Completely new way of drawing curves
Drawing curves should be like in Nuke for masks. If you just click on the screen, it creates straight lines. If you click and drag, it will add handles (bezier). If you click on a point or a handle, you can move it (without having to change to "move" mode. You should have an option of creating only straight segments or curves ones. (In NURBS term 1 or 3 degree lines). Pressing shift should constraint to angle increments. You should be able to convert any point from soft to sharp maybe by pressing CTRL and the point. If it's a sharp point, handles will be created, if it's soft, it will become sharp, if you click on one of the handles, it will be sharp only on that side.
You need an easy way to insert point anywhere on the line, maybe by pressing ALT, but be able to continue after releasing the ALT key.
With what I described, you should be able to make any curve you want without ever getting out of the tool.
Right now, to create a poly line, you have to extrude the vertice for every single point you want to make. It's a non-sense.
So drawing lines shroud be a tool. Just click click click or click and drag. Then you could lathe them, skin them or whatever.
This is the thing I miss the most about Maya modelling. The ability to easily draw curves.
As it is now, if you create a bezier curve, it makes one on screen that already has a (useless) shape. You have to change to edit mode and modify it. Too many steps.
2 Comments
You might be interested in trying this Blender addon:
blenderartists.org/t/flexi-bezier-tool/1168179
github.com/Shriinivas/blenderbezierutils
* @ xan2622 *
Awesome! More than I needed!