Proposal: Integrate Manifold for a Robust, High-Quality Voxel Remesher on Open Meshes

Category: Sculpt, Paint & Texture

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Hello Blender Developers,

1. The Core Problem: A Fragile Workflow

Blender's native Voxel Remesher operator lacks the necessary robustness to handle open meshes (e.g., models with holes or non-manifold boundaries), which are extremely common in a sculpting workflow.

Currently, feeding such a mesh directly to the remesher often results in catastrophically broken geometry or a complete failure of the operator. This forces a mandatory, multi-step manual workaround for the user: Enter Edit Mode -> Select Non-Manifold -> Fill (F) -> Exit Edit Mode -> Remesh.

While this workaround prevents the operator from crashing, it introduces a new problem: the simple Fill command creates visually jarring, flat patches. The final remeshed result inherits this flaw, producing poor-quality topology that requires extensive corrective sculpting and smoothing, defeating the purpose of a quick, iterative remeshing tool.

2. The Proposed Solution: Automate and Elevate the Workaround

My proposal is to automate this essential pre-processing step within the Voxel Remesher operator itself, and to do so with a far superior algorithm.

Instead of replicating the simple Fill logic, Blender should leverage the Manifold library to perform a high-quality, curvature-aware closure of the mesh before voxelization.

The ideal internal workflow should be:

User clicks "Voxel Remesh" on any mesh, open or closed.

Internally, Manifold first intelligently makes the mesh perfectly watertight.

The resulting clean, seamlessly patched mesh is then passed to the existing voxelizer.

3. Justification & Precedent:

This robust workflow is already a reality in other open-source 3D software like Nomad Sculpt, which utilizes Manifold to achieve its smooth, ZBrush-like remeshing results on open meshes.

Critically, the core technology is already integrated into Blender. The Manifold library is the engine behind the new "Exact" Boolean solver. This proposal is not about adding a new dependency, but about leveraging the powerful mesh-healing capabilities of an existing, battle-tested component to fix a fundamental flaw in another area.

4. The Benefits:

Fixes a Fundamental Flaw: Transforms the Voxel Remesher from a fragile tool that requires manual babysitting into a truly robust, "one-click" solution.

Drastically Improves Quality: Moves beyond the "flat patch" workaround to produce organic, high-quality results on par with industry-leading sculpting software.

Massively Streamlines Sculpting: Allows artists to stay in the creative flow of sculpting without being interrupted by tedious, multi-step technical fixes.

This is a high-impact improvement that addresses a long-standing pain point in Blender's sculpting toolset.

Thank you for your time and consideration.