Documentation Center artzone:pub:tutorials:hexagon

Arched Window Frame Tutorial Part 1

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Arched Window Frame Tutorial Part 1

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

Introduction

This tutorial will demonstrate how to create an arched window frame in Hexagon 2.

Step 1: Setting Up

Open Hexagon and let's begin.

These are the navigation tools. They manipulate the grid and help you to see your project from different angles.

DG Mode is set to Full in the Dynamic Geometry panel.

Step 2: Line Arc

Click on the Universal Manipulator which I will refer to as UM for the rest of this tutorial. Click on the Select object tool.

Click on the Lines tab. Click on Arc and from the drop down list choose Arc from Start-End-Tangent.

The cursor will change to a white circle. Click on the grid floor and then drag to the right. Click again and then drag up and click again to make your arc.

Step 3: Shaping the Arc

Click on the UM and select the square just behind the red arrow and drag to the left.

We need to click on the little lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry panel. This will make our arc accessible for further editing.

Click on the Select Points tool from the selection menu. Click on the arch to select it. We need to shape our arch a little more before we give it some volume. Select rectangle mode from the selection tab.

Right click and drag to select just the bottom left and right points of the arch. Whenever a point is selected it will change to light blue.

Click on the middle yellow square of the UM and drag to the right just a little. Your arc should look like this.

Step 4: Continue Shaping

Now select the left and right points on the bottom and also the two just above them. Click and drag on the center yellow square of the Um again and drag to the right.

Repeat the steps above and select the third set of points left and right above the two we just edited. Drag the yellow square of the UM to the right again.

Now we have a nicely shaped arc. :o)

This is a good time to save what you have so far. Just save in hex file format.

Step 5: Adding Volume

Hard to believe this skinny line will become a window frame. We need to give it some volume. In the Surface Modeling tab click on the Thickness tool and in the Properties box apply these settings:

Instant volume!:o))

Click on the lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry panel to apply the total effect.

Step 6: Mending Ends and Making Names

Right now our window frame is a tube that is open on the ends. We need to close those two areas. Click on the 3D Primitives tab and the facet tool. Hold down the Shift key and begin to select the points around the bottom end of the left or right side of the tube, hit enter and validate to apply. Repeat for the other end.

With the form selected go to Edit/Copy and Edit/Paste.

You now have two forms listed in the Scene tree. Let's rename the forms in the Scene tree tab to something more appropriate. Click on the top Form of the Scene tree and notice there is an area at the very top where you can type in a new name. Type in the name Frame and then press the Enter key. The new name will appear in the Scene tree. Do the same thing for the second form and name it Window.

Click on the eye next to it to hide it.

Step 7: Making it Groovy

Return to the original frame. It needs some definition and a bit of sculpting. Window frames have grooves so let's begin by creating an inset groove on the frame. Click on the Select faces tool and select the faces as shown in the image.

Rotate your grid so you can see the arch at an angle.

Click on the Vertex Modeling tab and the Fast Extrude tool.

Select the blue arrow drag in towards the arch just a little.

You now have an inset groove.

Step 8: Narrowing it Down

The window frame needs to be a bit thinner so

rotate your view so you can see the window frame from the side. Click on the blue square behind the blue arrow of the UM and drag to the right.

The frame should look like this.

Step 9: Tessellate

In the Vertex Modeling tab click on the Tessellate by slice tool.

Click on the center of the inset groove face we made a moment ago. A new slice will appear in the middle of the face. Click on the Validate button in Properties.

Step 10: Detailing

Click on the Select Faces tool again and select the faces following the curve of the arch on the outer side of the new slice.

In the Vertex Modeling tab select the Fast Extrude tool again. Select the blue arrow and drag inward toward the arch.

Select the faces as shown in the image.

Click on the Fast Extrude tool again in the Vertex modeling tab.

First select the blue arrow and pull up.

To even out the bottom just select the center yellow square of the UM and drag to the right until the bottom looks flat. Notice how everything just evens out. :o)

Step 11: Tessellate and Finish the Frame

In the Vertex Modeling tab again select the Tessellate by Slice tool and make a new slice in the center of the outside left face as shown. Validate when finished.

Select the outer faces of the slice we just made. See image.

Select the Fast Extrude tool and select the blue arrow. Drag outward to extrude the faces. Click on the green arrow of the UM and pull up to even out the bottom of the arch.

You now have a nice arched window frame!

Save in hex file format. If you want to make the glass for the frame proceed to part 2.

Arched Window Frame tutorial by Debbie Overstreet ~Samanthie'

Arched Window Tutorial Part 2 Creating the Glass

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Arched Window Tutorial Part 2 Creating the Glass

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

Introduction

I would like to share with you a few techniques for creating the glass for the arched window frame.

Step 1: Adjusting the Glass Shape

Open Hexagon and let's begin. Locate the window frame file from Part 1 'Create an Arched Window Frame'. In the Scene tree tab Click on the eye next to Window in the Scene tree and unhide it.

I will refer to Universal Manipulator as UM for the rest of the tutorial. Use the UM to resize the arch smaller so that the shape fits into the curve of the window frame as in the image. You will have to use both the center yellow square of the UM as well as the green and red squares. Adjust as necessary. When you have finished, hide Frame in the scene tree.

The arc needs to be a little thinner. Rotate your view to the left then click and drag the blue square behind the blue arrow to the right as in the image.

Step 2: On Edge

Click on the Select Edges tool and select the inner most edge following the entire curve of the arc.

Switch to front view. (#2) We are going to use the UM for this step. Click on the center yellow square and drag to the left.

Now select the top green arrow and pull down until the bottom of the glass is flat.

Step 3: Closing the Opening

Click on the Select Points tool. In the 3D Primitives tab select the Facet tool. We are going to close the bottom opening of our window.

The cursor will change to a white circle. Hold down the Shift key and select each point around the opening. You can hit enter when you select the last point and then click on Validate to apply the effect.

Step 4: Cut Paste and Quad

Click on the Select faces tool and select the face we just created. Then go to Edit/Cut and then to Edit/Paste. This will create a new form in the Scene tree tab. Select the new object.

Click on the Vertex modeling tab and then click on the Tessellate tab. From the drop down list choose the Tessellation quad tool to section the surface.

This is what you should have.

Step 5: Welding

Now we are going to weld the new Form and Window back together. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on Form and Window in the Scene tree to select them. Leave Frame hidden.

Click on the Weld tool in the Vertex Modeling tab to weld the two forms together.

When the objects are welded together the name Window in the Scene tree will be replaced by the name Form. Rename it back to Window. See image.

Step 6: Welding Points

There are two triangle shapes at the bottom of the window that look out of place.

Click on the Select points tool and zoom in very close to the center of the shape as in the image and select the center point. Hold down the Shift key and select the bottom center point also.

Now click on the Weld points tool in the Vertex modeling tab. Click Validate to apply.

The points are welded.

Select the center point and select the green arrow of the UM and drag downward. Pull down until the bottom of the glass is flat.

Step 7: Trimming the Window

We need to trim the window area a little. Click on the Select faces tool and select the areas as shown in the image. Select the opposite faces on the back and hit the delete key.

This is what you should have.

Notice most of the glass is actually doubled. We don't really need the extra glass so select the faces on the front of our glass as in the image. Do not select the curved area at the bottom. Hit the delete key.

This is the result.

Unhide the window frame and see how everything looks.

Step 8: Tessellate 1 2 3

Hide Frame and select the window glass again. In the Vertex modeling tab click on the Tessellate tool and from the drop down list choose the Tessellate by Slice tool.

Click on the very bottom of the window to create some slices in the glass. I made three slices. Click the Validate button when finished.

Step 9: Extrude the Edges

Use the Select edges tool, rectangle mode. Right click and drag to select all the edges of the window.

Click on the Fast Extrude tool and pull outward just a little. Rotate your view.

Step 10: Cut and Paste

Step 11: Leading

The glass will paste as a new Form in the Scene tree. Rename ~Form' to Glass. Rename Window to Lead.

Unhide the frame. This is what you should have. Save in hex file format.

Congratulations! You have finished Part 2 of the Window Frame and Glass tutorials. If you are ready to add some color to these objects then proceed to Part 3.:o)

Arched Window tutorial Part 2 by Debbie Overstreet ~Samanthie'

Arched Window Tutorial Part 3 Materials and Shading Domains

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Arched Window Tutorial Part 3 Materials and Shading Domains

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

* Poser 4 or above

* A background image for your outside view

Introduction

You will need to have completed Parts 1 and 2 of the Arched Window tutorials in order to complete Part 3.

Step 1: Setting Up and Selecting

Launch Hexagon and let's begin.

Locate and open the arched window frame files saved previously.

Select Lead from the scene tree tab and hide Frame and Glass.

Click on the Select faces tool, rectangle mode

Right click and drag to select all of the faces of the Lead object.

Step 2: Shading Domains and Materials

Click on the word New in the Shading domains panel and a new domain will appear in the list. Right click on the little arrow and from the fly-out menu choose Rename. Name it Lead and validate.

A new material will appear in the Material panel. Click on it and name the material to Lead Mat. Click on the top color square and choose the color for your Lead. I wanted to do something different so I chose a gold color for my leading. You can choose whatever color you like. Also click on the bottom specular color square and choose a color for it. Think of the specular color as the highlight or subtle reflective color you may want to see on the main color. Leave the transparency slider at 0.

Step 3: Apply the Material

Click on Alt and then click on Window in the Scene tree panel to apply the colors.

Depending on the colors you choose you should have something like this.

The leading is finished!

Step 4: Coloring the Glass

Hide Lead in the Scene tree and unhide Glass.

Select the faces as shown in the image.

Click on the word new in the Shading domains panel and Rename from the fly-out. This time name it Glass and validate.

The new material will automatically appear in the material panel at the bottom of the list. Rename the new material to Glass Mat.

Hold down the Alt key and click on Glass in the Scene tree to apply the color.

Step 5: Continue Coloring the Glass

Select the faces as in the image.

Click again on the word New in the Shading domain. Rename the domain to Glass1. Click on the new material in the Material panel. Change the name to Glass1 Mat and choose your colors. Transparency slider is set as before at 0.500. To apply the color remember to hold down Alt and then click on Glass in the Scene tree.

The result should be something like this.

Step 6: Tiny Details

Switch from rectangle mode to lasso mode and zoom in very close to the lower curved area of the glass. Use the lasso tool and draw around the shape as in the image.

When you have the area selected repeat the steps as before and rename the domain to Glass2. Name the new material to Glass2 Mat. Choose your colors and Alt/click on Glass in the Scene tree to apply.

Here is the result.

Step 7: Color the Glass Trim

Select the edges as shown. Repeat the steps to apply the color. Name the domain to Glass3 and the material to Glass3 Mat.

The glass is finished! Hide Glass in the Scene tree and unhide Frame.

Step 8: Frame Work

The easiest way to color the frame of course is just to color the entire frame but then maybe a gold trim would be nice.

Select the faces on the frame as shown in the image.

Go to Edit/Cut and Edit/Paste. The faces will paste as a new form in the Scene tree. You can name it to Trim if you like but it will be welded back into the frame in a few minutes. Select all of the faces.

Click on New in the Shading domain panel and rename the domain to trim. Click on the new material in the material panel and name it Trim Mat. Choose a couple of gold tones for the main and specular colors. Hold down the Alt key and then click on the new Form in the scene tree tab to apply the materials.

When finished hide the trim form and unhide Frame in the Scene tree.

Step 9: Color the Frame

Click on the Select faces tool. Selection mode is on rectangle. Right click and drag the red rectangle around the frame to select all of the faces.

Follow the now very familiar steps above and give the frame a nice wood color. Choose a specular color of maybe a yellow or orange. Name the domain frame. Name the new material Frame Mat. Alt and click Frame in the Scene tree to apply the material.

Unhide the trim. Hold down the Shift key and select both Frame and Trim in the Scene tree panel.

Step 10: Welding and Material Adjustments

Click on the Vertex modeling tab and the Weld tool to weld the Frame and the Trim back together.

Rename Form to Frame.

Unhide Window in the Scene tree to see what the frame and window look like together.:o)

You can adjust the colors as needed by clicking on the list in the Material panel . Click on one of them and then click on the color squares to choose different colors. Your changes will show on the object. Just experiment and have fun!

Save in hexagon file format.

Step 11: Exporting to Poser

To export as a wavefront object use these settings.

I am using Poser 4 for this part. In Poser import the wavefront object with these settings.

Drop object to floor. The glass will appear invisible in Poser until you render it.

Click on render/materials.

Step 12: Material Settings

Since we have already named our materials in Hexagon it will make finding them a snap. From the Material drop down list choose Glass1_Mat.

We want to be able to see through the glass but also we want to see the colors we applied in Hexagon. Use these settings.

Now click on Glass Mat from the list and apply the same settings shown above. Do the same thing with Glass Mats 2 and 3. Do a test render to see how everything looks so far.

Step 13: Rendering Settings and Saving

The color of the leading is just too orange. Let's see what it looks like in black. Click on Render/Materials again and this time choose Lead Mat from the list. Here are the settings I used.

The render option settings I use are these. It's fast and I can get a pretty good idea of how my finished object will look. Eventually I would use render to a new Window and at least a size of 1500 x 1500.

Do another test render. Here is mine and I like the leading better this render.

You can save your window as a prop by clicking on Props in the Library. Give your window a name.

It will appear in the Props library.

Step 14: Testing the Glass

How about one more step to see if the window is transparent enough? Use the image you downloaded at the beginning of this tutorial. Camera is set to main.

Set your display resolution at 350 x 350.

Click on File/Import/Background Picture and load the image to use for the background.

Render to see the result. You can see the bg picture through the glass! Experiment with the materials to see what other effects you can come up with. Also change the lights within Poser for different atmospheric effects. That's it! I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.:o)

Complex Surface: Modeling with a Twist

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Complex Surface: Modeling with a Twist

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

Introduction

This tutorial was inspired by the wonderful Carafe tutorial found within the Hexagon documentation. How to create a complex twisted surface in Hexagon; a technique that could also have applicability to other similar apps.

graphics1

Step 1 - Base

Begin by launching Hexagon. Dynamic Geometry is set to full.

Go to View and from the list choose Top view.

Click on the Lines tab and choose the Circle from Center icon.

Just before you make the circle press once on the shift key and you will see a little white mark at the center of the grid. Now when you make your circle it will be centered exactly.

Click and drag outward to create your circle, as in the image, and validate.

Step 2 - Base Shaping

Go to Selection/Select '1 over n'.

In the Properties panel type '2' in the box as shown. Click on Validate.

Drag on the little yellow square of the universal manipulator and pull the selected points inward as shown.

Go to View again and this time choose Front view. Adjust your grid as necessary to get a good view of the circle from this view using the navigation tools at the bottom of the interface.

Step 3 - Curve

Now we will build the shape for the body of the vase.

Click on the Lines tab and select the Curve tool.

Position the cursor a little bit to the right of the circle. Place the cursor exactly on the center line and press on the Shift key once. A little white mark will appear to mark your starting point for the curve we are about to make. Zoom out as needed to see the curve as you create it.

This may take more than a couple of tries. Just click and release and repeat to shape the curve. I made the curve with about 9 or 10 clicks. Hit the enter key when you make the last click. You just want to make a subtle curve as shown.

Click on the little lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry panel.

Step 4 - Oh Snap!

Now in the Utilities tab choose the Snap Align tool.

Zoom in for a closer view. Move your cursor over the bottom point of the new curve and hold down the Shift key. The bottom point is what we want to select. When you see that the point is selected move over to the center inward point of the circle and use the Shift key again to select it.

The new curve will 'snap' onto the selected point of the circle!

Zoom out for a better view.

Step 5 - Body

It's time to add form to our vase. First we need to select the base of the vase. In the Scene tree tab click on curve0 at the top of the list to select it. This is the base.

Go to the Surface modeling tab and click on the Extrude line tool.

Click on the curve that will be the body of the vase. The effect is instant!

Now rotate your view so you can see the bottom and click inside the white outline to close it.

Step 6 - Thickness

Validate and click on the lightning bolt to apply the last step.

In the Surface modeling tab click on the thickness tool.

Click on the word 'Inside' in the Properties panel. I wanted a good amount of thickness so I applied a value of 0.286. Validate and click on the lightning bolt to apply.

The vase so far..

Step 7 - Do the Twist

In the Utilities tab click on the Twister deformer tool. You will see a box frame around the vase.

Depending on where you click within the frame you can get different twist effects. For this vase though just click near the top of the frame and drag to the right to give the vase a twist. Pull to the right until your frame looks like mine in the image. Click on Validate.

Step 8 - Mouth Detail

I want to make the mouth of the vase a little larger. Click on the Select edges tool and zoom in close to the top of the vase.

Select the lower top edge as shown in the image. Then hit the letter 'L' on your keyboard to loop around it.

In the Properties panel select Soft selection and use these settings;

Use the universal manipulator's center yellow square and click and drag to enlarge the mouth of the vase.

Now zoom in again to the top of the vase and select the top edge this time and loop as you did before.

Step 9 - Adjust and Smooth

Pull down just a little on the green square just under the green arrow of the universal manipulator. The curve of the vase just under the lip will move up into a subtle but more elegant sweep.

Here's what we have so far.

Uncheck soft selection in the Properties panel.

While we have been busy using the various tools the curves were collapsed into what is now called a Form or object. We can give the Form a new name. Just type Vase as the new name into the Properties panel at the top and hit enter.

Time to add a bit of smoothing. In the Properties panel next to the word smoothing click on the number 1. Click on the lightning bolt.

And here is the vase after smoothing.

Step 10 - Material and Transparency

In the Shading domains panel click on unassigned faces and then on Select. The entire vase will be selected.

Click on the word 'new'. A new domain will appear in the list. Click on it and then on rename.

Type Crystal for the new name in the pop up window and hit validate.

A new material will be listed in the Materials panel. Click on it and rename it to Crystal as well and validate.

Time to choose our colors from the Materials panel.

The image shows the settings I used for the materials and transparency. To apply the settings to the vase hold down the Ctrl or Shift keys and click on the name Vase in the scene tree tab.

Step 11 - The Result

Here is the vase after materials and transparency have been applied.

Unfolding, mapping, and setting up the results will be a topic of future tutorials.

Lead Crystal Vase tutorial by Debbie Overstreet

Complex Surfaces: Unfold with a Twist

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Complex Surfaces: Unfold with a Twist

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

* UV Mapper

Step 1 - Selecting Edges

Using the unfold tool in Hexagon on an object with both thickness and a twist applied to it is a little more challenging than with most objects but it can be done.

Locate and open the Vase file from part 1.

Go to view/Top and zoom into the vase. Select two edges as shown in the image and hit the 'L' key on the keyboard to loop.

Switch to Front view and you should see this;

Step 2 - Selecting Edges Continued

Now we are going to loop around the bottom and the inner edge. Zoom in close to the bottom of the vase and hold down the Shift key and select the edges as shown. Loop the selection. Some edges may be selected that we don't want to be but we will deselect them in a moment.

Select the upper edge of the vase now and loop it.

We are almost ready to map but first we need to make sure to deselect any edges we don't want selected. On my vase some of the edges at the bottom need to be deselected. Zoom in and just hold down the Shift key and click on each unwanted selection to deselect them.

This is how the selected edges should look.

Step 3 - Unfold

Click on the UV and Paint tab and then click on the Unfold tool.

In the Properties panel the default 'seams' should be selected. Click on the plus sign and then on the head icon. Your map will unfold.

Zoom in to inspect the map for any tangled areas. If everything looks OK click on validate. You can now select the individual pieces and resize your map as needed to get it onto the grid. You can also rotate each piece as needed.

Step 4 - Export

When you have finished with the map select the vase object in the Scene tree and export it as a Wavefront object.

To export as a Wavefront object go to file export/Wavefront object and use these settings.

Step 5 - UV Mapper

I use the free UV Mapper Classic available at www.uvmapper.com.

Run UV Mapper and load the Wavefront object file for our vase model.

UV Mapper will display a statistics popup, just click OK.

Now go to Edit/Color by Material. The map should turn red. If we had more than one material and shading domain you would see more than one color.

Go to File/Save Texture Map. When the popup menu appears, type in a size for your map. I chose 1500 x 1500.

Texturing the map, once it's finished, can be accomplished as with any other UV map. Any of the library of texturing tutorials in the Arcana can provide numerous examples and tips for this process.

Lead Crystal Vase mapping tutorial by Debbie Overstreet

Create an Ornament in Hexagon

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Create an Ornament in Hexagon

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

* Poser

Step 1 - Setting Up

Open Hexagon and let's begin. Dynamic Geometry should be set to full.

These are your navigation tools for the viewing area

Step 2 - Circle to Star

Select the Lines tab and choose circle from center. Create a circle about 5.0 in radius.

Just watch the radius box as you drag to select your circle and stop when you get close. You don't have to be exact. Click on the validate button when you have completed the circle.

Click on the Select points tool (F4). Then go to Selection and choose '1 over n'. Type the number 2 into the box in the Properties panel and validate.

Your circle will look like this.

Hold down the mouse button and click on the center yellow square of the universal manipulator and drag to pull in the selected points until you have a star shape.

Click anywhere inside the viewing area to deselect the points.

Step 3 - Thickness

Go to the Surface modeling tab and choose the thickness tool and apply these settings:

Click on the lightning bolt in the Dynamic geometry panel.

This is what your star should look like so far:

Rename the Form in the scene tree by typing in a new name at the top of the Properties panel. I named the object Star. Hit enter.

Step 4 - Copy and Paste

We need to make this ornament more interesting. Go to Edit/Copy and then Edit Paste.

The newly copied star will be placed exactly over the first one. It will also list in the scene tree with the same name so go ahead and change its name to Star1.

Make sure it's still selected in the scene tree.

Zoom out for a larger view. Click and drag on the center yellow square of the universal manipulator and make the new star shape larger. It may take a couple of tries but you will get it. You don't want any points of either star to overlap so continue to make the new star larger until it is clear of the first one. See image:

Step 5 - Smoothing the Star

With Star1 still selected go to the Properties panel and click on the number 1 next the word smoothing. Also click on the lightning bolt in the DG panel.

This is what your ornament should look like after smoothing.

Step 6 - Positioning

Now is a good time to zero the position of our ornament. The newest star should still be selected. In the Properties panel type zero in the x, y and z axis. It's important to hit enter or validate when you have the last zero entered. The star will drop to the ground but that is OK. Click on the other star in the scene tree to select it and type zero in the axis boxes again and hit enter.

The star will drop.

Hold down the Shift key and select both

stars in the Scene tree list.

Next pull up on the green arrow of the

universal manipulator and pull the stars up

a bit.

Step 7 - Sphere

We are going to make a sphere to go around our stars. Select the sphere from the 3D Primitives tab and then click and drag a sphere of about 26 to 27.000 diameter. Click validate.

Zero the position of the sphere by typing zero into the x, y and z boxes inside the Properties panel as you did before. The sphere will drop. Name the sphere.

Use the green arrow again of the universal manipulator and pull up until the sphere covers the stars.

Rotate your view and adjust the size of your sphere using the arrows of the universal manipulator if needed so that there are no points poking through from the stars inside.

Apply a smoothing of 1 to the sphere from inside the Properties panel. Click the lightning bolt to apply.

Step 8 - Little Details

Click on the Select faces tool and rotate your view so you can see the top of the sphere. Select the faces as shown.

Select the Fast extrude tool from the Vertex modeling tab.

Pull up on the blue arrow just a little.

Rotate the sphere to view the bottom and repeat the above steps but pull down on the blue arrow this time.

Step 9 - Quad Tessellate

Click on the Select points tool.

Click on the center middle point of the bottom of the sphere and pull down just a little.

Repeat for the top of the sphere but pull up of course. :o)

Switch back to the Select faces tool and select the same faces on the top of the sphere as before.

From the Vertex modeling tab select the tessellation tools and from the drop down list choose quad tessellation and apply.

This is the result;

Select the same faces as in the image and apply the quad again.

Step 10 - Quad Tessellate Continued...

You should see this:

Select faces as shown and repeat quad:

The result:

Select and repeat quad.

Result:

Step 11 - Quad and Extrude

Select and repeat quad.

Select and repeat the quad once more.

Next select those faces in the center.

Select the Fast extrude tool.

Pull the blue arrow straight up as shown in the image. Zoom out if needed for a broader view. Use the green arrow of the universal manipulator to adjust the length as needed. This is going to be the hook for our ornament. Leave the end selected.

Step 12 - Sweeping the Hook

Now switch to the Sweep Surface tool and use it to form a hook shape.

This may take a bit of practice but it is a fun tool to learn. Just click each time you want to change direction. The more times you click while creating the hook the smoother it will be. When you have your hook completed click on the lightning bolt to apply.

To edit the shape click on the select points tool and the lasso. Draw a selection around the points and use the arrows of the universal manipulator to shape the hook as needed. Rotate your view if needed.

The name of our sphere changed to Form when we made the extrusion so just click on Form in the scene tree and rename it back to Sphere.

Step 13 - Changing Faces

Use the Select faces tool and begin selecting every other face of the sphere, stopping at the extruded top and bottom areas. When you have the faces selected it will look like this.

Now go to Edit/Cut and then Edit/Paste.

The cutout faces will paste back into place. Also they have been added as a new form in the scene tree. Give the new form a name such as sphere1.

Step 14 - Thickness and Adjusting

With the newly pasted faces still active go to the surface modeling tab and click on the thickness tool. Apply these settings:

The top and bottom ends need to be extruded out again.

Turn off Sphere1 by clicking on the eye next to it in the scene tree tab for a better view.

Select Sphere and rotate your view to see the bottom. Select the faces shown. Click on the Fast extrude tool and pull down on the blue arrow.

Rotate your view again so you can see the top of the sphere. Zoom in very close to the base of the hook. Select the faces around the hook base but not the hook itself.

Select the rest of the faces as shown moving outward from the hook. If you hold down the Shift key you can then hold down the mouse button and move the cursor over the faces to select them.

Fast extrude again but first turn Sphere1 back on. Now go ahead and pull up on the blue arrow.

Step 15 - Final Steps

We are going to select the base of the hook and pull it up. Turn off Sphere1 again.

Click on the Select points tool. Zoom in very close to see inside of the sphere.

Rotate to get a good view of the hook base.

Only select the points of the end of the hook and try not to select any points of the sphere.

When you have the points selected pull up on the green arrow of the universal manipulator. Zoom in very close to the base of the hook at the top of the sphere and raise the selected points above the base as in the image.

This is the ornament…

and with materials applied.

Please refer to my previous tutorial, Arched Window Part 3 regarding how to assign Shading domains and Materials.

Here are the material settings I used for the ornament.

For exporting as Wavefront object;

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Looking for more to do in Hexagon? I highly recommend the following Hexagon tutorials.

http://poserpros.daz3D.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54861

http://poserpros.daz3D.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=56361

Ornament tutorial by Debbie Overstreet 'Samanthie'

Creating a Wine Glass in Hexagon 2

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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 Wine Glass in Hexagon 2

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

Introduction

Hexagon is an exceptional program that is both easy to use and fun. I am going to illustrate for you the techniques I used to create the wineglass model. It is not a difficult tutorial and is well suited for beginners and advanced users alike.

Step 1: Step 1: Open Hexagon and let's begin.

These tools are your panning, rotation and zoom tools.

Select the cone shape from the 3D primitives menu. To make the cone click with the mouse and drag to the right, click again and pull down. Now you should have a cone.

Click on the validate button.

Step 2: Step 2

Select the Universal Manipulator(U)from the tool bar above. Select the Select Edges tool(F3)and choose rectangle mode. See image.

With all of those items selected go back to your cone shape. We need to select the bottom area of the cone.

Right click on the mouse and drag to select the same area as I have selected in the image. You should see a red rectangle shape showing you the selection before you let go of the mouse button. Your selection should look like mine.

Step 3: Step 3

Put your curser over the top green arrow of the Universal Manipulator and pull down until you get an image like this;

Step 4: Tessellate by Slice

Now we need to add a couple of slices to our model using the Tessellate by Slice tool. Click on the Vertex Modeling tab and click on the Free Tessellate tool. Hold your curser there for a moment for the drop down menu to appear. We want to use the Tessellate by Slice tool so select that one as shown in the images;

With the correct tool selected return to your wine glass and make a couple of slices on the stem area evenly spaced. Click on the Validate button as before so that your changes will take effect.

Step 5: Step 5

We are going to remove the very bottom of the cone. Click on the Select Points(F4)tool as shown.

Just as you did in Step 2 use the selection tool and select the very bottom of the cone shape. Hit the delete key. Your image should look like this;

Step 6: Step 6: The Stem

Activate the Select Edges tool (F3) and select the bottom of the wine glass as shown;

Put your curser over the middle yellow square of the Universal Manipulator right-click and drag to the right. See image;

*note: This is a good time to save what you have so far and as with any graphics program remember to save and save often. Save in Hexagon(.hxn)file format.

Step 7: Step 7: Shaping the Stem

We need to work on that stem to make it a more elegant shape.

Using the same selection tools as in Step 6 select the circle slice. This should be the fifth row up from the bottom of the glass as shown in the image.

Again select the center yellow square of the Universal Manipulator but use the left mouse button this time. Click and drag to the left until the ring grows smaller.

Repeat with the next two rows as shown;

Step 8: Step 8: Shaping the vessel

Our wine glass is taking shape but needs to be refined. Select the top of the glass as show and again click on the center yellow square of the Universal Manipulator. Click and drag to the left to resize the top of the glass.

Repeat with the second row and so on as shown in the images;

Adjust the rows as needed to achieve this shape;

Step 9: Step 9: Smoothing

On the Dynamic Geometry tool bar the setting should be at Full DG.

Let's add a smoothing to our glass at this point. Click on the Vertex Modeling tab and select the cube with the plus sign next to it and click on it once.

Click on the little lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry box to apply the entire smoothing effect.

Step 10: Step 10: Closing up the Bottom

Click on the 3D primitives tab and choose the facet tool.

Change the selection to Select Points(F4).

Rotate and zoom in so you can see the bottom of the glass.

With the facet tool activated click on the Shift key and begin selecting the points around the bottom of the glass.

When all of the points are selected double click and then click on the Validate button.

The bottom of the glass is closed

Step 11: Step 11: Details

Activate the Select Edges tool(F3)and select the bottom of the glass as shown. Again use the center square of the Universal Manipulator and drag to the left to make this part of the glass a little smaller.

Step 12: Step 12: Adding Thickness

Click on the Surface Modeling tab and then select the thickness tool.

Select inside thickness and apply a value of about 0.018.

Next, click on the lightning bolt as you did in Step 9 to apply the effect

Step 13: Step 13: Adding Material

This step is optional. We are going to add a material and set the transparency for our glass. On the material window click on the word new. A box will appear that shows your material options.

Now click on the top square and choose a color for your glass. I chose r171, g175, b193.

Now Click on the bottom square and choose your specular color. Since blue and pink complement each other I chose a color with a pink hue; r244, g167, b170. Set the transparency slider to about 0.650

Step 14: Step 14: Finishing Up

There are just two more things to do to complete your wineglass.

Click on the Vertex modeling tab and click once on the cube with the plus sign to apply another smoothing. Apply the total effect by clicking on the lightning bolt.

Lastly rotate the wine glass and select the center points on the very bottom. Zoom in close so you can see the two points and select them.

Pull up just slightly using the green arrow at the top of the Universal Manipulator.

That's it! :o) Congratulations you have finished the wineglass tutorial.

Wineglass tutorial by Debbie Overstreet 'Samanthie'

Elegant Table Part 2: Unfolding and Exporting an Object with Multiple Parts

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Elegant Table Part 2: Unfolding and Exporting an Object with Multiple Parts

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon2

* Table Model

* UV Mapper Classic

Support Files

*dlo_tablehxn.zip

Introduction

This tutorial will cover some important steps you may not have known about when unwrapping and exporting an object with multiple parts plus materials in Hexagon2.

Step 1: Setting Up

Download the zip file if needed and unzip it into your Hexagon folder.

Launch Hexagon.

Open the table model.

These are your navigation tools;

Click on the Universal Manipulator and the Select Faces tool.

Step 2: Selecting Edges

Let's begin with the table frame form.

On the Scene tree tab select the top form and turn off the two other forms.

Begin to select the edges around the outside center line.

Go all the way around the table frame.

Step 3: Table Frame Unfold

Click on the UV and Paint tab and then click on the Unfold tool.

In Unfold Properties click on the plus sign and mode set to default Seams.

Then click on the head again and your map will appear on the grid.

Click on the grid viewing area and then click on Single View.

Click on Validate.

Step 4: Resize and Position

Click on the Select Faces and the Rectangle mode.

Click and drag to select the entire map and size it down.

Click anywhere on the grid to deselect.

Select one oval at a time to move it.

Zoom in and hold down the Shift key to select those areas that are close to the other object.

Position the objects into place on the grid.

Return to two vertical views.

Click on the view panel with the table trim and then click on single view.

Turn off the table trim form in the Scene tree tab and click on the middle form and click on the eye.

Step 5: Table Surfaces

This part is so easy! No selecting any edges for this step.

This is the form we are now working on.

Click on the Unfold tool(the head) in the UV and Paint tab again.

Click on the plus sign and add it to Seams.

Click on Unfold again and the map will appear

Click on Validate.

Click on the map grid area and then on single view.

Step 6: Resize and Position

This is what you should have so far.

Select the map as you did before with the selection tools and size it down.

Select each piece separately and position it on the map grid.

Time to make a mental note of each of these surfaces. Which one is top and which one is the bottom? To find out just select one of the oval shapes and then click on two vertical views.

It looks like the shape I positioned on the bottom of the grid is the top for my table.

Click on the left view with your model and then click on single view.

Ok now that that mental note has been made let's move on to the next form.

Step 7: Table Legs

Turn off the table surfaces form and click on the legs form in the Scene tree tab

Use your navigation tools to zoom in and rotate as needed. Click on the Select edges tool.

Zoom in and begin. Hold down the Shift key to select multiple sections.

Select the edges along the outside corner seams for each leg. If you make a mistake just highlight the edge again and click to deselect it.

Zoom in to the top of the leg and select all around the upper edge.

Rotate to select the bottom edge.

Select the edges on the other legs the same way. When all edges are selected this is what you will see.

Step 8: Unfold the Legs

Click on the Unfold tool.

Click on the plus sign and add it to Seams.

Click on Unfold again and the map will appear.

This time wait before you click on the validate button.

Click on the map grid and then on single view.

Zoom in to the mesh and pan over to the right to make sure there are no tangles. Minor tangles can be adjusted fairly easily by selecting points and moving them and straightening them if needed.

If you have a tangled mess however then you will need to go back and check your seams to be sure you didn't miss an edge or two.

If all goes well though and there are no tangles in the map click validate.

And here is the leg map.

Step 9: Selecting and Exporting All Parts

Click on two vertical views and click on the left side of the view screen and then on single view to return to the main view.

The goal here is to export all three pieces together and map them in UV Mapper successfully.

Click on each eye in the form to unhide them. All forms should be visible.

We want to select all forms at once. Click on the Shift key and then select each of the forms.

The following step is important for our map to work correctly .

Click on two vertical views again and click on the map grid. You can see all of your maps piled on the grid. Select a form. Resize and adjust the positions of the maps as needed so they are nice and neat on the map grid. Switch between the forms to check your work.

Make sure all forms are selected and then go to File/Export/Wavefront object. Use these settings;

Close Hexagon.

After you export the object and go to close Hexagon you will be asked if you want to save the hxn format file. Just click on NO.

Step 10: Open with UV Mapper

UV Mapper is available for free at http://www.uvmapper.com/.

Open UV Mapper and load the texture map.

How cool is this?

Color by Material:

You should see this:

Step 11: Saving the Texture Map

Go to File/Save Texture Map.

Give it a size and click on OK. Leave boxes unchecked.

The key step in this tutorial was selecting all of the forms before exporting from Hexagon. On to the testing phase.:o)

Step 12: Testing 1 2 3

To easily test the map before texturing open Poser and import the wavefront object for the table.

I used these settings;

Click on Render/Materials and do the following;

Click on Texture changes apply to all

Change the object color to white

Load the texture map and click OK

Do a test render to see if the mesh loads in all the correct places.

YAY!

Now go and texture your map.:o))

Mapping and Exporting tutorial by Debbie Overstreet ~Samanthie'

Halloween Pumpkin in Hexagon

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Halloween Pumpkin in Hexagon

Author: CHWT

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

* A rendering program (e.g. DAZ Studio or Poser)

Support Files

*part2referenceobj.zip

Introduction

For this tutorial it is expected that you have already followed the instructions in the tutorial Modeling a Pumpkin in Hexagon.

Step 1: Import pumpkin_6.obj and draw the outlines for the eyes and mouth

In the front view, click “File”, click “Import” and import pumpkin_6.obj

It is easier to add the Halloween face to pumpkin_6.obj because it is a pure polygonal file

with no smoothing. Adding a Halloween face to a hexagon file with smoothing can be a nightmare to modelers as you will find that the edges you add by tessellating are no longer straight so you cannot get the signature triangular eyes of a Halloween pumpkin You can use Boolean method to cut out the eyes and mouth but this can complicate the mesh by adding a lot of vertices.

The following figure shows the guidelines of the eyes and mouth of my pumpkin. I made them by using the facet tools (click “Tools” in the menu bar, then click “Vertex modeling”, then “Facet”), with grid snap on (click “Display” in the menu bar, then “Sanp”), and with a bit of scaling.

I mark the guidelines onto the pumpkin mainly by using “Tessellate” (second icon of the drop down menu after clicking “Free Tessellate” icon at the “Vertex modeling” toolbar), which adds edges by joining any two vertices or edges; and “Connect” on the “Vertex Modeling” toolbar, which adds edges by joining two vertices of the same polygon. I mark the guidelines by joining vertices because this will not produce new vertices so as not to complicate the model mesh (although you might sometimes add a few vertices using “Tessellate” as it does not automatically snap to existent vertices).

The following figure is pumpkin_6.obj with guidelines for the mouth and eyes marked on.

Step 2: Carve the eyes and the mouth

Press F2 to change to “Select Faces” mode. Select the faces making up the eyes and mouth as the following figure shows (the highlighted faces) and click “Fast Extrude” under the “Vertex modeling” toolbar (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

I strongly suggest you working on only one eye or the mouth each time, as it is easy to get messed up with both eyes and mouth selected.

Upon clicking “Fast Extrude” you will see a yellow handle. Adjust the yellow handle to push the selected faces (those of your selected eye or mouth) inwards and you will see something like this.

The selected faces are still under select. Adjust how thick you want your pumpkin to be by adjusting the yellow handle. When you are satisfied with the adjustment, press the delete key to delete the selected faces. You will see something like this upon finishing the procedures for both eyes and the mouth (I have toggled to “Select object” mode so you can see the result more easily).

Actually using “Fast Extrude” is mainly to create the illusion of thickness of the pumpkin. Here the pumpkin in fact has no thickness except around the eyes and the mouth. You can actually use “Thickness” under “Surface modeling” toolbar (pointed by the arrow in the next figure). But using “Thickness” will produce a lot of hidden faces that cannot be shown and complicate the model mesh substantially, so in this case this practice is not recommended.

Step 3: Model the stalk of the pumpkin

Change to top view (click “View” in the menu bar, then click “top view”). Press F2 to change to “Select faces” mode.

Select the highlighted and circled faces in the following figure. This is where the stalk of the pumpkin is located.

Change to front view (click “View” in the menu bar, then “front view”). Click “Fast Extrude” from the “Vertex modeling” toolbar. Pull the handle upward to make the stalk.

Adjust until you are happy with the length of the stalk and you will have something like this.

Step 4: Continue to adjust the stalk and export the finished pumpkin to OBJ format

I have scaled up the radius of the ring of vertices at the top of the stalk by clicking the Scale Manipulator and directly typing in the sizes along X- and Z- axes (pointed by arrows in the following figure).

When you are happy with your pumpkin export it to OBJ format for further manipulation. I have exported it to pumpkin_10.obj with the following settings.

Step 5: A few more words

The following is a render of pumpkin_10.obj (with a simple orange material) in Poser 5.

I have included pumpkin_10.obj with this tutorial. Hope you enjoy my tutorial

Happy modeling and Happy Halloween!

Introduction to Basic Box Modeling, Nautilus Shell

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Introduction to Basic Box Modeling, Nautilus Shell

Author: Susurrus

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

Introduction

I am a complete newbie to Hexagon and 3D modeling in general; having had little success with other 3D modeling programs I didn't expect much of my chances with Hexagon. After watching the video I attempted to model the “Wild Space Cow” shown in the First video Tutorial included with Hexagon. My results weren't stunning, but a million miles away from anything I had achieved before. This first flush of success urged me to try and model something more to my tastes; I now wish to share with you this tutorial showing how to make the Nautilus shell I went on to model using basic Box modeling tools.

Step 1: Before you begin

Throughout this tutorial I have used the default layout, so if you have troubles finding any of the tools I point you to, it might be worth resetting your work area by opening File in the taskbar then User Resources and clicking Reset all (see below).

I strongly suggest reading the short section in the Hexagon Documentation from page 25 about navigating in the 3D environment then watching the video of the first tutorial included with Hexagon (which requires QuickTime), as it shows you how the basic Box modeling tools work.

The locations of the specific tools used in this tutorial are included at the beginning of each Step.

Step 2: Create a Cube

Square up your view and zoom out a bit so you have a good strait-on view of one of the side grids, this makes proportioning your model easier.

In the Modeling tools palette in the 3D Primitives tab select the Cube.

Position your cursor in the middle of the 3D workspace.

Click your mouse once to designate the start position of your Cube.

Drag your cursor away to increase the size of your cube, and back to decrease.

Click again to set the size of your Cube.

Note. For this model I recommended you make your Cube approximately the size of one of the squares on the grid.

Step 3: Select the polygon on the right side of your Cube

In the Selection palette, click Select Faces. This enables you to only select and manipulate faces (polygons) on your model.

Now rotate your view (you can rotate your view by holding down Alt + left mouse button, moving mouse to rotate as required) until you have a good view of the polygon on the right side of your cube.

Hover your mouse over this polygon, it will turn blue, now click to select it.

Step 4: Activate the Sweep tool

From the Modeling tools palette select the Vertex modeling tab and activate the Sweep tool.

Your selected polygon will jump out to where your cursor is.

Using the Sweep tool:

Click once to set each new section in place.

Right click to resize your section.

Double click to Validate when you're finished.

Note. Position your section before resizing it.

Take this moment to fiddle around a little with the Sweep tool, changing your view, moving your selected polygon back and forth, until you feel comfortable with it.

If, after playing around, you have a bit of a mess simply Undo (Edit Menu or Ctrl+Z) a couple of times.

Note. You can undo at any point whilst using the Sweep tool to remove the section you just created.

Step 5: Use the Sweep tool to create a Spiral (see pic below)

It may take you a few attempts to get the curvature of the spiral and its number of sections to your liking.

Remember don't try to duplicate what I've done; this is an organic model so its individuality is what's important. The only thing you must ensure is that you don't make your sections too long (see below), as you then won't have enough polygons to create the rest of your model from.

Step 6: Create the lower opening

Ensure that Select Faces is active (if it is blue it is active), if not, activate it again (see Step 3).

Rotate your view so you can see the left polygon of your first cube.

Click to select it.

Now you need to choose a polygon on your spiral (see pic below) to keep in your mind (don't select it), which you can aim at when you use the Sweep tool.

Once you have chosen your target polygon, use the Sweep tool on your selected polygon on your first Cube. Continue the outer curve of your spiral up towards the inner curve of your spiral leaving a gap between the two, which we will fill in later.

See pic below for the result.

Now select the top polygon of your first Cube and create a similar extrusion to the one you just did, this time aiming at the gap you previously left. See pic below.

Step 7: Create the Braces

To create your braces you can use one or two polygons.

To use two polygons, select the first by highlighting then clicking on it; then select the second whilst holding down the Shift key, highlight it then click to select it.

See below for a representation of what your brace will look like with one polygon selected or two polygons selected.

I made only three sections to my brace but you can make more if you wish, do what looks right to you. The only thing to keep in mind is that we are going to use polygons on the top of each of the braces to make the little barbs.

Don't forget to leave a gap between the end of your brace and spiral, as in the next Step I will show you how to create a smooth transition between the two.

To create your first brace, ensure that Select Faces is active and select one or two polygons on your spiral, activate the Sweep tool.

Now you can use this same technique to create the rest of your braces. You can make whatever shape, size and number of braces you wish with as many sections to them, and as much space between each as you wish. Experiment and come up with something you like, don't worry too much about their positioning at the moment as you can adjust that latter on. (See below for the result of what I did).

Step 8: Use the Bridge tool to connect the braces

Rotate your view so you can see clearly the end polygon of one of your braces, then select it.

Rotate view again, hold down Shift and select a corresponding polygon on your spiral.

Under the Vertex Modeling tab select the Bridge tool.

Now the gap between your two selected polygons should be filled with a new section linking the two together (see pic below).

Note. If you used more than one polygon to create one of your braces, simply select all the polygons on the end of your brace and then select a polygon/polygons on your spiral. Then use the Bride tool as before.

Repeat this process for the rest of your braces.

Step 9: Resolving problems with the Bridge tool

If during the process of using the Bridge tool something appears to go weird, inside out or twisted don't worry, just Undo and use the Universal Manipulator (see page 44 of the documentation included with Hexagon for explanation of use if you're not sure how to use it) to rotate and reposition your selected polygon until it looks like the two will Bridge smoothly and try again.

If you discover a hole in your model you can create the missing polygon with the Bridge tool.

Activate Select Edges from the Selection palette and select an edge on each side of your hole. Now activate the Bridge tool to create a polygon between the two edges.

Step 10: Create the Barbs

Select a polygon on the top of one of your braces.

As before with your braces, you can select more polygons to use if you wish.

Use the Sweep tool to create your barb; you will need to decrease the size of each section quite dramatically in order to create a sharp point to your barb.

(See below for result)

Now you can create barbs on the rest of your braces, or only the outer ones as I have (see below).

Step 11: Add smoothing and tweak your model

Now your model is essentially finished, to really see what you've achieved click Increase Smoothing in the Vertex modeling tab twice.

The Universal Manipulator (see page 44 of the documentation included with Hexagon for explanation of use) is very easy to use although it will take a while to get used to. Now is the time when you can use the Universal Manipulator to start tweaking your model, removing annoying little lumps, changing the angle and size of your braces etc.

Whilst using the Universal Manipulator, in the top right of your screen you will see the Properties window. In the Properties window you will see a Soft Selector tick box, using this in conjunction with the Radius slide bar beneath it allows the selection of multiple points around your selection, this is known as soft deformation.

You can also use the Symmetry button when you wish for your changes to be mirrored, along an axis, down each side of your model.

One thing in particular I would suggest adjusting in your model is the angle of the edges connecting your braces with your spiral.

In the Selection Palette click Select Edges.

Select an edge connecting your brace to your spiral, then rotate your view round to the other side of your model, hold down the Shift key and select the edge opposite to the one you previously selected. Now use the Universal Manipulator to rotate your selected edges.

As you can see in the pic below, even this simple tweak makes a subtle but effective difference to the overall appearance of the model.

Step 12: Your finished model

Now your model is finished you can also use the Sweep tool again to add individuality to your model (see pic below).

I did the model for this tutorial in only ten minutes, so it's a bit ruff round the edges. You can take much longer tweaking and perfecting your model to come up with something like the one below; my original model which I've spent overall about an hour tweaking to get just right.

I hope you have had success with this tutorial and will move on to more ambitious projects after seeing the impressive results possible with only these simple tools. I also hope to write some more tutorials about the more advanced tools and techniques used in Hexagon, as I learn them myself.

Till then, Happy Modeling!

Model a Wine bottle

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Model a Wine bottle

Author: Samanthie

Introduction

Hexagon is an exceptional program that is both easy to use and fun. I am going to illustrate for you the techniques I used to create the wine bottle model. It is not a difficult tutorial and is well suited for beginners and advanced users alike.

Step 1: Basic Shape

Open Hexagon and let's begin. Set the Dynamic geometry tab to Full DG.

On the 3D primitives tab choose the cone shape and create the shape as shown in the image.

Do not click on the bottom to close the opening just click on the Validate button.

Step 2: Select and Delete

Select the Universal Manipulator(U)and the Select Points tool(F4). The selection should be set to rectangle mode.

Right click and drag to select the top of the cone and hit the delete key.

Step 3: Shaping

Switch the selection tool from Points to Select Edges (F3).

Right click and drag to select the second row from the top of the cone as shown.

Click on the center yellow square of the Universal Manipulator and drag to the left.

Select the lowest edge of the bottle and repeat as above.

Using the directions above adjust the two lowest rows until you get this shape. The bottom row of the wine bottle is just a little smaller than the row just above it.

Step 4: Tessellate by Slice

Click on the Vertex Modeling tab and the Tessellate tool. From the drop down menu select the Tessellate by Slice tool.

Make two slices on the top of the bottle as shown. Click on the validate button.

Step 5: Fast Extrude

Activate the Select Faces tool(F2).

Hold down the Shift key and select all of the faces between the two slices you just made on the top part of the bottle.

Activate the Fast Extrude tool.

Click on the red square and drag to the right to extrude the surfaces.

Step 6: Slim the Bottle

We need to get our bottle into shape. Activate the Select Edges tool.

Select the row 4th up from the bottom. Click on the yellow center square of the Universal Manipulator and drag to the left to make the row smaller.

Now select the lower part of the bottle and repeat.

Step 7: Tessellate

Activate the Tessellate by Slice tool again and make three more slices on the bottle as shown;

Step 8: Bottleneck

Right click and drag to the right to select the 3rd row down from the extruded faces as in the image. Size it down as shown.

Step 9: Add a Smoothing

Time to add a little smoothing to our bottle. Click on the Vertex modeling tab and click once on the cube with the plus sign on the front.

In the Dynamic Geometry tab click on the lightning bolt to apply the effect.

Step 10: Close Openings

We need to close the cork at the top as well as the hole at the bottom of the bottle. We don't want any wine to leak out you know.;o)

Click on the Select Points tool(F4). Click on the 3D Primitives tab and then on the Facet tool.

Rotate and zoom in to your bottle so that you can select all of the points around the uppermost edge(the cork). When all of the points are selected double click to apply and also click the validate button. The top of the cork should be closed.

*note: It is easy to select the wrong points so look sharply. If you make a mistake just undo and try again. :o)

Repeat for the bottom of the bottle.

Step 11: Adding Thickness

Click on the Surface modeling tab and select the thickness tool.

Choose inside from the Properties box and apply a value of about 0.063.

Click on the lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry box to apply.

Step 12: Fine Tuning

I think the cork on my bottle could be refined. To do this I used the Select edges tool and selected the top two rows of the cork.

Then I just made it smaller using the Universal Manipulator and pulled it down a bit as well.

If you feel your bottle needs more shaping you can use what you have learned in the above steps to select rows and making them smaller or larger with the Universal Manipulator to further shape your bottle until you are happy with it.

Step 13: Add Material

To add material and specular color to our bottle click on the button that says new on the Materials tab.

When the material options box comes up click on the top color square and choose a color for your bottle. I chose color# r111, g35, b64.

Click on the bottom color square for the specular color. I chose color# r244, g167, b170.

Set Spread to 0.608 and Transp to 0.602.

If you decide you don't want the material just click on material/remove material.

Congratulations you have completed the Wine bottle tutorial!:o)

Wine bottle tutorial by Debbie Overstreet 'Samanthie'

Model an Elegant Table in Hexagon 2

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Model an Elegant Table in Hexagon 2

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

Step 1: Setting up

Open Hexagon and let's begin.

Select the Universal Manipulator(U) and the Select Faces(F2) tools. The Universal Manipulator will be referred to from now on as the UM.

Set Dynamic Geometry to Full DG.

These are your navigation tools for the viewing area.

Step 2: Model Table Top

Click on the 3D Primitives tab and select the cube. Make a cube in the center of your view screen.

Click on the Vertex Modeling tab and then click twice on the cube with the plus sign in front to apply the smoothing effect.

Your image should look like mine.

Notice that in the Dynamic Geometry box there is a lightning bolt. Don't click on that just yet.

When you apply any smoothing to an object the effect you see on that object is only partial. The entire smoothing effect won't be applied until you click on the lightning bolt. If we apply the full effect now it will make modeling the top of our table a little more difficult. We will click on the bolt in a couple of minutes.

Step 3: Shape it

Using the UM pull down on the square just under the green arrow.

Here is how your shape should look so far:

Now click on the square next to the red arrow and click and drag to the right.

Here is how the table looks from above.

Use the green square again and pull down to make the table a little thinner.

Step 4: Smooth

Now it is safe to click on the lightning bold to apply the entire smoothing effect.

After:

This is a good time to save what you have so far. Save in hxn format.

Apply another smoothing as you did before using the cube with the plus sign in the Vertex modeling tab. Click the lightning bolt in the Dynamic Geometry window.

Click on the Select Faces tool.

Step 5: Inset Edge

Rotate the view so you can see the top of the table.

Hold down the Shift key and select the faces as shown. Tip: To select a large area of faces keep the mouse button down and just move the cursor over the faces to select them.

Click on the Fast Extrude tool on the Vertex modeling tab.

The Universal Manipulator will change in appearance. Click on the blue arrow at the top and pull down slightly.

The goal here is to make just a very small inset for our glass area. To get an idea of what I mean here is an image that shows the edge I made when I pulled the table top down.

The table top is finished.

Step 6: Model The Legs

Click on the 3D Primitives tab and select the cube again. Make a cube below the table.

To have an uncluttered view hide the table top temporarily. To do this click on the eye in the Scene tree tab to hide the table top. See image:

Use the Select Faces (F2) tool to select the top of the cube. Pull up on the green arrow of the UM.

Click on the Vertex modeling tab and then click on the Tessellate tool. From the drop down menu choose the Tessellate by Slice.

Select an edge and click to make 10 slices on the face of the cube as shown. Use the selection tool on Rectangle mode and the green arrow of the UM to adjust your lines if they are uneven.

Step 7: Get Those Legs into Shape!

Click on the red square behind the red arrow of the UM and drag to the left to make the leg slimmer.

Rotate your view so you can see the image from the side. This time select the blue square behind the blue arrow and drag to the left.

Here is an image of the bottom view of the leg so you can clearly see what we just did.

Click on View/Front View.

Step 8: Sculpt the Leg

Our leg needs some definition. Right now it has zero personality!

Click on the Select edges tool and mode is set to rectangle.

Select the middle slice near the top part of the leg.

Pull inward by clicking on the center yellow square of the UM and drag to the left. Do the same thing with the bottom of the leg.

When that is done select the two center lines in the middle of the leg and repeat as above.

Step 9: Sizing it Up

Go ahead and click on the eye in the Scene Tree tab to make the table top visible again.

We need to make sure our new leg is the right size for our table. Since this is a dining table the legs will be long.

Resize the leg as needed for the table. Use the center square of the UM and click and drag to the right until the size looks right as in the image.

When finished with this step hide the table top again.

Step 10: Refining

Click on the Vertex modeling tab and again click on the Tessellate by slice tool.

Make the new slices as shown in the image.

Click on the Select Faces tool(F2).

Select the faces a section at a time in between the double slices. Adjust with the UM tool and sculpt the table leg to your liking.

Step 11: Extra Leg Work

Unhide your table top and rotate it so you can see the bottom.

Line up the table leg within one of the squares where the leg should go.

You will have to click back and forth between the table top and the leg forms in the Scene tree tab so you can see the mesh of the table when lining up the leg. There is a little bit of guesswork involved here.

When you have the leg lined up select the leg and click on Edit/Copy and then Edit/Paste. The copy will be placed directly on top of the original leg. Use the arrows of the UM to move the copied leg away from the original and into position on the opposite side of the table.

Repeat until you have placed all four legs.

Turn off the table top layer again. Look at the Scene tree tab. You should have four separate forms that represent the legs.

Hold down the Ctrl key and click to select all four legs forms.

On the Surface modeling tab click on the weld tool to merge the four leg forms into just one form.

Step 12: Cut and Paste

Turn off the leg form in the Scene tree tab.

With the Select Faces tool select the top of the table as shown.

Rotate to bottom view and select the same faces opposite as those selected on the top.

Click on Edit/Cut and then Edit/Paste.

Your table surfaces will be pasted exactly where they were only now they are a new form.

You should now have 3 forms in the Scene tree. You will have the frame, the table surfaces and the legs.

Step 13: Add Materials and Finish

Keep the leg form hidden and also hide the table frame form. Only the table surfaces form is visible.

Click on the Select Faces tool and on Rectangle mode. Now click and drag the red rectangle selection around the entire surfaces form.

With the table top form selected click on the word New on the Materials Panel.

When the Materials Properties palette comes up click on the top color square to add a color. For this example, I used (r148, g152, b176).

Click on the bottom square for the specular color. I used a pretty shade of pink (r238, g203, b234). Adjust sliders as in the image.

*tip: If you want to add a color to the color library select the color you want and then click on one of the white squares and the color is added.

When you have the colors entered hold down the Ctrl key and click on the table surfaces form in the Scene tree to assign the material colors to the form.

It's time to add a material to the rest of the table frame. Hide the table surfaces form in the Scene tree. Unhide the table frame form and click on New in the Materials Panel.

From the Properties palette I chose color r92, g20, b9.

I set the Spread slider to 0.608.

For Specular I chose color

r234, g203, b105.

I set the transparency slider to 0.

When you have the information entered hold down the Ctrl key and click on the table form in the Scene tree tab.

Hide the table frame and unhide the legs form. Repeat the same steps using the same color Information you used for the table frame.

Congratulations! You have completed modeling an elegant table.:o)

Elegant Table tutorial by Debbie Overstreet 'Samanthie'

Modeling a Pumpkin in Hexagon

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Modeling a Pumpkin in Hexagon

Author: CHWT

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

* A rendering program (e.g. DAZ Studio or Poser)

Support Files

*part1referencefiles.zip

Introduction

I will teach you how to model a cute pumpkin in Hexagon in this tutorial. It is expected that you have basic knowledge about 3D modeling and you are familiar with the user interface of Hexagon.

Step 1: Creating a sphere

Firstly, click “Sphere: create a sphere” under “3D Primitives” in the toolbar (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

Then choose sphere type to be “Center” (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

Click anywhere in the user interface to set the center. I usually have grid snap on by clicking “Display” from the menu bar, then click “Snap”.

Drag the mouse to set the radius of the sphere. Type of sphere is “Sphere with poles” (pointed by the arrow in the following figure). Click to confirm.

Set “Num points” equals 17. Press Enter key to confirm.

Step 2: Reserving the place for the pumpkin stalk

Before shaping the pumpkin, we reserve a place for the pumpkin stalk.

Press F1 to activate “Select object” mode. Click the sphere.

Click “View” from the menu bar, then click “top view”.

Press F3 to activate “Select edges” mode. Hold the shift key while clicking to select the edges (highlighted in the following figure). Click “Vertex modeling” from the toolbar. Click “Edge tools” (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

Click “Extract edge along edge”. The user interface will be changed as follows.

Click the white “Extract Along” triangle (pointed by the arrow in the following figure) and drag inwards.

You will have a new “latitude” edge near the north pole.

Step 3: Roughly shape the pumpkin

Continue to be in the top view, press F4 to activate “Select points” mode. To select vertices, right click and drag to select vertices with the red rectangular bound box that appears upon dragging.

Move alternate “longitudes” closer, say 0.8 units, towards the center. Select all the vertices of each “longitude” except the vertices at the north pole, south pole, and the vertex that also lies on the ring “latitude” created in Step 2, because we don't want to mess with the place reserved for the pumpkin stalk.

You can do this as the same way demonstrated by the following figure: first work on the “longitudes” pointed by the red arrows (except the vertices on each “longitude” that should be avoided, as I have just mentioned above), then rotate 22.5 degrees in the Y-axis (we have 32 “longitudes” so every two “longitudes” are 22.5 degrees apart) and work on the “longitudes” pointed by the blue arrows; rotate 22.5 degrees in the Y-axis and work on the “longitudes” pointed by the green arrows; then rotate and work on the “longitudes” pointed by the yellow arrows. This way you can always just drag the vertices along the X- and Z- axes directions. Simple.

When you have finished you will come up with something like this.

Step 4: Smooth the pumpkin

Still in the top view, press F1 to change to “Select object” mode. Click the star-shaped pumpkin

Click “Surface modeling” from the toolbar. Click “Smooth” (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

Use the default setting of “Catmull-Clark subdivision” with range 2 (pointed by the arrows in the following figure).

You now have a smoothed pumpkin.

Step 5: Fine-tune the pumpkin shape

Change to the front view (click “View” from the menu bar, then click “front view”). The smoothed “pumpkin” doesn't look like a pumpkin at all. It looks like the egg of an alien creature.

We adjust the radius of the “latitudes”.

Press F4 to toggle to “Select points” mode. Right click and drag to select ALL vertices of particular “latitude” you want to work with, with the red rectangular bound box.

Click the “Scale Manipulator” (pointed by the arrow in the following figure).

You can push or pull the handles of the scale manipulator, but I prefer directly typing in the sizes of the “latitude” along the X- and Z-axes (pointed by the arrows in the following figure) to ensure that they are the same, i.e., the “latitude” is uniformly rescaled.

After some tweaking, you will come up with something like this:

Starting to look like a pumpkin, doesn't it?

Step 6: Continue to fine-tune the shape

I also move the south and north poles towards the center slightly.

If you are happy with the shape of your pumpkin, export it to OBJ format (click “File”, then click “Export”). I have exported it pumpkin_6.obj with the following settings.

Step 7: A summary for Part 1

Later we will work on pumpkin_6.obj to finish our modeling task. I have included the .hxn files for the end results of Step 1 to 6 and pumpkin_6.obj for your reference.

I hope you enjoy Part 1 of my tutorial. After a short break we will move on to Part 2: “Halloween Pumpkin in Hexagon”. See you there

Unfold and Map

2014-05-02T04:37:20+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.

Unfold and Map

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2

* Wine bottle model

* UV Mapper

* Art Program such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop

* Poser4 or above

Support Files

*dlo_winebottle.zip

Introduction

With this tutorial you will learn how to unfold a model that has thickness applied. Also covered in this tutorial are opening and saving the texture map with UV Mapper, brief editing in an art program such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop and finally testing the texture map on the model in Poser.

Step 1: Setting Up

Open zip file of the wine bottle model. You may keep the wine bottle model as a gift for taking this tutorial. It is free for both commercial and noncommercial use.

In order to be able to texture our wine bottle we need to cut it up using the Select Edges tool in Hexagon.

Set your select tool on Select Edges(F3). Click on the Universal Manipulator(U).

My object view is set to smoothed solid.

These are your panning, rotation and zoom tools.

Step 2: Selecting Edges

When you apply a thickness to an object the inside of the object will need to be cut as well as the outside. We will be cutting our bottle in half basically.

Let's begin at the bottom of the bottle. Hold the Shift key down so that you can make multiple selections. If you make a mistake and select the wrong edge just click again on the mistaken edge to deselect it using the Ctrl key.

Zoom in close as you near the top of the bottle so you can see all of the edges.

When you get to the top of the bottle rotate as needed and do the same thing on the opposite side as shown;

Step 3: Select Top and Bottom Edges

Keep the Shift key down and select the uppermost edge around the top of the bottle.

When that is done rotate your view so you can see the bottom of the bottle and repeat.

Step 4: Selecting the Inside Edges Top and Bottom

Now comes the tricky part and it may take a bit of practice only because it is easy to select the wrong edges at the top of the bottle. The best way to avoid this is to zoom in close. We will begin with the bottom of the bottle's inner circle. Rotate and zoom in as needed.

Repeat for the top inner edges of the bottle's cork.

Step 5: Selecting Inside Edges

Zoom in close to the bottom of the bottle and select the inside edge of the first seam. Begin from the inner selected edge of the circle and move up along the seams to the top of the bottle as shown in the images. Zoom and rotate as needed to get a better view.

Here is a close-up of how the top and bottom selected edges should look.

Entire Edge Selection;

Step 6: Unfold

Now comes the fun part.

1.Click on the UV and Paint tab and then click on the Unfold tool which is in the shape of a head.

2.Click on the plus sign to add your edge selections to seams.

3.Click on the little head and your map should appear! See image;

Do not hit the Validate button just yet. We want to make sure our map isn't tangled. This will happen if there was a mistake made when selecting the edges of our bottle.

Step 7: Validating our Map

Click on the area with your unfolded map and then click on the single view pane.

You can see our map is off the grid.

We need to size it down so it fits on the grid. Before we do that though we need to make sure our map isn't angled. Just use your pan tools and zoom in and pan to the right to check your pieces. If there are no overlapping areas and no tangles you may validate your map. Once that is done it can be resized.

Step 8: Resize and Position

Here is what my map looks like zoomed out. Now that it is validated I can use the selection tool to select the entire map and size it down. You can either use rectangle mode or lasso to select your map.

Right click and drag to select the entire map and then resize using the Universal Manipulator's center yellow square. Click to deselect.

Now you need to zoom into your map and select each of the pieces individually and place them onto the grid. I think it's easier to use the lasso tool for this step. Do not be afraid to resize or rotate the pieces as needed.

You have mapped your bottle!

Step 9: Export and Save

Go to file export wavefront object and give it a name. I used these settings;

Step 10: Using UV Mapper

For this step you will need to use a UV Mapper. You can pick it up for free at http://www.uvmapper.com/.

Open up UV Mapper. Click on File/Load Model and navigate to your folder where you saved your mapped bottle and open it. Your map should appear without a problem. To save it as a texture map go to File/Save Texture Map and select the size you want. I chose 1200 x 1200 bmp and left the boxes unchecked.

Don't worry if the map looks a little distorted it will look fine in your art program.

Step 11: Checking Our Work

We need to check to see if our map will work so open up your map in Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop or other art program. Save your map with a new name for editing.

Use the magic wand selection tool to select the white area of the map and then click on select/inverse. Create a new layer and leave the selection activated.

We are not going for anything really fancy here as this is just to test the map to see if it works. Just use the flood-fill tool to fill in all of the pieces with color. Merge/flatten layers.

Save the texture map and exit your art program.

Open up Poser 4 or above and then import the wavefront obj of your bottle. Leave settings at default. Drop object to floor if needed.

Click on Render/Materials and then click on load texture map and navigate to your model/map. Click on OK.

Render your image to see if your map worked. If all went well then your bottle of wine will look similar to mine!

Congratulations! You have finished the Unfold tutorial.:o)

Unfold tutorial by Debbie Overstreet 'Samanthie'

UV Mapping in Hexagon ~ A lesson in Cubic Projection

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

UV Mapping in Hexagon ~ A lesson in Cubic Projection

Author: Gary_P

Tools Needed

* Hexagon

* Painting Tool like Photoshop

Introduction

So why am I showing you how to texture when you may not already know how to model? Ask yourself this question: Why do I want to model? Because you want to make something really cool and show it off in your favorite rendering program, which could be Carrara, DAZ Studio, or Poser. What good is a model without a texture? This is why I am starting at the back of the book, so to speak. First some background: Old grief. When I first opened Hexagon 2, I was in a hurry to make my first great model. I had been modeling for years in other packages, so this should be a snap, right? I clicked on the 3D primitives, and created a cube. Hah, my first model! It could be a crate, a table, or a box ~ anything I want, all it needs is a texture. In this case, it was going to be a crate. I sized it 6 wide by 10 high by 2 deep. Now to unfold the faces and export it into Photoshop, for some quick wood texturing, and a few labels. I'll spare you the details, but what I found was that Hexagon likes to unwrap a cube in a strange way. Even though my cube was long and thin, the UV Map came out all square. Why was this? Something I did? After looking in the manual and several posts on various forums, I discovered the projection tools, in particular, Cubic Projection, would solve my problem. Cubic Projection sounds like something you would see in a movie but it is really easy to do. And it is so fast. In the steps that follow, I am going to show you how to texture a cube using Cubic Projection. Now begins the tutorial.

Step 1: The Universal Manipulator

Open Hexagon and click on the Universal Manipulator to turn it on.

The Universal Manipulator is a wonderful tool. It functions as Move, Rotate, and Scale by dragging on the handles or arrows.

Step 2: Creating a cube

Click on the 3D Primitives tab, which is located in the top right-hand side of the screen.

Click on the first icon that looks like a cube.

Click on the middle of your screen and drag to create a cube. Validate when finished.

Note: I have turned off the back and left grids.

Set the size of the cube to 6, 10, 2 as shown. This is important to show the resizing.

And center it.

Your cube should look like the one below.

Step 3: Cubic Projection

Make sure your cube is selected by clicking on it.

Click on the UV and Paint tab and click on the Cubic Projection button.

Your cube should look like the one shown. See the checker pattern?

This takes the place of your texture for now, so you can size it correctly.

Click on the button in the Properties panel that looks like 6 little buttons.

This tells Hexagon that each cube face has its own UV space, or to say it a better way, it lays out each face on a virtual paper 'page'.

If you had used the left large button, then Hexagon would have laid out all of the faces one on top of the other. We don't want this.

If you had used the middle 3 buttons, it would have told Hexagon that the two opposite faces would have been laid on top of each other. We don't want this either.

We want the third button, so we can texture map all of the faces differently.

Some things to notice is that the texture, or checker pattern, looks stretched a bit vertically on the front and back, and tiny and squashed on the top and sides. We're going to fix that.

Step 4: Resizing the Texture

If you drag the small blue cube on the universal manipulator, it resizes the checkerboard on the top and sides. This is called the Z direction.

Try it. If the checkerboard just moves back and forth, then you grabbed the arrowhead handle and not the scaling or resizing handle.

Now DRAG RIGHT on the blue cube on the universal manipulator, in the direction of the blue arrow to stretch the checker pattern until it's square, and the same size as the front as shown here.

Now that we have the sides looking like the front and back, it's a bit stretched in the vertical, or in the Y direction.

We are going to DRAG DOWN on the small green cube, as we did with the blue, to make this work. This called the Y direction.

Now it looks much better!

Be sure to look at it on all sides to make sure all of the checkers are square.

You may have to adjust the other directions to get it to look right.

Step 5: Laying out the pieces

We will now split the screen and show the UVW View.

Click on the 'Two Vertical Views' button on the bottom toolbar, to show the UVW View.

You can now see the effects of the resizing of the checker pattern on the virtual 'page'.

If it is helpful to you, you may do this step earlier in the process if you like.

The view you just opened is called the UV View. This will show you the virtual 'page' I was telling you about earlier.

On the right side in the UV View, you can see all of the faces of the cube laid out on top of a grid. This grid is our paper, or 'page'. This is what we will be exporting to our paint program for coloring.

Resize the textures on your cube so they look as close to mine as you can.

Make sure all of the pieces will fit on the 'page' by resizing the checkered texture, using the small cubes, or resizing handles as they are called, the same way you did earlier.

It does not matter what size the pieces are, just that they will fit the page when moved into place.

Currently all of our sides are not arranged properly to fit the paper, so we will have to move them.

Click on Validate to end the Cubic Projection

Click on the Select Faces button on the main toolbar to select the individual faces to move them.

Your cube should look like this.

Select the left face in the UV View by clicking on it. Then click and drag on the red arrow to move it over so we have room for the rest of the pieces.

You can move more than one face at a time by Shift-Selecting them.

You can also Right-Click to draw a selection window around them to move them. Pretty much everything you can do in a 3D window, you may do here, including zooming in and out.

When it looks like fits on the 'page' it is done. Give yourself plenty of room around the 'page' by making the checker pattern as big as you need to, as shown in the picture here.

You have completed the UV Mapping part of the tutorial.

Next, I would like to show you how to texture it.

Step 6: Exporting the Template

We are now going to export a picture of the virtual 'page', but first we need to make the UV View the main window.

Click somewhere in the UV View window and then click on the Single View button in on the bottom toolbar.

This will un-split the window and make the 'page' in the UV View window cover the whole screen.

Zoom in the view as big as you can.

Click on the small camera icon in the bottom right corner of the UV View window's toolbar. This tells Hexagon that we want to take a snapshot of the UV View's window.

Note: Use the camera icon in the UV View, not the main one.

When the save as screen comes up, name the file something you will remember like cubetextureJPG and save it where you can find it later.

This will be your template to color or texture.

If you open the cubetextureJPG in a paint program, you have a picture similar to the one shown here.

As a side note, if you want to see black lines on a white background, Hexagon is totally customizable.

It is beyond the scope of this tutorial to teach you how to create a texture, so I colored each side of the cubetextureJPG, flipped it and saved it.

It is important to remember after you create your texture in your paint program, to flip the texture vertically, before saving it. This ensures the texture will be right side up after importing.

It will avoid pictures like this.

Step 7: Applying the texture to your model and finishing up

After you have colored and saved your texture, this is how you apply it to your model.

If you still have the UV View on your screen then change to the Perspective View by left clicking on the words 'UV View' on the left top of your window. This will open a dropdown list. Pick 'Perspective View', from this list.

Open the Materials rollout from the left side of the screen.

Since we are not using multi-materials on the same cube, we do not need to set up more than one Shading Domain. The default one will do.

Your screen should look like this one.

In the Materials panel, click on the dropdown box and choose Texture from this list.

This will open a window where you can choose the cubetextureJPG that you colored.

If it does not open a window, or you would like to reload the texture, then click on the button with the 3 dots on it. This will open a window where you can choose the cubetextureJPG that you colored.

Your screen should look like this one.

That's it. All done!

You have:

Created a cube.

UV Mapped it

Exported the texture template and colored it.

Imported the texture and applied it to your model.

Until next time.

Happy modeling.

Texturing An Elegant Table

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

Texturing An Elegant Table

Author: Samanthie

Tools Needed

* Table Object and Texture Map

* Paint Shop Pro 9 or Photoshop

* Poser4 or above

Support Files

*dlo_table_text_tut.zip

Introduction

I have provided the table object as well as the texture map which are yours to keep as a gift for taking the tutorial.

Note: This is a continuation of the tutorials begun in “Model an Elegant Table in Hexagon 2” and “Elegant Table Part 2: Unfolding and Exporting an Object with Multiple Parts”

Step 1: Setting Up

I am using Paint Shop Pro version 9 for this tutorial so my directions will be specific to that program.

Download the zip file. Unzip the object and map files into the folder of your choice.

Open PSP. Navigate to where you placed the texture map and open it.

Increase the color depth to 16million colors on the texture map for editing.

Click on Image/Increase Color Depth/16million Colors.

Step 2: The Map

Let's have a look at our map.

The two rows of circles at the top are the leg end caps.

The ovals in the middle are the top and bottom surfaces.

The four shapes at the bottom are the legs

These are the Magic Wand and Freehand Selection tools.

Step 3: Select Expand and Fill

Let's begin with the magic wand tool and click on an area outside of the shapes on the texture map.

Invert the selection; Selections/Invert.

Click on Selections/Modify/Expand and choose 2 pixels.

Click on the new layer icon on the layer palette to create a new layer. Name the new layer Color.

Flood fill all of the shapes with a brown color. I chose color#823720

Step 4: Adding Color and Shadow

Click on the Freehand Lasso tool.

Deselect everything except the oval shapes. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag to make a lasso around the objects to deselect.

Create another new layer by clicking on the new layer icon again and name it Color1.

Flood fill both oval sections with color#cfd4d7 on the new Color1 layer.

Invert the selection. Selections/Invert and apply a drop shadow with these settings;

Apply another drop shadow with these settings

Step 5: Resize

We need to resize the Ovals. There is going

to be a wood trim around the edge.

Put the color layer on multiply. Lower the opacity of the Color1 layer down to about 60%. You should be able to see the texture map on the background layer. We need to make the oval shapes smaller. They may look it but they are not exactly identical so they need to be resized individually. Also they each need to be on a separate layer.

Activate the rectangle selection tool and drag to select one of the ovals. Go to Edit/Cut and leave the selection active. Create a new layer then go to Edit/Paste/Paste into Selection. The oval is now on the new layer exactly in the right place ready to be resized.

Lower the new layer's opacity to about 60%. No need to name the new layer. The two layers will be merged together in a couple of minutes.

The ovals will need to fit snuggly into the outlined areas.

Activate one of the oval layers and then click on the Deformation tool.

You should be able to see the mesh below so use it as a guide. You should also be able to see the oval as you adjust it. Resize by pulling the corners, sides, top, and bottom inward with the Deform tool.

Repeat for the other oval.

This is how they should look.

Return all layers to Normal and opacity at 100%.

Click on the eye in the layer palette next to the Background and Color layers to turn them off. Then merge the two oval layers. Layers/Merge Visible.

Right click on the merged layer in the layers palette and rename it to Color1.

Turn the background and Color layers back on by clicking on the eye again.

Step 6: Etching

Create a new Art Media Layer this time. Layers/New Art Media Layer and name it Design. Select the oil brush tool and use these settings;

I am just going to draw a simple design within the oval area. There is no need to worry too much if the design looks a little messy and uneven. That will be taken care of when we apply the Kaleidoscope effect in a few minutes. Here is what I came up with.

When you have your basic design finished right click on the Art Media layer in the layer's palette and click on convert to raster layer.

Click on Effects/Reflection Effects/Kaleidoscope and use these settings.

Use the deform tool again if needed to get the design inside the oval area.

Duplicate the layer.

Drag the Design Copy layer below the original Design layer. Just click on the top layer and while holding down the left mouse button move the layer down into position and then click on Adjust/Color Balance/Negative Image and apply.

Click on the Deform tool again and move the layer down and over to the right just a very small amount. See image;

Turn off all layers except for the design layers and go to Layers/Merge/Merge Visible.

Step 7: Setting the Mode

Set the Layer mode to Overlay and opacity to 56%.

Duplicate the layer and place the mode to Dodge and opacity to 34%

Your image should look similar to mine;

You have finished your etching! Turn off the background layer and Merge/Visible layers. Rename the merged layer to Design.

Step 8: Texture Layer

Use the magic wand tool and activate the Color layer (the one with the flood filled brown shapes) and click on a clear area of the map.

Invert the selection.

Create a new layer and name it Texture.

Leave the image as it is and move on to Step 9.

Step 9: Wood Shop

Go to File/New and create a new image of 500×500 pixels,

300dpi, white background and 16mil colors.

We need to make a wood texture suitable for our table.

Flood fill the new image with color #ae713D

Click on Effects/Texture Effects/Texture and use these settings;

Click on Adjust/Blur/Motion Blur and apply with these settings;

Here is the texture.

Let's make the texture seamless. Go to Effects/Image

Effects/Seamless Tiling and use the following;

Now click on Edit/Copy.

Save and close the wood texture file for future use.

Step 10: Going with the Grain

Return to the table texture map. The selection should still be active. Make sure the new Texture layer is the active layer.

Go to Edit/Paste/Paste into Selection. The wood texture should paste into the selection as shown;

Change the Texture layer to Overlay in the Layer's palette and move the slider down to 20%.

Go to Layers/Merge/Merge All Flatten!

You have textured your map. Now we need to see what it will look like on our model.

Step 11: Import in Poser

Launch Poser and to File/Import/Wavefront obj. Navigate to the folder where you placed the table object named dlo_table_tut.obj and import it.

Choose the following options.

This is what you should see'

Step 12: Group and Spawn

We need to do a few things before we can load up our texture map. The image has already been sectioned in Hexagon 2. Now we need to prepare it for our texture map.

Click on the Grouping tool.

The Group Editor will pop up. The section of the object that is listed first will be selected in red. Ignore that and click on the Spawn Props tab of the editor.

Click on the menu just below the table image. Select Props and then click on dlo_table_tut and hit the delete key.

You can close the Group Editor.

Step 13: Hierarchy

Click on the Hierarchy Editor. Window/Hierarchy Editor. Under the word Universe is the word ground followed by the listed names for our table parts. Let's name them something more appropriate. Click on the first part name (Form6) and when the rename box appears type in the new name. I named the parts legs, top and trim.

Close the editor.

Step 14: Materials

It's time to load our texture map. Click on Render/Materials.

The Surface Materials Tab comes up.

Notice the object name in the box at the top.

All three of our object parts are listed there.

Select trim if not selected and change the object color to white.

Where it says texture map click on the load button and load the map.

Now select legs from the drop down object list and do the same thing.

Finally select top, leave the color as it is and use these settings;

Now click on OK and click on render options.

Click on Render Now!

We want to see our top table surface so click on Display/Camera/ View/From Top

Image shows both top and front views;

You can play with the transparency dials and the lighting to see what other effects you can achieve for the top of the table. The render shown here was just to see if our texture worked.

Step 15: Parenting

We are very nearly finished but there is a little bit of parenting to be done. This is not so difficult and it will make moving and rotating our table object a whole lot easier.

Let's begin with the trim. Click on the drop down menu below the image screen and then click on props and choose trim. Go to Object/Properties. The Prop Properties options menu will appear. Click on the button that says Set Parent. The Choose Parent Editor appears. Scroll down to the bottom and highlight the word top. And use these settings;

What does this do? Well basically if you move or rotate the top of the table the trim will move and rotate as well. Click on OK and then click on OK again when the Prop Properties menu return.

Now go to the drop down menu under the image and select top. Click on Set Parent as you did a moment ago and when the Choose Parent editor comes up scroll down to the bottom and choose legs. Click on OK and then click on OK again in the Prop Properties menu.

Now when you rotate your table prop select the legs to move and/or rotate it. The top and trim will follow.

With all the parenting out of the way now all you need to do is save everything as a prop.

In the Poser Library under Props click on the plus sign to add the table. Click on the Select Subset box.

The Hierarchy Editor appears with a list of the objects.

Check all of them and click OK.

The set name menu will appear again

So just give your table a name and click OK!

Test your new table by clicking File/New to clear the scene. Now just click on your new table in the Props library and it should appear.

Thank you for taking the Elegant Table tutorial.:o)

Texturing an Elegant Table tutorial by Debbie Overstreet ~Samanthie'

Creating a Conch Shell

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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 Conch Shell

Author: Indigone

Tools Needed

* Hexagon 2.2 or higher

Support Files - None

Introduction

We are going to create the surface of the conch shell using a double sweep. This tool builds a surface from one section and two profiles. The section will be a curve and the two profiles will be two nested helixes. We’ll then turn this into a 3-d shape that can have two shading domains, one for the inner shell, and one for the outer shell.

Step 1 - Create the First Helix

First, turn on dynamic geometry. In the dynamic geometry panel, select Full DG.
Make sure that the XY plane (the vertical plane) is the working plane.
Click on the lines tab and the helix tool. In order to have the conch shell be accurate, we will use the properties palette to enter in exact values of the properties rather than free hand. Don’t let the mouse slide back into the viewing frame while doing this or the freehand tools will take over.
Set the center to x=0, y=0, z=0 and click on apply.
Set the radius to 5 and click on apply.
Set the end radius to 0 and the height to 40 and click on apply.
Set the slices to 6 and click on apply.
Set the edges to 32 and validate.

This makes a long thin tapered helix (end radius 0) with 6 turns that will be the inner spiral of the conch. Make sure it stays in the same spot.

Step 2 - Create the Second Helix

Click again on the lines tab and the helix tool.
Set the center to x=0, y=0, z=0 and click on apply.
Set the radius to 10 and click on apply.
Set the end radius to 0 and the height to 12 and click on apply.
Set the slices to 6 and click on apply.
Set the edges to 32 and validate.

This makes a shorter, wider tapered helix 6 turns that will be the outer spiral of the conch. Make sure it stays in the same spot.

Step 3 - Join the Two Helixes at Their Endpoints

Using the translate manipulator, slide the second (wider) helix straight up along the y axis. It’s important to keep them centered with each other, so be careful not to accidentally budge them along the x- or z-axis.
Arrange the view so both end points can be seen clearly. Snap the two points together using the snap tool in the utilities tab. Click on the snap tool, then click on the end point of the first helix, and then click on the endpoint of the second helix. Use the shift key before clicking to be sure it has “snapped” to the vertex. The two helixes should now be joined.

Notice that their starting points of both helixes align nicely and lie directly on center the horizontal plane.

Step 4 - Create the Curve of the Shell

Make sure that the XY plane is still the current plane. The curve should be parallel to the front plane. Arrange the view from the front so that both helixes’ starting points can be seen. This should be a nice curve from one starting point to the other. By selecting the front view and the XY plane, the new curve will be parallel to the vertical plane.
On the lines toolbar, click on the interpolated curve. Hold down the shift-key and scroll you mouse over the starting point of the outer spiral until it “sticks”. Let go of the shift key and draw the curve. Be sure and click on 8 -10 turns of the curve, so that subtle changes can be made to it. When ready to connect to the inner spiral, hold the shift-key down again until it “sticks” and hit enter or validate the curve.
Rotate the view to make sure the curve is connected to both helixes. If you select the curve in the scene palette, you’ll notice in the Dynamic Geometry palette that the curve control is still there. If you select that control in the Dynamic Geometry palette, you can adjust the curve.

Step 5 - Create the Surface of the Shell

With the curve selected, on the surface modeling toolbar, click on the double sweep tool. The curve will be highlighted in green and you’ll be prompted to select the first profile.
Click on one of the helixes, it will then be highlighted in red and you’ll be prompted to select the second profile.
Click on the other helix and your surface will be formed.

Step 6 - Make Adjustments to the Shape

Rename the surface from form0 to ConchSurface. If you select it in your scene palette, you’ll see that the dynamic geometry palette the surface is parent to the three curves (two helixes and a curve), and the curve is parent to its control. You can still make changes to the shape here.
When you get the shape you like, click the lightning bolt next to the Conch Surface to collapse the dynamic geometry.

Step 7 - Make Further Adjustments to the Mesh

None of these adjustments are necessary, so you can skip this step, but they give the conch a bit more of a realistic look.

By turning on the soft selection, you can make other nice adjustments to the conch’s surface. Open the flap a bit using a soft selection radius of 30.
Using the free tessellation tool, smooth the sharp corner of the bottom of the shell.
To close the top of the shell, truncate the pointy top, then switch to top view and with a soft selection radius of 3 pull the ends in to close it somewhat.
Collapse any dynamic geometry that may have been created in your adjustments before moving on to step 8.

Step 8 - Create the Inner Shell

To make an inner shell that can be shaded differently than the outer shell, use the offset tool on the surface modeling toolbar.
Choose to have it inside with a value of .1 in the offset.
Click to collapse the dynamic geometry. You should now have two forms in your scene palette, the inner shell and the outer shell. You can rename them in the properties palette.

Step 9 - Create a Surface Between the Inner and Outer Shell

Now close the tiny space between the two shells.

Switch to the rear view and zoom in on the very bottom of the shell until you can see the two distinct surfaces to join.
Use the ruled surface tool on the surface modeling toolbar. Select the tool then click on the edge of one surface, then the edge of the other. Validate. In the scene tab you’ll see that the two curves are now instances that are hidden, and the new surface has been formed. If you click on that new surface, you’ll see the dynamic geometry.
Click to collapse the dynamic geometry.

Step 10 - Create Shading Domains

Use the weld tool to weld together the outer surface with the connector we made in the last step. This way there will only be two shading domains, inner and outer.
To create shading domains, click on each surface instance in the scene tab.
In the shading domain palette click on the unassigned faces. When the faces become highlighted, click on “new”. Rename that domain.
With the domain highlighted, in the materials palette you can change the name of the material and change the color. Since I will actually apply shaders in a different program, I picked some simple colors for the shaders in Hexagon.
Repeat for each surface.

You’re now ready to export the object and use it! The last image is one that was done quickly in Carrara applying a fractal bump to the outer shell to put some texture on it. I’m sure with a good texture your conch will look perfect!

I hope you’ve learned something new with this tutorial. Happy modeling!

Hexagon 2.1 Documentation Videos (English)

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

All videos are in MOV format and require QuickTime to view.

Hexagon 2.1 Documentation Videos (English)

II. General Principles and Concepts of Hexagon
- 1.1. Personalize the Interface
- 1.2. Layout (no audio)
III. Working in 3D Space: Navigation, Working Planes and Guides
- 1.2. Mouse Navigation (no audio)
- 1.3. Keyboard Navigation (no audio)
- 3. Rulers (no audio)
IV. How Tools Function in Hexagon
V. 3D Manipulator
- 1.3. Scale Manipulator (no audio)
- 1.4. Universal Manipulator (no audio)
- 2.4. Delete Edge (no audio)
- 2.5. Dissolve
- 3.2. Set/Reset Pivot (no audio)
VI. Selections
- 1.2. Select Auto Mode
- 1.3. Soft Selection
- 2.1. Paint (no audio)
- 4.1. Loop (no audio)
- 4.2. Ring (no audio)
- 4.3. Between
- 4.4. 1 Over N for Loop, Extended Selections 1 (no audio), Extended Selections 2 (no audio)
- 4.5. Grow
- 4.6. Shrink (no audio)
- 4.7. Boundary
- 4.8. Convert
- 4.10. Invert
- 5.4. Select by Topology
- 6. Hide/Show Selection
- 7. Isolate Selection
VII. Dynamic Geometry in Hexagon
- 2. Dynamic Geometry Sample
VIII. Modeling with Symmetry
- 1.1. Symmetry Mode
- 1.2. Symmetry Tool
IX. 3D Primitives
- 3. Poly (no audio)
X. Vertex Modeling
- 1.1. Extract Around
- 1.2. Extract Along
- 1.3. Extract Filet
- 2. Fast Extrude Face, Fast Extrude Edge 1, Fast Extrude Edge 2
- 3. Move Along (no audio)
- 4. Symmetry
- 5.1. Free Tessellate
- 5.2. Tessellate by Segment
- 5.3. Tessellate by Slice
- 6. Connect Edge, Connect Vertex
- 7. Smooth More / Smooth Less
- 10. Weld Points
- 11. Average Weld
- 12. Target Weld
- 13. Extrude Surface, Sweep Surface
- 14. Tweak
- 16. Bridge Tool (no audio), Bridge Tool and Extended Selections (no audio)
- 17. Dissociate Tool (no audio)
XI. Lines
- 3.3. Circle from Diameter
- 3.4. Circle from 3 Points
- 4.1. Arc from Center Point, Start Point/Radius and Angle
- 4.2. Arc from Start Point, Center Point/Radius and Angle (no audio)
- 4.3. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Middle Point (no audio)
- 4.4. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Center Point/Radius (no audio)
- 4.5. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Tangent (no audio)
- 6. Bezier Curves
- 9. Composite Curves
- 11. Helix
XII. Surface Modeling Tab
- 1. Ruled Surfaces 1 (no audio), Ruled Surfaces 2 (no audio)
- 2. Double Sweep 1, Double Sweep 2
- 3. Coons Surface
- 4. Gordon Surfaces
- 5. Extrude Line 1, Extrude Line 2 (no audio)
- 6. Sweep Line 1, Sweep Line 2
- 7. Boolean Operations 1, Boolean Operations 2
- 8. Thickness
- 10. Smoothing (no audio)
XIII. The Utilities Tab
- 1. Stretch Curve (no audio), Stretch Boolean (no audio), Stretch Normal (no audio)
- 2. Lay On (no audio)
- 3. Snap, Align
- 4. Taper, Bend and Twist (no audio)
- 6. Bend
- 8. Multiple Copies
- 9. Copy on a Support 1, Copy on a Support 2
- 10. Cut Into Slices (no audio)
- 11. Hide
- 12. Show (no audio)
- 13. Group
- 14. Ungroup (no audio)
- 15. Orient Normals (no audio)
- 16. Decimate (no audio)
XIV. Materials in Hexagon
- 3.1. Set Material (no audio)
- 4.1. Set Shading Domain (no audio)
XV. Creating and Managing UVs
- 1.1. UV Gizmos (no audio)
- 1.3. UV Stretch (no audio)
- 2.3. Soften UVs
- 3.2. Unfolding UVs
- 3.3. Editing the Unfolding
XVI. Surface Displacement Modeling
XVII. Brushes and Painting
- 1.2. Reveal Texture
- 1.6. Types of Strokes
- 1.8. Working with Symmetry
- 2.1. Displacement Brush
- 2.2. Soften
XIV. The Control Panel
XV. The Scene Properties Palette
XVI. The Object Properties Palette
XVII. Preferences
XVIII. Imports/Exports

Tutorial Videos

These videos accompany the Hexagon Basics tutorial.

Hexagon 1.2 Videos

Lightmaps (no audio)
Symmetry Modeling (no audio)
Tesselated Cube (no audio)
Edge Tools on Multiple Selections (no audio)
Modeling with Symmetry: Female Head (no audio)
Modeling with Symmetry: Male Head (no audio)
Transparency and Alpha Support (no audio)

Hexagon 2.1 Documentation Videos (French)

2011-11-01T17:42:20+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.

All videos are in MOV format and require QuickTime to view.

Hexagon 2.1 Documentation Videos (French)

II. General Principles and Concepts of Hexagon
- 1.1. Personalize the Interface
- 1.2. Layout (no audio)
III. Working in 3D Space: Navigation, Working Planes and Guides
- 1.2. Mouse Navigation (no audio)
- 1.3. Keyboard Navigation (no audio)
- 3. Rulers (no audio)
IV. How Tools Function in Hexagon
V. 3D Manipulator
- 1.3. Scale Manipulator (no audio)
- 1.4. Universal Manipulator (no audio)
- 2.4. Delete Edge (no audio)
- 2.5. Dissolve
- 3.2. Set/Reset Pivot (no audio)
VI. Selections
- 1.2. Select Auto Mode
- 1.3. Soft Selection (no audio)
- 2.1. Paint (no audio)
- 4.1. Loop (no audio)
- 4.2. Ring (no audio)
- 4.3. Between
- 4.4. 1 Over N for Loop, Extended Selections 1 (no audio), Extended Selections 2 (no audio)
- 4.5. Grow
- 4.6. Shrink (no audio)
- 4.7. Boundary
- 4.8. Convert
- 4.10. Invert
- 5.4. Select by Topology
- 6. Hide/Show Selection
- 7. Isolate Selection
VII. Dynamic Geometry in Hexagon
- 2. Dynamic Geometry Sample
VIII. Modeling with Symmetry
- 1.1. Symmetry Mode
- 1.2. Symmetry Tool
IX. 3D Primitives
- 3. Poly (no audio)
X. Vertex Modeling
- 1.1. Extract Around
- 1.2. Extract Along
- 1.3. Extract Filet
- 2. Fast Extrude Face, Fast Extrude Edge 1, Fast Extrude Edge 2
- 3. Move Along (no audio)
- 4. Symmetry (no audio)
- 5.1. Free Tessellate
- 5.2. Tessellate by Segment
- 5.3. Tessellate by Slice
- 6. Connect Edge, Connect Vertex
- 7. Smooth More / Smooth Less (no audio)
- 10. Weld Points
- 11. Average Weld
- 12. Target Weld
- 13. Extrude Surface, Sweep Surface (no audio)
- 14. Tweak (no audio)
- 16. Bridge Tool (no audio), Bridge Tool and Extended Selections (no audio)
- 17. Dissociate Tool (no audio)
XI. Lines
- 3.3. Circle from Diameter
- 3.4. Circle from 3 Points
- 4.1. Arc from Center Point, Start Point/Radius and Angle
- 4.2. Arc from Start Point, Center Point/Radius and Angle (no audio)
- 4.3. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Middle Point (no audio)
- 4.4. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Center Point/Radius (no audio)
- 4.5. Arc from Start Point, End Point and Tangent (no audio)
- 6. Bezier Curves
- 9. Composite Curves
- 11. Helix
XII. Surface Modeling Tab
- 1. Ruled Surfaces 1 (no audio), Ruled Surfaces 2 (no audio)
- 2. Double Sweep 1, Double Sweep 2
- 3. Coons Surface
- 4. Gordon Surfaces
- 5. Extrude Line 1, Extrude Line 2 (no audio)
- 6. Sweep Line 1, Sweep Line 2
- 7. Boolean Operations 1, Boolean Operations 2
- 8. Thickness
- 10. Smoothing (no audio)
XIII. The Utilities Tab
- 1. Stretch Curve (no audio), Stretch Boolean (no audio), Stretch Normal (no audio)
- 2. Lay On (no audio)
- 3. Snap, Align
- 4. Taper, Bend and Twist (no audio)
- 6. Bend
- 8. Multiple Copies
- 9. Copy on a Support 1, Copy on a Support 2
- 10. Cut Into Slices (no audio)
- 11. Hide
- 12. Show (no audio)
- 13. Group
- 14. Ungroup (no audio)
- 15. Orient Normals (no audio)
- 16. Decimate (no audio)
XIV. Materials in Hexagon
- 3.1. Set Material (no audio)
- 4.1. Set Shading Domain (no audio)
XV. Creating and Managing UVs
- 1.1. UV Gizmos (no audio)
- 1.3. UV Stretch (no audio)
- 2.3. Soften UVs
- 3.2. Unfolding UVs
- 3.3. Editing the Unfolding
XVI. Surface Displacement Modeling
XVII. Brushes and Painting
- 1.2. Reveal Texture
- 1.6. Types of Strokes
- 1.8. Working with Symmetry
- 2.1. Displacement Brush
- 2.2. Soften
- 2.3. Pinch
XIV. The Control Panel
XV. The Scene Properties Palette
XVI. The Object Properties Palette
XVII. Preferences
XVIII. Imports/Exports

Tutorial Videos

These videos accompany the Hexagon Basics tutorial.

Hexagon 1.2 Videos

Lightmaps (no audio)
Symmetry Modeling (no audio)
Tesselated Cube (no audio)
Edge Tools on Multiple Selections (no audio)
Modeling with Symmetry: Female Head (no audio)
Modeling with Symmetry: Male Head (no audio)
Transparency and Alpha Support (no audio)

Sculpted Prims for Second Life

2011-11-01T17:42:21+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.

Sculpted Prims for Second Life

A brief overview of creating a sculpted primitive in Hexagon, exporting the TGA file, then importing it into Second Life with Darlisa Riggs and Ryan Bouche.

Download the .MOV version (18 MB)

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Hexagon Tutorials

2011-11-01T17:42:21+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 Tutorials

DAZ 3D encourages you to upload your tutorials here to the ArtZone Wiki so that they have a permanent home and are hosted on our servers. If you do upload your tutorials, please add them to the appropriate software category and create sub-pages/categories as needed. If, for some reason, you do not want to host your tutorials here, please add links to external tutorials in the appropriate categories as well.

In addition to the tutorials here, be sure to check out the Hexagon tutorials on the main DAZ 3D site.

If you are new to Hexagon, start with the Hexagon Basics tutorial.

HTML/PDF Tutorials

Collections of Tutorials

Hexagon tutorials at Daybreak Studio
Hexagon video tutorials at geekatplay.com (94 tutorials and counting, new tutorials are released weekly.)
Hexagon tutorials by lelu
Hexagon tutorials at mystic-nights (This is a large list and some links may not work.)
polyloop.net

Video Tutorials

Documentation Videos

The following video tutorials are those supplied with the Hexagon documentation and tutorial PDFs.

Second Life Sculpty Videos

Sculpted Prims for Second Life
Hexagon Tools for Use on Sculpties: Tutorial 001 - approximately 24 minutes long

User Videos

Cloning with Symmetry in Hexagon 2.2
Hexagon Vertex Modeling Tools Basics Part 1 by Duke of vampires
Hexagon Vertex Modeling Tools Basics Part 2 by Duke of vampires
Hexagon Tutorials by tez
E-Z video tutorials - large selection of tutorials