Camera Prespective under Animation screen layout showing mirror Image Under Animation Screen layout when I position camera towards my model and render the image.It's not as I expected.

Example: Suppose If I lift my right leg,in Rendered Image it's showing as left leg. Further if I need to see right body of my model I need to place camera on left side.Help me in rectifying it.

If you mark this question as duplicate please guide me to the correct answer i.e. share link of it if you knew. Thanks in advance.

I think you may have accidentally scaled your camera to a negative number. With the camera selected, open up the properties panel with N and see if the camera's scale is anything smaller then 0.

If you have scaled the camera, then just make the X axis a positive number again, and your render will work as excepted.

There really is no reason to have the camera scaled to anything but 1, except if you are looking to flip the image. However if a three axis have a negative number, after changing the camera's scale you will have to reposition the camera.


Making a six-part mould- Cutting by planes I'm new to blender and hope someone can help. I want to make a six-part-Mould. Therefore I created three planes exactly shaped as I need them to be. Now I have problems creating the Mould-parts using boolean modifiers. Please see the images attached. Am I on the right path or is there a much better way to cut the cube into pieces then by adding the right selection of boolean modifiers?

My goal is to first cut the cube into six pieces, the filling of the cut surface has to be in the exact shape of the plane. Next step would be to cut out the object out of each cube. What I have then should look similar to image 1, on every cube.

What I tried exactly:
unsuccessful one (image 3)

Boolean - Intersect with axial Plane (B-Mesh)
Boolean - Intersect with second plane (Carve)
Boolean - Difference with object I want to cut out (B-Mesh)

Successful one (image 4)

Boolean - Difference with object I want to cut out (B-Mesh)
Boolean - Difference with axial Plane (Carve)
Boolean - Difference with third plane (carve)

So I do not really understand what happens, why one works and the other fails.

I would be very happy if someone responds to my problem. I could also upload the blender-file. (is there a way to upload it in this forum?)
Thank you in advance!

Image 1: Two-Part Mould I made yesterday (to give you a better understanding about my goal)

Image 2: The cube with the three planes

Image 3: Unsuccessful part

Image 4: Successful part

The question is simple but the answer is a bit complex.

How does boolean modifier work

The boolean modifier can do 3 boolean operations between 2 solid objects.
They are simple and fully described here.
The point I want to focus to is that they both need to be solid. They cannot be a cube and a plane, because the operations (union, difference and intersection) operate on volumes, not on faces/edges/vertices.

In my example the situation is simple, because I'm going to use only one plane. To do it in your case you will need to repeat this instructions recursively for every cut.

Extruding planes to give them a volume and using the Boolean modifier

This image shows a cube and a plane.

I want to use the plane as a "blade" to cut the cube in two parts.
So I select the plane and go to edit-mode:

I extrude it to have a volume that completely covers one of the two parts of the cube:

I go back to object-mode, hide (presing H) the extruded plane, I select the cube and add a boolean modifier to it.
In the modifier settings i choose the extruded plane as the "Object" I want to use to do the boolean.

As "Operation" I can choose "Difference" to obtain one of the two parts:

...or the "Intersection" to obtain the other part:

To have them both I need to duplicate the cube and apply the "Difference" boolean modifier to the first and the "Intersection" to the other.

You'll need to do this steps with the first part to divide the first object in two, and then to repeat them recursively on the pieces you obtained to divide them again, until you have all the pieces.

I know it's a struggle, but I don't know other ways to do this.


How to create a rotation in local space that is equivalent to the rotation in world space? Say I have a quaternion rotation in the world space, and I need an object to rotate according to that rotation, however, that object has its own axis. What sort of operations would I need to perform to get the rotation in that objects space?
Asking because rotations when performing manual rotations with a path curve, and a bone, the bone rotations shows a different quaternion to the path, however I know the path is correct, so I assume it has to do with the bones axis or roll or local space.
Edit.
An image.

Edit 2.
Tried bone constraint.

Edit 3.
Desired result with bone constraint.

I basically need to get this result in script.
I've tried decomposing the matrix of the bone and multiplying an additional rotation matrix, however that didn't work. I'm not sure if I'm on the right track, but here's what I did:
rot_mat = Quaternion([0.8223, -0.0175, 0.4313, -0.3707]).to_matrix().to_4x4()
orig_loc, orig_rot, orig_scale = shoulder_bone.matrix.decompose()
orig_loc_mat = Matrix.Translation(orig_loc)
orig_rot_mat = orig_rot.to_matrix().to_4x4()
orig_scale_mat = Matrix.Scale(orig_scale[0],4,(1,0,0)) * Matrix.Scale(orig_scale[1],4,(0,1,0)) * Matrix.Scale(orig_scale[2],4,(0,0,1))
#Is this what it means to apply rotation before original?
shoulder_bone.matrix_world = orig_loc_mat * rot_mat * orig_rot_mat * orig_scale_mat

Transforms, as shown, are local transforms, not world transforms.  So yes, you can very easily have two orientations that have the same numbers, but different orientations.
The easiest way to copy a world-space orientation is to use a copy rotation constraint-- either a bone constraint or an object constraint, depending on what you want constrained-- in world->world space, obviously.  That way, Blender does the math for you.
Constraints won't show up in the transform channel; they use the transform channels as inputs that they modify.  If you want, you can make a constraint "real" by selecting the constrainted object and using the "apply visual transform" operation (from the ctrl a menu for me, in either object or pose mode depending on the type of constraint.)  After applying visual transform, you can delete the constraint, or leave it if you'd prefer.
If you're interested in the pure math associated with this, I would recommend reading (and understanding) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix .  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basis_(linear_algebra) may also be useful.


How do you rig eyeballs without affecting the rest of the face? I have a human mesh in blender. It's rigged.
I use it in Unreal Engine.
Works fine.
Now I want to have bones to rotate the eyeball(s).

But right now it rotates the eyeball AND part of my face.

So how do I make a bone only affect the eyeball?

All are separate objects (body, eye.r, eye.l).

Sorry, maybe it's due to my lack of correct vocabulary, but I really cannot find a solution. Been trying and googling for days.

Thanks in advance for any hint!
D.D.

Here's my workflow for eyes:
First clean any weight paint of your eye bone from your face mesh.
If I understood it correctly face mesh is connected to the eyes? If that's the case then select face in object mode > Edit mode > select eye faces > ctrl + I > H, this will hide everything except eye(s).

Select bone of an eye in pose mode > Ctrl + tab.
Now we have to apply our selection from edit mode.

Click on the second from the right side icon.

Weight paint whole eye with value 1(red). This creates vertex group with weights for my eye bone.

Hope this helps.


How to fix warped orthographic views in 2.8 I recently started practice face modeling, something simple, and I use an image reference because later on I’ll be doing full body models. However, I have an issue with the views in blender. Below is my model, one part in orthographic, and the two images on the sides in perspective. Is there a way to fix this in preferences? I’ve been getting a lot of results saying to change to viewport focal length, and when I attempt that, it only seems to work in the camera and not the entire workspace

Do you mean this? Ortho in each editor?

press Num 5 (switch persp/ortho) in each view
for Camera view you have to select Camera and go into Properties editor > Camera Data > Lens and switch to Orthographic type

Alternatively you can disable Auto switch (persp/ortho) under User Preferences > Navigation that keeps set view type.

Edit
To make Perspective view less deformed change Focal lenght in *3D view editor Properties (N)> View to something like 200.


Bone selection hidden in side view I am using Rigify and created an armature. If I select anything on the left side of the body (arm or leg bones) thee selection is not visible in the side/right view. What could cause this? I tried selecting all, hiding and then unhiding all.

Following the question, its comments and the answer from the OP, my though is this is not the axis mirror which leads to the situation (or please @BenMora explain a bit more).

Here is a setting with an operator derived from the script templates.

It's showing in blue the faces index, in green edges index and in red the index of vertices. We are here in face selection mode, but the same occurs whatever the mode is.

Element's index is a way to identify it in the mesh. To be simple, it is an integer designing the element (in a separated range for vertices, edges and faces).

What is happening here (experimental conclusions):

In wireframe mode, Blender draws following the index. So bigger index is drawn over the smaller one.

And this is visibly the same for armatures.

To tell the truth, before this question, I've never noticed it... but thinking about it, I'm quite sure this is a wanted behavior for performance reason... maybe.

Please comment if this is to report to the Foundation in the bug tracker.


How to spin a curve to create a surface using python script? I am new to Blender. I need to spin a curve around the z-axis to create an arbitrary surface as shown below:

I have successfully implemented spinning using bmesh. It seems I have to create an object possessing mesh as defined in bmesh. Is there any other way to do this spinning process using python script? My current code to generate curve is similar to [Ref].
Thank you.

EDIT1:
If anyone can do this without using screw? Or how to use screw modifier to spin around an arbitrary axis in python script?

Screw the curve too.

Similarly to creating with bmesh

import bpy

def poly(x):
    return   0.2 * x * x - x + 3

cu = bpy.data.curves.new("poly", 'CURVE')
cu.dimensions  = '3D'
bez = cu.splines.new('BEZIER')
pts = [(poly(z), 0, z) for z in range(10)]
flat = [p for pt in pts for p in pt]
s = cu.splines.new('BEZIER')
s.bezier_points.add(len(pts) - 1)
# set the points in one fell swoop
s.bezier_points.foreach_set("co", flat)
# doesn't seem to work for handles so set them in loop
for bp in s.bezier_points:
    bp.handle_left_type = bp.handle_right_type = 'AUTO'

# lazy way to add curve object
bpy.ops.curve.primitive_bezier_curve_add()
ob = bpy.context.object
ob.data = cu

# default screw modifier spins 360 on z
screw = ob.modifiers.new("Screw", 'SCREW')


Why are anti-aliased normals so rough on polygon faces? Smoothed the mesh normals. Put Auto Smooth normals at 30 degrees. But these stripes - I don't understand why they appear. Maybe someone knows how to smooth them out and why are they so rough? ?

Why do your smooth shaded normals look so funny on this shape?  Because of the triangulation of long trapezoids.
Here's how Blender determines your per-sample normals: A) It calculates face normals (from the average plane of the face, for a quad.)  B) It calculates vertex normals from the face normals.  C) Then, very importantly, it triangulates the mesh (this is why a wireframe shaders shows triangles on a quad mesh).  D) Finally, it interpolates your vertex normals across each face to find the normal of each particular sample.
But let's look at what happens when we triangulate your mesh (using fixed triangulation, which is Blender's default method):

So first, be aware that when I triangulate, I'm going to get slightly different normals, because then I'm doing C before A or B.  I've left a copy of the untriangulated mesh in the upper left corner of the matcap view so you can see that the normals of the original still display triangulation.
But look at the triangulation: I'm left with these long skinny triangles, of uneven size.  For each sample inside each of those faces, I'm only interpolating from the 3 vertex normals composing that face.  The vertex normals are smooth throughout the mesh, but the triangulated mesh is not smooth-- the faces are of uneven size.  And so the per-sample normals are not smooth.  As we move our gaze across the object, the normals change rapidly then slowly, rapidly then slowly.
And this will persist even as we do procedural subdivision-- even as we subdivide, we maintain long, trapezoidal faces.
This is why one of the rules of good topology is, evenly sized square quads-- square in aspect and angle.  Is that doable for interesting meshes?  No, but it can be approached.  (This is one of the lesser appreciated rules of good topology, and I'm grateful for this SE question because it gives the simplest demonstration of it that I've seen.)
Okay, so then the next question is, how can we fix this?  By making our faces more square.  We're kind of stuck with trapezoids if we want to make this dish shape-- we can't get rid of the trapezoids without turning it into a cylinder.  But we can make them more square in aspect by adding loop cuts:

Upper left has our original mesh with subdivision level 1.  Lower right has our original mesh with two loop cuts to make our faces more square, and subdivision level 1.  Looks a lot better to me!  Of course, if you look more closely, you'll see triangulation-- unfortunately, triangulation is a fact of life in 3D rendering, and the only fix is lots of vertices.
Note: the problem here is a problem with interpolation of vertex data.  If we want to normal map this mesh, we don't have to worry about its actual normals, vertex or interpolated, because we're going to be overriding them anyways with arbitrary, per-sample normals.  (Although we will want to explicitly triangulate our low-poly, or else make sure our ultimate rendering engine triangulates in the same way as Blender, since those normals are specified relative to the interpolated normals, and those interpolated normals depend on exactly which way we triangulate our mesh.)


Getting the list of points that describe a Curve without converting to mesh I've used mathutils.geometry.interpolate_bezier() in the past to create points for a curve using the bezier handle and knot coordinates.

from the docs:

  interpolate_bezier(knot1, handle1, handle2, knot2, resolution)

My question is; given an existing curve in the scene, is there a neat way to get at the points that describe the curve without converting it to a mesh, or figuring out which handle (left or right) to use for each spline point.

curve = bpy.data.curves[0].splines[0]
curve.bezier_points[0].co
curve.bezier_points[0].handle_left
curve.bezier_points[0].handle_right

The parameters can be found by taking the coordinate and right handle of a point, and the coordinate and left handle of the next point in the bezier points array.

For cyclic curves the last point and the first point in the array form an extra segment.

spline = bpy.data.curves[0].splines[0]

if len(spline.bezier_points) >= 2:
    r = spline.resolution_u + 1
    segments = len(spline.bezier_points)
    if not spline.use_cyclic_u:
        segments -= 1

    points = []
    for i in range(segments):
        inext = (i + 1) % len(spline.bezier_points)

        knot1 = spline.bezier_points[i].co
        handle1 = spline.bezier_points[i].handle_right
        handle2 = spline.bezier_points[inext].handle_left
        knot2 = spline.bezier_points[inext].co

        _points = mathutils.geometry.interpolate_bezier(knot1, handle1, handle2, knot2, r)
        points.extend(_points)


How can I make a wrought iron basket? I'm want to know how to make something like the wrought iron shapes as shown in the picture.

You can do this by using modifiers on a very simple mesh. This is the result:

Because of the complexity of this I have given general steps, which will be helpful to most people, and included the blend file at the end if there is still confusion:

Add a single vertical edge which is the height of the required basket. The origin (orange dot) is set away from the edge as it is about this point that the edge will be rotated later:

A Subsurf modifier is added, set to 'simple' subdivision to give the edge enough detail to twist. Because this mesh is so simple you can set it to something unusually high, like 5 subdivisions.
A Simple Deform modifier is added, set to twist. Increase the deform angle to twist the mesh as much as you require and adjust the limits so the ends aren't included in the twisting:

An Array modifier is added to repeat the single twisted piece of iron as many times as needed. An empty is used to control the rotation of the array - it is placed at the object origin and rotated on it's 'Z' axis (a rotation of 51.42 for an array set to 7, or 360/Array Count):

A Lattice modifier with 6 'v' divisions is added to scale up the middle and scale down the ends of the basket. The lattice is connected to the basket with the 'Lattice' modifier - scaling and moving the vertices of the lattice (in edit mode of the lattice object) will warp the basket. Here I have scaled up only the middle vertices, causing the basket to bulge:

A Skin modifier is added to give thickness to all the edges. If the 'skin' is too thick then Tab into edit mode, select all the vertices of the basket mesh and press Ctrl+A to scale it up or down:

This is the final order of modifiers:

All modifiers can now be applied if you wish or you can just leave them all active.

Further modifiers can also be added such as a bevel modifier for beveled edges or an additional Subsurf modifier to smooth things out.

Because of the complexity of this setup I have included the blend file here:


How will Blender work on the Microsoft Surface Book? How will Blender work on the Microsoft Surface Book? I'm not looking for benchmark numbers but for user experiences with this software/hardware combination. Thanks

I'm using Blender on my Surface Book since several weeks, it runs without any problems and it's very fast. By Preferences -> System -> DPI you can increase the Interface Size. I prefer 140 DPI and everything looks great on the Surface Screen.


Blender Graph editor Continuos animation How can we get a continuous progress(nonstop) rather than a cycle, for example, one has to move from one point to another.

To create a continuous line (rather than between two points) you can add an F-curve Modifier - see https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/editors/graph_editor/fcurves/modifiers.html

The Generator modifier allows you define the relationship between X and Y to generate the required graph. In your case you want polynomial order of 1 so it is of the form y = mx + c - ie, a straight line with the gradient m and cutting through the y-axis at c.


Can't see part of the mesh in object mode I'm following the book Introduction to Character Animation in Blender. I stopped a long time ago and now I'm starting again so I'm confused about many things. I know you unhide with Alt+H but that doesn't work. I've read a few threads I found on Google but I could not find the solution. I'm linking to my file so you can look at it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B85i1BKJ9r96dWMzREhoNzZUbjg/view?pref=2&pli=1

EDIT: I also can't see the texture I added to the head material. I thought it was because the path to the image had changed, but no. In an earlier version of the file I can fix it by reloading the image (because the path changed), but not in this one. Last thing, any time I hit render it crashes.

Turn off Armature modifier's ... "Bind to" > Vertex Group.

Note : It also starts to render with no issue.

You can read more about Armature Modifier > Bind To > Vertex Group
here https://www.blender.org/manual/modeling/modifiers/deform/armature.html?highlight=armature


Compress vs Uncompress when managing blend files with GIT As you all know, there is a compression option when saving blend files in Blender.
I tested to commit the changes to GIT with a blend file consisting of 50 torus with 3 subdivisions applied. I thought uncompressed files would be much more efficient when using GIT, but regardless of whether they were compressed or not, the growth rate of the git folder was similar.
I don't understand this result very well.
I want to hear your experiences. Do you want to compress blend files when using GIT? Or would you like to uncompress?

After reading @HikariTW's answer, I carried out a more precise test. As a result, I realized that I had been mistaken. GIT wasn't just picking and saving changes to the blend file, it was just storing copies of the blend file every time it made the version. Blend files are treated as binary files, so it's natural. However, because GIT compresses and stores copies of the blend file, the size did not double. Because I didn't know that GIT was compressing when I created the version, I was mistaken for GIT to pick up only the changes in the blend file and store them in the version.
As a result, I recommend using a compressed blend file as @HikariTW said. When you commit a uncompressed 100MB blend file, GIT compresses it, makes it 33MB, and adds it to the .git folder. But if you compress and store a 100MB uncompressed file in the blender, it becomes a 33MB blend file, which is committed by GIT to compress it one more time, make it 27MB, and add it to the .git folder, so you can keep the storage smaller.

Back to your title's question:

Compress vs Uncompress file into version control system?

Use compressed if the system can not create a differential
Most version control systems have their own compress algorithm when storing each file.
Using Blender's compression will only confuse the system on file content and unable to find a minimum diff between different versions of files which may lead to massive amount of savings in your repository.
While some systems using .gz or other common compression methods, .blend files are most likely treated as binary files unless there is a toolchain to let the system decode the meaning of Blender's files. So an uncompressed .blend  might be treated as a compressed one, then choose the smaller one since Blender's compression is specifically to it's own file type.


Tips on reducing Polycount in Scene I have a problem. There is a lot of figures I created for an art project in my school.

I used UV Spheres as models and smooth shaded them. In the end I had 35 million vertices and as you can see around 28 gb in memory. I tried to reduce vertices with a decimate modifier. Now its 176000 vertices but Blender is still super slow in reaction times. It needs half a minute to select a model. And I cant seem to find a way to apply these decimate modifiers to all models in the scene at once.

I used ctrl + l to apply modifiers but cant "apply" them in second step.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Here is something you can try:

Select one object and add the decimate modifier. Do not apply it.
Select all objects EXCEPT for the one with the modifier.
Shift-select the modified object. It will now be the active object
    (bright yellow-orange outline).
Press Ctrl+L and choose "Modifiers" from the Make Links menu.

This should apply the modifier across all objects and keep the modifier editable.

Alternatively, you could apply the modifier in the first step and in the fourth step select "Object Data". Keep in mind this links the objects so certain changes made to the active object will take effect across all the others. Scaling and other transforms done in Object Mode should not affect the others.

If you need to unlink object data the method in 2.8 is select one object in Object Mode and in the Object menu (top left of the viewport) select Object> Relations> Make Single User> Object & Data (or whatever serves your purpose) and select All.

In 2.79 and earlier select an object, hit U, and choose Object & Data or whatever.


Non-emitting background in cycles How can one set up a non-emitting environment map in cycles? If I set strength to 0, it is black. I tried doing something with Light Path node, but didn't succeed so far.

Use a light path node, so that only the camera sees the environment texture but is not affecting the objects in the scene:


Setting up collision for large-scale model in Unreal Engine I was creating a large scene for use in the Unreal Engine, but I need proper collision physics and since Unreal Engine's collisions aren't suitable for large-scale objects, I have no idea how to go about doing it at this scale.

I think you should just scale the entire scene down, and then continue from there. This should work, because scaling down doesn't affect any of the objects themselves, but will then be able to do collision simulations in unreal. You could also just scale it down in Unreal.


Weight painted scalf not moving as expected Good morning!
I'm having some issues with a character im creating (sorry for the bad topology and so, it's the first one). It has kind of a scalf around his torso.
After weight painting it, it clips into his torso when moving a spine bone.

I've weight painted this way (the whole scalf painted in weight 1 with the spine bone)and also separated for every bone, but it does the same. I tried to merge it with the rest of the mesh (it's the same object but not merged) but at least til I saw, it didn't work.

I wanted to know if you guys had any advice for a newbie like me. Thanks in advance, I will provide de Blender file.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uJz2W66lmq4ujqmwnWG2JYTkJjKRzcyQ/view?usp=sharing

Each spine bone influences the whole strap (for example the top spine as seen in the picture below), it should not be the case, you need to remove the bottom part of this vertex group with the brush Subtract mode.


Global Pose/Rotation of a bone Is it possible to determine the pose/rotation of a bone depending on the parent bones (with Python), in the best case in euler angles.

For example, I have a model of a human and the arm is rotated in such a way that the body forms a T-shape. Then the hand is rotated that the palm points in the same direction as the face.

Now I would like to determine which rotation I would have to perform only on the hand to obtain the same direction without moving the arm.

If I understand you right, the bone shall have the same rotation as its parent (in pose mode):

To achieve this by script, all you basically need is the rotation part of the parent. Construct a 4x4 transformation matrix from the parent rotation and the target bone's translation and scale. Assign it to the bone's matrix property.

import bpy
from mathutils import Matrix

pbone = bpy.context.active_pose_bone
pbone_parent = pbone.parent

loc = Matrix.Translation(pbone.matrix.to_translation())

# Rotation only (strip location and scale)
# TODO: make it work for parent bones with negative scale too
rot = pbone_parent.matrix.to_euler().to_matrix().to_4x4()

s = pbone.matrix.to_scale()
scale = Matrix()
scale[0][0] = s[0]
scale[1][1] = s[1]
scale[2][2] = s[2]

mat = loc * rot * scale

pbone.matrix = mat

# Force redraw, so transform properties are immediately visible
for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'PROPERTIES':
        area.tag_redraw()

Note that the script has issues with negative scaled parent bones, couldn't figure out how to do it properly.


Realistic wall surface in Cycles This might be a common question, but I can't find anything about this problem in particular since Im not sure what this effect is called in technical terms.

Most painted walls I see in real life have, when seen at a certain angle in sunlight, an unevenness to them. In the roughness/gloss.

I see that most skilled 3D artists recreate this in their renders when doing interiors with white walls etc.

I've tried to achieve this in Cycles using a noise node plugged into the roughness. I doesn't seem to be the right way to go though, since other people get a result much closer to reality.

I snapped the attached image earlier today just to clarify what I mean. It's an exterior wall but the effect is the same for interiors. This wall seems to have  a flat diffused color when viewed from the front. This effect only shows from this angle.

It's just a matter of finding some good contrasty and varying detail to put in the roughness map and hitting the right range of values. Assuming you're using a PBR shader, that is. If you have Substance Designer it has some nice noise patterns for this sort of thing. Otherwise (or even with SD!) photographs of dirty concrete usually work wonders. You can find these on any stock texture site, or try shooting your own if you find yourself at some place like an abandoned military site. (I have a bunch of personal ones I shot at Fort Stevens)

Often I find it easiest to create this kind of effect by starting with a constant value roughness around where I want for the surface, then blending in some noise or concrete photos using a blend mode like overlay. (overlay does a mix of brightening or darkening within a 0-1 range, so it's well suited to this sort of thing)

Start with the mix factor of 0 (just the constant roughness) and increase the mix factor until you start getting a nice breakup in the specular highlights. The example image there just uses a single instance of Cycles' noise node, which doesn't make the most detailed of varying textures. You'll often want to combine several procedural textures, or use photos of stuff like dirty concrete, or use an external tool with more complicated procedurals such as Substance. Sometimes using a ramp or levels can help you control the values in the texture so you don't get crazy ranges.

This is actually a fairly important thing to get the hang of in realistic texturing, as most smooth surfaces will get this sort of look on them once they've been exposed to the elements or fingerprints for awhile.


how can I make a mesh from curves? I'm trying to mesh a rear wing of a vintage car.
I've done some Bezier curves and converted them into mesh. I have the same amount of vertices, so I should be able to connect everything together but I can't find how to do it...

So, I did Convert the curves to a mesh by pressing 'ALT+C, but when I press F it goes like this:

Bridge Edge Loop doesn't work either

thanks

Activate the builtin F2 add-on from Blender by searching "F2" in the user preferences.

After that convert the curve to a mesh (⎇ AltC).

Then make a face out of the beginning of the loop (F) and select the new edge.

Now press F repeatedly until it closes the loop.


Performance of mixing colors vs mixing colored shaders Is there a performance difference between these two setups?

I imagine on a material this simple, there's not going to be much of a difference. But on a complex material, it could. If you had a choice between a simple mask between two different complex shaders, or a bunch of masks between different properties of the same shader, is there an advantage?

If there is, it's a pretty subtle difference.

I rendered 5 frames without the mix shader setup and 5 frames for the mixRGB node setup, and averaged the times for each. The results:

Mix Shader: 23.021
Mix RGB: 22.78


Video editing workflow - VSE and compositor slows down framerate when previewing? Inside the VSE timeline, when applying a movie clip no matter the size of the video, it would play normally and its FPS will play smoothly, even if edited or modified.

However, when inside the compositor, connecting the movie clip node with the same footage to the composite node and using it as a scene strip, previewing the VSE reduces the frame rate, ranging around 6 or 1fps in previewing. This makes previewing the video nearly impossible, especially trying to utilize blender as a video editor.

List of things i've attempted to fix this:

1.) Inside the VSE, i tried adding a proxy to the scene clip in the VSE timeline and especially in the preview window. I selected the scene clip, checked proxy, selected 25% and rebuild proxy and timecode indices. In the preview window, I unchecked openGL preview and selected proxy render size to 25%.

Though, Even at 25% of the proxy size, it seems to only effect the movie clip but not the scene clip.

2.) I've tried to change the dimension of the render inside the properties panel. Even at 1% of the dimension, the FPS barely gets adjusted, generally staying at 6FPS or lower.

In most cases, The the fps may somewhat run smooth when generally changing the dimension by 17% , but the preview window in the VSE is too pixelated to see my results.

3.)I've tried to change the alpha of the scene strip, nothing change.

4.)I went to the system in user preferences and made the sequence/clip editor's memory cache and adjusted it all the way to reach its limit, nothing has changed.

5.) I've tried to add the movie clip as a plane, but nothing worked.

My laptop is able to play 4K videos so I am quite confused why Blender cannot handle a simple clip no matter the size that is outside the VSE.

One or the other, a movie clip node and even a render layer node of the movie clip as a plane when applied as a scene strip does not change anything.

Thanks.

Don't use overs; there is no cache in the VSE
Don't use heavy codecs. Try AVI-JPEGs or the like.
Use precisely the resolution of the input; don't set the resolution percentage via the render resolution or you will force resampling per frame.


The New Render Window in 2.8 So, I've noticed when you render something in version 2.8, it automatically opens a new window, and renders it on that.  What I want to know is this:  Is there anything special about this window, and is there a way to set it so that it renders it in the original window, like it did in version 2.79?

You can set the Display Mode for the actual rendering in the User Prefrences > Interface Editors > Temporary Windows. If you'd like to get the old behavior back, set 'Render in' to 'Image Editor' or 'Keep User Interface' and save a new start-up file.


How to make field focused in props dialog I have a script, that create a dialog with one text input:

import bpy

class OFPropConfirmOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "view3d.custom_confirm_dialog"
    bl_label = "Generite output folders"

    prop1 = bpy.props.StringProperty()

    @classmethod
    def poll(cls, context):
        return True

    def execute(self, context):
        #do some stuff here
        return {'FINISHED'}

    def invoke(self, context, event):
        return context.window_manager.invoke_props_dialog(self)

    def draw(self, context):
        row = self.layout
        row.prop(self, "prop1", text="New name")

class OFPanel(bpy.types.Panel):
    """Creates a Panel in the Object properties window"""
    bl_idname = "OF_my_panel"
    bl_label = "OF"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
    bl_category = "Tools"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.operator(OFPropConfirmOperator.bl_idname)

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(OFPropConfirmOperator)
    bpy.utils.register_class(OFPanel)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OFPanel)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OFPropConfirmOperator)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

So, I have a button on the T-panel, that in the panel called OFPanel, this button opens the OFPropConfirmOperator` pop-up window. And everything works fine, but then the pop-up window opens, I need to click on the text field to start editing it. But I want it to work like in renaming markers: then a pop-up window opens, you can edit the text at once

Just rename the operator property name to type. Honestly, I don't know why this works, maybe some kind of super secret feature, I don't know. Credit for that idea goes to @p2or: Is there an addon for renaming an object with a keyboard shortcut?

import bpy

class OFPropConfirmOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Generate Custom Output Folders"""
    bl_idname = "of.confirm_dialog"
    bl_label = "Generate Output Folders"

    type = bpy.props.StringProperty(
        default="Base",
        #options={'SKIP_SAVE'}
        )
    geo = bpy.props.StringProperty(
        default="Geometry",
        #options={'SKIP_SAVE'}
        )
    tex = bpy.props.StringProperty(
        default="Textures",
        #options={'SKIP_SAVE'}
        )

    @classmethod
    def poll(cls, context):
        return True

    def execute(self, context):
        #do some stuff here
        return {'FINISHED'}

    def invoke(self, context, event):
        return context.window_manager.invoke_props_dialog(self, width=500)

    def draw(self, context):
        row = self.layout
        row.prop(self, "type", text="Base Folder")
        row.prop(self, "geo", text="Geometry Folder")
        row.prop(self, "tex", text="Texture Folder")
        row.separator()

class OFPanel(bpy.types.Panel):
    """Creates a Panel in the Object properties window"""
    bl_idname = "OF_my_panel"
    bl_label = "OF Tools"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
    bl_category = "Tools"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.operator(OFPropConfirmOperator.bl_idname)

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(OFPropConfirmOperator)
    bpy.utils.register_class(OFPanel)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OFPanel)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OFPropConfirmOperator)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()


Parent object to mirrored side of object I am trying to make an animated short film with Blender. I need to parent an object to the mirrored side of another object. Do anyone know how to do that?
Here is an an example
The cube on the left is a mirror of the cube at the right. The mirror object (the center of the mirror) is the big flat cube. I want to parent the monkey to the cube at the left. The cubes need to be animated. So I can not parent the monkey to the cube at the right. I hope it makes sense.

That can be done with some constraints:

Place an empty has child of the original cube. This is to place Suzanne relatively to the cube.
Then add two "transformation" constraints to Suzanne, with the above empty as target.

Presuming the mirror is on X.
One constraint for the locations, inverting X source (maps -1/1 to 1/-1).
One constraint for the rotations, inverting Y and Z source either (the same way).


Making seamless, scalable objects I'm trying to make a level/levels for a game, and the walls are my biggest challenge, because I have to re-scale textures every time I make a new wall of a different size.

Is there a way to have a texture scale automatically when I change the size? For example, I properly scaled the texture on the middle wall (see image), but the smaller (left) and larger (right) walls have skewed textures. I want these to mimic the scale of the middle wall. Is there a node for this?

Thanks!

EDIT:

New node still doesn't help:

EDIT:

Blend file uploaded here:
http://www.filedropper.com/walltesting_2

Still not working with new texture:

I was playing around with settings, but I can't seem to get it to work (thats why flat was selected). Even with BOX, still doesnt work :/

You can do this by using Position texture coordinates.

Just use the Position output of the Input > Geometry node for your texture coordinates.  This uses absolute world-space instead of the scaled local-space, so the textures will not be stretched.  To get it to map from all directions, select Box on the image texture node.


Which angles are at these selected edges? I tried to measure the angles of these particular edges.  What angles are the numbers describing in this screenshot?

The Angle information is going to be around the axis of the particular edge.  You can think about it as the angle between two adjacent faces.

In your example, the two 90 degree angles are formed between faces that are perpendicular to one another.  The 0 degree angle, however, is formed between two faces that exist in the same plane.

In other words, it's not measuring the angle between two edges.  For that, you would need to activate the Face Info Angle (shown in blue):

Edit: This might help visualize it a little more:


How do i select similar sides of a face loop How do i select all faces going along the edge of this shape?
Is there an easier way than actually panning the camera around 360 degrees, and stopping intermittently to SHIFT+click another face into the selection????

This is so tedious to do when extruding faces then remapping the extrusion onto a UV.

^^^ Ideally I want a way where I can only select 1 face and it knows to 'go-along' all the connecting edges and loop back around and select them all for me to use.

Choose the face with edge loop select Alt + LMB:

Click the side you want them to propagate, ideally on the edge (the red circle position).

Sometime it won't propagate correctly, the you might need to switch between face and edge select mode until one is working correclty. If none of them work, then their must be some topology issue that cannot treat those face as a loop (eg. got a diverse face in middle)


Automatic weights not working with rigify (auto- python checked) Hello great blender masters.
i have made a human mesh, added a rigify rig, lined everything up, clicked generate. But when i click parent with automatic weight, it parents with empty weight groups... the strange thing is when i parent with auto weight to the meta rig it works fine but to the "rig" it wont work.

here is a blend file from a few steps back; metarig bones are in place and no parenting.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8BJwZspK8hzc2EzdmowSzN0ME0/view?usp=sharing

so i figured it out but to be honest it raises more questions than it answers.

so...
how i got it to work:the symbol on his chest is part of the same object but is a different mesh. after deleting that it seemed to work.

however the collection of strange things:
Note: in the following when i say automatic weight didnt work i mean that it created empty vertex groups with no weighting.

1: even though i it was mirrored, when i applied the mirror there was an error saying that the mirror may act unexpectedly, this stopped automatic weights from being applied..at all.

2: i had made my own rig prior to attempting rigify, before deleting the chest symbol, if i removed the armature modifier of "my rig" but kept the vertex groups then automatic weights would apply to the new meta rig except for the fingers, and would not apply to the rig ( that is created from rigify) at all.

3: after i deleted the vertex groups of "my rig" the mesh would not apply automatic weights to either the meta rig or rig.


Is there any possibility to replace Blender 2.80 Keymap with Blender 2.79b keymap? I searched for 2.80 shortcuts but there's not any at the moment and i
thought if i
could change it to previous blender settings

You can go to the preferences window and set the keymap to 2.7x


How can I thicken this area? I'm trying to 3D print this chair, but the lumbar area is too thin. The rest prints fine. I've meticulously selected the boundary of the area in question (I suspect one of the loop functions would have helped me there). How can I thicken that area to match the upper section of the chair? As you might guess, I'm pretty new to Blender. Thanks.

Just to answer the question, disregarding how the geometry looks:
Try to do a soft selection and go on from there.

So first go into edit mode.

Then enable proportional editing. (press the round dot/circle icon at the bottom. Its the one left of the magnet symbol. End select "Connected")
Now you can select a bunch of faces or vertices and use your scrollwheel. The circle that appears marks the soft selection area.

If you drag your vertices outward (using scale or simple move) the neigbours are dragged along with it.

You can influence the shape you are dragging by selection a different shape from the proportional editing menu.


How can I render an edge only mesh as solid lines? I have a schematic of a raspberry pi that is completely flat, no solid faces, just connected vertices.

Is it possible to render these lines somehow, so that it looks like a 2D drawing?

Maybe with freestyle?

Note: This answer is for 2.79 only. For 2.8+ you will have to look at some of the other answers.

The simplest way to render an object that has no faces is to change the material type in the internal renderer to a 'Wire' material:

The mesh on the left, when rendered, looks like the image on the right:

I also changed it to be 'Shadeless' in the shading panel of the material so that it wouldn't be affected by shadows and would be lit equally.


how to solve dark edges image area when using transparency in eevee SOLUTION that worked for this project: edge fading to 0 AND mark overscan

I am trying to adapt an image i made in cycles to eevee.
this has a (up & down moving) flat, transparent layer slightly beyond the full width of the camera view with a white background.

I have used settings as set out here:
Does transparency work in eevee

however, when I render in eevee the transparent material is getting darker near the camera borders. (not the white background)

I've tried making the transparent layer wider, and did some changes in lighting, unchecked passepartout in camera(although that stated outside the image area). but that did not resolve it. Turning the sun off did make a change.

This is not what i want, so is it possible to turn that feature off?

i've made an example file(is the picture above):

There is a setting under Screen Space Reflections on the Render Settings tab called Edge Fading. Just turn that to zero.


How can I 'lock' the position of an object when applying curve displacement? I'm trying to simulate quickly the waving of a flag by deforming it with a curve modifier and moving that modifier along it's local x-axis, giving the impression that it's waving and allowing it to be easily looped. However, moving the curve also shifts the position of the 'fabric' around. Images below:

Before moving the curve:

After moving the curve:

So in the second image I would like the flag to remain aligned to the pole, but with a different displacement. How can I resolve this?

Thanks.

I recommend using the [Wave Modifier] for various reasons including

The Wave Modifier is often used for this purpose.  Its purpose is very clear.
Your curve above may not be long enough for longer repetitive motion and the endpoints tangents could affect the final result.
The difficulty you are already experiencing
The Wave Modifier has a [falloff] to keep the flag attached to the pole.  No Pun Intended. The selected empty serves this purpose in the image above.
As an alternative that you can create a vertex group to limit the vertex movement on the flag mesh near the pole, to zero.
As a [Not Recommended] alternative you could animate the curve rather than moving it.


Take white background out of image with cycles? How can you take the white background out an image texture in the cycles node editor?

Here's the image I found on the internet:

What I want to do is add scratches but have a different colour/texture underneath the scratches. Here's my current node setup:

To do that, you can use the grayscale map as the mix factor.

To mix colors:

Or shaders:

The color ramp node is only there to get rid of jpg compression artifacts.


Python. How to find a point on the timeline where Fcurve reaches a certain value without changing current subframe? Is there any way to find out via Python at which point of the Timeline (at which subframe) fcurve reaches a certain value, without actually changing the current subframe? I have found out that it was possible to get certain keyframe_points coordinates on the timeline, but is there any way to analyze the whole fcurve somehow?
Thanks in advance!

Using FCurve.evaluate(frame) and numpy
In this related answer have found the minimum of an fcurve based on 0.01 subframe increments, instead here will find the first point where the fcurve is greater than a given value.
Test script, loops over all actions and prints the frame (and value) where it first exceeds value.
import bpy
import numpy as np

value = 10

frames = np.arange(1, 250, 0.01)

for action in bpy.data.actions:
    print(f"{action.name}")

    for fc in action.fcurves:
        print(f"{fc.data_path}[{fc.array_index}]")
        points = np.vectorize(fc.evaluate)(frames)

        hit = np.where(points > value)[0]
        if hit.size:
            f = hit[0]

            print(f"{frames[f]} : value {points[f]}")


Handler scripts inside an Add-on How can I put a handler script inside an Add-on? I've tried to put it into
the execute() function of an operator, but that's not working. The documentation about handlers
couldn't help me...
The goal would be, to start the handler with a button in the UI - it should not start when the Add-on is enabled.
Sadly, I couldn't find an example for this anywhere.

Bare Bones Approach.
Can simply use an update on a boolean property button to start (add) and stop (remove) a handler.
The button is added to the window manager object, and will be False when blender is loaded (or addon is first enabled)
For testing the button is added to the footer of the text editor. The frame change post handler is used as a test case.
import bpy
from bpy.props import BoolProperty

def foogle(scene):
    print("Keep on Foogling", scene.frame_current)

def toggle_handler(self, context):
    print("Toggle Handler")
    if self.toggle_handler:
        bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.append(foogle)
    else:
        bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_post.remove(foogle)

def draw(self, context):
    wm = context.window_manager
    self.layout.prop(wm, "toggle_handler", toggle=True)

def register():
    bpy.types.WindowManager.toggle_handler = BoolProperty(
            update=toggle_handler,
            )
    bpy.types.TEXT_HT_footer.append(draw)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()


Layering materials on an object based on texture painting Hopefully this is clear.   I found this artstation post rather interesting, as the gentleman was able to setup an array that would allow for basic texture painting to determine the 'layers' of material:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/19w23

So I tried to establish something similar in Blender, and came up with this:

test (and poorly done) b/w texture paint is in the lower right.  In the left node editor, you can see that I have my two standard material setups, 2 of the texture image, both linked to a mix RGB (again, black / white), and that lastly added to the mix shader.   End result in the upper right seems to behave as expected.

My question is, is there a better way to accomplish this?   Would increasing the number of available materials just be a matter of duplicating the mixrgb and mixshader nodes?    Hopefully this makes sense, and thanks in advance!

Yes, this is how you can accomplish this - and the repeated color mix nodes will allow you to mix several material node trees together. You can also add to the effect by plugging the black and white image into a Bump node and feeding that into the normal of the shader if you are wanting to create a layer at the edge of the material boundary.


Rig doesn't keep X-Ray enabled when linked into new file I have a character using the Rigify rig, with X-ray enabled both in the armature properties and object properties. The rig and character are part of a group. I link the group into a new file, and then make a proxy of the rig to pose it. However, the rig now does not have X-ray enabled on either the object or armature.

Why does this happen, and can it be fixed?

The object properties used will depend on the way you link the object in. If you link an object directly it will honour the external X-Ray setting.

When you link in a group, which contains a mesh and an armature, a local empty object is created which uses DupliGroups to show the mesh and this ignores most of the linked object's settings. Only the properties of the local empty are used, think of the local empty as the parent and the external mesh inherits the parent settings.

When you create a proxy rig, you are creating a new Armature object that is local to the current file, which then uses the external rig data and the external armature's object settings do not get consulted.

An addon could be created that will copy various settings when linking and making a proxy rig, or add a button to copy these properties between the external and local objects. You may also ask a developer to adjust blender so that it copies some of the object properties when linking or making a proxy, which sounds like a reasonable request to me.


Unstretched Generated texture coordinates for Normal Mapping I'm trying to figure out the proper way of generating a UV map that does not distort.

I'm trying to generate a UV map to place a normal map on top of, that doesn't stretch to the vertices of the mesh. See image 4 where it naturally stretches to the X and Y dimensions of the mesh.

Is there a better way of doing this? It seems to have worked in image 5, but I would prefer to have it be exactly squares.

Also, is it possible to have the floor be slightly glossy so that this normal disrupts its perfect surface?

You can use Object Coordinates to get a undistorted UV map without manually unwrapping the model.

Unlike the Generated coordinates which stretch to whatever size the mesh is (even if the object's scale is set to 1), object coordinates always stay square.

Here is a plane with generated coordinates.

Same plane now with object coordinates.


Actuator's Value and Message Sensor's Subject Could I associate actuator's value with message sensor's subject?

I need, when I receive a message, to convert its subject in my actuator's value.

What I've tried:

Python controller's code:

import bge

def add_score():
    cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
    score = cont.owner
    player = score.name

    for sensor in cont.sensors:
        for body in sensor.bodies:
            for subject in sensor.subjects:

                try:
                    point = int(subject)
                except ValueError:
                    point = 0

                if player not in score: #it starts score
                    start(score, player)

                score[player] += point

                act = score.actuators['text1']
                act.value = str(score[player])

def start(score, pl):
    score[pl] = 0

Your trying to overcomplicate things. The property actuator changes a value which you can do in python by setting the property yourself.

score['Text'] = score[player]


Animation: light is shining through plane: how to stop that Using Blender 2.77a. I've made a lighthouse scene with a rotating spot lamp. When the lamp moves by the hill in the background, the lamp shines through the hill. The hill is a plane.
How can I stop the light from shining through the hill?
Thanks in advance.

Assuming you are using a spot with Halo enabled.

Change the Spot Shape > Step value to 1.

This will block the Halo.

See the image below.


Is there a way to "mirror" an empty? Using Blender 2.8, and I'm using a number of empties to drive some animations within in a collection of objects in a parented structure.

I can mirror objects using modifiers, and I know modifiers are not available for empties, but is there a way to "mirror" axis empties in some similar automated way?

My workflow so far has been manual in a way to first dupe the empty (has the benefit of also copying the animation for it too), then manually changing the xyz loc/rot values -1 as needed to get them to be "mirrored". This was OK when there were a few empties, but as you can guess as the project has grown in scale and complexity this is becoming very time consuming, and the manual process in risky and prone to lots of errors.

Is there a trick/method to "mirror" empties for a more automated process to reduce time and risk/errors?

Constraints may suit. The copy Xform constraints have the option to invert.

Here we have 2 axis-Empties, both parented to the cube-Empty in the middle. The right Empty is constrained to the left Empty as follows:

And it's parented to the cube Empty Without Inverse.

The arrows are parented to their respective axis-Empties, for illustration:

If the Empties are all ShiftD duplicated together, Blender is smart enough to keep the relations between the duplicates, and the whole rig can be moved/rotated using the cube.


Is there a way to make particles behave like rigid body objects? I want to create a scene that has a lot of irregularly shaped objects piled up on the ground.  I don't want the objects to intersect with eachother.

I started off by creating a particle system that uses an object group containing these objects.  No matter what settings I 'messed with' I could not get the individual objects to behave the way I want them to - They would interact with the ground like perfect spheres, and they would pass through the other particle objects.

Is there a way to make particles have rigid body physics so they behave with each other and with the ground like real objects?

Or failing that - is there a way to copy rigid body attributes to many objects? (i.e. plan be - don't use a particle system, but rather make lots and lots of copies of the objects and just let them fall)

Edit:  I ended up applying the settings 26 times (there are 26 unique objects) and then copying those 26 objects several times. To produce this

but this was before there were any replies to this question. Thanks to WChargin's answer I will be able to copy the attibutes in one action next time I do something like this :)

[Is] there a way to copy rigid body attributes to many objects?

Copy Rigid Body Settings sounds like it might do the trick. Select all the objects, then select the one with the correct settings last (make it the active object). Then, press Space> Copy Rigid Body Settings, or select Copy from Others from the Object Mode toolbox under Rigid Body Tools.

EDIT: You can also use the Copy to Selected function of the right-click menu to copy any property from the active object to all selected objects; for example:

To do it natively: if there is a way, I can't find it. I've tried Particle Instance modifier with rigid body instances, Size Deflect option, duplication, hooks… nada. Do post if you find a “cleaner” way to do it.


Where is my object "dimensions" control? Title says it, where is the "Dimensions" control?

I know I'm supposed to be in "Object" mode (I am, see screenshot).

The dimensions of your object can be found in the properties panel. To bring up that panel either click on the little '+' icon at the top right of the 3d view or hit N with your mouse above the 3d view. The dimensions are located under the Transform heading.


Rigging and skin modifier using rigify modifier Help solve the problem with clothes. He visited different methods but does not help. weight transfer and self-painting did not help. How to get rid of a problementer image description here

I guess the different mesh parts are from different objects?

First, make sure every object has its scale and rotation applied using ⎈ CtrlA → Apply Scale / Apply Rotation. Scale influences directly the rigs' deformation (basically as a multiplier), so if there are some differences in scales and rotation between the objects controlled by the same rig, it will be messy.

Then, the only thing you can do is work the weights so that the weights are basically the same where two different meshes hover each other or are close together. The goal is to make them move at the same rate, so if you set each close vertex with the same weight for the same bones, and if there's not a huge difference in mesh topology, it should work fine.

Alternatively, you can completely avoid the issue by simply joining these meshes together so there's not gap to manage in the first place.


Importing animations for Rigify in Blender for use in Unity I've spent some time attaching the Rigify human armature to a skin in Blender, I can import the model into Unity and all looks well with the initial model.

I understand the steps involved in creating key frames for animations however I would like to know if there are any default animations which are designed to work with Rigify which I can apply to any skin I import into Blender?

I'd like to use animations composed by someone with more time/experience.

In the unity asset store, there is a seller named Mixamo. They have an animation store that sells mecanim animations, like a run cycle for $10 each.

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/362

Here is a short demo of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17V3_j1NZhM

As far as I know, you have to use mecanim (the new and improved animation system in unity).

With the Mixamo animation store you can download and preview the animations on any character. But the names on the bones have to be right. I'm not entirely sure if rigify does this right, should be a minor problem compared to making all those animations.

Edit:
Oups, according to this page:
http://meglassons.com/?page_id=1971
Rigify isn't compatible with mechanim. You have to rename the bones or create the rig yourself.


How to change color of stroke I was creating a 2d animation and realized that i wanted to change the color of the strokes later on. I saw a 2.8 tutorial on this but it says that i need to press assign, but there isn't any.

Found out that I can drag the "browse material to be linked" icon and drop it on the thing I wanted to change just like in regular 3d materials.


Rotating/translating the motion path itself What I'm trying to do is to create a motion path for my camera by assigning keyframes, and then modifying this motion path by changing its global location, rotation and size.

I'll give a more concrete example.

I have a camera that performs 3 times of motion (translation, rotation, approach) towards an object. I want to perform these motions at different locations surrounding the object at the origin. Each time, the camera's start location would be a point on a large sphere surrounding the object, and all the motion paths would be rotated towards the object.

I hope this isn't too abstract. I already have functions to place the camera on a given vertex of a large sphere and orient it towards the center (by looking at surface normals of the sphere). However, I can't find a way to make my 3 types of motion (translation, rotation, approach) conform to the new location and orientation.

I think the easiest way would be to rotate/transform the motion paths themselves, instead of the object.
Any ideas?

Perhaps you can accomplish this by giving the camera a parent (usually an Empty) and then just change the location/orientation of the parent over time (probably using constant interpolation for the keyframes of the parent's animation) and repeat the camera motion.

If you want to get super-fancy you can use NLAs to recycle the camera animation.


HDRI map - blue tint I created an outdoor HDRI map to composite a model into a real life footage, unfortunately, because of the broad dynamic range, my HDRI appears REALLY blue [the sky part only]. Needless to say it doesn't match at all.
I added a hue/saturation node and desaturated the HDRI quite a bit, but is there any other way that you guys prevent that from happening?
I captured HDRI with Insta 360, if that matters.

You can multiply the image used as environment with a blackbody to get the Color Temperature. you want. If the image is too blue try a value that is less than 6500° K
E.g 6500°K:

4800°K

3200°K


How can the size of a .blend file be reduced? I noticed that a .blend containing a single material downloaded from Open Material Repository has only 63KB.

The default scene saved with compression already uses 447KB of disk space. How can files with less than 100KB be created?

There is an option when you save a .blend file, to compress it (uses a basic zip compression iirc).

There’s also an option to always do that by default, in user preferences, File tab, Save & Load section.


How to mirror movement of faces On both sides of the model i have indentical faces. I want to move them both closer to center. Is there any way to copy my editing but with negative axis. For example i move one face along x axes for 2, then another face also moves for but for x -2.

Only if you have a mirror modifier applied. You have to cut your model in half then apply the mirror modifier to apply transformations in both sides at the same time


Is there a way to Live Project From View I'm trying to model from an image set as a background.
I have the camera and axis all lined up and I have a cube scaled to fit a building in the image. I Projected From View the front face of the building and it lines up well.
There is an overhang off the front of the building that I would like to extrude off the box and also project from view.

As soon as I modify the geometry the UVs start getting 'wonky' stretching and moving in relation to where loop-cuts were made etc.

Is there a way to have blender constantly projecting from view so that as I'm modeling I can see how the geometry is lining up an adjust accordingly.

Ignore the portion off camera, I'll deal with that later.

If you are sliding vertices, or making loop cuts, make sure that the Correct UV option is enabled.

As an alternative you can use the UV project modifier, and use the camera as projector. That way the texture of the object will not change regardless of the geometry and the shape of the UVs. Once you are done editing the geometry you can make the projection permanent by applying the modifier.

The camera angle can be matched using the BLAM add-on. For more information see this post: How can I recreate the floor using a photograph?


Cannot apply modifier via script despite object being active? I can't apply the modifier programmatically via Python, but clicking the GUI button works.

Some answers on this site say bpy.ops commands usually demand the current active object be proper.

>>> bpy.context.scene.objects.active
bpy.data.objects['Icosphere']

tells me my active object is proper.

But still, I get

>>> bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(apply_as='DATA')
{'CANCELLED'}

Again, clicking the GUI button works without problems. How may I do it via script?

bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(modifier='Mirror')

This command requires you to give it a modifier name.

bpy.ops.object.apply_all_modifiers()

This will apply all modifiers.  Note, this is a operator from addon 'Modifier Tools'.  You have to have this addon enabled to be able to use that command.


Important Blender shorcuts for object modeling A few years ago, I've learned basic modeling with Blender through a university course. However, now I need to use Blender again and it turns out I forgot all of the useful shortcuts that were indispensable to my work.

What are the most useful shortcuts when modeling objects in Blender?

Important short are obviously biased.
G - Grab
R - Rotate
S - Scale
↹ Tab - Toggle Object/Edit Mode
E - Extrude
F - Make Face/Edge
X - Delete
⎈ CtrlR - Loop Cut
GG - Vertex / Edge Slide
I - Inset
W - Specials Menu
⎈ CtrlV - Vertex Menu
⎈ CtrlE - Vertex Menu
⎈ CtrlF - Vertex Menu
⎈ Ctrl↹ Tab - Switch Vertex/EdgeFace mode
⎇ Alt RMB - Edge Loop select
G, R or S followed by X, Y or Z - Constrain the grab/rotate/scale action to a specific axis.
[The above] followed by ShiftX, ShiftY or ShiftZ - Constrain the grab/rotate/scale action to a specific plane.
Space- Search for a command
Hotkey Maps by mrdeyo

Interactive Hotkey Map
Currently for 2.78, but there aren't many modeling changes.
How to find all hotkeys
In Blender, press ⎈ Ctrl⎇ AltU to open up the settings menu. Locate the Input rider and go to the 3d View section. The operations and hotkey for modeling will be found under Object Mode and Mesh.

How to find a specific hotkey
Open up the menu and locate the desired operation, the hotkey is written to the right of it.


Render completely messed up? I have a problem when rendering my scene. It looks like after a certain distance everything is blurred out completely, some objects are missing and some other weird things are going on. However in the viewport the rendered view is fine. Camera clipping is set to 0.1-100 m so it shouldn't be a problem. Do you have any idea what is going on?

Edit: Here's the link to the .blend file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y-KGw-IL2_nANx8E8zrJw_N8B_fsM7RB

You have a (large scale) copy of the axe head in your scene that is hidden in the viewport but not in the render. Activate the restrictions toggles by clicking on the filter icon in the outliner, most importantly the Disable in Renders toggle (camera icon).

Toggled the viewport visibility (eye icon) to show the hidden axe head

Hide in Viewport, Disable in Viewports and Disable in Renders can be used to hide it an object both in viewports and renders.


How do I set a specific render engine while launching blender? I have noticed that Blender Internal Render Engine is the default engine that is set when launching Blender. Users can change this behavior by setting a different engine and saving the user preferences.

My question is, is it possible to choose the engine to be used by blender when launching blender?

Yes, it is possible.

There are lots of command-line flags provided by Blender and the flags that are related to rendering engine type are -E engine or --engine engine

So, to launch Blender with the CYCLES rendering engine set, the following command can be used.

blender --engine CYCLES

You can get a list of available engines by using

blender --engine help

or

blender -E help

Example output

found bundled python: /home/satishg/bin/blender-2.65a-linux-glibc27-x86_64/2.65/python
Blender Engine Listing:
    BLENDER_RENDER
    BLENDER_GAME
    CYCLES

[1]    Done                          ~/bin/blender-2.65a-linux-glibc27-x86_64/blender --engine help


how to add a logo on top of texture I created a t shirt and I applied normal maps and displacements to make it look more like a cotton but what i wanna do now is i wanna add a logo on the chest. How can I do it? Thank you alot for any response. Pictures below:

It did not work out exactly as you wanted it to, but it's a bit close to what you want.
as if to blend these two pictures together. I just mixed you with your picture

I linked it in the editor


modelling question regarding smooth depressions on surfaces im fairly new to modelling in blender and im working on modelling a watch I designed. I want it to have two smooth depressions as shown in the attached sketch, however I do not know how to get to this point. I have already made the polygon frame of the desired shape to be cut.

There are a few ways to do this.
The most basic is using smaller and smaller loops (inset faces tool is your friend)
Subdivision modifier will then smooth it out.

Two examples:

Other (more elegant) ways may include Boolean modifier, edge creases, sculpting, etc.
Note: It was fun to try this, if you need any help, let me know.


Objects appear normal in material preview but in rendered mode with cycles they're encased in weird material blobs [EDIT: I'm pretty sure this was just a weird glitch. I switched to 'bump' as the node, then back to displacement, and it went away. Really odd but anyway. Maybe this can help someone else]
I'm new to Blender but I've tried everything I can think of, looked for answers online, and found nothing. The objects I'm using as particles look fine in the internal material preview mode, and when I move to the cycles rendered mode the outline still selects and looks fine, but they object is surrounded and encased in a strange blob structure that is uneditable/unselectable. It doesn't appear to be part of the mesh?? It changes shape slightly when I modify the displacement of the noise texture I have applied to it, but won't go away unless I delete the displacement, so I'm pretty sure it's resulting from that node. Also, it's only happening to the two objects I duplicated from the original one, on the far left.

Please go easy on me, I'm brand new and this is only my third foray into the program.

The 'blob' happens when you set high Midlevel in the Displacement node.
Yours is set to 4,2 (default is 0,5)

The 'blob' cannot be selected, because it's just displaced polygons
It only happens in Cycles preview, because Eevee preview doesn't support displacement
Noise texture only suplies values 0-1, so high midlevel may look weird

  Displacement Midlevel
  Neutral displacement value that causes no displacement. With the default 0.5, any lower values will cause the surfaces to be
  pushed inwards, and any higher values will push it outwards.

  Blender Manual


Texture image tranparancy with multiple background colors I'm trying to put an image with a transparent background onto an object in Blender. The object has 2 colored lines running across it. No matter what I try I can't get it to work.
This is what I'm trying to achieve (I've used a text object to demonstrate). The reason it's upside down is because it's an open pizza box:

I've tried using the below method but then I've to manually set the background color which works if there is only 1 background color:

I've tried to connect the image directly to the principled BSDF but that makes all the faces that have the material transparent. I've searched and read many topics on this forum but everyone of them seems to set the background/transparency color manually which doesn't work in this case.

Following your approach, you have to create 3 different materials, one white + pizza, one green + pizza, one red + pizza.
They share the same node tree except for the color of their mix RGB node.
Image nodes are the "photoshop layers", and the mix rgb lets you choose the blending options (add, multiply, screen, ....).


How to add new brush set for sculpting? I found a good brush set that i have downloaded for sculpting, however in order to use it I have to activate the import brush set but i cannot find that add-on when I search for it in blender preferences.

You can see in the first image that its installed but it does sayupgrade to 2.8 required, I dont know why.

In the second image import > brush doesn't exist.

This is Happening Because this Add-on is Not Updated to 2.8 and blender 2.8's Python API is Changed and this is Compatible for its Older Versions It May Be Compatible with blender 2.79 or older
In simpler words this Add-on is Older This Should Be Updated By its Developers for blender 2.8
But If you Still wan't to use those Brushes I Have an Idea It May work or May Not
But still Idea is -
First of All Unzip the Add-on File and
It May Contain a Blend File in It or Some Images

If it is a Blend File then go to blender and File> Append > Click on That Blend File > Brushes > select all > Hit Append.
If there are Images in It in format of tiff, targa or any format then Just Go to Blender and Then Textures Tab and Click New > Set The Type To Image > and then select that Brush Image File and Just Switch To Sculpting and Slect That Image Texture.
I hope You UnderStood


How can multiple people work on the same file? I can't find any new answers to this question. I was just wondering if there is any way that multiple people can work on the same project? I don't mean at the same time. An example of what I am talking about is with the Unreal Engine, there is something called Perforce I think and it when one person is done working on it, they update it on their end, and the next person can "checkout" the file and it updates the changes the other guy did.

Any help will be appreciated!

Sadly there is no built in way to do this. So far the popular method has been to use git or svn which, while not built for this, can be made to work. (although keeping track of who uses what file is a complicated, I personally use a google sheet, but people forget to update it)

The down side with git and svn is that they can require some technical knowledge, such as command line usage. There are GUI apps (Github Desktop,Source Tree) that help; however I always find myself having to resort to using the command line.


Navigation Mesh data Is there any way to get the navigation mesh data via script? I mean a list of the navigation polygons. I can't find this CD_RECAST layer or any face custom data since it's only allowed to have custom data to id  properties, right? Is there a way?

  Faces of the result mesh object corresponds to the triangles of the detailed meshes of the Recast navigation mesh. The index of the navigation polygon the face belongs to stored in the layer CD_RECAST of the face custom data. The visualisation is implemented using Derived Mesh mechanism (blenkernel\intern\DerivedMesh.c). Miscellaneous functions defined in blenkernel\BKE_navmesh_conversion.h are used to build the derived mesh for the visualisation.

source: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Nicks/Gsoc2010/Docs

Read the navmesh attribute of the SCA_SteeringActuator.


How do I remove the line from the camera view? Every time I enter the camera view (numpad 0) it will enter the camera view but there is a line down the center. How do I fix it so it's back to the normal view through the rectangular lens?

That line is the camera object itself. Either its width is very small or its height is very large, which is making it display as a line. The camera gets its size from the Resolution and Aspect Ratio properties in the Dimensions panel in the Render tab of the Properties editor:

Set your resolution to something more regular (or pick a Render Preset from the drop-down box) and make sure your Aspect Ratio is '1' for both x and y.


I am new to blender and when I sculpt it isn't smooth like in videos I have watched Whenever I watch a video on blender and they use a sculpting brush it is smooth but whenever I use a sculpting brush it comes out very sharp and polygonal, What do I do? I was watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujfwXiQ1_II&t=334s And I am trying to use the grab tool here is an image

On the Tool panel (on the left of your 3D View, displayed with T), have you tried to:

Decrease the Detail Size?
Enable the Smooth Shading?


Texture Bake Problem EDIT: I dont know how make myself more clear. I have a plane in the scene, this plane have 1 material and in this material I have 3 diferent textures painted (1 gras and 2 rock textures). I am trying to bake this textures to make one unique png texture, but every time I hit the bake button the result is a white image. I need to know what I can do to result be like the material in the view port, or what I am doing wrong to the result be this white image.

if I dont make myself clear yet, you can open the attached file and hit the bake button to see the result and see in the view port the way the texture is painted in the object.

I am trying to bake this textures in to one png image, but every time I bake the result is a white image, I see some tutorials but all are in cycles and I am using the blender render, can anyone help me please?

the blender file is in this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jv5ipxk05k5ilq4/TEXTURE%20BAKE.blend?dl=0

you can open and try to bake to see what is happening if I dont make myself clear..

Big problem is that you have a node material with these textures set up in Blender Render, and trying to bake. Baking in Blender Render doesn't work with nodal materials as far as I have experienced, but that is not a hard thing to fix here. I have a file for you to test baking just color to the diffuse in Cycles, and the bake target is a non-connected image node representing the blank image in the 2d editor window. Press bake and you should see it clear and then return a result like you expect.A screen shot for you to see what I did.


Showing X3D color per face? I have an X3D from Meshlab which has color per face, It's a polyhedron where per face colors are the best compared to per vertex.

Can blender show X3D per face colors? I have found an option of per vertex colors in New Material>Options, is viewing per triangle colors not implemented?

related, same thing happens with .ply files: use the Vertex Color layer: Import PLY doesn't display vertex colors

In Blender there is no color per polygon, but you can set all vertices of individual polygons to the same color. When vertices are shared by multiple Polygons their vertex_color information is not.

If the .x3d is formatted correctly, then Blender will make the appropriate vertex_color map (tested! for instance with this file).


How to delay execution of execute() function in an Addon? I have the following code:

bl_info = {
    "name": "Align select verts to abs pos",
    "category": "Mesh",
}

import bpy
import bmesh

class MeshAlignVerts(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "mesh.align_verts"
    bl_label = "Align verts pos"
    bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

    x_pos = bpy.props.FloatProperty(name="X",description="X axis",default=0.0)
    y_pos = bpy.props.FloatProperty(name="Y",description="Y axis",default=0.0)
    z_pos = bpy.props.FloatProperty(name="Z",description="Z axis",default=0.0)

    chosen_axis = bpy.props.EnumProperty(items=(('X','X','Align along X axis'),('Y','Y','Align along Y axis'),('Z','Z','Align along Z axis')),name="Choose Axis")

    def execute(self,context):
        print (self.chosen_axis)
        self.update_indiv_vert_pos(context)
        print ("Executed script")
        return {'FINISHED'}

    # update individual verts
    def update_indiv_vert_pos(self,context):
        mesh=bmesh.from_edit_mesh(context.object.data)
        sel_verts = []
        for v in mesh.verts:
            if v.select:
                sel_verts.append(v)
    # TODO: Add logic to move points along custom defined transform orientation
      #   bpy.context.space_data.transform_orientation = 'GLOBAL'
        for v in sel_verts:
            if self.chosen_axis == 'X':
                v.co.x = self.x_pos
            if self.chosen_axis == 'Y':
                v.co.y = self.y_pos
            if self.chosen_axis == 'Z':
                v.co.z = self.z_pos

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

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

I want to either add a button which when pressed will call the function in execute. Or at least wait for the user to specify values for the Float properties and then choose an axis which then calls the function in execute()

How can I achieve this ?

This question looks similar to Addon: run execute() only when button is clicked

I have read that but am not able to get any sufficiently useful info from the responses there can someone please guide me on what to do ?

Also what are the other possible alternatives to delaying execution of the execute function for this script ?

Normally you can let Blender's layout system draw the properties, but when you want to have an action button on an Operator UI, you have to specify the whole interface. You might even consider writing a bit of Panel code instead of trying to do it all in the Operator.

But if you do want to stick with the Operator only you could augment your current Operator code with.

an unlocked property (boolean),
an explicit draw() function,
replace your current execute() function with something that checks if the unlocked property was set to True yet.

code:

unlocked = bpy.props.BoolProperty()

def draw(self, context):
    scn = context.scene
    l = self.layout
    col = l.column()

    col.prop(self, 'x_pos')
    col.prop(self, 'y_pos')
    col.prop(self, 'z_pos')
    col.prop(self, 'chosen_axis')
    col.operator('mesh.align_verts', text='Mesh Align').unlocked = True

def execute(self,context):
    print (self.chosen_axis)
    if self.unlocked:
        self.update_indiv_vert_pos(context)
        print ("Executed script")
    return {'FINISHED'}

I would not not use an Operator as a replacement for a proper UI panel.


Fluid smulation start Time l want to make a water simulation. The fluid simulation should start after 600 frame but when l setup to simulation it starts immediately at frame one and l want it to start at frame 600. how can l make this. l couldn't find the solution. l'm using blender V2.79

Set your framerate to 30fps, (easier to calculate), and set the fluid domain to start at 20 and to end a certain amount of seconds later. Now there is a trick to this: the numbers here are the duration of the animation divided by the framerate of your animation currently. I.e. 300 frames / 30fps = 10 fluid seconds. If you want to end your fluid simulation at frame 900, then set the fluid domain to end at 30 seconds. Here is where you control these settings:


Object property getter infinite loop Here is my issue : I would like to add a unique Int property on an object.

This property needs to be unique even when duplicated.
So according to Duplicating object and default value of property and https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?328009-Unique-object-id I did this :

# Getter for anchor duplicate
def get_global_index(self):
#    print("getting value")
    done = False
    # get current index
    index = self.global_index #Recursive ?!
    # chek if already used (in case of a duplicate) and try a new one while necessary
    while not done:
        anchors = [obj for obj in bpy.context.scene.objects if obj.type == 'EMPTY' and obj.empty_draw_type == 'PLAIN_AXES']
        # already referenced
        if any(obj.global_index == self.global_index for obj in anchors):
            # found to try another index
            print("Trying another index")
            index = context.scene.global_index
            context.scene.global_index+=1
        else:
            done = True
            print("FOUND index")

    return index

def register():
    bpy.types.Object.list_index = bpy.props.IntProperty(name = "Index for my_list", default = 0)
    #Each anchor needs a unique index
    bpy.types.Scene.global_index = bpy.props.IntProperty(name = "Global index for Anchors", default = 0)
    #So use scene index to store the increment
    bpy.types.Object.global_index = bpy.props.IntProperty(name = "Object index for Anchors", default = 0, get=get_global_index)

BUT, The getter seems to loop infinitely and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.
I just want the getter to check in the current objects of the specified king to check if the index is not already used (when Duplicated) because I need to have each one of them having a unique index.

Thanks !

So, based on this Duplicating object and default value of property I think I found a way.

I use a second identical property to avoid having to get from the getter

Here it is :

# Getter for anchor duplicate
def get_global_index(self):

    # get current index
    index = self.hidden_index

    # chek if already used (in case of a duplicate) and try a new one while necessary
    # Do not forget to remove self from result !
    anchors = [obj for obj in bpy.context.scene.objects if obj.type == 'EMPTY' and obj.empty_draw_type == 'PLAIN_AXES' and obj != self]

    while any(obj.hidden_index == index for obj in anchors):
        # found to try another index
        index +=1

    self.hidden_index = index;
    return self.hidden_index

def register():
    bpy.types.Object.global_index = bpy.props.IntProperty(name = "Object index for Anchors", default = 0, get=get_global_index)
    bpy.types.Object.hidden_index = bpy.props.IntProperty(default = 0, options={'HIDDEN'})

Since it the getter, I just need to return the new value. Using an other property without getter but with the same value, I can get the copied value from the getter.


saving the arrangement of my viewport How do I save only the arrangement of my viewport into multiple windows without saving it
as a .blend file so that I can reopen it later on ? Also I would like to understand what does
ctrl+PgUp

here,i.e. what Arrangements it displays ?

You can save a custom workspace by clicking on the little plus icon in the Header and choose Duplicate Current. (From looking at your screenshot I believe that is what you did already.) It will then be added to the Header and you can rename it by double clicking on it.
To save it, simply save your .blend file. This will allow you to re-open it in another .blend file by appending it.
Go to File > Append (or Shift + F1 ). Locate the file you saved the Workspace in and double click on it. Open the folder titled "WorkSpace" and double click on the the custom workspace you made. It will now be added to the Workspace Header of the .blend file you are currently working in.
Ctrl + PageUp flips through the workspaces in the Header from left to right, whereas Ctrl + PageUp flips through them from right to left.


I can't get my texture to apply to my object. Blender 2.8 I created an object in Sketchup, saved as a .dae, imported into blender--and now I am trying to do texturing. It isn't working. The object comes out as a solid color with no image texture seemingly applied.

Note - the Material is included. I've tried it with several different image textures.

This is the blender file . . . https://www.dropbox.com/s/rckymescri9tut4/test1.blend%20-%20Shortcut.lnk?dl=0

The official blender upload:

Your problem is your texture. When i used another texture it worked. Also when rendering an object be sure that you are in object mode.


How to set camera location in the scene while pointing towards an object with a fixed distance I want to position the camera around an object using Blender's Python API. Assuming that an object is centered at (0, 0, 0), I want to move the camera around it given a set of known (x, y, z) coordinate values while keeping its focus on the point (0, 0, 0) and its distance to middle of the object to be dist, a constant. I wonder how I can do that in Python?

The next function will rotate the camera towards the focus point. And then place the camera at a certain distance. The location of camera will only change along the direct line with the focus point.
import bpy
import mathutils

def update_camera(camera, focus_point=mathutils.Vector((0.0, 0.0, 0.0)), distance=10.0):
    """
    Focus the camera to a focus point and place the camera at a specific distance from that
    focus point. The camera stays in a direct line with the focus point.

    :param camera: the camera object
    :type camera: bpy.types.object
    :param focus_point: the point to focus on (default=``mathutils.Vector((0.0, 0.0, 0.0))``)
    :type focus_point: mathutils.Vector
    :param distance: the distance to keep to the focus point (default=``10.0``)
    :type distance: float
    """
    looking_direction = camera.location - focus_point
    rot_quat = looking_direction.to_track_quat('Z', 'Y')

    camera.rotation_euler = rot_quat.to_euler()
    # Use * instead of @ for Blender <2.8
    camera.location = rot_quat @ mathutils.Vector((0.0, 0.0, distance))

update_camera(bpy.data.objects['Camera'])


How can I change the snapping? I put snapping on, but would like to snap objects with increments of .6 meters(60 cm). is there a way to change the snapping? I am working with lego bricks I brought in from Ldraw. Since ldraw automaticaly snaps to lego increments I need to change the snapping increments in blender.

The new "absolute" snapping mode in 2.76 should do the trick. Press n, look in Display, set the grid scale to what you need, and it'll snap to wherever the grid is.

Hope that helps!

http://oneminutevideotutorials.com/absolute-grid-snapping-in-blender-2-76/


how to make a field of shakiness Is there a way to make a 3d space of shakiness( or any kind of effect), that if an object passed by it or stay in it can be affected and when the object goes away of it that effect ends?

Thanks, guys :)

The Wiggle Falloff node can be used to introduced the wiggling. The output falloff can then be multiplied with a Point Distance Falloff or an Object Controller Falloff to limit the wiggling to a certain field only:


Can't view rendered Image Sequence over movie clip in compositor or VSE Having some issues viewing/rendering an Image Sequence over a movie clip, both in Compositor and the VSE, and my troubleshooting research is bringing no luck.

I'm able to play and view the animation of Fac. values in a Mix RGB node that I made in the render preview of the 3D view, but not in the Node View, nor in the VSE View. Similarly, and weirdly enough, when looking at my actual rendered PNGs in the directory of my Output Path, I'm only seeing the Background Clip of the movie I'm trying to lay the animation over, and none of the animated color values that should be there.  New to animation; am I missing something crucial here?

My setup in the Compositor and VSE, and thanks much ahead:

What I get from your nodes and description is, that you want to overlay your rendered image sequence from the 3D view onto a movie clip. Unfortunately, the red marked clip is not the render from the 3D view, but in fact as you noticed correctly, an image sequence of your movie file.

Why did this happen?

When pressing the Animation button to render you sequence, Blender check first if there are clips in the VSE. If there are, Blender will render these clips only. If there is nothing to render in the VSE, the compositor nodes are checked. If you are using nodes, Blender will render the nodes only. If there is nothing in the compositor and the VSE, Blender will only render the 3D view.

I'm guessing you had the movie clip in your compositor, when you tried to render the 3D Viewport animation. Thats is why, the composite node got rendered into an image sequence (which is connected the the movie file).

In order to render your 3D Viewport image sequence first, disable the Sequencer and Compositing rendering in the Properties Panel.

Render the image sequence. Your png files should look correct now.
Enable Compositing again. You will have the correct preview in the Compositor. When you render, the composite node will get rendered into the output. That's why you have to change your image sequence now, because you don't want to overwrite the 3D Viewport image sequence.

Viewing the 3D preview in the compositor or VSE

Even though pre rendering the 3D image sequence is useful for realtime feedback, you can simply add the 3D render into the compositor by adding a Renderlayer node. Use it instead of the prerender sequence.

The same can be done in the VSE by adding a Scene strip.


Cant seem to shrink fatten this the way I want So this root system as you can see have a very thick volume. As -i try scaling it just goes into a smaller rubble, or if I shrink fatten it doesnt respond the way I wish it to do either? Or am I just using the tools incorrectly?

Use Ctrl+A to shrink and fatten vertices/nodes when using skin modifier


How to search for object in group list? - Animation Nodes When I have a Group Object list created from Group, sometimes this list randomly resorts itself, making the indice Get List Element useless and destroys the tree flow.

I need to isolate an object by name from the Group Object List, regardless of indice, or return the indice with the name of a certain object, and I'm not sure how to do this.

Any tips?

You can use the Object By Name node to get the required object. If you want to check if it is in the group, you can use an expression node like this:


How to animate an expanding network using Animation Nodes 2.0? I need to animate an abstract visualisation of an expanding network in Blender 2.8, consisting lines that keep on growing until they meet at a junction point (represented by a sphere), where they split up again.
As a little example I created a short animation in which, for lack of a more elegant solution, I animated all elements manually:

Is there a better, more time-saving solution how to animate such a scene using the Animation Nodes addon maybe?

Having very little experience in using this addon, I'd be very grateful for any tips!

Thank you very much in advance!

Cheers

Matthias

Let's have fun with Animation Nodes then !

Teaser :

Teaser 2 :

Get the blend file here :

First, let's create a loop to instantiate the spheres and make them grow to their normal scale depending on a certain falloff :
If you want to find a node by name, type CTRL + A and then the name of the node you are looking for.

In the topbar, go to Add > Subprogram > Loop

Add a new iterator of type "Object List" and a new parameter of type "Float" and then put the nodes like the screen after.

Don't forget to click "New Generator output" and choose "Float" to generate a float list which will help us instantiate the growing bars between nodes.

Next up, let's grow the bars. Create a new loop. Add an iterator of type "Edge Indices List", a new parameter of type "Vector List" and a new parameter of type "Float List".

We will be using the evaluation time to make the bars grow between the first node, which is supposed to have already appeared, and the second node, which will appear when its correspond float value reaches 0.

Add a new generator output of type "Spline List" in order to output them from this loop. We only want to add to this spline list the splines where the bar can indeed be visible. Thankfully yhis node has a hidden condition input.

While selecting the "Spline List" generator output node, press N on your keyboard to make the right hand panel appear. go to the item subpanel and check the screen icon on the right of the "Condition input". Illustration :

Now let's finish this with the main loop :

Add a "Viewport input" node which will let you modify values in your node tree directly from the viewport.
Add a sphere object in object mode and choose it inside your instancer node. You can create invoke nodes of your subprograms by clicking on the first node and pressing W then choosing "Create invoke node"

Don't forget to set a new material for your spline or else the bars will stay white.