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User:Dilithjay/GSoC 2021/Final Report

Curve Improvements - Final Report (WIP)

Project Summary

Changes from Original Proposal

The improvements proposed in the original proposal consisted of two main parts:

  • A new curve editing tool
  • A tool for rounding bends similar to bevels in Mesh editing

While the curve editing tool (later named Curve Pen) remained mostly the same, the 2nd tool was implemented as a Geometry Node by the name: Curve Fillet Node. The functionality of the node was fairly similar to what was proposed. The idea for the superellipse profile was dropped and the design task T89227 (authored by Hans) was more or less followed. Both tools were primarily targeted for Bezier splines. However, they have now been adapted for Poly and NURBS splines, where possible.

Curve Pen Tool

The purpose of this tool is to support a smooth workflow for the process of editing curves. This is achieved by providing a set of intuitive shortcuts for editing curves (while also adding a few new functionalities) within a single tool which removes the overhead of switching between tools.

The functionalities of the tool are as follows:

  • Add control point: Click on empty space to add a new point connected to the currently selected control point(s). If no point is currently selected, a new spline is created.
    • Only clicking adds a point with handles of type vector.
    • Click and drag to move handles as align type handles.
    • Press Shift while dragging to set and move handles as free type handles.
    • Click two endpoints consecutively to close the spline to form a cycle.
  • Make cut: Ctrl and click on a spline segment to insert a control point into the spline at the clicked location.
  • Delete control point: Ctrl and Click on a control point to dissolve it.
  • Move control points and handles: Click and drag control points or handles to move them.
  • Alter segment: Click and drag on a curve segment to alter its shape.
Curve Pen Demo

Note: The icon for the tool would definitely change. It's set to the curve draw tool's icon temporarily.

Curve Fillet Node

Fillet Node

The purpose of this node is to be able to create a bevel-like rounding at control points. The purpose of each socket on the node is as follows:

  • Mode: Determines how many segments are within a given arc. Either Adaptive (corresponds to the Angle field) or User Defined (corresponds to the Count field).
  • Radius Mode: Determines how the radius is defined for each arc. Either Float or Attribute (both correspond to the Radius field).
  • Curve: Takes the curve as input.
  • Angle: The threshold angle of the arc which when exceeded adds another control point. Lower the threshold angle, higher the resolution and thus, the arc becomes more circular.
  • Count: The number of segments per given arc. This count would be common to all vertices.
  • Limit Radius: Prevent overlapping of arcs that may occur due to the radius being larger than what can fit at the point.
  • Radius: The radius of each vertex (may be reduced if Limit Radius is enabled). Use Radius Mode=Float to define a common radius or Attribute to define a distribution of radii.
Curve Fillet Demo

Note: The gif above is a demo of the usage of the curve fillet node on different types of splines. Poly splines are used for demonstrating the Mode options and Bezier splines with vector handles are mainly used to demonstrate the Radius functionality. The built-in radius attribute is used for the attribute field. Also, note how the Limit Radius option prevents the radius from getting larger than what can fit.

Important Links

What's Left?

Both the tools are currently (August 19th 2021) under review at the differentials mentioned above. I will be trying my best to get them merged with master in the upcoming weeks. I'll also look into fixing any bugs that may arise in the tools.

What's Next?

There has been minor discussion on using the curve fillet node's code for an edit mode tool (similar to what was initially planned). Additionally, there are some functionality improvements that can be made to the curve pen tool such as support for snapping, precision control and vertex slide. I would like to look into implementing these improvements alongside helping out any other Blender development in whichever way I can.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my mentors, Hans Goudey and Falk David for the constant support they provided and always being there to clear up any questions I had. This was an amazing experience and I have them to thank for a lot of what I learned along the way. Also, thank you to everyone in the community who provided feedback and helped improve the project.

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