The only frustration I am coming across with modelling in blender is that it doesn’t have a workplane feature or UCS. ie You cannot orientate your top, right, front views to the workplane or set a UCS (User Coordinate System).
Using Shift + Num 7 is a good feature to align your view to a polygon. The problem I have with it is that I cannot model a new object on that aligned view and still have the front, right, top views to that new orientation.
Setting custom transforms is also a good feature but you cannot align your top, right, front views to the custom transform.
My question: Is there a way to replicate this feature in blender, perhaps with the camera or an addon ?
if i’m not wrong, If a file created with a custom file, is opened with another version, it will just ignore unknown data, so it should open correctly, with warnings due to DNA differences. If then saved, this data will be lost. Similar things could happen viceversa, so be careful, because the mechanical fork is not intended to be used in production.
The key difference between the addon, and mechanical blender implementation, is that the second one adds UCS for all operations transparently, there is no need to start a command from different places. Also, if it is achieved to get in bf-blender, it ensures it will be working on newer versions, and will not suffer from api changes, and hacks needed to get it work. If not implemented the addon can reach more users using an official maintained release, so… really nice work!
The first proposal to be submitted to bf-blender may change a little from how is enabled in the video. I was thinking to add a flag on TransformOrientation to be used as UCS when selected in current 3D view head bar selector. I think it’s best design, as both selectors are quite redundant and maybe confusing. It also does not interfere the current behavior, so for me it has chances!
It sounds great mauge, I hope you are successful in getting bf to implement it.
I think a lot of blender users would use this feature if it was readily available (especially those artists doing hard surface modelling). In my case aircraft.
As you may have been noticed, the work on MB has been on hold during loong time. Two weeks ago had some time and I played a little with current version of blender and I completely agree that is shown that you can do almost anything with addons, and I’ve have advised to get this path one time and another, but always get the conclusions posted above.
Nice to see the interest is still there.