Skip to content

Changelog

This page tracks the changes and improvements made to the Fondant Stylized Normals Helper addon across different versions.

v2.1.0

  • Reworked the Laplacian Smooth Modifier to run on Corners instead of Edges and Vertices.
  • Parameters were reworked. Some unnecessary ones removed, and some new options added.
  • Now works on quad meshes by using Virtual Triangulation. Big performance increase when working with them, as it no longer needs to triangulate under the hood. Quad meshes also produce better quality results.
  • Now uses Face Corner ID Groups, same as Blender's own Normal calculation system. This allows Corner attributes to define different values on each side of an edge, or different corners of a face.
  • The 4.5 version no longer needs to edge split geometry for Sharp edges (another big performance improvement.) Unfortunately, 4.3 Geometry Nodes does not support this.
  • Momentum Scaling option added to address Laplacian Stability issues. It is now no longer necessary to reduce the smoothing Strength in order to resolve them.
  • Scale Strength added for increasing the strength of the effect above 1, which is now possible thanks to the Momentum Scaling.
  • More Strength/Scale options added to give more control. Iteration Strength now called Application Strength. Contribution Strength controls how much a given corner can influence its neighbors when smoothing. Original Normal Strength controls how much of the Corner's own Normal is used as compared to those accumulated from neighbors. This allows it to be overwritten or filled in from its neighbors.
  • Added Warnings for ngons or potential 0 area faces that can mess up the smoothing. Can be disabled in the Debug section.
  • Added Corner Weights from Vertex Group utility node group. This can be used as a modifier or node group. By default, when vertex groups are used as Corners, all corners of the vertex get their value. This masks it to only effect corners of faces with all their vertices in the group, allowing more control over their influence.

v2.0.0

New Features

Face Proxy Normals System

Complete new workflow for controlling face normals using rigged bezier curves

  • Face Proxy Normals Modifier for transferring curve-based normals to face geometry
  • Face Proxy Curves Modifier for generating curves from rig data
  • Integrated proxy rig system with alignment, curve handle, and normal bones
  • Support for shape key integration with MeshRig
  • Automatic boundary masking for face-only application
  • Debug materials and geometry visualization tools

Laplacian Smooth Improvements

  • Enhanced modifier parameters and controls
  • Integration with Face Proxy system
  • Better handling of mixed normal data sources

v1.1.0

Laplacian Smooth Modifier Changes

  • New Feature: Added Boundary Extrapolation to address bends in shading towards the boundaries of the mesh
  • Improved Structure: Restructured the modifier to use Node Groups. Improves modularity, and makes it easier to make custom alterations
  • Optimization: Moved Apply Object Transforms to the very end of the order of operations to avoid having to perform them multiple times
  • Performance: Greatly improved performance by storing more commonly used attributes
  • New Option: Added an internal option 'Triangulate to Boundary Corners'. When triangulating boundary corner quads (3 boundary vertices), will always connect an edge to the vertex at the corner so that it has a non-boundary edge. Improves boundary extrapolation calculations. Enabled by default, but can be disabled on the PrepareGeo group.

v1.0.0

  • Initial release of the Fondant Stylized Normals Helper addon
  • Laplacian Smooth Normals geometry nodes modifier
  • Basic UI for managing objects with custom normals
  • Apply custom normals functionality