Blender Smooth
Smooth all selected vertices with Blender’s standard smoothing.
BLENDER ADD-ON / cvELD X-Ray X-Loop
Select the loops you need.
Keep your modeling flow.
Directional loop selection, through-mesh regions, component tweaking, and a customizable pie menu — with familiar shortcut presets for Blender.
Automatically detect components. Drag to move.
Component Tweak is a core feature alongside directional selection: it detects vertices, edges, and faces beneath the cursor so you can move them without repeatedly switching component types.
Component Tweak starts with Through and X-Ray off. Turn them on in its header when needed; saved per-tool choices are preserved. Select X-Ray keeps its separate defaults.
Vertical or horizontal — select one direction
Choose the loop direction you need. The comparison shows the two selection patterns on the same mesh.
Select Edge Loop: one icon, three choices
Open the loop icon in the Select X-Ray tool header to choose Loop / Ring, Vertical Only, or Horizontal Only. The redo panel keeps the Ring setting beside the same direction choice.
Relax the surface. Shape the flow.
Two Relax Plus modes and fifteen loop-shaping tools. Hover over a preview to see its three-second result. Open the dedicated icon pie with Ctrl+Alt+R in Edit Mode. Each clip shows real Blender operator evaluations on a character mesh.
Surface Relax
Spread clustered vertices over the original surface while protecting corners. This is surface redistribution, not exact volume preservation.
Directional Smooth
Smooth the selected loop direction to refine the flow.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Even Ring Spacing
Redistribute cross sections along the strip for more even spacing.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Curvature Density
Move existing sections toward stronger bends without changing their count.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Width
Adjust the width of selected sections.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Taper
Blend the section size from root to tip.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Section Shape
Reshape suitable sections into a circle, box or star. Use enough vertices for the profile.
Interpolate
Blend intermediate sections between the end shapes.
Follow Guide
Align the flow to a chosen curve or wire guide.
Twist
Rotate sections progressively along the flow.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Crease
Adjust the depth of longitudinal ridges and grooves.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Straighten
Straighten selected rows while retaining their endpoints.
Flatten
Bring selected rows onto a common plane.
Arc
Bend selected rows into an arc.
Division Count
Change the number of divisions on compatible strips. Adjust the count in the popup or redo panel.
Compatible parts processed; other parts kept.
Surface Align
Slide selected cross sections along existing edges to align their height without flattening thickness. Curved faces may change slightly.
One click from the sidebar or header
In Edit Mode, select the vertices for Relax Plus, or select one edge-loop direction for loop shaping. Use the N-panel buttons or the Loop Shaping menu in the mesh header. Hover over an individual tool for a compact, square, three-second MP4 preview. Moving the pointer or clicking dismisses it. Blender tooltips must be enabled.
Buttons execute immediately. Division Count opens a numeric adjustment popup; other settings can be adjusted with F9. For Surface Relax, selecting the whole intended surface gives a clearer density redistribution result. Corners, boundaries and disconnected parts constrain movement. Exact scalar volume and perfectly uniform edge lengths are not guaranteed.
Section Shape needs meaningful section selections and enough vertices. Division Count depends on strip topology; unsupported reductions and shape-key/Multires cases may be skipped. Best-effort processing keeps compatible results so you can repair the remaining parts separately.
Surface Align: multiple rows at once
Surface Align: multiple selected rows
A three-second demonstration on a real hair mesh with multiple cross-section rows selected. Uneven rows slide along the original longitudinal edges to align their levels. Hover to play.
Need a loop selection? Choose a direction.
Open Loop Shaping from the wide, gold-framed header icon. If no compatible shaping changes are found, a dialog offers Vertical Loops or Horizontal Loops from the current selection. Choose a direction and confirm to change the selection only, then run shaping again. Cancel keeps the selection. Unsupported connectivity or missing seed edges can still prevent a loop selection.
Need a loop selection? Choose a direction.
Three-second edited comparison of initial, vertical and horizontal selections on an MCP-created sample. These are actual operator results, not a continuous mouse recording.
Select. Relax. Shape your flow.
18 header menu actions: 15 loop-shaping tools, two Relax Plus modes and native Smooth.
Vertical. Horizontal. Instant selection.
Choose longitudinal loops or cross sections from the current selection.
Just the loops you need.
Combine box, circle or lasso regions with an edge direction to select the area you want.
Go beyond Select Box.
Select X-Ray adds directional control, through-selection and X-ray display to familiar region selection.
Softimage-style selection, inside Blender
In Preferences > Add-ons > X-Ray X-Loop > Shortcuts, choose the Softimage preset. Press T, E, or U for point, edge, or polygon X-Ray selection, and M for Component Tweak. The preset brings familiar selection controls; it does not replace every Blender operation with Softimage behavior.
- Softimage / Industry Standard / Blender: switch shortcut events while keeping feature settings.
- Custom and Unassigned: edit your own arrangement or start without assigned keys.
- Save Blender Preferences to keep edits; use JSON export/import to transfer shortcuts.
- Pie arrangement presets: separate from keyboard presets; customize the eight directions and companion controls.
Get started
- Use Blender 4.5 or newer. Install the add-on ZIP from Preferences and enable cvELD X-Ray X-Loop.
- Open a mesh in Edit Mode. In the 3D View sidebar, open X-Ray X-Loop and choose Select X-Ray.
- Choose a direction and box, circle, or lasso shape. Drag over the desired area. Turn on Through to include the far side.
- Use Component Tweak for component picking and movement. Open Shortcuts to choose and save your preferred keys.
The Softimage preset uses Ctrl + Alt + B for region selection and Shift + Right Mouse for the pie menu. Key assignments are configurable.
Selection, masking, and component edits
Use Edit Mesh for component and loop selection. In Weight Paint, Vertex Paint, and Texture Paint, prepare selection masks for Blender’s brushes. The add-on does not paint weights, colors, or image pixels itself.
Topology matters. Loop tracing follows mesh connectivity. Poles, boundaries, and irregular topology can change the result. This is not automatic clothing fitting or cloth simulation; finish shape adjustments manually when needed. Shortcuts may overlap other add-ons or Blender’s keymap, so check and customize them in Preferences.
Current add-on version: 1.0.0. Minimum Blender version declared by the add-on: 4.5.0. Screenshots show Blender usage; appearance varies with theme and language.