33 posts were split to a new topic: X-Ray selection experiments build
Let’s do the discussion regarding @lcas’ experimental build in another topic, and keep this one about the original design discussion.
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It’s better be named “Select Through and AutoXray selection experiments build”, I guess.
So what do we talk about while we wait for a response, or another side of this mostly 1-sided conversation? I’ll start by trying to recall where we left off a few weeks ago and are waiting to hear further.
What is being considered:
- Select by face area in xray
- Select by non-enclosed or non-adaptive edge
- Auto xray as an alternative convenience
What is not being considered:
4. Turn off xray facedot visibility
What I don’t know for sure 100% but last we heard is basically “no”
5. Select through
Some questions I have:
6. Anything missing/wrong from that list?
7. Is there a way to reconcile these things?
8. How to do that?
9. What does “design” mean specifically in the context of, select through is a design issue?
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For me priorities looks something like that:
.5 Select through
.2 Select by non-enclosed or non-adaptive edge
.1 Select by face area in xray
.4 Turn off xray facedot visibility
.
.
.
.3 Auto xray as an alternative convenience
I really wish for select through to be reconsidered. Auto X-Ray is annoying visually to be a serious replacement for proper see-through selection.
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@lcas did you manage to get the selection Highlight working in solid mode (so that any selected faces are displayed in front of the model, incl. backfacing ones)?
Select Through
What if we make Select Through completely independent of X-ray? So no fiddling with Touch/ Enclosed/ Facedots? Then have the option for:
- Selection Highlight >>> Solid mode shading
- Auto-Xray >>> X-ray preview
Both use the same selection settings as solid mode (so just the way they are in Blender by default).
- Add the header button.
- Make it a hotkey toggle.
- Optionally: Add a keymap checkmark for Auto X-ray (so you could use Modifier + LMB drag to Auto-Xray and configure at will).
It may not cover everything, but this would be the general consensus for now.
Experiments build
Then, we continue with the experiments build and reach a consensus there on all the other options for advanced selection. Get the train rolling on this one and have more people comment on the experiments topic, for which we already know quite a lot by know. Topics to consider are:
- Enclosed/ touch/ adaptive/ facedot selection
- Facedot visibility
- Directional selection
- Possibly selection preview? For click selections, see:
Custom build patches that could be submitted independently
Then you could consider to submit a patch for:
- Zoom speed (in preferences, expose to keymap)
- Frame select distance (in preference)
- Frame select/ frame all in single hotkey (frame all with empty selection)
Addon
- Repeat last command
- Gizmo tweak
- Select Box/ Lasso toggle
See: X-Ray selection experiments build for what they entail.
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Can we just please keep the discussion about the buttons build in the appropriate thread and keep this thread about the original single toggle design?
Possibly selection preview? For click selections, see:
I think it is important issue in general, that it is not very natural for users to participate software development and system design, so they mostly can ask about things they seen somewhere.
This is one of the way windows, photoshop and autocad/3dsmax formed “industry standards” we know today just being first.
From our experience, proper innovative system design and workflow design that solves real existing production problems takes years.
Selection preview was discussed, it can be useful in object mode instead of constantly glowing outline (part of issue 666 that disallow to work properly with complex structures with tightly placed components, like in architecture or mechanical modelibg), but in practice is not very useful in edit mode, since is quite distractive. In maya it also the reason of a lower performance especially in working with heavy meshes - to achieve such an effect you have to basically recalculate cursor projection on mesh in realtime.
Any realtime calculations are performance costly.
@lcas did you manage to get the selection Highlight working in solid mode (so that any selected faces are displayed in front of the model, incl. backfacing ones)
Also interested
Man, why cant i upvote this 53 times, 
Seeing loop cuts on end cap gave me a heart attack moment
Are we there yet?
Focus please, Select Through is meant to be just a tool setting checkbox, no more no less. Everything else is irrelevant to this feature.
This needs to land in master asap.
Have you tried the build? Do you have any comments on it? I think we are getting really close now.
I asked around and they said they were just waiting for one more bump of this thread. It was lack of focus holding them back. That and all the awful things I’ve done, I’m sure. Now they’re getting on it as we speak 
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What do you mean? Who is “they”?
Unfocused passengers, who are travelling “there”, I guess.
I’m saying, as a joke, that I asked some devs. That they were just waiting around for someone to bump the thread saying things like “fOcuS” and “ASAP” to get their act in gear.
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There was times when it used to work btw.
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Say what? The dev’s don’t add this feature!?
any update from the dev ?
For the latest update see:
That’s the status as of now. No official Blender devs involved still apart from some feedback from @JulienKaspar 
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Any news on this? This has been request in 2018, and has nearly 400 replies. It’s almost 4th anniversary and nothing happened.
We have whole new UI, whole new procedural modeling system, whole new hair system, yet we still can’t get ability to select mesh elements properly?
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