How To

Custom Icons

Adding Custom Icons is relatively easy from version 0.2 onward. Some basic Blender knowledge is definitely a plus.

It's highly recommended to use a .svg file for the icon. You can model your own icon in e.g. Adobe Illustrator and export it as .svg or use online converters to turn an existing .png file to .svg.

Using an SVG file

1. Swap to the Layout tab for easier editing. Set the viewport shading option to Solid.

2. Temporarily hide the Protogen model and unhide the Custom Icon Size Reference Object.

3. Import the desired file to Blender (File > Import > Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg))

4. The icon should be imported inside a new collection as a curve object. I'm using a public domain star icon from svgrepo.com as an example.

5. Press Numpad 7 or the Z-handle on the 3D Gizmo to change the 3D viewport to top view and zoom in (Scroll Wheel) on the icon. You should also see the size reference circle object.

6. Set the icon's origin point (the small orange dot) in the middle of its geometry. Select the icon > Object > Set Origin > Origin to geometry.

7. Center the icon by setting its location to 0 on all three axes.

8. Scale the icon to fit nicely inside the bounds of the size reference circle. While the icon is selected, press S and drag you mouse to scale.

9. Apply the scale. While the icon is selected, press CTRL + A and choose Scale.

10. Convert the icon to a mesh. While the icon is selected, right click on the 3D viewport and select Convert to > Mesh.

11. Move the Icon to the Custom Icons collection by dragging it:

12. Unhide the Protogen object, select it and set the Use Custom Icons? property to 1.

13. DONE! Switch back to the PROTOGEN tab. You should see your icon being applied on the model!

Possible Problems

Tearing

You might experience some weird tearing and stretching on the icon. Imported SVG files that are converted to meshes tend to have pretty terrible geometry which might need fixing. Below is the process I found to be the most efficient with the best possible results.

How to fix

1. Switch back to the Layout tab and hide the Protogen object.
2. Select your custom icon object.
3. While the icon is selected, press TAB to switch to Edit mode.
4. Select all the vertices of the icon by pressing A.
5. Extrude the vertices slightly upward by pressing E and dragging your mouse. The extrusion should be bound to the Z-axis (only allowing you to extrude straight up). If it isn't, press Z. Confirm the extrusion by left-clicking.
6. Switch out of Edit mode (TAB).
7. Add a Remesh modifier to the icon (Modifier Properties > Add Modifier > Remesh). This modifier will fix the bad geometry.

8. Set the Remesh modifier's settings as below. You can set the Octree depth lower than 7 if the icon keeps its shape at lower values.

9. Apply the modifier.

10. Switch back to Edit mode (TAB) and toggle on X-Ray mode (Alt + Z).

11. Select all the vertices of the mesh EXCEPT for the lowest row:

12. Delete the selected vertices (X > Vertices). You should now have a flat icon. Toggle X-Ray mode off (Alt + Z).

13. Flip the normals. Select all the remaining vertices (A) and press Alt + N > Flip. Switch back to Object mode (TAB).

14. DONE! The geometry is now fixed and there should be no more tearing! You can switch back to the PROTOGEN tab.