• Peter

  4 months ago

  summary: crazy useful if you can't get weight painting to work for you, but you know how you want it to move. can be slow but i highly suggest it, just have it running in the background or between tasks.

  when i bought it i took a gamble because it sounded way more intuitive, and i was wondering what the catch was. i was annoyed initially because the results were nothing like what i had expected or wanted, and i felt like i wouldn't be able to get a return since it did work, i just wasn't satisfied.

  the documentation is thorough, but to the point. i was able to figure out what i was doing wrong quickly (for my case, i needed to up the samples) and i got the results i had wanted with way less struggling than weight painting.

  i heard a lot of people mention it takes some time, and i haven't experienced it much myself, though i do have a strong computer. i did find it took a little bit, i tried stress testing it too (using 2 bone chains with 5 bones, as well as 4 other related bones, for a total of 14 selected bones) and it still ran rather well on my computer and got the finished result i wanted, after just leaving for a bathroom break. i've been using it as a sort of last resort after my own weight painting attempts, or running it on more high detail areas before i work on something else

  the only issue i've found is you do need to understand how you want it to move, and understand if it has enough bones or needs supporting bones to help with it. but if you don't know, then you need a more thorough understanding of weight painting first. to critique it, i would like if it was faster, but as well if it showed the user the vertex groups that are all assigned to the vertices they're correcting, to aid in selecting the right bones.

  i typically only really like leaving reviews if it really stands out, negatively or positively. but this add on has saved me a lot of headaches from weight painting, and i've genuinely been suggesting it to friends. it's better to understand weight painting well enough to not need it, but frankly it's a huge time saver, and i don't really understand how to weight things cleanly either way.

• 

  Makatopia

  4 months ago

  Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a positive and detailed review. It's not often that someone shares such thorough feedback, and I really appreciate it. Knowing that Weight Shaper has been a time-saver for you is incredibly motivating.
• Ignatz

  about 1 year ago

  I have been using this addon for a while now, and honestly, it’s made my life a lot easier. It’s particularly handy when it comes to fine tuning weight paint, which, let's be honest, can be a bit of a hassle. The addon simplifies the whole process, making things way less tedious. In terms of performance, I haven’t experienced any major issues, I can comfortably work with it. As someone who doesn’t really enjoy working on weight painting but does a lot of it, I can safely say that this tool has made my work much smoother and more manageable.

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  Thanks for the review, and good rating. It really means a lot. I'm glad that you enjoy it and that it has been useful in your work.
• SoHyun

  about 1 year ago

  From blender version 3.6
  Begin mesh adjustment is not enabled.
  If I have any other problems, where should I contact?

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  Please contact me directly on Blender Market through the 'Ask a Question' section on the product page. This way, we can discuss and resolve any problems you're experiencing in more detail.
• qouteall

  about 1 year ago

  It runs slow. In my computer, it takes 4 minutes to adjust a mesh with only 45k triangles. I am already using the optimized 1.1.0 version.

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  Thank you for your review. I'm sorry to hear that the addon is running slowly for you. I conducted tests with a mesh of similar density, about 50k triangles, and my results were quite different: it took me 9 seconds to optimize the weight paint for 150 adjusted vertices or 14 seconds for 300 vertices. The performance can vary depending on your PC specifications, the number of vertices you're adjusting, as well as your algorithm settings.
• FeiFeiYan

  about 1 year ago

  As a 3D fashion creator this addon helped me to make weight painting on clothes so so much i really appreciate it but yeah the biggest issue I found is it taking too long to optimize the weights. Wondering if there could be optimizations to improve that in the future.

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  Thank you for your feedback and for sharing your experience with the addon. I'm pleased to hear that it has been helpful. Performance is indeed a crucial aspect, and I'm happy to announce that the latest update, version 1.1.0, specifically addresses optimization times. Please check the changelog section for a detailed overview of the enhancements.
• tongding

  about 1 year ago

  The concept of this addon is great. I tried it and would like to share my experience.
  -There is no problem with the workflow. It is running normally when I run version 3.4.
  -When adjusting vertex, the editing mode is more useful. In sculpting mode you will involves too many vertex. If there are too many vertex, the plug-in will freeze during calculation. Models with fewer faces are faster.
  -I was very confused when I started using it. I didn’t know which mode to enter. I forgot to select bones and there was no prompt. If there is no prompt after optimizing the weight, you will think it has no effect. And if you touch wrong bones, the outcome will be weird, must select certain bone (the addon sometimes select wrong bone for me).
  -After getting used to it, I found this workflow to be really convenient, really looking forward to subsequent optimizations and updates!

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  I really appreciate the positive feedback and am glad to hear you're enjoying the addon. You mentioned the algorithm freezing when a larger number of vertices are adjusted. Yes, this can happen, especially with denser meshes. The calculation might take more time, but it should eventually complete. Optimizing this processing time is currently my main focus.

  Regarding the selection of bones for the "Influencing Bones" list, it's important to consider which bones you think should influence the area you're adjusting. I'm curious about your experience with the addon selecting incorrect bones. Could you please send me a private message with more details? I would greatly appreciate understanding this issue better to improve the addon's functionality.
• Maximilian Wotschke

  about 1 year ago

  Addon sadly doesn't produce nearly the results I'm hoping for, and sometimes just straight up puts weights in completely irrelevant spots. It desperately needs a way to limit which verts to affect, as well as a much easier way to select bones, or simply just work with the bones that already affect the area that was changed.
  Tested it on multiple spaces on viable topology, and it couldn't figure out simple changes in weighting I was able to apply in seconds with a soft add brush. Often ended up spreading a bone weight over the entire mesh for no discernable reason. Calculation time also seems somewhat slow (does it not use GPU?) and freezes the entire application until it is done. Other heuristic addons I used show the current best result while looking for better ones, and let the user stop whenever they are satisfied with the current result, and I think that's what this addon would need instead of guessing proper iteration settings.
  It's a great idea, but requires a lot more quality of life and speed to be truly viable.

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  Thank you for your review. I’d like to address your concerns about the addon. Firstly, the optimization process targets ONLY the vertices you have adjusted, dividing weights based on your chosen bones in the "Influencing Bones" list. If adjusted vertex is influenced by a bone not on this list, it’s not directly optimized, but its weight might adjust due to normalization. Regarding bone selection, the process is designed to be straightforward: select the bone, then click '+'. If there's room for improvement here, I'm open to suggestions.
  About the iteration settings, users can choose a lower number and optimize in stages, refining the weights incrementally. This approach provides more control and can be tailored to your specific needs. I’m actively working on enhancing the addon's performance and functionality, with a focus on optimization aspects.
  Additionally, regarding your observation of weights being placed in seemingly irrelevant spots, I'd be very interested in understanding this issue in more detail. I would greatly appreciate it if you could reach out to me directly with examples or further information about this.
• Foss

  about 1 year ago

  it... works, but it takes like 20 minutes to actually optimize the weights. this is on an optimized mesh with a small change being made. so i don't know if i fail to meet some sort of secret requirement, but with how long it takes this is not going to be useful to me if it's taking an hour to do it 3 times to try and adjust for the errors it made.

• 

  Makatopia

  about 1 year ago

  I’m sorry to hear the addon isn’t performing as quickly as expected. The performance largely depends on the mesh density, the number of vertices adjusted, the algorithm settings, and your system's specs. I’m actively working on optimizing the addon for various conditions, including dense meshes. Your insights are very valuable for these improvements. If you're willing, please reach out so we can fine-tune the settings for your specific case. My priority is to enhance your experience and ensure the addon is efficient for your needs.

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