Groom/hair setup questionsr

Hi guys! I want to create a female character in UE5 with long(er) hair. The idea is to have multiple hair styles (grooms?) which can be swapped between during runtime. I am planning to use Blender to create the hair itself. As far as my understanding, I have two options:

  1. Create the hair mesh using cards and apply cloth physics in UE.

  2. Create particle hair and bring it in as alembic cache and apply groom in UE.

Option 1 seems less expensive but the cloth physics just doesnt look very realistic. Option 2 looks more convincing but not sure about the cost. Which method is better to use in a video game? Only the main character will have that kind of hair in a 3rd person view. Are there any other options that I am not aware of? Can I bring in hair cards and set them up as a groom (basically combining option 1 and 2)?

I also have some bonus questions:

  • Can I create particle hair with accessories like bands, straps, etc or I need to use cards for that? What would be the best approach to create something like a ponytail?
  • Can I make the hair to float or stand up as if it was underwater or gravity was turned upside down?

Thanks for reading this and for all your answers in advance!

As much much as I adore the UE community, my heart dies a little when I google a problem, see someone else ask the same question in the forums, but with absolutely no replies whatsoever. Did you ever find a solution to the accessory part of the problem with a groom asset?

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