How to align polyhedra face to face in an array I am trying to create an array that starts from the object's face rather than from its geometric center (to create objects made of tiled polyhedra), here is an approximate example of what I mean:

To make an array I've moved my object's origin to a face and made a custom transform orientation perpendicular to the face:

Yet when I create an array it doesn't behave the way I thought it would:

Looks like the offset occurs from the object's center rather from the face, and the direction of the offset doesn't make sense to me (it's supposed to be X, why is it going upwards?).

How do I get my modifier to start from the specified face along the specified axis?

Well, I found the solution. Although the result does not look like the object on the very first picture, the array elements lined up face to face, which is what I wanted.
The problem is that some non-rectangular polyhedra have no faces being normal to their coordinate axes. Since the array modification relies on the "local" coordinate system of the whole object, you can't produce an array with objects aligned face to face unless you change the object's local axes.
The solution is basically given in the comment above, with a tweak to achieve perfect alignment of the faces. So, once more:

Create an icosahedron and a cube.
Using a plugin ("align by faces", from here), align the face of a cube with one of the object's faces.
Delete all of the cube's vertices.
Join the icosahedron TO the cube (not the other way round) so that the resulting object inherits the cube's axes.
Origin to geometry and create an array.
Create an empty in the center of the icosahedron. At this point you can set the empty as the offset object to check how things are looking.
Rotate the empty so that the "normal" axis (along which the array should be situated), in my case the x-axis, aligns with the icosahedron's axis. I just copied the angle numbers from one to the other.
The result is this:

And of course this can be further tweaked by moving/rotating the empty and changing offsets.


Why can I not import an .mp3 file through Python scripting? I'm following this tutorial and I'm about 29 minutes in. I'm using the .mp3 mentioned in the tutorial. Here's my latest .blend...

My script will create a single cube and switch the window context to GRAPH_EDITOR, but then crashes out with the error, "unsupported audio format". Error text follows...

  Traceback (most recent call last): File "J:\My
  Documents\Desktop\Motion Graphics\cgCookieVisualiser01001Rev.blend
  \Text", line 34, in  File "E:\Program Files\Blender
  Foundation\Blender\2.70\scripts\modules\bpy\ops .py", line 188, in
  call ret = op_call(self.idname_py(), None, kw) RuntimeError: Error: Unsupported audio format

  Error: Python script fail, look in the console for now...

It seems strange that the .mp3 wouldn't import via script. Has anybody a suggestion on how I should tackle this?

I just tested your file with one of my own .mp3s and found two problems:

The path contains backslashes. This is standard in Windows, but has special meaning in many programming languages. The backslash means that the following character should not be interpreted as a normal character but as a control character (like \n stands for new-line and \a will make a beeping sound). Your path contains a \0 which (at least in C) is interpreted as 'End of String'. This messes up your path: When the string ends there, the file is actualy a folder and has no extension. Thus it can not be recognized as a supported audio format.
There are two possible solutions:

Replace all backslashes with forward slashes / and make a Unix-style path
Replace them with double backslashes \\. The first backslash removes the special meaning of the second backslash and makes it a normal character again.

You wrote true instead of True (with a capital letter) in line 37. This is a minor issue, but causes an error when you run the script ;)

After that your script runs fine.

EDIT :
I just found another mehtod to use string literals with backslashes. If you write

mypath = r"C:\Path\To\Some\File.mp3"

the r in front of the string literal tells python that this is a so-called raw string literal. This will preserve the backslashes and not use them to create control characters.


How to visualize reflection of a beam or ray I need to know how light is reflected on the objects given a fixed spot as light source. The best way would be to render a laser beam, however such laser beam is not easy to design/render and heavily depends on the rendering engine. So I need a more easy possibility to check. Do you have an idea how this could be achieved?

I am using Blender 2.8.

If I understood, you are looking for a representation of a single ray, without the use of render engines.

You can create geometry with python, which is raycasted. I modified the script from this laser question to create an object, which contains the laser as geometry.

Start with the first "hit" point at (0, 0, 0) and the casting direction (0, 0, 1) in the objects orientation. The following steps are

Use the scenes ray_cast method to cast a ray. Get the hit position and the normal of the hit face.
If the normal is on the side of the incoming ray, reverse it. The resulting angle between direction and normal ray will be < 90°.
Get the difference between direction and normal ray. Rotate the direction ray twice by this difference. The direction ray is now "mirrored" along the inversed normal ray.
Inverse the direction ray. This is the new direction ray in which direction we cast from the hit position.

import bpy
import bmesh
import mathutils

EPSILON = 0.00001
MAXIMUM_ITERATIONS = 50
OBJECT_NAME = 'light_plane'

def get_create_object(scene):
    ob = scene.objects.get(OBJECT_NAME)
    if ob == None:
        me = bpy.data.meshes.new("me")
        ob = bpy.data.objects.new(OBJECT_NAME, me)
        scene.collection.objects.link(ob)
    return ob

def do_raycast(scene):
    object = get_create_object(scene)
    points = [object.location]

    _, rot, _ = object.matrix_world.decompose()
    direction = mathutils.Vector((0, 0, 1))
    direction.rotate(rot)

    for i in range(MAXIMUM_ITERATIONS):
        origin = points[-1] + direction * EPSILON
        result = scene.ray_cast(scene.view_layers[0], origin=origin, direction = direction)
        hit, location, normal, index, ob, matrix = result
        if not hit:
            break

        if normal.dot(direction) < 0:
            normal *= -1

        rot_dif = direction.rotation_difference(normal)
        direction.rotate(rot_dif)
        direction.rotate(rot_dif)
        direction *= -1
        points.append(location)

    points.append(points[-1] + direction*10)
    bm = bmesh.new()
    [bm.verts.new(pt) for pt in points]
    bm.verts.ensure_lookup_table()
    for i in range(len(bm.verts) - 1):
        bm.edges.new((bm.verts[i], bm.verts[i + 1]))

    bmesh.ops.transform(bm, matrix = object.matrix_world.inverted(), verts = bm.verts)
    bm.to_mesh(object.data)
    bm.free()

for h in bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post:
    bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post.remove(h)
bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post.append(do_raycast)


Project object on curve face What is the best way to project this logo on this cup without so much distortions on the and of the logo.

I've tried one tip that I saw here that used lattice and shrinkwrap modifier but the result was not so good.

The idea is to 3d print this model... I would appreciate any help to make this task easy and with good result.

this last picture is the result using the tips that I saw here.

The way I was able to do it was to use the knife project. All you need to do is make the words 2D with no faces, go into object mode and select the words then shift select the cup and go into edit mode. Then go into the view you are in in the first image and press knife project. The only problem with this is that it will go from the view, so you may have to do each individual letter at a time from different views so you can get it looking as nice as possible. Once you finish projecting it onto the cup you can just select the faces of the words on the cup and extrude them out. Sorry it’s such a time consuming way to do it but I couldn’t figure out anything easier. Please msg me back if you need more details. By the way I was able to successfully 3d print what I made with no errors.


Solve error too much this is the first time I have started learning camera tracking. I know there's an easy way to track but I'm doing it the manual way; by placing trackers. After giving all the camera details and stuff, when I start solving the camera tracks, the error comes out to be 10 and I can't seem to reduce it no matter what I do.  Please help me!

Start by trying to gain as much tracks over the whole framerange as possible. Short tracks living only for a few frames are very inefficient and can be removed in the "Clean up" Panel. Also you might want to check out the "Graph" section of the Movie Clip Editor, where you can easily see and delete misbehaving tracks. Other tricks might be changing the keyframes in the "Solve" Panel or letting Blender guess the best keyframes itself. You can also try the "Refine" options beneath it. Good luck!


Freestyle edges obscured by smoke I've got an object that I'm rendering with freestyle edges:

I'd like this object to also be a smoke emitter:

Is there any way to draw the freestyle edges, to be partially visible through the smoke?

In order to render freestyle lines that are obscured by smoke there are two main issues that need to be overcome :

Freestyle only renders the edges of 'exposed' meshes - the smoke domain will effectively mask out the freestyle on anything behind (or within) it.
Freestyle is an 'overlay' effect applied after the scene is rendered - it is not actually part of the 3D scene and so cannot directly interact with elements within the scene (such as volumetric smoke).

Rendering a simple test scene with freestyle enabled creates the following results :

Note how the freestyle is masked by the smoke domain on the furthest Suzanne.

To overcome the masking issue we can use the compositor to combine multiple renders to 'filter out' the freestyle lines which would be obscured by the smoke and for this we'll need to render the scene three times - once for the 'full' render (without freestyle), once with just the freestyle lines (that we can mix into the 'full' render wherever they wouldn't be obscured) and, finally, how the freestyle is obstructed by other elements (including the smoke) in the scene.

Full render :

Freestyle :

Obstruction :

To allow the scene to be rendered without the volumetrics we can move the volumetric domain onto another layer by selecting it and pressing M to bring up the layers popup and selecting the destination layer (eg, layer 2). Render Layers can be set up to render the different scene layers to get the desired results.

For the 'full render' we need to create a Render Layer to render both layers (ie, the layer without the volumetrics and the layer with just the volumetrics) :

For the freestyle layer we want to render excluding the volumetrics and disable all other elements - so we just get the freestyle lines :

Ensure to set the Freestyle Line Color to pure White as we'll use this colour the freestyle lines in the compositor.

For the 'obstruction' render we need to render just the volumetrics layer and to 'darken' the image based on the 'depth' of smoke the ray passes through but with the rest of the scene pure white. We can achieve this by setting all objects and the background to a pure white Emission material with a strength of 1.0 and use a Volumetric Absorption for the smoke - adjust the density to adjust the 'thickness' of the smoke. Note that the Render Layer includes a 'material override' setting. This will override all materials in the layer and is useful for setting the objects to all render as pure white emission while the volumetrics are Volume Absorption. In this case I've used the Object ID to indicate the object type (emission = 0, volumetric = 1) using the following material :

In addition, I added a plane behind the scene to provide a background 'environment' of pure white (as for the other meshes). This was moved to another layer (3) so that it can be included only in the Obstruction render. This means that the 'Obstruction' layer needs to include all three layers to include the objects (1), volumetrics (2), and additional background (3), as well as the material override :

To produce the final result we need to combine the 'full' render with the freestyle overlay, using the obstruction mask to mix - so that the freestyle is only applied where the surface is not obscured by the smoke. This can be achieved with the following nodes :

Here the Obstruction layer is used to determine which parts of the freestyle layer are overlayed onto the full render. The RGB node controls the freestyle line color while the Color Ramp can be used to adjust the apparent density of the smoke.

This can produce the following result :

Blend file included


Local rotation with array and curve modifiers Is it possible to get local rotations on objects generated with an array modifier that are deforming to a curve?

A picture will work better:

I'm trying to avoid having the "seams" line up for each array object. A random rotation would be ideal, but even a constant offset would do.

I've tried using an object offset in the array modifier, but that interacts poorly with the curve modifier.

Here's how I have the modifiers set up:

In Array Modifier Use Empty as Object Offset. Make sure your objects are located in the center of the 3D space (0,0,0)
Turn off Relative Offset and move the Empty along the Z axis.
To rotate the copies simply rotate the Empty around Z axis.


Imported image as plane does not have accurate colors I am trying to make a music video and import my logo (.png), however the logo does not have accurate colors (it has clear white background, but blender shows it as gray): link to screenshot #1

These are my material settings, I hope I have started correctly: link to screenshot #2

The circle I created behind it is also a bit grayish, so there must be something basic I'm missing. link to screenshot #3 with the circle behing the logo

Switching the mode does not solve the color problem, as mentioned in the comments the background of my logo is still gray afterwards.

Solved: I needed to add/move the light on top (to face the planes) and re-insert the image in order to reset to default settings. Result: link to imgur.com

I believe you are on the right track...

Switch from Filmic to standard but not on the image or material like you did.

I actually didn't realize you could do it image by image like that but I think you need to switch it on the actual world scene.

Look under the "Scene" tab where you switch from EEVEE to Cycles... at the bottom look for "Color Management" and "View Transform" then switch that from Filmic to Standard.


During Edit Mode, Circle selection goes wild I encountered strange behavior of circle selection with Blender 2.79a...

I press C and try to select something, like left foot.

When you take a close look at second screen shot, not only inside of circle but even outside, two from left knee, one from below the belly button, and several others also get selected.
why??? How can I fix this strange behavior???

I have contacted Blender Dev team and they suggested my graphic driver might cause of this problem.
What I installed combination were:

Blender version : 2.79a &
GeForce Game Ready Driver version : 391.01

This combination was not good. I upgraded/downgraded Blender but selection problem won't disappear. Then I downgraded nVidia driver from 391.01 to 388.71. Then the problem has solved, back to normal behavior.

nVidia driver consists more than 10 components and looks like newer version of component(s) from 391.01 is still in my system. So, I am not sure which component was the reason of problem but downgrading graphic driver certainly help, if you encounter similar problems.


Portal effect with two different hdri's I'm fighting with my scene where I want to show some kind of portal. All scene has illuminated by hdri №1. The objects behind the 'glass' (object with 100% transparency) should be illuminated by hdri №2. I'm using light path node to separate two 'worlds'visually and it works (according the shadows), but object behind the glass (box) has very weak impact from his hdri. It looks like settings of transparent material somehow affected the image behind or maybe transparency of it is not 100% transparent.

I don't want use compositing for this effect because of realistic effect I'm trying to achieve, so it would be great if someone you guys could share some thoughts or links that might help

cegaton Thank you very much for your help, advice and links! Especially for pointing at sockets colors. Now I'm digging both articles.

I changed the node tree using color mix node and set the Light Path node to Transparent Depth (and glass material set to transparent BSDF), and, unfortunately nothing has changed. :,-( The objects behind the glass now still highlighted poorly in comparsion with hdri connected straight to the output node. It looks like hdri is loosing it's light intensity in this case

Use a light path node and color mix node.

On the so called "portal" object use a transparent shader.

Then on the world, set the two different HDRs and use the transparent depth to control the RGB mix of the environments.

Don't use shader mix nodes to mix RGB color information. Pay attention to the color of the sockets! Green sockets should connect with green, yellow with yellow, gay with gray and so on.

Also: nodes that are not connected to the final output have no effect on the result.

Read:
What is the meaning of the color of the node sockets in the node editor?

and

Cycles - (Shader) Nodes - inputs outputs - What are the exact data types?

How this all works is

Transparent rays will use one image, all other rays (like diffuse or glossy, etc) will use the other. The limit of this solution is that glass objects (or other transparent or semitransparent objects) will need to be composited.


How to get a pixelated image? I'm trying to make an animated pixel art sprite. I can render it no problem at its normal size settings, but when I set the image size extremely low, it doesn't come out like it should in avi jpeg form. When I render the sprite at its full resolution, it looks like this:
I tried to pixelate it by setting the resolution extremely low, and got this:
That's what I want. I want the image to be pixelated, but when I export the full animation as an avi jpeg video, it completely blurs the image beyond all recognition because it's such a small image. This is what the output looks like:
How do I render / export / format / scale the image such that I will get a sharp, clean pixel animation, with every frame looking like the second picture?

You can use a Pixelate node in the compositor. Go to the Compositing Screen Layout or open a Node Editor some other way. Make sure the Compositing Nodes button is selected.

Use the following setup. Notice how the left side of the gun is pixelated, but the right side is normal. In the final render, it will all be pixelated. Additionally, see how the both Scale node's X and Y values are equal. Also notice how between them they equal 1 (0.2 x 5 = 1). This means that the overall scale of the gun image doesn't change.

If you so desire, you can copy the node setup straight from the following file (gun not included) (sorry) (it does include an awesome hippie monkey, tho). Lastly, you can read more about the Pixelate node here.

Pixelated:

Normal:


How do I use add-on Simple Curves to chamfer point? I would like to be able to make a round corner on a curve similar to chamfer in 4D, like a smoothly bent tube? I've found and added the add-on Simple Curves but don't know how to do it? Or maybe I don't need the add-on?

If we are talking about this Simple Curves add-on:

First of all Install add-on from file, check it to have it enabled and Save settings.

In Edit Mode find Misc tab in Tool Shelf.
Select Curve point.
Choose Fillet.
Tweak Radius.


How to model a dumpster wheel? I have been trying to model a dumpster wheel in Blender, but it turned out to be trickier than I thought. In particular, I just can't figure out how to do the central part (with the holes). I have tried this a couple of times, but ended up with nothing but a mess. Could you show me the correct way to do this? I'm not completely new to Blender, so there's no need to be too specific.

Here's the reference picture:

http://www.jtmetal.com/steelcaster2.jpg

[And just when I thought I was already past the “beginner stage" in Blender before this. Meaby I should quit Blender and throw my computer out of the window.]

I’m sure there are many ways to accomplish this. Here’s one possibility.

SHIFT + “A” Add Mesh > Circle with 64 vertices (Top View “7”).

TAB into Edit Mode press “E” and “S” Extrude Scale three times.

Select this vertex and press SHIFT + V and slide it until the corresponding edge is parallel to the X Axis.

Repeat for this vertex until the corresponding edge is parallel to the Y Axis.

Select 3/4 of the vertices and press “X” choose Vertices from the drop down menu to delete them.

Add a Mirror Modifier check off “Y” “Z” (“X” is checked by default). Also add a Subdivision Surface Modifier (Change the View to 2). Tab into Object Mode and select Smooth Shading then Tab back into Edit Mode.

Add two Loop Cuts (CTRL + “R”).

Select the following ten interior faces and press “X” and select Faces from the drop down menu to delete them.

Press “A” to select all and press “E” to extrude them up.

Select the following interior faces and press “X” to delete them.

Check off Clipping in the Mirror Modifier.
Select these faces and press “E” to Extrude them up.

DE-Select these six faces then press “E” to extrude the remaining faces up again.

Tighten up some of the edges with Loop Cuts.


Place a 3D building instead of real building my question is, how can I put 3D elements into a real footage. For example an 3D Building instead of a existing Building, so that I can destroy the 3D building for example? So that the 3D Building looks real in the footage.

I hope you understand what I mean

You can use Camera Tracking to do that, here is a YouTube tutorial (Blender Guru)

That explains how to do it in detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVPcT0dJmoY


what is the easiest way to paint train railway? I've build this railway:

I want to paint it this way:

to paint the wood which cut the railway brown.
and the rest of railway with gray color.

How could I do that?
If I add a material it will paint all the railway the same color.

If you have modeled the railway with athe combo of array+curve modifiers

I would suggest to assign materials before applying modifiers:

If you have already applied modifiers and you have a similar topology, you can select linked by pressing Ctrl+L while at least one face of each metal binaries is selected.

than assing those faces your metal material.

If you have non-linear topology, you'll have to try to mask selection using a combination of selection tools depending on your own topology:


Blender link external scene in the existing scene I have a wery complex scene with lots of objects, and I have to fragment my file in smaller parts to be able to work

I have basic file in whitch I shoud import the other files as objects, or as scenes.

If I import it as objects, and than if I make changes in the imported file, like adding more objects, than all the time I have to inport the newly created objects.

If I import as scene, there will be another scene created.

My question is if there is a way to import the file in a way, that if I add new objects, and I reload it, the newly created objects to appear in the same scene.

We will use the link function (not the "append", which creates a full copy of your data and don't do any sync from the source file).

From your "master file", separate your assets into groups ;
Save each group alone in a separate "slave" file ;
In your master file, delete everything, then use the menu File → Link and link every group you need from your slaves files.

That way, your master file contains only linked groups. And your other slaves .blend files each contain one group, which you can edit. The master file will receive the changes. If you ever create a new object in a slave file, don't forget to assign it to the group so he will be synced.


What can the Cycles Geometry node 'Parametric' Socket be used for? In Cycles, the Geometry node has a socket for Parametric. What would this input be useful for?

It looks to me to be identical to UV coordinates for each triangle where the vertices are (0,0),(0,1),(1,0) but with no means of indicating or influencing the orientation of the face. I can't find any meningful documentation that explains what it could be used for.

Can anyone plese explain what it can be used for and, if possible, provide examples of it in use.

This output represents the "barycentric coordinates" in the rendered triangle. They can be used to  interpolate any data defined at the triangle's vertices.

In practice, however, as The Cycles Input Encyclopedia  explains:

  It’s another one you probably won’t use very often, unless you’re trying to make an unusual wireframe effect, although we now have a specific node for that.

EDIT Here's an idea how you could use it: you can find the "center of mass" of the triangle - it is where all three coordinates have the same value. In practice you would need to work with an error threshold, and find a small triangle in the rendered triangle.

Another idea: Some software, such as Modo, have "Barycentric UV projection", you could probably emulate that, and use textures created in them.


Smooth Player Movement? So im trying to make a movement script and i want it to have a max speed and min speed iv'e tried using the object.applyForce((0, 10, 0)) but that just keeps adding up the speed of the object.

If you want it to have acceleration and inertia, make sure to use this method:

Add a property to your player called speed(or something that will be easy to understand for what it is used.
Set it to Integer, leave it's value 0.
Add property sensor and keyboard sensor to your object. Add that key in keyboard sensor, which will make your character move. Make it true level triggering and set frequency to your own wish- the bigger frequency, the slower character will accelerate. Connect to and controller.
Select interval in property sensor. Select your 'speed' property in it. Make it's interval from 0 up to 10 or bigger number. Enable true level triggering and set frequency identical to the one used in keyboard sensor.
Connect also property sensor to and controller.
Add property actuator. Select your 'speed' property it. Make it Add. In bottom input type 1 or +1.
Now repeat this again, but make sure tu use different interval(if previous was from 1 up to 10, thn now it is from 11 up to 20 etc.) You can play around with the add property and frequency.
Now do the same, but invert. Repeat the same proccess, but make sure you use invert in keyboard sensor and the last interval's biggest number is bigger than in positive keyboard use(if previously your biggest numbers were 21 - 30 and add property always was +1, than use 31 in last property, but anyway, if you add more in that property, make sure to make also that number much bigger than previous(positive keyboard press).
Add property sensors with intervals(as ymuch as you wish). Use different intervals in each. Connect them to and controllers and to motion actuators. Make each motion actuator move a bit faster than previous.

Now you should have working acceleration and inertia. Sorry for long text:D If you need, ask me for .blend example here!;)

EDIT
Here is .blend:
DOWNLOAD


Material Node Problem I want color from one image and texture from another image for the material of the dress I am working on. Currently I am using a mix shader to join the two images but I am not getting the desired result.

Below is an image with the color I want (I set the mix factor to 0):

Below is an image with the texture I want (I set the mix factor to 1):

Is there any way I can get 100% of both effects. I don't want any color from the second image and changing from color to non-color data in Image Texture Node doesn't seem to do much.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll add my blender file in case it helps.

The mix node is for mixing different shaders, or materials, not different parts of one material. To add the "Texture" effect you want, I took a look at your file and reconfigured your shader to use a Bump node.

First, within the Chocofur_Fabric_Basic material, I removed the overlay node (unnecessary) and replaced it with a Bump node, routing the Main_Color input directly to the shaders and the Bump into their respective Normal inputs.

Back in your main material node setup, I removed redundant nodes and hooked the sideways skirting color into the Main_Color input of the fabric shader and the Chocofur texture image into the Texture_Input input of the fabric shader.

Here is the final Blend file:


Which steps are missing to make simple bone animation? recently I started a little project in 3d.
So I created a simple model to check how it works in game engine but I'm stuck at exporting this model from blender, because my animation / sequence is broken or something like that.
I downloaded one of freeware models (*.blend file with awesome lowpoly character) from web and tried to export it and load to game engine. It worked very well, every sequence was there.

It seems that I do not all steps that must be done before export, so I asking you, please help me to find what exactly I missing.

Here simple steps that I've done:
Created Cube
Extruded it for few sections
Applied scale & rotation & location
Added armature
Switched to edit mode and extruded another bone (so now I have two bones, root and extruded)
Switched to object mode and applied scale & rotation & location
Deselect all
Select extruded cube, then shift + right click on armature ctrl+p > parenting with auto weights
Then I switch to pose mode.
Press red corcle in timeline section to record all things.
Move extruded bone in pose mode in first frame and then another move on 30th frame.
Checking animation and it works, mech is deforming as bones moves. Everything seems fine.

Export it as fbx and it doesnt move in game engine.

Please help as it stops me in progress.

Sorry fir my English.

Try shift selecting the mesh and armature and then press spacebar and type Export Fbx. Then chose an export spot and chose selected only if there are any other objects in your scene. Then drag this to unity.


Rendering is grey blank? Does anybody know why my camera is not showing anything and the Rendering is grey blank?

Rendering:

Camera View:

Your camera Clip End is to low, increase it a bit:


Animated mesh has incorrect transforms when exported to Unity I am exporting a model to Unity 3d. Some parts of the model appear rotated 180/90 degrees. I have tried CtrlA and resetting the location/scale/rotation but to no effect.

I am directly using the .blend file in the Unity Asset window; without using any export file (dae, fbx etc).

Just to mention that the models transforms are ok when in scene view in unity; until I press the play button that is...

In blender (first image) and in Unity:

You can download the model here to check for any problems.

As a general rule of thumb, it is a bad idea to animate meshes for use in other applications, there is alot to take into consideration such as world coordinates etc. After animating these, you have very limited control over the mesh in terms of applying transforms or even modifying the mesh later.

Solution, use bones to rig and animate the windmill after applying transforms to the separate parts. Example file with rigged windmill and applied scale and location. By making use of bones to handle the animation, your hard suface model can now be manipulated without the risk of breaking anything else.


Boolean Modifier Issue I'm experiencing an issue when applying a boolean modifier to my mesh. I've tried subdividing, I've tried checking the normals of everything and they all are facing outward (verified by the blue shading when in edit mode), and i tried removing doubles, but I'm not sure what to do. Does anyone have an idea as to what I might have done wrong? You can see the issue with the attached screenshot, or you can download the file via a blend-exchange link provided. This file doesn't have the applied modifiers however so you can view topology and wire frames of the model. Thank you in advance!

Its not good to stack a lot of un-applied modifiers when you are using booleans - they are temperamental and it is better to apply the mods at every step. I have applied all of your mods in the order they appear up to the boolean operation and the phone case has 1104 zero faces and 48 zero edges created in the steps you have taken. You can remove these by selecting all in edit then using mesh/cleanup/degenerate dissolve and then your booleans will work better. Any work involving booleans benefits massively from enabling the in-built 3D printing add on in preferences.


How do I apply an environment map in Blender Internal? I'm using Blender Internal due to its object outline effect, and am trying to use a 1800 degree environment map for the reflections (not lighting). I'm trying what seems like should work, and am failing.

Most of the tutorials for this are in Cycles, which is handled easily, can anyone tell me how to do it in Blender 2.6+ Internal?

EDITS:

So my question is really just "How do I apply an environment map in Blender Internal?"; the perspective of the environment map is trivial to the question.

Enable Real Sky in Properties > World to make the sky render relative to the horizon rather than the camera:

Optionally enable Environment lighting to use the sky texture to illuminate the scene.
Switch to the texture panel and create a new world texture by clicking new with the World tab selected:

Set the type to Image or Movie and open an image:

In Textures > Mapping set the projection to Equirectangular and enable Horizon in Textures > Influence:

Result:


Sun object not moving when Rendering Animation I've problem Rendering sun rotation animation. Steps to reproduce:

Create the sun object
Set 1st keyframe

Select keyframe
Rotate sun object using the handle
"I" > Select Rotation

Set 10th keyframe (Reproduce same steps found in 2nd point)
Add frame_change_post handler to print sun rotation_euler
Run Render > Render Animation

The result was 11 times (0-10) printed same rotation Euler
<Euler (x=-7.9113, y=0.2392, z=-7.1615), order='XYZ'>  .But when I move from keyframe to keyframe Euler XYZ positions are updated. Why is that so?

Here is a demo plugin created to replicate the issue:

bl_info = {
"name": "Sun animation using lever",
"author": "karlisup",
"version": (1, 0),
"blender": (2, 80, 0),
}
import bpy
from bpy.app.handlers import persistent

@persistent
def sun_handler(scene, depsgraph):
    if "Sun" not in bpy.data.objects:
        create_sun()
    sun = bpy.data.objects["Sun"]
    print(scene.frame_current, sun.rotation_euler)

def create_sun():
    bpy.context.view_layer.active_layer_collection = bpy.context.view_layer.layer_collection
    light_data = bpy.data.lights.new(name="Sun", type='SUN')
    light_data.energy = 30
    light_object = bpy.data.objects.new(name="Sun", object_data=light_data)
    light_object.location = (5, 5, 5)
    bpy.context.collection.objects.link(light_object)
    bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = light_object

def register():
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(sun_handler)

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

It seems that during rendering you need to use the depsgraph so that you obtain an evaluated object.
Don't know why this is not useful when just playing the animation.
So add this line:
sun = sun.evaluated_get(depsgraph)

In the complete function:
@persistent
def sun_handler(scene, depsgraph):
    if "Sun" not in bpy.data.objects:
        create_sun()
    sun = bpy.data.objects["Sun"]
    sun = sun.evaluated_get(depsgraph)
    print(scene.frame_current, sun.rotation_euler)

A link to the documentation if needed.
For information, I've asked on blender coders and had an answer by dr.Sybren:

The difference is caused by the render engine using its own dependency
graph, which is not marked as 'active'. As a result, it does not copy
animated values back from evaluated to original objects.

This behavior is confirmed to be intended.


How to quickly render 2D/3D Mathematical curve animations without the shadow details I am thinking of starting a new YouTube Channel where I'll be doing Math videos. So I'll be doing things like animating curves, similar to the picture attached below. So I don't need much of the shadow details and the textures since it would be quite sleek. Normally Cycles Animation takes hours to render. How can I speed up this process?

You can use Eevee rendering (Blender 2.8) with the following base setting. Eevee is physically less accurate than Cycles but much faster.

The setting is very basic:

Material: just use colors as you don't want shadows/shaders (bottom of the image above)
Wireframe: use a wireframe modifier (on the right in the image)


How can i make two objects move together? how can i make 2 objects move together? i am creating a Minecraft animation, and need the sword to move with my hand. I have tried Ctrl+G, yet it still doesnt move together

Linking the objects by making one of the two objects the parent. If you select both objects you can Ctrl+P and make the last selected object the Parent.


How can I delete keyframes and animation data for all selected objects? I am trying to do as the title suggests: remove all keyframes and animation data from all selected objects.
I am just starting out with Python and add-on development so this has proven to be a challenge for me. This is what I have sofar:
class CULT_ClearAnimData(Operator):
    bl_label = "Clear Animation Data"
    bl_idname = "object.clear_anim_data"
    bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

    def execute(self, context):
        selected_obj = bpy.context.selected_objects
        scene = bpy.context.scene

        for x in selected_obj:
            selected_obj[x].select_set(True)
            bpy.ops.anim.keyframe_clear_v3d()

        return {'FINISHED'}

Edit: Got this to work:
class CULT_ClearAnimData(Operator):
bl_label = "Clear Animation Data"
bl_idname = "object.clear_anim_data"
bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

def execute(self, context):
    sel_objs = [obj for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects]
    #bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    for obj in sel_objs:
        bpy.ops.anim.keyframe_clear_v3d()

    return {'FINISHED'}

I am not sure if my solution is "proper" or safe, but it works. Any alternative ways would be helpful.

One fell swoop approach.
copying the script from Delete animation of object
Uses Object.animation_data_clear() to remove all animation data from all selected objects.
import bpy

context = bpy.context
for ob in context.selected_objects:
    ob.animation_data_clear()

this will orphan any action not associated with other objects, and they will be dealt with on file save / reload.
Otherwise
orphans = [a for a in bpy.data.actions if not a.users]
while orphans:
    bpy.data.actions.remove(orphans.pop())


Attaching a rope (curve or mesh) to two other objects I've already read two threads on this but the instructions given are not clear enough for me.

i would like to attach the ends of the highlighted mesh, so that animating this part isnt so tedious.

What you can do is create a long plane, subdivide it, create a group, give it a Physics > Cloth with the group as Pin Group:

Create your 2 objects, 2 cubes here (but it can be empties or bones), select a cube, shift select the plane, switch to Edit mode, select the same vertices as the pin group, press CtrlH > Hook to Selected Object. You can hook to a vertex group of the object if needed. Do the same for the other cube. Put the Cloth modifier under the Hook modifiers:

Create your pipe object, hook it as well, give it a Surface Deform with the plane as Target, click on Bind. The Surface Deform modifier must be under the Hook modifiers:

Make the plane invisible, move the cubes:


Blender 2.8 transparency & volumetrics? Can somebody walk me through the process of getting volumetrics and transparency working in EEVEE.
I recently hopped on from 2.79 but all my glasswork just isnt working.
I tried all the alpha channels and spent a lot of time searching but i can't find the thing im missing or doing wrong.
Included is a simple set-up that works in 2.79/2.80 cycles but not in 2.80 EEVEE.

Answer has been found here.
https://blenderartists.org/t/transparent-materials-workflow-from-cycles-to-eevee-from-2-79/1129207/5

TL;DR
Enable screen space refractions in your material under options.
Leave blend mode on opaque.
Ënable screen space reflections in your render settings under screen space reflection.


Edit texture as burned and dirty in Cycles How can I edit the following texture...

...so it looks like this?

And how to create the burned spots

Looking at the texture in the picture, in addition to the curves suggestion above, I would apply the same texture as a specular map and a bump map. Here's an example set up with the specular map:

I didn't have a way to make a normal map on this computer, but that would finalize the effect, with some good lighting effects like your reference image.


How to change the scroll distance If I scroll the mouse one time then it goes very far:

It is hard to work like this and not normal behaviour. If I start a new project then everything is ok. Im not sure what I did, how can I change it back to normal?

As we know, the scrolling zoom speed increases with the distance from the center point of the viewport camera. I think the problem occurs because the center point is far away from view.

I suggest:

1)Select the object and press NUM . to move center point to the selection.

2)Use Ctrl + Middle Click to perform precise zooming.

3)Use fly mode (Shift + F) to navigate.


How to model an object with width and depth, based only on an image that shows the outline? I am able to layout the shape using vertex extrusion but not able to give like width to it.

I thought it would be easily fixable but your shape is a bit more complexe than I thought. If I had to do it from scratch, I would follow the shape with some extrusions, like this:

If you want to start from your current mesh, delete the extrusion to only keep the edges, don't forget to remove doubles, give some extrusions to the remaining edges, like this:

Etc... then extrude to give it thickness and give it a Subdivision Surface modifier to smooth it.

You could also convert your edges to curves, and give it thickness, but it will also need rework.


Add bezier curve to vertices along a plane? Newbie to Blender here.

I'm wondering how to get some knife-cut edges to follow a more precise path along the black doorway section of an "image-to-plane" piece I have here.

Is it possible to add a bezier curve to an edge in edit mode? If not, what workarounds would you recommend I try to trace around this door?
Thank you!

You can apply a bezier curve to a plane using the knife project tool.

Heres my process:

As a separate object, make the curve that you want (mine is pretty bad for a door):

Next, covert the curve to a mesh using the "convert to" tool:

Now, select first the curve mesh, and then the plane, go into edit mode, and do knife project:

The knife project does it from your view, so you want to use align view to make sure you are looking at the plane head-on.

Now, you will have the curve cut into your plane:


Part of my mesh is not affected by bones Working on Blender 2.83.3
Download my blender project here :
SWORD FIGHTER MODEL
I'm trying to rig a cartoon character just for fun. I'm comfortable with most blender features but this one : Rigging.
Most of my rig is working relatively well (still figuring things out by tries and errors). However here I tried everything to no avail.
I moved the arm. As you can see it works.

Here is my problem:

As you can see I made a bone rotation. Everything moves but the eyes (pupils and black part of the eye.)
Everything looks correctly parented, and I joined every part of my mesh together.
I tried to make some bones really close to these parts, no result.
I tried to weight paint, without any result.
Are these meshes "too thin" to be affected? Should I "stick" the eyes to the body in some way? I don't get it.
Thanks a lot for your time.
Arthur

I believe from looking that they are separate meshes, in which case you must join them with Ctrl-J and then you should be able to weight paint it, if not you could separate the eyes and parent the separated object to a bone so that it rotates as if it were attached (but this would not morph the mesh like regular bones would).


Radiance: How does the focus of a "spotlight" work? I can't get a spotlight in Radiance to work.

The doc states:

  The spotlight primitive type is used for self-luminous surfaces that
  require a directed output. It is defined with red, green and blue
  radiance values as well as an orientation ( output direction ) vector
  and a full cone angle ( in degrees ). The orientation vector
  determines the distance of effective focus behind the source centre (
  ie the focal length).

What exactly does "effective focus" mean? Isn't this the same as the opening angle?

I tried something like

void spotlight spot_light
0
0
3 128 128 128

or

void spotlight spot_light
0
0
3 1000 1000 1000 5 1.0 1.0 1.0

Found some explanation here:

  The focal length produces only a subtle difference as it shifts the
  effective position of the source behind the actual emitting surface. A
  real spotlight has the effect of changing its falloff to being
  something less than r^-2 (where r is the distance to the emitter) in
  this way. The actual falloff is closer to (r+e)^-2, where e is the
  focal length of the spotlight's optics.  It is a minor concern, I
  admit.


Mirrored mesh splits when manipulating bones I am using a mirror modifier for modelling. When viewing the mesh in edit mode, the vertices in the center are firmly stuck together and cannot be separated.

When in pose mode, I manipulate a wrist bone on my model and the mesh splits in two along the mirror axis center.

I have tried removing the subsurface modifier to see if this was the problem leaving only the armature at the top of the modifier list,i.e. as first modifier (which I am told is the bottom of the stack) and the mirror as the second.

It doesn't separate in edit mode and I've also tried increasing the merge limit to 0.1 and there's no change. Manipulating bones separates the mesh.

Finally it was the order of the modifiers.

Positioning the mirror modifier before the armature modifier in the modifier stack fixed the issue.

The problem seemed to be that the bone transforms made in pose mode were applied first and then after the mirror was applied, which caused the splitting.


No vertices at face intersections? I just made an object (trapezium form) and then I duplicate it 3 times to make it square as the base of my construction, and joined all 4 of it so i can edit it at the same time. The problem is that I don't have any vertices in every intersection like the picture here, so how to fix this?

Try this:

Go into Edit mode and hit P (Separate) > By Loose Parts. This will separate the pieces of your object.
Pick one of the objects, for example the first one. Add 3 Boolean modifiers to it.
Switch the Operation to Union on all the modifiers.
Set each modifier's Object to be one of the other pieces.
If you get strange results in wireframe mode, switch the Solvers to Carve instead of BMesh.
Hit Apply on each modifier, and  delete the other pieces. You don't need them anymore.

Note that this may destroy your topology. It will keep the shape, but the arrangement of faces may be different.


Add vertices to existing hook I made an object and animated it with a hook. Afterwards, I added some vertices to the object that are therefore not attached to the hook. Is there a way to add those vertices to the already existing hook so they will follow its path through the animation? I am using Blender 2.79 on Windows 10.

Keep in mind, that if your hook object is animated, you need to place it in rest/initial position before attaching new vertices (for example switch to frame, where hook is located originaly). Otherwise they could behave incorrectly.

Once did it, enter Edit mode (TAB) and Hook modifier will provide additional options. Select button will show vertices that are already used for hooking. With those selected you should just select new vertices and click Assign. Done.


Motion Blur at different frames I want to render my scene in Blender with Motion Blur enabled, but I don't know whether I'm able to render the whole scene in one rush, for it'll last quite long.

Question: When I start rendering at frame 1 and stop rendering at frame 10, when I start rendering frame 10/11 again will the motion blur look the same or does the interruption cause a change in the blur look of the restarted rendering?

From what I have observed, when motion blur is enabled and Cycles is the renderer, Blender steps back a frame to compute the motion difference between the frame being rendered and the frame that came before - you can see this happening in the info line at the top of the UV/Image Editor when rendering is underway - so long as you leave all settings unchanged Blender should deliver consistent motion blur over whatever frame range you set - alternatively you can add a one-frame "head" and "tail" to your frame range to make sure you definitely get all frames properly rendered across the breaks in your sequence


Supported video codecs in Blender When I asked this question it was my understanding that H.264 is a sort of best practice when delivering videos for high definition display. As I am delivering most of my video work to stock libraries I had a look at their preferences and I discover they want Photo JPEG or Apple ProRes 422. But when I have a look in Blender I cannot find Photo JPEG and Apple ProRes. Are those codecs not supported ? If not, can you convert H.264 to those codecs (or is this a stupid question)?
I would prefer to do the video editing in Blender and not having to go to Adobe Premiere or whatever ...

After reading the comments I understand it is not possible to convert H.264 to the mentioned codecs. Is good open source software (OS X) available to produce either a Photo JPEG or Apple ProRes video based on the image sequence produced in Blender ?

In Blender choose Quicktime in the output section of the Render pane. Then you can click on "Codec" for a dropdown menu with a list of options.


How to put if condition for empty material index I need to have access to the active material and its nodes (if they exist), so I wrote this script that has a problem, when the object has no materials, when the object does not exist, and of course if the object is 'MESH' type

import bpy

ob = bpy.context.active_object
index = ob.active_material_index
mat = ob.material_slots[index].material
nodes = mat.node_tree.nodes
my_node = nodes.get("My node name")

if my_node:
    print("My node is inside!")
else:
    print("My node not inside!")

work only if object is not none, object is 'MESH' type and If inside have slot material.
else rightly give me that error:

IndexError: bpy_prop_collection[index]: index 0 out of range, size 0

I can't figure out how to assign variables in an if statement, because I know that in python you can't (I think)

You can find more info on if statements in Python here.

You can find a lot of useful information about bpy in Blender's Python console using the auto complete function (Ctrl+Space):

The script you are after could be something like this:

import bpy

obj = bpy.context.object
name = "My_node_name"
if obj is not None:
    if obj.type == 'MESH':
        if obj.active_material is not None:
            if obj.active_material.use_nodes:
                nodes = obj.active_material.node_tree.nodes
                if nodes.get(name) is not None:
                    print(name + " node is in the material's node tree.")
                else:
                    print(name + " node is not in the material's node tree.")
            else:
                print("Material does not ue nodes.")
        else:
            print("Object does not have an active material.")
    else:
        print("Object is not a mesh.")
else:
    print("There is no active object currently in the scene.")


Change length of motion track marker trails? I thought I had remembered there being an option to adjust the length (in frames) of the red and blue motion trails of the markers in the movie clip editor.  Does such an option exist?

Open the movie editor.

In 2.7x it is in the Marker Display panel.

In 2.8 you can find the Clip Display dropdown on the top right. Length is at the bottom left.


How to utilize the denoise passes to build a denoise node network in the compositor I've built custom denoising node networks before in houdini's compositor, using raw passes combined with noise reduction nodes, but I'm not sure how to utilize the various blender denoiser passes to clear up noise per render pass.

Is it even possible?  Any tips would be greatly appreciated as this would mean I could tweak denoising settings without having to re-render, and also that I could have different settings per pass, such as high denoising for the diffuse indirect pass, but not the reflection indirect pass for example.

Denoising Data Passes
The Denoising Data option in experimental builds and experimental render feature set currently enables some denoising passes, however they are meant to be for an animation denoising feature that is currently still being designed. They are not meant to be recombined or used for anything else then for the feature as you can see explained in the devtalk forums by Brecht Van Lommel:

It’s intended for the upcoming feature of animation denoising, where denoising happens in a post processing pass ones all the frames have been rendered. It doesn’t really have a purpose outside of that.

Removing Noise with Bilateral Blur Node using Compositing Nodes
It is however possible to remove some noise using compositing nodes.
That requires recombining the passes to the final result by adding direct and indirect, multiplying them by color and adding all of the results of this for Diffuse, Glossy, Transmission and Subsurface together. You would also need to add Emission and Environment. Color Mix Nodes can be used for this. See this image from https://en.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Render/Cycles/Passes:

To de-noise certain noisy passes you can use Bilateral Blur node. It blurs an image and uses a Determinator image to determine what edges not to blur. Basically the Determinator needs to be an image that has single solid colors or smooth gradients in the areas that need to be blurred, but if the areas differ in color and there is a sudden change on edges, they will be blurred separately and an edge between them will remain sharp. There are many ways to make this Determinator image so some testing and playing around to see what works better for your purpose will be needed, but you can add or subtract different kinds of passes to get it. Object and Material Index passes can be use for this. You can quickly give all materials and objects unique pass indices with Python:
import bpy

for i,m in enumerate(bpy.data.materials):
    m.pass_index = i
for i,o in enumerate(bpy.data.objects):
    o.pass_index = i

or you could set them manually as well.
You can sometimes use color passes as well to get good results. Normal pass is often very useful for this as well. See the documentation for Bilateral Blur node
You would also need to play around with the settings of Bilateral Blur nodes to see what works best in your case.
This would look something like this if done for indirect Glossy and Diffuse passes that happen to be the noisiest in my example scene:

Sometimes Direct passes may be noisy as well - you should see what the case is in your scenes.


(Blender Internal) How to apply chroma key to videos on a plane? I have these really cool green screen effects that can be applied to a plane (they are videos), but I need to chroma key the green out of it so it only has the effects themselves. How can I do this? Thanks!

This is a simple node setup in Blender's Compositor.  If you're unfamiliar with this part of Blender, leave a comment and I'll add step by step as to how to get into it.

If only wishing to remove the green and not overlay a background, i.e. have a video with just the effects, delete the BKD movie Node. Replace the Alpha Over Node with a "Set Alpha" node.  Connect it as shown below.

You'll end up with an alpha layered output.  If not needing the alpha layer, render in H264 AVI (RGB).  (or your favorite format)

If you do want the Alpha layer, you'll need to render the video as a series of Alpha layered .png images.  Make sure to create/select a special folder for these.  There'll be a lot!
These can be compressed into a single file for storage.

I've found it easier if the key colour isn't as bright as it's shown in the top pic.  (bottom of the keying node)

-=====-

Getting the resultant movies onto a plane -

Simply texture the plane using "Generated" mapping for starters to see how it goes.  You can revert to UV mapping if you prefer.

In the image properties "Image" tab, make sure to click on "Auto Refresh" so the movie or image sequence will play.


Continuous and coherent texture mapping on deforming objects I am new to Blender, and I am stuck with a problem in texture mapping.

I have got a series of model files (*.obj) that represents a non-rigid, deforming object. Each of the model file, represents an incremental deformation of the object and has been generated externally, using another software. These model files are textureless.

Here is an example:

I want to import these models into Blender sequentially (using Python), overlay a texture on them, add a background (and some lights) and export the complete animation. The texture that gets wrapped around the object is an image of 6000x4000 pixels.

However, the texture mapping is not working properly. It seems as if the texture is loosely overlaid on the object and the deformation makes the surface smoothly glide and slide beneath the texture. It is not what one would expect from a real world object.

If you look at the following images carefully, you might be able to notice the discrepancy:

Here is the script I am using to assign the texture:

realpath = os.path.expanduser("/path/to/some/image.jpg")
try:
    img = bpy.data.images.load(realpath)
except:
    raise NameError("Cannot load image %s" % realpath)

# Create image texture from image
cTex = bpy.data.textures.new('material1', type='IMAGE')
cTex.image = img

# Create material
mat = bpy.data.materials.new('material1')

# Add texture slot for color texture
mtex = mat.texture_slots.add()
mtex.texture = cTex
mtex.texture_coords = 'OBJECT'
mtex.bump_method = 'BUMP_BEST_QUALITY'
mtex.reflection_factor = 0.8
mtex.use_map_diffuse = True
mtex.use_map_color_diffuse = True
mtex.use_map_color_emission = True
mtex.emission_color_factor = 0.0
mtex.use_map_density = True
mtex.mapping = 'FLAT'

mat.diffuse_intensity = 0.8
mat.diffuse_shader = 'OREN_NAYAR'

Using

mtex.texture_coords = 'GLOBAL'

instead of 'OBJECT' helps a little, but the stretching and distortion of the texture looks unrealistic in the 'global' mode.

Please help me in figuring out the root cause behind the problem and how, if at all, can this be remedied.

If you want the texture to deform with the surface, you will have to use UV mapping. Every polygon corner gets assigned a location in UV (2D) space and textures use this information to map to surface. This mapping is not hard to create (see UV textures/ing tutorials), but it can be unique for every mesh, so the key is ensuring this UV mapping is the same in all your meshes.

There is a way to have only 1 mesh and to use all the others for creating mesh shape keys. You need Absolute shape keys that animate in a sequence. You do this by joining 2 meshes with Join as Shapes option. This way you can convert multiple meshes with the same vertex order into a single mesh with deformation animation.

In python with both selected and the target for animation active:

bpy.ops.object.join_shapes()

You might need to override the context.


Having troubles adding material to a subdivided face I am a beginner in 3D modeling so I thought I'd give my AC remote a try as a first model, so far so good but I got stuck when adding a material, when not using a subdivider it all sits good:

https://gyazo.com/dce43d0964e769bdc6fba36c61efba3b

but when I enable the subdivider it only applies it to a small portion of it:

https://gyazo.com/eb1f29c34168bbfa41bb491e4c365787

Is UV unwrapping the solution? I'm fairly new to this, have no idea how to approach this since I have many edge loops all over it to sharpen the subdivider, which leads me to another question, how do you deal with a mesh after adding edge loops after it? I have many vertices sitting on top of each other, which makes it nearly impossible to select the right connected ones..

Thanks in advance!

Unwrap doesn't affect the material. Apply the modifier then go to edit mode, select the faces what you want to assign with the second material and select the second material, then click on assign.


Mixing forward and inverse kinematics So I've made a simple, yet effective human rig with both arms and legs configured to use inverse kinematics (with an IK constraint, pole and target all set up).

This works fine for me and does the job, however, I prefer most of the time to mix forward kinematics and inverse kinematics to set up a pose. Is there a way I can be able to use my IK constraints for the rig's arms and then tweak it up a little rotating the actual arm's bones?

There is no built-in way to perform that task.

Many rigs provide python scripts that show panels in the 3dview for controls such as layer display and IK/FK switching, many also include scripts that snap IK bones to the position of FK bones and vice versa.

You can find the rigify scripts that are included with blender within the addons folder where you can look at how this can be achieved.

Most animators will tend to use one or the other depending on the actions being animated, keying the IK/FK influences on a transition frame when they change over. I believe you will find it difficult to be using both on every frame and only create extra work for yourself.


How to connect 2 meshes without messing up the textures? So, when I try to combine 2 different meshes by adding a Boolean modifier and then filling in the gaps by selecting vertices and pressing F, the textures get really messed up. There are a bunch of lines that cut through the rest of the texture that connect the 2 merged objects. How do I prevent this? I am using the old version of blender, by the way.

By "old version" I assume you mean 2.79?

What you're looking for is a UV seam. This will prevent the connecting mesh from insisting on bridging between your two original shapes directly, and allow you to position it individually.

For 2.79, select the edge between your connection and your original shape; then hit CTRL+E. You should have the option "Mark Seam" available. This should disconnect the UV map along the corresponding edge, so you can move its vertices independently of the others.

For further details, consider reading the documentation on it for 2.79.


It's possible to import and use Zbrush sculpt brushes into Blender? I was searching for good textures and brushes and i found that there's a pack of brushes of a worker of Blizzard that can be used in Blender, the ORB's textures brushes.

https://www.blendernation.com/2017/08/24/free-download-orbs-sculpt-brushes/

So, the thing is that there are a lot of textures out there exclusively for Zbrush instead of Blender, so, is there a way to use these Zbrush sculpt brushes in Blender?

..Or there's an addon that can enable that?

A person did this with the same pack you are talking about
http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/86419
Here's the link


How can you keyframe textures changing? I'm trying to figure out how I can keyframe a texture change. With three of my animations, it uses a default texture of the character smiling. For the Attack animation, my texture is the character showing his teeth in an angry way. Older guides I've come across suggest keyframing the textures. This doesn't appear to be an option anymore? Another one showed a Node setup where there was a Mix/Mix Factor, which again, is no longer available. It's just Mix Shader. If I can't keyframe textures changing, what setup could I use with the Nodes? Or is there an even simpler method available?

Thanks

There are multiple options:

you can animate the nodes in the material itself to mix multiple textures (animate factor of Color > Mix node):

put all your textures into a single image (image atlas). Then you can use the UV Warp modifier to translate the UV coordinates across the image atlas.

To control the modifier:

create an armature rig and animate the bone positions (as shown in this UV Warp tutorial)
create an integer custom property and use it to drive the bone/empty location in single axis. The image atlas should be an image strip with equally spaced images in this case. Then you keyframe the integer property that switches all the textures.


Is there a python api for texture painting? Is there a means to script texture painting (cloning) in blender. I will have three uv maps, one for front , one for side and one the unwrapped mesh. I want to clone texture from the front and the side into the unwrapped texture. Does the blender python api allow me to do that?

https://www.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_75_release/bpy.ops.paint.html

This official documentation has details on python api for all kinds of painting including texture painting.


Camera path contraints I am creating a path for the camera in a scene. I need the camera to follow a NurbsPath, and then half way through the path, it needs to track a certain standing object. In order to do that, I am using two different camera constrains. One is "follow track" that applies for the entire clip. The other one, is  "Track to” which take place in the later part of the clip. The problem is I can’t figure a way to do that smoothly. So far… I created two different clips (one with one constrain and the other with both) then created a third track between the camera position between the two. However, the results were not smooth and the camera swerved a lot in the middle clip
I wonder if you can come up with a better way of doing this.

Make sure the Track To constraint is below the Follow Path, this way if you enabled Follow curve in the Follow Path constraint, the Track To will override it, and you will be able to animate its influence:


Can't find Audiofile in the Filebrowser I've written a script which creates an an audio visualizer.

The python console gives me this error:

SyntaxError: (unicode error) 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes in position 2-3: truncated \UXXXXXXXX escape

location: <unknown location>:-1

I'm not able to find the audio file in Blender.

As it didn't work within the script I tried to import the audio via the File Browser, but as I tried to import the audio file from the File Browser, the File Browser also didn't show me the audio file at the location it was supposed to be at.

I'm sure it has to be Blender. I've found the file in every other application. (VLC, Windows Media player)

I found the problem.
I entered the error into google and found the solution. I used backslashes instead of just slashes. This was the cause of my error.

Sorry for waisting your time. I should have googled the error right away.

AliSot2000


Issue with Cloth and Hook Connection for Animation Apologies as I'm still fairly new to blender, but I'm learning fast!
I'm trying to animate this cable to be pulled tight when another object that it is attached to moves forward. I have a hook set-up but unfortunately, I cannot get it to move with the animation. I've tried reorganizing the modifiers as some forms have suggested but nothing seems to work. Here is a link to the blend file.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Your problem stems from the cloth physics cache only baking to frame 250, in the blend file you sent I increased this limit and now it stretches with the hook object as intended. I also did some complimentary mesh cleanup as many of your objects have bloated geometry and overlapping vertices. In future also remember to reset some value of your physics sim in order to reset and rebake it if you find things aren't changing.
Link to fixed blend file.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wwrORCaKK0TmbGw5CIhmpXpMH3zHCKp8/view?usp=sharing


Problem with the Rigging of legs, and it's doing stranger things! First of all, sorry for my bad english.
So I use blender for a few time, I rigged a lot of basic 3D model ( especially voxel character ), but this time i tried to create a real and professional rig.
So, here's my problem : when i create automatic rig, it rigs both legs, so if I move the feet... both legs move strangely.
I tried mutiple thing, like removing the mirror modifier of the mesh with the vertex group off, rigging with few basic bones, etc etc... but nothing works. It's my first time with this bug, so If anyone has a solucion, please can you help me xD. Thanks in advance.

The weight is bad, for example if I select this left leg bone, you can see that it affects the right leg, so you need to correct that:


Why is my Cycles shadow bake all black? I'm new to Blender and I'm trying to bake the shadows of an object. But each time I do, the bake turns out all black. Every other baking option (Ambient Occlusion, Combined, Normal, etc.) works fine.

thanks!

render passes:

The limitation of baking Shadows is the same currently as with rendering a Shadow Pass in Cycles. The Shadow Pass will only receive its contribution from Blender Lamps. It doesn't work currently with mesh lights, which you are using to emit light into your scene. Try adding a sunlamp just for testing purposes and check if the Shadow Pass then bakes as expected. In my tests here it did. If that works, replacing mesh lights with area lights might be the way to go for you.


Camera stuck in my character I have a character and i'm doing a rigging / skinning.  I don't know how it happened, but my view is now stuck in my Character.  I can't get out of it, either with my mouse or any View option.  I do have a camera in my scene and the problem is not related with it...

You can see the .blend file here:  http://dropcanvas.com/h5o5k

thanks a lot for your help

You have locked your camera to the character. Press N to open the properties shelf. Go to View panel and delete the name of the object under the Lock to Object header.


Problem with Scaling I am learning to make an alarm clock but the problem is my scaling is not happening like the one in the youtube video am learning from. My scaling was supposed to be like this  , but it's coming out like this, all selected lines r scaling together it seems

You have Proportional editing mode enabled !

In this particular case you probably don't want that when scaling.

Just to add: the keyboard short key for toggling Proportional editing on and off is the O key.


Linked Assets Missing Their Textures I'm working on a relatively large project and have several blend files with assets in addition to blend files with scenes. My folder structure is set up like below:
- Asset #1
     - Asset1.blend
     - [textures]
- Asset #2
     - Asset2.blend
     - [textures]
- ..Etc

And elsewhere:
- Scene1.blend
- Scene2.blend
- ..Etc

I need to be able to transfer all of these between computers so I'd like to keep using relative paths for textures in each of the asset files if I can.
When I link Asset 1 into Scene1.blend, however, the textures used in Asset 1 are missing. I can only presume this is because Blender is searching for the files using the relative paths listed in Asset1.blend, but using Scene1.blend as the "root" location.
Is there a way to make sure linked assets use the linked file's directory when searching for textures?
If not, should all asset textures be packed? Should there be one master folder with all textures that can be relinked easily with Find Missing Files? Or is there a different/better way to approach this and structure these files?

Yes you can. You can also pack the textures inside the blend file itself. All of these options are available in File>>ExternalData>>
(note: I'm on 2.9 alpha, can have slightly lesser options in previous versions)
See the following image:


Is it possible for a emission shader not to cast shadows? Is there an option, like on lights sources, to tell the object that has an emission shader to not cast shadows in the scene?

Simply go to the object panel on the right, scroll down to the Ray Visibility panel, and uncheck "Shadow". Note that this will apply to the entire object, not just the material.


Why should triangle meshes be avoided for character animation? I've read many times that triangles should be avoided in meshes, too give one reference: "Introducing Character Animation with Blender by Tony Mullen" says that equilateral triangles work fine as long you don't deform them.
It seems to be common in game development that the models are triangulated.

What issues are introduced by using triangles?
Does the same apply for n-gons?

Rather than thinking of limitations with using triangles (I think this is an over simplification of the topic), you need to understand common workflows that take advantage of quad-dominant meshes.

adding and removing edge loops (to increase or remove detail)
using loops to better define features of the mesh (such as facial features, around eyes etc).
operations on faceloops and edge-loops that speed up selection loop selecting, loop sliding for example.
operations on grids. ripping & grid-fill for example.
better deformation with shape keys (a lot could be written on this, read up on mesh topology, facial shapes, deformation).
better subsurface results (edge loops along important features of the form allow your to use creases too).

However in a specific situation you may find it's not a problem to have a 100% triangle mesh so don't be single minded about this.

Instead of defining triangle meshes as bad, try to learn to use these tools and you'll better understand why in most cases, triangle heavy meshes are not ideal for character animation.


How does Blender deal with partially textured .obj object? I have a .obj file that specifies a partially textured object. More specifically, not all vertices have UV coordinates (that is, I have more v entries than vt entries in my .obj).

The face entries f look like this.

f 2045/631 2164/742 2119/700
f 2119/700 2164/742 2165/743
f 2259/834 2120/701 2165/743
f 2165/743 2120/701 2119/700
f 2260 2261 2259
f 2259 2261 2120
f 2205 2262 2124

As you can see, some faces are textured, while others are not.

My model looks reasonable in MeshLab -- it has some faces with texture and some textureless faces.

However, when I import the .obj file into Blender, the faces that are supposed to be textureless have a texture, which is the entire texture map. Why is this happening, and how can I stop this behavior?

My solution to this would be to move all the uv coordinates of the non uv-mapped faces to the very same point.

Having a few pixels set to the color that you want your mesh to be and putting your uvs there instead can be a way to get rid of unwanted colors.


How do i add the render layers node? its not there at all. In fact there are no nodes How do i add the render layers node? its not there at all. In fact there are no nodes

As you can see there is literally no nodes even though i zoomed out a lot of times.

In this case, (and anytime you have missing nodes mostly) you have to tell blender that you want to use nodes. Simply click the button that says use nodes in the top of the workspace.


Cloth collision error with rigid body What is wrong with animation, when object and cloth falling?

In the CLOTH Object Collisions, you need to set an appropriate "Distance".  You probably have this set too large


How do I render a background image as a sky in blender 2.7x I followed a blender 2.5 tutorial for rendering a background image as a sky. It does not work in blender 2.7.

Tutorial link: http://vimeo.com/18689703

Here are a couple of pictures of what happens.

The sky appears around the rendered scene instead of appearing as an actual sky inside the rendered scene.

The rendered image's sky only appears as the gray shaded sky. The image of the sky that I tried to add does not appear as if it is a real sky in the rendered scene.

I want the sky to appear like this:

Sky inside the rendered scene instead of around it.

For Blender Render you set the transparency in the shading panel.


Speed control works on small video, not on large I am trying to speed up the video on a 17 minute (2.1GB) clip I recorded on my phone (29.97 FPS,  1920x1080, total bitrate >17000 kbps in case it matters).

I selected the video strip, then did Add -> Effect Strip -> Speed Control, and from the speed strip's Effect Strip configuration, I have tried both leaving Stretch to input strip length checked and setting Multiply Speed: 10.0 and I have tried unchecking the checkbox and setting Speed factor: 1.0, Multiply Speed: 10.0. In both cases, when I preview my updated settings and when I try to render a portion of it (around 30 seconds) to a video, the output is still the original speed.

However, I tried doing the exact same process on a different video clip (same framerate, resolution, and bitrate) that is only ~30 seconds long (50MB), and it works as I expect.

Using Blender v2.79 on Windows, is there something I need to do differently to edit larger files like this? Or is there some preprocessing I need to do to the file?

For whatever reason, the preview and the rendered short clips were played in realtime (1x), but when I ran the whole rendering, the result was sped up (10x) as I wanted -- so effectively, my problem was that I simply didn't commit to the full rendering job. I had hoped that a short render would confirm in minutes what the full, lengthy job would produce.

During my playing around with it, I tried @3pointedit's suggestion to break the clip into frames, which also worked. For other users new to Blender, what I did was first open the Properties window, ensure PNG was selected (at the bottom of this image), set my output path (I left it at the default of /tmp\), then clicked Render (top of the image):

Then from a new project, in the Video Sequence Editor, I clicked Add -> Image, browsed to my temp directory, and selected all images. As a new user, the Blender UI is very unintuitive, and with tens of thousands of frames, I can't drag to select them all -- you have to hit a (NOT CTRL+ a) to select all of them. Then they're loaded together as a single strip which can be manipulated like a video.


z coordinate of empty object won't export when exporting the object to directx I am curerntly modeling a scene that has an empty object because I want to spawn something at the position of the empty object. However when I export the scene with the empty object to directx , only the x and y coordinates appear to be exported but not the z. coordinate. Can anyone tell me why this is the case?

You may simply need to apply your transformations.  You can look at your viewport shelf by hitting your N key to see if this needs to be done. See below for images regarding both.

To check and see if you need to apply any transformations, you can select the object in blender and then hit the N key to open/close the shelf.  It should look like this across the board:

If any of the numbers in these fields are different from the numbers in the image above, transformations have not been applied.

You can apply all of your transformations (Scale changes, rotation changes, etc) by having the object selected in Blender and hitting CTRL+A to open the Apply menu and clicking "All Transformations".

Alternatively, if it is simply a translation problem between Blender and DirectX, this may fix the problem.  During your export process

If these simple solutions aren't the answer for you, it may be something you need to adjust for when you export, but the options you have in the export process differ depending on the file type and I'm not familiar with the .X format or what sort of options you have for it specifically.


Cut out shape in mesh without messing up the mesh completely! I need to add holes for some connectors to my mesh. But, Boolean modifier messes up the mesh, as does bool tools. I have looked at several youtube vids but haven't seen one yet that can make a hole like this without screwing up the topology.

Here is what I am trying to model.

Here is what happens with Boolean modifier:

And here is the mesh after

Here is the blend file:

You'll want to use custom normals. Blender has a data transfer modifier which allows you, among many other things, to copy normals from one mesh to another.

Keep your untouched mesh as the source for the normals and make a copy of it.
For the copy, add the boolean modifier or whatever you want to use to cut it.
On the copy, in the Data Tab, turn on Auto Smooth and click Add Custom Split Normals Data. We do that to allow the use of custom normals.
Add a Data Transfer modifier to the copy. Set the untouched source as the modifiers' Source Object. Turn on face corner data, and in the dropdown menu right to that, select Projected Face Interpolated.
Finally you can apply the data transfer modifier and delete the normals' source model.


Difference between instance object and object in dependency graph I started scripting in Blender not long ago. Even though I have read the API about the dependency graph I still have a question: What is the difference between an instance_object and a "normal" object in the dependency graph?

Following code is from template operator_modal_view3d_raycast.py

  def visible_objects_and_duplis():
    """Loop over (object, matrix) pairs (mesh only)"""

    depsgraph = context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()
    for dup in depsgraph.object_instances:
        if dup.is_instance:  # Real dupli instance
            obj = dup.instance_object
            yield (obj, dup.matrix_world.copy())
        else:  # Usual object
            obj = dup.object
            yield (obj, obj.matrix_world.copy())

The difference between a copied object and an instance is that the copied object is a separate entity that can have its properties, materials, modifiers etc. adjusted without affecting the object it was copied from. Instances of an object are practically identical except for their location, scale and rotation. Changes to the object affect all instances of it. For example a particle system that uses Render As: Object creates instances of an object for every generated particle.

The following ways exist to create instances of objects:

Particles based on objects
Creating collection instances
Instancing of a child object at vertices of the parent
Instancing of a child object at faces of the parent

You can test this yourself by running the following script in the Scripting workspace. It will print the instances and objects that are present in the scene.

import bpy

depsgraph = bpy.context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()
for dup in depsgraph.object_instances:
    if dup.is_instance:  # Real dupli instance
        obj = dup.instance_object
        print(f"Instance: {obj.name}")
    else:  # Usual object
        obj = dup.object
        print(f"Object: {obj.name}")
print("---")

More information about this topic can be found in the manual.


Custom Fresnel Node for Specular Workflow In this video CynicatPro talks about the Specular Workflow that should be of interest especially for game developers. First he starts with constructing a custom Fresnel node (using the Physically-Based Fresnel node developed in an earlier video).

In this custom Fresnel node he includes a group of nodes to remove the lowest fresnel reflection (F0). Why is it so important to remove this lowest reflection ? I mean why is this relevant especially for game developers ?

Secondly, this Metallic Rim ... is this because metallic rim can have a color different from the normal reflection ?

Basically I want to understand WHY he first creates a Physically-Based Fresnel node and then sort of "destroys" this Fresnel node to have the advantages of a specular slider.

Also why is this Specular Workflow especially important for game developers ? What would be the relevance for other artists ?

EDIT: I think it is not very clear what my question is about. I think I understand why CynicatPro makes this custom Fresnel node. He wants to have the full specular range from black to white. Therefore he wants to remove the lowest reflections at F0. I get that. But now - in my eyes it is not a physically-based fresnel node anymore. So my question is why would you want that ? And why would this be important for game developers and not for other artists ?

What is specular workflow for game developers?

A workflow in a game engine determines what kind of textures you need. In the specular workflow you need a "specular texture", which controls the color and strength of specular reflections. See for example this Unity documentation.

How is this relevant for Cycles users?

3D painting tools (like Substance Painter) can export specular textures, and one might want to use these textures in Cycles. Another usage is that this way you can control the reflectivity with some procedural noise, simulating dust, scratches, rust, dirt etc. (If you simply use the "physically correct" Fresnel to control reflectivity, you lose the ability to manually control it).

Why is it so important to remove this lowest reflection?

It is removed so that later the reflection can be fully controlled with the specular map. The original Fresnel group always has some F0, while we want zero F0 for a black specular texture.

Can a metallic rim have a color different from the normal reflection?

Yes. The full theory is presented here: http://jcgt.org/published/0003/04/03/paper-lowres.pdf

In this paper the metallic rim is more or less a brightened version of the base color, however in the video CynicatPro already did a brightening when he mixed with white in the Fresnel effect. Physically the metallic rim is also part of Fresnel (it occurs because the red, green, blue components of light have different Fresnel curves).

Are there good alternatives?

Yes, for example here there is a PBR shader that uses a "metallic" workflow, and soon Cycles should have a built-in "Disney shader", also with metallic control. (There are already builds with this feature on http://graphicall.org/)

Where can I learn more?

Andrew "Blender Guru" Price also has some video tutorials about PBR materials where he explains CynicatPro's nodes, maybe it is more understandable for you.


Rigging a humanoid problem: Parenting with automatic weights twists legs around This is what my humanoid mesh looks like:

As you can see, after parenting the mesh with the armature, the legs twist around while other parts of the body look correct. Is this related to the roll of the lower leg bone? Recalculating the rolls yields different, but incorrect results.

There are pole targets in front of the lower leg bones, I have adjusted the pole angle visible in screenshot 3 to get a correct a bending of the knee, but the mesh is still deformed.

Actually, I did get the mesh to look correct by correcting the pole angles of the lower leg bones, but then the bending of the knee is incorrect

Could somebody guide me in the right direction?

I found a solution:

BEFORE applying the armature to the mesh, I moved the leg bones so they wouldn't be completely straight and would have a slight bend in the direction the knee should move after being applied. After that, it was a matter of adjusting the pole angles.


How to re-render specific view layers? I have a scene split into several view layers. They are rendered separately and then put together in the compositor.

I would like to re-render only some specific view layers, not all of them. How can I do this in 2.8x?

How about one at a time using "Render Single Layer" check box? Or simply deselect the "Use for Rendering" from the layers you don't want to re-render.


How restore the right normal-axis once for all faces? I try to study Blender, especially in connection with the collaboration of Blender and After Effects.
My question, as it can be seemed for you, is to simple or obvious, but I can't  find answer.

So, I have some lowpoly mesh (consist of few faces). Then I split this mesh on separated faces - each face is a separated object.
I need to restore right orientation of norma axis for each face - with the normal axis coinciding with Z-axiz (perpendicular to the surface of a face).

When I create a new mesh/plane and turn on "Transform orientation" - "Normal" - Z-axis is perpendicular to the surface of this plane and X,Y-axis lie in a plane.

When I separate some lowpoly mesh on faces - I can restore a center of mass for each faces ("Origin to Geometry" once for all faces), but I can not restore a normal-axis for all separated faces - when I go to the Edit mode I see the so necessary for me right normal-axis (perpendicular to the surface), when I return to the Object mode - normal-axis has a different orientation.

How can I restore the right normal-axis once for all faces? (may be, some script needed).

Thanks.

This is only sort of possible. The normal of an object is kept when you separate it. However, even if you have a one-faced object, blender will not allow you to move the object based on its normals, because most objects have more than one face, which means the direction of motion would be conflicting.

You can move faces by their normal in edit mode though.

Simply change the transform orientation to "normal", go in edit mode Tab and you can transform by the normals.

In the image below, I started with a sphere, and separated out a face. I then went into edit mode on that face, and changed the transform orientation to that normal. Now I can move according to that normal.


Cannot figure out rigid bodies. Can anyone help? I am trying to learn rigid body physics in Blender. I setup a simple test enviroment with two cubes and a plane and am trying to get the cubes to get one cube to push the other cube respectively. I have both objects set to mesh, deform, and animate, just as it says on all of the tutorials where it looks so simple. But, nothing ever happens no matter what I do. I have tried applying all transforms to everything. Can anyone take a look at the file and tell me what I need to do? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfvjqytjbg8e8p6/RigidTest.blend?dl=0

I got it to work. Some how removing the default rigid body world and applying a new one did the trick, along with unchecking the animated box for the object being pushed.


Red line from Shader node to Color Ramp I was following a tutorial in order to learn nodes for 2.8. When this line turned red and made the entire thing pink (missing textures). Does anyone know how to prevent this?

In the latest builds of Blender 2.8, the node editor has been enhanced to highlight some links in red to indicate that they are invalid connections. In this particular case, you're using a Mix Shader node to mix colors - you should instead be using a MixRGB node for this; the Mix Shader should only be used to connect to Green sockets.

In general, you should only connect 'like for like' - ie, green to green, grey to grey, yellow to yellow, etc. There are exceptions to this and Blender can automatically convert between some types - eg, connecting a Scalar (Grey) socket to a Color (Yellow) will automatically generate a greyscale color. Similary, connecting a Color (Yellow) to a Scalar (Grey) will average all the color channels together as (r+g+b)/3 to use the result.

However, Green represents a shader output - which is more than just a surface color and cannot be automatically converted - so connecting one of those to another color is not valid. Previously Blender would allow this without warning and simply produce an invalid result, but the Node Editor has now been enhanced to warn of such invalid connections by highlighting the link in Red.


Blender UV unwrap making too many islands I am trying to unwrap the UVs on this object and have marked the seems so there should be 4 islands, however once I click the "unwrap" button Blender seems to make several extra islands, some of which are only one face. I have checked to make sure there is no non-manifold geometry and there is none.

If it matters, I have been 3D modelling for a few years but have only recently picked up Blender. I am more used to unwrapping in Maya but would like to learn Blender. I have tried googling for this issue and have only found tutorials on UV unwrapping, none of which address this specific issue.

Attached is a picture of the model with transparency on so you can see the marked seems, and then a picture of the UVs made after clicking unwrap, I spread them out a bit just so you can see how many small ones there are.

Thanks in advance.

It isn't that you have non-manifold geometry, it is that the UV seams "cut" the mesh into pieces.

You need to find the separated faces on the mesh and remove the seam from one of the edges so it stays connected.

With both the UV/Image editor and 3D view visible, enable the sync selection option so that the two editors use matching selections. Then Select the UV islands so you can see them on your model and clear some seams to keep them connected to the rest of the mesh.


How do I mirgrate all image textures to a different folder? I imported an .OBJ that has large amount of image textures onto my desktop but I don't want to keep them there as I want to place the textures into the another folder.

Do I have to manually reassign every texture or is there a better way to change the location of a large amount of texture images?

If you don't have many Wavefront materials and you are copying all images from the same location to another location (also same for all pictures), open the .mtl file and replace all texture paths manually. You can try to speed this process up by using well-placed replace commands.

Otherwise, you'll need to write a script that reads all the path and edits them manually.

Read the file line-wise
Split each line by space. The first sub string will be the command
on "map_kd" and other map commands, read the rest of the string a path.
Edit the path. In Java you move a path path from path from to path to with the following code: to.resolve(from.toAbsolutePath().relativize(path));
Overwrite the line

You can also import the file as is if the program you used for importing supports moving source files.

And don't forget:

Always back up your files!


How do I correct input videos that are flipped upside down in blender video edit mode I just decided to give blender a try as a video editing tool. I have around 60 small clips that I want to mix together. I took these with my phone. The videos show correctly in other video players such as VLC. However in blender input panel all the thumbnails for these serries of videos is upside down and when I place any of those videos in the timeline they show upside down as well. Here is an screenshot of what it looks like:

Please show me a way to flip these back to the correct orientation. I hope there is an easy way to do this because as I mentioned there are around 60 video clips that are like this.

That's actually pretty easy. In the sequencer editor, select your strip and hit N to display the sidebar on the right. Under Adjust / Transform, check Mirror X and Mirror Y.

However, that will only work for the active strip (the last selected one). If you want to do this with all your strips at once, you can "group" them in a Meta Strip (Ctrl+G), then do the Mirror on that Meta Strip.