Is hexagon good modeling program?
wburton72
Posts: 0
I'm thinking about buying hexagon. Just wondering its a good program and its ok to use for commercial/indie use.
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Yes, it can be used commercially.
As to how good it is...it does what a polygon modeling app needs to do. I use Blender, myself, but lots of folks don't like its UI. Hex is decent.
Does hex provide any powerful tools that free software does not?
Hexagon is good for simple projects, but I have experienced tools locking up when pushed. I still like it though because it's easy to use and easy to learn. I tried Blender too. Blender UI reminds me of a flight simulator... a bit more intimidating than Hexagon.
The short answer is no.
Blender has many more tools than Hex, and it also has several render options as well. Blender is an all round full package, similar to Carrara (for example), but Hexagon is a modeller, pure and simple.
The advantage of Hexagon, is that it is fairly cheap, and it has a Bridge built in to DAZ Studio. It can be used to create morphs for DAZ Figures and Clothing, and the bridge is really useful for that. It also bridges to Bryce if you use that as well.
There is no render engine in Hex, or rigging system for models, as a modeller, I have always liked it's simplicity. It is quick to learn in my opinion, and there is a manual, and many good tutorials scattered around the web.
I love Hexagon too, more or less for the same reasons evoked above. My opinion, the big problem of Hex is not the lack of important functions but the fact that it is locking pretty often and is not commercially important for DAZ who doesn’t makes necessary investments to really fix the bugs.
I bought it, and I’m happy with. It is handy and easy to use. I tried many other modellers (Blender, Modo, 3DS etc.) I, personally, do not have enough time to get the same expertise with those products.
I hope you’ve downloaded the trial version which you can do everything with, except saving your job.
Good luck ;-)
wburton72, I do not know how long the sale will last but at the moment Hexagon is $11.17. It does crash now and then, and it may not have the tools other modelers have but it is easy (ish) to use so the learning curve aint as steep.
Give it a go :)
If you are using Hex on Windows 32-bit OS, LAA http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/large-address-aware.112556/ will allow Hexagon to use up to 3Gb of Ram which can help a lot with crashes due to memory issues. On Windows 64-bit, the 4Gb patch http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php essentially does the same thing.
Its unlikely that Hexagon will be updated to run as a 64-bit app so if you anticipate working with millions of polys, it would be better to look at programs that do. Blender and Wings3D are free, and have 64 bit versions. Nvil, is low cost, and has a 64-bit version in development.
What is Wings 3D? Ive heard of it being good but never really looked into it.
Also is there a trial for hexagon somewhere? If do please post the link.
I don't think that there is a trial for Hexagon at the moment, but you could ask Support by clicking on the Help link at the top of the page, I'm sure they can advise you.
If you Google Wings3D, you can find a download link for both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. It has been around for a long time, and there are many tutorials available for it online.
I looked at wings 3d and did not like it. The program is slow and slow to use. Is hex anything like Carrara? I hear good things about Carrara.
Although I have Carrara, I have only used Hexagon for modeling. I guess its a personal preference, but I find Hexagon easier to use and it does not separate the modeling tools into a Spline Modeler and Vertex Modeler like Carrara does.
Hexagon is a modelling application only, it is nothing like Carrara.
In addition, Carrara has a render engine, rigging facilities, it can use and create shaders, and it can be used for setting up scenes and animations. Hexagon has none of these things
Two more questions. Does hexagon have keyboard shortcuts like extrude and move? How many polygons can it handle before becoming slow or crashing?
There are many keyboard shortcuts. I just checked the manual to see if it has a list but did not find one. However, there's a diagram attached that shows the shortcut layout on the keyboard.
The max number of polys can go over 1 million if you are using LAA or the 4G patch. If not, its difficult to work with models getting close to 1 million polys.
There does not seem to be a shortcut for Extrude. Move (object) used the manipulator or "T" on the keyboard.
Thanks for letting me pick your brains.
Extrude. With a face selected, hold down CTRL and use the mouse to extrude the face. Also, if you select a face and use the Sweep Surface or Extrude Surface tool, using the SpaceBar swaps the tools in the Properties panel for you.
Here's one for those who say Hex has no rendering capabilities - this is not a screencap, but an actual render :)
How did you export from Hex and what render engine did you use?
I think it is a AO 'render' inside Hex with a background loaded. Ambient Occlusion is not a real render, and Hex does not have any lights as such, so it is a little primitive, but you can use the bridge to DS to send objects over, and render them there.
the UI in Blender frightening at first but it begins to make much more sense as you use it and it's not nearly as bad as people see it as. I got scarred off by it too at first now I like it and the program constantly being updated. Hex has not seen an upgrade in ages and I don't think they will ever dust it off and give it one it deserves anytime soon.
Nope, not an AO preview (which wouldn't show a background projected onto the grid), but an actual render, in the true sense of the word, with the background mapped to a plane.
See the camera icon in the bottom right corner:)
Hex does have lighting, which can throw shadows - 10 types. The lights aren't controllable to any real extent and the render is very simplistic, but OK for showing off WIPs or proof-of-concept.
It also does pretty good texture mapping and had 3D painting long before Carrara.
Done very much tongue-in cheek, just for the sake of completeness :)
Does anyone have some pics of quality models made in hexagon? I'm still iffy about buying this software.
I always liked Big T's work done in Hexagon but all the old threads are gone but did find this with some of his work.
http://bigt3d.blogspot.com.au/
Have you looked at the Hexagon Gallery thread ?http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6884/
Plenty of good stuff there. as well as in some private WIP threads on this site. Then take a look at the many models done in Hex at Geekatplay.
Just a word of warning - good (or bad) models are not a reflection on the quality of the software, but rather skill of the modeler - I'll bet some of these great modelers could do similar work in any application they put their minds to.
All the the non dynamic clothing, hair, jewelry and props in my Daz, Rendo, and RDNA stores..
My last 15-20 products were primarily built in Hexagon.
Just to be contrary, I am leaving Hexagon because it crashes too much.
To make matters worse, there is no autosave feature. I have my own thread on this issue.
If you can get Hexagon for less than $20 USD, then I won't be the one to tell you not to do it. Just save often or you'll be sorry!
Yes, definitely save often. I've learned to work around it and generally know what will crash it now, but not always.. and some days is just seems to crash a lot, most days it's fine. No idea why. Also, it likes to reassign random polygons to default surface group when you save out an object rather than keeping them in the material zones you assigned them. I always clean it up in UV Mapper Classic when I have my final obj done just to make sure everything is right.