First of all, no application is perfect. Second, look for the application that meets your needs and you feel comfortable. Third, you do not have to learn any keyboard shortcuts to use Blender, you can do everything based on menus. To continue, surely if you use a lot of an application you will use one or many keyboard shortcuts. Sure the video tutorials are full of menu shortcuts, but it's as simple as the one that teaches them is already used to them and it's much faster than going from menu to menu by clicking on options.
To use Blender at a basic or medium level, you do not have to be an expert, however obvious this may seem. It is very possible that the bad experiences of many are due to a bad first contact with the application. Maybe because he has not found someone who has explained them in the simplest way for his approach. A week ago I had to explain to my brother the basic use of Blender, that he wanted to use it for illustration in a simple way and in only 4 hours he was already using Blender for what he wanted. His knowledge of 3d applications was zero, and I think that if he were directly to watch video tutorials he would have unistaled Blender.
Another thing that I always notice is that people who have had problems with Blender never clearly state what their base problems are with the application. They have just had a bad contact with the program and have closed the door forever. And do not you wonder how it can be that such a "bad" program is being used and supported by such a wide community? Are you sure the application fails? Blender has evolved a lot and the current version is very different from four years ago.
I think Blender is a very good and powerful, FREE software suit. My choice not to use it is not a critique on it's capabilities. It has a lot more to do with me than the software itself. I may revisit Blender someday, but I want to try out Hexagon first. When I do return to it, hopefully I can find someone like you to explain it to me. I have a full-time job (not related to 3D art) and a family. I also take martial arts classes and volunteer, so time and ease of use are a major factor for me right now, When my kids go off to college that will probably change.
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
The biggest challenge for me is the left-click/right-click thing. When I don't use Blender often (like now because I'm busy with work these days), then it's a challenge to go back to Blender. When I do use Blender often, then it's a challenge when I need to use another tool such as DAZ Studio or my photo software.
On my last reading, I think I saw that there are Blender plugins available that might make Blender's mouse buttons more "normal" to eliminate those transitions. I may try them.
I am waiting for these things before I go "all in" and start using Hexagon again:
Must be available in 64 bit. Right now, it's 32 Bit only. So I'm waiting.
UI Menus and dropdowns are too small. I need to be able to enlarge them. So I'm waiting.
Bug Fixes. Not sure if any bugs have been fixed in the one that was released at the beginning of February. For beta software, I'll help test and find bugs; that's part of the deal. But if the go live release is crashy-crashy, then I will have to wait.
The biggest challenge for me is the left-click/right-click thing. When I don't use Blender often (like now because I'm busy with work these days), then it's a challenge to go back to Blender. When I do use Blender often, then it's a challenge when I need to use another tool such as DAZ Studio or my photo software.
On my last reading, I think I saw that there are Blender plugins available that might make Blender's mouse buttons more "normal" to eliminate those transitions. I may try them.
I am waiting for these things before I go "all in" and start using Hexagon again:
Must be available in 64 bit. Right now, it's 32 Bit only. So I'm waiting.
UI Menus and dropdowns are too small. I need to be able to enlarge them. So I'm waiting.
Bug Fixes. Not sure if any bugs have been fixed in the one that was released at the beginning of February. For beta software, I'll help test and find bugs; that's part of the deal. But if the go live release is crashy-crashy, then I will have to wait.
On my last reading, I think I saw that there are Blender plugins available that might make Blender's mouse buttons more "normal" to eliminate those transitions. I may try them.
You don't need a plugin for this - switching to left-click select is an option in Blender's settings (File > User Settings > Input, change "Select With" from right to left and click Save User Settings).
I personally leave it on right click select because I kept it that way to make following tutorials easier when I was starting with Blender and just got used to it, but I completely understand why a lot of people don't want to do that.
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
..now put that plane in an inverted flat spin with two engines out and that is how I feel.
But I still have faith in you.
In my case, I figured out zBrush without resorting to any real in-depth tutorials except for a few things that weren't immediately obvious; Hexagon has been somewhat similar for me to figure out. Blender is still fighting me tooth and nail on things that should be simple to master.
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
..now put that plane in an inverted flat spin with two engines out and that is how I feel.
But I still have faith in you.
In my case, I figured out zBrush without resorting to any real in-depth tutorials except for a few things that weren't immediately obvious; Hexagon has been somewhat similar for me to figure out. Blender is still fighting me tooth and nail on things that should be simple to master.
...I've learned Hexagon Daz, Poser, Carrara, Excel, Access, Data General AOS/VS, and V/Edit that way, yet Blender still befuddles me.
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
These days I'm re-continuing a model from a while ago, it's a trunk of the fairies. This part, the outer bark, is made with Hexagon. Now I'm continuing the model with Blender.
I have a Blender question. I found a Blender model that I want to convert to OBJ. I loaded the model in Blender and it looked fine. I then exported it to OBJ. When I import it into DAZ, I'm seeing what looks like two copies of the model joined together. They look like conjoined twins. Daz shows it as 1 model. In this form it is useless to me. Any idea what is going on and how I can fix it? Keep in mind I know nothing about Blender when it comes to modeling.
The first thing I can think of is that there may be a dublicated object on another layer in the blend file. Try to select one first and make shure you choose to export only the selected in the OBJ Export options.
I'm not a big fan of this layering system in blender - but I think once you understand what keys to press to control this minimalistic layer UI it can get quiet handy - still learning how to make use of it.
The first thing I can think of is that there may be a dublicated object on another layer in the blend file. Try to select one first and make shure you choose to export only the selected in the OBJ Export options.
I'm not a big fan of this layering system in blender - but I think once you understand what keys to press to control this minimalistic layer UI it can get quiet handy - still learning how to make use of it.
I can't look at it right now but I know there were multiple layers, One was titles bump.
I'm a big fan of the bridge to Hexagon to make quick morphs for a specific scene. Here I wanted the raft to sink a little in the middle for the weight of a character. Press button send to hexagon, press button to send back. Morph menu automatically appears. Hexagon is not "better" at morphs, but it sure is convenient.
cc07 use file send to daz studio then in daz studio se morph creation option.JPG
1391 x 1009 - 229K
cc06 use translate tool arrow to push selection down.JPG
The first thing I can think of is that there may be a dublicated object on another layer in the blend file. Try to select one first and make shure you choose to export only the selected in the OBJ Export options.
I'm not a big fan of this layering system in blender - but I think once you understand what keys to press to control this minimalistic layer UI it can get quiet handy - still learning how to make use of it.
Im looking forward to 2.8; it introduces a new layer system.
I tried exporting the model again with the same results. However, this time I found a work around. This time, in Daz, both battlepods showed up in the Surface tab although they are 1 in the scene area. I was able to turn the opacity down on 1 copy. So only 1 of the conjoined twins is showing up. It’s not perfect, but it will work for now.
Comments
I think Blender is a very good and powerful, FREE software suit. My choice not to use it is not a critique on it's capabilities. It has a lot more to do with me than the software itself. I may revisit Blender someday, but I want to try out Hexagon first. When I do return to it, hopefully I can find someone like you to explain it to me. I have a full-time job (not related to 3D art) and a family. I also take martial arts classes and volunteer, so time and ease of use are a major factor for me right now, When my kids go off to college that will probably change.
I don't use Blender often enough to get good with the shortcuts. Thankfully there are others who have taken it upon themselves to simplify the thing....
https://www.bforartists.de/
The biggest challenge for me is the left-click/right-click thing. When I don't use Blender often (like now because I'm busy with work these days), then it's a challenge to go back to Blender. When I do use Blender often, then it's a challenge when I need to use another tool such as DAZ Studio or my photo software.
On my last reading, I think I saw that there are Blender plugins available that might make Blender's mouse buttons more "normal" to eliminate those transitions. I may try them.
I am waiting for these things before I go "all in" and start using Hexagon again:
When does the next release of Hex come out?
There was just a new release: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/229891/hexagon-2-5-2-109-general-release/p1
64 bit is coming Q1 2018.
You don't need a plugin for this - switching to left-click select is an option in Blender's settings (File > User Settings > Input, change "Select With" from right to left and click Save User Settings).
I personally leave it on right click select because I kept it that way to make following tutorials easier when I was starting with Blender and just got used to it, but I completely understand why a lot of people don't want to do that.
..now put that plane in an inverted flat spin with two engines out and that is how I feel.
But I still have faith in you.
...inverted flat spins in a large plane like a 747 are pretty much impossible to pull out of as all lift has been lost.
...I've learned Hexagon Daz, Poser, Carrara, Excel, Access, Data General AOS/VS, and V/Edit that way, yet Blender still befuddles me.
Don't spoil this with physics.
I made a mug in hexagon and it's blue. It's a start. No postwork.
I modeled this over this weekend in Carrara
much more fun than chasing blowouts
great mug you got going there @tkdrobert
Awesome toon.
Double post sorry
...nice work.
...impressive.
These days I'm re-continuing a model from a while ago, it's a trunk of the fairies. This part, the outer bark, is made with Hexagon. Now I'm continuing the model with Blender.
I have a Blender question. I found a Blender model that I want to convert to OBJ. I loaded the model in Blender and it looked fine. I then exported it to OBJ. When I import it into DAZ, I'm seeing what looks like two copies of the model joined together. They look like conjoined twins. Daz shows it as 1 model. In this form it is useless to me. Any idea what is going on and how I can fix it? Keep in mind I know nothing about Blender when it comes to modeling.
@ tkdrobert
The first thing I can think of is that there may be a dublicated object on another layer in the blend file. Try to select one first and make shure you choose to export only the selected in the OBJ Export options.
I'm not a big fan of this layering system in blender - but I think once you understand what keys to press to control this minimalistic layer UI it can get quiet handy - still learning how to make use of it.
I can't look at it right now but I know there were multiple layers, One was titles bump.
I'm a big fan of the bridge to Hexagon to make quick morphs for a specific scene. Here I wanted the raft to sink a little in the middle for the weight of a character. Press button send to hexagon, press button to send back. Morph menu automatically appears. Hexagon is not "better" at morphs, but it sure is convenient.
Make sure you select what you want to export from Blender; then in the export screen, check the 'Selection Only' option
Im looking forward to 2.8; it introduces a new layer system.
I tried exporting the model again with the same results. However, this time I found a work around. This time, in Daz, both battlepods showed up in the Surface tab although they are 1 in the scene area. I was able to turn the opacity down on 1 copy. So only 1 of the conjoined twins is showing up. It’s not perfect, but it will work for now.