Documentation Center artzone:pub:software:hexbridge

Bridge Guidelines

2011-11-01T17:41:59+00:00

This page exists within the Old ArtZone Wiki section of this site. Read the information presented on the linked page to better understand the significance of this fact.

Bridge Guidelines

When using the Hexagon Bridge, keep the following in mind:

Materials must be in shading domains to go over.
By default the bridge will not let you overwrite an existing morph on a figure, however this can be over written by checking the ”r;Override Exiting Morph” check box on the simple morph dialog that appears.
No world translation, rotations, or scaling are sent over, in either direction (figures/props in Hexagon will look as if they had had been zero posed in DAZ Studio). Applied morphs however are sent from studio to hexagon. If a scale, rotation, or translation is desired, then these actions must be done in Hexagon using face, edge, or vertex selection.
Changing geometry in Hexagon will make it so that a morph cannot be created. The object can still be sent to DAZ Studio but it will be imported as a prop. Geometry is changed when faces/edges/vertices are added to or removed from the sent over geometry.
The bridge relies on the names of objects to be the same. The object in hexagon that will be the morph in DAZ Studio must have the exact same name as the object in DAZ Studio. DAZ Studio will apply it to the first figure/object it finds in the scene with the sent over name. If no object matches name, the object will be brought over a prop.
It doesn’t matter which application is started first, the bridge will send geometry in either direction.
The scale from Hexagon to DAZ Studio is 10:1, 1 unit in Hexagon = 10 cm.
If an operation in Hexagon changes an objects name, then the user must change the name back if they wish to have it applied as a morph.
When Send to Hexagon is pressed in DAZ Studio, all selected props, figures, and their children will be sent over. Selecting a bone of a figure is considered the same as selecting the figure. Children are defined as any object fit to or parented to the selected object/prop.
When Send to DAZ Studio is pressed in Hexagon, all selected objects in Hexagon are sent over. DAZ Studio will use the name of these objects to decide if it should try to apply the changes as a morph or if it should just bring it in as a prop. Props always copy their Hexagon materials. Users are asked if they wish to keep materials changes on objects that become morphs.
Currently all morphs are applied and sent over as full body morphs.
The bridge does not change rigging, it only allows morphs. Objects morphed beyond their rigs look very weird when posed.
When objects are sent to Hexagon the textures are temporarily copied. These copies are made permanent if they are changed and the user sends the object back to hexagon. They will be saved in the directory they originally came from with an affixed number to avoid overwriting existing files. Textures created by Hexagon and not sent from DAZ Studio, must be saved normally in Hexagon.
Objects can be sent to Hexagon, exported, modified by another program, then re-imported into Hexagon and sent over to DAZ Studio. This would be the most viable way to create a morph on a welded figure morph. The only caveat is that all programs must maintain the vertex count and order.
Props created in Hexagon and sent to DAZ Studio will have their Studio orientation

based on the Hexagon Universe.

Creating a New Prop from Scratch

2011-11-01T17:41:59+00:00

This page exists within the Old ArtZone Wiki section of this site. Read the information presented on the linked page to better understand the significance of this fact.

Creating a New Prop from Scratch

The modeling tools of Hexagon can be used to create an object which can then be sent into DAZ Studio as a prop. You can also create meshes in other modeling programs, import them into Hexagon, then send to DAZ Studio.

To do this in Hexagon:

Open Hexagon and build your model.
Set up the UVs and materials.
Save the materials from Hexagon
Choose File > Send to DAZ Studio from the menu.
Click on Cancel in the Create Morph dialog.
Click on Yes in the Cancel Morph dialog. The mesh is brought into DAZ Studio as a static object, with the UVs applied that were set up in Hexagon.
Apply the saved materials to the prop.

Adding a Second Morph Target

2011-11-01T17:41:59+00:00

This page exists within the Old ArtZone Wiki section of this site. Read the information presented on the linked page to better understand the significance of this fact.

Adding a Second Morph Target

To add additional morphs to the figure:

Make sure the item is selected and choose File > Send to Hexagon from the menu or click on the Send to Hexagon icon.
Modify the mesh as needed for the second morph (yes, example below is unrealistic, but it works). The example shows the material modfied as well so you can see what happens when it is brought into DAZ Studio.
When all modifications have been made, save the Hexagon scene file then choose File > Send to DAZ Studio from the menu.
Select the group path location, name the new morph, and click on Accept.
If you changed the materials in Hexagon, select Yes to bring over the materials.
The new morph will be added to the figure and to the Parameters tab.

I don't think Victoria is very pleased …

Creating a Single Morph Target or Prop

2011-11-01T17:41:59+00:00

This page exists within the Old ArtZone Wiki section of this site. Read the information presented on the linked page to better understand the significance of this fact.

Creating a Single Morph Target or Prop

To use the bridge to create a single morph target or bring in the changed mesh as a prop:

In DAZ Studio, load the figure, hair, clothing item, prop, etc. that you want to modify in Hexagon.
Make sure the item is selected and choose File > Send to Hexagon from the menu or click on the Send to Hexagon icon.

The item will be brought into Hexagon as a single mesh.
In Hexagon, use the tools in Hexagon to modify the item, making sure that:
- The name of each mesh remains the same. If it is changed by Hexagon, change the name back to the original name.
- No polygons/vertices are added or removed unless the mesh will be sent as a prop back into DAZ Studio.
- If clothing items were brought over with the figure, they are modified to match the figure changes.
When all modifications have been made, save the Hexagon scene file (just in case), select which items to send over to DAZ Studio (just the figure, the figure and the clothing, etc.) then choose File > Send to DAZ Studio from the menu.

NOTE! If you close Hexagon before sending the file back to DAZ Studio, a confirmation message will come up asking if you'd like to send the file over before closing Hexagon.
In DAZ Studio, the Create Morph dialog will come up.
* Group Path: Determines what group the morph will be placed under in the Parameters tab.
- Morph Name: User defined morph name, click in field and type name of morph.
- Override Existing Morph? If the user-defined morph name is the same as a morph already on the figure, selecting this option will replace the existing morph with the new one. Unless you are replacing a morph you made yourself, make sure this option is not selected.
- Accept: When selected, compares the new mesh to the original mesh and creates a morph target based on the differences and using the provided morph name.
- Cancel: When selected, brings up the Canceled Morph dialog which asks if you'd like to import the geometry as a prop instead of a morph. Click on Yes to import it as a prop, click on No to cancel the entire operation.
If you accepted the changes, the Material Data dialog will come up asking if you'd like to bring over the materials from Hexagon. If you did not make any changes to the materials, click on No. If you made changes to the materials using the paint tools in Hexagon and want to keep those changes, click on Yes. See an example in the next section on adding a second morph.

NOTE! Currently, the Material Data dialog will come up even if you select No on the Canceled Morph dialog. Just click on No when it comes up.
The import process will be finalized and after a few moments, the item in the scene will update to show the applied morph.
Look at the Parameters tab for the root figure (select the main figure node in the Scene tab) and you'll notice that the new morph has been added where you set the group path in the import dialog. It will also be set to 1.00 by default.

Hexagon Bridge

2011-11-01T17:41:59+00:00

This page exists within the Old ArtZone Wiki section of this site. Read the information presented on the linked page to better understand the significance of this fact.

Hexagon Bridge

The DAZ Studio Hexagon Bridge provides a way to bring figures, hair, clothing, and props into Hexagon via DAZ Studio, modify the item using the tools and paint features of Hexagon, then bring the changes into DAZ Studio and apply them to the selected item.

The created morph target is applied to the root figure and can be left as is or a morph target just for the affected body part can be spawned and imported back on to the body part. See the section on spawning morph targets in the main DAZ Studio documentation.

See the following topics for more on using the bridge: