MAX + Vray + displacement modifier does it for me, but i still have to get render times down, the answer id say is displacement, from there on you have to get your settings right and there u will have great grass

Get a good map.

West8 is using as standard max map.
use noise in your bump map tp give it some irregularity and depthh.
Use a littile displacement to get it to vary over its entire surface.
If you use a large noise map that you create it will look like grass!.

photoshop it.

just map out a base color, like you're painting, and add the details in photoshop when you're done (the grass map).

the grass in that rendering looks photoshopped to me, but i could be wrong, i have little to no experience with 3D Max,

Most likely the base is rendered standard max map.
and then a layer of near ground and 3 dimensional depth is added in photoshop.
This is the easiest and most time effective approach.

Thanks everyone!
Well, throughout my research on grass (for rendering means only) I've seen people recommend VRay, but I've never managed to get it!
I couldn't find it nyawhere...Bit Torrent...Kazaa...E-Mule...
If you guys have any clue where to find it!
I will follow your advices and keep trying.
Images of my rendering test results will be posted soon!!!
And thank you one omre time.

This is where you get VRay. I'll give you a little hint...MR can do the same thing.

Trace...sorry for my ignorance, but what is MR?
And where exactly can I find the way to get VRay in chaotic dimension?
I'm browsing through their forums but got no clue by far...
Thanks for the hints!

indeed, max has its own displacement

MR stands for metal ray, a radiosity rendering program that's somehow similar to vray, but comes for free with max since version 5 or 6 I believe.

The dutch guy at 3d cafe has a nice sampler

http://www.3dcafe.com/models/cannabis.zip

It might be overkill, but for animations try using particle systems:

tutorial

In the end, the proposition of wackingboy is the best solution I think. Take a good picture of a nice grass surface in an angle that fits in your camera view and either camera map it or photoshop it.

photos of grass are very forgiving

Apparently, the DEMO version of VRay did the trick for grass seen from a certain distance.
Now I gotta exercise my Photoshop skills to make the grass close-ups!
If you guys have any further comments or suggestions, please, keep posting!

<img src="/images/uploads/grass_01.jpg" border="0" alt="image" name="image" width="340" height="255" />

<img src="/images/uploads/grass_02.jpg" border="0" alt="image" name="image" width="340" height="255" />

The posted low-res images don't show the results in a good enough way, but they're looking pretty OK in their larger versions here!