It is with much pleasure that I announce the release of Hard Ops 9: Radium. While many things have changed we hope to keep the same experience.
Gumroad Customers: The top file is always the latest version.
Blender Market Customers: the file….
Hard Ops 0087 Update / Hard Ops 008 Update / Hard Ops 0079 Update
I should mention here booltool is no longer needed / required for Hard Ops. We support it however certain features require it not be enabled.
After the release of Hard Ops 0087 we immediately got to work on the next version working to unify things on a level that makes the workflow easier to explain and use. I plan to release videos for this version when possible to help explain but I will attempt to in this update log.
Let’s begin with the Hard Ops preferences in the add-ons panel.
Add On Prefs –
The hotkeys of Hard Ops are now listed in the preferences. It is recommended to uncheck them to disable them. (Do not click the Xs). This shouldn’t be needing any adjustments and is experimental.
The addons panel and which ones are recommended is also updated .The main change is the decalMachine. Clicking the Hard Ops link will get you a discount on the product. To find out more about decalMachine check this link to find out more.
There is also a Modal Scale for making the modals work at larger scales but we will go over this in its 2nd location. The misc menu of the Hops Helper (ctrl + `)
Ok so with the addon prefs aside lets get to the T panel. The Hard Ops learning tab is there for users to find out more on how to use Hard Ops and get help.
I hope the learning tab can be useful in helping more people get started with Hard Ops.
Step / Ssharpen / Csharpen / Bwidth Enhancements –
Now lets get into Hard Ops and the Q menu.
The Q menu has went through some changes. As you can see all options are listed however the context. For example merge and cslash (formerly rebool / cslice). These options are particular and will do nothing if the context is not correct.
But another thing to note is Cstep / Sstep / CBake are gone. The cstep / sstep workflow is now simplified into the Csharpen / Ssharpen / Step workflow.
Basically Step will bake the bevels and set up the bevel modifier in addition to putting the mesh in Cstep mode.
To demonstrate this in action. This is the normal boolean / Csharpen behavior. Just perform a boolean action and press Q and Csharpen. Also note the boolean object became sstatus: boolshape. This give the boolean object a special q menu. I bevelled using a neutral bevel instead of csharpen bevel due to the cutting of weights into geo is not recommended.
To take this a step further lets Step and then do a boolean and Csharpen again. Then use Step to bake the previous bevels and then adjust the bwidth of the new bevels. This is not much of a departure from the previous workflow except now ssharpen and csharpen work with cstep meshes. So the other operators were not needed. This should make the learning process easier for beginners especially.
CSharpen and Ssharpen now work on multiple meshes. As does Bwidth.
This isn’t even the best part.
This is.
In the T panel and (ctrl + ~) Modifier Helper is an Sharp tab. This allows you to set the sharpeners S/C and step’s angle parameter. This can be useful in cases where you need a higher number before doing an operation. This makes the Hard Ops workflow much faster and easier to work with. Here is an example of how it can be used.
The easiest way to explain what is going on is.
- Bwidth to show the bevel is still live
- Step to bake the bevels
- Changed Sstatus to Csharp for emphasis
- Ssharp with 30 degrees (this bevelled the bevel with is undesired)
- Changed angle using Mod Helper Sharp area to raise to 45.
- Bevel is no longer effecting undesired edges because the limit is 45 and not 30
Bwidth has also seen some enhancements. In addition.
You can use Bwidth to turn off bevel modifiers by pressing V. In fact pressing H will show help. This is for all modal operators.
There are even more enhancements beyond this that I am sure am missing. On a technical level they perform even better with heavy scenes than before however with so many changes I expect glitches.
Reset Axis Operator –
We added an option to reset an object on an axis.
It comes in handy for orienting things on the x axis which is it’s main purpose.
Sharp Manager –
This was also an important feature that I am quite pleased with.
In short. This will convert sharps to seam / bevel mark / sharp / subdivision crease. This can be useful when using subdivision to block in a model and then applied and used with beveling which I do alot.
This panel looks complex but really the top is all that matters. 
In my typical use cases I am holding shift and clicking sharp on the left side and selecting all the options on the right side.
When using subdivision block in and applying it via alt + c or clicking on the apply button of the modifier all the ssharp edges get converted to sharp edges so the converter just converts them back.
Modifier Helper –
The misc tab has been populated with options. This will be useful for using this in full screen mode and accessing quick options. In this screen all options are expanded for effect. I’ll go over what they mean.
- Sharps (covered previously on page)
- Operator Options
- Bmesh / Carve (this will change the behavior of booleans in Hard Ops)
- Bmesh is nicer but less stable / Carve is completely stable but gives undesired edges alot of the time.
- Modal Scale – Sets the modals to a multiplier for working with meshes larger than usual or smaller. This is ideal for scale modelling or accuracy.
- Status – sets the sstatus of the mesh. Replaces sstatus override.
- Mesh Options (options for dealing with a mesh and smoothing)
- Set smooth / flat shading / autosmooth angle and enable autosmooth.
- Show wire / all edges. For times when wire must be enabled or disabled
- Parent – just a test
There is still more we plan to do with the helper. It has opened the door for a whole world of functionalities. The modifier helper concludes a 3d long dream of being able to mess with modifiers without the panel.
The material helper is also working better than before.
Cutting Material is where you can specify a material to cut into another object.
This was covered in the last version where it made its debut.
Bevel Multiplier –
Sometimes when I finish a model I want to divide / multiply all the bevels present. This option fulfills that need. All selected objects will have their bevel width multiplied by two. Or divided with the checkbox which can also add some realism depending on context.
Sstatus Logo –
At the top of the screen it used to tell the sstatus of the object however this proved to be confusing to this has been replaced with a discreet logo for notifications. I want to expand its uses however this is the initial implementaion.
Someday it will do something in addition to be colored for notifications but that is for down the road. It is barely visible when the mesh is not in a sstate from Hard Ops. This should provide some assistance to following future tuts and understanding the upcoming “modes”.
Renderset 1 –
Renderset 1 is my default render setup I use for tutorials and basic rendering. It has been expanded to use filmic.
This is just the way I render and can help with setting up renders. GPU recommended.
Edit Mode Enhancements –
MDisp – Mesh Display –
This will hide ssharps from showing in edit mode. This was requested a while back.
Only a visibility change. No sharps are affected.
Edit Sharp Global –
If you need to adjust what edit sharp does the T panel allows this. You can also set it in the (ctrl + `) modifier helper.
Other than that there were no other notable edit mode changes at this time. Things are planned however but planning is required.
With that I conclude this update log and can’t wait to show whats next for Hard Ops. This has been a steady refinement over time and not a day goes by where we aren’t discussing what next to do with Hard Ops. I am honored to have received so much support over the course of the project. The community keeps this tool alive.
Also if you are curious of the official changes internally there is release_log.md file you can open in any text editor or even blender’s text editor.
From Imagination To Creation 
Hi,
I’m getting an error when I try to install the addon.
Do you know how to fix it?
Thanks
Error: https://pastebin.com/raw/sBuHmYCH
http://hardops-manual.readthedocs.io/en/latest/legacy/install.html
I recommend installing it via placing it into the folder for add ons. The install from file can be unstable at times and not work.
hello, iwould like to know if is possible use hard ops 9 for to realize mesh for print 3 D
sure i got a form 2. I use it with hard ops all the time
there is a tutorial for to realize mesh for 3D print?
not particularly. Just export the mesh to preform and prepare a print. I had a pretty easy time. I might do that sometime.
is Inserts in HOps something like a demo of Pitiwazou’s Asset Manager? Can I add my own modeled parts to insert in HOps?
yes theyre just there to help with imagination. I didnt bother with asset management because the support would take away from other hops things. Plus AM exists!
Hello, i d like to know…
if i buy this, how many upgrades im allowed to do?
Do i have to buy any other plugins to work? Thanks anyway.
hard ops will get updates until version 1 or until we are done.
hard ops works fine alone.
Hi, I’m using hardops 9. I love it!
I have encountered some issues thoug. I can’t get (C) Slash to work and I can’t (C) Merge or (S) Merge when I use red inserts. Is there some addons or other conditions required for it to work properly?
no . cslash is just selecting two objects and pressing Q
when it comes to inserts…
http://hardops-manual.readthedocs.io/en/latest/inserts/#red-inserts-details
hope that helps.
That is exactly what i’m trying to do. When I use CSlash I get that error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\cutters\split_check.py”, line 91, in execute
modifier.solver = ‘CARVE’
AttributeError: ‘BooleanModifier’ object has no attribute ‘solver’
location: :-1
and when I merge insert iI get:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\merging\parent_merge.py”, line 36, in invoke
self.execute(context)
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\merging\parent_merge.py”, line 65, in execute
boolean_diff_objects(target_object, bounding_box_object)
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\merging\parent_merge.py”, line 187, in boolean_diff_objects
bpy.ops.hops.bool_difference(boolean_method=’CARVE’)
File “C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py”, line 189, in __call__
ret = op_call(self.idname_py(), None, kw)
RuntimeError: Error: Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\booleans\bool_difference.py”, line 54, in execute
use_bmesh_boolean(context, ‘DIFFERENCE’)
File “C:\Users\fco\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\addons\HOps\operators\booleans\bool_utils.py”, line 44, in use_bmesh_boolean
boolean.solver = ‘BMESH’
AttributeError: ‘BooleanModifier’ object has no attribute ‘solver’
location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.77\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py:189
location: :-1
update blender. You are using version 2.77.
https://builder.blender.org/
Damned! It was in front of my eyes the whole time! I guess thats what you get when you work on two computers with 3 different versions of blender.
It seems to work fine with 2.78. Sorry for the trouble and thanks for the impecable support!
no problem. glad it was resolved. Its can be tough keeping up. I love this tool to keeping blender up to date on windows.
https://github.com/tobkum/BlenderUpdater/releases/tag/v1.1
Hi, really enjoying hardops since recently purchasing it from gumroad. However, Blender crashes to desktop without even raising an error when attempting to use Insert to place a subset that allows for variable length (all other inserts work fine however). I installed manually through placing the files in the addons folder etc and everything else works perfectly. Is this a known issue or is it something I’m doing wrong?
Many thanks!
update blender
https://builder.blender.org/download/
I’m running the most recent version available, 2.78c, and was when the issue was occuring. Any other solution you could think of?
Having tested using a nightly build, it now works. Please disregard the last message! Thanks for your help
adjustable inserts are known to crash with certain versions of blender. This issue comes and goes but usually ceases with updates to blender. Im hoping with the official 2.79 that this will work without the crashes.
Is it possible to get the example videos run slower. They are very useful but difficult to follow just because of its speed at least for me. Even a stoppage would be very useful.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gif-scrubber/gbdacbnhlfdlllckelpdkgeklfjfgcmp?hl=en
this is commonly used to slow down gifs for easy analysis
Hi,
I’ve just purchased Hops from blendermarket and downloaded Hops_921.zip file. In your description you say “The main change is the decalMachine. Clicking the Hard Ops link will get you a discount on the product.” I clicked it but it says “your discount code is not valid”
that promotion has long expired. unfortunately
Went through the same and just decided to get DM full-price. I’m an unemployed student, and can say without doubt it’s worth every cent.
Hi again. Every time I symmetrize (Alt+X), I have to select ” -X” direction on the “T” menu section Symm option. But I am sure that I am working exact the same xyz coordinates and same directions as your tutorial.
You can see on this screenshot
https://yadi.sk/i/gEB3su4b3M5Sre
you will need to choose right handed in your hard ops prefs.
I’m not able to sharpen edges anymore in HOps 93. When I try to I get this message:
https://imgur.com/a/8InDU
What should I do to fix this?
what modifier is disabled? It might be a boolean from the look of it.
Hey Jerry, I am trying to find some documentation on how can I add my own meshes to Hardops, Cheers, Marko
You can’t. That’s not a feature. Asset management does though.
No worries, thank you good sir
Hi,
have last version. Don’t know if it’s intended but everytime I subtract a mesh from another via booleans the original mesh changes status to Step (Cyan) and so I cannot change the bevel no more. Is it normal?
lets see a gif of that. I assume youre using pie menu?
Trying out Hardops, and looking great so far! Great workflow. But am experiencing a problem with some subsets. For example, when trying to insert the ‘holearray’ subset, I get the message that the ‘group ‘holearraySM’ does not exist in the assets file’. However, when I look into the substs.blend file (under the program files, Blender, add-ons folder), there is a group named as such. That group contains the AB and BB objects, but not an OB object. Is this a known issue, and could there be other subsets and insets that have this issue?
Thanks !
thanks for the report. We’ll get that fixed!
holearraySM.png should be the name of the png under \HOps\assets\subsets_thumbnails
I’ll have that fixed in the next update but it more than likely was a typo on the png.