"Hexagon for Maya users" tutorial?
I am used to Maya.. I have been using it since literally 1.0 (1999). I am about to transition out of where I have access to Maya, and am not a student. I am currently unable to afford my own license of Maya, though I am saving toward that.
I picked up Hexagon years ago but every time I try to use it, I am coming at it from a Maya user's standpoint so I bang my head into a wall. The most elaborate thing I've been able to do with it is to model a helix (using the tool, not by hand), then extrude a circle along it to make a spring, or to bevel four edges of a cube to make a button. When I try to do anything more, I run into some disparity between the way Maya is designed and the way that Hexagon is designed.. So, I ask.. is there a guide for a Maya user who wants to pick up Hexagon and run with it? It's getting painful..
Thank you.
Comments
That would be one specialised tutorial Outre' if even one existed, to have been using Maya since 1999 tells me you have spent many hours of working in the 3D world, I am surprised that you are finding difficulty in crossing over between applications, I had started out in 1998 with Truespace and Bryce, and anything I could get for free including trials. I had ran completely through a couple of 3d Studio Max,4 training books and had been in a similar position as yourself, not having the funds to purchase the software. Now I find working with different 3d software much more fun than sticking to just the one.
These days with such a variety of free applications, and people publishing tutorials,freely available, I am in 3d heaven, I had started using Hexagon from the time I joined this forum, not that long ago, and have found the forum so very helpful in enabling me to get the most from it, Hex seemed confusing at first but after a few hours and a little practise, had come to get results, it is fast and clean and grows on you as you pick up all the little ways of working, most important is this forum, no question is a stupid one, it is a great knowledge base and certainly motivated me.
Good luck
I am not a master in Maya by any means, my use for and of it being limited in scope, but the hotkeys for what I do are burned into my brain and my processes are muscle memory at this point. I can pick up most programs fine, but for some reason I am running into a mental wall with Hexagon. Milkshape, for example, was as intuitive as using Maya. Photoshop, once I got used to it, is now second nature. ZBrush too (God I love ZBrush). I am sure it's my mental block and not Hexagon, having seen the amazing stuff made with it. I think you're right, though. I will make a list of what I want to start with, go through it on my own as much as I can, and will come to the forum as needed.
This any good for you ? It was made by EZ; still I should imagine holds good for the majority of hot keys. http://blip.tv/ezbrush/hkey-set-up-2286551
You might find out of the twenty odd pages of tutorials on there some more which will help you over the transitional period. Some are free some for a few dollars. Enjoy! :0)
Edit: Durrrr! Sorry, sorry. This video is on the making of a model keyboard in Hexagon. Still never mind eh! Perhaps some of the other videos may be of interest to you. You can of course set up your own hotkeys in Hexagon. That should give you some room for thought. LOL.
This looks to be just what I needed. Thank you! :D
When im moving from one app to another I make a short list of most common features I use, then look for parallel features that achieve the same job. Of course the very basic navigation functions need to be down first.
Also a good idea is to have a small project in mind to do in Hexagon, this will force you to look for tools your so used to using, and in turn will make you search for them to move forward, I did this when I first had Hexagon by making a basic car.
All the best.