Several general questions

Hi to all.

Recently i knew about your prog. So, trying it. Many years I Used Hexagon for Low Poly direct modelling, but it is abandoned and have a lot of bugs and limitations, so glad there is a project with similiar purposes as Hexagon)))

But first of all some dissapointments for me.

1 - I didn't find a way to import obj. Where is it hides? (stupid question i know)

2 - Is there any way to directly freely tesselate surface vertex by vertex. I mean if i want for example to do such thing. (screen from Hexagon)


In Hexagon it's easy. In Nvil I tried cut tool, but it's behaviour too weird (or maybe i don't understand something, or it's wrong tool i tried to use)
Programm  dont't gives me to set a vertex where i want, instead it divides the selected edge.
Am i missed something?

3 - There's so much features, as i see in your prog, but only litte of them described in manual.
Is there any plans to make complete manual?

Hello Axolotl!

• It's in File->Merge Scene.
• To get cuts from the picture you can use a different type of Cut tool. You probably used Edge Shortcut Tools->Cut, which cuts through selected edges or connects selected vertices on key-press. There's a pretty nice context cut tool available in the Edit->Customize->StreamLine Tools menu called Subobject Shortcut Tools->Context Cut(Break Edges). If it isn't already defined, create a new StreamLine Tool (of "Subobject Tool" type), set On Activated to Subobject Shortcut Tools->Context Cut(Break Edges) and assign a hotkey to it. Now, when you press and hold that hotkey, you'll enter cut mode and will be able to place cuts wherever you want. It will work both: as an interactive cut tool (if you hold the key and click with a mouse where you want vertices to be) or as a standard Edge Shortcut Tools->Cut if you tap the key with some edges/vertices selected.
• I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

1 - Thanks, Merge scene for me associated for exactly merging scene file formats. It's not obvious to find import there.

2 - Oh. So complicated. I'm just starting using your prog, so will try to understand and aplly yur advice.

3 - That's a pity, good manual is always a good way to attract people, complicated progs without or with a little explanation can easily push the new people away.

....

P.S. Also there is some strange way to render non planar quad(or more) faces. They are overlap each other in some cases, it's very hard to work and understand geometry in such situations, and even hard to select vertexes or edges that overlapped by face as if it before them (but they not). (If you want i can make more detailed explanation of this problem with pictures or a video)

Hello,

1 - I didn't find a way to import obj. Where is it hides? (stupid question i know)

2 - Is there any way to directly freely tesselate surface vertex by vertex. I mean if i want for example to do such thing. (screen from Hexagon)

While in polygon, edge or vertex selection, press "C"

For example: Create a box. Change to "Edge" selection mode(make sure no edges selected). Press (hold down) "C", move cursor over an edge or vertex and LMB, move to next edge or vertex and LMB again, repeat until finished, release "C" key.

3 - There's so much features, as i see in your prog, but only litte of them described in manual.

Which features do you not understand?

Hello,

P.S. Also there is some strange way to render non planar quad(or more) faces. They are overlap each other in some cases, it's very hard to work and understand geometry in such situations, and even hard to select vertexes or edges that overlapped by face as if it before them (but they not). (If you want i can make more detailed explanation of this problem with pictures or a video)

Do you mean from N-gons?

Try using "Optimize" or "Rewind"

Thanks to all.
About Cut tool: Yes i used hotkey, but my mistake was that i holded left mouse button, so in this way it were snapped to the mids of edges.
But i've met another "problem", in this procedure.
Can I make with this  Cut tool thing like this for example?

Nvil, when i "Cut" & try to set end vertex in a middle of a face, autamatically connects it to the nearest Vertex. I understand, that edge cannot stop in a middle. But In Hexagon it was made in a way, that you set all the points, but if you not finish it with connection, it just cancelled operation. Good solution, i think.

Other question:
Is there any tools similiar to Hexagon Edge tools, I mean "Extract Edge along (in & Out), Extract Around, and extract fillet. Especially, extract along (in & out), because this cannot be made by chamfer.

P.S. Also many times were problems with view clipping((.

And yes, the more i use the prog, more i like it. Realy lot of features and extreme customisation.
So I will "Spread the word" about it, and maybe will become a constant user of it)))

P.S.

Which features do you not understand?

I mean that there is a whole bunch of features that not so obvious but that absolutely not even mentioned in manual and even don't have any tip, how they working.

Hi axolotl,

Can I make with this  Cut tool thing like this for example?

Nvil, when i "Cut" & try to set end vertex in a middle of a face, autamatically connects it to the nearest Vertex. I understand, that edge cannot stop in a middle. But In Hexagon it was made in a way, that you set all the points, but if you not finish it with connection, it just cancelled operation. Good solution, i think.

Hexagon uses an internal optimization for n-gons, it is bad for export to other applications as the optimization is removed.
Although you will find the way Nvil deals with those types of cuts, it is more correct and will give no problem when exporting.

Other question:
Is there any tools similiar to Hexagon Edge tools, I mean "Extract Edge along (in & Out), Extract Around, and extract fillet. Especially, extract along (in & out), because this cannot be made by chamfer.

For "Extract Edge along", use the "Loop insert". For "Extract around" use "Chamfer" with options:- "Refine + Hard Edges" "segments 1", for "Extract Fillet" use "Chamfer" with options "Chop corner off" "segments 1"

P.S. Also many times were problems with view clipping((.

Try using "Set View Focusing Point" or "Selection Focusing"(default keys Ctrl+Shift+Alt" + RMB or LMB on object. You can of course change the shortcut keys if wanted.).

Hi,

Sorry I missed the edit.

Which features do you not understand?

I mean that there is a whole bunch of features that not so obvious but that absolutely not even mentioned in manual and even don't have any tip, how they working.

I can put some info together of the tools I find most useful (the ones not seen by new users at first), but that may not be what you want.
What type of modeling do you do? I ask, so that I can look at first the tools I think you may find of most interest.

Hexagon uses an internal optimization for n-gons, it is bad for export to other applications as the optimization is removed.
Although you will find the way Nvil deals with those types of cuts, it is more correct and will give no problem when exporting.

Hmmm...Of course i don't leave Ngons and my example is just to explain what i mean. It's just very useful sometimes to first make desired form by free tesselation on face and when the shape is done, handly make connections of edges. Here an example:
First i made shape

Then I tesselate the way I need

The I Extrude for example

There can be a lot of situations where you axactly need to control the way how Ngons exactly tesselated to quads, because this shape can easily be just the begining of the end shape.
Nvil automatically tesselates to nearest Vertex, so if you need to tessselate them other way, you must remade this.
Second reason, is that the shape can be very different, and autotesselate can be an obstacle to itself, it will just strt to cross to itself and it will be a mess.

For "Extract Edge along", use the "Loop insert".

I tried to do this way, but with most of complicated shapes it gives me very weird and different results.
Here the example with the same shape i showed about the cut.

Here i selected the needed edges

and here I do the Move along operation in Hexagon

Is it possible to do such thing in Nvil?
For me it is very handy tool, that i used in Hex very often.

I can put some info together of the tools I find most useful (the ones not seen by new users at first), but that may not be what you want.
What type of modeling do you do? I ask, so that I can look at first the tools I think you may find of most interest.

Oh it's not just about me - it's hard i think to explain all the features to every novice user that open the prog, then opens the Manual to find the questions, didn't find info and he goes to forum with every-every question that can be just explained once and for all.
For me, now i just start to explore Nvil, so it's hard to say what exactly i don't understanded, but i met a lot of things, that don't even have a tips about how they work. Fore example "Light Tool" one of such unexplained things..
About modelling - I'am modeller and animator. I model different things - Architecture, Characters, Objects. Did some things in "Heroes Of Might Magic-3" modding community.
Here, the example of my work

Hi axolotl,

Sorry for the late reply.

I do not normally use cut on single polygons, but after looking at that, Yes, I agree it is a pain. You should put in a Feature request (Feature Request forum) to see if the tool can be improved, or possibly have an option not to tessellate and see if IStonia(Developer) can do anything.

For the "Extract along", there is nothing in Nvil that will do exactly that, so again, maybe make a request to see if such a function can be added.

Hey axolotl. The closest thing I can think of for what you are looking for as an "extract/move along" function is the inset tool in NVil. But it works on polygon selections, not on edge selections. In a case as you showed above you would select the inner faces. But if you then inset them, you'd get extra faces you don't want. One way to work around this would be to select the bottom side of the cube, too, before insetting.
Or you delete the extra faces, select the VERTICAL edges that should reach to the bottom and activate "extend edge" (it's a streamline tool) and while the tool is active click on one of the faces at the bottom of the cube. But then you'd still have to merge it somehow with the bottom of the cube to avoid open edges.

I agree with you on the auto-tesselation. I don't like it either. You get rid of the unwanted edges that the cut tool creates by selecting them and then go to 'Geometry->Delete(Options)' and uncheck 'Remove closed 2-Edge vertices'. But that is tiresome, indeed.

Anyone knows how to display vertex normals?

There is a Normal tool in vertex mode. It is currently only available from the Visual Tools panel. I will make it also available in the menu list.

Ah, there it is, thanks.
When you put it in the menu list, would it be visible in Customize Radial Menus toolset?

My mistake. It's there already. Subobject mode > Common Commands n Tools > Normal. Surely you can put it into your radial menu.