[Serapth]

Just thought I would share this here for people that are interested.


Daz3D are giving away pro versions of Bryce, Daz and Hexagon.


Bryce is a landscape engine, for creating and rendering landscapes. It's been around forever and can be pretty stunning at times. Since it's the PRO version, it has COLLADA support, which means you can easily integrate it with your existing workflow ( Blender, Maya, Max, Softimage, UDK and Unity all support COLLADA ).


Hexagon is a 3D modelling app. It's been around for a while, and I think it might be kinda meh over all, but for free I am willing to give it a shot! Use it for creating 3D modelling ( only, no rendering or animation ), somewhat like Wings 3D.


Daz I don't really get, I need to try it first. At first glance it appears to be Poser, which is a rendering and animation package. Again this one supports COLLADA, so could be slotted into an existing workflow.






So, if you are a game developer on a budget, this is certainly worth checking out. It is time limited ( this month I think? ). All you have to do is "buy" the 3 items at 0$, and you get issued serial numbers, so you can download them later. There is no *gotcha* that I can tell so far, although you do need to register using a valid email address.

My guess is, they are trying to sell content packs, more like turbo squid.


EDIT: Oops... link.

Site link

This post has been edited by Serapth: 02 February 2012 - 07:00 PM

[modi123_1]

Interesting.. good find!

[ButchDean]

This could be handy for my home project! Good find, saved me a lot of problems.

[Kilorn]

I actually paid for Bryce 5 a long time ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I'll check out the newer version since I've long since lost my copy.

[Serapth]

So, I've played around a bit with Hexagon as modelling is easily the most interesting aspect for me and I have to say, wow, its awful.

Which is a shame as everything is there, its just one of the most incredibly piss poor UIs I have ever encountered. Most items arent intuitively named, they don't follow any of the industry standards and the UI is just so annoyingly unpolished. Things like pop down toolbars, that when popped down obscure the mouse over description of what each button does. So many tools just don't behave the way you would expect. Then some things are downright sluggish ( sub-D surfaces, which are pretty much a must have ) and the UI flickers at times.


It's too bad too, as everything you need is probably in there. Considering the modelling is Blenders weakest link, a free/cheap modeller is a godsend. Silo is close, but it sadly seems to have been abandoned. Modo is just too much cash, then its a jump to Autodesks line, which are wayyyy too much money.

Thankfully Blender isn't terrible, if you can get a stable release of BMesh, otherwise Wings is still the best option out there, even if it is ugly as hell.

[modi123_1]

How long for your registration email? this is now over 24 hours!

[modi123_1]

okay.. just got my 'account confirmation' email.. yeah. .that was slightly more than 24hours.. so patience is key I guess!

[GunnerInc]

Clicked register just now, switched over to email and got the reg confirmation almost immediately :-) downloading everything now.

[Serapth]

Yeah, was basically instant for me.


Hexagon 2.5 Mini review, it aint pretty.

TL;DR version, if you want a cheap 3D modeler, check out Wings3D! or use BMesh with Blender. Either that, or save your pennies for Modo, granted, you will need about 90,000 pennies...


Oh and to people wondering how many emails you are going to receive, the answer is, a bit too many. I'm up over half a dozen now, since Friday... I'm one email away from clicking the opt-out link.

This post has been edited by Serapth: 06 February 2012 - 11:49 AM