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Blender Development Feature - Rip Edge Tool

27

Jonathan Williamson demos a small but very useful new tool: Rip Edge (a working title, they don't seem to like that name much ;-). He was lucky enough to find Campbell Barton interested in adding this for him in just one day! How's that the for the power of an awesome community + open source?

This is a quick demo of the new beta tool, Rip Edge. The tool was proposed by yours truly and built by Campbell Barton. It allows you to quickly add new vertices to a face. This is particularly useful for adding new vertices to NGons.

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.

27 Comments

  1. Scott Amsberry on

    I look forward to using this. It looks more like splitting (or duplicating) a vertex than ripping an edge. When I think of the rip tool, I'd define an edge rip as simultaneously ripping two connected vertices. Am I correct in assuming that if you hit alt-D and then right-click or hit escape that you would create a double?

      • This tool is certainly not "rip" in the same sense of the already accepted "Rip tool", this new tools doesn't rip or break or tear anything. Nor is the tool about snap, the snap is separate.

        I think along the lines of pulling
        "Pull Edge"
        "Pluck Edge"
        "Tug Edge"
        "Tweak Edge"

        You can also think about the way the tool can make a straight edge into an angle
        "Cusp Edge"
        "Crook Edge"
        "Bow Edge"

        Or perhaps the way the tool is cutting the edge without completely tearing it apart.
        "Part Edge"
        "Hack Edge"
        "Sprain Edge"
        "Break Edge"
        "Buckle Edge"

        Think about the way the edge has been re-routed
        "Deviate Edge"
        "Re-Route Edge"
        "Depart Edge"
        "Veer Edge"
        "Digress Edge"

        Personally I like "Pluck Edge" (think guitar string for visual). To me that says "Pull and drag from a point"

  2. Ron Tarrant on

    Very nice! How about calling it: Split-n-snap, Breach-n-snap, Tear-n-snap... something like that.

  3. Raindrops From Sky on

    Fantastic! I second the names Ron Terrant suggested. Actually "snap" is a major keyword here, so here are some more names ending with "snap": divide-n-snap; node-snap, snap point.

    Can we have a "segment snap" mode too? The idea is to make a curve snap to another, like how Google Maps allows us to drag a route, and snaps it to the nearest road.

    The "proportional edit" control should define the degree of influence vs distance from the dragged point.

    It would be a bonus if I can roll the mousewheel to change the offset from the original curve. Depending on the direction of the mousewheel roll, the offset should become -ve or +ve (i.e., the moved curve should go on either side of the reference curve.)

    • The snapping is actually done afterwards. It is not tied to the alt-D. I second the Break Edge name

  4. Wayne Dixon on

    nice feature, very handy.
    I'll put forward a few name suggestions

    Edge Divide or Edge-D
    (since the hotkey is Alt D)

    cheers
    waylow

    • Angelo Tartanian on

      Edge Divide is a good name. that's exactly what it's doing. I think Fold Edge would also work as would Break Edge.

      it's essentially a modal-interactive version of the current subdivide operator.

      It could also possibly make sense to do this to a face to automatically select the vert created at the center of the face in grab mode so you can precisely position it.

  5. Leon Cheung on

    My opinion is to call it "SubVert" or "SubEdge" tool, just like the way when we say "SubSurf". Intuitively, I think it appears to be functioning as "add/extrude vertex along adjacent edge". Our local community also discussed about this tool. Locally, we just simply call it sort of "vertex subdivision" or "add subverts", though a vertex cannot be technically “subdivided” for sure. :P FYI

  6. Nice feature for who works with ngons.
    But what has this story to do with the "power of an awesome community + open source"?
    It's not a the cure for the cancer, nor something that makes you celebrate a new thanks giving day.
    Or are you assuming that Campbell Barton is an unreachable celebrity who deigned to take an interest in an unknown person (unknown...yeah right)?

    Just joking I know that you always take any excuse to promote the love of the community and open source (which is a bit distracting but it's positive, so ok)
    Good job.

  7. george bestelei on

    Regardless of what is doing in background (ripping the edge) it looks to me like Insert Vertex. A feature I have searched for. Would be nice to have it for curves as well.

    • Brian Lockett on

      Or "Seal Vertices." You could say the act is of using this tool is "vertex sealing." I dunno. Just a thought, anyways.

  8. Raindrops From Sky on

    If snapping is NOT the main function achieved, then how about AddVert (for "add vertice").

  9. I have a rather clumsy script for sort of the same end purpose and I will be more than happy to be able to replace that. I called it 'refine edge'.

  10. Marc Clint Dion on

    It seems like a good idea to have 'vertex' in the name instead of 'edge' since it works in Vertex Mode and splice seems to fit what's it's doing so maybe a name like 'splice vert' or 'splice vertex' would work for this tool.

    Or it could also be called 'Jonathan and Campbell's Awesome Adds a Vertex to an Ngon and pulls the Edge Out to a New Position With a Really Long Name Tool!' Please don't forget the exclamation point at the end.

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