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There is no actual Zbrush trial. They stopped doing trials and took them down like a year or so ago.
That's what I thought too. Was hoping maybe they'd reinstated it.
wow - that was a shock - they been doing trial like for ever and they jack up
the price .
http://lightwiki.com/wiki/Fundamentals_of_Subpatch_Modeling
Not on the first page, but the most useful and interesting article I have found so far. I thought I share it for those who dont know it. The software used there is Lightwave, but that does not matter at all. It covers everything from the basics to really complex modeling tasks.
http://lightwiki.com/wiki/Fundamentals_of_Subpatch_Modeling
Not on the first page, but the most useful and interesting article I have found so far. I thought I share it for those who dont know it. The software used there is Lightwave, but that does not matter at all. It covers everything from the basics to really complex modeling tasks.
Thanks :-)
I have both Hex 2.0 and Hex 2.5 installed on my I5-2500K Windows 7 64 bit machine.
I find Hex 2.0 much more stable than 2.5 and both have the same preference settings for 3D display...
Anyone else have the same experience?
As we were told not to install both programs on the same computer because they have different engines or something, and the one offers to uninstall the other if I recall correctly, How did you manage that?
2.0 is more stable but doesn't have the bridge for D/S4.x.
Personally I prefer the 2.1 version. That was the last update from Eovia before Daz started to mess around with it. Tried the 2.5 once but it was literally a piece of crap since it added more bugs then it fixed, and it crashed constantly when using it.
I don't have any need for the DS bridge or the sculpy thing that's in the newer versions anyway since I work only with Poser.
Yes I think I got my 2.x versions mixed up. It's the latest release BEFORE this present release that is more stable ... I have it on another computer atm. If I really want to model a long project it's the only one that might handle it. What gets me is that the betas, I think it was 2 back were an improvement. Then ? changed and the last 2 betas, one of which became the present release were more unstable for quite a few people. Not everybody though so it could be a hardware issue but still, one needs to program programs to work with available hardware. Just my 2 cents. But the 2.5 bridge for morphing, and for making new uvmaps etc [new trick I learned] works beautifully for those who are using it with D/S. I try not to be too negative about it, other 3D modelers can also be crash prone under certain circumstances [and I've even crashed Max!].
Maybe I'm just lucky, but been using 2.5.1.7.9 since it came out, without problems. Always thought it was a combination of an old fart using old technology when running an old single-core PC using Win XP 32 bit. I now run it on an i-5, 64 bit Win7 - still no problems at all and it is all on max performance.
Here is a WIP of my most ambitious and biggest project - a very detailed model of the Cutty Sark - been working on it for the past month, without any crashes. Haven't counted, but it has well over 100 separate meshes
I think that most of the problems folk report are caused by pilot error - especially N-gons. Hex is just not very good at catching errors and will freak out when given something it wasn't meant to handle.
Ottimo lavoro "Roy".
Aspettiamo buon (good) render and Gallery.
Ciao.
:-)
As we were told not to install both programs on the same computer because they have different engines or something, and the one offers to uninstall the other if I recall correctly, How did you manage that?
2.0 is more stable but doesn't have the bridge for D/S4.x.
I did a fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit. I installed all my toys (ArtRage, Daz3D, PoserPro, Painter Lite, Photoshop Elements, Vue Complete, 3DCoat, etc) and installed Hexagon 2.5.
I started to do some modeling in Hex 2.5 but it crashed consistently. I than found my old copy of Hex 2.0 and installed it. It's still unstable but I can work with Hex 2.0. But not Hex 2.5...
Are there any plans for Hex 3.0 or even some updates? I love Hex but not the instability...
Very nice model...
I am one of those who grabbed Hex 2.5.1.7.9 when it was offered free. Can't do anything with it b/c every time I get something going, it crashes. I was going to ask here whether I could maybe move the program over to my 4-quad laptop?....but now I wonder whether it would be worth it... In general it doesn't look that hard to master, easier than Blender... A friend of mine (much more talented than i) uses Wings 3D along with Bryce and has beautiful results. I have Wings also, but can't use it on this old XP of mine (it drags, freezes, crashes), it will have to be kept on my laptop and used there...along with my newly installed Bryce Pro :-)
If Hex is not good at catching errors which make it freak out, then it is little wonder that we don't get along! I'm not very knowledgeable, I don't even know what an N-gon is!
N-gon is a face with 5 or more points... Acceptable faces have 3 or 4 points...
Worth repeating!
Just thinking out loud...I often wonder what folk mean when they make a broad statement like "unstable". Does this refer to some inherently bad code that causes it to simply crash for no reason at all? Can't be, because it works very well for others who have the same setup.
In my experience, Hex throws a fit if the operator does something when Hex is expecting something else - like giving it a task while it is waiting for one task to be completed and validated before moving on, or trying to use a curve to do something before completing the operation by collapsing DG.
Then there is simply bad mesh construction - not following basic rules. Over the years I've seen so much of this passed off as "advice" and think to myself that it's no wonder the adviser says Hex is unstable, if this is their normal working method. Hex doesn't have too much of a problem handling bad mesh, but when one tries to export as .obj, it can't write the file and crashes.
Why I feel that a lot of the problems are caused by pilot error is that when I first started in Hex, I had frequent crashes - as i learned more about it, the crashes became less and less and now I can do really complex, heavy models without any problem.
A couple of things I've picked up in the forum that are worth trying out to improve "stability" - on Win7 64 bit, instead of installing Hex in the default X86 directory where 32 bit apps are supposed to go, install in the the normal Program Files and make it LAA. Set your graphics card to "Let application decide". If you don't have a really good graphics card, set OGL preferences to "No optimisation".
Use the Universal Manipulator exclusively.
If in doubt whether validation is required, validate anyway - won't do any harm. A good indicator that validation is required is if the UM doesn't show after completing an operation.
As for alternates, Blender is really good and not really all that bad once you make the effort. Wings 3D is good, but I never really made an effort to understand it. Probably the easiest of all to learn and which gave me my grounding to move to Hex is Anim8or - free, simple, with some surprisingly advanced features.
Until Nvil (which is a seriously good app) came on the scene, I was convinced that there was no future for stand-alone modeling apps.
I doubt that Hex will see any further development while in the hands of Daz. It fulfills Daz's need to have a modeling companion to Studio and is very capable of doing the very basic type of modeling required to do morphs and make clothing. Daz management is convinced that the modeling capabilities of Carrara are better than Hex's and if there is to be any further modeling development, it will surely be either in Carrara or Studio will get some basic modeling features.
I do agree that most crashes is due to pilot error but not all. I've been using Hex since the start and have no trouble with it at all. I can more or less use it in my sleep. But anything above 2.1 does crash for me. And I know this is not a user problem here. Sure, hex does have it's quirs that one learn after a while working in it, like wait for a couple of sec after done something or hit Validate after the operations. Been modeling everything from a littler box to a full blown car and even several high poly figures with it. Tried the 2.5 a couple of time but it's all the same every time I'm afraid and I do know how to use it proper.
Same here except I didn't even install it in the Program Folder ... gave it its own place. Overprotective OS ;-)
[actually another possible cause of any program malfunction 'can be' interference from other programs [i.e. AV] and that can therefore be why with the same basic setup, any program works on one computer and not another.]
As for alternates, Blender is really good and not really all that bad once you make the effort. Wings 3D is good, but I never really made an effort to understand it. Probably the easiest of all to learn and which gave me my grounding to move to Hex is Anim8or - free, simple, with some surprisingly advanced features.
Until Nvil (which is a seriously good app) came on the scene, I was convinced that there was no future for stand-alone modeling apps.
I doubt that Hex will see any further development while in the hands of Daz. It fulfills Daz's need to have a modeling companion to Studio and is very capable of doing the very basic type of modeling required to do morphs and make clothing. Daz management is convinced that the modeling capabilities of Carrara are better than Hex's and if there is to be any further modeling development, it will surely be either in Carrara or Studio will get some basic modeling features.
That's a very nice ship you're modeling. I forgive you. I'm not jealous, nossir. Just because I can't get the flippin' hull finished, nope. Just because I got 9/10 of another set done before a disaster freeze over and it would do NOTHING further. Nope.
But I did buy Decimator and "maybe next year" ...
I'm using Windows 7 64 bit. The 64 bit OS is already large address aware so there is no need to enable it. LAA is enabled for the 32 bit OS as the 64 bit does not have the 3gb memory limit.
My install of Hexagon 2.0 is as stable as a small block Chevy. Hex 2.5 installed on the same I5-2500K Windows 7 64 bit with 16 gbs of DDR3 memory is as unstable as a 1970s Lada...
LAA or the other similar helper is to enable the programs to be aware that they have more memory, not the OS. There is no 64bit Hexagon [wish there was though, it'd be nice]. The only difference I've noticed in using whichever helper was applied is that Hexagon opens a tad faster.
Where is this helper? Where is it installed?
On this computer, I'm using LAA which isn't "installed" per sa [neither is the other one the name of which escapes me atm] It's just a little utility to make a change to the .exe of a program so it'll recognize that it has more memory to work with. I tuck LAA into a folder and it creates with itself one file called "settings.sav".
Link is: .... Click here ... scroll down to 'attached files' it's in a .zip.
Don't recall atm if it's for this one, or the other helper, but some recommended that one backup the program installer before making a change to it, "just in case". So far though I've had no issues with it. W7 home and pro.
Found the other one! Click here ... click on the words for downloading, not the ads ;-)
This one makes a backup apparently ... but anyhow, one OR the other.
...................
And the computer jargon for those interested.
I can conform that some AV's do interfere with Hex's smooth functioning. My computer guy swears by Windows Essentials and insisted on installing it. After that, I could hardly use Hex and got rid of it sharpish. Kaspersky and MicroTrend also seem to be unfriendly. I now use the paid version of AVG.
Can't say I've ever come across lines unwelding and such I only ever use tessellate in the early stages of building mesh - once it gets complex, particularly tessellate by slice, gets pretty wonky. I normally use ring-select and connect, or add points to tessellate.
Being an old codger, I don't attempt to memorise hotkeys - just wondering whether it's the fast, nimble-fingered use of hotkeys that may be too quick for Hex to process?
Something I find very useful in Hex is to periodically use the diagnostic tools found at the bottom end of the Selection drop-down menu. Good for identifying potential problems before they become an issue. Haven't seen this type of error-identifying function in other modelers.
And, yes, there are some basic rules to building good mesh :)
The big K is on board, yup. Also doesn't like certain downloads and/or sites. [and there's nothing wrong with either]
The main hotkey I'll use is the 'weld' ... but come to think of it, it IS more prone to crashing during the welding process. I'll try not using the hotkey so much next time and see if there appears to be a difference. I also use the 'l' but so far have never noticed a loop request causing any problems.
diagnostic tools? .... alrighty ... that sounds like a good idea. Will have to explore that feature.
Rule no. 1. Do not make uvmaps late at night.
:-)
Rule #2 - don't do UV mapping in Hex unless it is really simple - not that Hex can't cope, just that a dedicated mapper like UU3D is so much better at it - a really good investment in time and patience (no pun intended!)
Recently discovered a great tool in Blender that makes Boolean operations in Hex a definite option - Remesh. It takes the horrible mess and makes it all quads, all for a few seconds spent taking it over and back. It does give a lot of unnecessary geometry, but it is but the work of moments to clean up back in Hex.:)
Diagnostic tool? I checked Hex and I do not see such a thing...
I'm using Hotkeys all the time that I've set up my self and never crashed Hex, so don't think that's the problem. When working with Hex as long as we have we've become used to the quirks of Hex and knows withouth thinking that the programs needs time to think and finalize some of the commands. To be honest I don't think people have the patient to wait for an operatiuon to validate until they start to click things again. That's where most crashes occurd IMHO.
With the object selected, select any of the tools highlighted in the attached pic - if your model does have that particular problem, it will be highlighted.
I'm using Hotkeys all the time that I've set up my self and never crashed Hex, so don't think that's the problem. When working with Hex as long as we have we've become used to the quirks of Hex and knows withouth thinking that the programs needs time to think and finalize some of the commands. To be honest I don't think people have the patient to wait for an operatiuon to validate until they start to click things again. That's where most crashes occurd IMHO.
Well not over here. I give it time, and sometimes count to 10, then save ... then try the next operation ... and .... re-open Hexagon and start again ...
Have also gone for hours with no crashes ... but it also depends what I'm working on. It doesn't like materials and/or shading domains and/or uvmaps from "all" other modelers. Esp. ones that work in layers because it doesn't and doesn't really know how to handle those. Over time I've learned a few tricks but for the most part, if something loads, strip it first of all mats etc ... save it out. Close/open H., import new .obj ... resize it to something sensible, export it out ... new project ... import in the resized .obj and carry on.
There's one company which uses [apparently] a different modeler than most, and while they love their product ... D/S3 didn't ... but it took me awhile to figure out why/what was wrong. I don't know if it is something their modeler always does, OR, if it's something their staff does ... but good grief ... it duplicates. One has the main, uh, HUGE SHIP, and underneath, the entire thing all over again. Took Bryce to deal with that one. Exported out one .obj at a time ... did I mention it was a HUGE SHIP ... oh man ... anyhow, the other model was even cuter.
It's a set. You know ... big building, lots of walls, things to go in this corner and that. Can pre-load or load individually. Right.
Why I wondered was it taking so long to load one, uh, critter.
hehehe ...
They had it set up to load EVERYTHING no matter what one had selected to load.
What they did was have what you weren't wanting ... all loading WAAAAAAYYYY off in the distance somewhere and not showing up on scene tabs. But it was there ... all over the place, the entire set. If one had loaded 10 items, well, D/S3 couldn't load 10 sets.
What not to do when making sets!
It is very important to DELETE from the scene all parts not to be included in a particular .obj export. Moving them off the grid is NOT an acceptable solution.
With the object selected, select any of the tools highlighted in the attached pic - if your model does have that particular problem, it will be highlighted.
Thanks kindly much appreciated...