Restricting surface area for snapping to other objects Sorry, new to Blender, but not to CAD or other 3D programs, but not familiar with terminology used with Blender.
I would like to be able to define &quot;snap points/surfaces&quot; that would allow me to place two different 3D parts together, but only snap/connect together in a predefined area of the objects surface.
A simple example would be a cup with lid and a straw. You would want to be able to restrict the straw to snap to only the hole in the cup lid, and no where else on the cup object surface; likewise the straw would only be able to snap on either of its two ends and no where else. Is it possible to define a point/area on a 3D object to implement this functionality?
This is something that I am working on as well, so I might as well share what I have learned.
A nice way to isolate the target area in the edit mode is to hide the geometry you don't want to be affected by an operation.
You can then safely work only on the area you want, without affecting any of the other vertices.
Other notes:
-make sure to toggle proportional editing off; this is an extremely powerful function
-snapping can be used (the magnet icon) to connect edges or align by increments
-use bridge connect tool