OK - I’ve been using Hexagon for around 10 years and Blender for 6 months and it keeps popping up new things at me that I never suspected. I don’t like comparing and playing off one software against another - they all have their strong and weak points. Just as a matter of interest - and possibly interest someone in developing something along the lines of Hexagon’s line tools - which possibly do exist in Blender, but in all the hundreds of videos I’ve seen, still not found.
These tools are seriously useful and would enhance Blender’s modelling capabilities.
Just a short synopsis - if anyone is interested, I’ll see about arranging a demo - simply Googling “Hexagon line tools” will bring up a few demos.
I’d say the biggest difference between Blender and Hex in this area is that in Blender you insert a Bezier or NURBS curve - it gives you a starting point with handles. In Hex, you have the choice between drawing out a straight line, a Bezier curve, interpolated curve or a simple curve. These are all done freehand and you have control over the number of points. Additionally, you can draw out circles or arcs, with a number of options as to starting points - from centre, from peripheral, etc.
Once the line is drawn out, it can be used for a number of applications - you can add thickness, specifying circumference and number of points; they can be used for bending meshes, for lofting, as a cutting tool for Boolean operations, as a spline tool for lathing, as a starting point for extrusions. Many other uses - very much like using paths in a 2D editor, but with 3D uses.
In Blender I have discovered methods of achieving the same end result - the one thing I haven’t found is drawing out an arc - but not with the same ease. Example - a circle. In Blender, insert circle, specify points and circumference. Blender places the circle on the ground plane, at the 3d cursor. In Hexagon, click where you want the centre - or circumference - to start, draw it out and specify number of points. This can be drawn in any plane.
You can make complex curves by combining them - draw an arc, followed by a straight line, followed by a curve, or Boolean a number of overlapping curves to form a complex curve.
Hope this is of some interest to someone:)