I think as blender is moving forward from 2.8 there is a lot on the plate. Going to have to give these things time yet. I understand the frustration though. There are tons of people wanting their favorite tools or features added, but it’s a small team that has to prioritize, and I don’t think CAD is on the list yet. Keep pushing, friend.
2 Likes
I’ve been lurking around here for awhile and think your suggestions and work looks really interesting and useful.
Unfortunetely I don’t have the skills to help out, other that trying to give this thread some exposure.
Blender 2.8 is really starting to pull in more people and given some time, this topic will surely gain traction.
I’d hope to see mano-wii being more active here.
3 Likes
@nokipaike @Bobo_The_Imp @Jaydead Thanks for the comments chaps. To clarify, I am not doing the development because I want my stuff in Blender, or my Add-ons released, or my nodes released, etc. I am doing it to show that my thoughts can be done and how they might be achieved. But after three years of development, none of my ideas ever saw inclusion into Animation Nodes, some people have downloaded my work and some people have offered advice and suggestions.
I think it better, if one has an idea, to also show how it might be done to help the process, rather than just to say something like “We need precision inputs in Blender, or it is not good enough for me” I would rather say “I think it is a good idea to improve the precision inputs and this is how it might be done from a mathematics and logic point of view”. I do not count myself as sufficiently well versed in Python to develop code for inclusion in Blender, more to show the process for others to take up.
It can be considered as slightly disappointing that when one is asked to do something on this forum and one does it that, the person asking for it then does not respond…
Cheers, Clock.
Animation nodes was a project outside the blender foundation, it is a beautiful project, but still external …
Only recently with the Everithing Nodes project has the Animation Nodes developer joined the main devs group of the blender foundation.
Also, consider that not many people are skilled with the visual programming of the nodes animation addon …
Perhaps with time when the Everithing Node project will be completed and fully implemented in blender, over time people will be formed that will go deep in this type of instrument … as it was with shader nodes and compositing …
anyway let’s get back to topic …
the chats take us out of context.
2 Likes
Yes, if I had a pound for every time I was told that virtually nobody develops AN nodes, I would be a richer man! That was the reason I was told that the documentation for developers in AN was so poor. All the AN development is done with Python, so I use Atom and have invested a great deal of time in teaching myself how to do this. Sorry if I sound down at the moment, this frustration has affected me quite a lot, I feel I have a lot to offer and I feel dismissed, maybe because of my age, I don’t know…
Cheers, Clock.
Yes, let’s get back on-topic - work in this area will make Blender so much more accessible to designers.
(things will be different for Everithing node project…)
1 Like
How about those shortcuts?
How about ability to set shortcut?
Then it could be any.
Also, B.A.S.E. proposal includes switching snap types during action issue with direct V, E, F, L, I keys, as far they are free during action. Below in small print.
It makes sense because snaps are needed mostly during some action.
8 Likes
I definitely agree with the type of shortcut similar to the modal type
1 Like
I am not so much interested in having shortcuts, more in having the required functions for precision drawing in the first place…
We need a minimum of, in an intuitive format that draughtsmen recognise:
- Absolute, or Global to use the Blender term, input for all three axes.
- Delta input, I don’t think there is a Blender term for this, all three axes at once again.
- Vector Input (distance at angle).
- Snap, or Cursor to Normal, or perpendicular if you prefer, intersection between vertex and edge, or two other vertices.
- Snap, or Cursor to Intersection of two edges/four vertices.
- Snap, or cursor to Percentage between two vertices, does the Mid-Point thing by default - 50% I believe.
- Join unconnected vertices that are not part of a face.
- Measure distances and angles from vertices to set operating parameters.
All of the above in Edit mode with vertices/edges as the input locations and in Object mode with object origins as the input locations. the maths is pretty easy, the logic is the same, it is not hard to do… I have offered to help here, offer still stands.
“Polygon Modellers” don’t need to understand, or use this stuff, but designers will use Blender far more if these features are included.
Cheers, Clock. 
EDIT:
What about holes in meshes, we can do this with curves, why not normal meshes?
2 Likes
A video about B.A.S.E. snap enhancement proposal is ready.
It’s main goal is to unify all those tools from first part.
Also Bonus tools included.
18 Likes
Are the intersecting (overlapping) subdivisions screen space dependent (from camera view) or world space dependent (from the objects world space location)?
We decided to make only the XY projection, since it is both the simplest and most useful for our cases.
if @mano-wii & @Ton & @main-devs will decide to implement these features, or at the last implement a good set of API that will make life easier for addon devs … I can’t imagine what flight we would see …
Also because these tools would bring a lot of new users in blender … I don’t say the professional engineers, who obviously use applications that have been well established for years, but all that new generation of DIY Makers and Amateur, who are growing with 3D printing and the CNCs, for the most varied projects … those that already use blender, but in a limited way for obvious reasons of no easy funcitional snapping and no precise modeling … all would flow into it …
4 Likes
Excellent work, useful to Mechanical Engineers as well!! I hope this makes it into Blender along with other CAD ideas. Is there any way these resources can be “pooled” into a comprehensive suite, with MeasureIt and Offset Edges for example? We can attract far more users to Blender with these functions…
Cheers, Clock.
1 Like
a practical example …
2 Likes
Is this discussion for UV snapping, UV aligns too?
Don’t see why not, make yourself at home!!!
Cheers, Clock.
Hi, newcomer here trying to jump to Blender after using Max professionally for arch-vis for 13 years. I hope I can contribute to the discussion. 
Are there any builds available that I can test and give feedback on?
2 Likes