Stylus / Pen Freehand Curve Drawing directly on Mesh with Real-Time Smoothing & Conformance
Mikhail Moskvinov
Feature Request:
Add a dedicated freehand Pen/Stylus drawing tool that allows artists to draw continuous curves directly across 3D meshes, CAD solids, or reference objects using a graphics tablet/stylus, featuring real-time stroke stabilization and automatic surface conformance.
Key Mechanics & Options:
Stylus & Freehand Input:
Designed specifically for graphic tablet / stylus input (continuous stroke drawing rather than placing individual points).
Stabilizer / Jitter Filtering: Adjustable slider for stroke stabilization (LazyMouse / Streamline effect) to eliminate hand tremors and jitter while moving the pen.
Surface Conformance (Two Modes):
Planar / Silhouette mode: In flat/orthographic views, the pen stroke automatically snaps and conforms strictly to the outer silhouette/contour of the underlying mesh.
3D Surface mode: The curve hugs the 3D surface topography directly under the pen tip, following all valleys, ridges, and slopes across the mesh (true Curve on Mesh / Curve on Surface).
Curvature & Smoothing Controls:
Smoothness: Controls how aggressively the resulting curve is smoothed out.
Fitting Tolerance / CV Density: Balances between hugging the mesh tightly vs generating a clean, low-CV (Control Vertices) NURBS curve with fair curvature.
Why it matters:
Clicking points individually to trace complex organic forms or 3D scans is slow and lacks sufficient accuracy. Being able to naturally sketch with a stylus directly on top of geometry — with the app automatically turning freehand strokes into smooth, accurate CAD curves — would massively speed up retopology, surfacing, and industrial design sketching.