[Addon] Backface hiding

:information_source: Blender 4.0 compatible

This add-on hides the backfacing or non-visible geometry to address the issue of Backface Culling not hiding mesh components in Edit mode (vertices, edges, faces), as pointed out by this rightclickselect proposal.

It is mostly useful for retopology with X-Ray mode, but isn’t limited to this use case.

Download on Gitlab

There’s also an old version for blender 2.7x

This image shows a comparison between the built-in Backface culling and the Backface hiding from this add-on when doing retopology on top of a high-poly mesh with X-ray enabled on the low poly mesh :


9 Likes

Nice Thank you!
Could this be extended to the Paint mode?

Have you tried the built-in Backface Culling in Paint mode ?

The current implementation of backface culling i real pain in the butt. If somebody is interested in realtime solution, for retopo:
https://bartoszstyperek.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/new-blender-addon-draw-xray/
http://i.imgur.com/rKsQwDH.gif

1 Like

JoseConseco Aww Cam’on ! Where have you been all this time I was doing my own thing ?
Well, maybe my cheap version will still be useful to some people.

On a more serious note, your add-on seems awesome but I think it would be easier to find on the web if it included “backface” somewhere in the name, since that’s what makes it differ from the built-in X-Ray mode of Blender. This way I would probably have found it before making my own (although I learned interesting and important things while making it).

Great job ChameleonScales ! I bought it.

uhm thanks but it’s free and GPL. Aren’t you talking about JoseConseco’s add-on ? This one’s not free.

I really like your addon Chameleon, is it possible to add shortcuts to it? I modelled yesterday with it and its a pleasure :smiley:

tungee
cool. I haven’t truly used it myself so I didn’t know what response to expect.
About shortcuts :
In Blender, you can map keyboard shortcuts to any operator from the Input tab in the User Preferences.
In this case, go in the User Prefs > Input > 3DView > Mesh, click on “Add New”, expand the added one, type object.hide_backfacing and chose your keys. One that isn’t used is Q (maybe a better one can be found though).
For the “Hide non-visible” button the operator is object.hide_non_visible and another non-used key is D.
But I’ll try to implement default shortcuts and an easy option to change them in the add-on’s properties to make it easier. I added this to the TODO list.

But first I have to make a fix to the add-on as soon as I have some time (a bug when you disable it)

JoseConseco
are you actually the maker of “Draw X-Ray” ? The author’s name in the page you linked is not the same as your name here.

Also, for those of you who don’t know, when it comes to retopology specifically, Retopoflow hides the backfacing geometry in real-time. And version 2.0 will kick ass when released (it already does in its current state).

Yes, I am the author, the JoseConseco is no my real name, it is just the nick. I added ‘backface culling’ to tags and description in Xray addon, so it may be easier to find by people.

JoseConseco thanks.

I fixed the unregister bug.

Now trying to implement default shortcuts but having difficulties. If you want to help, I asked on a new thread here.

In the mean time I added instructions on how to add the shortcuts yourself in the repository’s README

Right today I was dreaming of having this addon!!! Thanks!!! XDDD So happy!!!

You’re welcome. Glad if it helps the community, as it was the main idea.

fixed the object rotation issue.

fixed another little issue. You can now add shortcuts more easily. Simply right-click on either of the 2 buttons and select “Add Shortcut”, then press the key you want to use.

Updated to version 0.2 : Now each operator has a default keyboard shortcut that you can modify in the Add-on’s preferences (the default ones are Q and D).
Now the next thing I’m working on is an “un-hide” operator that retrieves your selection, so you can use Backface Hiding without worrying about losing your vertex, edge or face selection even if it got hidden

Thank you for your Addon.

Please allow default shortcuts to be turned off in the addon itself, and actually: have them off by default?
It’s like every addon creator thinks ‘sweet, Q’s available in my totally addon-free Blender!’ and puts their thing on Q.
I have more addons than I can count fighting over my Q key!

You can disable shortcuts simply by unchecking their respective checkboxes right in the add-on’s properties (when you expand the add-on in the User Preferences)
You can also change them by clicking on their respective key (e.g. clicking on the “Q”) and pressing the key you want as the new shortcut (as the warning message says, you have to save the User Preferences if you want to keep your changes).

About disabling it by default, I think such an add-on is made to work with a shortcut rather than with buttons, so I’d prefer to let them on by default.
But i don’t know, what do you think, everyone else ?
Also if you have an idea for a better key or combination of keys, don’t hesitate to tell me about it.