Nvil News

Summary of changes:

• Mesh tools are modified to preserve custom normals. This makes it possible to work on objects imported with custom normals without destroying the custom normals. It is useful for working with cad objects with normals generated in cad applications. To remove custom normals, use this command tool, Edit > Customize > Tools > Common Modeling Shortcut Tools > Compute Normals.
  
• Vertex mode > Geometry > Transfer Normal. Align a vertex's normal to the normal of the closest vertex in a source mesh. Steps: 1- Align the two objects on areas of interest in object mode. 2- Set the source object as morph object in scene explorer window. 3- Deselect and maybe hide the source object. 4- Select the object of interest. 4- In vertex mode, select those vertex of interest then fire this command.
  
• Vertex mode > Selection > Normal-Customized Vertices. Select those vertices with normals customized.
  
• "Divide into objects by polygon groups" option is added to fbx import.
  
• Mesh edge render width now adjustable. Edit > Preference > General > Edge width selected/unselected object. Render edge width more than 1 is expensive which can affect viewport performance badly. It is recommended to only render thick edges on low poly models.
  
• Edit > Customize > Tools > Set-Restore Tools > R_Record/Restore All Options. These two tools couple with each other to record current option settings and restore them before and after an operation. Can be used in building streamline tools and composite tools.
  
• A new option added to polygon extrude streamline basic tools, Push-Pull. To toggle Push-Pull enabled, tap Alt+Ctrl. Both auto-weld and auto-snap when Push-Pull enabled. Push-Pull is a feature which can add or remove a series of geometries in a flexible way by dragging cursor back and forth. For more info about Push-Pull feature and instructions, see Help > Contents > Modeling > Polygon Section > Extrude Polygon > Push-Pull.
  
• A new built-in streamline tool, Push-Pull. It only works in polygon mode. It can be activated through this menu, polygon mode > Geometry > Push-Pull.
  
• Edit > Customize > Tools > Common Modeling Shortcut Tools > Turn On Push-Pull Mode. Record all current options and turn on both 'Polygon Extrusion Auto Weld Enabled' and 'Polygon Extrusion Auto Weld Snap Enabled' options. This is used to be called before an operation and 'R_Restore All Options' command should be called after the operation.
  
• Polygon mode > Geometry > Rewind(Retopo). Set the selected or highlighted polygon's face winding so its faces will most close to the retopo reference object surface. If no selection or highlighted polygon, it will work on all visible polygons.
  
• Polygon mode > Selection > Polygons Retopo-Rewindable. Select those polygons whose face winding are not optimized to close to retopo reference object surface.
  
• When in retopo mode, if subobjects are created/welded/transformed/relaxed, the polygon face winding in the affected area will be optimized to best match the retopo reference object surface automatically. For more information, see Help > Contents > Modeling > Retopo Tools > Polygon Face Winding Control.
  
• Some bug fixings.
  

Summary of changes:

• Mesh conversion function in Draw Mesh tool is improved. Previously when tapping Enter key to convert drawn lines to mesh, viewport camera angle must be in a position where all polygons will face the camera. This makes it difficult to generate curvy meshes quickly. In this new version, camera angle is not required. But only polygons with less than 7 edges can be generated if polygons to be generated are more than one. And to ensure correct result, it is recommended that the edge length is more than 5 pixels long, which can be observed on those edges parallel to the screen.
  The previous mesh conversion function is still available by tapping two keys Alt+Enter.
  
• Three mesh functions are added to Draw Mesh tool, Mesh_Tweak, Mesh_Brush and Mesh_Cut. They are built-in streamline tools which can be activated without leaving the Draw Mesh tool. This makes it easier to edit(cut/delete/weld) and manipulate(move/rotate/scale) mesh while working inside Draw Mesh tool. For detail see the Draw Mesh tool tips.
  
• A view function is added to Draw Mesh tool, Set View. Hotkey: Alt+Space. LMB: Align to surface normal. MMB: Best fit. RMB: Set focus point. Alt+Ctrl+LMB: Toggle symmetry plane visible. Alt+Ctrl+RMB: Cycle symmetry plane axis.
  
• A little improvement on the brush relax tool. Once the tool is activated, to leave the border vertices as is, press down Ctrl key during the operation.
  
• A new basic streamline tool, Symmetry_Weld. Press down mouse button then drag to adjust weld threshold value. Welding will be performed base on threshold value along symmetry line on those vertices that are visible in viewport and facing viewport camera.
  
• Two buttons are added to Draw Mesh tool UI. "Reference" and "Symmetry". "Reference" button is used to add reference object and enable retopo mode. "Symmetry" button is used to perform symmetrical cut and set up symmetry on selected object.
  
• Some bug fixings.
  

Summary of changes:

• Polygon mode > Geometry > Ridge. Flip ridge formed by one or three ridge edge lines. For detail, Help > Contents > Modeling > Polygon Section > Polygon Commands > Ridge.
  
• This tool is improved to handle more complex selection patterns, polygon mode > Geometry > Unchamfer. For detail, Help > Contents > Modeling > Polygon Section > Polygon Commands > Unchamfer.
  
• A new basic streamline tool, Polygon_Bridge. Press down mouse button to create bridges between polygon selections then drag to adjust segments. It does the same thing as this tool, Help > Contents > Modeling > Polygon Section > Polygon Commands > Bridge. But it can adjust segments in real time.
  
• A new basic streamline tool, Threshold_Weld. Press down mouse button then drag to adjust weld threshold value. Welding will be performed base on threshold value within subobject selections.
  
• Facing options are added to primitive creation tools. The hotkey is Tab.
  
• Edit > Options > Extrusion Options > Polygon Extrusion Auto Weld Snap Enabled. It is used in conjunction with 'Polygon Extrusion Auto Weld Enabled' option to constrain the positions of vertices that are not welded base on auto weld result.
  
• Subobject mode > Selection > Adjacent Selection. Replace the current subobject selection with unselected subobjects adjacent to the current selection.
  
• A new basic streamline tool, Context_Cut. Press down mouse button to activate the cut then drag/scroll/numberkeys to adjust number of cuts. Special case: if only two subobjects of the same mesh are selected and they are separated by other geometries, a cut line will be produced to connect the two selected subobjects.
  
• A new basic streamline tool, Quad_Cap. Create quad polygons to fill holes. The number of border edges must be even. Selections must be made to mark initial layout. Press down mouse button to create initial layout then drag to adjust orientation. To change row setting, WMB/Alt+drag. To change auto relax option, tap Space key.
  
• A shortcut is added to Draw Mesh tool on cutting mesh by a line, Shit+Ctrl+MMB.
  
• File > Open User Settings Folder. User config files are saved in User Settings folder. It is recommended to backup those files regularly in case they may get lost or damaged.
  
• View > Sort Object Render Order Enabled. If this option is on, objects render order will be sorted for better visual result if there is any object has any transparent material. This can drop down viewport performance to some degree if there are many objects in scene.
  
• Edit > Customize > Tools > View Navigation Tools > Align To Camera. Align viewport camera to the only selected camera object or the only visible camera object or the only camera object in scene.
  
• }Ignore materials in file option on importing is added. If it is on, the imported object will only take the default material.
  
• }This option didn't work in previous versions because of coding error, View > Orthographic View Zoom Options > Camera Focus Both Fixed. It is now working.
  
• View > Display > Show Viewport Camera Info. Show active viewport camera's position, focus point and near/far clipping plane position in inactive viewport.
  
• Edit > Customize > Tools > Common Modeling Tools > Compute Face Weighted Normals. Compute normals in a way that larger face will have more weight.
  
• "Save Objects To Files By Scene Materials" command is added to material window context menu. It groups visible objects by scene materials and save them to files per material a file.
  
• Some bug fixings.
  

Summary of changes:

• Suobject mode > Geometry > Common Commands n Tools > Normal > Compute FaceWeighted-Normals.
  
• Edge/Vertex weights are added to this tool, edge mode > Geometry > Chamfer. Weights can be set in Preivew mode.
  
• Polygon mode > Geometry > Unchamfer. Before fire this command, select the quad polygons generated by chamfer operation. The selected polygons must connect to each other in such way that they form a square array in topology.
  
• The same hotkey can be assigned to multiple streamline-tools or radial-menus or command-tools. When the hotkey is tapped, the program will activate those tools or menus in turns. This makes it possible for one hotkey to control multiple tools or radial-menus. For example. Normally you have W-Move/E-Rotate/R-Scale. Now you set them all to one hotkey, W-Move/W-Rotate/W-Scale. After this, you can activate your Move/Rotate/Scale tool by tapping W key one or few times until the exact wanted tool is activated. It can be useful when hotkeys become scarce.
  
• MatCap window context menu > Set As Default MatCap. If default matcap is set, it will be automatically assigned to new created objects.
  
• "Show background image" option is added to Snapshot tool.
  
• Static viewport background image feature is added. It can be rendered out in Snapshot rendering. The image can be added by "BG Image tool" while the selected viewport is not in directional-orthographic type, Front/Back/etc. It only appears in non-directional-orthographic(3D) viewports.
  
• View > Object Shading > Preview On View Navigating > AO Enabled On Preview.
  
• Edit > Customize > Tools > Modeling Options > Auto Save Enabled. Toggle the scene auto save option which can also be set in preference form.
  
• Some bug fixings.
  

Summary of changes:

• Edit > Preference > Options 1 > Scene Auto Save. If "Num files in cycle" is more than 0, the program will check scene modified status in regular basis and save the scene with "AUTOSAVE" sufix if scene has been modified since last save.
  
• Edit > Options > Boolean Full Connection Lines. If this option is on, full connection lines will be generated on boolean operations. This option will increase the boolean operation time dramatically. It is recommended only use this option if the generated connection lines provide a better result.
  
• These features can be hokeyed, Edit > Customize > ...
  
• A new basic strealine tool, Increase/Decrease Soft Selection. Drag horizontally to increase or decrease soft selection. While the tool is active, tap Space key to toggle soft selection enabled, Space+Drag to change soft selection curve.
  
• Polygon mode > Selection > Project Polygon Selection(Back/Front). Cast rays from selected polygons along their individual normals to select the intercepted polygons.
  
• This tool is improved, polygon mode > Geometry > Bridge. Besides creating holes, it can be used to remove geometries on object's edge.
  
• Some bug fixings.