Hexagon

CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241
edited August 2018 in Hexagon Discussion

So, I literally avoided hexagon after looking at Carrara and deciding to learn Daz first.  I do use some Blender for modeling.  I was considering looking at Modo because I have some friends who use it and they rave about it and their models speak for themelves.  But, today I was like... "maybe look and see what is this Hexagon software".

Well, it is actually a very nice modeler, right from opening it I was pleased with the spacious and clean gui.  That Daz bridge though... wow, very nice indeed.  So now, I'm thinking I need to learn Hexagon's gui.  Having such a seamless bridge is very nice and the layout of the program is actually a breath of fresh air for someone like me who is learning new software already and I have to say I do like making models and so I think using Hexagon would make a lot of sense.  

I will still use blender, but I could possibly ignore the coaxing to buy modo and see what I can do with Hexagon.  Modo is far from cheap and it is way more than I need atm.  I'm sure anything I cannot do in Hex I can just do in Blender.

Other than the docs page if anyone knows of any youtubers who have tutorials and want to share them with me please post in the thread.  Many thanks.

 

Post edited by CGHipster on
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Comments

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited July 2018

    If you move your thread to the Hexagojn forum you will probably get more response.

    You can do this yourself by clicking on the gear icon in your first post, then selecting edit from the drop down,  On the page glance over to the left and you will "Category", that has a drop down so you can just select the category and press post to move your thread.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,169

    You will find links to a lot of Hexagon tutorials here.


    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/298/hexagon-tutorial-list/p1

  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241

    Thanks both

  • ZyloxZylox Posts: 787
    edited July 2018

    Interesting you should ask for YouTube tutorials on Hexagon. We are currently discussing using Hexagon, as well as other modelling programs, in the formerly male content creation thread - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/65357/formerly-male-content-creation-thread/p12. On page 12 I listed some tutorials available on YouTube as well as here in the DAZ store. On page 15 of that thread, Diomede started a tutorial walkthrough of how to make a golf shirt for G8M using Hexagon and the Studio-Hexagon bridge. There are a lot of other how-to posts and links in that thread which you may find helpful.

     

    Some YouTube tutorials I have found helpful include the following:

    GuerrillaCG tutorial on modeling concepts that apply to all modelling programs.

    CGDreams Hexagon quickstart, 26 videos on how to use the tools in Hexagon.

     

    Collections of tutorials from Geekatplay:

    Navigating in Hexagon.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AgHQgTiGoE2-Y2_kCWbPl2L

    Discovering Hexagon.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7Ajk19raUkjJq78C1ThL7xFg

    Hexagon Projects, set one.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AivfWCoYkKq7-YE0q_q_CHA

    Hexagon Projects, set two.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7Aipu5Tz8T8AiXbOmGMDPyk7

    Hexagon Projects, part three, title says Hexagon Extended, part three.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AgdbBXNSZi8cQkGoVJnTjj3

    Hexagon Projects, part four.

     

    I have also found Dreamlight's tutorial to be very helpful. It includes all the content from his Master Hexagon 2.5 tutorials plus a lot more, for less than the cost of buying them seperately. There are some other good tutorials in the store as well.

    https://www.daz3d.com/hexagon-revisited-create-models-money

    Post edited by Zylox on
  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241
    Zylox said:

    Interesting you should ask for YouTube tutorials on Hexagon. We are currently discussing using Hexagon, as well as other modelling programs, in the formerly male content creation thread - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/65357/formerly-male-content-creation-thread/p12. On page 12 I listed some tutorials available on YouTube as well as here in the DAZ store. On page 15 of that thread, Diomede started a tutorial walkthrough of how to make a golf shirt for G8M using Hexagon and the Studio-Hexagon bridge. There are a lot of other how-to posts and links in that thread which you may find helpful.

     

    Some YouTube tutorials I have found helpful include the following:

    GuerrillaCG tutorial on modeling concepts that apply to all modelling programs.

    CGDreams Hexagon quickstart, 26 videos on how to use the tools in Hexagon.

     

    Collections of tutorials from Geekatplay:

    Navigating in Hexagon.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AgHQgTiGoE2-Y2_kCWbPl2L

    Discovering Hexagon.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7Ajk19raUkjJq78C1ThL7xFg

    Hexagon Projects, set one.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AivfWCoYkKq7-YE0q_q_CHA

    Hexagon Projects, set two.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7Aipu5Tz8T8AiXbOmGMDPyk7

    Hexagon Projects, part three, title says Hexagon Extended, part three.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaH1PMiI_7AgdbBXNSZi8cQkGoVJnTjj3

    Hexagon Projects, part four.

     

    I have also found Dreamlight's tutorial to be very helpful. It includes all the content from his Master Hexagon 2.5 tutorials plus a lot more, for less than the cost of buying them seperately. There are some other good tutorials in the store as well.

    https://www.daz3d.com/hexagon-revisited-create-models-money

    Excellent, thank you.

  • ShawnDriscollShawnDriscoll Posts: 375
    edited July 2018

    I will still use blender, but I could possibly ignore the coaxing to buy modo and see what I can do with Hexagon.  Modo is far from cheap and it is way more than I need atm.  I'm sure anything I cannot do in Hex I can just do in Blender.

    I have modo. But I use it only for rendering. Its GUI is too overly-complicated for me. With Hexagon, I can model objects very quickly. On-the-fly. And it imports/exports OBJ better than most other apps. Including modo.

    Post edited by ShawnDriscoll on
  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241

    I will still use blender, but I could possibly ignore the coaxing to buy modo and see what I can do with Hexagon.  Modo is far from cheap and it is way more than I need atm.  I'm sure anything I cannot do in Hex I can just do in Blender.

    I have modo. But I use it only for rendering. Its GUI is too overly-complicated for me. With Hexagon, I can model objects very quickly. On-the-fly. And it imports/exports OBJ better than most other apps. Including modo.

    Excellent, I like hex already and only just saw how easy and quick it was to use. I'm looking forward to using it
  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241
    edited July 2018

    Ok, I just tried Hexagon and did a quick cushion and then did a few morphs for the cushion.  I'm sold.  So easy to use.  The tutorials everyone linked are great, thank you all for your help.  It's appreciated.

    Edit* my first item in Hex.  I went for a sofa since its fairly straightforward and my sofa was simple enough that I could manage, although I messed the UV on the back of the sofa so for my render I just made it faux fur ;)

    Post edited by CGHipster on
  • Great job on the sofa. UV'ing is one of the hardest parts to get right, the trick is to put the seams where they are less likely to be seen (easier said than done sometimes). 

     

  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241
    edited July 2018

    Great job on the sofa. UV'ing is one of the hardest parts to get right, the trick is to put the seams where they are less likely to be seen (easier said than done sometimes). 

    Good info, thanks!

     

    Thanks
    Post edited by CGHipster on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,050
    ...I wish there were still PDF/print tutorials that covered the concepts of modelling. Having short term memory issues causes me to have poor retention with video learning. So pretty much flying by the seat of the pants. Thankfully Hexagon itself has a very intuitive learning curve and a UI that doesn't "get in the way". Enjoying the marked inprovement in stability with the 64 bit version. Beginning to feel I can actually do this.
  • Wee Dangerous JohnWee Dangerous John Posts: 1,605
    edited August 2018

    Hi Kyoto Kid, these two are in the Hexagon tutorial post else-where.

    This one is making a sword, Patience explains the DAZ Studio side of things - http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/44296/

    This one is a quick and easy one on making a picture frame - http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/44577/

    Hopefully these will get you started. I'll keep my eye out for PDFs.

     

    Post edited by Wee Dangerous John on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,050
    edited August 2018
    ...sweet. Thank you. Haven't been doing a lot of work recently due to us having a series of heat waves where I live and my place having no AC. Also in the midst of a major upgrade which includes networking a couple systems together.
    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • JonnyRayJonnyRay Posts: 1,744

    These may be also linked in some of the threads on Hex tutorials, but I happen to like Jen's style.

    Jen Greenlees' YouTube Channel

  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241

    Hi, thanks!  I also bought the "Revisiting Hexagon" Series last week during its sale, I haven't had much time this past 2 weeks since at work its been one of our busiest times of the year... (budgets), I'm an analyst by day and have been working super long hours for the past month, the last 2 weeks were the worst but its over today and I can get back to my own interests.

    I'm excited to do some more modeling in Hexagon, I found it very fast and the UI is engaging.

  • handyman4545handyman4545 Posts: 408
    edited August 2018

    WOW!
    I love this program... Greetings to all!
    Bearing in mind that Ive used this program for about 20 hrs
    I have ZERO experience in any type of 3D rendering (other than using Autocad 2D for prints) and maybe 40 hrs with DAZ 3D, trial & error Im now beginning to understand the simple stuff.

    After building this obj in Hegagon 2.5 [http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/S&W45b.png] (the 2nd obj in my 3D experience) I was pleased at the reletive ease it was and Im sure I did it all wrong but it came out sooo great!
    Then I wanted to add texture to it but when I loaded the image in its grey, solid state, it opened and responded fine to every edit tool except surfaces where as soon as the mouse hit the desktop area, it crashed.
    On the upside though, it did load fine as an obj into DAZ via import/export and I was able to pose a charecter with it so I'm facinated and amazed at the ability of the software.
    This was my first project after watching a video on a boring chair. http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/Vintar.png

    Next I wanted to add texture to the obj so I went hunting for info and after several failed attempts to figure it out I found a video that explained the "Editor Tab" and "Surfaces Pane".
     I was able to get the idea from the tut and scrapped the original .45 to rebuild it in pieces this time instead of as a sigle block.

    Now I'm muddling through making textures on the different parts of the obj.

    What I still need to understand is how to make a jpg(?) map and mtl file but Im working at it.

    BTW...
    TY Hipster for the directions here and the tut's you provided to me!
    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3878786#Comment_3878786

    Post edited by handyman4545 on
  • JonnyRayJonnyRay Posts: 1,744

    Most important command to know ... Incremental save (Ctrl-Shift-S on Windows). I use the heck out of that when I'm modeling so if I screw up and don't realize it until 30 minutes later, I have a version to go back to. I also tend to use it whenever I'm about to do something that has caused Hex to crash on me in the past.

    Welcome to modeling, though. I'm certainly having a blast with it these days! :)

  • I agree Jonny, its good to save your projects regually. :)

  • handyman4545handyman4545 Posts: 408
    edited August 2018

    I agree as well.
    I had 42 saves on that .45 obj.
    Still, somewhere after the 8th save something went wrong and the system crashed whenever I tried to access the "faces" edit button.
    Because of my adolescent experience with 3D modeling, I never used it during the following 20 hrs or so of additional building until I was done and trying to (hit & miss) figure out how to add textures.

    Now, armed with a little more understanding of the "Materials Pane", I had to go all the way back to that eary save and start from there.

    All wasn't lost but 80% was wasted time other than the moral and experience anyway.

    New quesion.
    The slide has a tab on the front bottom that has a radius on it.
    How do I extract the radius fron the tab?

    http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/Capture.JPG

    UPDATE
    Since I last wrote I thought about fast extrude and used that.
    I'd still love some additional advice on a better way?
    http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/Capture10.JPG

    Post edited by handyman4545 on
  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241

    Question, in blender I have layers so basically when I want to model something or change mesh etc I can take a duplicate and drop into a layer so that it is there as a backup if I want to go back.  Does Hex have anything like layers?  TY

  • JonnyRayJonnyRay Posts: 1,744

    Not directly. What I would probably do in that case (beyond using the Incremental Save as an macro level "undo" option), would be to copy and past the object, then lock the original for updates and hide it while I worked on the copy.

  • Handyman, I'm not into guns so do not know the parts, any chance you could post a photo of the piece you want to make ?

  • I also have another project I'd like to perhaps get some assistance on.
    I want to build a scene utilizing this overhead.

    http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/Sag010823.JPG

    Anybody have any suggestions?

  • CGHipsterCGHipster Posts: 241
    JonnyRay said:

    Not directly. What I would probably do in that case (beyond using the Incremental Save as an macro level "undo" option), would be to copy and past the object, then lock the original for updates and hide it while I worked on the copy.

    Thanks!

  • mach25mach25 Posts: 256

    I also have another project I'd like to perhaps get some assistance on.
    I want to build a scene utilizing this overhead.

    http://www.mcspangler.com/Images/Sag010823.JPG

    Anybody have any suggestions?

    take a look at a DEM file as second reference pic

    several curves and once you get them right add thickness or other tool to make 3d objects out of curves

  • Not exactly sure what all that means but thanks anyway and I'll poke around till I figure it out.

  • ShawnDriscollShawnDriscoll Posts: 375
    edited August 2018

    DEM files are topography maps of terrain converted into 3D meshes. There are newer formats out there now that have replaced DEM.

    Post edited by ShawnDriscoll on
  • Wee Dangerous JohnWee Dangerous John Posts: 1,605
    edited August 2018

    Do you mean the rings around the lake (looks like contour lines you get on a map) ? 

    If so, could you do that by drawing the lines and adding thickness to the curves, then delete the bottom half of each ring and Weld + Bridge them together.

    Post edited by Wee Dangerous John on
  • AscaniaAscania Posts: 1,849

    Do you mean the rings around the lake (looks like contour lines you get on a map) ? 

    If so, could you do that by drawing the lines and adding thickness to the curves, then delete the bottom half of each ring and Weld + Bridge them together.

    These "rings" are stepped terraces. Instead of your method it would be easier just go into top view, use the facet tool to draw one polygon along the outlines and then create the inner terraces by successive inner extrusion, vertex alignment with the terrace edge followed by a downwards extrusion.

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