Poly Build - Automatic Vertex, Edge or Quad selection for fast placement.
I was doing retopology on a surface and it occurred to me that we could save a lot of clicks if the tool would just automatically select and move vertex, edges or quads while holding down ALT or having the poly movements by default and the polygon generation with a modifier. Maya Quad Draw tool already does something similar (smoothing included with another modifier) making it a real time saver and a pleasure to work with.
14 Comments
sad, sad another tool left to rust prematurely
I think the Poly Build tool has GREAT potential if it is thought out and coded well. I made some images to explain my ideas. Could help getting it going I hope.
What I really think we need is far less clicks. (In edit mode) select vertex, press E, move mouse, click. When the PolyBuild could be -> click PolyBuild Tool, click in viewport, click a second time and we already have an edge. Click a third and fourth time and we have quad etc.
Think about a topbar with the options to automatically fill the edges once they are polys, to tell the PolyBuild to use tris/quads/ngons, allow it to be used as a knife to modify already existing meshes and a simple, one-click option for surface snap with an offset slider to control the distance to the underlying mesh. I'd be so happy if we'd have something like that in Blender.
Here's my images to explain it a little better. imgur.com/a/bQn4NXE
* @FloTasser * pls post this on Blender dev forums
* @Orphydian * already posted it in the 2.8 thread on BA.org a while ago. Campbell said the PolyBuild would be more of a proof of concept so far. I hope we can start the discussion in a few weeks and the tool gets the update it deserves. :) Will post it once I think it is time to do so, as of right now the devs are in the trenches already fixing tons of bugs.
* @FloTasser * Mh you're not really fixing it like this my friend. The real problem is placing a vertex and then moving it with the same tool, that's what makes me waste most time. Also ENTER is very far from where i usually hover my hands on the keyboard so that adds extra travel time, would be much better like in maya where holding TAB would activate the Extrude function and holding Shift allows you to create polys over the vertex you've just placed based on the position your mouse is in (also very useful). Holding Shift + CTRL enables the Delete mode. Also in Maya you can just hover the move on an edge or quad or vertex and they are automatically selected so when you hold your mouse0 you can move them, no extra clicks involved. Maya's Quad Draw is really a fantastic tool... just... steal it? XD
* @hitsusandesign * You are so right. I am, as you see, not a UI/UX designer. Placing vertices and creating faces is too slow. Yes absolutely, I think the way you explained it focuses more on the problem itself instead of my not so perfect solution :) I think a good mix of Maya's (haven't used Maya in 5 years or so) and Softimage's poligonal pen tools would be really awesome. :D Doing my retopo in 3D Coat is great but a good, simple retopo/low poly modeling/creation tool in Blender would be huge.
this tool pfff
Yeah, a better refinement of polybuild tool might actually make it more useful as of now. Currently it's not that great...
are people actually using this for retopology ? so unrefined compared to Maya one
* @Orphydian * plenty of people use blender for retopology. there's a very popular addon whose sole purpose is aiding retopology. Not really sure what you hope to accomplish with your Maya comment.
* @testure * the remark was about this tool and not about any addon. If its Retopoflow I heard its not working for 2.8. Is there any controversy that the quad draw tool in Maya is definitely more refined than the poly build tool in Blender ? Why you get triggered by my Maya reference ? The OP was mentioning this tool in Maya so I dont know what you want to achieve with your coomment. Or let me guess we are a conpleasant group and we are not allow to criticize blender, when we know is far for being refined in so many cases. This also doesnt mean we are blind to other software developments and we cannot see the good stuff happening there. As an example, which I was reluctant to mentioned before since its quite offtopic, Autodesk is experimenting with autoretopoly and custom autoretopoly for both Maya and Max. In Maya there are alrwady some hidden nodes that have been reveled by some users for this. It already start to look great youtube.com/watch
* @Orphydian * whoa there fella. I'm not triggered by anything I just asked a question. Maybe take it down a notch?
* @testure * well if you say so I have to believe you right.
Judging by the popularity of this suggestion I have serious doubts enough people are actual using these for retopology or if they use Blender at all for this. Or they dont want any refinement because its great as it is, I forgot the third option.
* @Orphydian * I would love to trash Maya to the garbage bin and start using blender for retopology as well but as of now it's really not viable, that's exactly the problem here....