Freestyle with multiple objects I have several objects that intersect each other:

I would like to draw lines on the silhouette and key details with Freestyle, however Blender does detect intersections between objects and gives a very strange result:

What I'm trying to make is something like this:

Note: This is just an example, what I'm trying to do has about 10 highly detailed objects which intersect each other, so manually combining them is not possible.

Is it possible to make Freestyle detect edges at face intersections? If not, is there a simple way of combining the objects to create a single object with the outer faces of all the objects?

Short answer, no, Freestyle doesn't currently support detecting face intersections so what you want to achieve is basically impossible to do at this time, as far as I know.
There has to actually exist an edge there so Blender can detect the intersection and place a Freestyle stroke where it belongs.
Ideally you would build your model accordingly, so that there would be no intersections and your model is correctly shaped with no "inside" faces.
Otherwise you may try to use boolean operations through the Boolean Modifier and automatically intersect your objects and let Blender create said edges.
Have in mind that boolean operations have limitations, and will only work on closed, manifold meshes with no duplicate vertex or edges, consistent normals and non coplanar faces. Failing to do so will often result in unsuccessful operations.
Also boolean operations only work on two objects at a time, so if you have lots and lots of objects it will quickly become unpractical since you would have to preform Boolean operations for every possible combination of pairs of objects.
You will also end up with bad topology all over your model.
Search this site for Boolean, there's about one question of those every day. You will encounter most often found problems, caveats and solutions for them.


How to I cut a specific part of an object in order to have 2 separate objects? I'm completely green to Blender.  Whilst I've used 3DS Max in the past, I haven't got a clue how to use Blender and it isn't striking me as very comprehensive, so I thought I'd reach out.  I've downloaded a public domain telephone box through STLFinder which someone expertly made but as one solid object. I've successfully finally managed to rescale it to the size I wanted and cut a hole in the base, but that's as far as I could figure out.
 I'd really like for the door to open then 3D Print the 2 sections and assemble it.  In edit mode there are countless thousands of edges and I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I've looked at various forum posts and youtube videos which talk about cutting an object clean in half, but I don't want half, I only want to cut out the door as an entirely separate object so I can design some sort of hinge for it ... but that would require cutting 3 dimensionally.  I wondered if a modifier like Boolean would achieve this and if so, how do I go about it?

Big thanks to all who responds!

I would try to press "L" key in edit mode with cursor over some part of the model. This selects "Island" in case the model is not merged together. if it is merged, you can try to select one face somewhere in the middle of the part you want to separate then press "ctrl +" to start adding faces to your selection. To separate your selection you can use "P" key then "separate selection"


How to fix animation actions that are separated and duplicated onto every bone in the heirarchy I have a character with a set of actions on it (Idle, Walk, Run, etc.). It was given to me with permission to use it in a project I am working on. But, rather than the Armature having a single set of actions and animation data at the root or the Armature, there is instead an animation block of data with a full set of actions (Walk, Run etc.) duplicated for every single bone in the hierarchy, which makes these file impossible to work with.
For example, in order to see the walk action, you need to select every single bone separately and manually set the action to 'Walk', which is extremely time-consuming.

Is there any way to fix this and clean it up so that all the animation data is at the root with just a single set of actions, one for each anim in the file?

This looks like it was baked "out of" somewhere, rather than the actual (correctly rigged) file. The only thing I can think of, for you to work, would be to arm (create) a basic rig, and apply constraints to those bones to the bones on your given rig.
The second thing you need to do is to "bake" in Blender, each action from each of those bones. That means, you'll delete everything but "walk" from the outliner (save an "original bones with mixed actions" files first), then save the "walk" file. Clean and delete everything that is not "walk", save "walk" file". Do the same for the remaining actions.
Open the "walk" (action only) file and do a BAKE to YOUR basic rig. Delete your given "walk" actions and the previous (broken) rig.
Now you have a completely re-build Walk (baked) action in your new basic Rig.
Go to your ACTION EDITOR WINDOW and NAME the action accordingly (this is important, so you can pick it up, later).
Do the same for all other files.
When you complete all that, you can go to your "walk" (baked) action, and FILE>Append>yourOtherBakedSeparatedActionFile.blend>ACTIONS>Append.
You will now see it on your ACTION EDITOR (name that you given your action from the previously fixed files in their action editor window).
You can now push this action into the NLA, to be exported (file>export>fbx> Press N > export NLA clips and Actions) when you're done editing them.
After all of this, you can now start EDITING whatever you needed to edit.
Here's an in-depth video about what gets exported and what not (from other applications into Blender), this is a recommended watch since you inherited a non-editable file, thus you need to reconstruct it, bake it, organize the actions so you can do your work.


How can I animate the rotation quaternion of an object with just one driver? Updated Question (driving orientation instead of location)

I'd like to animate the orientation of an object using one single driver, but it seems that the UI only let's me animate each coordinate of the rotation quaternion separately. I see that the documentation says that Context Menu --> Add Driver has the option All from Target (properties icon), but I can't manage to select more than one of the properties at once.

I would like to be able to do this via the UI first, then figure it out how to do it from Python.

A suggestion is to cooperate with Blender and simply use 3 drivers on the XYZ.  So far you do not have a strong case for fighting against this.   This does not appear to be a significant inconvenience and there are other issues you have yet to encounter.

If your were to state you have many objects such as 888 objects then another approach would be warranted.

You may also use Copy [Location,et cetera] Constraint to copy values from another object.

You can search [registering a function] but I would recommend against that until you state your level of experience with Blender and Python.


How to rotate bezier circle with an object following its path? I have an object that flies in circles using Bezier Circle curve modifier. I would like to add rotation to the Bezier Circle itself. But once I'm trying to animate the Bezier Circle spin, the object doesn't follow the circle's path, but it just flies away.

The following animation shows what I think you are asking for.

(i) keyframe the curve using the key-shorcuts i then t while the timeline slider is at the beginning of the animation sequence.

(ii) Add another object and move it to the edge of the curve.

(iii) Now, with the model selected, hold shift and select the curve.  This should leave the model outlined in orange, indicating a secondary selection with the curve highlighted with yellow(the primary selection).

(iv)  Use ctrl+p and select->Follow Path (several options work for this, I'm not sure what the subtleties are for the various types ;)

(v)  now you should be able to move the curve around and keyframe its different transforms along the timeline.

Where the object and curve are, in relation to each other, when you parent them will be affected by where the timeline slider is when you parent the objects.  Here is an animation that shows what happens when I parented the model to the curve mid-way through the animation.


Edge loop select in linux In Linux Mint pressing the Alt+LMB moves windows. How would I select an edge loop in this situation?

So, open your applications "start" menu, search for 'window manager tweaks', under the accessibility tab you should see a drop down to change the button that grabs and moves windows.


Boolean Difference failed - Give me an alternative I often model separate pieces and modify them with boolean operations to get to a final result.  I'm stuck with a quarter of a cone intersecting with a hollowed cube (think of an inverted tray). My goal is the union of the cone and the smaller portion of the cube/tray. In other words the cone is larger than the diagonal of the tray.  I'm not getting desired result in Blender 2.77, but I really think I'm missing a step somewhere.  If you don't have and answer for that, how about a link to  steps to manually do it? It really is simple, but I'm afraid I've been away too long.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Looks like it worked - Nope

The problem is that your mesh is non-manifold, meaning you have holes on its surface, it can't boolean properly. To fix that, go in Edit mode, select the whole mesh, go in the Mesh menu > Clean Up > Fill Holes. Also you should recalculate the normals with a ctrlN even if it seems to work with bad normals. Then boolean with the Union mode and it works.


Changing the shading type in Python I'm wanting to change the shader type of the viewport, up the top left of blender 2.8 it has the icons: Wireframe/Solid/LookDev/Rendered

I want to set this in python, when I mouse over it shows: bpy.data.screens["Modeling"].shader.type

So I tried

bpy.data.screens["Modeling"].shader.type = 'MATERIAL'

but this didn't work, I also tried:

shading = context.space_data.shading
    shading.type = 'MATERIAL'

but neither worked, bot said that type 'SpaceProperties has no attribute Shading'

You need to get the space you want to change. If you run it from the Text Editor or Python Console, context will point to the Text Editor's or Python Console's spaces. You can loop through all areas and their spaces and change all the ones of type VIEW_3D:

import bpy

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 = 'MATERIAL'

Or if you write an operator and execute it when the mouse is over the 3d viewport you should be able to get the current space from the context:

import bpy

class SimpleOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Tooltip"""
    bl_idname = "object.simple_operator"
    bl_label = "Simple Object Operator"

    @classmethod
    def poll(cls, context):
        return context.active_object is not None

    def execute(self, context):
        context.space_data.shading.type = "MATERIAL"
        return {'FINISHED'}

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(SimpleOperator)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(SimpleOperator)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

    # test call
#    bpy.ops.object.simple_operator()


Restore mesh data layers (specifically UV) after non-destructive Remesh modifier? The output of the Remesh modifier seems to lack all mesh data layers, including UV layers.
The Data Transfer modifier requires mesh data layers to already exist in order to work. It thus does not have any effect when placed after a Remesh in the modifier stack.
The "Generate Data Layers" button in the Data Transfer modifier does not solve this, as it operates on the base mesh, and not on the output of the Remesh modifier.
Is there any way to non-destructively re-create a UV layer after a Remesh modifier in the modifier stack? The created UV layer does not have to preserve any coordinates, mappings, or actual data, as that is the function of the Data Transfer modifier. It only needs to exist, even if empty, so that the Data Transfer modifier has somewhere to put its output.

It looks like this is a known bug. For now, the below workaround does the job.

Hm. Okay. So I haven't found a way to restore mesh data layers onto any object which has an active Remesh modifier in its modifier stack.
But by abusing the "Caps" settings on an Array modifier (or similarly abusing a Boolean modifier), it is possible to non-destructively transfer the remeshed geometry onto a clean, empty object that does have the required data layers. From there, modifiers which require mesh data layers seem to work as usual.


Detect objects that are touching how one can detect two object contact. with python, for example, I want every sphere becomes the child of the cube it touches.

Using closest point on mesh

Test code, assumes spheres are named "Sphere[.nnn]" and cubes "Cube[.nnn]"  If a hit from the sphere's centre to a point on a cube is less than the sphere's radius, then it parents them.

import bpy
from bpy import context

scene = context.scene
spheres = [o for o in scene.objects if o.name.startswith("Sphere")]
cubes = [o for o in scene.objects if o.name.startswith("Cube")]

for s in spheres:
    o = s.matrix_world.to_translation()
    radius = sum(s.dimensions) / 6 # sphere radius guestimation
    for cube in cubes:
        cmwi = cube.matrix_world.inverted()
        local_pos = cmwi * o
        (hit, loc, norm, face_index) = cube.closest_point_on_mesh(local_pos)
        if hit:
            v2 = cube.matrix_world * loc
            # distance from global hit to cube
            l = (v2 - o).length
            if l <= radius:
                cube.parent = s
                cube.matrix_parent_inverse = s.matrix_world.inverted()


Can I make a plane renderable but not effect the light in the scene? I want to add in a plane into blender with an image on it. I want the image to render out into the scene but I don't want the plane to effect the the light in the scene. Is there a way to do this?

I figured it out. Go to your object properties and in Visibility>Ray Visibility, uncheck "Shadow"


My Rig Changes Position in Edit/Object Mode? I have a rig, and when I select the Armature or the Model, and go to edit mode, they move position. They just go to the left, and they come back in object mode.

In Pose mode make sure you are in "Pose position" .

In rest position it will go to the objects original position and origin point

Also , Edit mode doesn't effect the animation / Pose , so when you go into edit mode , the armature will also go to the objects original position and origin point . Edit mode is only for moving vertices/faces/edges and bone origin placement


bones moving around and misbehaving [![hello!
i want to pair a bone to another bone. either it will in no way at all whatsoever connect or it moves the whole bone to the wrong end of the parent bone. the arms only wants to connect/parent to the hip, i cant make them parent to the top/shoulders
i cant parent/connect the head to the shoulder either, everything i try either moves the bone to the wrong location or just wont connect at all..
thanks for any help :)

The reason why you are having issues is because your spine isn't a single unified chain. Normally, the spine bones start at the hips and move up the back and ends in the head. Legs and arms can then be placed relative to those bones.
Add in a bone on the ground below the neck and extend it up so it ends in between the spine and head. This will be your root bone. Parent the spine bone, the arm bones, and the neck bone to the root bone. Be sure to uncheck the deform option in the bone tab on the root bone.


How to select identical UV island at one time? I have many similar uv island as in picture, I just want to select those hook-like ones, they have same vertice count, how?

Personally I find Blender's default UV tools rather sad and lacking, especially coming from Modo. However, if you have $20 to spare, UV Toolkit (https://blendermarket.com/products/uv-toolkit) gets you pretty close to most major apps. It also has "select similar islands," which is exactly what you are looking for.


Blender wont work and just stays white window I have been at this for hours and have not found a solution. Manually switched sound settings to 44100hz and then doesn't show that error but still opens and just stays all white window. I have checked my opengl and is on 4.4. I have tried older versions still same issue. I have copy and pasted opengl32 into the blender foundation folder. Tried -noaudio same issue. Im trying out Blender to learn animations and still have not been able to begin to learn. I hope it is not a sign that it is not something for me. Thank you so much for helping me.

have you tried uninstalling Blender and removing all config files?
They're found in %appdata%\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender*version number*\config.
I had your same problem and solved it by uninstalling and removing that folder, then reinstalling. Let me know!


Trying to render a .mov file in Blender's video editor I'm trying to render a small clip from a huge video I recorded via a screen recorder. However, I can only render it as an AVI file. Is there a way to output in other formats? What I'm doing is choosing the H.264 codec but no luck. Specifically, I am trying to render it as an MOV file.

Thanks for the help!

You also have to set the encoding settings correct.

The following settings will output a .mov file with h.264 codec.


Texture painting margin size I am painting a texture for my model using Blender "Texture Paint" mode. Is it possible to change the margin size for how much the texture gets painted over the edge of the models UV?

Regards,
Koreenium

In the painting options it is called "bleed" and defined in pixels.


Use an Empty to control a property I would like to use an Empty to control color of a material, strength of a light, etc.  I know some things can be controlled by Keyframes, but can they be controlled by empties or object positions.
Intended uses: Light dimmer switch on a wall; character's eyes change color as empty gets closer.
Additional: Eye color changes from blue to brown (bottom up) as coffee is consumed.
I would greatly appreciate any help.

Everything you are talking about should be doable with drivers.

For example to make a dimmer switch, right click on the strength on the light, go to add driver, and select manually create later.

Now go to the Graph editor and switch from F-Curve to Drivers at the bottom menu. On the right, your light should be listed. Open all the menus until you reach 'Default Value(Strength)' and click on that. Bring up the properties panel with N, and switch to the drivers tab.

In the drivers tab, change Scripted Expression to Average Value, set the object to be your empty, and change the Type to Z Location.

Now you will have to adjust the curve on the graph to make the dimmer work as you want. The x-axis is the empty position and the y-axis is the light strength. Set the x-axis of the first point to be the lowest the empty will go on the z-axis, and the y-axis of the first point to be the strength of the fully dimmed light. Set the x-axis of the second point to be the highest the empty will go on the z-axis, and the y-axis to be the strength on the non-dimmed light.

Now if you go into rendered view with the empty selected and move it up and down the light intensity should change accordingly.


How to know if the 3d-view is in camera mode or not? I'd like to know if the context 3d-view is in camera mode or not using python?
What is the code for that, I can't find it in the API.

See context.space_data.region_3d.view_perspective which returns a string from an emum of PERSP, ORTHO and CAMERA.

thanks to kaio !


How can I creat this workspace in UV editor? I would like to create a similar workflow. I've downloaded a file from a popular free 3d Model website, so I noticed that I like the workflow, in the file, many objects, not matter the shaper they are, you can match the geometry in the UV place, notice that there are just rectangle with texture on it. I used to use texture paint and many tools in UV, even texture atlasing, but I would like to make this 4 funny stuff.

I'm not totally sure what you are asking, but, my best guess is that your the image shown is just one texture and the UV maps are just moved to cover one section of the texture. You can grab, resize, etc. within UV edit mode by just grabbing the points.


Should all parts of a physical object be modelled as a single Blender object? I have some experience with 3D parametric CAD (e.g. Solidworks, Autodek Inventor). So far, I have watched the official Blender tutorials 3 times and read a complete book about Blender. I am wondering if I will need to undergo a paradigm shift to successfully model in Blender.
Suppose I am drawing a wooden stool. In parametric CAD, I would design a leg (1 object) with a hole that fits a screw, make the seat (another object) with 4 holes for the 4 leg screws, and make a screw (yet another object). Then in the final assembly, I will assemble 4 legs and the seat by putting in 4 screws. Drawing finished.
What is the process in Blender? Do Blender users make only one object called "Stool" and model the shape of the stool without regard for the components of the object (e.g. legs, screws, seat)? What if the screws are important (e.g. I need to be able to accurately take the stool apart)?

There's a question you need to answer before asking: 'How do I draw this stool?'.
It's: 'Why am I drawing this stool?'.
If you're using a CAD package, the answer to the latter is usually given. It's to propose, or to aid, the manufacture of a real-world stool. But if you're using a visualizaton and animation suite like Blender, that's not the case.
It could be:

A stool to illustrate the assembly of stools, including the deployment of screws
A 3D-printable stool, with a manifold surface.
A pre-lit low-poly stool, for use in a limited-resources game
A hero foreground stool, with wood grain and shiny screw heads, in an
architectural visualization, or product shot.
A graphic stool, for use in a poster advertising a chain of cafés
A hacked out-of-focus background stool, only half of which is ever seen
A toon stool, which can run away from its obese owner, and attempt suicide by jumping out of an apartment window
A stool for sale as an asset to be used by other people, whose purpose is part of its advertised specification, and needs to be by-the-book
A photorealistic VFX stool, which will need to bounce off a previously filmed floor, and be shot to pieces in scene 23
.......

These are considerations unlikely to be taken into account by a CAD user. There's no single paradigm. Each stool will require a different approach to serving its purpose, while avoiding as much work as possible.


Removing black-ish tint in beveled area of clear glass I can not seem to gt rid of the really annoying BLACK that always seems to show up in Blender Cycles when rendering glass. I've even used a transparent shader to NO avail.

Here's a material fix that I applied that seemed to head toward what you were wanting. Same basic components, just re-arranged a little.

I think you can get your reflections back using a method something like this afterward:

If you want to get even more of the reflection back you can just keep the progression of your mix nodes, something like this:


Python - Set material to material slot I am using the Blender Internal render engine. I have an material slot with no material assigned to it. How can I assign a material to a slot using python? This should work in edit mode as well. Basically I would like to assign materials to specific faces.

This code creates 10 materials and appends it to the active object (should be a mesh). The diffuse color of every material is random. The .material_index poperty is set to the new materials by index (even if the object has materials assigned before the operation).

import bpy
from random import random

ob = bpy.context.object
me = ob.data

mat_offset = len(me.materials)
mat_count = 10

mats = []
for i in range(mat_count):
    mat = bpy.data.materials.new("Mat_%i" % i)
    mat.diffuse_color = random(), random(), random()
    me.materials.append(mat)

# Can't assign materials in editmode
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')

i = 0
for poly in me.polygons:
    if poly.select:
        poly.material_index = i % mat_count + mat_offset
        i += 1

If you want to use UV mapped textures, you'll also have to deal with me.uv_layersand me.uv_textures. It's not enough to assign materials to faces, you also need to set the texture image for every face.


Dyntopo doesn`t do anything even though it's activated While sculpting a hand dyntopo stopped working after I unionized the last Finger to the hand. It worked for the first four, but after the last it didn't. It shows that it is activated, but it just doesn't add new geometry. I already checked for geometry inside the mesh after the union, but there isn't any. Anyone got an idea, why it is not working?

You can try to make a new default scene and append your dyntopo object into it - could help, perhaps? Or just copy all the objects to a new project.


Face Normals display not showing So I want to flip the normals on an object I know how to flip them and I know I have to go into view port overlays and activate display normals to see that the faces have been flipped but when I do that the blue lines that show you what way the faces are facing dont display. Am I missing something or could it be a setting I'm not aware of? Any advice would be helpful thankyou

In the viewport overlays dropdown menu for the 3D View there are options related to normals as you know:

Not only do you have to select the normal, but to see it you have to set the size to something reasonable for the scale of your model:

If you're still not seeing normals, please share the blend file.


Group node instancing? I am trying to get Group nodes to work in the Shader Editor. All of the documentation and blogs I've seen say that Group nodes are instanced. I.e. if I create a Group node, it will share all parameters with other identical Group nodes in the .blend file. But that's not what I'm seeing. Group nodes are not instances, parameters are not shared, and I'm left wondering if I've done something wrong.
I create a Group node with CTRL+G
I create another copy of that same Group node with the Add menu
I expect the two Group nodes to be instanced, but they aren't. I change parameters on one of them, and it does not affect the other.
Please help.

This dropdown specifies the Node Tree to be linked within.

Check that both of them have the desired tree.


Best graphics card for Blender Cycles rendering I want to build a system with a graphics card that can render scenes fast. I have heard people saying gtx 780 ti is great because of its high cuda cores. Im not sure what I should go for. Also what would be a good processor to handle such graphics card?

This is hard to say, because there are not relevant benchmark for cycles. (If someone know one, please let us know).

You can look at http://blenchmark.com/gpu-benchmarks. Keep in mind than this is not accurate results, because results are affected by CPU speed quite enough.

And yes, you are right: more CUDA cores are better for Cycles. "x80" and "Ti" have also wider bus (384bits) and that is the reason why 780 is little bit faster than 970 (with 256bits) in rendering. But 780 have almost double power consumption. Good for 970 is also 4GB RAM.

In my opinion the best what you can do is buy one GTX 970 now and second one (or better) later. In Blender you can use multiple CUDA card and can be different.


Blender video editor cut strips issue I used to use Blender one year ago and just reinstalled it 2 days ago. I am facing an issue that seems to be a bug to me.

I am on archlinux, last 17:2.81.a-5 blender version with no library issue.

In video editor mode, I upload a mp4 video. When I cut (K) a strip in two strips, half the time (more or less) it cut it at the right time line but the cut is performed between 2 and 10 frames later in the time. I can not fins any sens to this behavior, so I think this is just a bug.

For example, I have a strip from 0 to 200 frames, I cut it at the frame 100 and now, the end of the left strip is corresponding to the 96th frame, not the 100th. So, I have 4 frames in the right strip that should be on the left strip.
It does it pretty randomly.
I tried all the different cuts (soft, hard), with keymap, without.
Could it be a bug from the last release?
Any idea?
Thanks for your time.

Your source file may have variable frame rate. You can use MediaInfo to check: https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo
If it has VFR you'll need to re-encode it with ex. Handbreake or any other GUI for ffmpeg: https://handbrake.fr/


Using own.hit Object List? with ["Near"] sensor When using  own.hit Object  List  how  do  you  print  out  the  chosen  item.  I mean  how  do  you  go  thought  the  list  with  the  python  system. Is  it print(own.hit Object List[0],[10])
or  something   like  that?......., and  then  receive  a  print  out . I  could use  the  info. i need for the a.i to chose the farthest object and track_to it trying to use Near sensor.

You can do it this way.

from bge import logic

if logic.getCurrentController.sensors['Near'].positive:
    for obj in controller.sensors['Near'].hitObjectList:
        print(obj)

KX_NearSensor

KX_TouchSensor


Black contour artifacts when using OpenEXR renders with bloom and transparency background in VSE I try to render some shapes with EEVEE bloom effect and transparent background.
I understood that the rendered file output had to be OpenEXR instead of PNG format in order to keep the effect and the transparency.
Nevertheless, when opening the OpenEXR files into the VSE, and adding a background clip, there are always some black contour artifacts around the rendered shapes.
How could I get rid of that and have it done properly from the beginning ?
Blender version used is 2.90.
Note : I tried to tick the use alpha box in the compositor. It works better but the colors are changed.

At first I thought it has something to do with the blend mode of the material (settings panel: Opaque, Alpha Clip, Alpha Hashed, Alpha Blend). But, that seems not to be the matter.
The reason of this artifact lies probably within the AlphaOver blend mode in the VSE. You can find a very nice explanation with CGCoockie (Working with Alpha Edges for Compositing in Blender).
A possible work-around is the following:

Duplicate the strip with the 'blooming'shape.
Set the Alpha attribute in the Source panel to "Straight".
Increase the scale of the duplicated strip a little untill the black artifact is covered.


Restore thumbnails in Windows File Explorer? I remember Blender use to produce thumbnails in file explorer. I'm not sure what happened, but I've recently reformatted windows and installed 2.76b, and it still doesn't show them. I assume this isn't something on my end, and I found this thread which makes it seem as if there is something wrong with the installer:

https://developer.blender.org/T45389

My question is: is there anyway to manually fix it?

The answer courtesy of fmb501 at blenderartists (thread here) :

  This appears to be a bug in the Blender installer, but the fix is
  fairly simple.

  Open the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your computer
  display and search for "command prompt"

  Right click on the result and select "run as administrator."

  There will be a small window with a black background and a blinking
  cursor.

  Type "chdir c:\program files\blender foundation\blender" and press
  Enter (chdir is the command for changing directories with the command
  prompt)

  You should now be at that directory.

  Type "blender -R" and press enter. You should receive a message
  indicating that the registration has been successful.

  Close any Windows Explorer windows and then open Windows Explorer
  again.

  Navigate to a directory that has your blend files and you should now
  see thumbnails for all of your blend files. If there some blend files
  that don't have thumbnails, it's probably an old file before the
  thumbnails were added. Just open and save it again and you should see
  the thumbnail.

  I'm not sure why Blender Foundation hasn't fixed this instalation
  problem by now. I'm wondering if you have to install blender as an
  administrator to get it to regiser the thumbnail dll.

  Anyway, until it gets fixed, you will likely have to register as
  described above with every new installation.


Why can't I see my animation through camera in BGE? Basically, I've setup an animation in BGE and for some reason I can only see the animation from any angle EXCEPT through the camera when the game engine is running.

The animation was made in view of the camera, and when I play the animation I can see it, but when I start the embedded player, I can't see it. What do I do?

If you could upload the blend, I'm sure someone might spot the answer right away.

All I can think is maybe the animation is at x,y,z location and your camera, even though it is set to look at the animation in the editor, is actually looking at a,b,c location in-game.

Make sure your animations are starting at home (0,0,0) and not offset somewhere else. After you confirm the animation, then you can move it somewhere else.

It also occurs to me maybe you have it on a hidden layer. Check the camera and object layers are visible and try again.
OOORRR the object render option is deselected from the outliner view / object's physics tab. Check that as well.


When I press the camera button it zooms in further than it should Whenever I go into camera view it zooms in way too much and doesn't even look through the camera. Here is an example:

How can I view from the POV of the camera object?

It looks like you are using an object as a camera. Which is not the same as an actual camera object.

In other words you don't get to control the mm of the lens, because it's not a camera.

To change your zoom however, make sure it is active and move it like a camera, including trucking it around via G hold middle mouse and move your mouse up and down (hold Shift if it moves to fast).

If this is a light, and you need it to illuminate something from the distance you view it at you will have to control that through strength and not location, or you will have the same problem all over again.

My guess is that you think you are using the actual camera, and instead you are using some other object as a camera.

If this is the case:

Get out of camera view.
Select your camera.
Ctrl+Numpad 0.


Change armature origin in 2.8 How can I change the origin of an armature without the body melting? I'm working on a FBX armature in 2.8. I've tried all the set origin choices but nothing works.

I imported an armature from MakeHuman where the origin of the model was center of mass. I wanted the origin to be at the bottom of the feet, but couldn't find a simple answer. Turns out there is one.
In edit mode, I selected a vertex from each heel, then Right Click -> Snap Vertices -> Cursor to Selected to move the cursor where I wanted it. You'll have to figure out how to get the cursor where you want it on your model, but it will likely be similar.
From here, Blender 2.80 normally allows switching to Object Mode, then Right Click -> Set Origin -> Origin to 3D Cursor. With the armature, that option doesn't exist anywhere in the right-click context menu.
Instead, you have to (again from Object Mode), use the main menu up top. Select your armature, then click Object -> Set Origin -> Origin to 3D Cursor.


Random rotation on child particles? Is there a way to have a random rotation on child hair particles? I know you can have random size, but if there's a way to randomize rotation as well that would be great.

The "Random rough" parameter of the children seems the only one that affects individual children without too much correlation between them¹. Unfortunately though, it inevitably affects sizes too. Also, it can't be constrained to the normal axis (in case you needed it):

3 hair particles, 4 children each

A real "random rotation" doesn't exist for children specifically.

¹ (if "Size" is small enough)


White pixelated domain when viewed in viewport shading I'm new to blender and am trying to simulate a smoke effect. However, when I try to view the smoke through "Viewport Shading" everything within my domain becomes white and pixelated. Does anyone know the cause and possible solution to this?
Here is a video of issue in motion: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J2b1xQaF137debneBBMO8TbIHxHDp5rx/view

Make sure to reduce your emission strength


Bone (Armature) ghosting problem There is a problem with armature ghosting. It's not shown in viewport.
Onion skins are work fine. Motion path works with geometry, but doesn't work with bones..
What can it be? a Bug? Nvidia driver problem? Am I missed something? Some addon blocks it?

motion paths work like this. Although for some reason in this example head and tails were switched by machine. could be bug.


Array a Group of objects? Is it possible to array a group of objects?

For example, if I have three objects in a group, (I want to keep them as separate objects) is it possible to easily duplicate them as if I pressed AltD for every single one?

This answer was inspired by this answer here

here is a solution that actually allows use to use the array modifier to duplicate grouped objects. It does, however, require one extra mesh.

We begin with our grouped object:

Then add a plane. Go into the object properties for that plane, and enter the instancing tab (called duplication in 2.7). Select faces.

Finally, select your group object then your plane, and hit Ctrl-P to parent them, selecting Object.

Now, finally, if you add an array modifier to your plane, the group object will be duplicated:

Demo file to see final result:


How do I select parents and children together in the outliner? So for example I have a model chair which includes the arms, piston (that type of chair), base etc. How do I select all parts including the parent item for duplicating the model? Shift+G only allows me to select the children but not parent. I'm fairly beginner with Blender.

Thanks

Hold CTRL while selecting the parent in the outliner, you should see every children of that object highlithed in orange as well, that tells you they are selected too.


Enable/disable operator depending on a Boolean value I have two buttons operators, I've disabled one from the start using the below line, where started is False:

def poll(cls, context):
        return started

I wonder how I can enable it back when I click on another button operator which sets the bool started to True?

Eeeeh… where do you store that started variable?

Either you use a global variable here (which is not recommended, but would work) or, much more recommended, you add a new property to WindowManager class to store that bool, and retrieve it in your poll() func through the context parameter…


How to create a "Airbrush-like" Shading Material How could I make a material out of the following picture?

and also the Glossy one?

EEVEE only answer!

As it's hard to create such material in Cycles as you posted above, it's fairly easy to achieve it in EEVEE (for now only in Blender 2.8 Alpha 2).

For Cycles answer you can check here: Is there really a way to make a true toon shader material in Cycles? Many nice examples provided.

Node setup and overview.

We are using here Specular BSDF to get simple shading and convert it to colour through Shader to RGB. From it we are making two "channels" for separated highlights and shadow using Color Ramps.

After that we are combining those "channels" with Noise and then mixing them to get final "mask".

At the end we have Color Ramp with our colours. From left: shadow, main and highlight. And connect it to Emission shader.

Optionally you can add some Contrast or Saturation, or anything to improve result.


Add node color to popup panel I am traying to add node color and other material property to my pop up panel, but i was only able to add the Material Viewpor Properties so far.
Also, how do one go about finding out this? I was able to figure out the viewport properties, but this one my trial and errors didn't work, the source code seems to be quite more complex.

You need to get a reference to that material, then its node tree, then the principled bsdf node, and finally the color input field.
First make sure you have python tooltips enabled in your preferences :

And then you can get the path to most fields just by hovering over it or with right click > Copy data path.
See this question for more information.
In your case you could access this particular field from this particular material with :
import bpy

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

    # The name is case-sensitive :
    mat = bpy.data.materials["Material.005"]
    # Assuming you didn't rename the bsdf shader :
    principled = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
    # Add the property in the layout. This will automatically create a color field.
    # You can access inputs / outputs directly with their index or with their name as a string

    layout.prop(principled.inputs[0], "default_value", text="Color")  # Text argument is optional

Result :


Move segments of an sphere apart from each other I have a sphere of hexagons, made from an Icosphere and Ctrl Shift B (whatever that short cut is?), which I then split each selected hexagon apart from the original object (resulting in 33 of them).

I want to move the hexagons away from the center so they get some space/gap between them, not scaling as this just make the whole thing bigger. I need to move each hexagon in the direction that they are facing or from center point of the old Icosphere.

How do I do this?

Select all of your objects in object mode and choose Object -> Transform -> Origin to Geometry.

Then the origins will move to the center of each piece.

Then in the bottom header, to the right of the Object Mode drop down, is a button with a double-headed arrow beneath three dots. Turning this one will "Move Object Origins only..." Then, when you scale it will only scale their POSITION, not their SIZE.

Don't forget to turn it back off.


How do I re-size (scale) a model with the textures applied at the same time? For my model to become playable in Gmod, I needed to steal a skeleton from another model. By doing so, the armature itself was pretty small compared to by huge model.

I know that I can re-size the armature to fit in my model, but by doing so, the qc file from the armature won't work since I am changing the amrmature's size (I think it works like that; I could be wrong.)

So the other way for me to fit my model with the armature is by scaling the model itself down to the armature's size.

But, since my model has the material textures applied, I don't know if the texture itself would scale down the same time as my model.

And, I don't know if the texture itself would keep it'a resolution when scaled down.

How I do I scale down both my model and texture at the same time?

Textures follow UVs which in turn follow your model's vertices wherever they go (assuming your model has standard UV mapping as opposed to projected UVs), so scaling the model will have no effect on your texture resolution or placement.

Best practice generally is to have the pivot points - aka origins - of both mesh and armature at centre - 0,0,0 - although it's not essential, just neater.

Assuming you have that, scale your entire mesh in edit mode, ideally from cursor and cursor placed at centre until it fits your armature-  you may need to move it in Y to align with your bones.

Alternately scale all your armature bones up in edit mode, again from centre, although that will affect any animation already on it, so scaling mesh is a better option.

Either way you may need to tweak the position of the bones in edit mode to match you mesh if there are small mismatches. Animation is likely to be the same for small changes as the position of bones in edit mode are considered 0,0,0 in pose mode regardless of world position.

Hope I understood the question correctly .....


Shape key import with unwanted rotation When I export an obj with settings so the vertex order is intact and then import it back into Blender with import settings set so vertex order is still intact, the resulting shape key works but the entire model rotates 90 degrees depending on the orientation settings from import/export obj settings.  I have found no way to remove this rotation data.  In other applications the way it would be fixed easily would be to reset the Xform or freeze transformation.  I know Blender doesn't have this type of function so I have no idea how to fix this issue.  Here is a link to a youtube video I made of this problem.  Youtube video showing problem.

Everything is working exactly as it should.

When you import an object blender will rotate it so that it lines up with the blender world. The rotation is determined by the import settings Forward and Up.

All you have to do is apply the rotation ( CtrlA > Rotation ) on your imported object before making the shape key.
You will have to remake the shape key, or rotate the mesh in edit mode.
If you use the edit mode option you will want to set the 3D cursor to the original object's origin then set the Pivot Point to 3D cursor ( . ).


Using edge loops for sharp edges without distorting the mesh? I've been trying to make a pirate ship a few days now, but when I was trying to sharpen out the edges of the ship's cabin, I ran into a problem. The edge loops I'm trying to sharpen out the cabin's edges with, are distorting the body of the ship that should not have any creases. The body and the cabin should be in one piece and the transition from the blocky cabin to the round surface of the ship should be smooth. On the picture the problems are circled.

I have watched CGmasters viedo,  where he explaines how to avoid pinching from additional detailes by shrinkwrapping detailed mesh (with pinching) to the same object that is not detailed (base mesh).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rlMzsBWtPY

I'm trying to create the base mesh that I later shrinkwrap an even more detailed one onto. The problem is that I may or may not be so noob, that I don't even know how to create the base mesh without pinching. I HAVE tried controlling the shrinkwrap modifier using vertex groups to only transform the part of the model that doesn't need to stay sharp and edgy, but that didn't work well because of a seam that appeared.

I hope everyone gets my point :)

I'll also try to upload the blender file for everyone to play around.

Additional picture showing my topology

You just need to move some vertices to make it smoother:


Cryptomatte doesnt output nice clean edges Is there any way i can have cleaner edges out of the cryptomatte image output ? The outline is just not clean enough.

I assume your screenshot shows what you would see in the image editor if you have rendered cryptomatte passes, and view them directly. In that case, they look absolutely horrible:

However, that's not how they are supposed to be used. The mattes have to be extracted from the created channels first using the Cryptomatte node. You can find it under Add -> Mattes -> Cryptomatte in the Compositor. Connect the nodes like in the screenshot below to extract the object mattes:

If you need to extract material mattes, connect the three material Cryptomatte outputs to the Cryptomatte node instead.

Next comes the tricky part: The Cryptomatte render passes contain all mattes at once using an internal ID. That ID needs to be set in the node. Since these are not simple 1, 2, 3, etc numbers, you have to pick the correct ID using the color picker. That is also the reason why in the screenshot above I have used two Image Editors, one showing the Composite, the other the Viewer node. I can see both images, the Pick one through the Viewer, and the Image through the Composite node.

Now, use the color picker to grab the ID from the bottom image (the one that shows the Pick image):

If you check what's in the Matte socket output, you will see that the created Matte is perfectly anti-aliased:

Of course, this anti-aliasing quality is dependent on the scene samples. But the matte quality always matches the image quality.


How to straighten edges along an axis point I have a mesh, which on the bottom side, the edges are skewed. I 'm trying to figure how to align them on the X axis so they straighten up. my first thought was using the loop tools but they just distort my mesh.
So what's the correct method for this?

I'm hoping this is the situation:

.. you have a good reference top edge to the plane containing the skew loops.

Create a Custom Orientation from the top edge by using the little '+' in the Header > Transform Orientation dropdown, and set Pivot to Active Element, then:

(above) Bottom edge selected, with its good reference vertex active,
in the new orientation,SShiftY0 make the bottom edge parallel to the top edge.

Left edge, all verts selected, Loop Tools > Space make them regular

Same for the right edge.

If you're missing the good reference points in this answer, let us know what else you need to fix before following these steps.


Is there a way to use the normal of a face to model something else? I was wondering if there's a way to extract the normal of a specifici face to use it later in something else

In my case what i'm trying to do is a pipe that, in its start point, goes perpendicular to a specific face of my model. So it would be useful to use the normal of the model to start a spline.

heres a pic:

Thank you!

You can also select the face, then "view->align view to selected->front" (shift Numpad 1) and then change the 3d manipulator to "view" (instead of "global" or "local"). Then you can extrude a vertex along the normal by pressing "E YY" or "E XX" or use the manipulator to move along the aligned view axis.


How can I apply decimate modifier to multple files and save them as a different file automatically? I am developing a game where game consist lots of buildings. I finished modelling of buildings. But in optimization of game I understood that I need to use some thing like a LOD system. For that I want to export my buildings with decimated versions of them. Each buildings in different file.

Can I write a script that performs that operation automatically?

For example script can take a root file as input and iterates all the folder under root. Then exports all blend files with decimated versions.

I know python but I've never write script for blender.

Ok, I wrote a script for my purpose. Maybe it will be helpful for somebody.

Here is the python script that decimates model and save as a new file.
You can change iteration and decimateRatio

import bpy
import os

##Cleans all decimate modifiers
def cleanAllDecimateModifiers(obj):
    for m in obj.modifiers:
        if(m.type=="DECIMATE"):
#           print("Removing modifier ")
            obj.modifiers.remove(modifier=m)

numberOfIteration=2
decimateRatio=0.3
modifierName='DecimateMod'

for i in range(0,numberOfIteration):
    objectList=bpy.data.objects
    for obj in objectList:
        if(obj.type=="MESH"):

            cleanAllDecimateModifiers(obj)

            modifier=obj.modifiers.new(modifierName,'DECIMATE')
            modifier.ratio=1-decimateRatio*(i+1)
            modifier.use_collapse_triangulate=True

    fileName=bpy.data.filepath
    fileName=os.path.splitext(fileName)[0]

    #Trim decimate version of file name
    indexOf_=fileName.rfind('_')
    if(indexOf_!=-1 and fileName[indexOf_]+fileName[indexOf_+1]=="_d"):
        fileName=fileName.split("_d")[0]

    fileName='{}{}{}{}'.format(fileName, "_d",str(i+2),".blend")

    bpy.ops.wm.save_as_mainfile(filepath=fileName)

Also you can run this script with a bash command for all child files having .blend extension.

find . -name '*.blend' -exec blender {} --background --python myScript.py \;

Thanks to Attie for bash command


Why does Blender use so much memory for large textures? Using a single 6K texture at only 227kb in size, spikes the memory usage to a crazy 144mb of memory in Blender.

It was brought up in this bug report, but closed.

Why can image editors (Photoshop/Gimp/Krita) handle such large images but not Blender?

Whats going on, and more importantly, what can be done to improve it?

3D applications often needs to have images directly accessible, that is - to be able to look up a pixels value instantly. common cases are:

Rendering a texture on a 3D model (applies to any render engine).
Load the image into OpenGL memory (where the image is sent 'complete' to the graphics-card).

Since a 3D application is a less controlled environment (than a game-engine or 2D-paint-tool for example) - an image may be used for a modifier displacement map, composite node input, a background in the view-port or be painted onto - all at once. This means we have some constraints which make it harder to optimize for any single use-case.

Even so, there are strategies for better handling texture memory.

Free images from memory which aren't used often.
Load lower resolution versions of the image into memory (mipmaps).
Load partial regions of the image into memory.
Support in-memory compression (often used for OpenGL textures).
Support for lower bit-depth of channel options (monochrome, greyscale, limited color palette, index-color).

Blender specifics

What Blender does now

Images are freed from OpenGL memory if they aren't usedsee: User Preferences -> System -> Texture Time-Out
Persistent images (Cycles only), disable so images are freed between renders.

How Blender could be improved

Avoid loading large imagesThis would likely mean caching mipmaps.
Avoid loading the entire imageThis was implemented for 'Sintel' in the render branch, but was never included in a release.see: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:2.5/Source/Render/RenderBranch/ImageTileCache
Better memory management, free images from memory (use a time-out similar to what we already have for OpenGL).
Support OpenGL texture compression.
Support loading textures into OpenGL memory, and freeing from system memory.
Implement the same 2D tile-based systems used by image image editors, (but only use it for 2D-painting).

Comparisons with other fields

Games

Games have the advantage that textures can be pre-processed, compressed on-disk to be sent directly to the graphics-card in formats you wouldn't necessarily be able to open for editing.

They typically don't have to operate under the assumption that any texture may be painted or edited at any time.

See: https://www.opengl.org/wiki/S3_Texture_Compression

Image Editors/Painting Tools

Don't have to load the texture into graphics-memory to display on 3D models, so they can use their own in-memory representation of images.

They also have the advantage that each image view has a single zoom-level, (unlike a texture mapped to a 3D-mesh, which may need to access multiple mip-maps at once). So they can - for example, streamline managing multiple tile-sets at different zoom levels.

See notes on krita's tile manager: http://dimula73.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/notes-from-calligra-sprint-part-2.html

Note, the on-disk size of an image isn't all that meaningful.
if a 6k texture only takes ~200kb - Its likely not very detailed, a single color image or highly compressed (lossy).

You can ZIP a .txt file with your name written a million times into a few kb, but try editing this as an email :)


Output vs Format vs Codec: what is the right combination? Context

My problem started with a partial lack of sound in my rendered file. The WAV audio strips were missing from the output, while the AAC audio from a .mp4 video file was present. Everything is audible when editing.

There are some related questions which taught me that it's a problem of codec selection. This one and its answer motivated my further investigation and my question: I can't render audio with my video

I had the following for the output settings because I thought MP3 is a good selection which would work on all computers (I am using Blender 2.77 on a Ubuntu 14.04 derivative (Mint) and I have libmp3lame installed)

I solved my problem by changing the Audio Codec to AAC.

I am looking for:

Explanation of why with MP3 output the WAV sound is missing but the AAC sound is audible
Understanding the differences between selections in Output section: MPEG vs H.264 since these seem to be the most common. Other formats are welcome :) (Frame server, XVid, AVI Raw|JPEG).
Explanation of Encoding > Format and Encoding > Codec options, in relation to point 2. For example, why are you able to choose MPEG output and non-MPEG format and non-MPEG-non-<format> codec? This is VERY confusing.

I hope I won't be closed as being too broad, I tried to be as specific as possible.

I realise this may not be a blender specific question. Please advise where to look for additional information.

Related questions:

Some of these are experiencing problems similar to mine (lack of sound) and usually due to a misconfiguration of Output and Encoding sections. However, even those that are solved give a very specific answer and are of little help when you're problem is slightly different

Sound works in Blender, but no sound in the final render

This one gives one choice that is working, but no explanation: Rendering Sound In Video Sequencer  (duplicate https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/47816/how-do-i-render-intros-in-blender-with-sound )

This one reports a problem when converting FLAC to MP3. It could be related to my initial problem, since both FLAC and WAV are lossless https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/38850/script-for-audio-encoding

Can I incorporate audio into my output avi render?

Why isn't audio rendering?

No audio output in rendered video file

VSE: How to render a video with audio?

Maybe: No sound in VSE

1 - Explanation of why with MP3 output the WAV sound is missing but the AAC sound is audible
this could be a problem with that particular file, try converting it to mp3 using an external program like ffmpeg or audacity or even an online tool.
or try a matroska container with x264 video codec and mp3 audio codec.

2 - Understanding the differences between selections in Output section: MPEG vs H.264 since these seem to be the most common. Other formats are welcome :) (Frame server, XVid, AVI Raw|JPEG).

3 - Explanation of Encoding > Format and Encoding > Codec options, in relation to point 2. For example, why are you able to choose MPEG output and non-MPEG format and non-MPEG-non-<format> codec? This is VERY confusing.

a container like (mp4,mkv) contains n video streams and n audio streams encoded in a given format with a given codec,a codec is a coder and decoder.
think of a container like a .zip or .rar file
some containers don't allow certain combination of those codecs (like .webm can't have a video stream encoded in h.264 but allows a vp9).

blender offers you presets to make your life easier.
a mpeg-4 (.mp4) with h.264 and mp3 like in your screenshot is a valid combination and the reason h264 is common is because it produces better video quality with small sizes and is well supported by browsers and Operating systems.


Modeling sharp edge problem I am struggling to model clean sharp edges on a dress I have designed in blender. I have attached a photo with circles marking the sharp edges that aren't looking to great or sharp.

Here is the blender file:

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Some of what you are showing in the first image is caused by extra geometry you have in the mesh. Before following Patdogs suggestion you should first sort that out.

Use the Delete > Delete Vertice tool on the 2 inside faces and the Delete > Disolve Vertice tool of the rest.

Then use the knife tool to add back some now missing edges.


Is their a way to queue or automate particle bakes? Is there a way to queue or automate particle bakes?

When multiple particle systems are used, it would be great to have a way to queue up the baking of each, and then leave the computer chugging. Possible?

Aftermarket add-on would be great, too, but the ones I have seen automate tasks like AO baking only.

The bad news is, no.
The good news is, yes!
From the Manual:

Bake All Dynamics
Bake all physics systems in the scene, even those of different types. Useful for baking complex setups involving interactions between different physics types.

So, you can't exactly queue, so if there's a specific order you want them to bake, I don't think that's possible without scripting your own solution.
But you CAN bake all the systems in the whole scene all at once by just clicking Bake All.


undoing armature skinning? I want to undo armature skinning I pressed ctrl z but didnt work since the file was saved and opened again so I think I lost the reversing by ctrl z function

To remove all armature influence, you will need to remove the parent and remove the armature modifier from the mesh.

Select the mesh object and press ALT-P -> Clear Parent to remove parenting. Go to the modifier properties and remove all armature modifiers with the X on the right. Do not apply the modifier nor apply it as a shapekey.


2D animation, Line between meshes I'm pretty new to blender so it might be a silly question to you. I try to create a 2D animated logo

I was able to animate two mesh objects, both move around. Now I want to connect both with a line. Each end of line should follow one object. As result, the line gets streched, compressed, rotates and so on.

I was able to do so with an additional pane mesh and manually set lots of keyframes (LocRotScale). This is a lot of work and I'm wondering if I could do it faster. Also by scaling the mesh with keyframes, it can become really thin so you can't see it anymore for a while.

I found out that it should be able by using either a curve mesh or a mesh containing just two points. I tried to create a curve, select one point and select the mesh I want to attach and press CTRL + H to hook this end of curve to the mesh. Now I did the same for the other end.

When running animation now, the curve stays unchanged while the meshes walk around. In outliner, I can see that the curve object has two hooks attached to the meshes, so the hooks seems to be ok.

It would be glad if someone could explain step-by-step what I have to do.

Thanks for your support.

Im not sure if i understood you correctly, but I try it anyways.
I used a Path with a Circle as a Bevel Object. Watch in the Path settings. The Bevel Circle is on Layer 2.

The workflow for Hook 2 Objects:

Select your Mesh
Shift+Select your Path
Press TAB to switch to Edit Mode
Select the Point of the Path you want to Hook to
Ctrl+H > Hook to selected Object
Done

Here is an example File. I hope I could help.


Black faces in edit mode and object mode This is not a flipped normal issue.  I imported an SVG was working on it to created a shape.  I used 'Bridge edge loops' to create some of my surfaces.  A couple I have had to add manually but a few are jet black.  I cannot see how to change this.  All the other faces are fine.  I'm sure this must be a simple thing I'm doing wrong.

Any suggestions?

I think, you have faces with black material applied on this faces:

Check materials tab and remove black material.


How to display a reference image in a new window? How do I open an extra window to display a reference image? How do I import the reference image into the window?

UV Image Editor
If you wan't to have it next to your 3d view, you can use the UV Image editor. To open a new one, click and drag to your right on the bottom left hand corner of the 3D view.

You will then see a second 3d view. click on the icon of a cube, and change it to the UV image editor.


What does "Bone location is set in local space" mean? I found this in the Relations panel of Bone Data properties:

I was looking for some documentaiton about what this means and how it is used in practice. But i found nothing substantial about this. maybe someone can shed some light on this ?

btw: i have seen the entry How does 'local with parent' space work?
But it does not answer this question (for me).

It means the bone behaves 'as normal' and location curves are based on the bone's rest position. If you uncheck it they (the curves/ transform) will be in the rotational space of the armature, ignoring the rest rotation of the bone.
Nathan added this during sintel I believe to avoid having to align bones in the rig. Honestly I think it is a nuisance.


Rotate bezier handles with Python to face normal I have a Python script in which I create a bezier curve. I want to rotate the first and last handle so that it is perpendicular to the normal of a certain face.

Something like this:

I have the face normal calculated like this and the 4x4 rotation matrix:

# Get intersection with objects
hit, loc_hit, norm, face, *_ = scene.ray_cast(context.view_layer, origin, view_vector)
if hit:
    z = Vector((0,0,1))
    rot = z.rotation_difference( norm ).to_matrix().to_4x4()
    return loc_hit, rot

Now I want to use this rotation matrix to rotate the handles, but this doesnt seem to work, they are pointing in complete different direction, here is the code I tried:

bez_points = curve.data.splines[0].bezier_points
point_count = len(bez_points) - 1

# get_start_rotation just returns this:  z.rotation_difference( norm ).to_matrix().to_4x4()

rot_start = curve_shape.get_start_point() @ curve_shape.get_start_rotation()
rot_end = curve_shape.get_end_point() @ curve_shape.get_end_rotation()

bez_points[0].co = curve_shape.get_start_point()
bez_points[0].handle_right = rot_start
bez_points[0].handle_left = rot_start

bez_points[point_count].co = curve_shape.get_end_point()
bez_points[point_count].handle_right = rot_end
bez_points[point_count].handle_left = rot_end

Any ideas? Thx in advance!

Ok, found a solution: Just adding or subtracting the normal vector to or from the control-point of the curve:

Like before the normal of the face I get from here

hit, loc_hit, norm, face, *_ = scene.ray_cast(context.view_layer, origin, view_vector)

Then I add or subtract it to the control point of the bezier curve:

norm_start = curve_shape.get_normal_start()
norm_end = curve_shape.get_normal_end()

bez_points[0].co = curve_shape.get_start_point()
if norm_start is not None:
    bez_points[0].handle_right = bez_points[0].co + norm_start
    bez_points[0].handle_left = bez_points[0].co - norm_start

bez_points[point_count].co = curve_shape.get_end_point()
if norm_end is not None:
    bez_points[point_count].handle_right = bez_points[point_count].co - norm_end
    bez_points[point_count].handle_left = bez_points[point_count].co + norm_end


How to remove easily the white areas which appears during texturing a surface with uv maps I'm attempting to make a texture for a model i've been working on, so i've been trying to get a decent UV map, However whenever I do it usually ends up either with a lot of white areas. I tried to refresh the image texture (the default grid),but they are still there. The only way I found to remove them is to rebuild the mesh in vertex mode. As you can imagine,it is a very tedious work. Do you know a way to prevent this ? I attached a picture to show you what happens. You see only one little white area because I have removed all the others ones.

Those white faces appear because they are not linked to the same texture as the rest of the model. This can happen if you for example add new faces after the rest of the model has been linked to the texture. Fixing:

Make sure the faces which are visible as white are actually unwrapped
Hit A to select all faces
In UV / Image Editor hit A to select all faces
In the bottom of the UV / Image Editor click the Select image icon next to either new/open buttons or the texture name, and select the image you want to use. (even if the field shows the image already, it might not be applied to all faces)


copying a key frame from file to file i'm just starting to use blender. I made a rookie mistake and deleted an actor from a file. is there a way to copy the beginning or end key frame from one file to another?

If you have the original somewhere, you can copy it with CTRL+C and then paste it into another Blender instance with CTRL-V.

If you lost the original blend file, you can click on File > Recover Auto Save.


where is viewport unlink feature in blender 2.8 where is viewport unlink in blender 2.8 --- to make window witch created by (duplicated area in to new windows feature) in specific 3d view editor with specific setting.... unlinked from other windows or workspace so the view setting will not change when you open another windows or workspace ... this was possible in blender 2.7 ... it called (viewport unlink).

In my case I had two characters on different layers in Blender 2.79 and I used unlink viewport to see them both on the screen at the same time.

In Blender 2.82 there is no unlink viewport button, but since I had the characters in separate layers they were imported in as separate collections.

If you go to you workspace and select the View tab on the right side, then select collections at the bottom, you can then use local collection. Then you can hide the other collections you are not using. This will allow you to manipulate each character in their own workspace.


How many CPU render tiles/buckets should I set in Cycles? Here is a link to my CPU specs

# of Cores = 4
# of Threads = 8

How much CPU render buckets (or tiles) should I have while rendering? 8 or 12?

Since you have 8 CPU threads in total, you can render 8 tiles simultaneously at max. You can also lower this number to reserve remaining threads to other tasks your computer might be doing. The setting is here:


How to make cloth 'catch' a falling object, slowing its fall? I simply want to make a pinned cloth catch a falling rigid body so as to slow its fall until it comes to a halt.

At the moment, the ball falls and the cloth interacts with it, but the ball will pass straight through the cloth without slowing it (even though the cloth reacts to the ball).

What setting do I need to apply to make this work, please?

Here is an example, based on what you said, if I got it right:

subdivide a bit a cube, rise it on Z, set rigid body "active", a bit of bounciness, "mesh" collision shape
set a ground plane, set a group with the 4 corner vertices, set plane to cloth, with pin to the above 4 vertices group, set also rigid body "passive", with a bit of bounciness, set collision shape to "mesh"

it should behave like this:

here is the example file

Hth.

edit

As for comments, I noticed you asked something slightly more natural. Rigid bodies made the cloth stop the falling cube, but it seemed as their interaction was poor.

Although you didn't post any image, animation or example file, I hope now to understand what you wish, and have done another setup, but it does not use rigid bodies, it uses soft bodies:

Here is the result:

I've done it like this:

Plane has

cloth enabled, pinned to the 4 corner vertices group
collision enabled (default settings)
soft body enabled with "default goal strength" .98

Falling cube has also soft body enabled, with

soft body goal > disabled
soft body edges > stiff quads, shear 1
soft body edges > springs pull 0.99

And, here is another example file

edit 2:

since in comments you (finally!) unveiled your ultimate desire:

"I specifically wanted to achieve the effect of a (soccer) football being caught by a goal net."

I tried similar setups and... found that's is really hard, imho. I had some partial (weird) results using mostly softbodies instead of cloth, and you see them below, but although I'm not satisfied (all of them are really acting weirdly) I show them here below for completeness's sake. To partially justify my failures, I found this on this manual page: Deflection for softbody objects is difficult, they often penetrate the colliding objects.

Below you see I used a "force" simulation (with a abrief strong impulse behind the ball) to "kick" the ball into the net, this also could help or inspire you. Last, I would create a new question more specific, like "how can I realistically simulate a soccer ball caught in a goal net?"...

So, here are some results I got until now: I can post also .blend files if you need to experiment: it was fun, in the end, but I wish I found a very good end compelte solution...

late edit

here is the .blend file relative to the last example


Speed up Cycles Render: Only calculate whats visible to the camera I remember reading an article not so long ago about a node setup to significantly speed up render times in Cycles by telling the engine to only calculate materials based on the portion of the object visible to the camera and not the entire object.

I think it was posted on the official blender page/ blender nation but I cant seem to find this information anymore.

Does anyone know where that article/video is? Does anyone else remember this?

It's not really limiting the render to what's visible to the camera, but you can limit some effects to camera, such as bump maps.

Mixing your bump BW factor with a 50% grey color with light path's "is camera ray" to make your bump map only visible to the camera. Add (math node, clamp checked) "is camera ray" with "is glossy ray" to have your bump visible in glossy reflections too.


Armature chain follow a path I'm trying to create a chainsaw type of animation using bones. I may be approaching this from the wrong direction but I would like to create a chain of bones and have them follow a path.

I used the SplineIK constraint to create the shape but I'm not able to get it to animate correctly on the Bezier circle.

This is about as far as I got, but I can't actually move the bones.

I'm able to get one unparented bone to move around the circle but never a chain of bones.  Any advice would be appreciated! I really hope I can get this to work!

Thanks in advance

Constraints

Consider a follow path constraint.  Which can rotate objects along the curve.
The curve hugger bones can have parents but must NOT be connected.  The cutting teeth can be connected to the hugger bones.  I assume the geometric normal bones are cutting teeth.
I do not think Spline Constraint is favorable.
Consider a conform modifier.  No rotation.
If you are really daring you might consider rigid body chain links.  Some people consider these situations unstable.


How to cut all faces in a specific direction from a point? I'd like to be able to cut the faces belonging to a mesh, from a specific point,  in a specific direction. For example, if I were trying to cut an icosphere from it's center at an angle 30 from the x-axis, like so:

How would I do this? More importantly, how would I create a script to automate this process? It seems that running
    bpy.ops.mesh.knife_tool()
only creates an error that reads

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<blender_console>", line 1, in <module>
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.76\scripts\modules\bpy\ops.py", line 189, in __call__
ret = op_call(self.idname_py(), None, kw)
RuntimeError: Operator bpy.ops.mesh.knife_tool.poll() failed, context is incorrect

and I can't seem to find any more information about what I would need to do to use it in a script.

Currently, I only need to make vertical slices, from a specific point to the edge of the mesh.

Thanks for any help.

I'd would use a boolean modifier to go around this. It's a pretty easy way, not quite with the script though but works.
Start  by creating a very thin cube and rotating it by any angle you want, but make sure its cutting through all your mesh. Then give your icosphere a boolean modifier and set this new cube you have created as the mesh to use for boolean operation, don't forget to set the operation to difference.

p.s. It won't work with a plane as a boolean, only cube, just like that:


Complications with rendering and compositing nodes I'm trying to create a bloom in the Cycles render engine,  I believe I have successfully created it but unfortunately, I'm having some trouble rendering the new nodes:

Here are the nodes (notice the lack of the HDR)
Here is the rendered image (notice the lack of bloom)
Thank you

you have added some nodes just for the viewer, but not for the composite node (which is responsible for render output)


How to increase Specular Map Gloss? I want to make a part of my model glossy but I'm not sure how I should go about doing it.

I tried using vertex groups to separate the none-glossy from the glossy part but I get a seam.

I tried editing it in Photoshop but I can't get enough gloss. Do I just make it more and more white to make it more glossy?

You don't give enough precisions about what is your object: what sort of material you use, have you unwrapped your mesh, etc... but basically if some parts of your object need to be glossy and you can't use the topology to assign different materials to different faces, you should use a Mix Shader to mix something like a Diffuse (or whatever) and your Glossy (or whatever more compex mixes of nodes of course). Then you'll use the Factor socket of the Mix to determine what part will be glossy of diffused, for example a Noise Texture (if you're ok for a procedural texture, make it B&W because the Mix factor needs to be B&W), or an Image Texture (Non-Color mode) if you have unwrapped your mesh. It would give something like this:


How to fix an artifact affecting a bevel modifier This is me yet again.

I am trying to work non destructively with the use of bevel modifier. I managed to bevel only by weight and adjust the weight of desired edges.

However, now when I try to place loopcuts for further knife projection of other planes, I get this weird artifact on my bevel modifier. Now, I know I could apply the bevel modifier and then do it, but I am trying to see if there is a way to do it non-destructively.

Ideas I have so far:

Block out the main bits and worry about the modifiers only in the end, but I don't see how that will improve the situation.

The artefacts occur because you have a beveled edge adjacent to an unbeveled one. You are not creating topology at the bottom of your mesh so you have an area where faces with different number of vertices meet. You could give all effected edges a tiny bit of bevel, instead of none, that would mask the problem. Otherwise it's going to take manual refinement.


Custom search data to UILayout.prop_search I need to create a searchable material dropdown that excludes grease pencil materials. However if I do it like this
row.prop_search(item, "material_selector", bpy.data, "materials")

then all the materials in scene get included in material dropdown.
How can I give custom search elements to prop_search method instead of generic bpy.data?

Use a pointer property with a poll.
To distinguish a regular material from one for a gp object there is the handy attribute Material.is_grease_pencil
Similarly to https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/159155/15543 and using a poll method https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/101303/15543
Will narrow down the selection based and offer the same choices as the regular material drop down.
import bpy
from bpy.props import PointerProperty

def poll_material(self, material):
    return not material.is_grease_pencil

class TEST_PT_layout_panel(bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_label = "Prop Panels"
    bl_category = "Test Panel"
    bl_space_type = 'PROPERTIES'
    bl_region_type = 'WINDOW'
    bl_context = "scene"

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

        col = layout.column()
        col.prop_search(scene, "prop", bpy.data, "materials")
        #or
        col.prop(scene, "prop")

def register():
    bpy.types.Scene.prop = PointerProperty(
        type=bpy.types.Material,
        poll=poll_material,
        )
    bpy.utils.register_class(TEST_PT_layout_panel)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(TEST_PT_layout_panel)
    del bpy.types.Scene.prop

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Kinda related:
How to populate UIList with all material slot in scene? 2.8


File browser does not show up when operator is executed from a shortcut menu I'm trying to create an action for the add menu in the video sequencer. I need it to open a file browser so the user can select a file to add. To do this I use ImportHelper, which works great if I trigger my action from the menu at the bottom of the Video Sequence Editor window. However, if I type ShiftA and then select the same action from the menu that pops up, the file browser doesn't show up. Is this a bug in Blender, or am I just missing something?

Here's a slightly modified version of the operator_file_import python template that exhibits this behavior:

import bpy
from bpy_extras.io_utils import ImportHelper
from bpy.types import Operator

class ImportSomeData(Operator, ImportHelper):
    """This appears in the tooltip of the operator and in the generated docs"""
    bl_idname = "sequencer.some_data"
    bl_label = "Import Some Data"

    def execute(self, context):
        print(self.filepath)
        return {"FINISHED"}

# Only needed if you want to add into a dynamic menu
def menu_func_import(self, context):
    self.layout.operator(ImportSomeData.bl_idname, text="Text Import Operator")

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(ImportSomeData)
    bpy.types.SEQUENCER_MT_add.append(menu_func_import)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(ImportSomeData)
    bpy.types.SEQUENCER_MT_add.remove(menu_func_import)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

By looking at the add menu defined in space_sequencer.py it sets layout.operator_context = 'INVOKE_REGION_WIN', this doesn't appear to carry into your menu item.

By setting the operator_context within your menu item method, the sample you provide would appear to work as you expect.

def menu_func_import(self, context):
    self.layout.operator_context = 'INVOKE_REGION_WIN'
    self.layout.operator(ImportSomeData.bl_idname, text="Text Import Operator")


Circular selection tool is stuck on the cursor after pressing alt+c I am modeling a car. While modelling I pressed Alt+C instead of C for circular select tool. The circular select tool came anyway but now I'm unable to exit the tool. It has got stuck to the cursor. When I press C again the new circular tool comes over the stuck one.

I'm not able to do anything. I pressed Alt+C again to undo it but its all in vain. So to rectify it I opened a new blender file and pressed Alt+C and same problem appears. The cursor got stuck on circular tool.

Q: What am I doing wrong?

I managed to exit it by pressing esc or by changing the selection tool in the top right.


Is there an add on that can register the visual locrot of bones influences by IK? So the bones will remain in place when Ik is disabled.

Select the bones you need and in pose mode go to the menu Pose_Animation_Bake action. Check Visual keying and clear constraints.


Check if a vertex is visible in camera view I am trying to find the vertices that are visible in camera view i.e inside camera range and not being hidden by another object.

Ive tried using ray casting but it seems it only check if the vertex is hidden the object itself not other objects

This is my current scene for reference.

EDIT:
My end goal is to select find a bounding box for each object based on whats visible in the object. So solutions like merging all the objects wont be helpful

Alright, so I found I was to do this but this is not really ideal,

Basically, this will select all the visible vertices on the currently selected objects.
As for how first go into camera view then into edit mode and draw a box using box selection and it will select every vertice that's visible

def selectVerts():
    bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
    for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
        if area.type == "VIEW_3D":
            for region in area.regions:
                if region.type == "WINDOW":
                    view3dArea = area
                    view3dRegion = region
                    break

    override = bpy.context.copy()
    override['area'] = view3dArea
    override['region'] = view3dRegion
    bpy.ops.view3d.view_camera(override)
    bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=10)
    bpy.ops.view3d.select_box(override,  xmin=0, xmax=10000, ymin=0, ymax=10000, mode='SET')
    bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=10)
    bpy.ops.view3d.select_box(override,  xmin=0, xmax=10000, ymin=0, ymax=10000, mode='SET')
    bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
    bpy.ops.view3d.view_camera(override)

The biggest issue with this method is that if the object is too far away not all vertices are drawn by blender, so it gives really inaccurate results in such cases.


Image texture not showing up on glossy material I added a material to an object, put a gloss bdsf on it and for color i selected image texture. I selected an image and it's not showing up when i click render. What should i do?

I think there is some issue with unwrapping.
Check this method:

Select that object and enter into EDIT MODE.
Now select the whole object By pressing A key ( u need to press it twice to deselect and select whole object in edit mode)
Then press U key and select "UNWRAP"
No go to UV editor and check whether u have unwrapped the image correctly onto the image texture.

This should work else, ping me back!


Mirror model in editmode without breaking UVs? Basically the title. Blender breaks up the UVs when doing a ctrl+m in editmode. Anyone know of a plugin or perhaps a script that allows doing this without messing up? I know you can detach, mirror and then rejoin, but with multiple small objects needing to be mirrored in different directions it can be annoying.
-Cheers

This seems to be a fixed bug (T80623 https://developer.blender.org/T80623) already on the list for potential candidate 2.90.1 https://developer.blender.org/T80396
As a workaround you can use the mirror-modifier and apply it.


Procedural Character Generation (Blender & Unity) I started 3D modelling a few weeks ago, and I'm having a blast! I have a 3d Model with shape keys setup and I'm working on creating hair objects (I have 5 right now). After I create some more hairstyles, I'm going to want to rig the model up, create animations and create various pants, shoes, shirts, hats, etc.

Do I have to create bones that attach to each of the swappables I'm adding? Is there any way to put all of the hairstyles into a group and attach that to the base character? Better yet - a way to create shape keys that apply to everything in the 'hair' group? I would do the same with the shirts, pants, etc - but I'm looking for best Blender to Unity practices.

My goal is for everything to be attached to the character and move with it when I start animating. After it looks good, to import it to Unity and create scripts to dynamically create characters on the click of a button. Are there tutorials that you recommend for something like this?

I ended up going with Blend Shapes -- it got me what I needed.


Get the transform matrix for each frame I'm new to scripting inside blender (two days). I have a camera folowing a path (a circle).

I have written the following code to get the location and rotation for each frame and write it to a file:

import bpy

transformMetrix=open('C:\\Users\\sunimalm\\Desktop\\transformMetrix.txt','w')

for f in range(bpy.context.scene.frame_start,bpy.context.scene.frame_end):
    for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
        transformMetrix.write('\n'+obj.name+'\n')
        transformMetrix.write('\n'+ str(f)+'\n')
        transformMetrix.write('Location : ' + str(obj.location.x) +' '+ str(obj.location.y) +' '+ str(obj.location.z) +'\n')
        transformMetrix.write('rotation : ' + str(obj.rotation_euler.x) +' '+str(obj.rotation_euler.y) +' '+str(obj.rotation_euler.z)+'\n')
        transformMetrix.write('scale : ' + str(int(obj.scale.x)) +' '+str(int(obj.scale.y))+' '+str(int(obj.scale.z)) +'\n')

transformMetrix.close()

When I play and run the script I only get the same rotation and location matrix for every frame.

What am I doing wrong here?

Then I tried to put above code inside a function and append it to a handler, but I still get the same output:

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

You have to change the frame in your for-loop via Scene.frame_set():

bpy.context.scene.frame_set(f)

By the way, I would not use obj.location, rotation_euler etc. because they do not contain the final location, rotation and so on.
For example, parent your camera to an object, then rotate the object - the camera.rotation_euler will not change.

You should use obj.matrix_world instead (if you need it separated, decompose this matrix with to_location, to_euler etc.)


Object selection in 3D view not working correctly I've been using Blender for a while now and have had no issues with object selection in 3D view. I just got a new computer (Mac Pro) and now object selection in 3D view will sometimes become unresponsive.

Some objects are selectable while others cannot be selected unless selecting them from the Outliner panel. I've tried changing system settings and input settings in Blender preferences to no avail.

If I restart Blender and reopen the file I was working on it will behave normally for a while but will inevitably revert to this broken selection state. I'm a little worried that it has something to do with my new computer because it's a work computer and I'm stuck with it so any insight on how to fix this is greatly appreciated.

I've added a snapshot of my current Blender System setup as well as the specs of my Mac.

I believe the cause of this was due setting the clipping field too low. I don't remember experiencing this issue before but if I keep my clipping settings high (above an inch) object selection works fine.


Why do my vertices fade the further I zoom in? I have tried adjusting clipping value but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I have to constantly go into x-ray mode in order to edit the mesh to see the lines. If I zoom out the lines are there and visible but it's too hard to make changes when that zoomed out to minor details. Any clue?

The reason why the actual wire is partially hidden is because the actual geometry is affected by the Subdivision Surface Modifier and you see a modified version of the mesh, even in Edit Mode.
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/subdivision_surface.html

I'd suggest go to the Modifier Panel and enable 'On Cage' option of the Subdivision Surface Modifier by clicking the little triangle icon

or just disable the modifier temporary in order to affect how the mesh is visualized in Edit Mode.

The reason why zoom in/out affects those "fading" vertices is because blender is displaying partially wire inside of a mesh to improve viewport experience for vertices that would be quickly hidden in sharp angle view. This "inside" view is constant for viewport, but actual distances of vertices in viewport are changing.


Selecting Specific Vertices to Edit Is there any way to choose certain vertices to edit and move?

I want to work in Wireframe View and move only certain vertices. For example, I only want to work with the vertices shown in the above edge loop. However, eventually these edges will overlap with other edges and I lose track of which vertex belongs to which edge loop.

Is there a way to edit ONLY these vertices or at least keep track of them?

To elaborate on Noidea's comment, Vertex Groups probably are the most simple option. Here's what you can do to create a Vertex Group:

Select the vertices that you will want to be able to easily select later.
Go to the Properties panel > Object Data tab > Vertex Groups dropdown.
Add a new Vertex Group with the plus button.

Double click on Group to rename it and name it something that will signify which vertices you are grouping. I named mine End Cap.

Make sure that the Weight: value is set to 1 and click Assign.

Now, anytime that you want to select those vertices, click Select. You can add as many Vertex Groups as you want. In a demo I built, I used Vertex Groups End Cap and Loop Cut (for the loop cut on top of the end cap, useful if adding subsurf, for example). Watch how I can easily integrate those two Vertex Groups into my workflow of nothingness.


Can't pack blender file for rendering on a render farm Still really new to blender, I'm trying to upload a blender project to a render farm as my computer too slow, i am having trouble packing my "images as planes", i click on external data>pack all into .blend. When i try rendering online there are no videos as textures that i have on the planes as shown.

Also tried making all paths relative and absolute. All video files are on my desktop. The video files are 323MB, 516MB and 476MB.

So everything else is rendering fine but not the video screens on the "neon buildings" any help is appreciated.

The result of the render with missing video files as textures for the planes.

Unfortunately, Blender does not quite pack all external files. According to the manual here:

  Not all external files can be packed

  Some typically heavy external files, like video ones from the Sequence
  Editor or Movie Clips, cannot be packed in a blend-file.

I would look into the render farm that you are using. Some of them may have a workaround for this issue. Looking at those video sizes though, even just uploading 1+ GB of video would take quite a while.


2.8 Can’t connect compositor nodes having moved to Blender 2.8 I’ve gone to use the Compositor for the first time and then realised I can’t drag node connections from one node to another node. Like here…

https://gph.is/g/E1qmpAD

But I can drag connections to nodes in the Shader Editor.

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

Actually in the end it seemed to be because I had 2 Compositor viewport windows opened at the same time.

Weird, thanks anyhow.


Can two objects linked to the same mesh data have independent shape key blends? Are relative shape key values inextricably linked to the mesh data? For example, if you had a face mesh with an "open mouth" shape key and an "open eyes" shape key, could you have two face objects linked to it with independent facial expressions? Say, Ob1 with 50% open mouth and 25% open eyes, and Ob2 with 100% both, both linked to Mesh1?

Two objects that share the same mesh data will also use the same shapekey values. Shapekeys are part of the mesh data and as such, every instance uses the same key value for each shapekey.