Freehand Tool - Trim Start and Trim End

[oik976]

Hi There-

I upgraded to Moho Pro 14, and the trim start and trim end functionality of the freehand tool was either moved or removed. This feature was a big part of my workflow as I often used it to handle line crossings neatly. Is there any plan to re-implement this feature, or do I just need to bite the bullet and figure out a new workflow?

Thanks in advance.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, wow! You're right...the Trim options are missing from Moho 14's Freehand. I'll submit a request to ask for them back.

In the meantime, you can try Synthsin75's Syn_Freehand tool. This Freehand variant has the Trim options we had in 13.5.5 and earlier, plus some other features. Of course, it doesn't have the improvements that came with Moho 14's Freehand tool, but you can have both tools installed and switch between them as needed. (Note: I have not tested this tool with Moho 14; hopefully it still works.)

Alternatively, you can use Weld Crossings and Delete Edge together to get similar results. It's not as elegant, but it gets similar results. I normally used this process as a boolean tool.

[SuperSGL]

This wasn't a feature I used all that much but I did notice that it doesn't seem to be there anymore. Maybe an over site or maybe a depreciation. The freehand tool has seen some major improvements in it's handling I also like being able to draw with a fill.

[SuperSGL]

Alternatively, you can use Weld Crossings and Delete Edge together to get similar results. It's not as elegant, but it gets similar results. I normally used this process as a boolean tool.

I can't get that to work I followed the tutorial or the manual description but it ends up deleting the shapes. Anyway even that will be obsolete with the new liquid shapes. Now you can just create your boolean and then click on Merge

[Greenlaw]

It's pretty easy to use Weld Crossings.

1. Overlap the art.
2. Select all the points.
3. Click Weld Crossings (Select Points tool.)
4. Use Delete edge on the bits you don't want.



It's really not ideal for this sort of thing because it can be fussy about how the shapes are drawn, plus it's a lot more steps than just enabling the Trim options, but it's one alternative way to work until we get Trim back.

As for comparison with Liquid Shapes, yes, it can work as an alternative for many situations, but, while the result may be visually similar, it is structurally different and won't deform the same way with bones. The approach I take depends on how I intend to rig and animate the shapes.

[SuperSGL]

It works with lines but the manual shows an oval with a rectangle drawn over half of it weld crossings and delete ends up deleting the shape (breaks apart the shape loosing fill and outlines)

[Greenlaw]

I haven't looked at that, but the shapes can sometimes break because the curve structure has drastically changed. The important thing is that the new curves are now properly structured for the new shape.

Sometimes, it's just a matter of selecting the new curves and hitting Create Shape. In fact, I will often kill any old shapes and just apply new ones to the curves.

I'll check the example from the manual this evening.

[SuperSGL]

3.02 Creating Boolean Shapes

[Greenlaw]

Looks like I need to spend more time with the new manual.

Thanks, SuperSGL. Will check out these instructions and see if I get the same results here.

[Greenlaw]

Yup, in following the exercise from the manual, I'm seeing a bit of curvature weirdness with and without locked Bezier handles. I occasionally saw similar issues in the past and just made adjustments, but maybe this is worse?

I'll take a closer look tonight.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, interesting. Before I quit my test project, I tried one more thing: Instead of using Delete Edge as normal, I held down Alt to disable Smart Trimming and this time it worked fine. That is, all the curves retained their curvature as expected.

I'm guessing the new Smart Trimming feature needs to be looked at. That's all I can do for now. Will conduct more tests more this evening and let the devs know what I find.

[SuperSGL]

I tried it your way with success. Unless I did something wrong I still needed to use 'Create Shape' to complete (which isn't mentioned in the manual). The Merge works the same if you have just the rectangle selected or both. The difference is using the new Merge created an extra point at the tip of the rectangle inside the oval. These 3 points in the center become curves, on your version it's just the 2 points and straight lines. I still like the merge better and can see myself using it alot more.