Feature request! Locking part of the mesh in edit mode
Although we can hide/show part of the mesh in edit mode. And in wireframe mode, can see the wireframe of both hidden (which is unselectable) and visible (which is selectable) mesh while working on the visible mesh.
But sometimes a modeler needs to see both the selectable and unselectable mesh 'in solid display mode' to check and remove penetrations, which can't be seen in wireframe mode. It's very frustrating to have all the mesh selectable in solid display mode, because then you end up selecting wrong vertices which you don't want to affect. The solution is to lock/unlock part of the mesh in edit mode, preventing locked mesh from being selected. But at present, there is no such thing as locking/unlocking part of the mesh in edit mode! (BTW i'm using 2.79b). So please add this feature, and assign suitable keyboard shortcuts to use it.
I suggest these shortcuts: L = Lock Selected; Shift L = Lock Unselected; and Alt L = Unlock All; as they’re not used anywhere else in edit mode.
Also, make the display of locked vertices, edges, and faces in lighter gray color, to clearly see which components are locked and which aren’t.
Moreover, the Lock/Unlock commands should live in the Select menu in edit mode, and not in the Mesh menu, because they would affect the selection state of the mesh.
32 Comments
Locking/Unlocking in edit mode would be more useful than hiding/unhiding.
It will also give better control in proportional editing, especially where vertices are close together, and you do not want to affect some of them, while working on others.
My solution is make a VertGroup for the part of the mesh what need to be modified and then add Shape Key, set it to 1, click Shape Key Edit Mode and add your created vertex group. And you can modify the mesh without hiding its parts. But its a very slow solution. Some kind of addon/macros would be nice.
that's very clever idea! But there are 2 problems:
Do you mean like Mudbox's "Freeze" or ZBrush's "Mask" brushes? Being able to freeze/mask the mesh so that it doesn't get disturbed while you make other edits.
Also, could you post a screenshot of an example or two of the use case?
Yes, like "mask" in ZBrush, but for edit mode in Blender, and not the sculpt mode.
... so that part of the mesh becomes unselectable.
I've changed the text of the main request, so please go through it again.
Also, I'm posting some screenshots to illustrate my point.
{attachment 1_penetrations_object_modepng}{attachment 2_penetrations_edit_modepng}{attachment 3_t-shirt_mesh_hiddenpng}{attachment 4_hidden_visible_mesh_wirepng}
The case in the screenshots isn't hard to solve, as there are only few verts to be moved. This is just to convey the point. But I've came across many times when penetration is much worse and complicated to remove. I think you get the idea.
YES! I come from Modo and this is a thing in Modo and was SUPER helpful! I hate that I have to either hide the mesh(but now I cant see what I am moving around and how it will be effected by the faces that are now hidden.... -_- Or I select what I want to edit and separate selected faces into new object and THEN edit the mesh while the other object can be visible. And then once done I merge the objects together... not the fastest process, but it works for now.
Isn't "L" in edit mode select mesh, connected with current selection?
* @malefic.max * No. In 3D View, in edit mode, it's Ctrl L to select connected (or linked) mesh. L is in UV editor to select UV islands.
* @lalitb.cgartist * This is incorrect. In the 3D View, it's currently just <kbd>L</kbd> to select linked vertices... in both 2.79 and 2.80.
* @Jason van Gumster * Just tested in 2.79. It's both L as well as Ctrl L to select linked components.
Maybe we can use L for 'Lock Selected', as I suggested.
* @lalitb.cgartist * If anything, I'd do the reverse. I select far more frequently than I would lock.
* @Jason van Gumster * But locking/unlocking hot-keys: L , Shift L , and Alt L will be more consistent with hiding/unhiding hot-keys: H ; Shift H , and Alt H .
… and Lock/Unlock commands should live in Select menu in edit mode, and not in the Mesh menu, because they would affect the selection state of the mesh.
yes I like the idea. but dont take away my hotkey for select linked !!!11
* @monatsend * Select linked is Ctrl L . I'm suggesting L , Shift L , and Alt L . I too use 'select linked' frequently, it will remain the same!
I just stumbled upon this the other day. Something like the Sculpt masking would also be handy (as it's a workflow already developed) but passed onto edit mode also. PLEASE!
2.8 can do multi-object editing, so maybe you could keep those parts as separated objects and edit them with multi-edit when needed?
Yes, you can separate meshes in separate objects, in 2.79 and 2.80; remove penetrations; and join them again; but I've UV
Yes, you can separate meshes in separate objects, in 2.79 and 2.80; remove penetrations; and join them again; but I've marked seams and UV unwrapped the mesh. Separating mesh and join ing again would mess-up the UVs.
Moreover, locking/unlocking mesh would be just like hiding/unhiding in edit mode; but instead of hidding the mesh, it would just lock it to prevent selection. Also it would change the display of locked components to distinguish them from unlocked (or selectable) ones.
Yes, you can separate meshes in separate objects, in 2.79 and 2.80; remove penetrations; and join them again; but I've marked seams and UV unwrapped the mesh. Separating mesh and joining again would mess-up the UVs.
Moreover, locking/unlocking mesh would be just like hiding/unhiding in edit mode; but instead of hiding the mesh, it would just lock it to prevent selection. Also, it would change the display of locked components slightly to distinguish them from unlocked (or selectable) ones.
* @lalitb.cgartist * Thats weird, I separate & join my models regularly and never had an issue with messing-up UVs, but maybe you use different modeling techniques.
Try separating and rejoing after UV unwrapping and please tell me if UVs are same or changed?
You were right. UVs after separating and rejoining remain unchanged.
But still, this feature, if implemented, will speed-up the modeling workflow in removing penetrations and in other situations. I think users, especially, modelers will like it.
* @lalitb.cgartist * Yes, I agree it can be useful - voted up :)
'locking the mesh' means 'making the mesh uneditable'
Solid mode is short for solid display mode.
Everyone knows what 'editable mesh' means.
Sorry, but I don't understand it at all :( What do you exactly mean by that "lock"? What is "solid mode" or "editable mesh"?
* @Jan Kadeřábek *
'locking the mesh' means 'making the mesh uneditable'
Solid mode is short for solid display mode.
Everyone knows what 'editable mesh' means.
'Locking the mesh' means 'making it unselectable'
* @lalitb.cgartist * I now understand and agree it could be useful feature in some scenarios, so I have added my vote.
* @Jan Kadeřábek * Thanks Jan!
This would still be a very useful addition. Whether you use their hotkey suggestion or not, it would be great to be able to lock parts of the mesh without having to hide them.