Primary/Secondary Snapping
What proposed
- Add ability to switch to secondary snapping type during transform operation.
- Primary/Secondary snap types can have different snap targets. So it can be used as quick Primary/Secondary snap targets switch if snap types same. It can be usefully sometimes.
- It can be used as quick switch between something like Primary to Vertex by Active -> Secondary to Edge, Face by Closest. Pretty cool tricks?
- And it all by just holding (or pressing) one key during transform exactly when it needed.
In my vision switching can be implemented as enabling Secondary while holding
Alt
key during operation. Very quick & easy way to use.
Alt
key don't conflict with
Ctrl
key (quick ON/OFF snap during transform) or
Shift
key (quick switch to more precisely Transform/Snapping) and looks like reasonable key - press
Alt
for "
Alt
ernative Snap ". But of course it can be any key.
Some mock up how it can look in upcoming 2.8 release. As you can see - I add second snap target icon. One to setup Primary other for Secondary and Snap ON/OFF between. Also for Target settings I add checkbox for enabling " Constant " snap target. It can be handy when user change Snap Target frequently and want to keep same target for Primary and Secondary - with this checkbox no need to change it each time twice.
Some thoughts about
It come to me when on work when I needed to snap to vertex or edge alternately few times. Like on this GIF.
Look how it slow work even with PIE menu. I thought - how handy it can be if I can change snapping " on air " during operation if I need it.
Some thoughts
3D Max Multi snap system.
I start my career from 3D Max, I work with 3D Max during years. What I have to say about this " Multi " system - mostly it was useless... Me and guys in my team mostly 99 % of time use this mighty "Multi " system only for Vertex + Midpoint snapping at one time.
Here GIF with Vertex + Midpoint and then Vertex + Edge snapping enabled at one time.
First usefully, second useless. To snap to vertex with additional Edge or Face snapping enabled is kind of challenge. Of course it doesn't work as expected. If we want to snap to vertex less precisely - we have to lose full edge snapping. If we want to snap to 100% of edge - we lose vertex, we need to point exact pixel of this vertex.... Etc.
Some updates
* In comments pcsd24 notice that Multi Snap in Blender 2.8 is already implemented. I really didn't know this. Thank you. *
So here what I saw with new Blender Multi Snap system.
As I already said - if we want to not lose some one element we have to lose part of some other. Of course it is better than nothing as before. But I still don't like the way this Multi Snap work. I want something more than this.
What I suggest is not in conflict with 2.8 Multi Snap and I don't ask to remove/replace it or something like this.
As always - thanks for reading. Also you can check my other suggestions .
4 Comments
Do you know that it is already possible to multi-select snapping modes, and even activate all of them at the same time ?
@pcsd24:
Didn't know that. Hmmm ... Thank you.
So I download and tried the latest 2.8 release. But it works exactly as I said - multi snap Face + Edge + Vertex = not 100% face + not 100% edge + vertex.
Kind of better than nothing. But I like " single type " snap more. When I work and exactly know that I snap to vertex or to edge and nothing leaping in way we see in this GIF. I just asking for ability to switch fast between two snap types during transform operation. And my suggestion not conflict with this already implemented multi snap system.
I have a better solution: two keys to cycle through the snap targets back and forth. Pros: you can use more than two targets, less icons in the header. Cons: maybe less discoverable, but we have the status bar for these kind of things
@Lsscpp: Good idea to. Maybe even not two keys but one key + mouse wheel up/down
But with what I suggest: