/ 2026-05-01T20:38:56+00:00 / /lib/tpl/dazdoccenter/images/favicon.ico text/html 2015-05-08T22:54:21+00:00 /public/software/hexagon/2/referenceguide/preferences/start <h1 id="preferences">Preferences</h1> <div class="level1"> </div> <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> Hexagon contains a preference system, that is a set of parameters that can be customized mainly concerning the display and communication with external applications. </p> <p> The preference editor can be accessed from the Edit / Preference menu. This is a dialog box with tabs. Each tab containing a category of preferences: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Interface</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> 3D display</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Imports / Exports</div> </li> </ul> <p> <img src="/_media/public/software/hexagon/2/referenceguide/preferences/preferences_editor.jpg" class="media" title="preferences_editor.jpg" alt="preferences_editor.jpg" /><br/> The preferences window. </p> </div> <h2 id="interface_preferences">Interface Preferences</h2> <div class="level2"> </div> <h3 id="general">General</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> The language of the interface,</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> The full screen or window mode</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> The 3D workspace background color</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="grids">Grids</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set the parameters of the workspace grid and rulers: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Anti-aliasing of grid images (slower but nicer)</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Grids size</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Number of columns of the grids</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Number of rows of the grids</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Grids color</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Grid main axis color</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="d_rulers">3D Rulers</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display the 3D rulers on the full space or only on the quarter where the cursor is located.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display gradations on the entire rulers or only on the current quarter.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Displays or not the numerical values on the 3D rulers.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Displays the value of the current tool parameters in the 3D workspace near the cursor (allows you to control precisely a value without looking at the property palette).</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Origin of the world coordinates</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="misc">Misc</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Enable or disable the display of a dialog during import and export showing the parameters available for the selected format.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Enable or disable the tool tips display.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Maximum number of undo actions memorized. Setting a high value may require a huge amount of memory.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display the rendering speed as the number of frames displayed per second (fps) in the 3D workspace near the document name. This can be useful to evaluate the performances of a computer.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display the current document name in the 3D workspace</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Activation of the <abbr title="Digital Art Zone">DAZ</abbr> news service (a dialog launched when the application starts showing the news about <abbr title="Digital Art Zone">DAZ</abbr> and Hexagon – tutorials, updates, etc.)</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Don&#039;t show the same news twice.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display a flying palette showing the icon and name of each command executed (useful for recording training videos).</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Camera rotation speed when navigating using the keyboard arrow keys</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Camera translation speed when navigating using the keyboard arrow keys</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Invert camera rotation: allows to invert the rotation path of the camera. By default, when moving the mouse to the left, the camera turns to the right. Some users may find more natural to the contrary.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Universal manipulator size in pixels.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Space Mouse activation.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Moving the camera around the selection instead of around the center of the scene (Alt+Ctrl/Command+Left Click shortcut).</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Overriding the default settings of the tablet.</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="display_preferences">Display Preferences</h2> <div class="level2"> </div> <h3 id="entities_display">Entities Display</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Create colored objects: each created object as a different color taken from a set of predefined colors.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Color used when creating objects (if the previous option is turned off)</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Color used for displaying the edges on surfaces</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Color used for displaying the points on objects</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Size of points</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Line width.</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="selection">Selection</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> The selection color when the previous option is set.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display a bounding box around the selected objects.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display the geometric center of the selected object.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Display edges on the selected object.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Edge width of the selected edges.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Control shape color for dynamic geometry.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Color of selected edges, points and facets.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Toggles the highlighting of selection items when the cursor hovers selectable entities.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Highlight color.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Dynamic geometry highlight color.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Highlight color for selected entities.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Color of the bounding box.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Opacity factor for objects being selected or when editing dynamic geometry.</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="advanced_display_parameters">Advanced Display Parameters</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> These parameters are related to the OpenGL 3D display. They may be changed for performance reasons or graphic board features: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Fast transparency: for legacy graphic boards not supporting alpha blending transparency.</div> </li> <li class="level1 node"><div class="li"> Two sided lighting: enabled by default. When disabled, the back faces of objects will not be lit. Some graphic boards do not support this mode resulting in very slow rendering.</div> <ul> <li class="level2"><div class="li"> Refresh method when in multi-view:</div> </li> <li class="level2"><div class="li"> Refresh all views</div> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Refresh only the current active view.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Using OpenGL display lists and VBOs: activating these two modes can improve display performances. The VBO Display mode is more powerful, but is not compatible with all systems, and does not work on MacOS.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Partial Redraw: activated by default, this option enables to calculate the display only around the screen cursor.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Anti-aliasing of lines: this option improves the display of lines but can slow down the rendering on some graphic boards.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Clipping planes and buffers: these preferences let experienced users to do precise settings for optimal display performances.</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="lighting_parameters">Lighting Parameters</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> Allows you to set: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Global light colors</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Fog activation and level: the fog allows you to make the objects far from the viewpoint fade out and become invisible allowing then to evaluate more accurately the position of objects in the 3D space</div> </li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="importexport_options">Import/Export Options</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> They allow to control several parameters for each format: </p> <ul> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Additional extensions: allows you to add more file extensions to the default ones. For instance: <code>.dxf</code>, <code>.dxf2D</code> for Autocad files.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Export scale factor: works for import and export. For instance, setting this value to 100 for the 3DS format means that the size of models created in Hexagon will be multiplied by 100 and the size of models imported from 3DS into Hexagon will be divided by 100.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Unit of the file to import or export.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Coordinate system mapping: Each 3D file format and each 3D software application may have a different orientation of the coordinate system. In Hexagon, the X axis is the width, Y is the height and Z is the depth. Depending on the orientation required, set the axis accordingly and Hexagon will apply the corresponding transformation during import or export.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Export Uvs: some file formats supports exporting UVS coordinates for texture mapping. This option allows you to choose to export them or not.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> Export Normals: some file formats supports exporting vertex normals. This option allows you to choose to export them or not.</div> </li> <li class="level1"><div class="li"> For the Hexagon native file format, it is possible to define if the textures created within Hexagon will be embedded in the data file, or saved as external files (by default).</div> </li> </ul> </div>