How to Add and Use UV Seams in Hexagon

CGI (computer generated images) are all the rage in Hollywood and advertising right now, since you can create virtually any situation you choose, and save money by avoiding scenes that would be far to expensive to shoot in the real world. And, of course, one of the most useful tools for those producing CGI is a good modeling program, such as Daz3d's Hexagon. Hexagon lets you model, group, and paint a model or figure that can then be taken into another program either for immediate rendering, or to rig the figure for animation. As a requirement for the painting/texturing process, Hexagon also helps the user create a UV map for the model they want to paint.

Hexagon has several approaches the UV maps that can be applied to a model, or part of a model. These range from cubic to cylindrical to others. But one of the most valuable techniques Hexagon offers users is its ability to let the user directly choose where the seams will be when they unfold the models UV map. This is especially handy when you are dealing with an organic model that isn't made up of a series of simple. This tutorial will show how this is done.

First, open Hexagon. Then we need something to work with, so go to the 3D Primitives tab and click on the cube. Now in the main view drag out a cube. Now, go over to the Properties Panel and change the Tess. number from 0 to 3. You should see the cube faces divide into sixteen to a side, as shown in image one. While you are there, change the name in the Properties panel from "form 0" to "Box" (just to keep things orderly).

Now go over to the right side of the screen and click on the little tab to open the Shading Domains and Material panels. Click on the Domain that says "Unassigned faces". This should now highlight in blue all the faces on the cube, since none have yet been assigned. We'll do just that by clicking below this on New. A new Shading Domain appears. Click on the little arrow next to it, select rename, and call it Box. Next, with the Box Shading Domain selected, go up to the Materials panel, where you will see that a new material has been assigned. As shown in image two, click on the arrow next to the material and rename it Box.

Now we can finally begin putting the seams in. Click on the UV & Paint tab at the top, and the click on the little head (Unfold). You have two views now, the Perspective and the UV. As shown in image 3, you should have the Select Edges icon clicked on, and then start selecting edges where you would like for the object to separate. Now go over to the Properties panel, and click on the "+" to add your seams. The click on the little head right next to this, and voila! Just click validate, you have a UV mapped cube, ready to be painted on. By the way, you didn't need to change the Tess. number from 0 to 3 back at the beginning to do the above, but it gives you a chance to play around some and learn how more complex UV seams would open up. If you want to practice some, click Abort before you Validate, and pick different seams.