Edit Mesh "Modifier" like 3ds Max?

Support Basics & Interface
1

Does anyone know if there is a way, or an equivalent, in Blender to using Edit Mode as a modifier in the modifier stack to allow layered modeling?

In MAX, much like Blender, there is a Modifier stack. This is wonderful in both programs as it allows one to reorganize, add, or take away modifiers non-destructively.

However, one of the (few…very few) things that keeps me from completely disconnecting my head from 3dsMax is, besides the greater number modifiers and the existence of a widget(gizmo) to interactively determine the orientation and scale of how some modifiers are applied…is the Edit Mesh / Edit Poly / Edit Patch / Edit XXX Modifier.

In effect, this modifier is EXACTLY the same as tabbing into Edit Mode in Blender. However, because it is a Modifier and is placed into the Modifier stack, it essentially allows LAYERED and non-destructive modeling.

AFAIK, there are some workarounds in Blender, like using shape-keys for non-destructive and layered modeling…but it seems like it would provide so much more flexibility if Edit Mode was itself a modifier, and pressing Tab simply accessed the Edit Mode modifier at the top of the stack, and like, if xyz-Tab would automatically add a new Edit Mode modifier to the top of the stack, in effect starting a new layer of modeling.

Does anyone know if something like this exists, could be created, or if there is an effective workaround other than shapekeys?

2

I saw two out of the three of those already (I do UTFSE)…I was hoping something had popped up since 2011 that might be relevant?

Richard, I take your response to be an adamant “no,” as far as you know?

Two of the other threads don’t even accurately portray what the modifier is, and the other discounts it because of a misunderstanding of what it is…I guess in super misleading terms, its like having multiple Multires Modifiers…except without sculpting or subdividing the surface. Each level is just another “Edit Mesh” layer, and if you don’t like the changes you made, you can delete it. Unlike the actual Edit Mode, where if you get to be too many operations away from a change you want to undo, or have done something super complicated in the meantime and don’t want to have to undo that, you’re kind of S.O.L.

Anybody?