Better Alt+M (merging not just vertices).
Small QoL improvement for merging things: not just vertices, but also edges and faces.
Consider this situation:
Right now, if I select two edges (in edge mode) and use Alt+M -> merge at center, Blender will simply merge vertices into one at center. That forces user to merge things vertex by vertex, because usually result is not what user desired, as rightmost picture above shows.
In many cases Blender should be able to guess user intention when selecting edges or faces.
In example above it could find pair of vertices that are closest to each other while being on different selections. If user already positioned them very close, shape is similar and count of vertices in selected edges/faces is equal, result should be exactly as intended by user.
I expect reasonable results only from two continuous selections close to each other that have same number of vertices that are in similar shape. It is not problem of Blender if user screwed up topology of shapes to merge.
In worst case, when it is not possible to figure it out, Blender can always fallback to what happens now (that's is, making useless mess).
If for some strange reason useless mess is desired, you simply would set Vertex Selection mode instead of Edge or Face Selection. In this case, merging would work as it works now regardless of what is selected.
9 Comments
try remove doubles if you want it.
Use bridge edge loops with merge enabled. Select your edges, press space, search for bridge edge loops. Press F6 and check "Merge" box. Use merge factor in F6 menu to slide where merge should happen.
@Henrik Goldsack:
I know about bridge edge loops. I think there is value in UI that intuitively does what user expects to happen.
@mader.levap: Merge is a vertex function, it joins multiple vertices into one, agnostic of edges or faces, that's why you can find it in Ctrl+V, the vertices menu, but not Ctrl+E or Ctrl+F, the edges and faces menus respectively. All the functions from those menus can be performed regardless of the selection mode you are in, vertex, edge, face, or a combination of two or all three selection modes (by pressing shift+click on the selection mode buttons on the footer) because what matters is what is selected, not the selection mode. That way, for example, you can be in face selection mode, have faces selected, and still perform those vertex or edge exclusive actions, or viceversa, without having to change selection mode, which would be an extra step. So, why should merge be context sensitive to selection mode and behave like merged bridge, while none of the other functions are context sensitive? (There are a few actions that require face selection mode but that's because that's the only way, and they are just one action, not different actions changing by selection mode as context)
It's unfair to call it a useless mess, like judging a banana for not hammering a nail, use a hammer instead! In this case the hammer that you need is a 1 click solution for merged bridge. Maybe putting that function in the merge menu, alongside At Center, etc, would be better? Or just use Bridge from the W or Ctrl+E menu, which is as many clicks.
@mader.levap: if you know it's a vertex function then the current result is what you expect to happen. the tooltip in the various menus even says "merge selected vertices."
@Wo! 262:
First, it does NOT behave like bridge edge loop. If you use this option as is, additional face would be created between those two edges. It is not what I want here. To have merge while using it additional steps must be performed and your purported advantage (less extra steps) vanishes.
Second, blender is already very context-heavy. I see no problem with slightly different behaviour of merge X tool depending on selected mode (vertex, edge or face).
@Josh Strawbridge: With my change, tool would be simply named "Merge selected edges" (when in edge mode) or "Merge selected faces" (when in face mode).
@mader.levap: if that's what you're going for then you should make a new proposal to simply add those functions by adding "merge edge" and "merge face" tools. then you could add them to the merge menu rather than try to make it selection context sensitive.
as it is this reads as if you're trying to change functionality and saying that MERGE VERTEX doesn't work like you want it to because you expected it to do more than merge verts.
in the alt+m menu just have sub headers for vertex, edge, and face. each with their own "at first" "at center" "at last" "at cursor" "collapse" options. having it change based on selection mode is just going to cause extra hoops to jump through in order to get to the options you want at any given time.
selection modes are useful when you're making specific selections. they're not when they're a requirement to use certain tools. after all, in your example you could have the same edges selected in vertex selection mode and want to merge the edges rather than verts. you could also want to merge verts while being in edge or face selection mode.
i would agree with adding your desired functionality. i would not agree with it being forced behind a certain selection mode. that'd slow me down more that just merging two sets of verts rather than two edges so i'd never use it.
@mader.levap: nah, the settings for bridge edge loop are persistent so you only have to set them once per session. check a box and set merge factor to 0 for "at first" behavior, 1 for "at last" behavior, 0.5 for "at center" behavior. knowing this, after the first time, it's just a matter of selecting edges in the proper order based on what settings you put in. meaning less steps overall.
a once per session change of settings is better than an every use adjustment of selection mode. i can still get the results you wanted with bridge edge loops in vertex selection mode. the same can't be said of your suggestion and that is the problem with differing behavior depending on selected mode.
selection modes are good for making specific selections, they're not good when you have to be in certain ones to use certain tools.