[Bf-funboard] Blender - Alt M

[Jason van Gumster]

"Kernon Dillon" <kernond at gmail.com> wrote:

> If you want to control the location of the merge, set the pivot
> control to 3d cursor. Place or snap the 3d cursor as desired. Select
> the two rows of vertices that you want to merge. Make sure AutoMerge
> is enabled. Scale to zero along the axis for the desired merge.
> Remove Doubles with the default settings. Done.
> 
> If you have several merges to perform, then wait until you've finished
> aligning everything before doing a Remove Doubles. That way you only
> have to do it once.
> 
> After setting the pivot control and enabling AutoMerge, it's a very
> fast solution *that works*. I can't think of a faster way without
> having a specific button or macro for the task.
> 
> I can create a quick video demonstrating the process, if needed.

Another possible method would be to use Edge Slide in combination with
Auto Merge. Assuming you're working with edges that do not cross
themselves, it would work even faster.

There are a couple technical problems with the merge proposal that's
being made. First of all, the proposed workflow is backwards from how
everything else is done in Blender. Blender works with a select -> act
methodology. The current suggestion for vertices is act -> select
(two groups of verts). Not only is that a modal behavior, but also
there's not a particularly easy way to tell Blender which selected
verts (or edges, for that matter) belong to which group you want to
merge from/to. What's being asked for sounds too unpredictable to
automate.

If you're trying to get rid of superfluous edge loops, then the Erase
Edge Loop feature is probably closer to what you want/need. However for
an arbitrary string of vertices that you want to merge with another
arbitrary string of vertices, I don't think there's a way to get it to
behave predictably without shackling it down with all kinds of
conditions and restrictions (vertices should share an edge, the groups
of verts have to have equal numbers, etc.)

Of course... I've been wrong before. :P

  -Fweeb