2021 has began and to begin this year HardOps rolls another version and continues it’s aim for the next level. When this tool was first made I had no idea of what it would become but the aims remain the same. To solve issues and make life easier for users using Blender.

Our tools currently support 2.83 LTS / 2.90 / 2.91 and even 2.92. As long as your version is “up to date” you should be good to go.

When it comes to updating some things never change.

Without further ado let’s jump into what is new!

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Videos

There’s always videos for a release. It’s easier sometimes.

Playlists are also a part of each release so as we proceed more videos will be added.

Link Ops

Link ops is the replacement to pizza ops. It is built to become the goto portal for various locations in the HOPS Universe.

The goal with Link Ops was to make banners that had a certain look and feel to generate excitement versus a static list of URLs. I hope users give it a try and check out the various portals for getting around HardOps.

To_Shape 1.5

To_Shape has been an adventure. The aim of V2 was to take all that made to shape great and make it interactive. However, users of less that powerful hardware was not able to have the intended experience. For that reason we went back to the drawing board and now today we present to_shape 1.5.

Lighter but also just as versatile as the V2 version with less graphical overhead and optimized towards speed. The best part is the same controls as V2 remain and a space-bar menu was even added (as of version 987_1).

To_shape can be hard to describe but so often you may want to have a shape the same size as an area or a derived convex hull of a shape combination.

The main reason to also revisit To_shape in the form of 1.5 was to get back the ability to orient shapes according to individual rotations. V2 lacked this and it was a noticeable omission with a few more advanced users.

‘I’ will activate individual which can be useful for situations requiring it. The help is also intended to be as informative as possible to help users get he most out of 1.5.

Decap is also “one roll back” from box giving the familiar behavior of being able to decap a shape without issue and even set up array start and end caps.

EverScroll

Codenamed everyscroll, this was intended to be a unification of the scrolling workflow when it comes to:

• accessing booleans
• scrolling modifiers
• accessing children

There is additional functionality planned for the future but it will require additional time. By consolidating all the scrolls we aim to unify behavior and systems while also moving it forward. The previous system of mod/bool scroll toggle was held together with duct tape and staples and I am excited to see this approach to scrolling finally come to fruition.

As with all scrolling it shows up in the Q menu big 3 as relevant meaning without mods or booleans there is no option to show it in the main Q menu.

To best understand any tool it is best to read the tooltip.

Boolscroll

Boolscroll behaves identical to classic with the same behaviors as before with the addition of also supporting kitops and local mode. This expands on the reach capabilities of boolscroll quite a bit and is the foundation of that new system.

Another benefit of this new scroll is the addition of expanded mode. This means that buttons are clickable and can even be shift + clicked on name to “append to visibility”. There are also buttons to apply that support shift for apply_to which is something I am also quite excited about.

Apply_to is activated with shift + clicking a checkbox in the mod window of the Expanded mode. For users who want to load into expanded mode by default there is also a preference for that.

Alternatively everscroll will launch in FAS mode and then allow for expand on tab.

Shift + Tab will change mode on the fly allowing you to go between them as needed. This brings us to our next point.

Modifier Scroll

Modifier scroll is both a demonstration replay scroller but also a troubleshooting scroll and is built for analysis first. Alot of work has went into each and every scroll and we aim to have them be central to your workflow in both troubleshooting and showcase.

Modifier scroll also showcases the shapes that affect boolean mods as well which is similar to hopstool an the boolean dropdown in the hops button.

Modifier scroll also has an expanded mode which is quite expansive and also has the apply_to functionalities. This means users can apply mods to a region in the stack and even apply mods one by one. Its also quite interesting to apply mods and right click and cancel to go back to an unapplied state. This should allow for more experiemental testing with being able to apply modifiers.

Classic behaviors still remain that were consistent with modifier scroll.

• Ctrl to apply_to a point in scroll with LMB confirm
• Shift to apply_to on a duplicate which removes any kept mods and reverts the main shape back to original state.

The shift one is essential for cases where an applied duplicate is needed for particular things that are form fitting to the relevant work at hand.

These behaviors were mainstays from classic content and I am glad to see them persist into the new year.

Children Scroll

New to this release is Children scroll. This is by no means where we intend to end with everscroll, but a taste of where we intend to go. Children scroll isn’t intended to be a big deal but in a case where you need to select a child this will come through in a pinch. And even supports local mode!

A video was also prepared on everscroll which should be linked up top.

Object Recall

Some modifiers have a parameter for “object”. For example mirror, shrinkwrap, or lattice. When shift clicking a modifier with an object the object in question will be brought to visibility.

This comes in handy for lattices and empties the most since I often need them just for a moment.

Taper / Deform

Taper was added a while back however to remain congruent with boxcutter it needed the ability to wedge as well. While this isn’t the most important thing it can be handy to wedge or taper things post operation or as a step prior to progression.

Care and attention was also given to make it feel as fluid as possible.

When using wedge ctrl + scroll will roll it on the axis at hand. Shift + scroll allows for the wedge to also change similarly allowing for fine adjustment. Mouse move can also adjust the factor on the fly.

Clean Mesh

It has been a while since clean mesh has received any changes or updates which is why I’m happy to announce clean mesh will now keep edit / object mode when instantiated.

Cleanmesh has been a part of hops for a long time and another recent improvement was the wire overlay allowing for the result to be interpreted more readily by the user. Speaking of visibility.

Decimate / Triangulate Wire Display

Decimate and triangulate now display wire overlay which should have been done sooner. This should make it easier to read in object mode.

Wireframe visibility can be adjusted in hops preferences to be more visible or to stay longer.

Select Tool – Quad/Triangulate/Fill

Select tool is a darling in HOPS and is best activated by shift + clicking mark in edit mode. The latest update adds triangulate and quadrilate in the modal and can be handy for geometric conversion however the tool itself is very much conceptual and still a work in progress but its solving capabilities continue to grow.

The following functions have been added to select tool,

• Q – Make Quad
• T – Triangulate
• F – Face (fill face)

There is still more planned to the solving capabilities but I wanted to let it be known we continue to refine these options to a fine point when possible. Stability of course remains our #1 goal.

Merge

Cut-In is a rather unique form of boolean in HardOps and is entirely destructive. New to this round is Merge which allows for a rather different for of boolean reminiscent of a cad application.

This is there to fulfill a particular need that may arise someday but due to its nature it is 100% destructive. It is still worth checking out and can give some interesting results.

Bevel Helper Prop

Ctrl + Shift + B is typically the bevel helper however to attempt to make it more useful to laptop users it became a bit of a multi tool. For users wanting the classic bevel helper it can now be opted back into.

By turning it on the hotkey will unconditionally launch the helper. When it comes to HOPS there is a multitude of ways to connect a boolean. Having this as a pure helper wont damage the intended experience however for laptop users it can be quite useful.

• Bevel Bool Helper prop added to prefs (ctrl + shift + B)
  • On allows for only helper
  • Off allows for the multi functional mesh uni tool on press
    • Boolshape – boolshift
    • Bevel helper for selection w/ bevel
    • 2 object – interactive boolean operation
    • 3 object – slash operation

Last but not least the helper can be easily accessed via the HOPS button in the 3d view.

Voxelization Dyntopo Support

I have been sculpting lately and one of the things I wanted to adjust was the ability to use remesh during dyntopo. I don’t use it alot but i am glad it’s there when I hit it.

Geometry can play a role in it’s performance so do use it with care.

Tip Screensaver

The tip screensaver in HOPS has also been improved and now has preferences for amount of time a tip remains on screen.

Tips were intended to be a nice way for users to find areas of hardOps to get acquainted with.

Small Stuff

The majority of the work done is in small stuff.

• Fix for multiple displacement mod error in 291
• Notification system expanded
  • Subtext / Name proper support

• Folder __name__ fix
  • Allows for stacking of HOPS versions for comparison

• Array V1 depsgraph bug resolved
• Tips expanded
• Collection lookup support for boolscroll (outdated)
• Wire display fix
• Prefs updated
  • Paths area
  • Scroller area
• Mirror Bisect overlay improved
• Older Scrolls classic designation

• Spelling Correction for Mod Helper
• Mesh fade inaccuracy bug
• Mirror Support
  • Grease Pencil
• 2.91 Bevel Curve API fix
• Duplicate shade solid (shift)
  • Selection bug resolved

In Closing

I am of the opinion that HOPS is great the way it is and an experiential amount of work exists in refining each and every system to its best level of performance and interactivity. We have many ideas down the pipe that are bound to change everything for the better and rewrite the fabric of the way we approach our tools. The adventure is far from over but I continue to hope and dream and endeavor for that next level of working. I am thankful for all who continue to participate with this 5 year old project. I hope everyone the best for 2021 and here’s to happy HOPs’in.

– mx2 / TeamC

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Release banner by Rachel.

My goal this year is to expand internally and externally in our endeavors. We are always searching for additional help with things so as our team grows so does our potential and possibilities. And because of your continual support we are able to release “(2.8) HOps 009841_Neodymium_” after barely just having an event not even a month ago. 2020 will be the year of hopstool but doesn’t mean we can tighten up the other areas that have become “legacy” and build a better strong hops with all we have learned.

 

As 2.8 goes on we want to refine existing systems and continuing consolidating / removing things no longer needed. We hope everyone has been able to hang in there and continues to be patient as we add and calibrate new members to the team and our workflows / ideals. Also I want to expand on accessibility and the offerings it could have for workflow and user ease of use and functionality.

Without further ado. I announce the release of Hard Ops 984.1 Neodymium.

___

Installation Issues? Clean those prefs.

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Dice

Dice was a Pro3 level task. And I gave it to Bonjorno7. The result is Dice. Dice is the crown jewel of this release alongside twist360 which will assist heavily with deforming boolean meshes. This version was intended to be a spin on loopcut for meshes needing dicing. In the future we hope to dice in more paths than just straight.

When it comes to dice H will display help with has option for axis.

Dice also works good with Bezier Mesh Shaper.

As we progress we aim to spin this off at some point and possibly give it an entire path. The art of deformation is something that has always interested us and this is just a part of the puzzle.

 

Twist360

Been so long since we talked about this tool. The original version was hacked together by me so seeing a remake done by bonjoro was refreshing. This time the origin is managed by a 2nd displace while offering the versatility needed while maintaining a perfect center for calculation.

Modifying twist 360 requires twist 360. Using array or displace to affect things will not perform the proper steps to maintain a perfect center so this modal was made for that purpose.

With twist 360 interior faces must also be taken into consideration.

Twist spawns with the mods disabled related in render. This allows for these to bypass sort (for now) and allow you to boxcut / boolean without issues. For rendering you will need to re-enable them.

Even as I type I want dice to twist360 in the same operation with a mirror level interaction for interior face removal. But that may be in the future plans. At this time I am curious for insight from users as to additional uses we could be using dice for. Creativity sometimes spawns ideas that previously would have been inconceivable.

 

Step

Step was previously a “Weight” thing. There was no non-destructive version.

And step was intended to hide mesh in edit mode, apply bevel / boolean, and add bevel. This was highly destructive and was no longer as needed in 2.8 so we were preparing to let it go. However I wanted to give it one last try and now step in the angle workflow is support of the non destructive workflow.

All it does is add an additional bevel at half the amount of the previous bevel. This helps it flow together and is easier on users than just not existing.

Even with this in place this is just fixing a hole in the workflow and still doesn’t even need to exist. Stepping is possible in hopstool and even bevel itself.

 

Direct Shift (shift + Q pie only atm)

Boolshift was revisited this version by AR and has been enhanced in the Q menus. I am proud to say that you can now shift a cutter directly into another state if needed. I still dream of this being possible in hopstool but this is the first step.

Of course you can still use modal shift in the Q menu to shift to any state and theres still things I want to do with this as well.

Smart Apply Improvements

Smart apply is intended to be what csharpen was on the apply side but not associated with csharpen. My goal is to have it work without UI or even options.

Until they are needed.

But for the most part smart apply will apply all mods except:

• last mirror (if more than 1 present)
• last bevel (if more than 1 present)
• weighted normal

This will allow you to completely apply shapes to be done with hopstool if needed but keep the last bevel since it adds more geo than needed and can be useful to toggle off for optimizations.

By being able to do this quickly shapes can easily be dice and twisted and handle differently in an all new way.

 

Blank Material V3 (alt + M)

Blank material has also received an expansion.

Users now can cut glass and emission as well.

Emission utilizes pulsing to create pulsing materials. This is intended to be used with greyscale off allowing colors to be vibrant and unique.

Drivers are being utilized for pulse so be aware that Blender can be unusual with processing them.

Menu Changes

Menus are always in state of refinement.

• last version there were too many options under mod.
• meshtools was slimmed out last version to make room
• cleanup

Notice custom modifier modals have been moved to meshtools and mark receiving an S in front to make it even faster to execute.

 

Hopstool improvements

I want 2020 to be year of hopstool. And I plan to enhance hopstool with each update to get it to the level I know it could be. Hopstool is ARs vision, so I would like to play off of his ideas for now before I begin adding layers and systems to it.

Dot Text

Dots will now display text on hover. Text size can be increased in the behavior panel.

D Helper

D inside of hopstool will activate a special helper.

In the future we’ll be coming back to adjust the hotkey since I still love my DecalMachine.

Smart Shapes

Smart shapes have also received small changes to ensure they will work with boxcutter out of the box.

Sorting should be the least of a users worries but if the sorting gives issues just bypass it with render visibility and it should behave correctly.

Array (hopstool)

This whole section is about hopstool but because we got multiple arrays, I have to be specific. While moving an object in hops presssing 1 will reset the object back to 1 to allow quick stacking of array parts.

In Closing

New members is always an exciting time. I am glad and so so greatful for all who continue to support us and our dreams. It is thanks to hops that I could probably stop working but due to the uncertaintly of the climate I am not yet convinced to. Also resumes always need new ticks. I can’t wait to show why I needed dice in a hurry but it’s gonna be good. Also by the time I can talk about it we’ll be onto something else exciting.

I hope everyone enjoys this latest release and reports bugs / issues to us.

 

 

With every release we try to change up things a little based off of criticism and feedback. Hardships faced while modelling are something I take especially hard and find myself devoting a bit of thought and energy towards seeking solutions. We never want to present ourselves as the best or the default way to do something. We feel we are explorers. Seeking the next level in modelling. Our tool has been our best attempt to automate some of the most repetitive aspects of our workflow to make creation more entertaining. It is always the art itself that tells the tale of success or failure.

With that aside I am pleased to announce the release of Hard Ops 00984: Thulium

I was gonna name it Bonjornium like the Proxium release but we’ll see what comes next.

 

Joining us on the team this release is bonjorno7. Proxe was more in a supervisory role this release with AR leading and me throwing as many wrenches as possible into things. Without further ado let’s get into it!

 

Preferences have shown to be problematic with this release via human test trials. If you encounter installation issues preferences will more than likely need to be cleaned.

 

 

With features I’ll start chill and sharpen up…

 

Sharpen

Sharpen takes the place of ssharp/csharp/clear sharps.

Click – sharpen (mark sharps)

Ctrl – apply modifiers

Shift – resharp

Ctrl + shift – Csharp + Bwidth classic.

Classic ssharp / csharp exists in the operations submenu in the meantime but sharpen will be the main operator going forward.

I set my alt to clear sharps. I love it.

For those missing the classic cut, apply and bevel system of classic hops can map sharpen to behave as classic.

Otherwise bevel will handle bevel and sharpen will be handle sharpening. As a result csharpen is now faster than ever.

Sharpen is customizable in preferences however the tool tip may not reflect those changes. I like to have classic csharp as my fallback for everything and unmark sharps under my alt.

The jump to bwidth toggle will make new csharp also jump to bwidth after operation.

Meet “Mark”

Mark is intended to be your all in one bevel / weight edit / bevel tool. In a way we just extended on set ssharp but I became addicted to this quite fast. Shout-out to any Marks out there reading this.

Edit mode operations have been consolidated into a smart tool named “mark”.

Mark is generally used for marking edges. Just like Set Ssharp used to.

Ctrl click will create a bevel similar to bevel.

Shift click will activate Bevel Weight which can be utilized for weight workflows. (nothing in angle)

Mark is an all in one tool for marking sharp edges and manually beveling using modifiers in edit mode.

 

Mirror /  Array Consolidation

Mirror / Array (active tools) have been unified as far as menu entries are concerned.

LMB – mirror

CTRL – array

Mirror has shown to be much more popular than array in most contexts but as array gets better it will be re-integrated.

 

Bevel / Edge Manager Consolidation

Many of the classic hops utilities have been consolidated.

Bevel helper / Edge manager has been merged into one tool with many former not needed options being removed.

LMB – bevel helper

Ctrl – Bevel Divide

Alt – Bevel Multiply

LMB + shift – Edge Manager

Many of these existed as standalone but are no longer needed to dense up the menus. I want to keep them for auxiliary needs.

 

Modifier Multi Scroll

LMB – boolscroll

shift – modifier scroll

Ctrl – toggle modifiers

Alt – apply modifiers

Ctrl + shift – modifier scroll

The process of handing bool shapes, modifier scrolling and appling modifiers has all been combined into one tool. None of the tools this is replacing are being eliminated. The goal was just to make room for the future.

 

Curve Res Added To Q Menu

When it comes to deformation curves are your friend. However the res option was missing from the Q menu which helps for improving the smoothness.

This will come in handy for the things we’ll be getting into later.

We endeavor to do more activity with curves in the future as well as support them in hopstool.

Interior Bevel Support

Pressing 1 during bevel will flip the profile inward creating an interior bevel. This can be useful for level blocking and in cases requiring an inverted profile.

Enter Bonj

Edit Mode Slice / Inset / Outset / Knife

Our goal with each tool is to maintain parity to the first thing BonJ wanted to fix was edit mode not having knife, slice, and inset.

Inset is especially nice in edit mode thanks to care and love applied to the creation process.

 

Object Mode Inset / Outset / Knife

Inset can be toggled into outset via the F9 panel that comes up with the operator. Outset is less impressive but also a thing. Coming to boxcutter in the near future.

Knife is capable of both project and knife project.

 

Why add these to HOps? Aren’t they in BC?

When it comes to tools like knife and inset. I found it key to have them in hops for a couple of reasons.

I was asking for inset for the last couple of releases. There should be no utility cutter in one tool and not the other. Except extract. It’s connected to custom cutter so that would better be left to boxcutter. Also make box is just a box. So Blender does it better than us. And qblocker better than that.

Having inset in hops allows me to work with it more precisely and break apart the workflow and analyze the steps taking place in a way not present in Boxcutter which is just… too fast. The care taken to make sort capable of ignoring bevel sort on F6 is something that is more useful than anticipated. I was worried inset was overscoping in endeavor but as I use I find myself proud of the amazing work Bonj did for a first try. Sort and bevel bypass are supported on the fly and the mod can even be adjusted in the stack for getting just the right level of bevel back.

 

Knife in boxcutter also works differently and as a result the hops counterpart will not nuke materials and behave better than the knife in boxcutter. Also in boxcutter I have struggled to get both knife project and knife 3d to be both interchangeable and vocal in its presentation of it. Now that it is in hops we have precision control and the knife we always wanted. I am adamant about knowing and controlling what operation is being done.

 

I know in hops we can expand them in interesting ways and then take what we learn and apply it to BC. To keep it efficient.

HOPs Dot Infinity Ring

I begged to let this stay for release. When I first saw this I knew. The gauntlet is almost complete.

While in hops tool the bool dots have been turned into a ring. In the future I hope for shift support and a text sidebar. It almost made it but I wanted you guys to see this ring.

 

Interactive Boolean (ctrl + shift + B)

Interactive boolean was a tough one to sort. With initial tests testers revealed they did not like additional clicks to confirm. I did not want to leave it out so it has it’s own hotkey.

Shared with ctrl + shift + B >> Bevel helper.

Interactive boolean requires no introduction.

Scrolling toggles shapes / X toggles shapes.

Bool Shift

The naming for this went through some itterations. But shifting made since the most. Even Bonj liked it. This tool brings back classic rebool but multiple levels better. When I first saw this tool I was afraid. Afraid of it’s power…

Boolshift is alternative in ctrl + shift + B with a boolshape selected.

Boolshift is also in the bool shape Q menu.

This tool is serious. Users can now shift a bool from one state into another without issue. The F6 panel has options for sort bypassing and bevels if applicable.

 

Boolean Sort Bypass

Holding ctrl while using boolean will use sort bypass.

This makes it easier than ever to step up bevels to another level. Above you can see boxcutter which currently has no sort bypass and hops comparatively with it.

 

In the event sort is perma-locked it can be fixed in prefs.

 

Bevel Improvements

 

Half Bevel

Half bevel will set the current bevel to half of the last parameter and end the operation. When racking bevels you generally have to idea how big they are however by pressing X bevel will drop with half res ensuring the next cut looks great.

2d Bevel Removed / Consolidated Into Bevel

2d Bevel was my attempt at modifying the older bwidth to handle 2d shapes. It has been handed off to classic bevel now. A special use case was added for planes.

A – Aayy

A has been added to bevel for dealing with angle. However in general use it bounces between 30 and 60 but it can also utilize autosmooth angle for catching hard to catch areas. This is something I wanted quite a bit and should make lives easier. Got a problem during bevel? A.

During modelling sometimes I will set the autosmooth low to catch wedges. When a bevel was added it was always at 30 or 60 degrees which resulted in less than optimal results. When utilized correctly bevel can be used to catch autosmooth with angle being set to 30 or 60 then while retaining the lower bevel.

 

L >> Limit Method

L to change limit was also added.

 

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Array support for plane

Array always was strange with planes on the Z axis which makes it hard to use as a dicer. This has been resolved so that everyone can dice away.

I have long wanted to dice in Blender so this brings my dream a step closer. Someday we hope to dice in the form of a dedicated tool.

Knife is useful for a plethora of reasons.

 

Sort V3

Proxe always has something to add in a release.

Sort V3 has been added which will be getting a focused video. Now Boxcutter, Kitops and now HardOps are on the same page with sorting. This ideally should allow these tools to deal with modifiers more intelligently.

Sort settings can be found in the ctrl + ~ settings.

Sort also has settings for ignoring vgroup and only vert bevels which I am adamant about “not sorting”. These have shown to be disastrous in action and result in workflow issues.

Sort can be turned off altogether but sort bypass is also a theme in this release.

Sort also only sorts the last level of a modifier. If there are two mirror modifiers in the stack only the last one will be managed when enabled.

Sort bypassing can be given to a modifier by disabling either show in render or show in edit mode. Since we cannot add properties to modifiers this is the only way to give a modifier a flag for bypass at this time. This also affects scroll and can lead to instability so keep that in mind. But the good news is you can prevent modifiers from being modified period.

 

 

 

Weighted Normal Multi Sort

This idea was based on a support issue with the cylinoid tutorial. When users struggle I take it to heart and send complaints straight up the chain (1 link).

When using weighed sort you can select everything and it will put a weighed sort on the object.

If the weighted sort is misplaced it will be removed and re-added properly.

If it is not present it will add one.

This makes WN a lot more versatile and capable of being the finishing stroke on a model or assisting with shading when things get rough.

I am excited to show this in use in the future but this is a large step up but our issues with WN extend inherently into mirror and bevel where these tools also will add new mods while dealing with WN specifically to avoid shading hardships even at intermediate steps in working.

Lazy support for mod modals extend to all modals. Lazy meaning if you select a light or empty, we’ll keep going. An error wont stop ya.

Radial Array w/ 3d Cursor Displacement change

When using radial array w/ 3d cursor the displacement would make the mesh offset undesirably. This is no longer the case. Also verbiage about launching into displace is removed as well. We’ll be revisiting this in the future.

 

Area Light Q Options

I find myself exiting fullscreen to make area lights custom rectangles. Now that option is in the Q menu. Small thing but I’m glad it is there.

 

Random Material V2

Random material has been made more random. Also material consolidation has been added to the Alt + M menu when multiple objects are selected.

Random material can be unstable w/ multiple objects so make sure to save!

Late Parent (level1)

When we call something level1 it means it is an experimental feature. As we work with it more and more we hope to evolve it to the highest level it can be. Use with caution.

An alternative version exists that requires selecting the boolshapes and the parent but that would be just traditional parenting. Even as I write about it I think about how this could be more useful.

Reset Axis Cursor

Reset axis had a bug w/ 3d cursor that was driving me nuts. It has been resolved.

 

To_Box wip

To_box just converts a selection to a box. I hope to expand on this more in the future.

Sometimes people just want a box.

Smooth / Laplacian Mod support

I was adamant about using smooth after a recent experience where it came in handy for modelling a weapon. The default modal just smooths. Just like the modifier. But the shift mode creates a vertex group that does the following:

• omit marked edges
• omit edges of manifold nature (ie mirror junction)

This results in a smart smooth that helps maintain form while smoothing everything in between. This can come in handy for modelling using sub-d and booleans at the same time. I hope to show its uses in depth in the future. But I am very excited it made it into the release.

Metaball Support to helper

Meta ball support has been added to ctrl + ~. I have been playing with metaballs lately.

 

Old Options

I am against deleting old code since it serves as an educational journey when looking over the solutions we solved and how efficiently it was done. I also like comparing old and new itterations. Nothing was removed this version but the menus received a heavy cleaning. (not deleting pizza ops AR).

Csharp and Ssharp has been consolidated into sharpen along with clear sharps which is no longer present since sharpen handles it. Clean mesh is a classic and beloved so I don’t want to get rid of it. In the next update I will more than likely add a legacy panel w/ classic behaviors for users to add  to favorites if desired. Step is more of a behavior but I want to bring that back in a different way. In fact the half bevel with X was my idea to expand on the step idea. To box was added at the last second by ImperfectLink. After he explained the idea I realized that it could go places with a little pondering and proxe magic. So we’ll see about that.

Meshtools also received a good cleaning. I left the classic scrolls in mod scroll / toggle but really those have been mixed into the mod toggle tools that are unified.

The goal was to clean things up to make room for new ideas that we’re facing for 2.8.  HOPstool is its own little micro universe but hops outside has a world to grow within now.

Export options are more prominent to ensure exporting isn’t a problem.

Settings has been cleaned up quite a bit too. Helper/ Assistant is the goto place for the classic hops utilities that I can’t live without on commercial work. Edge exponent has been mixed into bevel / edge manager so that users can double / halven their bevels on the fly.

Interactive boolean is the highlight of this release. I want to give it an edit mode hotkey as well but it will take some pondering. Have fun shifting booleans! Edit mode had a rough landing so for a term we’ll be letting interactive modal take over the edit mode hotkeys. Have fun!

 

Boxcutter

Was also supposed to be part of boxxmas this year. We’ll have to see.

Mirco-update offering auto-scale improvements to make lazorcut accucut more accurate every time.

(2.8)BoxCutter 715_12 out now.

 

In Closing

Our goal this release was simplicity. We wanted to make it easier than ever to jump in and have fun. Even though boxcutter aims for the same goal via drawing I also like setting up insets and slices via going through things slowly and procedural. We lost rebool several releases back and now I am happy to say slice is now back in action fully performing the goals needed. I hope everyone enjoys Interactive Boolean / Inset etc. It is bonjorno7’s first update with us and he picked the time we were reassembling what hops was to become.

So many items on the cutting room floor but we’ll be right back…

I am always grateful to you the user for reading this and for the team for their continued tolerance of my 24/7 insanity. QD gang.

*some director cuts were made of final release w/ hotfixes surely to follow this post when the team is done caroling.