Issue Exporting from Hexagon to SL

[Adrea McKay]

Hey folks!  I'm a brand new sculptor with what may be a noobish question.  Apologies in advance if I sound rather lost.

I've created a sculpty prim of a leaf (started with a cube), made in Hexagon (ver 2.5.1.79).  I'm able to save from Hexagon without issue, using File > Export > Second Life Sculptie.  However, when I try to upload the texture to SL, I get the error message "Can't upload images larger than 2048*2048."

I must be missing something.  I'm unable to find a tool in Hexagon that allows me to save a smaller file - aside from "physically" shrinking the sculpty, and I don't know if the size of the prim has any bearing on the size of the file.

I tried opening the .tga with GIMP, and scaling the image to 2048 x 2048 that way, but instead of a leaf, I get a sphere with a dark spot on top and a light stripe beneath.  I don't know if it makes any difference, but GIMP shows that the original image (before scaling) is 16384 x 16384 pixels.

In short, is there a way to alter the size of the exported .tge file (either in Hexagon or externally through a third party), so it can be uploaded to SL?  Alternatively, does anyone know a tutorial with more in-depth information about how to export from Hexagon?  I've watched several tutorials by folks who appear to do exactly what I did, but end up with an importable file.

[Drongle McMahon]

I don't know about hexagon, but note that the maximum size you should use for a sculptmap is 64x64 pixels (unless it's oblong). That will contain all the pixels that can possibly be used. Any larger and the extra pixels are simply ignored. If it;s greater than 256x256 (I think) and you can't use lossless compression on upload, which is necessary for accuracy. Smaller maps will produce sculpts with fewer vertices.

[Adrea McKay]

Yeah, upon further tinkering, I do suspect that the problem is based on the number of vertices/facets on the sculpty.  However, as far as I can tell, I already have it set at the minimum smoothing for Hexagon.  Are there any Hexagon users out there who know of a way to "shrink" the prim image down when exporting, so it's a size SL can use?

[Maeve Balfour]

I suspect the smoothing you are applying is probably blowing out your vertice counts far beyond what SL sculpties will accept.

I haven't made sculpties for about two years now, so my memory is pretty rusty these days about the processes involved. Have you followed

? This is what I used originally when trying to figure out how to create sculpties via Hexagon. It was enough to get me going back then. I don't remember ever having your specific issue.

:matte-motes-smile:

.....

On a side note: Although previously a long-time user of Hexagon, I've found it's really not overly suited to SL content creation beyond sculpties. If in future you decide to try your hand at creating mesh for SL, you should seriously consider migrating to Blender to make your life easier. (I've hit the limits of Hexagon's usefulness for SL content creation (no rigging, no native .dae exporting, crappy conversion to tris), and spent so much time exporting to Blender for menial tasks, I eventually just quit using Hexagon in frustration). Although I have fond memories of Hexagon (it being my introduction into 3D mesh making), it's just not up to the task for SL content creation in general.

[Adrea McKay]

Thanks for the input!  I've tried Blender, but as a absolute novice, I've found the interface was just too much.  I still have it installed, and may go back in the future, but am using DAZ/Hexagon for the time being, due to the user-friendly interface.

To clarify, I haven't actually applied any smoothing.  I was simply referring to the default smoothing applied to a "default" SL Prim in hexagon.  E.g. when you create a cube, it's x number of vertices by x.   I haven't applied any changes; merely moved existing ones around.  Basically, I take a cube, stretch the Y measurement flat, and tug in the edges so it looks like an ivy leaf - something I thought would be dead simple for a first sculpt.

I have looked into the tutorial you mentioned, as well as others, and as far as I can tell, I'm doing everything as recommended.  The only difference I've noticed is that I'm using a cube, whereas the tutorials always seem to choose a cylinder.  I'm able to export to .tga just as they specify; but when I try to import the .tga file to SL, the size is way too large.

Anywho, thatnks again for the attempt.  I'll keep beating th problem with a rock till it cracks.  ^^;

[Adrea McKay]

Just a heads-up for anyone else having the same problem:  Apparently, it's something inherent to the Macintosh version of the Hexagon application.  At this time, the Hex developer tells me there's no fix/work-around.  Time to find another app, alas...