Handy Surface Detail for Blender
learnasimakeitPlease Note That, it ONLY works with Blender 3.1 or above.
What is it?
It is asset pack of over 100 meshes as surface details. it utilizes blender internal addon tissue to populate target mesh surface. it also comes with a helper script to simplify the process.
while I am making a character, after the block out phase, adding and refining surface details sometime can be time consuming. so I made this to help me speed up the process. especially applying standard hard surface boolean object onto a curved surface is quite beneficial to me.
in action:
how to add details:
1. in Object mode, select a source detail object, shift select a target object and press add element.
2. in edit mode, select some face and choose a detail from the preview and press add element.
3. this only apply to adding details for scifi category: select a source detail object, single mesh or boolean mesh, shift select a target surface mesh, go to Edit mode, select a rectangle shape and press add element.
4. this only apply to adding details for scifi category: select a target surface mesh, go to edit mode ,select a rectangle shape and choose a detail from preview, press add element.
5. subdivide details:
6. modify shape on the fly:
7. control the blendshape:
8. Add mesh details: (take a look at Documentation page for in depth explanation of the operator)
9. various controls: ( W S to scale element, A D to rotate element, Q E previous and next element, R random element, V toggle vertex snap, Z remove previous added element)
10. Append selected mesh as detail element:
detail meshes are grouped into different categories:
1. Net and Grid Alike:
2. Armor, Scales, Lace and Cloth Deco:
3. Architecture element such as brick, tiles:
4. some random Hard Surface Models using Boolean Modifiers Stacks:
detail elements:
Have a Question? Email me: learnasimakeit@outlook.com
digital product does NOT offer refund.
############# Update ############
update 1.4:
added: save element, open relevant folder, refresh preview buttons.
previously, to save your own mesh detail, lots of manual work need to be done, now it is automatically saved in assets folder. it uses 3d viewport as screenshot.
update 1.3:
reformat to meet Blender 4.2 extension platform standard, previous version will also work function wise with exception of the legacy tag
update 1.2:
added: compatibility for Blender 4.0
update 1.1:
added: new modal operator "Click 2 Detail", a quick way to populate details on mesh surface, check documentation page for detail
added: new operator "Append Detail", a quick way to add mesh to source for future usage.
new detail elements:
update 1.0.3:
fix: error when apply on link-duplicated mesh
modification: unify the final mesh structure. final mesh is the parent mesh, child mesh one with suffix "_Handy_Shape" control the surface distribution, child mesh two with suffix "_Handy_Source_Detail" control the per face detail.
update 1.0.2:
this is mainly for Mac OS users. it fixed an error when import asset from folders. for Windows users, it has no impact. therefore, no need to update.
special thanks to blender user "205" for pointing it out and assistance along the way.
update 1.0.1:
Optimized: Refresh Changes now works when Shape object or Detail object is modified.
Q&A:
for blender 4.2 or above, tissue is not bundled with blender, you need to search for it within extension tab and install it or download here: https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/tissue and install it before you can use.
1. Operator "Click 2 Detail"
it adds mesh object on selected single object surface. first, from the drop down list, select a blend file which contains the elements, then click the button to add detail elements
there are two types for the element, regular add and boolean difference. The regular add is similar to drag element from asset browser. the boolean difference adds a bool modifier to the base mesh, notice it has a "_diff" suffix in the blend file name.
upon entering the modal mode, use Spacebar/ Enter to confirm, ESC/ Right Mouse Button to cancel, Left Mouse Button to add element, W S to scale, A D to rotate, Q E previous and next element, R random element, V toggle vertex snap, Z remove previous added element
in addon preference, you can set the rotation snapping angle, scale multiplier. by default, the bool modifier use EXACT solver, you can toggle it off to switch to FAST for faster computation.
2. Operator "Append Detail"
this operator will append selected mesh to source collection and ready for future usage. save current blend file, select a blend file from drop down list and append to target blend file.
3. make you own element blend file.
if you already have some mesh objects, save them to a blend file such as "my mesh.blend", inside the blend file, make sure the meshes are inside a collection with the same name as the blend file, in this case, collection "my mesh". if you have some cutter mesh, add a suffix "_diff" in the blend file name and collection name, for example, "my mesh_diff.blend" and collection ""my mesh_diff". the script will automatically add a bool modifier.
if you want to start from fresh, inside the addon folder "click2detail", save an empty blend file. give it a name, if you want it to be a cutter collection, add "_diff" suffix. back to your regular blend file, there you can find the newly created blend file from drop down list and append any mesh to it. optionally, instead keeping those blend file in default addon folder, you can pick a folder and keep the blend files there
in this case, I keep all the sample blend files in my D drive, rather than the default C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\Handy Surface Detail\click2detail
4. issue you may encounter:
the default boolean solver is EXACT, which may be computational heavy, but gives best boolean result. switch it off in addon preference result faster computation, sometimes, mesh may be disappear or simply has no effects. modify the base mesh topology could fix it. all the added elements are child object of the base mesh, move the boolean mesh slightly may also fix the disappear issue
while make your own, pay attention to the mesh pivot point, it plays a key factor where it will be project on the surface.
if you have other issues, feel free to contact me: learnasimakeit@outlook.com