Probably 90% of the time when I use MIRROR I’m simply mirroring across the X-axis at 0/0/0.
Also, I find the Duplication step that is apparently required w/the native Mirror to be annoying. (really, it’s “Reverse”, not mirror, since it ‘deletes’ the original mesh unless you Duplicate it first. grrrrr.)
Has anybody written an addon, maybe “Speed Mirror” that with one click will duplicate and mirror a selection across the X-axis?
–I found in other s/w that such simplistic tools often are very useful and get frequent use compared to a more full-featured tools.
In addition to Symmetrize mentioned by @iceythe, try the Mirror Modifier. That one will just build the other half for you as you’re modeling, without you having to explicitly symmetrize; so you’ll only need to apply it (i.e. make geometry real) once after you’re done with symmetry.
It would seem you were simply using the wrong tool for the job.
There is the built-in addon “AutoMirror” which is a single button to mirror in X, Y or Z.
It uses the Mirror modifier behind the scenes but there is an option to apply it immediately.
There are plenty of other options as well, and adding a keyboard shortcut is simple.
After enabling it you can find it in the “N” menu under “Edit” while in edit mode.
iceythe gave you the most concise answer and essentially accomplishes what you want without the need for any add-ons.
The Edit Mode > Mesh > Symmetrize feature appears to be what you want, but it has some limitations. You must be in edit mode for it to apply symmetry, and you can only specify negative & positive only after you have applied the symmetry. In addition, you can not specify whether you want the symmetry to be non destructive as a modifier.
Just for fun, I made my own “auto mirror” add-on. I called it Neltulz - Symmetry.
It does appear to be very similar to the “Auto Mirror” add-on, but that was not intentional. It seems, the desire for a quick and dirty auto mirror feature is very high in Blender, so there exist many ways to do the same thing, quickly and easily.
THANKS to everybody, iceythe, Stan_Pancakes, PyBlend, and Neltulz, for taking the time to help an annoying n0oB, it’s VERY much appreciated. The confusing welter of addons makes transitioning to Blender very challenging, and your patience and efforts are valued.
BTW, I ran the concept of “Mirror” by a programmer friend, and FWIW they agreed with me that that is not a good name for the function – Like many Blender UI concepts & labels, it’s Not Good, since a mirror doesn’t destroy that which it reflects.
since a mirror doesn’t destroy that which it reflects.
I too thought about this. I originally had named a feature “Cut & Mirror” but it was taking up too much horizontal space in my panel, so I shortened it to just “Mirror”. Sometimes semantics gets in the way of usability.
