Wings 3D Development Forum

The Connect surface tool by Dimitri.

It has been specified to work like this ...

Connect TWO points using a short (but maybe not shortest) path on surface. It is defined as being different from Tools Connect ... because it does not care about viewport.

I think one that finds shortest can be made with iterative tricks (try a bunch of planes related to the one inferred by selection. But that would be for 2.0 of this plugin.

If user picks TWO points ... it will behave like "Plane Loop by Elements" ... but will not make all loops. Only "THE ONE" which is a partial loop from point to point to point.

Micheus ... if you would STICKY this one ... I'll remember to make it for Dimitri and whoever else wants to try.

I am putting below an image too (although the image in Blender's link is demonstrating the whole thing very clearly). The request is very easy to understand: you just pick two vertices on a mesh, you click 'connect' and, voila, you have a connecting line between the two... a line which has connected them following the shortest distance between them on the surface of the object.

(here the turquoise line is denoting the two vertices to be connected and not the actual line that will created on the object's surface of course)

The Blender link you sent said it used KNIFE (which means PLANE CUT). They didn't say shortest path when I had my read of it.

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So, you are already on the steps of finding a solution. Good! : - )

I am still trying to find a practical way for a solution to this need. It seems that approaching it by a 'plane cut' solution is difficult. What about locking all the vertices, leaving only the two to be connected, and connect them (in wireframe and view alignment mode) by the already existent 'connect' tool?

In such a case there would be the need to have a 'lock selected' command for the vertices of course.

Just an idea for discussion... : - )

No ... actually. I don't consider the connecting by plane cut as difficult. Just didn't have time to do it yet.

Well, you have all the time Mark, no need for hurrying. Just shared an idea. Finding a practical way for locating the shortest route on a non flat geometry is a nice challenge of logic also. So it generates the desire to focus on it, even if someone is not a mathematician. : - )

The blender link you posted indicated KNIFE on non-flat geometry. KNIFE = PLANECUT.

If it is plane cut ... then shortest path logic is KNOWN to be iterative.

These are my thoughts.

If you read it carefully you will see that it speaks of 'straight cuts', however... that's the same thing with connecting by choosing the 'shortest distance', given that any route other than the shortest can not constitute a straight cut. There is no need to stick on words, it means the same thing. : - )

Anyway, if it can be achieved by a plane cut, no problem. The result is that matters. : - )

I am putting below the link, so that we may have it here:

https://www.blender.org/manual/modeling/...nnect.html

The shortest distance could be forced by topology to wind like a snake and not even be in a plane. Consider any manifold knot.

Which is why I'm chosing PLANE CUT to be my starting point for a solution.