Fluent - Hard Surface Modeling Tools

Coding Released Scripts and Themes
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They can. You can cut with one add-on and continue with another depending on the task. It’s mostly a matter of workflow and habits. Nonetheless, there are unique features that set each of them apart. Fluent has wire and pipe tools, grids, and now cloth panels and dynamics wires (not sure if I missed something). Also, I find its UI and workflow more streamlined as opposed to Hardops/Boxcutter which I find more confusing and cluttered. But this is just a personal thing and by no means has anything to do with the potential of each add-on. There’s also Speedflow and the Creative Tools (Ice and Cuber).

I think the easiest way for you to get a sense of what they can do and how they work is to watch some tutorials and/or read respective add-ons documentation.

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Thanks so much for that detailed explanation. I find some aspects of Boxcutter annoying (the most frustrating being NGON draw snapping is wonky). I am going to install Fluent today and give it a shot, it looks fantastic. Can you possibly suggest some of the best tutorials that feature Fluent?

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Sure thing.
I think you could start with the docs. There are several short clips showing the steps for each tool:

Also, the author posts many insightful clips on his discord channel as well.

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Thanks so much!

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I owned both boxcutter and Fluent power trip , but when I am stressed and got to have something done I always turn to fluent first. The work flow just makes sense for me plus a bunch of other cool features.

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167

Thank you guys for your help ! I appreciate it.

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Hi Anubisbis,
I just downloaded and it really had a good intuitive flow, so the name fits, thanks.
But I have one problem. I’m trying the Cloth panel, and I keep getting
“Instant Mesh path is wrong. Check the preferences.”
At first I thought it was because I’m on a Mac and didn’t give it permissions first, but did that and still get the error. The path is correct.

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Hey, I think you need to actually select the instant meshes executable and then press ok, not just the folder.

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Thanks, but on a mac the executable is Instant Mesh.app and that is what I select. Not the folder.

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When I use Andrew Rays link to Documentation of Fluent and then choose say box a bridgstone script starts running on my computer and my anti-virus has to block it. Anyone know why this is happening? Thanks

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I just figured out where the problems with antivirus software come from. It’s a problem with the SSL certificate, the page is not secure and some antivirus software blocks access to the page. It’s a hosting problem. I’m seeing to fix the problem, but you can enter without any problem.

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Hello NeptuneKid,
it has been tested by Mac users without any problem. So we will find.
Normally there is no need, but have you saved your preferences?
Have you tried to follow the documentation? http://cgthoughts.com/fluent/doc/the-cloth-panel-tool/

174

Hey, love the addon.
I seem to have an error with cloth panel with both remeshers.

Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.92\scripts\addons\fluent_power_trip\__init__.py", line 15368, in invoke
    bpy.ops.object.duplicate()
  File "E:\Programs\blender\2.92\2.92\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py", line 132, in __call__
    ret = _op_call(self.idname_py(), None, kw)
RuntimeError: Operator bpy.ops.object.duplicate.poll() failed, context is incorrect

location: <unknown location>:-1
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I didn’t try with Blender 2.92 alpha (I never work with alpha version). But this error is like your try to use the tool in the wrong space (problem with edit or object mode). Pls try to follow the documention : http://cgthoughts.com/fluent/doc/the-cloth-panel-tool/

Let me know if you find where was the problem.

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It works 100% i just never knew i needed to press enter or that was in an other mode i was selecting the faces and pressing the cloth panel. Thanks for the help.

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Yes to all that.
Here is a vid of it happening.

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Can you try with the stable version of Blender ? I will ask to my other Mac users how they do.

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Okay, it works on Stable Blender, but not 2.92Alpha and the reason is
Stable will let me drill down into the application to get to the executable, but 2.92Alpha will not.
Here’s a vid explaining that:

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Thank you so much for this clear explaination ! That will be useful for other Mac users. :+1:

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I wonder if that is a bug we need to let the developers know about?