It already does this, sort of. The top half of the contextual menu includes general mesh commands, while the bottom half changes depending on vert/edge/face modes. But I agree we could add more here.
We could easily make it so it includes the entire vert/edge/face menu contents, or at least more of them. I would like to look into this to make this more complete and fleshed out.
Hi. Here I’ll try to explain what I meant when I said on blenderartists forum that if the tools could behave differently if there is nothing selected it would solve the “tweak” mode.
Note that the tweak operation is usually performed by the transform tools (move/scale/rotate) not the selection tools.
So here’s how it works:
If there’s nothing selected but I “click” (LMB down without release) on an object or component (verts/edges/faces), it gets select, BUT, my next step is what will dictate if I want to perform a normal click or a tweak. So if I just release the LMB without moving, it will perform the regular click and the component/object will stay selected obviously. Now, if I move, I’m automatically in tweak mode (dragging the object/component), and when I’m done and release the LMB, it will automatically deselect everything. That way you can perform as many tweaks as you want.
The key point is, the tools need to be aware if there’s something selected or not. If there is, then things work as it is currently, if there’s none, then if I click and drag on something, I’m tweaking, and on release it automatically deselects…
It’s a simple concept but works wonders, and it’s far superior than just having a dedicated tool for tweaking, because let’s not forget that a tweak mode is not just for moving things. It should work with all the transform tools (move/scale/rotate) and also with most modeling tools (extrude/inset/bevel etc). At leat that’s how it works on most 3d packages.
If something is unclear (as I don’t speak english) please let me know, I could show you some examples.
Cheers.
Transform tools currently show gizmos and have click and drag anywhere behavior when something is selected. Many users with a fast modeling workflow don’t want anything in the way at all, and if we add an option to disable it to the transform tool it practically works as a different tool.
This video shows how i have configured my blender to work as “industry standards” and i also use mmb to pan the view and rmb to rotate the view which enables me to work fast without the need to constantly use keyboard shortcuts for basic movements.
I would also really like to use the box select with 3d manipulator widget! I find it much faster and easier to use than keyboard shortcuts so could the widget be a toggle like it used to be or something?
Also now the rmb brings the context menu but i cant find where to change that so i cant get rotate view to rmb?
Yeah, don’t have the possibility to swap only left and right click is a problem.
PD: Thanks for watching my video
I can’t see the issue. The “click and drag anywhere” also exists here, and like you said, it works only when something is selected, so it’s all good, since this tweak mode is only actve when nothing is selected. And hiding the gizmo is really a minor thing.
This method has many advantages, as it allows to not just the transform tools to perform tweaks but basically most modeling tools as well, and this is huge…
Here’s a quick example of this tweak mode method working with the transform tools and also some modeling tools. The gizmo is hidden.
This is the most flexible tweak mode method imo, as it allows you to tweak your mesh with several other tools, without the usual “click to select once and then click again to drag”.
You should give it a try, it’s really an amazing and fast workflow.
I have nothing against that kind of tweak mode, but hiding the gizmo when something is selected is not a minor thing.
This would be optional, no? So it’s up to the users I guess. I personally have no problem with it, I do a lot of mesh tweaking with the gizmo visible, and when I don’t want to see it I turn it off. I don’t see problem in it.
Wow. This is very powerful, I didn’t know about that workflow.
So +1 to this.
A separate tool is a way of making the gizmos optional. When users want this behavior as their default to work efficiently without using tools and gizmos, then having it as a sub-option of some tool is not as straightforward.
A separate tool would be too limiting imo. We wouldn’t able to expand the tweak mode workflow to be used with other tools. I think having it as a “mode” is far more powerful. And for temporary disabling the gizmo we could just use the overlay “Active Tools”, it just needs to be shortcut-able to toggle on/off fast, it doesn’t need to be an option in every tool.
It’s not mutually exclusive, adding a new tool does not limit the other tools.
Yes, I think this should be added as a toggle for any of the transform tools. I would call it Auto-Select, but it could also be called Tweak. With the option enabled, the Gizmo would not be visible, and you could click and drag on any element to immediately transform it.
If this could be implemented the way I’m suggesting, it wouldn’t even be necessary to have that toggle on each individual tool. One button to toggle it on/off is enough, because the true power of this tweak mode is the ability of the modeling tools to take advantage of this tweak mode too, not just the transform tools, as I showed in the video.
That would be a great boost to the modeling workflow in Blender.
I think it’s a bug. When you switch to left click select, hitting W does nothing, Option menu doesn’t show up.
This menu is now in your right click.
No problem, in these situations usually in all programs (2d or 3d) you disabled to select the objects that bother you. For example, you probably have the ground in one collection, in another the rocks, then you can disable the selection to the ground and work easily with the rocks.
Yes! that is a solution like in any other software.
How about selection with any tool selected from toolshelf
CTRL + LMB - Lasso selection
ALT + LMB - Box selection
This could work for both left or right mouse button from user preferences because it does nothing
but where is the box select with this?, this means you’ll have to exit the tweak mode to be able to do it!!! like i said in maya you get the gizmos and box select on left click and tweak mode in MMB removing any need for more clicks except for activiating the tool.
