Why do some parts of my object disappear when viewing the render viewport from certain angles? So I dont know a whole lot about blender, just the basics. I am trying to build a 3d model of a room in my house. Following a tutorial online to make the wood look more photo realistic, I added a PBR shader to the object. The floor becomes all distorted when viewing it from certain angles. The guy that did the tutorial had his looking nice and I thought I followed it precisely, but I can't figure out why this is happening. See the screenshots for a better explanation.

I would start with a Principled BSDF shader, but since you are following a tutorial, try increasing the roughness to see if that helps minimize how much of the environment is being reflected.


Scale object and preserve proportions I want to scale a copy of the small star (the big star) but I want the proportions to remain the same. As you can see the bigger star is thicker. I want them to have the same thickness.

You could do it this way:

Create your star (10 vertices cylinder, scale 5 of them). Extrude it with altE > Region (Vertex Normals). Click the Offset Even option in the operator panel (bottom of the T panel in 2.9, bottom left box in 2.8).

Delete the faces with X > Faces.

Extrude all and again with altE > Region (Vertex Normals) and click the Offset Even option. You could as well use the Solidify modifier.


Creating a shortcut for changing the solidify thickness I would like to create a shortcut for changing a solidify modifiers thickness much like changing the amount of subdivision with Ctrl + number or hitting the S key and typing the number for scaling. Is there an easy way to do that?

This can be easily done with python.

1. Get the script

Copy the script into blender's text editor and save it as "solidify_set.py" (NOT "solidify_set.py.txt").

OR

Download from github (see the comments for more info).

2. Install it as an add-on

(make sure to click the all category and the community supported level)

3. Add the hotkeys that you would like

It should be added in the "3D View > Object Mode" section where the subdivision set operator is.

Click Add New, then enter "solidify_raise", then enter your hotkey (and select any key modifiers you want...shift, ctrl, etc.). Click Add New, then enter "solidify_lower", then enter your hotkey (and select any key modifiers you want...shift, ctrl, etc.). You can click on the amount setting to set the amount it shifts. Clicking on the restore button, restores your hotkeys to the way they were before. Finally, don't forget to save user prefs with Save User Settings :-)

# Copyright 2016 Jake Dube
#
# ##### BEGIN GPL LICENSE BLOCK #####
#
# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
# ##### END GPL LICENSE BLOCK #####

import bpy
from bpy.types import Operator
from bpy.props import FloatProperty

bl_info = {
    "name": "Solidify Set",
    "author": "Jake Dube",
    "version": (1, 0),
    "blender": (2, 77, 0),
    "location": "Spacebar > Solidify Raise/Lower",
    "category": "Object",
}

class RaiseSolidify(Operator):
    """Raises solidify modifier."""
    bl_idname = "object.solidify_raise"
    bl_label = "Solidify Raise"
    bl_options = {"REGISTER", "UNDO"}

    amount = FloatProperty(name="Amount", default=0.01)

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.prop(self, 'amount')

    def execute(self, context):
        scene = bpy.context.scene
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            scene.objects.active = obj
            modifiers = obj.modifiers
            found = False
            for mod in modifiers:
                if mod.type == 'SOLIDIFY':
                    mod.thickness += self.amount
                    found = True
                    break
            if not found:
                bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='SOLIDIFY')
                for mod in modifiers:
                    if mod.type == 'SOLIDIFY':
                        mod.thickness += self.amount
        return {'FINISHED'}

class LowerSolidify(Operator):
    """Lowers solidify modifier."""
    bl_idname = "object.solidify_lower"
    bl_label = "Solidify Lower"
    bl_options = {"REGISTER", "UNDO"}

    amount = FloatProperty(name="Amount", default=0.01)

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.prop(self, 'amount')

    def execute(self, context):
        scene = bpy.context.scene
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            scene.objects.active = obj
            modifiers = obj.modifiers
            found = False
            for mod in modifiers:
                if mod.type == 'SOLIDIFY':
                    mod.thickness -= self.amount
                    found = True
                    break
            if not found:
                bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='SOLIDIFY')
                for mod in modifiers:
                    if mod.type == 'SOLIDIFY':
                        mod.thickness -= self.amount
        return {'FINISHED'}

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_module(__name__)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_module(__name__)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    register()

Troubleshooting add-on installation tips:

https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/13917/28015
https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/1689/28015
https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/35600/28015
https://cgcookiemarkets.com/2015/12/16/installing-add-ons-in-blender/


How to display Image reference above even I isolate certain object? As I know Blender 2.79 can display refence image even during isolating an object. I use 2.83.8 version and can't find right option. I tired to select all images and an object and isolate them every time. Is there an option? Thank you!

Works just fine for me.
Make sure you selected all objects you need isolated.


Looking to change the color underneath the skin so I've been making a character in Blender and long story short my topology is horrendous but has produced a really cool effect that I want to play with but don't know how.

Basically there are these white lines underneath the skin which I painted on using vertex paint and the node editor. Here's a photo.

They appeared when, in vertex paint, I began using the blend brush. I think basically the blur brush brought these white lines out on my horrendous topology and highlighted the seams, bringing out some glowing white material underneath that I don't know how to edit.

My question is this:

How do I change the color of these lines?

I want to change them to a red color or possibly a blue or purple so they look like alien markings but cannot for the life of me figure out how to.

If you need any more information please let me know. Hope to hear from you soon!

Here is the link to the file.

Andrew.

Use Bake, and then edit them outside blender (for example with Gimp).
The vertex paint can replaced using dynamic paint.
You can bake the vertex colors at the render panel. There, you will find the bake mode "Vertex Colors" which will export the vertex painting.
In your image editing software, you can change the hue or brightness or whatever and after image processing, you can bring it back as a texture.
As for applying the modified vertex paint to your model, the following QA will be helpful.
How to bake uv map texture to vertex color (selected to active)?


What's that crosshair in the 3D View? I'd like to know how to get rid of that crosshair that interferes with selection; it's so annoying.

Firstly, the 3D cursor doesn't interfere with selection.
By default LMB places the cursor, RMB selects.

The crosshair is the 3D Cursor, it is like a cursor in a text-editor it shows where Blender will put stuff and also where the center of some operations can be set to be performed from, such as scaling, rotating, the pivot point when bending, the depth grease pencil is drawn and a point you can use to snap the selection to.

While it may seem strange at first, when you start using Blender but it becomes an indispensable tool when you get more experienced.

Here is a link to the blender manual describing the 3D cursor. https://www.blender.org/manual/editors/3dview/3d_cursor.html

Here is a quick video that will help you better understand how it works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlk28Ex9jVQ


Where is Environmental Lighting in 2.8? I took a break from Blender for a year or two, and now, after updating to 2.8, I can no longer find the Environmental Lighting setting that was in the World tab.

Has this been removed, or displaced, or has it been replaced? Where can I find it or a substitute for it?

A picture has been attached for reference as to what I'm talking about.

It is pretty much the same. Go to the world settings. And then under surface you can change the strength. Of course you
also can change the color of the environment there:


How to Follow Object When Moving? I am using blender 2.83 and I know how to use Numpad Period to find the selected object, but I have a object moving and when I press play my viewport camera just sits there. How do I follow the object in the viewport when it’s moving? Thanks!

Press the N key, and in the view tab, press lock to object.


Slicing object in several pieces So lets say I have a cube with length of 6 and I would like to slice it in 4 pieces, leaving me with 4 cubes with length of 1.5 each. I am aware that I can do that with knife tool, but how to slice cube in exact 4 pieces?

Is that possible with Blender?

UPDATE:

Slicing with Loop Cut and Slide as will work on normal cube, but in case geometry is a bit complex, it will not work.

Please go to the edit mode

Hit the Loop Cut and Slide as shown in the picture below

Hover over on cube and wait for the line appear, move pointer to switch between, horizontal and vertical edges,

scroll your mouse wheel two times to increase the number of cuts to 3, hit enter or double click to finalized it.

You will get your required result.

As shown in the image below:

Here is the solution based on your updates

Add a plane on the top of your cube, slightly bigger than your cube, go to the edit mode and add 3 loop cuts on the plane
Hit A to select all faces of the plane, hit x and delete only face, so that we have only a grid of edges, as shown below:

Select the plane and then your cube (in order), enter edit mode, go to top view (numpad 7), make sure you are in orthographic mode
Hit "knife project" and check the box "Cut Through"

Go to object view and select your cube and edit mode you will get the same loop cuts as you did in your plane, delete the plane for the clean up

I hope it worked for you :)

As per your updates

These edges are not seems to be required.


Add glow to animation in compositor when using sheepit renderfarm I'd like to use the compositor to add a fog glow to my animation but once I have it all setup and try to submit my file to Sheepit-renderfarm. I lose the fog glow effect I added using the compositor. Please help.

This is my render on my OWN PC

The Link to the Blend File (Sorry if its messed up)

blend file

I figured out the answer. One must never forget to plug the entire node setup into the Composite Node in the end to apply it to the render.

I simply forgot to plug it and left it at the Viewer Node whenever I save and close.


Solidify modifier causing strange artefacting? I have made the following part of a model which I want to add some thickness to.

When I add a solidify modifier to the model I get these strange artifacts:

I tried to merge vertices by distance to check for any duplicate geometry to rule out Z fighting, but there isn't any:

Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Solidify causing this.

I expect that 0.1 thickness is too small for this object, so increase thickness value.

You may expect, that 0.1 thickness must be a big value, but this value multiplies with object scale, so you may apply scale to fix that (Ctrl+A -> Scale)


How to create fire with mantaflow, I can only generate smoke not fire Could somebody please explain the new mantaflow fire simulation setting. I was unable to generate fire both in Cycles and Eevee. I play with all the setting.

All you have to do is set the Type of the Flow Object to 'Fire' or 'Smoke and Fire' which basically adds a new volume (field) to the simulation (in addition to the temperature) for calculating the flames:


Location of an object at a specific frame I have a animation where one object moves through the 3D space. How can I get the location of this object which it has at a specific frame?

I tried something like this:

obj = bpy.context.active_object
ol = obj.location

# set current frame to 1
bpy.context.scene.frame_current = 1

pos_1 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame to 5
bpy.context.scene.frame_current = 5
pos_5 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame to 10
bpy.context.scene.frame_current = 10
pos_10 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame back to 1
bpy.context.scene.frame_current = 1

print('Frame 1 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_1, id(pos_1)))
print('Frame 5 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_5, id(pos_5)))
print('Frame 10 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_10, id(pos_10)))

But the output for all Frames is the same except for the id's. So, how can I get the position of an object at a specific frame?

Try using frame_set() instead of directly setting the current frame:

import bpy

obj = bpy.context.active_object
ol = obj.location

# set current frame to 1
bpy.context.scene.frame_set(1)

pos_1 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame to 5
bpy.context.scene.frame_set(5)
pos_5 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame to 10
bpy.context.scene.frame_set(10)
pos_10 = (ol.x, ol.y, ol.z)

# set current frame back to 1
bpy.context.scene.frame_set(1)

print('Frame 1 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_1, id(pos_1)))
print('Frame 5 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_5, id(pos_5)))
print('Frame 10 {0}, id: {1}'.format(pos_10, id(pos_10)))

Directly setting the current frame does not update all the animated values and re-evaluate drivers, etc. so the object position is not updated.
Using frame_set() will update everything, so the location is printed as expected.


Is there documentation for the Industry Compatible Hotkeys? I am using the industry compatible hotkeys. However I ran into this problem where whenever I follow a tutorial, I have to use the search bar to find the function of whatever command they did with the blender hotkeys. Now this isn't the issue in my opinion. The issue is that sometimes those commands dont appear on the search bar unless I do some finangling or do some specific thing by accident.
So I was wondering if theres a more extensive documentation of the industry standard hotkey than the one that I see in the blender website.

I found the function for industry compatible hotkeys in Blender.
Go to the top left tab of the window and click on preferences> edit:

In the blender preferences, go to "Keymap".
Click on the "Blender" space at the top of the window for the preferences when on the keymap settings, and you will see more options:

"Blender"

"2.7X"

"Industry Compatible"

Select industry compatible. I don't know the hotkeys for Maya, but this should do the trick.


How to align the camera in a solved motion tracked scene? I have been having an issue with my floor plane and object when using a solved camera after tracking some footage. I get a solve error of between 0.05 and 0.4 on my solves which is good and not the issue I've been having. However when I go to orient the camera I will snap it to an origin and adjust the scale. The plane and object are not aligned, but could be fixed if I could just rotate around them (much like in PF Track). I would think the pivot point for the camera, if I have it locked to view, would be the origin (where my plane and object are), but it seems to be just some arbitrary point out in space which makes manually fixing the alignment very difficult. I'm wondering if there is any way to fix this so the pivot point is in fact in the center, or if there are any other suggestions to go about this problem.

When doing motion tracking you can set the origin of the scene on the Solve Tab's Orientation. Select a marker you want and press on Set Origin.

When you setup the tracking scene that particular tracker will be placed at the origin of your 3D scene. (to make the trackers into empties press on Link Empty to Track)

Those empties will be visible if you enable the Motion tracking box on the 3D view.

All of the tracking information is linked to the camera, so can move the camera and the empties will follow, or you can select any of the empties and move it where you want and the rest will follow as well.

To rotate the camera around a particular point. Select an emtpy, press ShiftS and select cursor to selected. Then set your Pivot Point to 3D cursor.


UV mapping a Logo on Specific face of object I have a rectangle, and added an image texture on the material. I marked the seams and projected from view on the specific face I wanted the blender logo to be shown. Now my first question is when I add the Blender logo to the face, it's applying to the entire object which seems stretched. Why does blender apply it to all the object and not the specific face which is chosen?

The distribution of the material has nothing to do with the UV layout. You have 3 material slots, 2 of which are empty and apparently not assigned to anything.
Go into edit mode select everything, assign a material to the 1. slot and press assign.
Then select only the face the logo is supposed to be on, select the 2. slot and press assign.
That will fix it in your case, but best practice is to keep it in one material, use a 2. UVLayout just for the logo and mix it in with your main texture (or color).


Part of object not visible in render view Part of my object is rendering with transparency and I don't know why.I've tried rescaling and normal recalculation. Everything is on one layer and I've no mask layers.
I've also tried changing the clipping settings on the camera. There's less transparency showing with the camera view than the top ortho.
Any ideas? Anyone?

[![enter image description here][2]][2]

I had a similar issue. Part of my mesh was rendered in Render View in 3D ViewPort but all showing in Full Render Image (F12) see image below.

I found the solution; simple enough.
Select the Mesh in Edit Mode, then go to Mesh Menu > Clean Up > Delete Loose. (Clean the Loose Vertices Left after Applying Multier & Sculpting)

It seemed that I had some loose vertex which were creating a problem. But somehow they are not causing any issues in Full Render F12. Just issue in Render View in 3D View Port.


rotating an edge without thining the shape when we rotate edge, they keep the same size so the shape of the mesh change. is it possible to scale the edge to keep the same shape while rotating it ?
That's the result I want to get with the rotation

You can use "shear" which is part of the 2.8 new gyzmos:

Note that it works for more complex shapes, and you can do it in the direction you want:

For 2.79, you can use CtrlShiftAltS (yes only that), then choose X or Y axis to do nearly the same.


Can I snap to the center (midpoint) of an edge? I'm trying to use the center (midpoint) of a particular edge in a mesh as the snap target.

I have two mesh objects. The first has an edge aligned with x axis. The second also has an edge (different length/location) aligned with x axis. I would like to align the two objects constrained to x axis: so that the center of the edge in the first mesh snaps to the center of the edge in the second mesh (see image).

I used this feature a lot in 3DS Max and can't figure out how to do it in Blender. I'm looking for a quick way since I'd really use this a lot. Preferably a way that can be used in object mode as well as in edit mode with an island of faces.

Using the snap to function it's quite easy.

In edit mode select the edge you want to align to, then press ShiftS and select cursor to selected. The 3D cursor will be placed in the middle of your selected edge.

Back in object mode select your second mesh and do ShiftS and select selection to cursor your object will then move to where the cursor is.

From there you can move the 2nd mesh using GY so it only moves on the Y axis.


All objects are just black lines in 3D view? I was quickly changing some text and not sure what button I accidentally clicked which caused this to happen, pressed CrtlZ multiple times but nothing helped. Is there a way I can revert this back?

You are looking at the "Bounding Box" shading mode.

Simply press Z twice and it will return back to the normal "Solid" shaded view.
Or you could just click on the Viewport Shading button in the 3D view's header, and then choose "Solid".


How to achieve accurate rotation of fingers at the point they meet the palm? I have problems with fingers in general but this is the hardest part for me.

It looks ok at this point:

But if I rotate at the base of the finger, problems start:

This is because the rotation point should be around the middle of the knuckles, at least that's what I think:

I changed the bones to rotate from that point, but I really can't achieve a good look. Any tips? I have no idea how to make any significant improvement. That whole knuckle area that connects to the fingers rotates too, but I'm not sure how I can make it rotate and deform correctly.

Thanks

You could consider to insert in your rig a driven shape key, to ensure that you get the exact deformed mesh you desire. The shape key can be triggered only when a certain amount of rotation is reached.


How do I apply a texture in Blender Render without it being influenced by the object it's applied to? Ok, I'm not sure if I'm even asking the question correctly, and what I'm trying to do might be a bit on the weird side.  So, I'll try to explain what I want to do, without sounding like a madman.

I have an image, shown below:

Now, I know how to apply the texture in the usual way.  Getting it to look like this is easy:

What I want to do though, is this:

I can achieve that effect in the compositor simply enough, but I want to avoid using the compositor if at all possible.  I was wondering if there was a way to do this with BI?

The reason I'm trying to do something so silly, is that I am primarily a pixel-artist, and I've been experimenting with trying to generate decent-looking pixel art via Blender.  Once I'm able to do the above, I can then produce something like this:

Thanks in advance for any advice or nudges in the right direction!

Its quite easy, just pick the "Window" coordinate in the texture panel under "Mapping"

One bit of advice though is that during animation, when you move the object or camera, the texture will move with it. i.e. your "pixels" wont stay in the same spot, so you will potentially have a flicker in your "dithering".

For stills though this is totally fine.


Is radeon r4 compatible with Blender 2.8? Hey everybody I was just wondering would AMD radeon r4 be compatible for openCL? Since it is integrated, openGL is out of the question. Specifically do you know what GCN architecture the r4 is? Any help is appreciated.

Open->Blender->Preference->System->Cycles Compute Device <- select AMD R4 Graphics, and set OpenSubdiv compute: -> GLSL Transform Feedback <- select, next step - render primitive scene WAIT title render next step select GLSL (recommended## Heading ##) or OpenMP.(recommended) or OpenMP


How to erase any residual keyframes from a .blend file? This is something annoying because it always happens at some point, since I know Blender in version 2.5x I have always wondered how to delete those keyframes that are lost and do not appear or are assigned to any object or value or constant of your blend file, and that you never find and although they seem harmless they always end up causing you problems to export your model to some other game engine platform.

Any suggestion of how to erase these keyframes? Some script or something in the file that you should delete???

empty.blend download

I got rid of it but using vers 2.77a.  Let's hope it works in your version...

-===============-

The problem was a grease pencil hangover and it's slot that was still active.

Procedure to rid yourself of that pesky keyframe...

Zoom in a bit to see the G/pencil drawing south of the grid.

Goto Edit mode and press A.  The GP points will all hilight

Delete them with X.  (points)

Press N to open the 3D viewport's properties and delete the Grease Pencil slot.

Untick the grease pencil's box.

The keyframe will still be there.

Save the file as something else and the keyframe should disappear when the 3D widow updates.

If not exit Blender and reload.


Blurring/Feathering a Procedural Pointiness Mask I'm trying to create a procedural mask to affect the sharp edges of my model using the Pointiness output from the Geometry node, leading to the eventual idea of using it to create customisable weathering effects, such as this.

This is the base setup that I've got so far.

How is it possible to blur/feather the black edges of the mask so that they would essentially expand across the object until the whole object is rendered black?

I've had a look at both of the go-to texture blur methods suggested for cycles found here and here however these seem to rely on there being a vector input/output for the texture, which is not the case in my example.

The Procedural Cracks tutorial by CGMasters came closest to what I was trying to achieve with the 'Worn Edges' section of the video, but I didn't have any success trying to convert it to my situation.

Any ideas would be massively appreciated! :)

EDIT: Not sure if it was clear enough from the description but I'm trying to steer clear of baking/UV-Unwrapping/the Works on this one... Purely procedural :)

UPDATE: I've made a couple of updates to the shader which has given me slightly better results, although it's still not quite there and the mask blur/expansion issue is still not successful.

This is what it now looks like:

The issue is now coming from the grey values of the mask 'leaking' out across the whole mesh and not stemming from the black values... if that makes sense? :P

In researching weathering effects in blender, I stumbled across this GIF, which is exactly what I want to achieve?

UPDATE 2: Still no luck achieving the desired effect in the gif, however I feel I'm slightly closer from adding another colour ramp node after the previous ones.

Does anyone have any more ideas?

UPDATE 3: Found a working solution, added an answer below if people are interested :)

Creating Procedural Weathering Effects in Blender

Okay so I ended up developing a solution to this question a couple of months back, but I see it's gained a lot of interest recently so I thought I'd post a tutorial on how I went about solving it.

The weathering effects basically involve creating a Worn Edge and Cavity Dirt mask, which can then be used to blend between 2 or more shaders within one material.

This is along the lines of what we'll be creating.

(NOTE: This effect works best for objects with a high poly-count, so throw your object through a sub-surf modifier.)

The Edge Wear Mask Node

1. So to begin, we'll create a simple material a mix between a Diffuse and Glossy shader. In my final image I used Blender Guru's PBR Dialectric and PBR Metallic node groups to give the material a little bit of added realism, so I'd recommend checking those out :)

2. Now we've set up the base material we can move it off to the side and concentrate on building the Worn Edges Mask node group. We'll do this by first adding in a Geometry node, and connecting the Pointiness attribute to the input of a Color Ramp node. I set the black stopper to a position of 0.47, and the white stopper to a position of 0.514.

3. Next we can add in a Math node and set its mode to Subtract. Plug the output of the Color Ramp into the top input of the Math node and set the bottom value to be 1. Then, add in a MixRGB node, change its blending mode to Add and the Fac to 1, and plug the output of the Math node into the top Color input. Finally, we can add in a Noise Texture node and plug the Fac output into the second Color input of the MixRGB node. (Don't worry, it's less complicated from here!).

4. I'll go into more detail on the Noise Texture later on, but it is basically controlling the shape of our edge weathering, which bits are chipped, etc. Anyway, now we can add in another Math node and set its mode to Greater Than. This is where it gets fun- plug the Color output of the MixRGB node into the top input of the Greater Than node and begin adjusting the bottom value. You should see the white areas 'shrinking' towards the edges, the closer you drag the slider to 1 (I found a value of 0.35 to look good here).

And that's the basis of our edge weathering mask! All black areas of the mask will later show the Diffuse material, and the white will be Glossy.

5. Let's plug our mask into the Fac input of the Mix Shader to see how it looks... not too bad! Has a chipped paint feel to it.

6. One last thing we can do before packing it all into a node group is add a Bump node and connect the output of the Greater Than node into the Height input. Optional if you want to use this effect, sometimes it can give an odd outline around the border between the 2 shaders, but often it can add some depth, making the materials seem layered.

7. Now we can select the Geometry,Color Ramp,Subtract,Add,Greater Than and Bump nodes, and hit Ctrl+G to create a node group out of them.

8. Then we'll connect the noodles to the appropriate group input and output slots and rename them accordingly (see the screenshot).

9. Finally we can rename our Node Group to Worn Edges... and that's it! We've successfully created the edge wear mask node! :)

The Cavity Dirt Mask Node

1. Now, setting up the Cavity Dirt is ridiculously simple now that we've completed the previous steps. First, add another Diffuse and Mix node to the material, like so...

2. Duplicate the Noise Texture and Worn Edges nodes. Adjust the parameters of the Noise Texture node to how you'd like the cavity grime to look. Now, click the '2' next to the Worn Edges name on the node group to make the duplicate a single user copy, and rename it to 'Cavity Dirt'.

3. Finally, hit Tab to go into the Cavity Dirt node. Find the Color Ramp node and hit the flip ramp button to invert the ramp from 'black -> white', to 'white -> black'.

4. And it's as simple as that! Tab out of the node group and tweak the settings, and you'll be able to see a mask that only affects the cavities of the object.

5. How it looks when combined with the second Diffuse shader.

Using Image Textures

Although the Noise Texture node used as the shape mask doesn't look toooo bad * cough *, I've found that using image textures can give much more appealing results if you use generated box mapping.

These tend to work best if they're greyscale, and I've found dirt masks/grunge maps tend to look good. The ones I used in my original image came from Max Textures. I've found they provide some nice, high quality, seamless ones for free.

Limitations

Although this technique works very well for most applications, there are a couple of limitations to the method...

As mentioned by other answers and at the start, the fact that this setup uses the Geometry node's Pointiness attribute means that it will not work at all, or at least not well for low-poly models, as there simply aren't enough vertices.
Some texture maps work better than others, currently I haven't been able to distinguish exactly what causes one to work well and another not so much. My best guess is it's the contrast.
Sometimes the values to bump up edge wear, for example, can be very tight. That is, there can be a drastic jump in how the mask covers the object with a value change as little as 0.1. Again my best guess is that this is due to contrast when using image textures.

Other than that enjoy! Hope it helps people out, and don't forget to upvote if you liked it! :)


Intersect tool missing I have been trying to use the intersect tool, but unexplainably it is not evident on my menu.

As can been seen in the screen print, the Intersect tool is nowhere to be found. Another user thought that it might be due to me using an old version of Blender - that was my initial thought, but I have since installed 2.78 and the Intersect tool is still in hiding.

Is it possible that I somehow turned it off or hid it im my User Preferences?

Any ideas? Help.

The screen grab on the question shows a project open on v 1.72

Boolean tools in edit mode were introduced in version 2.77.

Update to a newer version of Blender


Texture on box stretching on the vertical axis I am trying to add eyes on a texture but the texture is stretching on the y axis making the eye very long.

This is the face texture:

This is the resulting head:

The texture settings for this face of the cube:

Does anybody see what I am doing wrong? The dots are being stretched becoming vertical lines on the cube. If I change the Image mappings Extention option to "Cut" from "Repeat" I end up with two spaces on left and right side but the sprite is still stretched on the y axis.

Basically, the Generated coordinates take the object to have equal size along all three axes, and textures get mapped to between 0 and 1, which can cause stretching or deflating.
The Object coordinates take into consideration the object's actual size, and map textures according to that.

With this texture

I get this with Generated

this with Object and Extension set to Repeat

and this with Object and Extension set to Clip

With Generated in this case Clip or Repeat doesn't make a difference, since the image gets stretched across the entire surface either way.
The above examples I believe are the most relevant to your specific case, but for more in-depth explanations of texture coordinates, this post by PGmath is definitely good reading. Also Manipulate texture coordinates like a boss is an excellent lecture by Bartek Skorupa. Mr. Skorupa focuses mainly on Cycles, but the underlying coordinates work the same in Internal, so you shouldn't have a problem with it if you want to stick to Internal.


How to spread things out evenly I was wondering how to spread things out evenly. When I look it up I only find things about aligning them, not about distributing them evenly. Here's a image to help explain

I want those three to be distributed evenly

All the other answers are work-arounds when you want a single button solution like in Adobe Illustrator and others.

The solution you want is in the addon called Oscurart Tools. The link to the addon is here: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/Oscurart_Tools

It comes with many features but the one you want is the second button from the bottom in the Object section.

Addon Download tip: The wiki page links to a list of separate file links that you have to download separately. Once you download them all, put them in a folder labelled "oscurart_tools" and then make a zip file from that. You can then import the addon from file this way for ease of use.


How to load and display an image in the image editor using python? How could I load an external image and display it in Image Editor automatically?  Basically the same as when rendering an image and displaying the Render Result.

I'm already able to load the image programatically. However, I don't get how to display the image in the Image Editor.

If the image editor is used in one of the visible areas of the current workspace, you can iterate through bpy.context.screen.areas to find the one with type IMAGE_EDITOR. The image that is shown in the editor can be set through the space of the area.

An image can be loaded through bpy.data.images.load().

import bpy

img = bpy.data.images["Render Result"]
# img = bpy.data.images.load(filepath)

for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'IMAGE_EDITOR':
        area.spaces.active.image = img


Quick assignment of Shortcuts: e.g. Preferences? I know I did it before in 2.80, by clicking some sort of key combination I was able to change the Preferences to Ctrl+Alt+U, as it used to be in 2.79.

For the life of me, I can't remember how I did it.

I finally remembered, by right clicking on a menu item one is able to assign the shortcut key :)


How to animate particle count? I've been trying to animate the count of the particles in a Hair particle system. It is possible in the viewport display tab to animate the amount with the percent bar, but obviously this is not getting rendered.
Since you can not animate the number in the Emission tab im kind of clueless on how to animate such thing. There has to be a way to reduce the particles over time right?

Animate the children.
As intimated in question, cannot animate the hair particle count. Can however set children and animate the child count.

Sliding the child count viewport display amount, similarly set the render

So for example I want to have like 2000 particles on frame 100 and
want them to reduce to like 200 till frame 300

Example for this case, set particle count to 200, keyframe count as 10 on frame 100, and 1 on frame 300.


All object transforms are at 0, 0, 0 So, I have a bit of an interesting problem.

To cut a long story short, I've had to export an OpenFlight model to Collada, then import that into Blender so I can export it into FBX and use it in Unity. My problem, however, is when I get it into Blender, the positions of all the objects in my scene are at 0, 0, 0.

Basically, it's like if someone modeled a chair, but instead of modeling it in the middle of the room and then moving it to where it needs to be, it's like they modeled it right where it needs to be, with the geometry offset from the origin.

Is there some way, in all of Blender's infinite power, to move the transform to where the geometry is?

And not move the geometry to where the transform is, because, if I did that, I would basically implode the entire model.

Thanks!

Select all the objects you want to change the transforms.

Then open Object menu, select Transform>Origin to Geometry.

That will change the origins only and not the rotations of the objects.


Can't use sculpt brushes unless I press control For some reason whenever I try to sculpt in blender it won't do anything to the object unless I hold ctrl while I sculpt. The smoothing tool works too but nothing else does.

It sounds like your normals have been inverted on your model, since CTRL is usually used to invert a brush. This is a pretty easy fix, if it's the case, but you do have to go into edit mode. I hope you don't have too many faces!

Go into edit mode, select everything, then on your toolshelf (on the left of your screen by default) go to your Shading/UV tab and click on 'recalculate' (you should find it under 'normals'). This should fix your problem, if it's normals-related.


How to Pack/Place Lipids in Blender using Python script? I wrote a script to divide a 'Plane' into N Pieces and then Parented each Piece to a specific Lipid (3D model with van der waal surface). Then I use face duplication to populate each face with it's Child. The Final Plane will then look like below:

I did many tricks to make this patch a random so that they do not look like lined up in a linear fashion.

Now, I find some small spaces which I do not want between them.

Is there any way to add these Lipids tightly (as close as much they can - but with collision - each objects must not ram in each other) placed/packed in a defined area using Python?

Actually, I want to animate them like Molecular dynamics - So, a little wobbling motion will work for me.

How can I add objects in a defined area which are tightly packed in it?

An animation of the lipid molecules can be generated using the rigid body collisions.

The steps to reproduce this animation are:

Use the particle system to place the molecules initially.

Add a flat surface to place the molecules on.

Use the particle system to place the molecules on the surface in a regular grid. Using a regular grid will prevent the molecules from intersecting each other.

Setup the display to use the lipid geometry for rendering.

Convert the particle system into individual objects.

Press the convert button for the particle system modifier.

Convert the lipid molecules into rigid bodies.

Select the first lipid molecule in the scene.
Add the rigid body physics to the object.

Select all lipid objects.
Deselect, then select the first lipid molecule again.
In the left hand panel of the 3D viewer, select the Physics tab, and click on 'Copy from Active'. This will copy the physics setting to all of the lipid molecules.

Add a mesh to act as a container for all of the lipid molecules.

Add geometry. The geometry should be larger than the initial placement of the lipids. The height of the container should be slightly larger than the height of the lipids. The top and bottom of the container will help keep the lipids from moving up or down.

Set the container as an animated rigid body. So the interior of the container keeps the lipids in place, the 'Shape' needs to be set to 'Mesh'.

Change the direction of gravity to point towards one of the container walls. This cause all of the lipids to pack in a horizontal direction.

Animate the container with noise. This will make the molecules randomly move about.

Insert a keyframe at the start of the timeline.

Modify the animation graphs with noise. This will cause the walls of the container to move around and bounce into the lipids. This will cause the lipids to bounce around during the animation.

Animate the result!

The finished blend file is located at blend-exchange file


Script that supposed to change value of the text is only working on viewport I have a text object and a scrip that takes an int value from custom property and applies to the text.
The script works in animation preview (User Perspective), but then it comes to rendering script isn't being called out to change value.
import bpy

scene = bpy.context.scene
TextObject = scene.objects['TimerText']
#function that formats string
def TimeCounter(scene):
    value = TextObject.data['time']
    min = int(round(value/60, 60))
    sec = value-(min*60)

    TextObject.data.body = 'Time ' + str(min) + ':' + str(sec).zfill(2)

bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(TimeCounter)

I looked at other results and I applied their examples to my code.
I added this variable in my TimeCounter function, that gets evaluated value from custom property.
eval_text = TextObject.evaluated_get(depsgraph)
and also changed def TimeCounter(scene): to def TimeCounter(scene, depsgraph):
And in the end this script was here to recompile the results,
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.clear()
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(TimeCounter)

def unregister():
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.remove(TimeCounter)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

It also works without this long code.
bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(TimeCounter)

Here's full working code:
import bpy

scene = bpy.context.scene
TextObject = scene.objects['TimerText']

def TimeCounter(scene, depsgraph):
    eval_tex = TextObject.evaluated_get(depsgraph)
    value = eval_tex.data['time']
    min = int(round(value/60, 60))
    sec = value-(min*60)

    TextObject.data.body = 'Time ' + str(min) + ':' + str(sec).zfill(2)
def register():
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.clear()
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(TimeCounter)

def unregister():
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.remove(TimeCounter)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()


Can I use object's Custom Properties inside Cycles materials? I wonder if maybe the Attribute node in Cycles can bring in a Custom Property of an object.

I have a model that has an LED light, and I wish I could change the color of the LED on different instances of the model, without using different materials.

An alternative to using the pass ID is using the object name and an OSL script. It is not very elegant either, but at least allows for setting multiple values. I have explained it here.


Adding bevel altering the geometry and I can't create loopcuts Q1. I want to bevel the edge. When I bevel and make loopcuts some extra geometry is made.

Q2. I have just made a simple geometry. I can't create loopcuts. I have removed doubles, recalculated the normals, yet I can't make loopcuts.

You can download the file

That geometry won't be beveled as expected because you're trying to do that on non-planar Ngon consisting of 8 vertices:

Instead dissolve unneeded vertices, and join those on the left to make solid corner:

The selection on the screenshot is an added loopcut which is better to create to avoid Ngon in the middle (however one from the right side is left which is also best to avoid).

Then there won't be any spikes because the corner will be bevelled equally in all directions.

See also related posts - Bevel tool creating intersecting faces, Can't bevel an NGon


Can I change the wattage of a light in nodes? I recently found out that you can change the temperature of a bulb using a black body node, but it would be super helpful to be able to set the bulbs strength in nodes too. Is this a feature in Blender?

The emission strength is a multiplier to the power in watts.
Example:

So, in theory we can change this:

into this:

and it appears to work perfectly.


Blender Shader Node interpolation I'm trying to color a cube with its own position in 3D space, which works well with the shader node setup I have, but only sets the colors for the vertices. However, I would like this to interpolate across the faces, so that the position is not only correct at the vertices but between as well. Is there some shader magic to get this working?
Img. of my cube and the colored vertices (note how the upper right corner correctly is set to (1,1,1 = white) but that it's not interpolating across the face middle):

you can get the result you want by plugging the generated texture coordinates from the vertex positions of your cube in the Texture Coordinate node instead of the Geometry node.
Here's the result :


Script to view animation preview panel in fullscreen Similar to this post:
How to make the sequencer 'Preview' area fullscreen with python?

I am trying to have my script set the animation preview window to fullscreen without any other panels/menus:

I'm trying to figure out how to navigate the hierarchy of screens, areas, and workspaces and set just that panel on the 'Animation' properly.  I'm often getting 'context is incorrect' run time errors or an error trying to set read-only object.

My script changes to the Animation screen:

# animation view
bpy.context.window.workspace = bpy.data.workspaces['Animation']

Changes the shading to rendered:

for area in bpy.data.screens['Animation'].areas:
    for space in area.spaces:
        if space.type == 'VIEW_3D':
            space.shading.type = 'RENDERED'

And then tries to changes the screen to fullscreen:

# full screen
bpy.ops.screen.screen_full_area(use_hide_panels=True)

But, the panel does not go full screen unless I do it manually via the GUI.

I'm hoping there's a way to achieve this similar to the sequencer preview full screen example that will work on the animation preview window.

Adding an completely separate view - without affecting the existing 'Animation' would be even better.

UPDATE:  Thanks @rjg for your involvement.  Now, when the animation runs (via script that kicks off the full-screen animation preview window) the objects are animating but the textures/images are blank:

I'm using:

bpy.context.scene.frame_set(f)
bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=1)

To do the animation playback after going full screen.

There are two things necessary to set the fullscreen mode successfully:

Wait for the workspace to be switched
Create a custom context for the operator

The first part can be accomplished by adding an application handler that is triggered after the dependency graph is updated. The second part is necessary to set the correct area to fullscreen. This can be solved by iterating through the areas of the current screen to find VIEW_3D.

You can leave the fullscreen mode by pressing CTRL + ALT + SPACE.

import bpy

# Press CTRL + ALT + SPACE to leave fullscreen mode
def view3d_fullscreen(dummy):
    bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post.remove(view3d_fullscreen)
    context = bpy.context.copy()

    for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
        if area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
            for space in area.spaces:
                if space.type == 'VIEW_3D':
                    space.shading.type = 'RENDERED'
            context['area'] = area
            bpy.ops.screen.screen_full_area(context, use_hide_panels=True)
            break

bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post.append(view3d_fullscreen)
bpy.context.window.workspace = bpy.data.workspaces['Animation']


How can I make parts of a menu context sensitive in Python? I am attempting to make a custom menu in Python that is context sensitive. Such that it's contents vary depending on which mode your currently in (e.g. Edit mode or Object mode).

However, when using an if and elif statement it doesn't work, and simply doesn't show those parts of the menu.

What am I doing wrong?

class QuickObjectOptions(bpy.types.Menu):
bl_idname = "object.display_options"
bl_label = "Quick Object Options"

mode = bpy.context.object.mode

def draw(self, context):
    layout = self.layout

    if mode == 'OBJECT':
        layout.operator("object.shade_smooth", icon='SOLID')
        layout.operator("object.shade_flat", icon='MESH_UVSPHERE')
    elif mode == 'EDIT':
        layout.operator("mesh.faces_shade_smooth", icon='SOLID')
        layout.operator("mesh.faces_shade_flat", icon='MESH_UVSPHERE')

Note: I've only pasted the relavant parts of the script above to keep it simple. The "import bpy" and register functions are definitely there ;)

Answering my own question via vitos1k on IRC.

In order for the the if/elif statements to recognize the variable it needs to be placed inside the draw function.

Correct code:

class QuickObjectOptions(bpy.types.Menu):
bl_idname = "object.display_options"
bl_label = "Quick Object Options"

def draw(self, context):

    mode = context.object.mode
    layout = self.layout

    if mode == 'OBJECT':
        layout.operator("object.shade_smooth", icon='SOLID')
        layout.operator("object.shade_flat", icon='MESH_UVSPHERE')
    elif mode == 'EDIT':
        layout.operator("mesh.faces_shade_smooth", icon='SOLID')
        layout.operator("mesh.faces_shade_flat", icon='MESH_UVSPHERE')


Animate triangles – rotate "roll" along all their sides I'm animating a lot of triangles. Every triangle will roll along its edge over and over again.
I have tried animating the pivot point with an empty but that method is getting too complex with many triangles.
Is there any easier way to do it?

You can use animation nodes. Here you have a simple setpup on how to animate polys changing its pivot point.


Mass dissolving of quads into a single point I have created a mesh via sculpting, then converted all of the resulting tris into quads. However, it left me with a less-than-ideal overall layout.

The problem, as you can see, is that while most of the mesh is constructed from perfect rectangular quads in the exact layout that I'd like, but every so often there's an "odd one out" sort of situation.

I know exactly how I'd like to go about solving this problem. If a single vertex were to be created in the middle of each of these twisted quads, as I've manually done to this one:

Then this entire issue would simply vanish. However, this is a 10,000-polycount mesh; I'd prefer not to have to manually do this for every single repeat of this issue.

So, my question is: does Blender happen to have any methods, perhaps a setting for a modifier or something, that would be able to en-masse collapse these broken quads in the method I described or something similar?

You can try to use the Decimate modifier, but to get clean topology, I am afraid you will have to do it manually, consider a complete retopology of your sculpture. If you decide to fix your mesh, you can speed up the merging process that batFINGER posted in the comments, by using Shift+R you can repeat the last action, thus reducing one step of the merging process. Which normally you will have to press Alt+M and then "Merge at Center", with this you only do it once, and next time it's just Shift+R.

The decimate modifier could get you some results quick, but you will have to keep an eye out for your topology, if you decide to use this method. Keep in mind that it may decimate already good topology you had. Also experiment with the three modes decimate has, "Collapse", "Un-Subdivide" and "Planar".


Bezier Curve TILT or Normal exporting I am currently trying to make a rollercoaster in OpenGL. To do this, I prepared the track in Blender (following a Bezier curve) and exported it along with the curve as .obj files in OpenGL.

My problem is that I can't find a way to export the normals (or TILT values) from Blender. What I have already done works fine but I also need to export some information concerning the orientation if I want the camera to point in the right direction in the final animation.

I know that a few questions concerning this issue have already been posted but I couldn't find an answer in any of these.

Could anyone help me with this? Thanks in advance!

After quite some research, I am pretty sure it is not possible to directly extract the curve's normals from Blender, but it is possible to extract the control point's TILT values with a Python script. However, I found a solution to recalculate the normals in OpenGL which I will present here in case someone has the same issue in the future.

I realised that blender calculates the normals using an algorithm which minimises the twisting of the normals compared to the previous values (called "Minimum"). Since I didn't find a way to export these normals from Blender, nor a complete explanation of the algorithm, what I did first was to change the normals' calculation to "Z-UP" in Blender (which is simply another way of calculating normals). Then I imported the curve's control points and handles with a Python script and recalculated the normals in OpenGL as for a standard Bezier curve. Finally, I still had some issues with the twisting and especially where the end meets the beginning of the curve. This problem was solved by calculating the normals using the previous point's normal and adding a low and constant value to the latter's y component.


Mirror Modifier Not Working for me I have created a partial head from a sphere in Sculpting mode. Then I clicked on + and then General Layout (as per a Youtube video on sculpting). The video is a bit peculiar because he ends up having to delete several copies of the UV Sphere.
Next I added a UV Sphere (which appeared inside the head). I then switched to Wireframe and then proceeded to scale and move the UV Sphere to the right eye socket.
Then, with the sphere selected, and the 3D cursor positioned between the two eye sockets, I added a Mirror Modifier. But every time I do this the mirror image appears in the same space as the original sphere.
I saw in another post that one should select Object > Set Origin > Origin to 3D Cursor which I did and still I get the same thing. I want the mirror image to appear in the other eye socket.

I got it to work. It appears you have to select Object > Set Origin > Origin to 3D Cursor AFTER adding the Mirror Modifier.
Seems rather bizarre to me.
I would have thought you would set the origin first and THEN set the Mirror Modifier.


Select the active object ? with python i just want to select this object, the suzanne with the active origin in red,'is is she active or just the last selected?

i dont know the code, and i dont know also how to find this kind of code, ive been searching for two hours... any tips how to find the desired action within blender in this kind of cases?

thanks

You can usually retrieve the active object with: bpy.context.active_object or bpy.context.object
If you need to take the view layer into account: bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active
Chances are your view layer is already set, but if the view layer needs to be set, you can first do: bpy.context.window.view_layer = view_layer
[source]
To make sure the active object is also a selected object, you can do this:
import bpy
my_object = bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active # assign variable
my_object.select_set(True) # select the object

Setting an object as active is a similar process. See this answer to learn about that.
Many operations require both an active object and at least one additional selected object.


How would I go about rigging this? Recently, I began goofing around in Blender and came up with this

Now, I am a beginner and I wanted to rig him to use in unity, and I've been following several tutorials on how to rig characters in general. But the problem is a lot of the time, I end up getting stretching or some pieces of the robot won't follow the other parts, such as the fingers.

I have succumbed to frustration and have decided to put aside my stubbornness to come here and ask for advice.

First enable the Rigify Addon in Menu: File / User Preferences

Now you can add the whole human rig to your scene in Object Mode Shift-A

In Edit Mode align all bones with your model. When done parent the model to the rig Ctrl-P (With Automatic Weights).

And create the Meta-Rig.

After that you can create Actions and arrange them in the NLA editor. Importing to Unity is best done by Import New Asset from the Asset Menu.

A more detailed description with removal of unneeded bones is available in the Unity documentation: http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/BlenderAndRigify.html

If you don't want to animate a humanoid then chose Animation Type: Generic  in the import settings of the rig:


Why are MakeHuman rigs' facial bones reversed? I know that the hip bones can be reversed when importing MakeHuman files to Blender, but I haven't had that problem. I can't find any information about my issue on the internet at all. I've used MakeHuman and Blender for months without any problems, but when I reinstalled Ubuntu and opened a file created in my previous installation, all the facial bones of MakeHuman rigs are reversed. Ubuntu and Blender are the same versions as before. I only reinstalled Ubuntu so that I could use a different hard drive. I just copied Blender from one disk to the other and opened an old blend file in the new installation. This is what it looked like:

When I tab into Edit mode, the bones snap back to normal. This is what it looks like:

The rig in these pictures was not exported from MakeHuman in my new installation. It was saved before I reinstalled Ubuntu. But I have also exported MakeHuman rigs in the new installation, and the results are the same. I appreciate any help you can offer. Thank you.

Well, the problem just went away on its own, so I don't know how to explain it. After I tabbed back into Pose mode, the facial bones stayed the way they were supposed to, and the problem didn't happen again in any other files that I opened. If anyone else has this problem, please post a comment. Thank you.


How to increase frequency of a repetive animated movement? following setup: Blender 2.79 freshly downloaded from builder.blender.org
on Linux (GENTOO) using Cycles.

In a animation I have a character using a saw to cut wood. In a fast movement
the character pushes the the saw away from him/herself and then pull it more
slowing to him/herself.

I animated one movement manually
So far so nice.

One push/pull will not cause anything serious.... ;)

Now the problem:
a) This push/pull movement should be repeated many times.
b) The movement should become faster and faster.
c) I dont want to animate every single push/pull manually.
( d) I got headaches while searching for a neat solution.)

Repeating a movement is not that problem. But anymating the flow
of time over THE WHOLE THING is a problem for me.

How can I acchieve this?

Found a possible solution myself.
Steps to perform:

Animate one motion manually. This motion will be repeated and speed
up in later steps.
For the NLA strip created that way set the count of repeats in the
N-key panel.
In the timeline set the start and end to the first frame and to the
last frame of the NLA-strip including all repetition.
Deselect all strips in the NLA editor.
Only Select the NLA strip in question.
Now bake the animation. I choose "object" to be baked. This can take
quite some time.
The result is an additional strip, which includes the complete
animation as it had been animated by hand frame by frame.
Now it is possible to animate the flow of time of this newly created
strip easily.
Disable the the original strip (the one with the repetition modifier
set). You can use this as an backup for later modifications.
Play the animation.

This is one possible solution, which leads to what I wanted. I am sure, there will be other options to fine tune the result and especially speed up the baking time.


How to make triangular pyramids on each face of an original triangular pyramid How could I make triangular pyramids on each face of an original triangular pyramid.

If I didn't misunderstand your question, you can switch to Edit Mode, Make sure all faces are selected by pressing A, then AltP to poke faces, which will create a vertex on each face. Tweak Poke Offset value in its setting panel down to the left-hand Tool Shelf.(or press F6 to call a separate popup).


How to create materials? I want to know how to use materials, from how to creating them to how to use transparency and colours in them, so please first of all, tell me how to create a new material.I also want to know how (if possible) I can convert faces of an object to a new material.I know this might sound silly but I'm a total beginner and hoping this doesn't waste your time, please help me out here....

You find the material properties in the Default Layout on the right side:

Your object already has a default material you can change the color by changing the settings in the section Diffuse.

To create more materials first create a new slot '+' symbol and press new.

Transparency is setup by ticking Transparency and ajusting the Alpha Slider.

If want to assign materials to single faces select the face and material in Edit Mode and press Assign.

Since you just started:This is only a tiny part of what you will learn about materials.

Please checkout the resources we already collected here:

Beginner's Reference


Can someone explain the layer system? I am really confused with the different uses of the terms "Layers" and "Passes" in Blender.
Can someone please explain how they work in Blender. I know about Render Passes like AO, Diffuse and so on, but there seems to be a confusion with layers.
Also, how do the layer buttons work in the properties panel like in the image shown? I get it that you can assign objects onto certain layers, but whats the difference between "Scene" and "Layer" buttons in the image?
How do they refer to rendering?
How can you see what layer a certain object is on?

Layers

Layers are a way of splitting up and organizing the objects in your scene.

In the 3D viewport.

You can select the currently visible layers in the footer of the 3D view or under properties panel > render layers tab > layer rollout > scene layer selector.  (With any layer selector you can hold down Shift to select multiple layers.)

You can see what layers have objects on them by the dots in the layers' boxes, layers containing selected objects will have an orange dot.  You can move the slected objects to a new layer by pressing M and selecting the layers you want in the pop-up layer selector.

In the scene section of the properties Window, there are four sets of layer boxes that control which layers are computed in the render and how:

Scene:  The scene layers determine two things: which layers are shown in the 3D view, and which layers are taken into account in the render.  (As mentioned earlier this layer selector parallels the one in the footer of the 3D view.)
Layer:  The layer layers determine which layers are visible to the camera in the render.  This allows you to have certain layers counted into the render (by selecting them under scene), but not visible to the camera (by not selecting them here).
Exclude:  Any layers selected under exclude will not be calculated in the render in any way.
Mask:  Objects in layers selected under mask will be rendered as transparency to the camera.  They will take part in all other calculations if selected under layer though.

Here is an example showing the functions of the 4 different layer selectors.  The ground plane, light, and camera are on layer 1 (top left); and the red box is on layer 2.

Click to enlarge.

Render Passes

Render passes are simply different ways of rendering a scene, often used in the compositor for post processing effects.  You can choose which passes you want to render under properties panel > render layers tab > passes rollout.  Which ever passes you select will then appear as outputs on the render layers node in the compositor.

Render Layers

I think what may be confusing you is that there is also something called render layers.  Render layers are a way of rendering the scene multiple times with different settings (including passes and visible layers).

You can add new render layers and select which ones should be rendered at the top of the render layers tab.


Blender 2.8+ set pass index for object? I am aware that in the Data API region I can locate the objects and set their object pass index but it is a fairly tedious exercise. Is there an easier way?

You can find it in the Properties Editor, in the Object tab:

You might also find it useful to use a very simple Python script to set different object indices for multiple objects(all selected in this case) at once:

import bpy

some_starting_number = 15

for i,o in enumerate(bpy.context.selected_objects):
    o.pass_index = i + some_starting_number

(You would copy this into a new text block in the Text Editor and hit Run Script with some objects selected)


Move object along local axis with Python API How to move object along it's local axis without using operators?

In my case I have objects scattered along curve with Follow Path constraint:
 example blendfile.
Which, I guess, is irrelevant when using matrix_world for applying transformations.

Turns out having constraints on object is relevant – cannot use matrix_world for applying transforms. Instead use matrix_basis, to get access to location, rotation and scale, before constraints and parenting are applied.

Following code will move object along it's Z axis:

from mathutils import Matrix

loc = Matrix.Translation((0.0, 0.0, 1.5))
ob.matrix_basis *= loc


How to select faces while using texture painting in 2.8? I'm texture painting an axe, and there's a certain part of the axe that I want to select.

I only want to select that whole black sharp part, but I can't select anything while texture painting. I'm using Blender 2.8.

How can I select while using texture painting?

I guess you have this issue on Blender 2.8 because you're using the default Left click select keymap?

First things first:

In order to enable the face selection masking, push down that little button in the viewport header:

Then, in order to select the faces you want to paint on, use the ⎇ Alt LMB. You can also access some selection tools, like Border Select with B, or Circle Select with C.

For more advanced control of selection, you can switch to edit mode, do what you need and switch back to paint mode.


Displacement on certain objects not working In Blender 2.71 using the Cycles engine, I cannot get displacement to work properly on certain objects.

Here are some screenshots of thre three objects and the nodes I'm using for them: water, a cube, and a plane. Although the displacement works fine for the cube and the plane, it refuses to work on the water. The nodes I'm using are based off of this answer.

Water nodes:

Cube nodes:

Plane nodes:

Viewport:

Render:

Here's the .blend. You'll also need the texture files from here and here.

It's working, it's just that the scale is different due the the water object being so much larger. The texture is so large that it's hard to see the displacement effect. If you plug it into an emission shader after muting the multiply node (M), then you can see the texture clearly:

To fix it, either scale up the textures or use a different mapping via the Texture coordinate node:

Result:


Can you use another material as input to material nodes in cycles? Is it possible in cycles to use setup a material node to take the output from another material as input into a mix shader?  This way if I change the configuration in the other material it updates both materials?  Or do I need to do this another way?

I'm surprised nobody has asked this already and can't find anything online so maybe it's not possible.

That's a typical use case for Node Groups.

Select all relevant nodes and group them with Ctrl+G. This way the created group is accessible within all material node trees, located in the Add menu: Shift+A > Groups > Your Group Name.


Can dynamic lighting on meshes be translated onto a video clip? Is it possible to procedurally affect the appearance of a video clip depending on the luminance of an area of a mesh?
Question detail:
The process I'm trying to do is explained below.

import and track a video clip (for ease of explanation, it is the corner of a room, as in the attached image)

set up a 3D scene with the camera solve from the video clip via 'setup tracking scene'
model the room corner in 3D
the video is going to be used day for night, so parameters (brightness, contrast etc) will be adjusted to make it appear to be a night scene)
dynamic lighting elements will be introduced in the 3D scene, which will cast light on the meshes used to model the room corner

What I want to do is use the luminance of the meshes to adjust the brightness (and other parameters - if there are coloured lights I would like to tint it for instance) of the video clip so it appears it is being illuminated by the dynamic lighting elements. Is this possible?

If you need interactive lighting you are going to need to recreate the geometry and project the lights into it, and combine that with the video background.
Note that to successfully reconstruct the geometry with motion tracking using the video as a source, you will need to move the camera in a way that shows parallax, a stationary camera will not work. If your camera is stationary and just rotates, reconstruct the geometry using fspy and match the camera move in blender using tripod solve.
Do a search to understand how a shadow catcher works.
The light from the video will have to be recreated in blender to affect whatever objects you have in the virtual environment and have the shadows and reflections of said objects affect the virtual geometry that will work for shadows and color. So make careful notes of how the lights are set up in the real world.
Also, keep in mind that you will need to mix several passes together to pull off something that looks realistic. The interaction of light, specially indirect light (that caused by the reflection of light on the surfaces of the objects in the scene) has to be carefully examined. For example, anything that moves will change the shape and color of the shadows and reflections. Pay special attention to the shiny surfaces on the lamp, as those will have to reflect real and virtual objects at different degrees, the metal and glass will behave differently.
The ratios of the lights in the real world and those in the virtual environment have to match as closely as possible. If you have access to a real camera (not a dslr or a phone) shoot using log encoding so that you can record values as scene referred and not as display referred. Having linear information will make the integration easier and more convincing.
In short you are in for a lot of fun if you decide to do this. Know that there are no real shortcuts, a shot like this requires careful planning and attention to detail.
Suggested links:
How to get reflections from 3D to show up on real images
How can I get better results when doing camera motion tracking?
Realistic rendering of mesh together with image?
Render shadows over a transparent background in cycles
Add color to shadow catcher
Cycles: Shadeless "Shadow-catcher" Material for Rendering onto Footage


How to make a large library with bookshelves in Blender? Modelling the books on the shelf if easy, since only the binders would be visible, but what if we have to model an entire library of books, and books whose spines contain big letters?

Suppose we've got to model a large library of books that we're going to run our camera thoroughly and up very close.

We could model our books but when it finally comes to texturing them, do we texture the entire array individually or is there a workaround?

Since, the books are supposed to carry random styles and letters(describing their titles) individually, is texturing them entirely the only way?

The solution here I think would be particle systems.

Model a few different book shapes, apply a few different book cover textures and you should have enough variation to make it seem believable.

You can then use some sort of emitter object running along the length of your bookshelves with a particle system to quickly distribute the books

Manually modeling thousands of books would be cumbersome and unpractical, but modelling a few variations, like say 10, with a few different textures , like say other 10 and you already have 100 possible different combinations of books.

You could also look into randomizing the textures procedurally, which would add even more perceived variation with little additional effort. If you are using Cycles the Random output socket of the Object Info node may help.

There are also a few book generation addons, both commercial (here and here) and free that could help if you want to automate the process.


What is NURBS method? I am modelling a series of objects which have mostly curves in them. I heard of a method to efficiently do this, the NURBS method. Is it efficient for making curve heavy models like archs or are there better options?

NURBS stands for Non Uniform Rational Bezier Splines . They are a way of defining curves in 3D space through mathematical formulas.

NURBS surfaces are a method of 3D modeling using said curves to define object surfaces, as opposed to using a mesh based polygon subdivision method.

It works well with Boolean operations, trim surfaces, and intersections, and it's workflow is mostly based on defining loft curves and sections to build surfaces.

It is very precise and accurate method, mostly used for hard edge modeling objects with basic geometric shapes or flowing aerodynamic surfaces. It's often utilized in mechanics, or automotive design, aircraft or boat conception mainly in CAD based software, not animation or 3D modelling like Blender.

Blender has basic NURBS support but it is a stub at this point, with incomplete functionality and barely usable at all. If you really need to use NURBS you are strongly advised to look into other software, as it currently stands it is not production ready.

The bad news is there are no good free or open source alternatives, you may look into FreeCad,  or MoI  or Rhino  or Catia

See here for some basic Blender NURBS tutorials


Controlling BGE properties with python script I would like to know how to change the values of properties added using the "AddGameProperty" option in the game logic UI using python code? I want to write code that changes the 'Property' value in an Action Actuator logic block. I attached a screenshot for a bit more clarity:

If you want to access a property from the current object controller it's :

cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
own = cont.owner
my_property=own['propName']

But if you want to access to a property from an other object it's

scene = bge.logic.getCurrentScene()
my_property=scene.objects['other object']['otherpropName']


Copying logic bricks causes acts strange in the logic editor I copied some logic bricks from object 1 to object 2.

Now everytime I pick only object 1 or only object 2, both their SCAs appear on the logic brick menu. It is exhausting since they are many. Why is this happening and how do I stop it?

When you copy inter-object connections, they will be preserved.

The result is (when enabled) that you see indirectly connected objects too, not just direct connected objects.

You can switch of indirect links:


How to use External option in Texture painting? How to use this part in texture painting? I pressed "quick edit", I was transferred to a separate graphics editor - Photoshop - where I painted the texture. What's next? How to project what is drawn?

1- Choosing the resolution of the projected image - "Screen Grab image"
2- Select the desired angle in the viewport
3- Click "Quick Edit"
4- it throws us into the program for 2D editing (important - check that the path to "Image Editor". Path - Preferences > File Paths > Applications > Image Editor). We draw and edit the image any way we want, then (importantly) we merge everything into one layer and save it.
5- Then in Blender press the "Apply" button.


Persistant image effect compositing Is there a way in compositing (or directly in the blender VSE...) to create a persistent image effect like in

https://youtu.be/aLA7AlnDftE?t=9m33s

Basically I'm looking to blend a video together with an image based on the video's 'pixel displacement'. I imagine I could use the 'Displace' node but I'm not sure how to use the motion of the video as a vector...

Thank you!

That sample looks like a creative use of removing of an I frame in the stream.

Not sure how familiar you are with video encodes, but a stream is frequently comprised of I, P, and B frames. I frames are intra frames, or whole pictures, P frames are predictive, and B frames are bi-predictive.

Only I frames are whole images, with P and B frames being partial image chunks that move according to the pixel vectors in the encoded file. That is, the encoded file compression calculated what direction the pixels were travelling in, and uses those smaller chunks to save space by moving smaller portions of the image around instead of using a whole frame. Over time, smaller pieces might be updated because they have changed significantly from the original I frame.

When we strip out the I frames, we end up with the motion vectors telling the decoder to move the same area of the image. However, without the I frame, it is moving chunks of the previous shot, as with your example. Slowly, over time, some of those pixel vectors are updated with newer image chunks, hence why the dog gradually appears.

How to replicate this in Blender is no trivial task. If you were to track the entire scene, using many hundreds of points, you could possibly achieve a similar effect by gradually transitioning portions of your image from the first shot to the second. That is, assuming you have shot A and shot B, you could use a tracked version of shot B to gradually transition in portions of shot B over time. Coupled with shot A being a simple subdivided plane, you could possibly shape deform it based on shot B's tracked points. If the tracked points used smaller, geometric shapes, slightly blurred, you have the basis for a general transition by fading in portions over time, until the entire image is replaced.

Shooting from the hip, but that is a loose approximation as to what the datamoshing trick does in your sample.


Finding maximum coplanar points I have got a set of points and I need to find the plane that would contain the maximum number of these points. Is there a simple way to do this, without trying out all permutations?

Update:
I am giving an illustration below:

The red dots are the points that exist in 3d space. There can be several planes like A, B, C, D that would contain 3 or more of these points. However, the plane A contains the maximum number of them. I need to find this plane (or to be more precise, the points on this plane).

Update2:
I am giving below the code I had tried earlier. This coincides with the approach suggested by @hatinacat2000 and looks to be the best available option:

import bpy
from mathutils import Vector
from itertools import combinations

def main():
    o = bpy.context.object

    # Take sample test points from Bezier curves
    # (you need to create curves having coplanar points
    # by subdividing 2d segments for example)
    bps = [bp for s in o.data.splines for bp in s.bezier_points]
    loc = [bp.co.copy().freeze() for bp in bps]
    l = list(combinations(loc, 3))

    # Map of {normal vector: 3 point combination for that normal}
    # Normal rounded to 3 decimal places
    normalsCos = [[Vector((round(((c[1] - c[0]).cross((c[2] - c[0])).normalized())[i], 3) \
        for i in range(0,3))).freeze(), c] for c in l]

    normals = [n[0] for n in normalsCos]

    # Map of {count: normal}
    nmap = {normals.count(n): n for n in normals}
    maxCnt = max(nmap.keys())
    normal = nmap[maxCnt]
    coTriplets = []
    for nc in normalsCos:
        if(nc[0] == normal):
            coTriplets.append(nc[1])

    # These are the required points
    planeCos = set([c for t in coTriplets for c in t])

    # And the remaining points...
    remainder = set(loc) - planeCos

Update3: Please see the answer from @lemon. It has got a huge performance improvement over this code (this is more of a POC), and also considers parallel planes.

There is no "simple" way to do anything in numerical analysis. However, the tasks can be laid out straightforwardly.

EDIT: This idea is a brain-fart because it doesn't distinguish parallel planes. The Internet must never forget though. Pile on, people.

How about this: generate an array of normalized normal vectors (not vectors in the dynamic array sense; in the math sense. A 1x3 array representation of a floating-point ordered triple is fine. I guess you can make an object but why bother) for every 3-point combination (not permutation) of the n points you have in your set. This list will contain nC3 normal "vectors".

If no plane that can be made contains more than 3 points in the set, then your list of normal vectors will entirely contain nC3 unique normals.

If any plane exists with 4 vertices, you will have 4C3 = 4 identical normal vectors in that list.

If any plane exists with 5 vertices, you will have 5C3 = 10 identical normals.

If any plane exists with k vertices, where 3 < k < n, you will have kC3 identical normals.

You would just need to quantify the normals that are the same, identify the largest value, and deduce what k was.
EDIT: Thanks to Rich Sedman for pointing out comparison should be done with dot-product. Weeding out parallel planes is another task that would need to be done optimally in the worst case scenario (a stack of parallel planes).

Doing all this would require knowing how to do a 3D cross product, how to normalize a vector, how to find a dot-product, and how to solve this equation:

k!/(3!(k-3)!) = count, Or:

k(k-1)(k-2)(k-3)!/(3!(k-3)!) = count, Or:

k(k-1)(k-2)/6 = count,

where count is the number of duplicated normal vectors,  which you will have already counted before solving this. This is just a 3rd degree polynomial.

Note also that if the set is randomly chosen, and even if the range and precision of floating point values are small, it is very unlikely that you will have more than 3 points in any plane. The list would need to be curated to have more than 3 coplanar points in order to make good use of this work.


uv smart projecting multiple objects via python loop issue i have 100 of objects in a scene, which i need to assign UV (smart project), so they don't rely in default cubical space of shader. i tried following code ( written in few minutes) upon running, it only work (as expected)on first or last object. just can't figure out why. only one object shows texture after running. ahh..

import bpy

meshObjs = []
for each in bpy.context.selected_objects:
    if each.type == 'MESH':
        meshObjs.append (each)

    # clear selection
    bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    # iterating mesh objects
for obj in meshObjs:
    d = obj.data
    #obj.select = True
    bpy.data.objects[obj.name].select = True
    bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'EDIT')
    bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
    obj.update_from_editmode()
    print (obj.name)
    bpy.ops.uv.smart_project()
    obj.update_from_editmode()
    bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'OBJECT')
    obj.select = False

You need to set the object as the active object. You can add bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].objects.active = obj at the beginning of your loop.


How to access mesh data of an object in a script? I have always had a unique mesh for every MESH type object in blender, to easily access them together in a python script (Iterate through objects and do something with an object and a mesh with the same name).

Now I want to have a mesh for several objects. I want to export the meshes and the objects separately but for every object, export the mesh it is connected to (its name, index or some identifier) to later connect them in an external program. I already found mesh.users which shows how many objects are using this mesh, but I want to reference all of those objects.
I am exporting to a text file.
So how could I do this in Blender?

I'm not sure what you're asking, but you can retrieve the mesh datablock associated with an object like

ob = bpy.context.object # get the active object for example
mesh = ob.data

The reverse is not directly possible. A mesh can be used by many objects, and the mesh doesn't know/store who its "owners" are. You can build a reverse index however:

mesh_owners = {}
for ob in bpy.data.objects:
    if ob.type == 'MESH':
        mesh_owners.setdefault(ob.data, []).append(ob)

print(mesh_owners[mesh])
# Example output - mesh is used by a one object:
#[bpy.data.objects['Cube.003']]


Blender says I have Maya and 3Dsmax? I was working in blender playing with nodes when the program crashed. I opened it and immediately noticed a dropdown box near Blender, which I have never seen before as well as the Hash number there.

I clicked on the dropdown menu and it says that I have 3Dsmax and Maya, both of which I have never used in my entire life. I looked up the hash number to see if that was an error of some sort but had no luck finding any related info. Does anyone know what this is and why it has 2017 as the date?

I genuinely have no idea what tags to give this and I didn't want to put this in the wrong section, so if anyone knows what the right tag for this is, please let me know and I'll update it.

This is not to indicate that you have 3DSmax or Maya, but to allow you to change the way you interact with Blender to be more similar to the way you would interact with those applications.


Parenting/Joining a helmet to a skeleton rig I'm looking for help on how to parent/join this helmet:

With this skeleton rig:

Sorry if it's super simple I just can't seem to figure it out for the life of me. I feel like it's obvious but whatever I try it doesn't parent with the rig when I try to animate.

The helmet consists of 2 elements msh_vents_topSide and msh_visor. You need to select both of them with SHIFT+click, then still with Shift select bone "head" (it's top most circle in "rig" rig), then press CTRL+P and choose Bone. This way whole helmet will be parented to head bone with weight 1 and no need for weight painting.


RGB lighting on a wireframe in Cycles I'm trying to make a wire frame around a box have RGB colors emitting from it, well they don't have to emit, just 'glow' with the colors Red Green and Blue, RGB. it's for a small project, I wan't a RGB lighting strip kind of like they show on Strix boxes for graphics cards. I'm doing all this in the Cycles engine

If I understand correctly: You are trying to do something like this

Create cube (or leave default cube when starting Blender)
Duplicate it (Shift + D)
Scale it up a little bigger
Subdivide the cube for more wire frame lines
Under modifier tab choose wireframe
For the wireframe materials copy the below set up.

After rendering the image go to your compositor and add a glare node like below. I normally do compositing in Photoshop and After Effects so I am not to good with Blender Compositor but this should be you semi close.

You can also add a streak node to make it look more like Strix

EDIT: IF you want to animate it

There are a few ways to do this, I am not sure exactly what you are trying to do but you can add a mapping node and animate the position by hitting "i" for the keyframes.


How to rotate or snap object parallel to specific face of another object? I imported object from another file (bended detail), it appeared slightly rotated. So now i need to rotate it thus faces indicated with red arrows would be paralleled (and to the flat).

attached file https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/KadW0M4l

I've found many tutorials about snapping. The most important information from them is that face snapping works with normals. And this info didn't helped me anyway =) None of them provide necessary result.

It's either snap the detail to flat by pivot point as it is expected without rotation enabled:

or rotate it in a ridiculous way:

As @Sanbaldo mentioned in comment section, we can use Measurement tool to determine angle between faces and rotate source detail.

In more complex situation this answer is available to solve this task:
https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/156469/87633

Thanks to @JachymMichal


Blender Cycles normal map difficulty I am having an immense issue with using my normal map in blender cycles engine. It works perfectly fine in Blender Render (but I can't get my transparency to work there, so I figured it's time to move to cycles anyway), but not even close in Cycles. It is the exact same model and the exact same texture.

I am VERY new to Blender/3d-modeling, so I don't have any idea where the issue is coming from. The nodes were very straightforward as I essentially copied a tutorial on Normal Maps. I made sure the Image Texture was using non-color data, but that didn't help at all. The texture appears to just create creases on the object now, and isn't really smooth at all.

Here is an image with a set of screen captures that depicts the issue fairly clearly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Terminator artifacts
As gandalf3 pointed out, you are suffering from terminator artifacts. I have seen this before in my own models, but didn't know that there is a name for it :-). This is one issue with normal mapping. Blender uses the normal map to calculate the final shading at a particular point on the model, but it can't use the normal map to determine whether or not the light is hitting part of the model. Blender only uses the physical model to calculate where the light hits. Normal maps are only a form of trickery used to make the model appear to be higher resolution than what they actually are; they don't really add new geometry.
The reason it didn't appear when you were using Blender internal is probably because the lighting was different (judging from the picture). You will have to either use subdivision to make the lighting calculations more accurate, or adjust your lighting so that the dark area is lit.


Fatal Python Error on Startup (Not Responding) Can someone help me? Every time I try to run blender it keeps I get the same error, I tried to install blender as a zip file, install a previous version that I know worked for me before (on the same computer as now), install blender from Steam, and search all over the internet, here is the error message:

found bundled python: C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender/2.78/python
Fatal Python error: Py_Initialize unable to load the file system codec
 File "C:\Python27\Lib\encodings\__init__.py", line 123
  raise CodecRegisteryError,\
                           ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Current thread 0x00002a20 (most recent call first)

Thanks in advance for any help.

That looks like Blender is using a very old version of Python. Try taking any path in C:\Python27 off your PATH environment variable.

I'm assuming you're running Windows 10, since you clearly use Windows but don't mention which version. Right-click on "This PC", then choose "Properties". In the next screen, click "Advanced System Settings", then click on "Environment Variables". In both the box "User variables for {your name}" and "System variables" doubleclick on "Path" (or any other capitalisation) and remove anything that starts with C:\Python27.

You may want to write down the original values you removed, just so you can restore them later.


How can I alternate rotating a bone and its associated controls around its tail and its head? Is it possible to rig a hand such that I can drag the entire apparatus around in space with one control, rotate or pivot the entire hand apparatus around the wrist with a second control (as though waving), and with a third control rotate or pivot the entire hand apparatus around the fingertips (as though revving a motorcycle or pushing oneself off a surface by the fingertips)?

I use an IK constraint on your yellow colored bone and make a control bone for it that shares the location and size with the hand Bone (B in your drawing) but other than the hand bone it's not connected and not even parented to the IK Bone. On the Hand Bone I use a copy rotation constraint to copy the rotation of the control bone. If you do it that way you could set your cursor everywhere you want and transform the control bone around it.

EDIT:

you could also add another bone at the tip and parent the control bone to it to have controls at both positions


World colour is creating some fog like effect in eevee I've been using blender internal for most of my projects. I got a project done in internal into EEVEE and the world colour created some fog like effect on the screen depicted below:

The weird thing is Im pretty sure I solved this issue when I encountered it during the beta but I cant remember how, for reference heres a similar version of the image above that I did in during the beta:

How do I get rid of this foggy effect thats most likely caused by the world background colour?

I figured it out, all I had to do was remove/disconnect volumetric scatter in the world tab.


How to I rig a bone to the origin of an object? I'm trying to rig and I want the ball on the wider end of a bone in blender to be in the origin of an object so it's centered.Is their anyway to quickly do this or do I just have to keep moving the bone until I get it right?

You can use snapping and the 3d cursor to do this. With the object selected,use Shift-S and choose 'snap cursor to selected'. Once you have the cursor at the obj origin, you can select your bone and enter edit mode, and then select just the end (tail) or tip (head) and Shift- S choosing 'selection to cursor'. Incidentally, if your cursor is already at the origin of your object before you generate the bone, you might find it already orients where you wanted it to begin with.


How to create a Realistic Moon So I recently saw a video of a highly realistic lunar surface made just using micropoligon displacement. Now I was curious if we could create such realistic landscapes without a height map?
Also, how can I recreate this exact same texture/material that they used in this video?

The link to the video is this: https://youtu.be/Z9bGr3HWqLg

The best way to map the moon is to use an actual height map.  You can find a free usable map here: https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/details/Moon/LRO/LOLA/Lunar_LRO_LOLA_Global_LDEM_118m_Mar2014/cub

Nothing beats the real thing.  If you want to add more detail, use a noise displacement on top of it.


I cant select only one active object in blender Whenever I just select one object in object mode, and then go into edit mode, it has multiple active objects that i can edit, and then when i try to select one face, line, or vertex, it selects multiple, although in the bottom menu it says im only selecting one.

Your objects are probably linked to each other, so when you change one of them you change the others too

If you select one  of those objects you should see in the object data tab that near the mesh name there is a 2 or another number: that means that there are 2 (or more) objects that share that mesh.

To solve it, click on that "2" button or in the 3d viewport choose Object>Relations>Make Single User> Object and Data


Move existing hole on the flat model I've got an object like a cup (of 2mm thickness) an a hole on its flat bottom. I need to move that hole left or right on the same surface. the dimensions of the hole should stay the same.
Thanks

Make the hole an edge loop and then hit G followed by an axis key, that is x, y or z, to move it along the red, green or blue line that appears.


How to rotate a mask in blender (Vfx not sculpting) Within blender I was doing some vfx and got to the masking stage, It was going well till I wanted to rotate it, and I couldn't.
I intended to rotate it because certain parts the thing I'm masking it doesn't change it just rotates.
I pressed R on the mask and it didn't do anything.
I've already looked through google and other similar questions.
Before pressing R

After pressing R

The issue was that the origin point was set to individual point not median point.
Which can be switched here at the top