Noob - Proper Training Path Questions - Polyloop

vkirchner · 11th July 2007, 22:30

Hello to all, I am a new Hexagon and Bryce user with the wonderful offer that was provided by Daz3D. I have been a user of Rhino, Catia, Icem, and Cadds5 for many years. My question is how to navigate the muddy waters of training partly because I have run mostly Nurbs based software in the past, mesh based modeling is a foreign concet to me. When I look at even a few of the basic tutorials for Hexagon, they already assume that I know the basics of mesh modeling along with the fact that I can navigate the menu and understand what the functions are capable of. Nothing could be further from the truth at this point. I am more than willing to put the time into the training, you will not have to spoon feed me, but I am a little confused with a proper path to start that I will not blow a fuse trying to figure out the most basic of options within the program. Recommendations?

Most of my work revolves around architectural applications, which will seem strange to most as I work for an automotive glass fabricator which supplies windshield, door glass, and backlites to most major OEM's around the world. The architectural work that I do is strictly to support the optical simulation work that we perform prior to the actual manufacture of the glass and glass tools. Small architectural city models are made to suit customer requests, the models are used to create short driving animations which are an input to the optical simulation software, which then recomputes the animation to show the level of distortion that would be created by the particular glass shape. Most customers are extremely happy to see how there windshield will perform driving down the road, when the have several design concepts in mind. I would like to use Hexagon to create the heightfields, building models, roads and highways, and then if I still have time and energy, i would like to learn how to model low poly game models as a possible retirement job in the not so distant future (5-8 years).

jbshorty · 15th July 2007, 01:10

You're Vince from the Rhino NG, right? I am Jonah from Rhino NG. I recognized you from the recent discussion about using "Squish" on glass... I know how you feel about moving into subd. I bought Hex at 1.0, and after much screaming i stopped using it for one year. The workflow often demands a very different approach from Nurbs, and that can be hard to unlearn. There really is no "best place" to start, but the people here are very happy to answer all noob questions. So get moving on those tutorials and ask some questions if you get stuck!

shorty

vkirchner · 15th July 2007, 16:44

Jonah,

Thanks for the ecouragement, yes I have been pulling hair out in clumps. It has finally gotten to the point that I printed the whole 295 page manual to read and highlight each page with notes. LOL!

I have started the tutorials, but even then I have difficulty figuring out if I performed it correctly or not. There are some panel differences between program versions, the commands are still unknowns at this point, the tutorials assume you understand poly mesh modeling, and printed tutorials do not go into enough detail and the video's go too fast. Surely I will learn this program, but it is not going to be a pretty sight until then. Any thoughts on the VTC video tutorials?

The group here does appear to be very firendly, which has helped to keep me training on the Hexagon program instead of putting it away for the Bryce or Blender. So time will tell. I suspect that the group here will get tired of me asking basic questions, but hopefully I can treat them to a few free models and textures to keep them interested. Thank you very much for the comments, they mean quite a lot to me.

Vince

Sketchy · 15th July 2007, 19:39

Well, you've come to the right place. And the best way to take advantage of this forum is, be very specific. Start by posting a particular image you would like to model, just like what the others here have been doing. Show us your approach and let's see if there is a better, simplified way.

vkirchner · 15th July 2007, 19:56

Shorty,

I undrstand the need for details. Currently I am pulling points for an infield of a race track, when finished with that I will start back on the tutorials. Surely I will have questions, but they will be posted clearly along with images of where I am at and where I am stuck. Thanks again for the advice and comfort.

jbshorty · 15th July 2007, 20:47

Hi Vince, Actually that last post was from Sketchy (not from me). We are different people, perhaps my evil twin brother seperated at birth...

shorty

Sketchy · 15th July 2007, 21:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbshorty

Hi Vince, Actually that last post was from Sketchy (not from me). We are different people, perhaps my evil twin brother seperated at birth...

Na, that was behzad. He ended up in Toronto and became a rabbit.

vkirchner · 16th July 2007, 03:00

Sorry guys, old timers disease is really kicking in. What's up with the rabbit, I see he is everywhere on this site?

I got through reading 60 pages of the manual this afternoon, but you know it told me when to use the validate button, but it never talked about the apply button, what's up with that? What's the advantage of one over another?

Couerl · 20th July 2007, 19:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkirchner

Sorry guys, old timers disease is really kicking in. What's up with the rabbit, I see he is everywhere on this site?

I got through reading 60 pages of the manual this afternoon, but you know it told me when to use the validate button, but it never talked about the apply button, what's up with that? What's the advantage of one over another?

We called pest control but are having a hard time getting them to ship us an alligator. I guess they're good for controling rabbit infestations.

jbshorty · 20th July 2007, 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkirchner

Sorry guys, old timers disease is really kicking in. What's up with the rabbit, I see he is everywhere on this site?

I got through reading 60 pages of the manual this afternoon, but you know it told me when to use the validate button, but it never talked about the apply button, what's up with that? What's the advantage of one over another?

the rabid-rabbit has been spawning in many threads lately. He's wacky, but we still like him

... About the "apply" button - If you press Tab during a modeling operation, the prompt will move to the numeric input fields. After entering specific values, you can then hit "apply" to make those changes and will then be able to enter more input for another step (for commands such as Extrude this is very useful). Validate will apply those numeric changes too, but will also exit the command...

shorty

vkirchner · 20th July 2007, 20:27

Thanks for the help with that, I had been trying to figure out how to get to the rest of the forms, but did not find the magic combination. This will help.

Thanks!

11th July 2007, 22:30	#1 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93	Noob - Proper Training Path Questions Hello to all, I am a new Hexagon and Bryce user with the wonderful offer that was provided by Daz3D. I have been a user of Rhino, Catia, Icem, and Cadds5 for many years. My question is how to navigate the muddy waters of training partly because I have run mostly Nurbs based software in the past, mesh based modeling is a foreign concet to me. When I look at even a few of the basic tutorials for Hexagon, they already assume that I know the basics of mesh modeling along with the fact that I can navigate the menu and understand what the functions are capable of. Nothing could be further from the truth at this point. I am more than willing to put the time into the training, you will not have to spoon feed me, but I am a little confused with a proper path to start that I will not blow a fuse trying to figure out the most basic of options within the program. Recommendations? Most of my work revolves around architectural applications, which will seem strange to most as I work for an automotive glass fabricator which supplies windshield, door glass, and backlites to most major OEM's around the world. The architectural work that I do is strictly to support the optical simulation work that we perform prior to the actual manufacture of the glass and glass tools. Small architectural city models are made to suit customer requests, the models are used to create short driving animations which are an input to the optical simulation software, which then recomputes the animation to show the level of distortion that would be created by the particular glass shape. Most customers are extremely happy to see how there windshield will perform driving down the road, when the have several design concepts in mind. I would like to use Hexagon to create the heightfields, building models, roads and highways, and then if I still have time and energy, i would like to learn how to model low poly game models as a possible retirement job in the not so distant future (5-8 years).

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15th July 2007, 01:10	#2 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,365	You're Vince from the Rhino NG, right? I am Jonah from Rhino NG. I recognized you from the recent discussion about using "Squish" on glass... I know how you feel about moving into subd. I bought Hex at 1.0, and after much screaming i stopped using it for one year. The workflow often demands a very different approach from Nurbs, and that can be hard to unlearn. There really is no "best place" to start, but the people here are very happy to answer all noob questions. So get moving on those tutorials and ask some questions if you get stuck! shorty

15th July 2007, 16:44	#3 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93	Jonah, Thanks for the ecouragement, yes I have been pulling hair out in clumps. It has finally gotten to the point that I printed the whole 295 page manual to read and highlight each page with notes. LOL! I have started the tutorials, but even then I have difficulty figuring out if I performed it correctly or not. There are some panel differences between program versions, the commands are still unknowns at this point, the tutorials assume you understand poly mesh modeling, and printed tutorials do not go into enough detail and the video's go too fast. Surely I will learn this program, but it is not going to be a pretty sight until then. Any thoughts on the VTC video tutorials? The group here does appear to be very firendly, which has helped to keep me training on the Hexagon program instead of putting it away for the Bryce or Blender. So time will tell. I suspect that the group here will get tired of me asking basic questions, but hopefully I can treat them to a few free models and textures to keep them interested. Thank you very much for the comments, they mean quite a lot to me. Vince

15th July 2007, 19:39	#4 (permalink)
Sketchy Box modeling Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 317	Well, you've come to the right place. And the best way to take advantage of this forum is, be very specific. Start by posting a particular image you would like to model, just like what the others here have been doing. Show us your approach and let's see if there is a better, simplified way.

15th July 2007, 19:56	#5 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93	Shorty, I undrstand the need for details. Currently I am pulling points for an infield of a race track, when finished with that I will start back on the tutorials. Surely I will have questions, but they will be posted clearly along with images of where I am at and where I am stuck. Thanks again for the advice and comfort.

15th July 2007, 20:47	#6 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,365	Hi Vince, Actually that last post was from Sketchy (not from me). We are different people, perhaps my evil twin brother seperated at birth... shorty

16th July 2007, 03:00	#8 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93	Sorry guys, old timers disease is really kicking in. What's up with the rabbit, I see he is everywhere on this site? I got through reading 60 pages of the manual this afternoon, but you know it told me when to use the validate button, but it never talked about the apply button, what's up with that? What's the advantage of one over another?

20th July 2007, 20:27	#11 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93	Thanks for the help with that, I had been trying to figure out how to get to the rest of the forms, but did not find the magic combination. This will help. Thanks!