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What is hexagon?

madmaxneo1madmaxneo1 Posts: 148
edited December 1969 in Hexagon Discussion

Or more importantly: What can Hexagon be used for?

I have DAZ3D and Bryce (though I have yet to even use Bryce) and I was thinking of purchasing Hexagon. I purchased Bryce because I have been led to believe it can help me create some textures for DAZ3D. I haven't been able to work with Bryce just yet so I haven't tried it yet.
But I have a lot of *.obj files that I have downloaded from free websites and I would like to use them in DAZ3D but there are changes I would like to make to them like adding textures or manipulating the shape a little and if possible changing their pivot points.
I'd also like to eventually get into creating my own objects/content for DAZ3D.

Would I be able to do all that with Hexagon?

Comments

  • Wee Dangerous JohnWee Dangerous John Posts: 1,605
    edited December 1969

    Bryce is more of a Landscape Generator than a texture maker, it is worth learning though.

    Hexagon will do what you want it to. You may find it easier to make your own models rather than convert things you've found on the net, start with simple props (sword, books etc).

    At the moment Hexagon is less than $20. It does have its problems (save often as it tends to crashes fairly often), but it is very easy to use.

  • madmaxneo1madmaxneo1 Posts: 148
    edited December 1969

    I plan on using primarily for fantasy weapons more than anything. There are a few obj files that I would like to convert/alter for a better fit in DAZ3D.
    A few questions:
    1. Does it help with creating textures?
    2. Can I create/alter clothing/wardrobe items?

    There are a few items in the wardrobe department that I tried fitting together but they always mix the textures up. Things like belts/harnesses and tops along with capes along with hair and hats or helmets....

  • Wee Dangerous JohnWee Dangerous John Posts: 1,605
    edited April 2015

    1 - No, you create textures with an art package - Paintshop Pro, PhotoShop etc.

    The Work flow goes something like - Create prop, UVmap it, create texture, load prop and texture into DAZ Studio - save prop.

    2 - Yes.

    Altering things. You use the DAZ Studio to Hex Bridge. In Hexagon you adjust the prop (you are not allowed to increase the poly count) and send it back to DS. Patience has done a few tutorials here where she explains that side of things, she's far better than me at Morphing and Rigging.

    Post edited by Wee Dangerous John on
  • madmaxneo1madmaxneo1 Posts: 148
    edited December 1969

    I have Xara 10 for the textures though I also currently have access to the adobe cloud suite of products.
    I already have literally thousands of textures that I collected for old projects I had worked on so creating them is not really a thing since I already have them.
    Though it would be nice to learn to create them more effectively. They are all either in png or jpeg formats.

    I downloaded some free obj files from renderosity or some other website last week but when I port them into DAZ they are huge (like Galactus sized) and scaling them down is a real pain.

    I have to get back into the DAZ tutorials and learn how to import textures into it along with tutorials for Hexagon....

  • McGyverMcGyver Posts: 7,050
    edited December 1969

    For creating seamless textures, you can use either Filter Forge (check DAZ's store, I think they just started selling it here) or Genetica...
    Both of these program use various filter nodes to generate seamless textures that can be used on 3D models.
    A seamless texture is a texture that can be "seamlessly" tiled on a surface... So when you apply such a texture to a model's surface, you cannot tell where the base tile begins and ends, as it looks like one single continuous texture.
    Filter Forge's website has a trial version which as far as I know is fully functional for the trial period (30days?)... Genetica has a free limited function version call Genetica Viewer, which while limited to only rendering a set number of included texture filters, is still very useful.
    I own Filter Forge pro and can only say good stuff about it... Genetica is pretty good too and when I have a bit more cash saved I intend to purchase it too.
    If you are interested in making your own models, then I strongly recommend at some point you consider picking up these great tools to aid in your work.
    Also I just came across another program called MapZone which seems to sort of work in a manner similar to Genetica and Filter Forge, but with a much more difficult to understand User Interface... I just downloaded it today and haven't really tried it out much, but it's free and seems capable of making interesting textures.

    Sorry about not providing links, but it think there is a rule against links to commercial sites... MapZone is free, but it is from a commercial vendor, so I don't know it that counts.

  • madmaxneo1madmaxneo1 Posts: 148
    edited December 1969

    Thanks lordvicore!
    I have already downloaded the free program and may one day be able to purchase the others, but not now. It may take me some time to get through all that I need to create what I want. All I need is the focus to do so......and with so many distractions....

    I haven't even really dived into Bryce or Hexagon just yet but I have needs for both those programs of which stems into the programs you recommended. Although there is probably a lot I can also do in Blender. But that is yet another program I really to dive into and learn.

    Bruce

  • McGyverMcGyver Posts: 7,050
    edited December 1969

    You are very welcome, and I'm sorry if I included any info you already knew.
    Yeah, I get the distractions part... Too bad I haven't found any free "Time Dilation" software...
    Freezing time does help reduce the distractions and allows a person more free time to study up on how to do all this stuff.
    The cheapest and closest Time Dilation alternative I've found is cheap rum... And that is really not quite the same.

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