Ok, so I create a utility that includes a vertex bevel and a 2nd standard bevel. I use it in a boolean operation. I noticed that when I Hydrate the utility then use it in another boolean operation, its 2nd standard bevel no longer exists (though its 2nd weld modifier remains). I'm assuming that it's because it inherits the primary boolean object or something, but maybe an option to keep it might be worth considering? I dunno. It's not the biggest deal, but I'd perform this operation repeatedly having to duplicate the utility again before boolean-ing it so I could have its modifiers as reference to then add back in to the Hydrated utility. That's probably not that clear.
Hey, I think I understand what you're saying. If you watch the boolean video in the deep dive series, you'll see that ND performs a "clean-up" step on utils before it booleans them, which would get rid of the object bevel. You can however choose to skip the clean-up step by using the alternative mode: holding down Alt when choosing one of the boolean operators. - Tristan
@@HugeMenace cool. Glad i could help. im just playin. But i do remember, now that you mentioned it. And it's exactly what I'm talking about. I have this bothersome habit: when i go to the store and can't find something. I bust my hump looking before I bother someone. I finally conclude i need to get someone to point it out to me--without fail, man. It's ALWAYS right there. In my face. They just point and ask, "you mean this?" I also wanna add: I've never progressed through any of my hard surface projects before as i have after ND. And I've put in the time, man. The overhead feels so low; it's intuitive; so comprehensive. I was gonna say, "maybe customizable themes?", buf I'd just end up making it look the way it does now. In short: thank you. God bless you.
Haha, that happened to me just yesterday at the hardware store. Was looking for a while trying to find a specific kind of tape, decided to ask one of the employees and they said, "it's right behind you." As for customizable themes, that's already possible, just check the theme tab in the ND add-on preferences :) Glad you're enjoying it! - Tristan.
Not currently. I can't say I've personally come across a use case for that. At the end of the day, they're just modifiers in the stack, so nothing is stopping you from duplicating them manually, as many times as you need. - Tristan
At 6:11, I notice that ND applies uniform inset to the rectangular faces. Does this mean that ND automatically applies scale before applying the inset?
ND does not apply scale before running the panel operator. So, if you run it on an object with a (non)uniform scale, the resulting panel will be scaled similarly.
Hi. I have a feature request. The Sketch Tool is great butcan it be expanded further. Currently it directly jumps to single vert in edit mode and then we have to use extrude to create desired shape for either solidifying or revolving etc modifier use. I wish if the Sketch tool expands further into drawing like 3dsketch tool in cad apps. Basically the power to draw a shape using line tool and seting up temporary constraints and of course snapping based. A goof example for it could be this vide - th-cam.com/video/Eflk6MLGj0U/w-d-xo.html although it is for splines but i see no reason for something like this for ND's sketch tool. lmk wut
Thanks for this lucid tutorial! Very few tutorials have clearly defined chapters. This feature really helps us focus on each operator separately, to master it. I have a doubt about the *Clear Vertex Group* operator: What is the definition of a "Vertex Group"? In this video, the group was not named explicitly. You selected some vertices, and applied a command. So is it correct to understand that ND treats a selection as a "Vertex Group" when we apply a command to it? I am asking this, because IINW when we select multiple vertices and apply a command in Blender, the command applies to them individually, and not as a group. But probably with ND, this happens because it first forms a group and then applies one or more modifiers. (?)
There is a degree of assumed Blender knowledge in this series, so I haven't gone into great detail about how ND works under the hood or what it does with Blender's API (though that could be an interesting video or two). But to answer your question as briefly as possible, when selecting one or more vertices and executing something like the Vertex Bevel operator, ND first creates a new vertex group with an autogenerated name (which can be viewed in the object data properties panel when you have an object selected). It then creates a bevel modifier and adds it to the object's modifier stack. It then sets many properties on that bevel modifier, including the limit method, which will reference the vertex group it created as part of the process. You can perform this long series of steps manually. ND simply removes the need for that repetitive/tedious process. Feel free to join our Discord server if you want to discuss these topics in more detail.
It depends on what types of curved surfaces you have in mind. Some aren't possible to achieve using a non-destructive approach, and some are. There are also cases where a mix of destructive & non-destructive modelling techniques can be used together to get the best of both worlds. - Tristan
Ok, risking looking like a blind guy again here: After performing a boolean operation, and then cycling to the new utility, is there a way to apply additional modifiers? For example: I create an octagon-shaped cylinder. I want to apply an array in the Z direction on a face, then a circular array. I want to do this in a slice operation, but I first have to ensure my slicer/cutter is how i want it. I create the cutter and apply a diff. I adjust as i want and am ready to perform the array/circular array operation, but when I cycle to the utility, it's not bringing up the modifiers in the quick menu. I think it has to do with its labeling prefix of "Bool". I know I can do it the longer, standard way but is there something I'm missing?
You can always add more modifiers to utils, however, ND may not always "predict" the ones you're after when using the fast menu. You can always use the main ND menu (SHIFT+2) to access every operator available. Each new version of ND usually includes further enhancements to the fast menu. I can take a look at adding additional predictions to it when you select a util object. - Tristan
Every feature description (uhhh!) has me grunting. I rewind cuz I missed something (due to my grunting), and I grunt again. I'm so sad to say that this is looking like it's gonna replace ALL my other addons--and this makes my loyalty gland convulse. But, c'mon! And free?!??! Ow!
I'm thrilled to have found this exceptional modeling tool. It's truly remarkable and has rendered many of my previous add-ons obsolete (but then again, it's just money). I highly recommend it.
I'm in love with this add-on
Thank you, amazing add-on !!! thank you so much.
Ok, so I create a utility that includes a vertex bevel and a 2nd standard bevel. I use it in a boolean operation. I noticed that when I Hydrate the utility then use it in another boolean operation, its 2nd standard bevel no longer exists (though its 2nd weld modifier remains). I'm assuming that it's because it inherits the primary boolean object or something, but maybe an option to keep it might be worth considering? I dunno. It's not the biggest deal, but I'd perform this operation repeatedly having to duplicate the utility again before boolean-ing it so I could have its modifiers as reference to then add back in to the Hydrated utility.
That's probably not that clear.
Hey, I think I understand what you're saying. If you watch the boolean video in the deep dive series, you'll see that ND performs a "clean-up" step on utils before it booleans them, which would get rid of the object bevel. You can however choose to skip the clean-up step by using the alternative mode: holding down Alt when choosing one of the boolean operators. - Tristan
@@HugeMenace cool. Glad i could help.
im just playin. But i do remember, now that you mentioned it. And it's exactly what I'm talking about.
I have this bothersome habit: when i go to the store and can't find something. I bust my hump looking before I bother someone. I finally conclude i need to get someone to point it out to me--without fail, man. It's ALWAYS right there. In my face. They just point and ask, "you mean this?"
I also wanna add: I've never progressed through any of my hard surface projects before as i have after ND. And I've put in the time, man. The overhead feels so low; it's intuitive; so comprehensive.
I was gonna say, "maybe customizable themes?", buf I'd just end up making it look the way it does now.
In short: thank you. God bless you.
Haha, that happened to me just yesterday at the hardware store. Was looking for a while trying to find a specific kind of tape, decided to ask one of the employees and they said, "it's right behind you."
As for customizable themes, that's already possible, just check the theme tab in the ND add-on preferences :)
Glad you're enjoying it!
- Tristan.
Great addon, I needed a non-destructive hard-surface modeling tool and this is perfect for me. And it's open-sourced ! How superb.
Can ND stack multiple solidify modifiers (creating a new modifier) instead of recalling the last solidify?
Not currently. I can't say I've personally come across a use case for that. At the end of the day, they're just modifiers in the stack, so nothing is stopping you from duplicating them manually, as many times as you need. - Tristan
At 6:11, I notice that ND applies uniform inset to the rectangular faces. Does this mean that ND automatically applies scale before applying the inset?
ND does not apply scale before running the panel operator. So, if you run it on an object with a (non)uniform scale, the resulting panel will be scaled similarly.
Hi. I have a feature request. The Sketch Tool is great butcan it be expanded further. Currently it directly jumps to single vert in edit mode and then we have to use extrude to create desired shape for either solidifying or revolving etc modifier use. I wish if the Sketch tool expands further into drawing like 3dsketch tool in cad apps. Basically the power to draw a shape using line tool and seting up temporary constraints and of course snapping based. A goof example for it could be this vide -
th-cam.com/video/Eflk6MLGj0U/w-d-xo.html
although it is for splines but i see no reason for something like this for ND's sketch tool. lmk wut
Hey! Yeah, we definitely plan to expand on sketches in the next major version of ND. I'll check out the video reference as well; thanks! - Tristan
Huge thank from Tunisia for this amazing addon
Thanks for this lucid tutorial!
Very few tutorials have clearly defined chapters.
This feature really helps us focus on each operator separately, to master it.
I have a doubt about the *Clear Vertex Group* operator: What is the definition of a "Vertex Group"? In this video, the group was not named explicitly. You selected some vertices, and applied a command. So is it correct to understand that ND treats a selection as a "Vertex Group" when we apply a command to it?
I am asking this, because IINW when we select multiple vertices and apply a command in Blender, the command applies to them individually, and not as a group.
But probably with ND, this happens because it first forms a group and then applies one or more modifiers. (?)
There is a degree of assumed Blender knowledge in this series, so I haven't gone into great detail about how ND works under the hood or what it does with Blender's API (though that could be an interesting video or two).
But to answer your question as briefly as possible, when selecting one or more vertices and executing something like the Vertex Bevel operator, ND first creates a new vertex group with an autogenerated name (which can be viewed in the object data properties panel when you have an object selected). It then creates a bevel modifier and adds it to the object's modifier stack. It then sets many properties on that bevel modifier, including the limit method, which will reference the vertex group it created as part of the process.
You can perform this long series of steps manually. ND simply removes the need for that repetitive/tedious process.
Feel free to join our Discord server if you want to discuss these topics in more detail.
Does ND work with curved surfaces as well?
It depends on what types of curved surfaces you have in mind. Some aren't possible to achieve using a non-destructive approach, and some are. There are also cases where a mix of destructive & non-destructive modelling techniques can be used together to get the best of both worlds. - Tristan
Ok, risking looking like a blind guy again here:
After performing a boolean operation, and then cycling to the new utility, is there a way to apply additional modifiers?
For example: I create an octagon-shaped cylinder. I want to apply an array in the Z direction on a face, then a circular array. I want to do this in a slice operation, but I first have to ensure my slicer/cutter is how i want it. I create the cutter and apply a diff. I adjust as i want and am ready to perform the array/circular array operation, but when I cycle to the utility, it's not bringing up the modifiers in the quick menu. I think it has to do with its labeling prefix of "Bool". I know I can do it the longer, standard way but is there something I'm missing?
You can always add more modifiers to utils, however, ND may not always "predict" the ones you're after when using the fast menu. You can always use the main ND menu (SHIFT+2) to access every operator available.
Each new version of ND usually includes further enhancements to the fast menu. I can take a look at adding additional predictions to it when you select a util object. - Tristan
@@HugeMenace
Sensational.
Every feature description (uhhh!) has me grunting. I rewind cuz I missed something (due to my grunting), and I grunt again. I'm so sad to say that this is looking like it's gonna replace ALL my other addons--and this makes my loyalty gland convulse. But, c'mon!
And free?!??!
Ow!
Haha, glad you like ND, welcome to the club :) - Tristan
It's better than free, it's open-source !
What theme are you using?
The standard Blender dark theme with a few custom modifications. - Tristan
@@HugeMenace Thank you!
👍🔥
I'm thrilled to have found this exceptional modeling tool. It's truly remarkable and has rendered many of my previous add-ons obsolete (but then again, it's just money). I highly recommend it.
That's great to hear! Welcome to ND :) - Tristan