Besides being by nature a low-level tool, in 3ds Max, the Inset Tool it's even more downplayed being deprived by some basic features that have become standard in other software. No need to look further than Blender's Inset Faces Tool and Modo's Polygon Bevel. In Modo, Inset is integrated in this more robust tool, a model that is shared to a certain length (and for a good reasons) by other programs such as Maya. The tool as a whole has received a major awesome update within Modo 11.2 (link to video) and it's probably the best out there. Blender one is no joke as well and it's more than decent to work with. Cinema 4d one, though not on par with these two, at least has Offset variation and subdivisions. Autodesk should go beyond fixing and updating these low-level poly modeling tools and take the lead in this department. The fact that in the past couple of years it came up with an advanced Retopo and Chamfer solutions and it plans to do the same with Booleans and other major tools will make the contrast between these and the teribly outdated day-to-day polygon modeling tools from Editable/Edit Poly even more glaring. Again, spamming separate ideas for all these basic options for a low-level tool itself, that will only get lost and crowd this board it's not a priority now and this is a more about the vision of a tool most of us knows its lacking. Some of these options can be added to the Interactive Smart Extrude Inset function as well so that would make for other round of ideas. INSET, EXTRUDE, BEVEL, EXTRUDE ALONG SPLINE = ONE UNIFIED TOOL Extrude, Bevel, Inset, Extrude along Spline, Branches etc. = one tool. This falls in the broader long overdue and multiple time requested suggestion of unifying similar tools as part of the general revamp of the Edit Poly modifier and of consolidating the modeling tools into the Command Panel. This will save space and make modeling more fluid and will follow the model of some other software like Maya or Modo. The best integration of this idea so far belongs to Modo which has the Polygon Bevel Tool to accommodate these interconnected and similar ops. Maya Extrude command is similar but a bit outdated. It also supports extrusion along splines with auto-generation and alignment of these. In 3ds Max Bevel differs from Extrude only in Outline option so, by any means, this is a big redundancy and follows to old-school UX system of "we need a button for everything". For the Extrude and Bevel operation improvements alone, I made a dedicated idea you can vote about here: [Extrude/Bevel Polygon/Extrude Along Spline/Inset etc.] Unified with further enhancements: Bevel Pro... - Autodesk Community OFFSET EVEN + ADD SEGMENTS Makes the vertex distance of the inserted face even. When this option is disabled, the edge length between source vertex to the new source vertex is the same as set Inset value. Segments option specifies the number of edge segments along the inset direction (link to video). These two are obvious non- related but the later is so basic that I had to sneak it somewhere. EDGE RAIL Available when insetting in groups of polygons. When enabled the vertices on the boundary edge of the selected area are aligned to the correspondent vertices of the adjacent edges. This is the Modo explanation of the option. Consulting Blender doc: Created vertices slide along the original edges of the inner geometry, instead of the normals. It’s probably better to just watch the demo videos provided in the links and see it in action (link to video). QUAD CORNERS Adds quadrangles at each sharp corner of the boundary polygons. When Group Polygons is enabled, quadrangles are created at the corner vertices connected to the selected polygon(s). Useful when you want to prevent corners from rounding, caused by the default inset behavior that creates a loop of polygons all around. Best example is a planar surface that you want to give thickness later such a bottle label that needs to keep its corners straight (link to video). MANAGE OVERLAPPING (AUTO WELD (or/and other solutions) Performing a Polygon Inset particularly with complex corners may sometimes cause the inner vertices to cross over themselves, which results in overlapping geometry. The workaround in many software is to inset with a minimal value then scaling inner. This user here (link) suggested: "Ideally, there would be an option to just scale the entire shape down so that topology is maintained rather than just pushing verts around." I don't exactly know how this should work. The Auto Weld option instead can be used to join the inner vertices and avoid the overlap. This option found in Modo and in Blender (here as a general toggle) is again not ideal but until someone comes with a better solution to manage overlapping is better than nothing (link to video). BOUNDARY When enabled, boundary edges are not inset. This is a dire needed feature for Extrude and Bevel tools as well where you more often than not have to delete the extra faces created at borders (link to video). ARBITRARY POLYGON SIDES INSET This is a similar behavior to the Smart Extrude Scale inset functionality using Edge constraints except the last case illustrated and other more arbitrary selections are not achievable using it. That’s because with Smart Extrude you can constrain the inset to an arbitrary axis but not to arbitrary edge/edges. It’s often desirable to control if the end vertices of the end edges will continue their movement even when they reach the adjacent vertices that lay on the edge on which the vertices are moved. If not, they should stop and auto weld with them. This was actually inspired by the Miauu's Inset Pro Script (link to video). RANDOMIZE Easily and quickly achieving variation can be useful when insetting many polygons simultaneously. This was inspired by Cinema 4D and Modo which have it not just for Inset but for Extrude, Bevel polygons etc. as well. Therefore, should see a more general scale implementation (link to video). SELECT OUTER Normally, the original polygons which become the inner ones stay selected. Having a toggle for which side of the inset is selected after the operation can result in a powerful and intuitive workflow. Together with Variation (random) value option this should be generally expanded to other tools that can benefit from it and for the sake of consistency. Some modifiers in 3ds Max have this to start with. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ MY OTHER IDEAS MODELING [Extrude/Bevel Polygon, Extrude Along Spline tools] Unified with further enhancements: act smarter l... - Autodesk Community [Smart Cut, Multi-Cut tool] Unify, enhance and speed up different cut operations similar to Maya's M... - Autodesk Community [Custom Pivot] Versatile on-the-go interactive pivot manipulation (Align, Pos, Orient, Aim) similar ... - Autodesk Community [UI & Modeling - Command Pannel] Unify ribbon\graphite modeling tools with Editable\Edit poly tools ... - Autodesk Community Extra Primitives: Mechanical, Pipe Joints, Jewelry, Abstract (Illustrated Idea) - Autodesk Community Data/Normal Transfer modifier to fix normals (booleans or shrinkwrap cases ) - Autodesk Community View image plane/easily add reference images like in Maya [Spacing tool] Correct Z align when distributing copies along a spline - Autodesk Community [Brush Tools - Public Roadmap] Support for Dynamic Tessellation, Sculpt layers, Ptex, Retopology, Ra... - Autodesk Community Build End and Build Corner to work with Edit Poly not only in Editable Poly - Autodesk Community [Hinge from Edge tool] Hinge from Center, Hinge from Vertex, Quad corners, Width segments and other ... - Autodesk Community [Smart Extrude] Follow Taper, Edge Constraints support, Rotate Tool support and other improvements - Autodesk Community [Splines] Improved creation/editing capabilities and precision - Autodesk Community [Splines] Improved procedural handling through both updated and new modifiers - Autodesk Community [Splines] Flat shape and Curve controls within Renderable Spline Modifier - Autodesk Community [Splines] Scale, Rotate, Twist along Shape within Sweep Modifier - Autodesk Community UI AND VIEWPORT [Viewport] Default Sub-Object selection related colors to use Max brand UI colors like Turquoise, Ye... - Autodesk Community [Viewport] Wireframe fade effect behind model (Houdini Wireframe Ghost alike) [Viewport] Vertex and Edge auto-scale display size based on distance from view [UI UV Editor] A more clean, tidy and fresh UI like the new Maya one - Autodesk Community [UI] Update all UI with the style of new modifiers and the new previewed updates [UI Track View] A more clean, tidy and fresh UI like the new Maya Graph Editors [UI Footer] Improve layout, style, functionality, customization and use of space [UI Icons] Complete the update of the many remaining legacy icons [UI Icons] Add the many missing icons and replace the placeholder ones [UI Quad Menu] An updated modern style inspired by new 3ds Max QT menus, Caddy Controls and Maya's M... - Autodesk Community [UI Scene Explorers] Design and functionality improvements ideas - Autodesk Community [UI Scene Explorer] Include Crease, Material Explorer etc. into its modes [UI Scene Explorer] Thumbnails display option for the Materials instead names [UI Light Explorer] Merge Light Lister into it and improve upon ideas - Autodesk Community [UI & Modeling - Command Pannel] Unify ribbon\graphite modeling tools with Editable\Edit poly tools ... - Autodesk Community [UI Command Panel] Double-width layout better space detection and usage + bug fixes - Autodesk Community [UI Command Panel] Content should adapt to resize and expand as well + bug fixes [UI Command Panel] Modifier Sets Buttons Expandable + faster Commands for sets and buttons - Autodesk Community OTHERS [Lights] Editing and Renderer feature support improvement ideas Motion Graphics toolset like MASH for Maya
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