Draw Xray
Addon for Blender 3.6 and 4.0, that will show retopology overlay on top of your mesh.
Pros compared to build-in Blender retopo overlay:
- easier to see which parts of your retopo mesh protrude out of your hipoly mesh, and which are below hipoly surface (build-in retopo overlay makes it impossible to see - if your mesh it above or below highpoly surface - see image below)
- more customizable
- faces overlay color, opacity, edges opacity,
- depth bias,
- supports drawing in various modes: Sculpt, Edit, Paint, Object mode,
- draw with-or without modifiers
Cons:
- slower - it is coded in python, so it wont be as fast as native C++ code.
Paid version comes with snapping features:
- better approximation of high-poly mesh - thanks to taking into account mesh curvature (sink lowpoly mesh into valleys, push outside on peaks and keep retopo mesh close to flat surfaces) - see video below,
- support for retopology with subdivision modifier - DrawXray will negate mesh shrinking effect caused by that modifier,
- linking pairs of hipoly and lowpoly meshes, etc
Both free and $ version comes with fixed version of F2 add-on (mesh_f2_xray.py) - which wont crash when using F2 with DrawXray. Just disable the build-in F2 plugin, and replace it with the one from zip file below (named 'F2 Xray Fix')
How to use:
- Install DrawXray like any other Blender add-on - see Blender docs
- In 3D View Top Bar > Viewport Overlays > 'Enable Xray' - if you go to mesh edit mode, you will se new overlay rendered on top of your mesh
- Depth Bias - will determine how much your lowpoly object will be rendered in front of other objects. Set it to 0 to get default blender behavior.
- You can change Face Color and Highlights Color;
- Xray Overlay can be enabled in following modes: Edit, Sculpt, Paint, Object (default - Edit; shift+Click to select multiple modes).
Videos:
- Video guide from Jayanam - showing the retopo Xray overlay
- Details about snapping features were shown in video below:
Update 2.3 Blender 2.8 only (23.08.2019)
- fixed crashes on scripts reload, and other bugs.
- by default per object snapping is now set to 'Global' . Saves few clicks: when you enable global snapping, all objects will use now global target. You can still change it per object in: 'Object Viewport' panel to: Disabled or Local (different snap target for each object)
Update 2.7 Blender 2.8 and 2.9 (19.11.2020)
- addon draws more uniform edges now
- more snapping options (based on shrink wrap modifier)
- Simplified UI (there is no longer separate panel in object properties)
Update 2.8 for Blender 2.93 and 3.0 (01.12.2021)
- Added compatibility with Blender 3.0
Update 2.9 for Blender 2.93 and 3.x (12.09.2022)
- Added compatibility with Blender 3.3
- remade snapping - only selected vertices will snap (in past - whole mesh would be snapped to high-poly obj)
Update 3.0 for Blender 2.93 and 3.x (17.02.2023)
- Code refactor. Hopefully it will fix some random issues people are experiencing
Update 3.1for Blender 2.93 and 3.x (1.04.2023)
- added compatibility with blender 3.5
Update 3.3 for Blender 3.5 and up only! (1.04.2023)
- moved whole open-gl drawing to new GPU module in blender 3.5
Update 3.4 for Blender 3.6 and up only! (8.08.2023)
- option to draw in Edit mode and/or Sculpt Mode and/or Object Mode and/or Paint Mode
- Xray will show now shapekeys on object correctly
Update ver 3.6 (for version with snapping (24.11.2023) :
- improved snapping behavior on concave areas
- nicer results when using subdivision modifier on your retopo mesh,
- ability to snap to any object (not just mesh types)
- new - snap to: selected object, collection of objects, all objects
- ability to affect neighbors of selected geometry, for nicer retopo mesh interpolation
- added new - projected snapping method
Update ver 3.8 (for version with snapping (2.3.2024):
- Fixed 'Projected snapping' method when using Orthographic view
- fixed not being able to snap in mesh edit mode, when Xray overlay Mode was set to Sculpt only display method,
- other fixes and tweaks