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How to Submit a Feature Request

38

You know, lots of people are always shouting how they NEED a certain feature NOW, while the truth is that they probably don't have a clue what to do with it once they get their hands on it. Here's a *far* more convincing method ;-)

About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

38 Comments

  1. Actually, the missing knife tool is (just) one of the reasons I'm still using 2.49...
    so...
    I second this request!
    But I don't have a cool animation yet to request it with.

    Thanks Bart!

  2. I think because of Bmesh were knife and bevel exluded from blender. No need to worry, Joe has already implemented them! ;)

  3. @Drew Yes knife is K + LMB in 2.5x i think it's more about the bevel, at the moment you can only do bevel with the bevel modifier which always bevels all of the edges

  4. Chrome Monkey on

    No, it's about the knife too. Blender 2.49 knife has the ability to cut perfectly straight lines by clicking on a starting location, release the mouse button, move the mouse, click a second time, press the enter-key to finish. This draws a straight purple line across the entire mesh and cuts all the edges where they intersect the line, and the endpoints of this line can be snapped to existing vertices for even more precision. These features are missing from the knife tool in the official releases of the Blender 2.5 series.

    Even with Blender 2.58, it is necessary to hold down the mouse button while dragging, and the result is always an irregular line. If there is a way to make an exact cut of a straight line between two specific endpoints, I can't find any instruction on it.

    My only workaround is to import the object into 2.49 to make the cuts and then import it back into 2.5 again.

  5. @Chrome Monkey: Exactly. I do it the same way. I still do most of the modelling in 2.4 and the rest in 2.5.

    @Enzio: There is a way to bevel only edges you want:

    1. add bevel modifier on object and switch "Limit Method" to "Weight"
    2. go to Edit Mode and in "Mesh Options" select "Tag Bevel" in "Edge Select Mode" dropdown menu
    3. in "Mesh Display" turn on overlay for "Bevel Weights"
    4. Ctrl + RMB on an edge - you'll see what it'll do ;)

    There was a way how to set any weight value (float number 0.0 - 1.0) for edge bevel in 2.4x, but I didn't find it in 2.5x. I think, it should be there somewhere - as well as some easier way how to do weighting (some shortcut)?

    Anybody knows?

  6. Guardian 452 on

    The options for the knife tool still exist (exact, midpoints, multicut). After making the cut, you'll find the options on the toolshelf...click the one you want and it works ok for me...

    This is in 2.58...one of the earlier versions had issues but I've had no trouble with it in 2.58.

  7. And I should probably add, that the procedure above is not ideal, when you want to make just one bevel, of course. Although in complex bevelling it is pretty sweet way to do that - especially when you have a control over bevel weighting.

    But surely there is one big B-Mesh benefit, when it came to bevelling - it can bevel just much better, because of n-gons! There is technically no easy way, how to handle bevels in certain shapes on models, that uses just tris and quads.

    That is the one big reason (among other reasons) to have B-Mesh in Blender! Without B-Mesh, Blender has no chance to become a good tool for modelling.

  8. Chrome Monkey on

    Yes I agree that all three options are there, but the "exact" option for 2.58 is partly broken. To be clear about what I mean: In 2.58 all I can use the "exact" option for is to draw a jittery crooked line while holding down the mouse button. There is absolutely no way to constrain the cut to a perfectly straight line. With 2.49 this is possible by selecting the location of two endpoints outside of the mesh, which creates a purple cutting edge.

    With 2.58 this is not possible, because you can't release the button during the procedure. No releasing the button means no clicking of two endpoints. Bringing back the "click, click, enter" functionality is needed, else the only thing the "exact" option is good for is making an "exactly crooked" line.

    The only workarounds I have found are using mirror clipping, and/or Booleans. I can get straight cuts from that but with a lot more setup and cleanup, and it also removes the part of the mesh on the other side of the "cut" in the mesh.

    I know that Blender 2.6 will be the feature complete version though, so I can live with the growing pains of 2.5 development.

  9. @Guardian 452: Yes, there are those options, but it doesn't help in lot of cases. For example when you want to cut an inclined edge on exact position according to level of certain existing vertex in your model (I don't know, how to explain that properly in English, so I'm sorry if I didn't make it). Or if you have already a textured model (with UVs) and you just want to cut though it in an exact position (according to some other object).

  10. Chrome Monkey on

    A picture's worth a thousand words, and I made a couple that help clarify the issue. I'm not sure how to upload them to the comments page though.

  11. @noisandpixel - BlendOS! Heck yeah!

    @endi - I'd rather have new users excited about new features than people (well, one person) whining about them all the time.

  12. I want some kind of button like : shut down pc when rendering has finished.
    just to save some electricity when rendering over night.
    but how do I make an animation for that?

    I think saving energy is good for everyone right?

  13. I tried using the knife tool but think felt it was much more control the way you did it in 2.49. Also i've used modo for a while and beveling is one of the things that blender should have/become a bit better on. But stilm, this is just imho.

  14. A use of Booleans that keeps (almost) the whole model is Difference Boolean with a superthin cube used for slicing.
    And... the behavoior is rather unpredictable, but more cuts can be made at the same time with multiple slicing "planes" within the same model.
    (not really comparable to a quick modeling tool, but it has it's own advantages)

  15. I'm using 2.49b for modeling. I think 2.58 is a rather high number for a beta.

    Then again, this animation proves the feature is not really needed.

  16. Chrome Monkey on

    "Knife tool is there" -- no, knife tool is INCOMPLETE. No constraining to a straight line between two endpoints, no loopcutting options either.

  17. Indeed, the knife tool is incomplete.
    The straight line between two endpoints is a feature I use a lot.
    Snapping to other points using ctrl was there in 2.49..
    It would be nice to have that back.

    It would be great to have apparent intersection detection, even with lines from non active objects..

    But just having the functionality back of 2.49 would make me happy :) (& finally switch to 2.5x)
    It could be through something else than the knife tool, but it should be "as easy" as the knife tool in 2.49 right ?

    thanks !

  18. Chrome Monkey on

    In simplest terms... Blender is the most awesome tool ever made, except in all these little places where it really, really needs some work! If it were a developing human being, I think the best fitting term would be, "precocious." :o)

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