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I have had Hexagon crash on me on two or three different machines but it's still good for learning and simple models I should think. As an example of a simple model, how about a rough theater set or maquette for a scene... that sort of thing. I too would like ongoing support.
I'm still having trouble with the documentation; for instance I'm not 100% sure but it seems to me that if you search "background" in the manual -- as in "change background color", nothing comes up?
Preference editor - User interface - 3D views background color - Choose color - Validate :)
Just bear in mind that there is a good reason all CG applications have dark, neutral backgrounds. The background color influences what your perception is of the color of what you are creating.
Thanks. What couldn't I locate that myself?!
True enough about the color; when you start messing around with it the default setup can being to look attractive... I believe what I wanted to do was have the opportunity to look at an experimental model using something other than dark gray as the background.
At least I can make something now!
This is supposed to be a 3-D version of those clumps or swirls of air that whirl around to make a dust devil or a twister.
Yes, $149 and I would pay it for a new Hex version, with good fixes and some improvements. Just cross fingers. If they haven't said it's development is done then hope is the word.
I bought Modo 601 on a good sale and when the aussie dollar exchange was real good otherwise I wouldn't have. The upgrade price is still a bit for hobby use but when there is a sale it's $395. Having said that, 901 is two days or so away and I don't think I'll upgrade. The exchange rate is now opposite of what it was when I bought it.
But I'm still hanging for Hex. It's working and its good for now.
Hiya!
I just posted a semi-request/semi-rant about an update to Hex in the "Product Suggestions" forum. Hex has decided to get all temperamental on me again. It's weird... sometimes I can go *days* without crashing, using for 2 to 6 hour stints each day.... and then, BLAMMO!....it decides to crash on me every 10 minutes no matter what I do. This will go on for a few days, maybe a week or so...then it's back to "normal", with zero (or VERY little) crashing. I just don't get it. The closest I can think of is it's handling of RAM and/or GPU RAM; it's the only "semi-randomly determined" stuff....nothing else has changed.
I'd *happily* pay upwards of a THOUSAND DOLLARS for a rock-stable, updated version of Hexagon. Give me solid modeling, UV'ing and sculpting tools...as well as a good update to the Export options (re: LWO and FBX in particular).... dream come true! :)
I've used a lot of different 3d packages; my fave so far is easily Softimage XSI. Hell, Softimage|3D was my fave for all of it's 3.x through XSI 2.0 cycle. I never really "got" Maya...although I did find it's basic animation tools really intuitive for some reason. 3DS MAX v3 was my first version of it I bought (still have it somewhere). Nowadays, however, 3DS MAX is *uber* bloated with more crap than is necessary...far too many fly outs and drop-downs you have to wade through...and don't even mention the endless scrolling trying to even get to those drop-downs in the modifier stack!
And then there's my current bugaboo...Lightwave. At first, I was pleasantly surprised at how neat modeling was in it. Then I started to actually get competent and tried to speed up my workflow and capability. Surprise! You need a plugin for [insert just about anything standard in other packages]. Want to snap one edge to another? Buy a plugin. Want to export a UV to .bmp? Buy a plugin. Want to see all the objects on all layers as solid with wire frame? Buy a pl...er...never mind. You *still* can't do that as far as I know. Lightwave is rather powerful, but it is *definitly* showing it's age. Waaaaay back when they were still developing Lightwave CORE (yeah, I bought it a a HardCORE member from day one on that...still kinda pizzed about it!), they had all these things fixed (or at least were on the to-do list for CORE). Then they dropped it.
Anyway...sorry for the mini-rant again! I just really love Hexagon's modeling workflow. I still have yet to find another program that is that fast, that fun, and that easy and powerful. I just bought Silo a week or two ago to see if that would do it. Silo crashes more often than Hexagon for me! :(
I wish DAZ would either sink a few hundred grand into getting it up to snuff for modern use (64-bit, more stable, updated import/export, etc)...or just sell the freaking thing to some company and let them do it. Or, better still, give it away for free with some sort of GPL type source release ala Blender. That would ROCK! :ahhh:
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I wouldn't pay $1000 bucks for it. It would have to make me dinner every night for that amount. :)
Well, there is the time I paid about $1000 for Truespace with VRAY plugin ...
Microsoft stuck me on that one.
OK, n00b here.
I've been trying to figure out what to avoid based on these reportings of ghosts flying out of one's computer and chewing on your Hexagon model :-). Apparently a bunch of people on this thread are using old versions of Hexagon? It's really hard to know what's a real problem in the current version when people simultaneously say they're using an old version and then warn about some crash scenario. From reading this thread and some older ones, lots of the problems seem to be related to the video card driver or whether you're on MacOS or Windows.
It's hard for me to know what's going to be a problem for me when these things aren't made clear in the post and starts to take on the qualities of an urban legend. I'd like to ask those describing problems to try and be specific about your environment (OS and version, video card and driver version, Hexagon version) so I can know if these are things that will bite me.
As always, your patience with my n00bness is appreciated :).
Hiya!
I'm using the latest Hexagon (v2.5.1.79), on Windows 7 Pro (64-bit), with a Zotac GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti video card (latest drivers; I have them "auto-update" each day).
Sorry to say...the Hexagon "stability" issue is one that has plagued a lot of us for a very long time. It doesn't seem to have a rhyme or reason...two people with virtually identical computer layouts can have drastically different stability. I remember one post from last year or so of a guy having lots of crashes whilst I wasn't. Turns out, our computers were pretty much dead on the same (same OS, same video card, same Hex version, same amount of ram).
As I said...I *would* pay $1000 for a rock solid and updated Hexagon. I've gone "through" so many 3d programs over my lifetime that I can see the beauty and potential of Hexagon's workflow from a purely modeling/texturing standpoint. Using Hex as my main modeling tool, ZBrush as my main UV/Normal painting tool and Lightwave 11.6 for animation/rendering....nice workflow if you ask me. :) Of course, if Autodesk would just sell me a permanent license to XSI 2015 I'd be happier than a swine in excrement...but that just ain't gonna happen. :( My last non-student version of XSI is...v6 I think?
Now, if we could just get Hex updated, Carrara updated, and the folks over at Hash (for Animation:Master) would finally accept that polygons *are* actually better than their 'hash-patches' in many, many ways (and get A:M to use them for everything) ....then get them all into a serious manage-a-troi and produce some sleek, muntant, sexy love child... :D
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Thanks for replying, Paul. I think it comes down to how you use the program if it crashes for one person and not for another but they have similar or near identical hardware/OS environments. A program like Hexagon (or any content creation application) has lots of tools and lots of modes in which things operate. I can easily see one workflow being fraught with peril, while another workflow works just dandy. It can also be dependent on the data, if you're operating on imported models.
I do hope that everyone who is having crashes is reporting the specifics of those back to DAZ? Otherwise, how can we hope to have them fixed?
Paul, Are you using Large Address Aware with Hexagon?
That can prevent a lot of memory related crashes. It lets Hexagon use slightly over 3Gb of Ram on a 64-bit system. You can get the tool here:
http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php
I have found that Hexagon is not very memory efficient for some modeling functions, so even if your models don't have high numbers of polys, you still may benefit.
Its possible your crashes have nothing to do with memory, but its worth trying LAA .
...using the moist up to date release as well, on a system with Win7 x64 w/SP1, 12GB DDR3 in Tri channel mode, and an Nvidia GTX 460. with 1GB GDDR5.
Even running it as Large Address Aware, it still freezes up and crashes.
Hiya!
I had tried some other LAA type program. Made no difference. I'll give this one a shot to see if it helps me. Thanks for the link!
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Greetings!
I use Hexagon 2.1 so it's not the current version. Running on Windows 7 Pro 64bit. 16gigs ram, Core I7 2600K and an Powercolor ATI 6850 with 2GBs.
The current version 2.5.1.79, I had some trouble when working in symmetry modes that I could not work out the problem. Otherwise it didn't seem to crash all that often. I may install it on my laptop and revisit it.
2.1 does crash sometimes but more often than not it's stable.
I'm using version 2.5.0.5 because of a few issues with 2.5.1.79 as well, and its been so long now since 2.5.1.79 came out, I can't recall what they were.
Hexagon was working just fine, well find enough, for me for some time until I updated my DS Studio to 4.7. Now I'm back to moments of staring blankly at my screen and wanting to cry.
Silo 2 is on Steam for 80 bucks. I've been playing with it because I feel Hexagons future is bleak. I'm just getting started in 3D modeling and the price of Hexagon is tempting but what if it doesn't work with Windows 10? Silo 2 is much more recent with an upgrade to 64bit. I've attempted Blender and so far its just frustrated me to death. Other programs are WAY out of my price range atm, I need something practicle until I get more invested with modeling before I shell out that much money.
I'm not 100% sure what all Silo 2 can do, but its felt a LOT like the trial of Hexagon I got to play with - well, more so than other programs I should say. I'm still not sure which program to invest my time and money in but I'm leaning more toward Silo than any other.
I see no reason why Hexagon wouldn't work with Windows 10. Backwards compatibility is Microsoft's middle name.
...for the Steam version you have to maintain an active account with them. As I have no interest in gaming or getting spammed about new games, won't sign up with them.
Silo does go on sale from time to time ,I've seen it for as little as 99$ through both NeverCenter and SmithMicro.
I'm not sure what program to go with to be honest. I've goofed off with Hex, dabbled in Silo and trying to get a grip on Blender. Honestly I'm not sure which on to focus on. Blender can push my patients level sometimes. Hex - well I havn't gotten to try it out on my system to see if it won't crash and Silo works but I'm not sure how powerful it will be. I'm wanting to make clothes, props, morphs and maybe some small sets. I know blender is powerful, if I can get a handle on that it wont be a waste of time.
As for maintaining an active account on Steam - thats pretty easy and I've never been spammed. Unless you count the pop up that takes 2 seconds to close when you log in (and I'm sure you could disable that in the options).
...that's the other thing. I don't like being online on the same system where I work on projects. Wastes CPU, GPU, and memory resources.
No learning is wasted :)
Hiya!
For an alternative, I just (last week) picked up MODO Indie via Steam. I think after conversion it costs me about $25. I'm not sure if that was a one time thing, or is monthly...guess I'll find out next month! ;) So far I'm rather impressed with it. It has yet to crash on me...with all the newb moves I'm throwing at it because I don't know how it works... I'm pleasantly surprised. Stable as a rock so far.
It has an easy-to-use feel to it, and working with my Wacom tablet with it is smooth and clean. The interface is easy to read (even if the text is a *bit* small for my aging eyes...still readable, but with the different colored icons, I know what I'm looking for at least). It has limitations over the "full" MOD version... but nothing that's going to affect me for a long time, if ever (I mostly do modeling), and exporting to OBJ or FBX and importing that into another package is easy enough if I do find I hit the polygon limit (which is 100,000 poly's...). There is no plug-in suport nor scripting availbable in this Indie version. Again, if/when I get to the point where my models/projects need this kind of extra oomph or specialization, I'll have saved up the $$$ that I can buy a full license.
Anyway, for those wanting to give it a shot and be able to make stuff with it to sell, I recomend giving MODO Indie a shot. You have to get it via Steam, but Steam has come a LONG way from the tyrannical, "We OWN YOU, peon! " mentality they had when they first started. Give it a shot, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Hi Paul,
looks like you got the subscription, according to The Foundry's announcement: https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/about-us/news-awards/the-foundry-launches-modo-mari-indie/
Glad to hear you like the interface, I keep thinking of MODO myself, maybe I'll give the indie version a go.
...but it is still primarily geared towards game development rather than dedicated 3D work. At 159$ (vs.299$ for MODO indie) Silo is still a better deal as it has no restrictions.
Hiya!
I have Silo as well. In fact, I picked that up first, mostly because I heard some folk mention it was fairly similar to Hexagon in tools and workflow. I would have to agree with that statement. However, like Hex, it also seems to be fairly buggy. And not buggy in a predictable way... buggy in a "why is this tool crashing every time I use it now, on a totally different model, on a totally different day?". My primary reason for deciding to give MODO Indie a go was two-fold. One, it was/is cheap. :) For $25 for a month, worse case scenario is I'm out $25. Best case scenario, it ends up being awesome for me, I use it to make a half dozen models worth selling and I make $10k in a month. (and no, that last part didn't happen, but neither did the first ;) ). Two, a lot of folks said it had a "Lightwave feel, without all the extra baggage". I'm going to agree with that statement as well.
Silo is like Hex... it has the potential to be freaking awesome! However, the companies that own them just don't seem to give a damn about them anymore. It's like they bought them and it (Silo or Hex) was the "new shiny toy". They played with it constantly. Every day. For months and months. Then, for whatever reason, they had "done that, been there" feeling and have moved on. Sort of. They remember how cool it was to have said new toy and how much fun and potential they saw in it... and so that clouds their judement when someone comes up and suggests that they sell it to someone else who can "enjoy it". They just keep on hanging on to it because they know they bought it for a reason, and they know it was really cool, and they don't want to just let go and move on.
Modo, however, is a bit better in that regards. But whereas the Silo/Hex problem is "it's not new anymore, but was really cool once", the MODO folks have turned into raveing fanboi's. They can't fathom someone not wanting to give them close to $2,000 for it. Anyway, the biggest buggaboo I have with Modo right now? That The Foundry is apparently selling it off (or already has)... and rumor has it that it's to AutoDesk. ...blood pressure... Rising ... Rage...Taking Over...
...
Yeah. Sorry about that. I'm "not a fan" of AD for a lot of reasons that I won't go into here. At one point, back when they were AutoCAD guys and that was it, they were ok. But now... I'd rather join the Emperial Forces of Lord Vader and get myself a white plastic suit of useless armor that I could get shot and die in.
... er, Silo. Nice package, but buggy. Try before you buy is definitly a think to do first (and realize that it is more or less a "dead" piece of software, much like Hexagon is).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
..as to Silo, was it the 32 or 64 bit version you tried? One of my theories about Hexagon's instability is that it is related to the programme being only 32 bit and that some of the ills may be related to the memory restrictions it is forced to work under. I easily crashed the previous version of Silo (then only 32 bit) by the programme running out of memory while trying to create a simple 50s styled rocket ship which required subdivision and smoothing to get that sleek look (this was on my 64 bit 12 GB system). There was no interior, to the model,just the outer hull shell.
I played with the Modo trial version many years ago (then ver 302). Really liked it and all but didn't have the (then) 900$ to buy it. Now it's totally priced out of the range of most enthusiasts and has been bloated with additional features. Sad to see AD make a grab for it as possibly they will integrate some features into 3DS Max and/or their Cad software, then kill it as a standalone, thus meaning one less choice of vendor and one less competitor (kind of like the airlines these days).
So it basically comes down to four options:
1. Figure out how to come up with a boatload of money to dump into top of the line pro grade software like 3DS, Lightwave, or C4D as well as most likely, a system to support it..
2. Try to learn and work with a a free but incredibly cryptic and cumbersome application that has as steep a learning curve for it's UI and tools as for grasping the concepts of 3D modelling (Blender)
3. Continue to struggle and be frustrated with nicely designed, affordable, but unstable programmes (Hexagon and Silo).
4. Give up the notion of 3D modelling altogether and consign yourself to relying on content creators to come out with what you will need for your scenes.
...right now I'm leaning towards #4.
Hiya!
LOL! Yeah, some days #4 seems like it should be the first option, and the others should be competeing desperately to get/keep my business. Alas, todays "gotta have it now!" and "whatever, as long as it doesn't affect me..." attitudes kinda have the 3d 'industry' by the short and curly's. AD owning pretty much the top three 3d packages for games/entertainment, *and* owning some of the top CAD/CAM software, *and* owning some of the top F/X itegration software....well, we kinda made our own bed with that. If companies would have just bit the bullet and said "No, we'll not upgrade to Maya from Softimage...we're switching to C4D/Blender/Lightwave/whatever", and individuals would have said "No, I'm not going to fork over the cash for a monthly rental of the latest version of 3DS MAX", etc....well, the 3D landscape would likely look quite a bit different.
Anyway... I bought Lightwave after saving up for a year or so (well, "saving" being a relative term...I paid more into my Mastercard bill so I could use it). I got Softimage waaaaay back when I was in Vancouver Film School in the late 90's, then upgraded to the commercial version through a dealer in Vancouver. Pretty much all my "expensive" softwares I had to save for or wait for really nice deals on 'old' versions. So, basically, saving up for Modo is totally do-able, but it will take me at least a year to do so...probably more. I'm in no rush, and I have software I can use "for fun" right now anyway (educational license of Maya, Softimage and MAX), and I have pro software I can use for profit if I get a chance (Lightwave, Blender, Hexagon, Silo, Modo Indie, Carrara, etc). I use ArtRage Studio (latest) for my digital/natural painting, Serif PhotoPlus X8 for image manipulation and whatnot (I had been a die hard Photoshop user up to and including CS1...then Adobe decided to get all "We're big enough now we dont' have to care what our customers think...they have no choice..." as far as "pro" use went (I was a digital photo tech/artist for a high-end photography shop for a couple years). I also have been with Pixologic and ZBrush since v2? v3 maybe? *BEST COMPANY EVARRR!* I also still have my DarkTree 2 proceedural textures program installed and ready for action. In short.... I'm set for the forseeable future....both for "fun/hobby" and for "freelance/pro" work if it comes up.
I don't need another 3D program, but I'd like to be able to buy and take advantage of the advences in technology and innovation. But when companies just put on a stupid smile, nod their heads, and say "Yeah, we're working on...stuff...and things...and, uh, stuff..." for months or years, never giving any actual specifics or even "highly likely" info on what they have planned for their next version (I'm looking at you , Lighwave 3D Group!), it gets really old, really fast. (glances in DAZ's direction...).
This is one of my main frustrations with Blender. Such a MASSIVE POTENTIAL, to do a SERIOUS shake-up to the 3D industry... but the folks doing the coding are all quite happy to just do what they want, when they want, in their own way (which is almost ALWAYS the "old way", just with new code). This is regardless of whatever anyone says to them. Suggest a better way to handle sliders? Nope...too much work to do slider GUI...the current way works just fine. Have a suggestion for implementing a cool way to model 'shaped' Bridge Polygon action/tool? Nope, nobody would use that...you can bridge polygons just fine, then add edge split loops, then modify each one individually....gives way more control, so it MUST be better than what you are suggesting. Think that having the ability to change a property panel into a tab and add it to the top/side for things you use all the time? Forget that noise! That would mean we would have to rewrite a lot of the GUI code! That's boring! Here, look at this yet-another-way to manipulate hair strands! KEWL, amIright?. *sigh* ...frustrating beyond belief...
Anyway....Hexagon. I still think DAZ needs to just bite the bullet and do a full on 64-bit updated v3. OR... They need to just accept that they will never do anything with it and sell it to *someone who will.
EDIT: ...as long as that "someone" isn't AutoDesk!
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Yes, but it also seems to be inefficient with memory as well. After using LAA to allow Hex to use 3Gb (instead of 2Gb) a lot of my crashes went away. Some boolean operations on objects with less than 100,000 polys should not be a problem (at least has been my experience with other applications). I know booleans have other issues, but if increasing the memory eliminates a crash with objects that have approx the same # of polys, that makes me wonder what is the underlying problem.
Hiya!
For me, adding in the LAA didn't seem to help too much. A little bit...I think... but still get crashes that come out of the blue. Annoying, considering how awesome a modeler Hexagon is. It only needs a few tools and tweeks and I can see it competeing with the likes of Lightwave, Modo, Cinema4D, 3DS MAX and Maya easily (from a purely modeling and texturing side, obviously). DAZ could slap a $300 price tag on a new, stable, updated v3 and I don't think anyone would bat an eye (well, except for those who don't really "do" 3D, but just like to pose assets, light, and render). I know I'd fork over $300 in a heartbeat if DAZ released a v3!
^_^
Paul L. Ming
...100$ is a break point for me 300$ is out as I am on a fixed income. Those of us who have suffered with the frustrations of and swore the instabilities though the years (and paid more than the PC 1.99$ price or teh current 18$/13$ PC price for the pleasure) should get it as an upgrade.