Hexagon crashes very often
DidrikB
Posts: 0
I like the Hexagon user interface very much, it´s intuitive and not overloaded with windows. I would like the sofware even more if I could trust that my work is not destroyed by crashes. It seems that when you start doing "advanced" operations, hexagon gets enough of it and shuts down. Maybe it´s eating memory, I don´t know. Why don´t DAZ try and find out, and release an update. I think 2.5.1.79 has been around for a quite a while now.
One of my favorite actions is to create tubing by drawing a spline curve and a circle, and then create a sweep surface. I import these tubes into Deep Exploration where I have CAD models of lab instruments. It´s just that the CAD models do not always include the tubing , or you need to adjust the tubing because you move components around. Hexagon is the perfect companion to D.E., if it weren´t for the crashes.
I´m have a Dell Precision laptop with windows 7, 64-bits and 12 GB of memory. Deep Exploration never complains about the power, but Hexagon gets annoyed by something.
Please, DAZ, do some troubleshooting and fix the crash issue. I would rather pay for a working software, then have an almost free software that doesn´t work. I´m sure that a lot of people agree on that.
Thank you.
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Well the problem is that a lot of people DON"T have problems. I am one of the people that does have regular issues, and not even with advanced operations. So you have to go the route of documenting when it crashes etc etc if you ever expect any results from Daz.
Just saying things don't work, won't get them to budge.
But again, I understand, Hexagon is really unreliable for me except if I'm just making a genesis morph. But something as simple as making a slice into a simple cube crashes. *sigh*
Hi DidrikB,
The latest version of Hexagon does have various issues. I would first suggest some steps to try to find where the problem lies.
1. If Hexagon has crashed, there is the possibility that the configuration file as become corrupted. So first, open Hexagon and "File-> User Resources-> Reset all". Then restart Hexagon. (sometimes, even resetting Hexagon will not be enough, as the configuration file itself may required manually deleting. Hexagon does create a new config file on re-start).
2. There can be problems due to the OpenGL optimization. The setting for that is in "Edit-> Preference editor" -> "3D display-> Advanced-> OpenGL optimization". Change the setting to "No optimization"
3. The next problem can come from attempting to export objects while there is dynamic geometry active (although that was supposed to be fixed. I have seen reports stating it can still cause issues)
So for example, after you create your tubing, before you export to .obj file, select the object then go to the lower right hand side window "Dynamic Geometry" and click on the little lightening bolt, which will collapse the DG.
If you do not use the dynamic geometry, you may be best, in the dynamic geometry window drop down settings, set it to "No DG", so you do not forget to collapse the DG.
Thanks for valuable tips, Steve. I think it worked to reset all preferences and also remove OpenGL optimization.
Before that Hexagon consistently crashed when I tried to edit a dynamic geometry, made by Surface extrude from two lines.
Collapsing the dynamic geometries when you are ready and then saving quickly can be wise.
I´m also running in XP compatible mode, this seemed to reduce the number of crashes. So I guess that Hexagon is maybe not fully compatible with Windows 7 64-bit.
It was fully compatible, as I use V2.1 on win7 64 without any major issues.
When DAZ made the latest update, it was mainly to get better compatibility for MAC, and for the latest DS bridge. Unfortunately, that brought in problems, as I found it less stable and more buggy than previous versions on my win7 64 setup.
Hi to all!
I'm here new. I like very much Hexagon because it's simple & contains understable icons to meshing. It's importan for me because I'm not so good in English. :))
I have also issues with very often crashing during meshing. I created hair then I got crash a many times. My effort around the hairystile was lost. :(
I've read these tips from Steve, I will try fix this problem with crashing. I've spent today a whole day in searching of non-crashed 3D program that is similar to Hexagon, but it's not that! :)))
I would like to buy this program because it's not so expensive, but I don't have any experiences with online paying. :/
Greetings,
Tomislaw.
Hexagon crashes alot. I'm running win7 64bit. I would very much like to go back to the 2.1 version but I can't reset that it only gives me the current release. Anyway the program crashes every time I try to use tesselation tools. I have tried the recomended settings in this thread but it doesn't work for me.
On the old DAZ site, there was a download page for the various previous versions, but that appears to be no longer available. You could e-mail support to see if earlier versions are available.
Be aware, the serial for the latest version does not work for previous versions.
On the old DAZ site, there was a download page for the various previous versions, but that appears to be no longer available. You could e-mail support to see if earlier versions are available.
Be aware, the serial for the latest version does not work for previous versions.
Thanks Steve, I have sent in a support ticket to see it Daz can do that for me. I found an old copy on cd but file is corrupted and will not run. I did find the old serial number though so I really hope they will reset it.
Just got a response to my request for prior release download. No dice, Daz doesn't make prior releases available. The tools I need to function are the tesselation tools and the program crashes every time.
hi i have troubles with hexagon crashing too. i find it works better with local redraw deselected.it tents to cash for these reasons the most trouble i have is extruding (works better with smoothing) and if i loose good topology. or loose symmetry
Thank you so much for the tips. The first two actions saved my day, HEX is now stable again. I don't know exactly what was wrong with my settings, or what had been corrupted, as it used to work fine formerly. Anyway I have printed and saved your steps so I can easily find and follow them again, if necessary.
HEX used to crash on me even after extremely simple activities like creating a primitive cube, not doing much with it (some translation or resizing) and moving the camera perspective... bang#?@&&*§... Sometimes I had a feeling it happened more often when doing some tesselation, but then again, short after starting HEX and just creating a first primitive cube,,, bang#?@&&*§... So I guess in my case this smells like a corrupt configuration file, like you described in step one. There had also been some anomalies with some icons after starting the program, the UI wasn't built up properly, and just hovering over the incorrect icons transfered them into what they were supposed to be, another indication that is was the configuration file, right? But I didn't have the patience to try the steps one by one, instead I did 1, then restart HEX, then step 2, restart HEX again, and wooooow, after 3 hours it still seems stable.
This was needed desperately, I have a project running, and couldn't afford the time to introduce myself in modeling in my Carrara Pro 8.5 or Blender or Wings3D... Like DidrikB said in a comment above, I simply love the interface of HEXAGON and I want THIS. I don't want it for FREE, I am very ready to pay for a fair price and would immediately purchase a new version, IF IT IS STABLE. However, now it seems reliable enough again to continue my work without switching to other software, am a happy guy now.
My system: Packard Bell Laptop, Duo Core Intel i5, 4 GB RAM, 1 GB VRAM, NVIDEA GT320, Win 7, 64 Bit
If only I could purchase you a beer, lol, ...
Thanks again
Martin
Martin, Your system specs indicate 64 bit Windows and 4Gb of Ram. The 4GB patch available here http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php does allow Hexagon (as well as other 32 bit apps) to use additional memory which can be helpful.
Hex was crashing on me when using the manipulator on a cube. Does it need the patch for an empty project?
That sounds like a possible video card problem ... there are settings that can be adjusted in the video card's control panel that might help. There have been several threads on this forum concerning different cards.
Uhhh, no. Just no.
Can't blame a modern video card capable of GPGPU processing and modern drivers with a modern hex-core system, 64 GB of memory, and a modern 64 bit Windows 8.1 OS that is fully patched. I won't accept this, especially since other modelling applications do not crash in this same environment like Hex does.
This is why I've quit Hexagon and am skipping over Carrara for now, even though I have purchased it. Some of the Carrara fans tried to tell me to "live with it" when I complained about the UI with the tiny font sizes and no way to customize the product. We just last year got Carrara 8.5, but some parts of that UI are from the stone age and haven't been changed since then!
Well, I am a fan of DAZ software applications, but at the moment, I'm angry and upset. And I'm not willing to put up with it forever and ever, and that's why I decided to try working with Blender, at least for modelling at first. And y'know what? So far Blender is easier to read without reading glasses (even on a high-resolution screen!), more customizable, allows autosave, and still hasn't crashed on me.
So yeah. I refuse to blame my graphic card for one software application not working while others continue to work just fine.
The bigger question for me, and believe me, I love you all...but...why are we as a group being such easy enablers when it comes to DAZ software applications that are being allowed to shrivel on the vine and fall into disrepair from such neglect?
I submit to you that Bryce, (no 64 bit, and no real updates in years), Hexagon (same thing), Carrara (still using a 1980's user interface), and probably more all need to be dealt with and modernized.
DAZ's models and marketplace are top-notch, why not their software too? I want better from DAZ and I think we should all be demanding it, myself included. Shame on all of us for putting up with "barely good enough". It's a disservice to DAZ which we've all allowed to become our own undoing.
Anyway, thanks for hearing me out.
At the time Hex was coded, OpenGL was at v 2.0 and most apps were still using 1.4. The newer cards and OGL drivers are backward compatible, however, in some cases it is necessary to modify the default settings for better backward compatibility.
A search in the Hex forum on "video card" will show various issues can resolved for both ATI and NVidea cards by some modifications to the settings. Some of the control panels settings can be saved in a custom configuration so that they will only be modified when a specific application is active.
At the time Hex was coded, OpenGL was at v 2.0 and most apps were still using 1.4. The newer cards and OGL drivers are backward compatible, however, in some cases it is necessary to modify the default settings for better backward compatibility.
A search in the Hex forum on "video card" will show various issues can resolved for both ATI and NVidea cards by some modifications to the settings. Some of the control panels settings can be saved in a custom configuration so that they will only be modified when a specific application is active.
Hello and thank you VERY much for your suggestions. :coolsmile:
But "Coping tips" won't end the need for coping. It's time for an intervention! >:-(
At the minimum, DAZ needs to make a statement of direction with these old products, particularly Bryce and Hexagon. Are they going to be upgraded at a future date, or are they "deprecated" (meaning they are on the list to be discontinued at a future date)? And what about Carrara's elderly and obsolete User Interface?
In my opinion, these old products (but GREAT products) have waited far too long for some TLC and the user community deserves to know what the plan is.
Hex seems to crash when the wind blows for me. I like the software a lot as its fairly easy to use, even for a novice like me. I created a main hall for a castle with Hex then created doorways with an archway and a boolean operation. Hex crashes every time I try to export it as an .obj file. I want to send it to Unity for a project I am working on. I have tried sending it to DAZ but all the open doorways seem to vanish and its just a solid cube which does me no good. I went through and tried the fixes mentioned previously in this thread but they didnt help. I have a 64 bit system, 16 GB RAM, and Windows 7 Ultimate. Something definitely needs to be done with Hex.
um, "no Boolean". On a fresh cube, make lines where you want the holes and delete the faces. Tessellate the edges to hold the shapes.
Hexagon does well some operations, but others send shivers up the spine ;-)
Sometimes booleans are unavoidable.
If you need to use booleans, its best to turn off DG (Dynamic Geometry) when modeling to cut down on the crashes. If you do use DG, make sure you collapse the objects before exporting (NOTE save a copy of your Hex file prior to collapsing). Boolean objects may not not export predictably if they are not collapsed prior to exporting.
I have DG turned off but it makes no difference. Im not sure what you mean by collapsing? Crashing I know pretty well as it does that lots! Collapsing, not so much. As far as drawing lines and deleting faces, that does absolutely nothing. You cant select the faces inside the lines that you just drew. I found a tutorial that showed using the boolean feature and that seemed to be the only way to make an opening in a wall. I think I will just have to learn how to use Blender. Its sad that Hex is so bad and they dont seem to be worried about fixing it at all.
Do you triangulate n-gons after doing a Boolean operation? This is essential if you are going to render in Daz Studio or Poser.
I can't agree that DG should be turned off when doing Booleans - in fact, one of the Boolean operations needs DG to be on full to work. You absolutely must collapse DG before exporting. In general, you should have DG on restricted.
I don't think its a question of putting up with it - many have protested for many years, to no avail. Many have switched to other software and I myself am busy migrating
I don't think Daz need to make any announcement - their actions speak loud - they are concentrating on their core business, which is content creation and brokering. Daz Studio is the vehicle for that and that is what they are concentrating on.
Ah collapsing the DG. Since I dont have it on at all, there is nothing to collapse. Hex seems to really implode if I do anything with DG turned on. If I go to extrude something with it on, kablooie! Project gone and I get aggravated. I was thinking there was an operation within Hex that was called collapsing, not the collapsing of DG.
I'm in the process of creating a house using Hexagon, my first. I've noticed when Hexagon starts to constantly crash it's after I loaded a file from Recent Files. And, Recent Files is filled with a number of recent files. To stop the constant crashing I've resorted to reseting preferences back to default, which clears out the Recent File choice; the only preference I change is the number of undos.
Because Recent Files hasn't filled up again, I can't say for certain whether my experience with constant crashes has to do with the possibility that Recent Files is full and not draining off old files, rolling off one file name to add another. Which in some way affects Hexagon and causes the crashes. What would be nice, and it's been discussed many times, is for those who wrote Hexagon to have another go at it and fix whatever causes all of the crashes people experience. And I know, it'll happen the same day pigs start to fly.
I doubt that is the cause of crashes :)
This crashing of Hex is a subject that comes up at least every six months or so and after much debate, the general consensus is always that it is pilot error. I personally found that as I got more proficient, it seemed to crash less and less. I can honestly say that I haven't had a single crash in several years that I can't directly relate to something dumb I have done.
Hex's main problem is that it doesn't have error-catching - do something it wasn't designed for and down it goes without warning - it is very intolerant of user error :)
Yeah, collapsing is specific to DG. I did read before that you said you were NOT using DG, so I included the screenshots to confirm that.
Another thing I have noticed with booleans is that they often produce point very close together. I have found that this can be a problem for many future operations, not just booleans.
So its a good idea to do an average weld on the object after a boolean. One thing to clarify on the images below, the distance value needs to be LARGER than the spacing between the points you are trying to weld and SMALLER than the minimum distance between the points you want to keep.
Good call, that will help clean up :)
Can you post a YouTube video of that happening?