by ODI·Modeling
Images © ODI. Used for product review; image policy.
Marking Menus stands out in the superhive library for bringing an Alias-style menu system to Blender, built around the developer's own modeling process.
Marking Menus is a Blender addon from ODI that adds pie menus you call up with a shortcut to reach different actions quickly. The idea comes from Autodesk Alias: instead of moving your hand around the keyboard, you keep it near CTRL and SHIFT and press one of the three mouse buttons in the 3D view.
The menus are split into three categories. The left mouse button opens a pick menu for switching between Object and Edit mode and changing the selection mode in Edit mode. The middle mouse button opens a contextual action menu that changes depending on your mode. The right mouse button opens an interface menu to change gizmo visibility, show face orientation, hide overlays and more.
In Edit mode, the middle-button action menu includes a modifiers sub-menu that adds modifiers with preset tweaks: the mirror modifier has clipping enabled, subdivision surface creates a level 3 modifier and then toggles between low and high poly, and bevel is set to two segments with a weight of one. Shrinkwrap and boolean both use the selection order. Documentation is included.
Marking Menus is best for blender modelers who want fast, mouse-driven access to mode switches, contextual actions and preset modifiers.
Marking Menus is completely free to download and use.
Marking Menus lists support for Blender 2.8 through 3.1, including 2.81, 2.82, 2.83, 2.9, 2.91, 2.92, 2.93, 3.0 and 3.1. If you are on 2.93, the developer recommends version 1.0.2 of the addon; for versions under 2.93, use version 1.0.1. The addon runs inside Blender's 3D view once enabled. Check the developer's page to match the right build to your Blender version before installing.
Marking Menus is quick to set up: install the addon, activate it, and then work in the 3D view. Once it is enabled, press CTRL + SHIFT together with one of the three mouse buttons to open a menu. The left button opens the pick menu, the middle button the action menu, and the right button the interface menu. Keeping your hand near CTRL and SHIFT lets you reach these menus without moving around the keyboard.
Marking Menus is listed as free in this catalog and is distributed under a Creative Commons license. For the current licensing terms and any conditions attached to that license, check the developer's page before you download or redistribute the addon. The developer also notes that custom marking menus can be arranged separately, so anything beyond this addon would be a different discussion with the creator.
Marking Menus includes a modifiers sub-menu in the middle-button action menu when you are in Edit mode. It adds modifiers with preset tweaks: the mirror modifier has clipping enabled by default, subdivision surface creates a level 3 modifier the first time and then toggles between low and high poly, and bevel is set to two segments with a weight of one. Shrinkwrap and boolean both take the selection order into account, using the last selected object with the previous one as reference.
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