwave 9 for my rendering and modeling. So, I'm not sure how other programs handle fur.

Wow I'm impressed with the work, i had planned on joining the Lightwave group, but I worried about the support on offer, it seemed like Lightwave was falling behind ( I should point out that was at least 2-3 years ago now, I realize that LW 10 is out now so maybe its changed). I loved the way Sasquatch deals with hair in LW but for the rest of the program made me feel a little left behind ( I had been taught 3dsmax in my university, which wasnt a bad program but it seemed cluttered after 9).
(Its one of the reasons I work mostly in Blender now, its development makes me feel like I can keep up better). One interesting fact i did enjoy learning about though from a podcast about Lightwave was that Dick Van Dyke is a avid LW user! and he is a serious tech head when it comes to the program too :)

I don't know about the support to newer users. I've never been one to join in to community discussions or anything like that. They taught Lightwave in the University I attended at the time it was Lightwave 3. I chose Lightwave because a video I seen when I was a kid was made with Video Toaster. I found out later NewTek created Video Toaster and I chose to learn Lightwave because of it. (Kinda stupid reasoning, but that's actually why I chose it out of all the others out there.) I also picked up 3DS Max which was great at the time. I liked the fact that I didn't have to switch between two different programs (modeler and layout) like I had to in Lightwave. But then I picked up Sasquatch and Max just didn't have the power of fur way back then. (It had it but it was a real pain to figure out.) So, I went back to lightwave fully. I learned Maya later because so many people backed it, but it just wasn't something I could use comfortably. (No true symmetry. )

I picked up Blender, but couldn't figure out the layout for anything. (I don't have the patience to read or watch tutorials. XD) But there's a lot of things I've seen that says it's a great program so far, and might even be able to compete with some of the higher end modelers. But I'm a big... If it ain't broke don't fix it... Kinda girl so I haven't attempted to learn much about blender although, I've seen that they have particle fur and have been talking about bringing in a tool similar to Zbrush. (I don't know if they've done it yet, though.) But I'll stick with Lightwave. (Eventually, I'll upgrade, but right now... Too expensive! XD ) But I say don't get Lightwave if you're more comfortable with Blender. Because all programs can pretty much do the same things it's just different journeys to get it there.

Sorry, I tend to ramble on my favorite subjects. XD

No no this is great info.
Whilst I agree that the interface on Blender 2.4 was daunting ( I only used it to handle my uvs) the moment it switched to 2.5 something clicked and I realized that the reason I like it was it could be made to look like ANY of the other programs. Its still rough around the edges, the animation system is getting a overhaul and the rendering system is getting a big upgrade soon (called cycles), but when you see the speed it offers in terms of building a character and the price (FREE!) its really a safe bet so those starting out.

If you ever plan on starting it up again take a look at the blender cookie site, and look up a guy on youtube called Cannedmushrooms both offer free tutorials and really are excellent information on the program.

*imagines kissing fox*

wow! That's some really good detail!

cool