It is finally here... EDGE FLOW (SET FLOW) for Blender ! (Benjamin Saunder)

PolyGreen · September 29, 2018, 12:23pm

had to make a topic about this one since I did not see it discussed yet. Many thanks to Benjamin Saunder making this a reality! this tool is superuseful when dealing with complex/curvature models and it has been one of the biggest requests to the developers over the last years.

LINK: https://github.com/BenjaminSauder/EdgeFlow

github.com

BenjaminSauder/EdgeFlow/blob/master/README.md

# EdgeFlow

This addon adds two operators to blender which both work on edgeloop selections.

Feel free to create issues, file requests etc. but be aware of that I might not find time to work on this as much as I'd probably need to. 

Anyhow lets start with a brief overview:

#### Set edge flow:

![Set_Flow_Demo](https://github.com/BenjaminSauder/EdgeFlow/blob/master/docs/Set_Flow_Demo.jpg)

  My stab at implementing a set flow operator for blender, which is a popular tool in 3ds max and maya. This adjusts the edgeloop via a spline interpolation such that it respects the flow of the surrounding geometry.

#### Set edge linear:

![Set_Linear_Demo](https://github.com/BenjaminSauder/EdgeFlow/blob/master/docs/Set_Linear_Demo.jpg)

This tool has two modes, the first makes each selected edge loop linear, the later works on edge rings and straightens them and adjusts each edge length.

This file has been truncated. show original

RickyBlender · September 29, 2018, 2:18pm

did you do a short video showing how this work?

One note
3D Spline interpolation
There is already a function for this implemented in the Loop tool Addon for spline interpolation in 3D!

is there a specific link to download this addon ?

thanks for sharing

happy bl

PolyGreen · September 29, 2018, 2:59pm

@RickyBlender
go to the link in my post and download the ZIP file. In Blender you can “Install from File”, select the ZIP file and check the addon to be active. Now if you are in edit mode press CTRL + E (edge selection menu) and the two Edge flow options will be available at the bottum.

I made a quick gif to demonstrate the Edge Flow Curve function. This basically interpolates what the curve is and positions the out of place vertex to fit on that curve.

Think about car modeling (or anything curve). There is almost stretching when moving vertices around. With this tool it will become much easier to establish curvature of a model without painstakingly move vertices by hand. 3DSMax users all know the SET FLOW tool since its super useful!

2018-09-29_16-51-33

Rimasson · September 29, 2018, 3:32pm

For hard surfaces, i already use Looptools relax and Mira tools Cstretch, and this addon is complementary. Thanks !

anon62435837 · October 3, 2018, 2:19pm

THANK YOU THIS IS What every Max user is waiting Blender for !!!
By the way can you implement this ?
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/straighten-edge

Basically, say you have three vertices, you want the middle vertex to be “straighten”.
Visually imaging you drew a straight line from the first point to the last one.
Now all the middle vertex have to do is to line on that line.
Maybe give an option to let user decide where that middle vertex can slide along that line.

0rAngE · October 3, 2018, 3:43pm

I’ll post this link here as well, just in case someone else needs this. There is an addon already that does this very efficiently, it’s part of the MiraTools collection.

Here’s a quick demo of MiraTools>CurveStretch:

Mira Tools:

PolyGreen · October 3, 2018, 5:34pm

hi there Bracer! that option is already available in this tool Just use the “set linear” option which is just below the regular “set curve”. Glad you love this tool as well.
2018-10-03_19-34-04

YAFU · October 3, 2018, 5:56pm

Thanks for making this great addon available for free!
Your addon should be included in Blender by default, perhaps being part of the collaborative set of addons in “Mesh Edit Tools”
https://en.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Modeling/Extra_Tools

anon62435837 · October 3, 2018, 5:57pm

Thank you Polygreen
I am going to talk about your tool in my channel soon, this is a VERY IMPORTANT TOOL that you have created.

anon62435837 · October 3, 2018, 5:58pm

No 0rAngE, you did NOT just move one point and all the other points along that straight line moves along with it !
This is BLACK MAGIC !
You Sir are a witch !

0rAngE if you are reading this, I could not get the tool that you are using, I can see the gimmicky tools like the draw clones and radial clones and all those fancy bullshit stuff on my T panel but that thing you do with the flattern everything into a line and moving on end and the rest follow I couldn’t find it even in edit mode.

polynut · October 3, 2018, 6:12pm

As an ex 3ds max user i can say that this addition is very good kudos to the dev for this one!

0rAngE · October 3, 2018, 8:46pm

I’m might be using an older version, here’s a screenshot:

anon62435837 · October 4, 2018, 3:51am

Ok managed to get it to work…upon closer inspection I find that the mira tool is not for me sorry, but I really like the set Flow too !

kanishk2391 · October 4, 2018, 3:56am

This is awesome dude…this was missing in Blender and I was looking for it for soo loooong…
Thank you…thank you soo much…

I hope it makes it to the master itself.

helluvamesh · October 4, 2018, 8:14pm

Thanks for creating this GREAT TOOL!

Birkov · October 10, 2018, 9:12pm

Very good addon I’m doing some tests and it works smooth as butter

weee · October 10, 2018, 11:28pm

thanks for this, but after a brief test out I couldn’t grasp how it works, take this quick test for example,
say I want to add in two more loops and smooth them out nicely

after edge flow with default setting, it looks like this

playing around the settings, dont seem to do much, I wonder could you do a quick video demonstration on some of the common uses?

TeaCrab · October 11, 2018, 1:08am

Good stuff!

PolyGreen · October 11, 2018, 7:23am

the tool does not work while selecting multiple edges, in fact it doesnt work on edge rings/loops. Maybe in the future it will! as of now the tool doesn’t understand if the user wants a “valley” or a “peak” (always uses Z is up), again maybe a future addition. The tool as is now is mostly useful for edge selections (not loops or rings)

Zubenelgennubi · October 28, 2018, 6:21pm

Proplem come from vextex select. I use edge select and setflow 4-5 time and it’s works. Even in 3dsmax setflow need 3-4 click for multi edge loop. Hope that help