Plasticity 2026.2 Gets Its Parts Together

Published on 21 October 2026 by Bela Beier. The Topics are: 3D & CGI (722), Modeling (462)

Plasticity 2026.2 adds reusable assets, live constraints, Project Align and finer surface controls. Some relationships remain strictly session-based.

A colorful 3D mesh monkey head illustration titled “GAUSSIAN CURVATURE” on a black background, with red, purple, blue, and yellow curvature bands mapped across the surface. The graphic is centered above the caption “Reveal changes in surface curvature with color-coded feedback,” creating a clean, tech-focused layout.

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For those who don’t know the tool: Plasticity is Plastic Software’s solid and surface modeller for concept artists, product designers and anyone whose hard-surface modelling habit has progressed beyond “just bevel it”. It combines direct editing with CAD geometry, using Parasolid and, in supported editions and platforms, xNURBS.

Plasticity 2026.2 gives the repeatedly rebuilt bolt a library, the wandering surface a constraint, and questionable geometry a more explicit diagnosis. The update adds reusable asset libraries, live constraints and finer surfacing controls. Following 2026.1’s hidden-line export and PolySplines, this update gives both your components and their relationships more structure. The components handle commitment better. A bolt, at least, knows when to stay put.

Stop rebuilding the same bloody bolt

The new Assets system lets Indie and Studio users mark objects as assets, collect them in .plasticitypack files and share reusable component libraries. Open the Assets panel, import a pack and drag a component into the viewport. Plasticity invokes Place automatically; a right-click confirms its position.

Objects can be marked through Toggle Asset in the Command Palette or the Outliner’s context menu. Export Asset Pack writes the collection and adds it to the panel by default. Packs can also enter through drag and drop or File > Import/Append, although the latter brings their objects into the Outliner without adding the pack to the Assets panel.

Reload Asset restores a linked component to its original state after local changes, for when your improvements require an orderly retreat. Keep packs in a stable directory: moving or renaming the source requires re-importing it. Origin placement matters, too. The documentation recommends keeping the origin inside the component, near its main mass or functional area. Your bolt collection can now become infrastructure. Give it six months and somebody will propose a steering committee for bolt_final_FINAL_v7.

Constraints, with an unusually clear expiry date

Studio’s new constraint system establishes relationships between curves and surfaces so connected geometry updates together during subsequent transformations. Clicking a viewport constraint icon opens the settings for that relationship.

Surface constraints cover Square, Surface Align and Project Align, with continuity, partial alignment, boundary and analysis controls. Project Align creates constraints automatically; Square and Surface Align offer optional creation. Square remembers its last Create Constraints setting.

Curve-side support includes Vertex Align and Bridge Curve, with G0 through G3 continuity options. Bridge Curve also remembers whether constraint creation was enabled. The release additionally lists Edge Align, Bridge Vertex and Bridge Edge among supported operations. Select All Constraints provides a scene-wide selection command.

Now for the part to read before promising anyone a beautifully constrained handover: constraints currently exist only during the active session and cannot be saved in the project file. That makes them useful for live editing, with a handover policy best described as “you had to be there”. Put the session-only limitation in the handover notes before someone discovers it through the traditional production method: a deadline.

Project Align puts surfaces on a shorter leash

Project Align moves control vertices along a surface edge towards a reference surface, projecting along a specified vector or the surface normal. The target must be an untrimmed, single-patch B-Spline surface.

The default Constrained solver limits control-point movement to the projection direction. The documentation describes it as faster, with less displacement but looser tolerances. The xNURBS solver targets tighter tolerances, can move control points more substantially and requires a guiding reference curve.

Controls include G0, G1 and G2 continuity, a perpendicular option, blending of additional control-point rows, and Normal or Vector projection. Individual continuity settings are accessible on the surface. S sets the direction using screen space, Ctrl displays the original geometry and Tab cycles continuity.

The documentation has supplied its own little continuity problem: the release notes designate Project Align as Studio-only, while its command page lists both Indie and Studio. Until the developers reconcilesthose pages, Indie access remains unconfirmed. Documentation has achieved asymmetric continuity. Unfortunately, the checkout page does not accept that as a payment method. Believe me, I tried!

Edge Align settles the boundary dispute

The former Align command becomes Edge Align. Its Collinear solver offers Symmetric and Asymmetric behaviour: both surfaces adjust in the former; only the driven surface changes in the latter, leaving the reference fixed. One mode is a negotiation; the other knows which surface has client approval.

There are more diplomatic instruments than simply shoving one edge into place. Blend Extra Rows determines how far adjustments propagate through the control-point grid, Input Shape Influence retains influence from the original surface, and Tension adjusts the transition. Degree and span controls support rebuilding the surface for alignment.

Boundary choices include Natural, Normal, Next, Adjacent and Skew. Skew adjusts the boundary tilt through handles or start/end values and requires at least G1 continuity. Partial Alignment gains sliding handles; P toggles it and B controls boundary adjustment. Selection is also more forgiving near sheet boundaries.

Vertex Align receives sliding handles for partial alignment and the P shortcut. Bridge Curve gets separate endpoint-parameter and connection-direction handles, replacing its former Sense dialog setting. The direction control now lives on the curve, reducing the need to open a dialog and explain, once again, which way the thing is supposed to face.

PolySplines lets you meddle directly

PolySpline control vertices can now move directly in Point Selection Mode. Duplicate preserves the selected vertices’ structure and editability, rebuilding unsupported selections into valid topology where possible. Remove Nominal Surface removes control vertices by baking the affected surface, so this is a destructive operation. The word “Remove” is doing honest work here.

For context, PolySplines converts meshes into smooth B-Spline patches with G2 continuity. Quad-dominant input is recommended, although triangles and n-gons are supported. OBJ and FBX meshes are supported inputs; DCC vertex and edge creasing or bevelling are not currently carried through. Additional edge loops provide the documented workaround. The release also reports a faster PolySpline rendering strategy, without supplying a benchmark.

Find the lump before the client does

The Curvature shader offers Gaussian, Mean and Max analysis, giving “that surface looks a bit wrong” three more useful forms of expression. Gaussian helps locate curvature transitions and discontinuities; Mean provides an overall smoothness reading. Max isolates the strongest bending direction, useful when investigating offsetting or thickening problems. Better a diagnostic colour map now than a client circling the same lump in a PDF tomorrow.

Curvature combs gain an autosize button that adjusts their scale to the current viewport. Custom matcaps can declare tinting through a matching JSON sidecar containing isTinted set to true or false. Regular edges and instance edges also receive separate colour settings in Preferences. You can now colour-code the evidence against your own surface work. A small victory for art direction, a less comfortable one for the ego.

Even the gizmos have done some admin

Move can activate automatically on selection; this experimental behaviour can be disabled in Preferences > Commands if you would prefer selection to mind its own business. Consecutive Move and Rotate drags accumulate their displayed totals. Move remembers mirror settings, uses world axes for mirrored control-point edits on axis-aligned construction planes, and Rotate gains an angular progress indicator. The manipulator can now keep a running total, which seems a reasonable qualification for something entrusted with precision geometry.

Deform now accepts curves as reference and target entities. A curve target requires a curve reference, for which the documentation recommends a straight line to avoid unwanted deformation. Existing UVN scale and offset controls remain available alongside mirroring, normal reversal, Reblend and Keep Tools.

Duplicating faces preserves surface lines and redundant topology; Delete Redundant Topology remains available for deliberate cleanup. Plasticity has stopped tidying this particular desk without asking. Slide gains proportional falloff and harmonises UV directions across multiple surfaces. Its controls distinguish no proportional influence, all surrounding control vertices, or selected vertices, with separate U and V falloff.

Offset Vertex can pass neighbouring vertices. Natural sheet extension adds Modify/Unmodify handling and a boundary line marking the extension. Square accepts a single rectangular sheet face and automatically uses Refit Surface in Sheet and Body selection modes. Failed Boolean, Hollow and Thicken operations highlight the problem region in red. The software now points at the crime scene instead of leaving you to interrogate every face.

Snapping, importing and finding your way home

Snapping gains curve and edge intersections with section planes and the YZ/XZ planes. Instances support the available object snap points. Importing .Plasticity files now includes meshes, images and instances, making native-file assembly less selective about which passengers board.

Home View restores an isometric view. The View Cube gains a context menu and closer matching of view orientation; mesh snapping shows a partial wireframe. Circular projection indicators clarify direction, while Render Mode adds visibility controls for curves, edges, faces and constraints.

The Outliner adds Add to Isolation, and dedicated commands toggle images, meshes and constraints without personally interviewing every object in the scene. Asset-panel search, multi-pack selection and context menus help manage larger libraries. Hunting through the scene for one invisible object remains a hobby, but it need not be a billable department.

Other housekeeping includes sticky Outliner headers, refreshed menu icons, a fade cue in long dialogs and removal of the Units reset button. The file-tab menu reveals files, opens backups and reverts changes. J joins from the Outliner.

Availability, formats and the invoice

Plasticity runs on Windows 10+, macOS 12+ and Ubuntu 22+. Indie costs $175 and Studio $299, plus local taxes. Both are individual perpetual licences with 12 months of updates, node-locked to two and four machines respectively. Studio is required for companies with more than ten employees; xNURBS is available on Windows and macOS.

Indie includes STEP, OBJ, STL and Parasolid import/export, FBX import and the Blender bridge. Studio adds IGES and ACIS import/export, Rhino import, Windows-only DXF/DWG import and PolySplines. The 30-day trial is for trying, not invoicing: it excludes commercial use and limits interchange to STEP import and low-resolution OBJ/STL export. The licence is perpetual; the update window is twelve months. Only one of those gets to say “forever” without the accounts department clearing its throat.


Product / developer	Plasticity 2026.2 / Plastic Software
Platforms	Windows 10+, macOS 12+, Ubuntu 22+
Price	Indie $175; Studio $299, plus local taxes
Licence	Individual, perpetual; 12 months of updates
Machine allowance	Indie: two; Studio: four
Constraints	Studio; session-only, not saved in project files
Project Align	Release notes specify Studio; command page conflicts
xNURBS	Studio; Windows and macOS
Trial	30 days, non-commercial, restricted interchange
Official page	Plasticity