This is currently possible when control points are on for a SubD. I think in your screenshot you’ve sub-object selected a SubD vertex. We’re still trying to figure out what to do here. In smooth mode are you still trying to slide along the control polygon or the smooth edge?
Yes. I would like to see that Gumball mode for sub object select too. I have no use for the current way object align Gumball behaves regardless how I selected the vertex or control point.
Thank you, that is helpful. When you move the selected vertex are we moving the smooth point along the smooth surface or the control net point along the control net?
Hmm. Good question. I think it would probably make sense to move it along the smooth surface when the smooth surface is shown, and when you it tab to show the control surfaces, move it along those (but I’m not 100% sure on this so an option in the settings would be nice… it’s possible that you’d always want to move it along the control net).
Always moving along the control net would be a way to show a user this is the right and consistent way to move your control points.
This makes sense. I also question the usefulness of sliding along the smooth edges. I’ll update RH-91153.
While that make sense, this feels just wrong:
(But this is not a problem for me, as I never use “Edit points” anyway, only “Control points” for me…)
Using the image above as reference ^
RGB colors on control net directions feels wrong.
SubD will likely have a different topology, where connected grips amount are different from 4, and so the gumball must (hopefully) display less/more arrows handles, is there really a need to use red for a “pseudo U direction” and green for “pseudo V direction”?
At the same time, I really like having that small green-blue grid double-direction handle that is aligned with current CPlane.
Is this meant like this? or a “leftover” of the WIP?
Having at the same time handles for controlnet directions and handles for CPlane directions would be… superior!
It’s consistent in box mode…
Moving control points in smooth mode doesn’t make much sense to me.
Even more, it could be like this:
while dragging the grid-like handle, if you hold SHIFT it stick to the nearest CPlane ortho direction!
(Currently holding shift key prevent the dragging action.)
So with a single handle UI element we could retrieve almost full CPlane gumball functionality!
But again, colors needs to be differet. RGB for CPlane XYZ , and something different for control net directions + normal… maybe White and Yellow? (and always Black for the mouse-over)
hi Joshua, even talking about controls points in SubD breaks my brain, I hadn’t ever though that control points and SubD vertices are a different thing. And I’ve been modeling in SubDs for about 25 years.
What is this control point distinction about? Are the control points of a model ever any different (placement/count) than vertices?
I think the point of UVN-like constrains is to model in a clean manner where your cage stays aligned, controlled, organized. And you want to continue to see this, evaluating it in real time your resulting surface in smooth mode, while making your edits in a controlled manner (respecting control polygon direction). Also, I cannot think of a use case when you want to slide along the smooth direction either.
G
My understanding is control points are the vertices of the control net for a SubD. I struggled with the verbiage here too but I think it matches the other documentation. The only distinction is between control points and edit points. Edit points lie on the limit surface.
This all makes sense. I think the current implementation does that but you’ll need to take it out for a spin and let me know.
Yes, that is jarring. I’ll probably draw it differently (on the surface) even if the movement behind the scenes is using the control net.
First off, thanks for the new enhancements to the Gumball! I have a few suggestions/feature requests regarding the UVN (Object) alignment mode:
- In Rhino 8, if I select a control point with the Gumball in ‘Object’ mode, its movement acts just like the
MoveUVNcommand, as shown in the screenshot below."
2. When selecting two control points simultaneously, the Gumball seems to average their individual orientations and places its origin at their midpoint. This is a highly convenient and excellent workflow. I strongly hope this behavior is preserved in Rhino 9, as shown in the image below."
3. However, in Rhino 9’s ‘Object’ mode, the Gumball now aligns directly to the direction of the Control Polygon (the lines connecting the points), regardless of whether one or multiple points are selected. This deviates from the traditional MoveUVN behavior.
My suggestion is to add a new, dedicated alignment mode specifically for the ‘Control Polygon’. This way, you can preserve the original MoveUVN-style alignment under ‘Object’ mode, while offering this new control polygon alignment as a separate, additional option.
Thanks for listening to user feedback! Looking forward to seeing how the Gumball evolves in Rhino 9.
Same - I’ve never once turned on control points for a subd, always just done vertex selection which is where I’d expect this to apply.
I’m aware that some people may attack me again for repeating this for the millionth time, but the best approach is to give the users a full control to customize the Gumball to their own taste. Super Gumball is the correct answer. It can include a variety of extra handles that every user could activate or hide depending on their specific workflow. I talk about:
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Secondary Drag strength handles for Move, Rotate, Scale and Plane for a direct access to both, the primary handles (normal speed) and the drag strength ones (reduced drag strength speed);
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Replace the white ball Gumball options icon with a clickable icon that changes its looks and the type of Gumball upon each click, i.e. “Cycle drag modes” (pictured below). As you can see, it has both, “Control polygon” and “UVN” modes, along with a few others.
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Alternatively, for those who don’t want to have a fully loaded Gumball with all secondary handles (a.k.a. “Christmas tree Gumball”), simply use gesture control to dynamically activate or deactivate a one-time drag strength based on the current location of the mouse pointer relative to the original vector of the grabbed handle (see the picture below). It’s pretty straightforward to explain. Example: As soon as you move the mouse pointer away from the Rotate handle, it will switch to “Drag strength” mode, say 5% by default. That will allow a super convenient and precise rotation when its needed. Once the mouse pointer is moved closer to the original Rotate handle, it should switch back to normal speed.
Only the mind control from the sci-fi films can beat Super Gumball. If the developers have any doubt about its usefulness, they could bring Super Gumball to the next build of Rhino 9 WIP and then ask the users whether they like it or not. I’m extremely confident that the majority of people will like it, especially that the secondary handles and gesture control are totally optional. Those who dislike Super Gumball will be still able to deactivate it and use the regular Gumball with all of its limitations.
Hi, sorry very late to this discussion but is this behavior the same UVN behavior being discussed here?Providing feedback that the UI was confusing to me and the result unexpected. Glad to elaborate if this is the expected behavior
Yes, that is the expected behavior when the gumball is in object mode. The movement along the control polygon is mostly for adjusting control points on a “smooth” curve. Clearly not great for a polyline. One option would be to disable the behavior in this case.
Understood, I appreciate the quick response. My experience: I tend to work in object mode as often as possible. The face alignment of the gumball to selected surfaces in 3D is very convenient. It allows me to effectively MoveFace or extrude in an expected direction. My feedback here is that this UV behavior looks very useful. In the work I’ve been doing on these outlines the Red and Blue directions tend to be pointing in a direction I need to move my control points while revising the object. However, since each point moves in its own UV that doesn’t quite work. If it’s not already taken in this context, I’d like to request you consider the shift modifier to behave as “Move all selected points in the same direction, indicated by the gumball”. This feels like a very ‘shifty’ behavior.
EDIT: just in case you’re wondering while watching the video. In the beginning I accidentally hit ‘alt’ and duplicate the object. I was trying to use ‘alt’ to temp disable snaps instead. I fumble this a lot, but it’s probably user error 
I encountered the same issue
We added the ability to make UVN drags with the gumball symmetric by holding the control key. Please give it a try and let us know what you think!