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damPrimitives

damPrimitives Demo damPrimitives Demo

What is it?

damPrimitives is an interactive tool for creating and editing basic 3D primitives (cubes, cylinders, tori, cones, and planes) with real-time visual feedback. Unlike Blender's standard primitives, this tool provides immediate interactive control over dimensions, segments, and placement with precise snapping and anchor modes.

Access and Shortcuts

  • Pie Menu: Manipulation section → "damPrimitives"
  • Operator: damtools.primitives
  • Modal Keys:
  • 1-5: Switch primitive type (Cube/Cylinder/Torus/Cone/Plane)
  • Mouse Move: Adjust dimensions
  • Shift + Mouse: Adjust secondary dimension
  • Ctrl + Wheel: Adjust segments/subdivisions
  • Alt + Wheel: Rotate around axes
  • A: Cycle anchor mode (Base/Center/Top)
  • S: Cycle snap mode (Face/Edge/Vertex)
  • Enter/LMB: Confirm and finish
  • Esc/RMB: Cancel

Workflow

  1. Activate damPrimitives from the pie menu
  2. Click to place the primitive at the desired location (or select an existing damPrimitive to edit)
  3. Move mouse to adjust primary dimension
  4. Hold Shift while moving mouse to adjust secondary dimension
  5. Use number keys (1-5) to switch between primitive types
  6. Use Ctrl+Wheel to adjust segment count
  7. Use Alt+Wheel to rotate the primitive
  8. Press A to cycle through anchor modes (Base/Center/Top)
  9. Press Enter or Left-click to confirm
  10. Press Esc or Right-click to cancel

damPrimitives Snap Demo damPrimitives Snapping Demo

Parameters

Primitive Types: - 1: Cube - Width, Depth, Height adjustable - 2: Cylinder - Diameter, Height, Segments, Inner Diameter (for tubes) - 3: Torus - Major Diameter, Tube Diameter, Major/Minor Segments - 4: Cone - Diameter, Height, Segments - 5: Plane - Width, Depth

Anchor Modes: - Base: Primitive sits on placement surface - Center: Primitive centered on placement point - Top: Primitive hangs from placement point

Snap Modes: - Face: Snap to face centers and align to normals - Edge: Snap to edge midpoints - Vertex: Snap to vertices

Controls: - Mouse Movement: Primary dimension (width/diameter) - Shift + Mouse: Secondary dimension (depth/height) - Ctrl + Wheel: Segments/subdivisions - Alt + Wheel: Rotation around X/Y/Z axes

Tips

  • Start with rough placement, then fine-tune dimensions with mouse movement
  • Use anchor modes to control how primitives align to surfaces
  • Select existing damPrimitives to re-enter edit mode and modify them
  • Ctrl+Wheel adjustments are perfect for creating low-poly or high-detail geometry
  • Face snap mode automatically aligns primitives to surface normals
  • Shift+mouse movement allows independent control of depth/height
  • Alt+Wheel rotation works on all three axes for complete orientation control
  • Existing primitives automatically detect geometry changes and reset when modified externally

Known Limitations

  • Requires active 3D viewport with valid geometry for snapping
  • Some very small dimensions may cause geometry issues
  • Rotation is limited to 15-degree increments by default

See Also

  • Standard Blender Add Mesh primitives
  • Other DAMTools creation operators
  • Snap settings in Blender preferences