Loops Worker - Edge Loop Tools
Stachu Jacewicz
LOOPS WORKER – USER DOCUMENTATION
Version: 2.10.2 Supported Blender versions: 4.5 LTS and 5.x Verified with: Blender 5.2.0 LTS on Windows x64 Author: Stanisław Jacewicz
Loops Worker is a modeling add-on focused on fast loop-based mesh editing. It combines loop placement, topology adjustment, curve-based reshaping, loop matching, live edge statistics, Smart Transform, and customizable menus in one workflow.
CONTENTS
Installation and updating
Where to find the tools
Default shortcuts
Smart Transform
Edit Master
Loop Curve
Loop Adjust
Place New Loop
Match Loops
Connect Loops
Loop Statistics
Snapping Presets
Speed Radial
Quick Rotate and View Memory
Preferences
Topology requirements and performance
Troubleshooting
INSTALLATION AND UPDATING
Installation
Download the Loops Worker ZIP file. Do not unpack it.
In Blender, open Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
Click the menu arrow and choose Install from Disk.
Select the ZIP file.
Enable Mesh: Loops Worker.
Open a 3D View, press N, and select the Loops tab.
Updating
Export your Speed Radial and custom-shortcut configuration to JSON if you customized it.
Disable the installed Loops Worker version.
Install the new ZIP with Install from Disk.
Enable the add-on and restart Blender.
If a shortcut does not update, open the add-on Preferences and press Refresh in its shortcut section.
The add-on uses Blender's built-in Python, BMesh, GPU, BLF, and math APIs. It does not require external Python packages or Windows-only libraries.
WHERE TO FIND THE TOOLS
Loops sidebar
In the 3D View, press N and open the Loops tab. This is the main panel for loop tools, statistics, snapping presets, and utility controls.
Quick Menu
Press Alt+D in Mesh Edit Mode to open a compact menu near the cursor. Its shortcut can be changed or disabled in Preferences.
Speed Radial
Speed Radial is an eight-slot pie menu. It has no default shortcut, so assign one in Preferences before using it.
Preferences
Open Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Loops Worker to configure shortcuts, overlay appearance, Loop Curve display, Edit Master, Smart Transform, Speed Radial, and custom actions.
DEFAULT SHORTCUTS
Tool – Default shortcut – Context Quick Menu – Alt+D – Mesh Edit Mode Smart Transform – Mouse Button 5 click – Object or Edit Mode Edit Master – Hold Mouse Button 5 for 0.15 s – Object or Edit Mode Loop Curve – Ctrl+Alt+D – Mesh Edit Mode Loop Adjust – Shift+Mouse Wheel – Mesh Edit Mode Place New Loop – Ctrl+Shift+L – Mesh Edit Mode Connect Loops – Ctrl+Shift+C – Mesh Edit Mode Toggle Loop Statistics – Ctrl+Shift+S – Mesh Edit Mode Pin Seam Statistics – Shift+Alt+D – Mesh Edit Mode Speed Radial – Not assigned – 3D View
Smart Transform and Edit Master use the same default mouse button. A short click starts Smart Move; holding the button opens Edit Master. They have separate shortcut settings and may be assigned to different inputs.
SMART TRANSFORM
Smart Transform combines Move, Rotate, and Scale in one modal tool. It works in Object Mode and Mesh Edit Mode.
Starting and changing the transform
Click the configured Smart Transform shortcut to start in Move mode.
Press G for Move, R for Rotate, or S for Scale.
In Edit Mode, press G twice (GG) to hand the operation over to Blender's native Edge Slide.
Press the Smart Transform shortcut again to return to Move.
Hold the shortcut while Smart Transform is active to switch to Scale.
Axis constraints
X, Y, or Z constrains the transform to an axis.
C is an additional shortcut for the Y axis.
Repeatedly press the same axis to cycle Global > Local > Off.
Shift+X, Shift+Y, or Shift+Z excludes that axis and constrains the operation to the remaining plane.
Axis and plane constraints remain active when switching between Move, Rotate, and Scale. Cycle the constraint off when it is no longer needed.
Snapping and precision
Smart Transform follows Blender's active snapping configuration.
Vertex, edge, face, and surface snapping are supported where available in the current Blender snapping setup.
Hold Ctrl during the transform to toggle alignment to the target surface normal.
Numeric input can be used for precise transforms.
Mouse wheel scales the selection.
Shift+Mouse Wheel rotates in 15-degree steps.
Space drops a copy while the transform remains active.
Confirming and cancelling
With Use Smart G/R/S in Edit Mode disabled:
A single LMB confirms the current step but keeps Smart Transform available.
Another LMB resumes Move.
Double-click LMB, Ctrl+LMB, or press Enter to finish the entire tool.
RMB or Esc cancels and restores the previous state.
With Use Smart G/R/S in Edit Mode enabled, a single LMB finishes the complete Smart Transform operation. Blender's Edit Mode G, R, and S shortcuts then start Smart Transform directly in the matching mode.
EDIT MASTER
Edit Master is a hold-to-open radial menu designed to reduce trips to the keyboard. Its hold delay and shortcut are configurable.
Object Mode actions
Enter Edit Mode
Convert to Mesh
Other actions that are valid for the active object
Convert to Mesh runs Blender's standard bpy.ops.object.convert(target='MESH') operation.
Edit Mode actions
Return to Object Mode
Vertex Select
Edge Select
Face Select
Merge by Distance
Bevel
Vertex Bevel
Move the cursor toward a radial direction and release to activate the item. You do not need to place the cursor directly over the label.
Shared and separate shortcuts
By default, Smart Transform and Edit Master both use Mouse Button 5:
Short click: Smart Transform in Move mode
Hold: Edit Master
You can assign a different shortcut to either tool. When their bindings are different, they operate independently.
LOOP CURVE
Loop Curve reshapes a selected edge chain using an editable Bézier-style guide while preserving the loop topology.
Requirements
Mesh Edit Mode
Exactly one continuous selected edge chain or loop
At least three vertices
Open and closed loops are supported
Start with Ctrl+Alt+D or from the Loops panel, Quick Menu, or Speed Radial.
Setup phase
Ctrl+Mouse Wheel: change the number of curve control points
Shift+Mouse Wheel: change the number of real mesh edges in the loop
Plain Mouse Wheel: zoom the viewport normally
Enter or first LMB: enter curve-editing mode
Editing the curve
Hold LMB over a control point or handle and drag it. Release LMB to stop dragging.
Select a control point, then press G or Mouse Button 5 for click-to-click Smart Move.
X, Y, Z, or C constrain point movement. Shift+axis uses a plane constraint.
D snaps the point currently being moved to the geometry under the cursor.
A shows or hides handles for the selected point.
H switches the selected point between aligned and free handles when handles are visible.
V toggles a sharp/vector corner.
P pins or unpins an open endpoint.
T toggles preservation of smaller shape details.
S smooths the controls.
R resets the curve.
Ctrl+Mouse Wheel changes control-point count.
Shift+Mouse Wheel changes real loop-edge count.
Open endpoints are not pinned by default. Their outward, unused handles are hidden; only the handle that affects the curve is displayed.
Finishing
Enter or Ctrl+LMB: apply and finish
RMB or Esc: cancel and restore the original loop
Curve color and thickness are configurable. Increasing curve thickness also enlarges its control points and handles.
LOOP ADJUST
Loop Adjust changes edge or face density interactively.
Edge-loop workflow
Select a clean continuous edge loop.
Use Shift+Mouse Wheel.
Scroll to add or remove edges.
Quad-patch workflow
Select a supported connected region of quad faces, then use:
Shift+Mouse Wheel: add or remove rows of faces
V: swap the adjustment axis
R: relax the cylinder or patch shape
N: flip face orientation
Confirming
LMB, RMB, or Enter: confirm
Esc: cancel
The operation auto-confirms after approximately seven seconds of inactivity.
Best results require an orderly quad patch without branches, poles, triangles, n-gons, or non-manifold interruptions.
PLACE NEW LOOP
Place New Loop draws a new polygonal or curved loop directly in the viewport.
Starting
Shortcut in Mesh Edit Mode: Ctrl+Shift+L
In Object Mode, start the tool from the Loops panel or Speed Radial.
In Edit Mode, the loop is added to the current mesh.
In Object Mode, Loops Worker creates a new mesh object automatically.
Controls
LMB: add a control point
Click the first point after placing at least three points: close and finish the loop
M: toggle vertex snapping/magnet mode
Shift+Mouse Wheel: change edge count
Enter or RMB: confirm an open loop
Esc: cancel
The tool offers Curve and Adaptive generation. Adaptive mode reacts to the configured sharp-angle threshold. Vertex snapping detects nearby visible vertices and may merge the new geometry when appropriate.
MATCH LOOPS
Match Loops transfers density and optionally shape from the active target loop to one or more source loops.
Selection order
Select one or more source loops.
Select the target loop last so it becomes active.
Start Match Loops.
Controls
V: flip matching direction
S: toggle shape matching
LMB or Enter: confirm
RMB or Esc: cancel
The viewport shows a live preview. The panel also includes independent Match Density and Match Shape options.
CONNECT LOOPS
Connect Loops joins selected open edge chains by pairing the nearest endpoints from different chains and merging each pair at its median position.
Enter Mesh Edit Mode.
Select at least two compatible open chains.
Press Ctrl+Shift+C or choose Connect Loops.
The result depends on clean endpoint selection. Closed loops and branched selections do not provide compatible endpoint pairs.
LOOP STATISTICS
Loop Statistics displays live edge counts directly in the 3D View.
Basic use
Press Ctrl+Shift+S to enable or disable the overlay.
Selected edge chains and loops display their edge counts.
For selected faces, the add-on displays only the boundary of each selected region and the edge count of each detected boundary side.
Side Mode
Side Mode divides a boundary into logical sides and assigns different colors to consecutive segments.
Split Angle controls how much direction change is required to start a new side.
A lower value detects more corners and creates more sides.
A higher value detects fewer corners and may treat an entire smooth closed loop as one side.
Closed loops are evaluated cyclically and may contain any number of sides; they are not forced into a four-sided result.
Smart Split Closed Loops improves automatic segmentation of closed outlines.
Side highlight thickness and Solid/Dashed line style can be changed in Preferences.
Selected face-region outline
When faces are selected, their outer boundary receives a separate highlight. The region highlight can be disabled or recolored in Preferences. Internal edges between selected faces are not treated as boundary edges.
Persistent seam statistics
Press Shift+Alt+D to pin statistics to seams:
With faces selected, only the boundary edges of the selected face region become seams.
Otherwise, the selected edges are used.
Counts and the persistent highlight remain visible after deselection.
Using the command again on the pinned edges removes the pin and restores their previous seam state.
The command also runs Select Linked All with Seam as the delimiter.
This makes it possible to keep important panel boundaries measured while continuing to work elsewhere on the mesh.
Appearance and limits
Preferences provide:
Statistics display limit, default 300
Text color, default red
Text size from 8 to 128
Selected region highlight on/off and color
Side highlight on/off
Side highlight thickness from 1 to 12
Solid or dashed side lines
The overlay refreshes continuously during mesh movement. For very dense selections, lower the display limit or disable the overlay when it is not needed.
SNAPPING PRESETS
Loops Worker includes two quick presets that modify Blender's active snapping settings:
Retopo: face-nearest snapping suited to placing or moving geometry over a surface
Standard: a more general face-based snapping setup
These presets change Blender's global Tool Settings, so they also affect regular Blender transforms until another snapping setup is selected.
SPEED RADIAL
Speed Radial is one customizable pie menu with eight fixed directions and no pages. It has no default shortcut.
Default layout
Direction – Default action Left – Smart Transform Right – View Memory Bottom – Inset Top – Match Loops Top-left – Place New Loop Top-right – Connect Loops Bottom-left – Loop Curve Bottom-right – Quick Rotate
Each slot can be enabled, disabled, renamed, moved to a free direction, or replaced. Only one item can occupy a direction.
Available action types
Blender Operator
Quick Rotate
View Memory
Align Active Top
Align Orientation to Selection
Loop Curve
Toggle Proportional Editing
Custom Blender operators
The operator field accepts formats such as:
bpy.ops.mesh.inset mesh.inset bpy.ops.object.convert(target='MESH')
Named arguments may also be entered separately:
use_boundary=True, thickness=0.02
or as a dictionary:
{'use_boundary': True, 'thickness': 0.02}
Use Interactive execution for operators that should remain modal and Immediate for one-shot actions. Positional arguments are not supported by the custom-action parser.
Custom shortcuts and backup
Preferences also include a separate list of custom operator shortcuts. Record a key, enter the operator and named arguments, then choose its execution mode.
Use JSON export/import to back up and transfer Speed Radial slots and custom shortcut settings.
QUICK ROTATE AND VIEW MEMORY
Quick Rotate
Quick Rotate previews axis rotation without immediately finishing:
X, Y, Z, or C for the Y axis: rotate by +90°
Shift+axis: rotate by -90° / 270°
Ctrl+axis: rotate by 180°
Mouse Wheel: adjust by 15°
Shift+Mouse Wheel: adjust by 5°
Ctrl+Mouse Wheel: adjust by 1°
LMB: confirm
RMB or Esc: cancel and restore the previous rotation
Choosing an axis only changes the preview. The operation remains active until it is confirmed with LMB.
View Memory
View Memory stores the current viewport position and perspective. Save a useful modeling view, navigate elsewhere, and restore the saved view later from the same radial action.
PREFERENCES
Loop Statistics
Configure the display limit, text size and color, selected-region outline, Side Mode highlight, thickness, and solid/dashed style.
Quick Menu
Enable, disable, record, or manually edit the Quick Menu shortcut. The default is Alt+D.
Smart Transform
Configure its direct shortcut independently from Edit Master. Enable Use Smart G/R/S in Edit Mode only if you want Smart Transform to replace Blender's normal Edit Mode transform shortcuts.
Edit Master
Configure its hold shortcut and delay. The default is Mouse Button 5 with a 0.15 s delay.
Loop Curve
Configure its shortcut, curve color, and thickness. Point and handle size follows the curve-thickness setting.
Speed Radial
Enable and assign the pie-menu shortcut, edit all eight slots, create custom shortcuts, and export or import the configuration as JSON.
After recording or manually changing a shortcut, press Refresh if Blender does not activate the new binding immediately.
TOPOLOGY REQUIREMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Loop tools work best with:
Continuous, unbranched edge selections
Predictable vertex order
Manifold quad topology
No duplicate vertices
No triangles, n-gons, or poles inside a quad patch being adjusted
If a tool cannot identify a valid loop, chain, or patch, simplify the selection and check for hidden duplicates or non-manifold edges.
For dense scenes:
Keep the Loop Statistics display limit at a practical value.
Disable statistics when they are not needed.
Avoid running several viewport overlays from different add-ons at once.
Save the file before performing large topology operations.
TROUBLESHOOTING
A shortcut does not work
Place the cursor over the 3D View.
Check that the shortcut is enabled in Loops Worker Preferences.
Confirm that the tool supports the current Object/Edit Mode.
Press Refresh in the shortcut section.
Check Edit > Preferences > Keymap for conflicts with another add-on or Blender command.
Restart Blender after updating the add-on.
Speed Radial does not open
Speed Radial has no default shortcut. Enable its shortcut, choose a key and event, set any modifiers, then press Refresh. Space is supported, but it may replace or conflict with Blender's own Spacebar action.
Loop Curve does not start
Select exactly one clean continuous edge chain or loop containing at least three vertices. Remove branches and unrelated selected edges.
Loop Statistics creates unexpected sides
Lower Split Angle to detect more corners or raise it to merge smoother turns. Closed outlines are evaluated cyclically, so every corner — including the connection between the last and first edge — participates in the split.
The add-on behaves differently after an update
Restart Blender and use the shortcut Refresh controls. If necessary, disable the old version, restart Blender, install the current ZIP again, and re-enable it.
Reporting a crash or bug
Include:
Loops Worker version
Blender version and build
Operating system
Exact steps required to reproduce the issue
A minimal .blend file if possible
Blender System Console output or crash log
After a Blender crash, reopen the last saved version of the file before continuing.
QUICK REFERENCE
Context – Input – Result Smart Transform – G / R / S – Move / Rotate / Scale Smart Transform – GG – Native Edge Slide in Edit Mode Smart Transform – X/Y/Z, repeated – Global / Local / Off Smart Transform – Shift+axis – Exclude axis / use plane Smart Transform – Space – Drop a copy Loop Curve setup – Ctrl+Wheel – Control-point count Loop Curve – Shift+Wheel – Real loop-edge count Loop Curve point move – D – Snap point to geometry Loop Curve – A/H/V/P – Handles / type / corner / pin Loop Adjust – Shift+Wheel – Add or remove edges/faces Loop Adjust patch – V/R/N – Axis / relax / flip Place New Loop – M – Vertex snapping Match Loops – V/S – Flip direction / shape matching Loop Statistics – Shift+Alt+D – Pin/unpin seam statistics