is hexagon still relevant for making daz stuff?
iDiru
Posts: 696
I just discovered [Hexagon] it existed an hr ago, but it seems like it's pretty old?
Is it better to use than blender or worse?
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Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
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Overall, Hexagon is a good modeling tool ... especially if you are a first time modeler. However, it is terrible for texturing and mapping. Also, some versions have had a tendency to crash so you need to save often ... but I am not sure how the current version is doing. I still use it - especially for architectural items ... organic items like an apple are more challenging.
That said ... if you know how to use Blender (or another program), you should probably just go with that. If you have never used blender, it has a long learning curve ... but it is worth it in the end because it is a noticeably better program for modeling.
OH ... IMPORTANT >>> Daz and Hexagon are made to work together for certain functions. If you send a model to Hexagon, make a morph, and send it back to Daz it can automatically add that morph to the item with a slider. That is a very useful feature which, if you make a lot of morphs, might be worth learning Hexagon for just that.
I'm just god awful with blender. there's so much stuff and so many rules i get confused so fast. i seem to be better in hexagon at the moment and picking it up a bit quicker.
would it be possible to just start the base of it in hexagon, then load it in blender, then send it to daz?
Oh yes. OBJ files are accepted by most (if not all) modeling programs. You can make the mesh in one program, load it in another to do texture zones, load it in another for actual textures, and finally load it in Daz for rendering. You will have to ask someone else for recommendations on the better free texturing programs ... I have a paid for one called 3D Coat that I am comfortable with.
If you do not like the user interface in Blender, you might want to look for something that fits your style better.
I use sometimes Hexagon for modelling a prop but export as .obj and import in Blender for uv layout.
Getting a good uv map in hexagon and (even more) export a map with the mesh as a image file, which can be used in Gimp or Photoshop,is a demanding (or maybe impossible ?) task.
There was an old programm UV Mapper which equally accepts .obj files and did a good job in creating uv maps. This program exported templates for the drawing programs in the pixel rage you specified in the workflow. Don't know if this is still around.
I use Hexagon 1.21 with Poser 6 still. Never really updated because they work great together. I use 3DCoat for my texturing and UV mapping.
Reading above, sounds like a few folks use Hex and then use 3DC for uv mapping etc.
3DC has a solid rep for UV mgmt. Totally agree. Last DS project was just Hex (had two handy UV features) to start with, and its silky bridge, and then 3DC for main UV work.
Im glad i found this thread because i've been struggling to decide if its worth taking the time to learn Hexagons features over other 3d apps, specifically Blender or Maya. I had an attempt at making some simple objects and importing them into daz, found it quite straight forward but still sitting on the fence over it!
I also use Hexagon to make the products I have.
But your decision has to take into account your long term goals. If you want to get into the game industry for example and work for a Triple AAA game studio, then your best option is MAYA or 3DStudio Max.
If you have access to the software, Learn the MAYA.
If you want to just 3D model for fun and a bit a profit, then Hexagon is a robust functional modeller that can do quite a bit.
"Better" is in the eye of the beholder, and I know how cliched that may sound.
Personally I think Hexagon is the best editing tool to start out with in combination with Daz Studio. First it 'fits' like a glove thanks to the bridge but most of all... because of all the stuff you can learn from all this. Using Hexagon isn't easy but the experience you'll gain from using Hexagon can be gold, even if you never managed to create something of your own just yet... But being 'forced' to think about points, lines and polygons really helped me to understand a whole lot more about the editing process. And that can become quite useful in the longer run.
A few years ago I got the opportunity to grab myself a full ZBrush license, this quickly turned into my favorite editor and I even uninstalled Hexagon in the mean time. Yah, so while ZBrush is all about sculpting it also supports "hard surface modeling" through ZModeler. In other words: it can also do the things Hexagon does. See, sculpting sounds fun and dandy and all but it's still a mesh and not a blob of actual clay you're working with. Meaning that mesh integrity, polygon alignment and basically your overal structure can still become very important aspects. Someone who only knows sculpting may not even fully understand all this... meh, just let ZBrush fix it (if it can). But for someone who has worked with Hexagon and also tried to understand the actual process?
Sure... ZBrush (and Blender too within that context) are far more advanced than Hexagon. For example... I'm working on creating a (crude) tanktop for one of my favorite Genesis figures. In Hexagon this would start with me drawing a cylinder ("primitive") over my Genesis figure, and then spending several hours, if not days, to get the shape a bit right. I'm not a pro btw. So in ZBrush I mask the areas I want to use, set up the right parameters and then I "extract" a mesh; a nearly perfect starting point and all I have to do now is focus on several details.
Fun fact: in many cases I could actually fix issues with (rough) details a lot quicker through use of the "ZModeler" brush vs. me relying on sculpting. In other words: doing things the "Hexagon way".
Software may become more advanced and complex, but the basics of modelling never really changed. And making yourself familiar with those can definitely give you an edge.
I love ZBrush (I consider myself to be a bit of a fanboy ;)) but I started out with Hexagon, and I'd do it all over again! Old doesn't imply obsolete.
Hope this can help.
I haven't used Hexagon for a few years. I would like to get back into it, but the tutorials that I used back then have since been removed. Hexagon is much more beginner, and user friendly (which is why I wanted to go back to it). But I've had to move onto Blender.
I loved the Hexagon tutorials. They were more in-depth, and made with care. Unlike most of the Blender tutorials that are uploaded to Y/tube with no commentary, and played at x3 the speed (which makes me think that they're not actually trying to help you learn at all).
One can slow down the playback speed of YouTube videos but without commentary [voice or text] it would still be a challenge.
I can only recommend you, otherwise just try things out, there are more possibilities to build in Hexagon, with time you will become more confident.
We still use Hexagon today and are satisfied. The program is underestimated by many.
https://www.youtube.com/@MaxHancockCo
Arki has some really nice content-creation courses for Hexagon through Digital Art Live here at Daz 3d. I just bought them and they're really quite excellent and she's really enjoyable to learn from.
even if hexagon were better at things just learn blender since you will have to learn it anyway
I already had my Wisdom Teeth pulled
how so?
I have Blender. I use it. I have Hexagon. I use it too. Both have their advantages.
Although Blender has more functions, is up to date - if you want to have all those basic functions ready immediatley after start: Use Hexagon.
And I made better experiences with DS Hexagon Bridge than with the Brigde to Blender.
I'm 100% with atoxic, Hexagon is a super useful, extremely easy to use tool with a fantastic Daz Studio integration.
Granted, it's perhaps not the best for making new objects from scratch in this day and age, but for making quick adjustments to your Daz Studio scenes it's just great. The tools I use most are the sculpting brushes (smooth and inflate) and the vertex tools with soft sleection (grab a face, then move it - boom, poke through gone). Fun Fact: the main developer fpr Hexagon went on to become a sales rep for ZBrush. Many of the tools in Hexagon were ahead of its time when it was released.
To answer the original question, yes in my opinion Hexagon is still very much relevant when it comes to scene building with Daz Studio. For modelling and UV unwrapping there are certianly better tools available (like Blender), but Hexagons low learning curve and tight integration with Daz Stduio makes it a very solid tool I wouldn't want to miss. Get the 64-bit beta for more stability: https://www.daz3d.com/hexagon-beta
Are there any free Hexagon equivalent apps to apply when using Mac?
Feeling that there is no good up to date starting point for Hexagon I recorded my workflow for a prop (a medival / fairy tower) together with some more basis informations about the modelling program.
I hope this is helpful and can give you some inspirations
Nice Days and Nice Renders
atoxic
Sorry, DS only uploaded the image file, did not take the zip file with the really intresting description,
I try to upload the whole package over at Rendo.
Relevant ?
I use it years ago. There are a very few tools or situations where it gives you problems. In that cases I export the OBJ to other program to make that operation ( for example the boolean ) and return the object to Hexagon to continue working. Look if I like to work with it.
I tried others like Blender, Fussion 360, AutoCad, and in general I can't understand if in these tools if somebody really think in the user. Because are like walls to undrestand how to begin to work with them. Not with Hexagon. You can go increasing your level, but it's easy and intuitive understand how it works.
The problem is that seems that DAZ let it as a forgotten project while others continued increasing their options.
If you like to model, you can do what you want. I send you an old example.
In adition, now the "fashion" is to work with programs in cloud. Caution !! Nobody can certiffy you at 100% that one day your models could be stolen. That can't happens with Hexagon.