Domain Basics Non-UV

by aine

No matter if you are going add a simple color, or fully working with painting in Hexagon. The first step is to define and name your domain, and material areas. This only names your areas/regions and does not apply or create UVs for mapping. Later we will walk through UVMapping and on to painting.

Simplistic color

This allows you to set areas which can hold the following characteristics and their values without using UVs, or UVMapping:

Base color
Specular Color (highlight)

Highlight Spread (shininess)

Transparency

For this example we are going to use a simple object a child's Rubber Ball

Create a sphere
1. Click on 'Select by Object' icon
2. Click on 'Universal Manipulator' icon
3. Click on the 'Sphere' icon (3d Primitives tab)
4. Click anywhere in the room, then move the cursor and click again.
5. Before hitting enter or validating, change the 'Num points' value to 10 in the 'Properties' panel in the right side pullout.
6. Click on 'Apply', then on 'Validate.'

7. Apply one level of smoothing by clicking on the Smooth icon in the Vertex Modeling tab
8. Now click on the little lightening bolt there next to your listing in the Dynamic Geometry box right side pullout. This will collapse the Dynamic Geometry and bring the sphere into quads and produce a more rounded object for you to use in other software.

(note: smoothing also increases poly counts)

Now to select where we want color

Things to remember in Hexagon 2.
You can assign as many Domains as you wish on a single object.
You can *not* assign the same Domain to two different objects.
Each Domain will contain one Material configuration

What do we mean by Domain?
Domain is an area or region of an object. Think in terms of our planet Earth. Land masses would be one domain, Water basins the other. Yes, over simplification, but works well enough to get us started.

9. Click on Select by Face icon.
10. Click on the 'Transparency display mode' icon.
This will make your object transparent and make it easy to marquee select faces (front and back)
You want to select a band of faces about 2 polys high.
11. (marquee selection)Right click, and drag your mouse around the band of polys you wish to select.

In the Left side pullout.
12. Click on the 'New' button at the bottom of the 'Shading domains' panel
A new listing will appear 'domain(number value)' in the 'Shading domains' panel.

Click on the little arrow to the right of the 'domain(number value)' listing.
13. This will produce a drop down, select 'rename' from the drop down.

A pop up will appear with the same name as your listing.
Clear the name in this pop up box and give it the new name of WhiteBand.
Click on Validate.
14. You will notice now your new name is listed in the 'Shading domains' panel.

15. In the Material's panel click on the 'Color' box change to a nice basic White.
(Move your cursor off the color picker box to close it.)
16. Click on the little arrow to the right of the new Material(number) listing.
Select 'Rename.'
In the pop up rename to 'WhiteBand'
Click 'Validate.'

17. Then click the little arrow to the right of WhiteBand domain listing in the 'Shading domains' panel.
Select 'Hide domain faces'

18. Marquee select 1 set rows on the upper level of the ball.
19. Now press the shift key and hold it down. Marquee select the lower section of rows to highlight.

20. Then click 'new' from the bottom of the 'Shading domains' panel

Click on the little arrow to the right of the 'domain(number value)' listing.
From the drop down, select 'rename.'
In the Pop up rename the domain to 'YellowBand'. Click on 'Validate.'

In the Material's panel click on the 'Color' box change to a nice basic Yellow.
(Move your cursor off the color picker box to close it.)
Click on the little arrow to the right of the new Material listing.
Select 'Rename.'
In the pop up rename to 'YellowBand'
Click 'Validate.'

Then click the little arrow to the right of YellowBand domain listing in the 'Shading domains' panel.
Select 'Hide domain faces'

21. Marquee select all remaining faces to highlight, click 'New' in the 'Shading domains' panel.
Click on the little arrow to the right of the 'domain(number value)' listing.
From the drop down, select 'rename.'
In the Pop up rename the domain to 'BlueBase'.
Click on 'Validate.'

In the Material's panel click on the 'Color' box change to a nice basic blue.
(Move your cursor off the color picker box to close it.)
Click on the little arrow to the right of the new Material listing.
Select 'Rename.'
In the pop up rename to 'BlueBase'
Click 'Validate.'

22. Click on the 'Show all Hidden Faces' icon. (to make all faces viewable again)
23. Click on the 'Transparency display mode' icon (to bring it back to solid) (a trick for fast deselect of a single object)
24. Click on the little eye there by the Object listing in the Scene Properties box.
This will cause the object to disappear, then click on the little eye again and it reappears unselected.

Hope this Helps (:

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