Logic shared between many objects I'm new to Blender and try to make my first simple game using BGE. In order to win this hypothetical game, a character has to collide with multiple spheres. During the collision, spheres should disappear and increment some global score, thus the logic for all of them will be the same. I noticed that when I duplicate a sphere (using Shift+D) and then change the color of the original one, the color of the other one changes as well. Sadly, it doesn't work that way in case of "logic bricks".

The logic bricks are never shared.

The BGE is not designed to do that (unfortunately).

In your situation it is not a big deal.

Equal objects

You can get equal objects (inclusive the same logic), by creating a group (with the sphere). Place the group object in another layer, scene or blend file.

Then create instances of the group within your level scene. Instances share everything of the group object. This includes logic.

Dynamically created

Place an instance at a hidden layer. Dynamically add copies of that instance via Edit Object Actuator (Add mode) or via Python.

This will even work in conjunction with already placed instances.

Dynamically created copies.

Place the sphere with logic at a hidden layer. Dynamically add copies of that object via Edit Object Actuator (Add mode) or via Python.


How to bridge edges without creating a twist? I'm trying to model my first car in blender. I started by creating the front wheel arch and then duplicating it and scaling it to -1 in the Y direction to create the rear wheel arch. I then continued to extrude out the side of the vehicle from there.

Now I want to create a bridge between an edge towards the front of the car and one towards the back so I can model the area above the windows. When I select the edges and create a bridge (W > Bridge Edge Loops) I end up with a twist in the bridge:

I assume the edges have inverted Y axis orientations caused by me when I mirrored the wheel arches by scaling -1. I have tried recalculating all normals and playing with the Twist setting in the Bridge tool but I cant create  bridge without the twist.

How can I fix my model so all faces, edges and vertices have the same Y axis orientation again?

With those faces selected use ctrl-n to activate the Make Normals Consistent operator.  If their orientation afterwards is not to your liking, use the Inside checkbox in the operator options panel to flip them.  If you can't find that checkbox, go ahead and use the Flip Normals operator in the Mesh > Normals menu.

If this does not work, then the face sets probably do not share an edge.  Maybe the Remove Doubles operator will fix that problem.  Or you could just select the normals that are facing the wrong way and use Flip Normals on them alone.


Can I use a Max model with V-ray materials in Blender without too much trouble? and sorry for the ultra noobie question but just learning to use Blender (or better said...a computer ) and I'm about to spend a rather steep amount of $ on a Max V-ray model from TurboSquid for my animations so I just want to know if I can actually use it in Blender?
(I'd love to make it myself but my modelling skillset is currently at Toddler level)
I just need this model bad. Haha.
I'm already totally in love with Blender...I don't know 3DMax but I've heard it's pricey.
Any help is seriously appreciated. Greetings.

You can use a model from other application if the the model's file is in OBJ, FBX,Dae or ABC. If the model is in 3DS Format, which is a 3Ds Max format you can't use it unless you find a way to change the format (OBJ, FBX,Dae or ABC).
For the Materials, you need to make everything again with Blender Materials. As far as i know.


Appending a sub-menu under an existing sub-menu in Blender 2.8 I can add menus to Blender 2.8 with the python code below but how can I add a sub-menu using python to one of Blenders existing menus?  I'm trying to add the rtMyMenu sub-menu under Blenders Add-Curve sub-menu (see red arrow).

What I currently have is:

-Add-
-rtMyMenu-  -rtMyOperator-

What I'm trying to get is:

-Add-
-Curve-
      -rtMyMenu-  -rtMyOperator-

-

import bpy

class OBJECT_OT_myoperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = 'object.myoperator'
    bl_label = 'rtMyOperator'
    bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

    def execute(self, context):
        # ...affairs...
        return {'FINISHED'}

class OBJECT_MT_mymenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_idname = 'object.mymenu'
    bl_label = 'rtMyMenu'

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

def menu_func(self, context):
    self.layout.menu(OBJECT_MT_mymenu.bl_idname)

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(OBJECT_OT_myoperator)
    bpy.utils.register_class(OBJECT_MT_mymenu)
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_add.append(menu_func)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OBJECT_OT_myooperator)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(OBJECT_MT_mymenu)
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_add.remove(menu_func)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

I tried

bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_add_curve.append(menu_func)

and

bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_add_curve.remove(menu_func)

But that doesn't work.

Minor issue: VIEW3D_MT_add_curve doesn't exist, you have to append to VIEW3D_MT_curve_add rather. Further reading: https://docs.blender.org/api/current/bpy.types.Menu.html

import bpy

class MY_MT_CustomMenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_label = "First Menu"
    bl_idname = "OBJECT_MT_custom_menu"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.label(text="Hello First Menu!", icon='WORLD_DATA')

         # call the second custom menu
        layout.menu("OBJECT_MT_sub_menu", icon="COLLAPSEMENU")

class MY_MT_CustomSubMenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_label = "Sub Menu"
    bl_idname = "OBJECT_MT_sub_menu"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.label(text="Hello Second Menu!", icon='WORLD_DATA')

        # call another predefined menu
        layout.operator("wm.call_menu", text="Unwrap").name = "VIEW3D_MT_uv_map"

def draw_menu(self, context):
    self.layout.menu(MY_MT_CustomMenu.bl_idname)

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(MY_MT_CustomMenu)
    bpy.utils.register_class(MY_MT_CustomSubMenu)
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_curve_add.append(draw_menu)

def unregister():
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_curve_add.remove(draw_menu)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(MY_MT_CustomSubMenu)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(MY_MT_CustomMenu)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Based on: How to create a custom UI? and Python: Extend “Select Similar” menu?


How can I make an invisible and so I can select through it I have a plane I'm using for shading, It works but I still see it and can select it, I'm gonna need to select the items in a set and I can't click through it. It's not a huge deal as I can obviously just turn my view but I fear it may cause problems in the future. Is there any way to make it invisible and so I can't select it?

Restrict viewport selection
Go to the outliner and press the cursor symbol. The object can't be selected in the 3d viewport anymore, only in the outliner.

Restrict visibility
In the object properties area under Display, coose Wire as the Maximum Draw Type.

OR
Make the object invisible by pressing the eye icon. This is the same operation as selecting in the 3d view and pressing H to hide it.

Obviously, it will be made visible again, when ⎇ AltH is pressed to unhide other objects. And since it is unselectable, we can't even hide it again. An option would be to set a key by pressing I while hovering over the disabled eye icon, or setting a driver by right clicking on the eye icon and selecting Add Driver > Manually (Create later).

the keyed property turns yellow, the driven property turns lilac
Unhiding everything with ⎇ AltH will still unhide the object, but it will disappear again on frameupdate (/ framechange).
Store it in another layer
Select the object and press M, then choose another layer, which you don't use. A drawback of this method is, that we have to enable the layer again, before rendering the scene. Objects in disabled layers don't get included in the render.


How to set off background color reflection? I'm very new to blender. I animated this model:

I want to use this animation in a video. I use chroma key to take away the background but it's impossible to do this when the green color from the background reflects on the door(see image). I did change the Environment and Indirect lighting but it did'nt help. I tried many things but nothing worked. Can someone help me out?

EDIT
I'm in blender render mode.

You Don't have to use chroma,You can just render the video in alpha channel.

Cycles:

To do so,You just have to check transparent  film panel:

This will render the background as Alpha but the reflections will be still here.

To remove the colored reflection,Uncheck use Environment in render layer:

Blender Internal:

You just have to Uncheck Sky in render layers:


How do i know if rendering my animation is finished, So I know my percentage goes from 0 percent to 100 percent and keeps repeating I don't know if its finished or still rendering? SO when I do watch the video that pops up on my windows, its only like a split second of the animation. I've tried clicking render animation but I'm not sure if it ever finished. My problem is I don't know if my rendering works.

There are three things you can look for.

Most of the information that will be useful to you is in the Render Result view of the Image Editor window. The Render Result usually comes up automatically when you start rendering. You can also bring it up by pressing F11.

This is by far the best place to get information about a render process.

At the top of this window is a row of text that has information about the render. As a frame is rendering, it will show the number of the last tile that finished, or the number of samples done/remaining. It will also show information "between" frames about loading images, synchronizing geometry, calculating BVH caches, and stuff like that. That should give you some indication of whether the render is busy with something or not.

In the image below, you can see the bar I'm talking about says:

  "Mem: 17.09M Peak:17.09M | Time: xxxxxx | Done | path Tracing Sample 10/10"

That text will be a little different depending on a number of factors (like image vs. animation), but that's what you're looking for.

Another thing you can look at is the render progress bar. It will show the progress for each frame (not the whole animation), but if the progress bar isn't being displayed at all, then Blender isn't rendering.

Blender provides pretty good feedback while rendering, so the previous two solutions should be plenty. If, however, you want to look at something else, the last thing you can check is the output file. You should be rendering the frames as individual images (for a host of reasons). You should be able to look at the creation time of each image and determine how long to wait for the next one. If the next one takes too long, you can use that to determine if it's still rendering.

If you're rendering to a video file, you can still look at the size of that file, and it should be increasing regularly as each frame is finished.


Is there any way to re-render without having to rebuild the entire scene again? If i'm rendering on GPU, is there any way to re-render without having to rebuild the entire scene again (bvh etc).

I'm just trying to tweak render settings between re-renders so I can optimise it for the fastest possible render time per frame for an animation.

Scene build time takes 2-3 minutes, so it's getting really frustrating having to tweak the number of samples, then wait 3 minutes to see the effect, then tweak again, wait another 3 minutes, then again ...

It's like torture.

I thought persistent images might do the trick, but no, it still has to rebuild the entire scene every time...

You could hide the objects that are taking up unnecessary performance, to preview only the ones you want or what will give you a good preview. You can also render only a small part of the image. Here's a tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94UsZw6mTaE


Python access toolbox's parameters after calling an operator I downloaded this add-on to create L-system (https://github.com/ento/blender-lsystem-addon) and wanted to 1/ Create a L-system object from a script 2/ Change its parameters from a script.

The add-on is working as expected --> The user calls the operator "L-system" (Add > Mesh > L-system). Then in the "toolbox panel"(see image), the user can choose the L-system's parameters.

Now, I would like to the same from a script. Calling the L-system operator is straightforward:

import bpy
bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem()

The L-system object is automatically created, but empty! Also, the menu in the toolbox panel doesn't appear.

I don't know how to access the menu's parameters and I don't even know if its possible ... So here is my question: By script, how can I access the toolbox's menu parameter after calling the operator? Note that I tried to load a preset after calling the operator (just in case), but I don't know what is the "menu_idname".

presetPath = "C:\\Users\\adrien\\Desktop\\fav\\default1.py"
bpy.ops.script.execute_preset(filepath=presetPath, menu_idname="")

Thanks in advance for you help!

A good rule of thumb is to use auto-complete in the python console, ie type in bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem(ctrl-space

>>> bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem(
add_lsystem()
bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem(nproductions=0, niterations=0, seed=0, start="", radius=0.2, pitch_angle=0.523599, yaw_angle=0.523599, roll_angle=0.523599, tropism=(0, 0, 0), tropismsize=0)

Note: after running manually once it gives the more bloated version with the mods n prods.

>>> bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem(
add_lsystem()
bpy.ops.mesh.add_lsystem(nproductions=0, niterations=0, seed=0, start="", radius=0.2, pitch_angle=0.523599, yaw_angle=0.523599, roll_angle=0.523599, tropism=(0, 0, 0), tropismsize=0, prod1="", mod1="", prod2="", mod2="", prod3="", mod3="", prod4="", mod4="", prod5="", mod5="", prod6="", mod6="", prod7="", mod7="", prod8="", mod8="", prod9="", mod9="")

which will give the properties that can be passed to the operator.

For the preset, right click on the preset menu,

which in my case, for a preset named "Default" gives me the following command in the paste buffer

bpy.ops.script.execute_preset(filepath="/home/batfinger/.config/blender/2.77/scripts/presets/operator/mesh.add_lsystem/default.py", menu_idname="WM_MT_operator_presets")


How to blur a single layer in a grease pencil object? I was wondering, is it possible to blur a single layer in a grease pencil object like, for example, the gaussian blur in Photoshop ? I know there is a "blur" effect in the visual effects properties but it is applied to the entire object.

I don't think you can but you can approach it by using a combination of modifiers, which support layers.
Let's say you have two strokes created with the same material but on two different layers :

Add a Thickness modifier, in the influence set it to your target layer

Add an Opacity modifier, set the layer. Set the mode to Hardness and decrease it.

Add another Opacity modifier, set the layer again. Decrease the strength or the factor.

You might want to disable or enable Self Overlap on the material if you want to decrease the artifacts.

The artifacts are particularly prominent on sharp turns.


Keyframing a UV texture on a mesh isn't working as expected I used to be able to do this easily in 2.7x but now things seem to have changed.
I have a rectangular object with a seamless pattern applied to it (.png). I would like to keyframe the vertices in the UV Editor to make the pattern change position in relation to the object during the animation.
However, the I key doesn't allow me to do that anymore. The Keyframing menu doesn't pop up when I press I while hovering over the vertices in the UV Editor window and when I press I in my 3D Viewport, it seems to do something else (I noticed this message atop the 3D Viewport after pressing I).
I have been looking in the Preferences to find if a wrong key was mapped to the I key, but things seem normal (although I don't see the UV Editor as a list of panels where the shortcut can be used).
Is there something wrong with the mapping of my keys, and how can I add a Keyframe to the UV Editor without using a shortcut if all else fails?

At least as far back as 2.77, this wasn't directly possible.  At least, not without an addon.
It's possible to do indirectly, by copying UV from a different mesh, but it's more work than you'd probably like:

Duplicate your object.  Make your duplicate non-rendering.  Edit the UV of the duplicate.

Give the original a data transfer modifier, targeting the duplicate.  Set it to copy face-corner data, copying UVs, by topology.

At the frame you want to "keyframe" those UVs, instead keyframe the mix factor of the data transfer modifier (at 1.0 to copy those UVs, at 0.0 to not copy them.)  It will linearly interpolate your UV between your old UV and your duplicate's UV on the basis of the animated mix factor.

If there are multiple different UVs you'd like to keyframe, you need a fresh duplicate and data transfer modifier for each independent sets of UVs.
This is the broadest, most general purpose way of doing this.  A UV Warp modifier can be much simpler if it can do what you want.  Keyframing the values in a mapping node, in your materials, can also be much simpler.
Keymesh, recently released, may provide a different way to approach this-- I'm not sure, I haven't played with that feature much.  In the future, geometry nodes should provide a further way to animate UVs, but even in the 2.93 beta, they're not really there yet.


Make part of a texture transparent i need to add a logo to an intro. i have put the psd onto a plane but need to get rid of the white cube around the logo so that it is just the logo with no bg. how do i go about doing this? i am yet to try and solve this alone because i found nothing online to help me do it. I have added a pic of the logo i need to be cut out.

Solution 1

If your image has alpha channel or you can create it¹, you can use it to mix your original shader with a transparent shader.

Your node setup adjusted:

¹Since you mentioned psd, I assume you use PhotoShop. Use the magic wand or (polygonal) lasso selector tool to: Select and delete what should be transparent; or add a mask and fill those parts of the mask with black. You may have to setup the image to enable the alpha channel.

Solution 2

If your image has black background, and is only black where the logo should be transparent, you can use that as a condition for mixing your original shader with a transparent shader.

Your node setup adjusted:

You may use other values (between 0 and 1) in the Greater than node as the threshold for masking the darkest parts of the image. Also, you may use Less then node insted to mask white areas of the image (in case your background is white).


How do I connect these meshes correctly? I'm trying to model a gun and its requiring me to connect the meshes. I'm using blender 2.83 beta.

You should begin with the circular shape because it's the most convenient to do, then make a series of extrusions.


Is a large UV map heavy on performance while playing? I have a very large UV map for a house of mine. Due to the nature of the shingles being single duplicated objects, I have quite a giant UV map when exporting and importing for Unreal Engine 4. Does the giant UV map have an effect on performance at all when playing? Or does it only matter when the lighting is being built?

A UV map is a set of coordinates representing the vertices of a mesh in 2D space. It is not usual to talk about it in terms of 'large' or 'small' as its size/density mostly depends on the size/density of the mesh. You should generally not care about resources used by UVMaps. The size of textures (like lightmaps) or the resolution of the whole mesh are usually the things you should worry about.


how to separate one object into different parts? I do not know exactly what I did, but I am a beginner/noob with Blender. When I select one shape all of the shapes have an orange outline. I don't really know but they are all somehow on the same line/tab. I wanna put them each back to their own tab. Look at the picture to see what I mean. 3 of the shapes have an orange outline when I click "cube" even though it should only be one cube. I wanna make each one its own line again. See how the cones are not selected, each cone has its own separate line/tab. I feel like it is really simple to fix, but it is probably a rare problem so I do not know how to fix it since I am new. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Try following these steps:

Select the object (In this case it is 'Cube')
Go into Edit Mode (Press Tab)
Press A (Deselect/Select) until everything of that object is selected
Press P -> By loose parts

All of the objects should each have a different 'outline'


Why does the "Map Range" node fail for values above 10,000? I have a "Map Range" node with the following inputs:

Because 10,000 is right in the middle between 9,995 and 10,005, I expect the output to be 0.5, and indeed it is.

If I now increase the value by one:

I expect the value to be 0.6, but instead the node outputs 1.0. Even if I put the value ever so slightly above 10,000 (say, 10,000.001), I still get 1.0 as the result.

If I decrease the value to 9,999 instead, I get a result of 0.4 as I expect.

So clearly the behavior changes precisely at the 10,000 mark. What limitation am I running into? Is this documented somewhere? Are there other places where I need to be aware of similar issues when doing calculations in the compositor?

If it matters, this is 2.79b 64bit on Windows 10, but I'm getting the same behavior in 2.72b on Linux Mint.

By viewing the source of this node in:

source/blender/compositor/operations/COM_MapRangeOperation.cpp

We see in line 46 this comment:

/* The code below assumes all data is inside range +- this, and that input buffer is single channel */
#define BLENDER_ZMAX 10000.0f

So it is not a bug, this range is defined by the developers for some reason. If the input value is larger than BLENDER_ZMAX then the To Max input is returned, if the input value is less than negative BLENDER_ZMAX then To Min is returned.


2 joined objects won't display materials correctly I have two objects each with it's own material. I joined the two objects, that gave me one object with two materials.  However when I erase the materials and try to put them back on only one material applies. how do i fix this?

I suppose the problem is the following: you have a mesh with two materials and you want to change these materials but keep respectively the faces that correspond to the first and to the second.

Say we have a mesh with two materials RedOne and BlueOne, like this:

If you remove the material slots and add new material slots, you will lose which face is correspond to which material:

Instead of removing the slots, you should assign them directly the new materials, because faces of the mesh are assigned to slots (and so you keep face/slot correspondences).


Blender 2.82a in Texture Paint mode Paint Mask doesn't show wireframe Hi I am new to blender and really struggling to find answer on this.

I am not able to show wireframe while in Texture Paint mode, supposed to be shown in any tutorial. Turning on Paint Mask is not helping, However WHen I switch to Weight Paint mode toggling on Paint Mask  shows wireframe correctly.

In the Properties Editor under the Object Properties panel, You can turn on the Wireframe and All Edges options there to get wireframe over your texture paint.


Custom Menu for bpy.context I am working on making a custom menu that would allow access to things like Cycle Render, Blender Render, changing file formats for render outputs, etc.

I understand how to make menus using operators like

layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="Add as Active"). type = 'ACTIVE'

Is the process for creating menus for bpy.context.scene similar or am I missing some basic understanding of python and how Blender works?

UPDATE....

In the info panel I am trying to execute this.

 bpy.context.scene.render.engine = 'CYCLES'

I am using this template from cgcookie.

EXAMPLE

import bpy

# Creates a menu for global 3D View
class customMenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_label = "Sub"
    bl_idname = "view3D.sub"

    # Set the menu operators and draw functions
    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout

        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="A Add Active").type = 'ACTIVE'
        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="B Add Passive").type = 'PASSIVE'
      # here is were I would like to add a menu item to change to cycles.

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(customMenu)
    bpy.ops.wm.call_menu(name=customMenu.bl_idname)

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

You want to have a look at the ops.wm.context_... family of operators, which are 'generic' operators that can be used to define a value (or cycle through a set of values) of any compatible property accessible through context. This avoid the need to define a custom operator.

E.g. for an enum property like context.scene.render.engine:

import bpy

# Creates a menu for global 3D View
class customMenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_label = "Sub"
    bl_idname = "view3D.sub"

    # Set the menu operators and draw functions
    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout

        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="A Add Active").type = 'ACTIVE'
        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="B Add Passive").type = 'PASSIVE'
        op = layout.operator("wm.context_set_enum", text="Set Cycles Renderer")
        op.data_path = "scene.render.engine"
        op.value = 'CYCLES'

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(customMenu)
    bpy.ops.wm.call_menu(name=customMenu.bl_idname)

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Note that you can also use layout.prop() and the like, just like in a regular panel - but beware, most of our widgets are not really designed nor tested in menus… Afaik in 'official' UI we only do that for some boolean properties (giving small toggle boxes in the menus). Seems to work rather well with enums, though, producing a sub-menu:

import bpy

# Creates a menu for global 3D View
class customMenu(bpy.types.Menu):
    bl_label = "Sub"
    bl_idname = "view3D.sub"

    # Set the menu operators and draw functions
    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout

        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="A Add Active").type = 'ACTIVE'
        layout.operator("rigidbody.objects_add", text="B Add Passive").type = 'PASSIVE'
        layout.prop(context.scene.render, "engine")

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(customMenu)
    bpy.ops.wm.call_menu(name=customMenu.bl_idname)

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()


Curving a bevel? How to creature a unique radius on a T-junction? first time posting here since trying to figure this out on my own, and googling it has yet to give me a satisfactory answer.

I'm am trying to get more into hard surface modeling, so I thought I give myself a challenge, I probably bit off more then I chew at this moment.

I am trying to create a bevel to fit around this unorthodox t-junction between a cylinder and a cube. I've tried regular beveling but it isn't quite giving me the results I want.

I'm more or less attempting to create a beautiful bevel similar if not exactly like this one in a video showcasing MESHMAchines Offset cut (The plugin I have purchased, it is really a brilliant plugin, still much to learn with its complexity)

So any recommendations on how I should approach this to figure out a solution to this puzzling bevel question?

Regards,

You could begin by a boolean, then work a bit with the knife to make sure that you only have quads, then bevel the welding, then the rest of the object, and bring some corrections to keep quads again:


Scaling Across Projects Does anyone know how to keep a scale the same across multiple blender projects? For example, I have a plane set to 8', but when I copy it and paste it in a new project, it is set all the way to 314.96' with the scale still set to one across the XYZ axis. What am I doing wrong?

If you want to keep the scale the same across multiple Blender projects set the scale to the same units and also keep the unit scale the same in all of your projects.

It can be done in the Properties Editor, Scene tab under Units section:


Object is not being cut by Boolean Modifier (Cylinder). How do I make it work I have a Plane that has been rotated and extruded into a "Square" shape, that I am trying to take an ovular chunk out of with a deformed Cylinder. I have had a multitude of problem with this and have spent the last several hours trying to work out why it won't work. As you can see in the image: It shows me where it should cut, but doesn't cut it. The Edges it has made inside the shape aren't attached to a Vertex and they are intangible. The other problem is obviously the shape hasnt been cut so the faces / edges / vertex are still on the side. I honestly have no clue what to do. and because of this I cant even begin to fix them for the Subsurf mod.

make the deformed cylinder wider, and a bit taller, than the other object. Coplanar surfaces don't work so well with boolean operations.

Or you could avoid booleans and just model that shape using proportional editing.


Non-destructive beveling by different amounts on different edges? I'm new to Blender and have struck a brick wall, and would greatly appreciate it if any one of you can help me assess what's going on here.

I'm trying to reproduce what I created using SketchUp, but the object just won't bevel.

I would like to bevel the outer corners by X while beveling all other edges by X/2, as can be seen in the SketchUp model, all in a non-destructive manner which allows me to alter the number of segments later.

Any clue as to how I can do this?

Blender can do this with 2 bevel modifiers.

Non destructive and you can change segments at anytime.

The image above shows the use of two different vertex groups. The color options was used.

Use two bevel modifiers.
Create two vertex groups.
Each one uses a different vertex group as indicated by the gold arrows.
There are so many options and ways to do this with the modifier.
There is an option Vertex Group
The above image was a cube and is beveled.


How to develop a custom sculpt tool? Blender comes with a bunch of sculpting tools:

I am wanting to create a custom sculpting tool but I am not sure where to begin. How would I go about creating a custom sculpting tool with several extra properties in the properties area:

As an aside, when looking at the contents of a .blend file I noticed that all of the sculpting tools are inside there; so I basically want to add a new custom one into there somehow...

What I am looking to create

The tool that I want to create would basically have three properties "Source Mesh Min", "Source Mesh Max" and "Direction". Both of the source meshes would have the exact same topology as the actual mesh that is being sculpted.

The sculpting tool would then essentially lerp the current mesh towards one of the two source meshes depending upon the selected direction.

Sculting is a very calculation intensive task. For speed reasons it has been developed in the core of blender using the C language. Implementing the tools you describe in sculpting is possible, but not using the python API. Gladly Blender is OpenSource so you will be able to get the sourcecode and change it to your likings.

Python Alternative:

As in your description the topology must be the same it sounds like sculpting is more the UI/workflow and not the tool (using sculpting the topology does not have to be the same (Dynamic topology). Implementing such a feature inside the 3d editor using python seems to be an good alternative.

You could even store the values in a Weightmap and use this data to calculate the new mesh. Getter the interactivity will be the challenge.


How to fix python operators disappearing in new Blender files? I'm working on an add-on, frequently reloading scripts and using it to work on multiple files. After a while, doing that, Blender stopped registering some new operators, while it did recognize others.

The add-on's code had no errors, and nothing would show up in the Blender console.

Here's a picture of the problem: both are in the same version of Blender, with the same version of the add-on. In one file, the operator is available, but not in the other.

Turns out the issue comes from the userprefs file. It can be found next to your add-ons. On Windows, it's in C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\VERSION_NUMBER\config.

Just delete userpref.blend and the issue should be fixed. This will not affect your keymaps and your startup scene, which are stored in another file. But it will reset the User Preferences to default settings.


Export UVs to .png - output with alpha is different when launched from command line I need to programmatically export the UVs of a lot of .objs. I am using the bpy.ops.uv.export_layout() fn.

Since  this step is part of a more complex pipeline, I am launching Python from the command line passing the script as a -P parameter.

I run into a pretty important issue: if I launch Blender manually and run the script, or from a terminal as explained above, I obtain two different images. I am using the same parameters while exporting.

I run some tests on Suzanne. Here are the images:

The difference is especially clear if you check their alpha channels:

You will see that in the command line one the wire is visible in the alpha, and this breaks the rest of the workflow that I need to perform on the image.

Any idea on what's going on?
Thank you!

Ps: here's a minimal example script to replicate the issue.

Set the export path.
On Macos, launch with "blender_path -P script_path".
Comment last line when launching from Blender!

import bpy

output_path = "YOUR_EXPORT_PATH_HERE"

if __name__ == "__main__":

    for o in bpy.data.objects:
        bpy.data.objects.remove(o, do_unlink=True)

    bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_monkey_add(enter_editmode=True, location=(0, 0, 0))

    bpy.ops.uv.export_layout(filepath=str(output_path), export_all=False, modified=False, mode='PNG',
                             size=(1024, 1024), opacity=1)

    print ("Done")

    bpy.ops.wm.quit_blender()

I did exactly the same thing you did, exported the UVs from the Suzanne.

Though i did export it twice with once default opacity 0.25 and once with it set to 1 as you use in the script.

The code is taken from the Scripting Tab bottom left window. Here we can see as in the picture below, the default 0.25 function framed red(default value is optional and does not show up in the function used), the value of 1 (is not default, so the value shows up as parameter) in green:

bpy.ops.uv.export_layout(filepath="..\\Suzanne.png", size=(1024, 1024))

When compared to the one you use, there is a significant difference. Opacity by default when using the menu is 0.25, while in your script you use "opacity=1".

Using:

bpy.ops.uv.export_layout(filepath="..\\Suzanne1.png", size=(1024, 1024), opacity=0.25)

i got the exact same image as i got from when i used the menu function without changing the opacity.

So i would suggest you try your script with the adjustment of the opacity to "0.25".
That should do the trick.


Cannot parent my mesh to armature with automatic weights I have tried every solution I can find on here and youtube to fix this, mine appears to be a one off problem that I don't know how to solve.

I have a finished armature and mesh, whenever I select parent with automatic weights - 'bone heat weighting failed to find solution for one or more bones'comes up
I have separated loose parts, added the subsurf modifier and removed vertex and recalculated normals. Help me pls, its been 3 hours of hell.
Yours faithfully, a complete noob. x

The problem is mostly due to the fact that both the rig and the mesh aren't perfectly symmetrical, you have to make sure both your mesh and your rig are properly lined up.

I recommend makign sure the central row of vertices of your model are straight, by scaling along X to 0, then line up the bones in the central column of your armature, delete the limbs of either side, and make sure you can properly skin one half.

Then follow this answer on how to properly mirror a rig

as a side note, your thumb bones aren't attached to your hand bones, and you have some aberrant geometry on the hat and on the neck watch out.


Way to keep lighting from lamps without influence from environmental textures I did a nice little motion track:

Motion Tracked

I want to apply a glossy material with a little bit of roughness to give it a metallic look, and in the reflection of the metal, I want to see the surrounding environment.  I plan on using a still image from the original footage and applying it as an environmental texture (in Cycles).  Is there any way to make it so the environmental texture only influences the reflection, and has  no influence on the lighting?  If so, please explain to me how this can be accomplished.  Thanks!

Not that I know of, however you can add a sphere, add the texture to it using a Diffuse material, and then disable the Shadows option.

Add a UV Sphere to your scene (Shift+A), and scale as desired (S).

Now go into edit mode (Tab) and select all (A) and unwrap using sphere projection (U > Sphere Projection)

Now set up your material like this:

Now all you need to do is to disable the casting of shadows. Go to Object > Ray Visibility and disable the Shadow option and the Camera option.

If the reflections are not quite apparent enough you can try setting the material of the sphere to an Emission shader instead of Diffuse and tweaking the value.

Here are my results:

Diffuse

Glossy


How to add a new item to the Mesh submenu of the Add Menu in this script? How do I include a new 'Realistic Stone' item in the Add menu, Mesh submenu in this script?

bl_info = {
    "name": "Realistic Stone",
    "author": "",
    "version": (0, 0, 1),
    "blender": (2, 79, 0),
    "location": "VIEW3D > ADD > Mesh",
    "description": "Realistic Stone",
    "warning": "",
    "wiki_url": "",
    "tracker_url": "",
    "category": "Add Mesh"}

# Imports
import bpy
from bpy import context
import bmesh

class RealisticStoneStone(bpy.types.Operator):

    def execute(self, context):

        """Realistic Stone"""
        bl_idname = "mesh.realistic_stone_add"
        bl_label = "Realistic Stone"
        bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO', 'PRESET'}

        # Mesh - Create Cubic
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(location=(0.00, 0.00, 1.00))
        bpy.context.object.scale = (1, 1, 1)
        bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
        Cube = bpy.context.object
        Cube.name = 'RealisticStone'
        Object = Cube.name = 'RealisticStone'
        bpy.context.object.data.name = "RealisticStone"

        # Modifier - Multiresolution
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='MULTIRES')
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Multires"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 1
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.5
        bpy.ops.texture.new()
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.001"].type = 'VORONOI'
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.001"].noise_scale = 1
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 2
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.25
        bpy.ops.texture.new()
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.002"].type = 'CLOUDS'
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.002"].noise_depth = 7
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace.001"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 3
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.01
        bpy.ops.texture.new()
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.003"].type = 'NOISE'
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace.002"].show_expanded = False

    def invoke(self, context, event):
        return self.execute(context)

def draw_item(self, context):
    self.layout.operator_context = 'INVOKE_DEFAULT'
    self.layout.operator(RealisticStone.bl_idname, text="Realistic Stone", icon="PLUGIN")

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_module(__name__)
    bpy.types.INFO_MT_mesh_add.append(draw_item)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_module(__name__)
    bpy.types.INFO_MT_mesh_add.remove(draw_item)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    register()

bl_info = {
    "name": "Realistic Stone",
    "author": "",
    "version": (0, 0, 1),
    "blender": (2, 79, 0),
    "location": "VIEW3D > ADD > Mesh > Add Realistic Stone",
    "description": "Realistic Stone",
    "warning": "",
    "wiki_url": "",
    "tracker_url": "",
    "category": "Add Mesh"}

# Imports
import bpy
from bpy import context
import bmesh

class RealisticStoneStone(bpy.types.Operator):

    """Realistic Stone"""
    bl_idname = "mesh.realistic_stone_add"
    bl_label = "Realistic Stone"
    bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO', 'PRESET'}

    def execute(self, context):

        # Mesh - Create Cubic
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(location=(0.00, 0.00, 1.00))
        bpy.context.object.scale = (1, 1, 1)
        bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
        Cube = bpy.context.object
        Cube.name = 'RealisticStone'
        Object = Cube.name = 'RealisticStone'
        bpy.context.object.data.name = "RealisticStone"

        # Modifier - Multiresolution
        bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='MULTIRES')
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.ops.object.multires_subdivide(modifier="Multires")
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Multires"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 1
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.5
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.001"].type = 'VORONOI'
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.001"].noise_scale = 1
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 2
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.25
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.002"].type = 'CLOUDS'
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.002"].noise_depth = 7
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace.001"].show_expanded = False

        # Modifier - Displace 3
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DISPLACE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace"].strength = 0.01
        bpy.data.textures["Texture.003"].type = 'NOISE'
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Displace.002"].show_expanded = False

def invoke(self, context, event):
    return self.execute(context)

def draw_item(self, context):
    self.layout.operator("mesh.realistic_stone_add", icon="PLUGIN")

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_module(__name__)
    bpy.types.INFO_MT_mesh_add.append(draw_item)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_module(__name__)
    bpy.types.INFO_MT_mesh_add.remove(draw_item)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    register()


VSE snap a strip to the begining of your editing In the VSE is there a way to snap strips to the begining of your editing? For example you've deleted the first strip of you editing, your editing now starts at frame 200 and you want to move all of your strips to frame 0 or frame 1, is there a simple way to do that snapping to the begining of the VSE?

Group all of your strips (Make them a Meta Strip Ctrl+G) and then with your current Frame being 1 (position the green playhead) press Shift+S to Snap the Meta s to the beginning. Alternatively set the Meta Strips Start Frame to 1. Then UnMeta/ungroup the Strip again: Alt+G.


Render turns white on completion I was changing some render settings, now for some reason when my image finishes rendering it turns solid white.

Here is the file.

In the compositor you have plugged the 'Alpha' channel into the 'Image' output and the 'Z' channel into the 'Alpha' output. The image doesn't yet have an alpha channel (you just need to enable 'Transparent' under the 'Film' section of the 'Render' tab) and so the final image appears blank.

It looks like you may have just accidentally connected the alpha channel to the output, rather than wanting it, to output a normal image the connections should be:


Smooth "Clay" For Sculpting I've recently begun to learn sculpting and use YouTube video tutorials for the same. But almost all of these tuts tell me to use a cube and use Multiresolution Modifier to smooth it.

My end result looks like this

As you can see, it looks block-y. A solution to this is to keep subdividing till it's smooth. But I want to know if there's another way to get smooth material to sculpt. Here's an example of the kind of material I want

https://youtu.be/NI6pd4Ym9qI?t=4m20s

Also, I used two cylinders to make the horn-y part of the hair because there wasn't enough material in the hair to grab. How do I sculpt hair like it's shown in the video?

Use smooth shading: Thoose monkeys have the same amount of vertices, one is shaded "smooth" and one "flat".

About hair sculpting: yuo can use the Snake hook tool in combination with Dynamic topology: thoose horns are maden with a Suzanne SubSurfed level 2, then applied, then a single stroke with Dyntopo 6 pixels.


2.83 - Cycles - CUDA error: Out of memory in mem_alloc_result, line 815 When rendering in Cycles at 1080p, everything went fine until it started denoising. I then suddenly got the error: CUDA error: Out of memory in mem_alloc_result, line 815.
My GPU has 6GB VRAM and my computer has 24GB RAM, yet neither showed any signs of approaching the max.

Denoising the entire 1920x1080 image at once caused the out-of-memory issue. Disabling Progressive Refine and making the tile size reduced the number of pixels denoised at once, eliminating the issue.


How to make peeling edges of a paper I want to model a piece of paper that has curled edges, similar to those created when one keeps a sheet of paper unprotected for a long time, the edges will somewhat shrink. I tried creating a thinned cube and beveling it, but it only gives me rounded corners.

Any thoughts? I am trying to create this effect:

There are 2 main ways to curl a plane, using the SimpleDeform>Bend modifier, or using the Curve modifier with a curled curve object. I personally think the Curve solution is more accurate and controllable.

Create a curve with a long flat portion and curled portion at the end.
Line the curve up diagonally with the plane so that the curl part of the curve is beyond the corner of the page
Add the Curve modifier to the page and select the curly curve object
You may need to reposition the page or the curl object to get them to line up properly.
Keyframe the position of the curve so that it moved diagonally across the corner of the page. As it does so the corner will curl up.
You will need the page mesh to be fairly subdivied, and may also need to add a subsurf modifier to smooth it out even more.


Make Links - Object Data Causes wild results I have several low poly objects and one high-poly and want to apply the high-poly now that the simulation is in a state where it looks good for my single frame render.  However, when I use the Object Data (Ctrl + L ), they all go wild.

I have zeroed out the scale and transformations for both the high and low objects, and for the life of me can't find the problem.  I am new to Blender, but I understand to use Ctrl + A  and set the final objects to match their resting scale and location.

UPDATE: I have since figured out they all their origin set incorrectly, so now they all show up in the same place, but they do not rotate to match.  Any ideas there?

They are not disappeared, but they are all at the same place as HiPoly :)

Problem here is you applied Rot and Loc, that are zero now for each object origin, but their Object data are not. That means if you Ctrl+L > Object Data to each object it copy exactly the same.

To fix Location is not a problem just select all, search for Set Origin > Origin to Geometry. But how to restore Rotation I don't know.

If you have a version before applied transform, would be better.


Cloth doesn't move during simulation I've create a scene with a cloth pin to an empty but when I want to move the empty while the sim is running, the cloth doesn't follow in real time.
I've try to follow this tutorial but it seams to not work on the lastest version of blender.
Video of the problem : https://streamable.com/pqvqqo
[![enter image description here][2]][2]

Try to make Empty As Parent of a vertex :

You've probably baked your cloth simulation, so whatever you do with your empty, nothing happens. We couldn't see it with the shared file probably because it doesn't have access to the cache files. So simply Delete Bake:

Also I wonder if hooking is the good solution, it looks buggy, maybe simply parent to the empty?


Scale a UV mapping to fit a exact rectangle Because I'm making tileable mesh, I have to resort to some programming hack in order to automatically generate missing textures for having them tileable without to adding too much pressure on my artist (later he can repaint some junction pieces if he want, but I'm pretty sure the image blending algorithm will be fine for the 95% of the cases).

However to do that I need to place UV coordinates with pixel perfect precision.

Here's actually my 3D model:

If you look carefully to the above picture you will see that the UV mapping is not fitting exactly in 1/4 of the original texture.

I want to align the UV mapping to have extreme corners at a texture corner and at texture center (basically => fit inside 1/4 of the final texture)

Most UV vertices need to be placed manually snapping to 1/64 increments. (think to the texture as a chessboard with 64 cells on each side: there are 64+1 possible coordinates on each dimension). That's also because some UV maps are deformed by Blender, so I cannot just "scale" those to fit in exact areas.

I need either to know:

How to enter manually UV coordinates in UV/Image editor
Or how to snap UV coordinates to 1/64 or 1/32 grid.

You may select the desired vertex of the uv island, press G, then X (or Y depending on what axis you want it to transform) and type the value using keyboard. You can also enable the Snap during transform (Increment) option to snap the vertex to the grid in the Uv Editor (hold Shift to snap by smaller distances).

You can also use the vertex coordinates buttons in the UV Vertex panel of the UV Editor's properties shelf (N).

You can edit your UV island's appearance using the same tools as in 3d view window. To make the edge perfectly horizontal or vertical select the vertex you want the other ones to allign to and press Shift+S-->Cursor to Selected. Next (with the pivot type set to 2D Cursor) select the vertices to allign and scale it by 0 along X or Y axes (S,X (or Y),0).


Materials don't work when switching from Cycles Render to Blender Game I created an object and I have created a material under the Cycles Render while using material viewport shading. If I switch to Blender Game Engine, this is what I see

My question is how do I solve this and return the object back to the way it was in Blender Game Engine?

The Cyles engine is different than the Blender Game Engine and you can only have textures from Cycles into BGE(not exactly the same but similar quality) by baking them. (Search baking textures)

You can just go back to see your material by changing the top from Game Engine to Cycles Engine.


boolean and moving door I try to make the sliding doors partially disappear when opened, so that they do not pierce the wall.
However, when the boolean object is in contact with the doorframe it does not cover the area it is supposed to cover, it only erases the entire part of the object and appears and disappears when I move it (while normals are to outside it`s even worse mess).
When boolean object is not in contact with the doorframe it's looks okey, but that way part of the moving door is not affected by it.
The solution would be to make the boolean only affect a given Vertex Group, but I don't know how.
I could also cut the boolean object to make perfect contact with the doorframe, but I can't do that either - when I do it through the boolean modifier it doesn't work.
I also do not know how to make the effect set by the boolean permanently modify the mesh, in every tutorial it is done with the Apply button, but in my version there is nothing like that.

I tried apply scale, fixing normals etc.
Link to project file - https://mega.nz/file/baBn3KLS#ju69g5ALDidK2TBlMhfNf3jeo-Fm2zeP404P0Wa8X3M

Go in Edit mode -> select your rdoor vertex group

Mesh -> Separate -> selection

delete your boolean modifier on door_cube.009

add a keyframe on frame 0 for your newly created door_cube.001 for location (from step 2)

go to frame 100

press G -> y -> -5.   Then keyframe location.

move your boolean modifier like so:

enjoy animation:

https://youtu.be/J0703WlP3oQ
i will delete the video, if you don't want me to show that.


UV Map or topology correction needed? See screen captures for issue (below).

Question: In order to have the wood grain texture follow the frame direction without the oddness evident in the detail (image below), do I have to (1/2) or can I (3)...

Create a UV Map?
Correct something in the topology of the object?
Do something really simple (in the texture panel perhaps) that is eluding me right now?

NOTE: The object has been created via Spin.

Thanks, as ever, for the guidance - always appreciated...

You need to create a UV map, it is the best way in this case.

Simply select the front faces of your model in the 3D view and press U to unwrap, then select the back faces of your model and unwrap again.

Or select everything and press U to choose Smart UV Project.


How do I make an object begin following a path, but only after a certain point? I need to animate a ball moving up and through the inside of a robot. I have a path that is a child of the robot object, so it moves with the robot. The idea is that the robot will move up to where a ball is, then once it gets there, the ball can move on the path, and stop a certain point, then the robot will go back away and the ball will maintain it's new global position.

The ball needs to start on the ground, the robot (which has the path as a child) moves to the ball, the ball then follows the path for a little ways, then stops. The robot then backs away, but the ball needs to maintain the position it had before the robot backed away.

I need to be able to turn off the influence the path has on the ball object at certain times, and turn it on at others. How do I do this?

If you use Follow Path object constraint(Ctrl+p -> Path constraint with object and path selected path being last/active), you have a property of Influence that you can animate(set keyframes to with i while hovering mouse over it) in order for it to start having influence only at some point.


Particles not loading For some reason the particles I have applied will not render.

I'll be uploading the file soon

Alright, I solved it. Cycles can't handle Halo. I need to switch to a Object render rather than a Halo render.


Import Image as Plane Without Cropping I'm using the Import Image as Plane add-on to import RGBA PNG-24's. My issue is that the add-on automatically crops the planes, which changes the images' location relative to the world origin.
As you can see from the attached images, once imported into Blender, the image is cropped, which changes the location. There doesn't seem to be any option to change this behavior in the plug-in, is there a work-around?
I am using Cycles, Blender 2.83

can you supply an image?  I made one with Gimp, that is png with alpha and had no problem.  Not sure it is png24 or not.

Yes, I'm using the 'Import as images' addon.
That one worked too.


How to rotate object along path path I have taken a sphere and a triangular path. I want that sphere to rotate along the path. I have added array modifier and curve modifier. It has rotate but the sphere lost its shape. I have applied rotation and scale to both object and curve yet to did not get the sphere in shape. How can i fix the issue. Whats missing or is there any other way i can do. Blend file attached .......

Since you don't need an animation (the word "rotate" misleaded me), you could do in this way:

create a mesh "triangular" segment (33 vertices in my example), and add a sphere

parent the sphere to the segment, clear its origin

enable vertex duplication: any segment vertex gets a copy of the parented object

then convert dupli to real, and delete or hide original object

This only works on mesh segments (vertices), and is very simple: let's see if this is enough.

Here is the workflow applied to your file:

To work on paths (curves) you need to use another approach, more like in the answer I suggested in comments above. It's more complicated, but gives a similar result for any shape you give to a curve (even straight lines or "triangular"). And, can be animated.


Stretch To constraint with uniform scaling instead of stretching/deforming This is not duplicate of questions where OP wants to know how to use stretch to as in these questions the OP is okay with the stretching behaviour that the constraint gives.
I have two empties from two tracks of my two-point camera track. I want to be able to connect single bone's head to one empty and tail to the second empty. The bone should have uniform scaling so that the bone grows uniformly/proportionally as the empties get farther apart.
So far I have tried making the bone a child of one empty, then using the Stretch To constraint to make bones tail reach the other empty. However, this constraint, as the name says, stretches the bone which is not the desirable behaviour. I want behaviour similar to one you get when just moving bones around in edit mode – the bone grows, when you move its head and tail apart.
How can this kind of movement be achieved?

Add a new bone, set it to copy loc and rot of the stretching bone (in world space), and use 3 copies of the same driver to drive its 3 scale values with the Y scale value of the stretching bone (local space).


when i try to uv unwrap my mesh , blender hangs and become unresponsive, why? I am new to blender, when i try to uv unwrap my mesh, blender hangs and become unresponsive. the mesh has nearly 35000 faces. it is a subdivided sphere which i used for sculpting.
when i uv unwrap a simple cube , it works fine. is there a workaround for this, or a better alternative way to apply texture?

Potential Solution: Smart UV Project

Although I've never tested this method on a UV Unwrap task that has crashed Blender, I've found that using the 'Smart UV Project' option is much faster using the normal 'Unwrap' function.

I found this when unwrapping the mesh of an ANT Landscape body, where it would take several unresponsive seconds before Blender processed the unwrap using the regular unwrap function.
However, when I unwrapped again using the 'Smart UV Project' option (with the default parameters), it was almost almost instantaneous.

I know this is a pretty old post but I'll leave this here just in case anyone finds it and gets help from this answer. (Hope I haven't broken any community forums by 're-opening' an 'archived' thread.)


How do Power and Strength values correlate? When creating a non-light and giving it an emission shader, what values of "Strength" are equivalent to given values of "Power" in an area light?

Not a duplicate of Understanding light power values. This isn't talking about options in lights, but options in emission shaders that aren't lights on their own.

I did some testing. You can use this as a reference sheet :).

  Power : Strength ratio is 10:2,5 (for 1m² area)

Area lights use Power (W), Mesh lights use Strength
Mesh light used - default plane with Emission shader

Intensity and size relationship

Area lights - maintain their intensity with increased size.
Mesh lights - increase their intensity with increased size

Power:Strength reference sheet

I tested these as 4096x4096 images and still couldn't tell the difference.
Sorry for the color banding and compression artifacts.
Noise is a tiny bit higher for Mesh lights.


Creating knob/dial with indicator strip I've modelled a few knobs/dials which I've animated over 100 frames or so. They rotate from -135 degrees to +135 over 100 or so frames.

However, now I need to add an indicator strip so as the knob turns, the strip lights up dependent on the pointer position of the dial.

i.e:

I feel I either need some sort of masking layer, or some way of tying in the current rotation value of the main dial to the position of the emission strip.

How might I go about this in Cycles?
Ta

This one is driven by the knob rotation, so you animate the knob and the lights are good.

Let's assume you are looking at your knob from top view.

For convenience, you model a led and you parent led and knob to an empty. Knob must have first rotation applied and rotation mode must be set to xyz euler, if you set it in quaternion or axis angle it will lit only on 180°. Add a material to the led, a simple diffuse one, it will be modified later.
Then you switch to 3D cursor pivot mode and you snap the cursor to the center of your knob.
The idea is to duplicate linked the led, then rotate to a determined amount around the 3D cursor, then add a custom property or as I have done here, use the pass index in the object tab and increment it for each duplicata.
I am not a great coder, you will find the script (poor one) I did in the blend file.

import bpy
from math import radians

# range covered (in degrees)
rangecovering = 270

# number of leds
leds = 20

##############################"
# step calculated
steprad = radians(rangecovering/leds)

#the override comes from http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/6969/rotate-object-around-cursor-with-python

def get_override(area_type, region_type):
    for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
        if area.type == area_type:
            for region in area.regions:
                if region.type == region_type:
                    override = {'area': area, 'region': region}
                    return override
    #error message if the area or region wasn't found
    raise RuntimeError("Wasn't able to find", region_type," in area ", area_type,
                        "\n Make sure it's open while executing script.")

#we need to override the context of our operator
override = get_override( 'VIEW_3D', 'WINDOW' )

for N in range(0,leds) :

    # do a duplicate link
    bpy.ops.object.duplicate_move_linked(OBJECT_OT_duplicate={"linked":True, "mode":'TRANSLATION'}, TRANSFORM_OT_translate={"value":(0, 0, 0)})

    # rotation of the duplicate
    bpy.ops.transform.rotate(override, value=steprad, axis=(-0, -0, -1), constraint_axis=(False, False, False), constraint_orientation='GLOBAL')

    # change pass index obj
    bpy.context.object.pass_index = N+1

You just have to change the range in degree, the number of leds you want, and it will create the strip with the correct number of leds around the 3D cursor. If you want to change the shape of the leds (in edit mode), you can and they will be all modified at the same time as they are linked duplicate. You can also modify the mesh data of one led and link the object data to the others quickly.

Then you create a material with a value driven by the rotation of the knob

When you create the driver, use the name var in Scripted Expression, and local z axis in order to rotate the whole thing using the empty without breaking the driver.

I chose to keep the default driver curve and to manage the values directly in the material, so you have a few parameters to adjust to make it work there : range of strip leds, and number of leds as in the script.

If you want to rotate the knob, use the empty so that you will be able to center it at your taste.

If you use the same led material for the knob, and you put an indexpass = 0 it will light up at the same time than the first led.


How To fix this weird shading issue? ]2

Weird Shading which also effects the sub d in a weird way. Maybe it's a bug but I have a feeling I screwed up somewhere :)

Go into edit mode, select the entire mesh, and then press Ctrl + N to recalculate the normals.


Voice over in Blender When my character speaks, I use shape keys to move the mouth, just up and down.

If I wanted to add a voice, do I need to record this separately and then insert as audio?

I'm asking if Blender has a voice sync or lip sync feature.

To drive lips from an audio file -

For this exercise both lips are simply curve-paths bevelled with a small diameter oval and left as curves.

The animated gif pic below is the Graph Editor and where these "f-curves" are created.  They are simply graphs measuring time (frames) against amplitude or degree of movement.  They can be most useful in that they can be dragged and reshaped to affect animation.

Please note that what you're seeing here is the (speech) audio file after it's been 'baked to an f-curve'  The green waveform is that f-curve.

We use that to drive the yellow sound bar (a plane) to expand in the Y axis with the audio's amplitude.  The louder it is the further apart the lips go.

The lips are simply curve paths and we drag each lip's center vertice up or down using a 'Hook" empty for each.  The upper lip's hook is parented to an empty that's stuck on the upper corner of the yellow sound bar. (parented to)  The lower lip's hook is parented to the lower empty at the lower corner of the sound bar.

As the sound bar is expanded and contracted by the audio, the two hooks are dragged
up and down to follow the two empties attached to the sound bar.

Details -  How to achieve this...

In Edit mode, add a hook to each of the lips' center vertice.  (CTL-H --> Hook to New Object)

With the view set to TOP & Ortho, place the cursor to the right of the lips and add a plane.  This will be the sound bar.  Proportion it as shown. (stretched in the Y axis)

Scale it's Y axis to the max length that you want it stretched to by the audio.  Bear in mind that speech may only get to about 30% of the maximum amplitude most of the time, so scale the Y axis to be at least 2 or 3 times that required.

At the upper end of the sound bar, place an Empty inside it and near to a corner vertice.  Parent it to the plane.   (CTL-P -> Vertice)  (child=the empty)

Do the same at the bottom corner or near to it.  Parent that to the plane/bar also. ("vertice") (child=empty)

Select the upper lip's Hook and parent that to the Upper Sound bar empty. (Child=hook)
Do the same with the lower lip's hook. Parent that to the sound bar's lower empty.

This setup will force the Hook Empties to follow the sound bar's expansion and contraction in the Y axis and drag the lips' centers according to the sound level.

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

---> POINT A <---  (Return to here if the sound bar (plane) needs rescaling)

Driving the Sound bar's Y axis scaling from an audio file -

In the 3D window, take the timeline cursor to frame 1, select the sound bar and insert a "Scale" keyframe. (Hover in the scale slots at right and press i )

With the sound bar still selected go into the Dopesheet and delete the sound bar's other two axis' keyframes.   In this case that would be the X & Z axis.  We only want the Y strip.

Select and highlite the one remaining keyframe. (Y axis)

Go to the Graph Editor and you should be seeing the Y axis scale F-curve.  That's a graph that draws frames (time) against scale. (size)

At the bottom center of the window, expand the "KEY" menu, select "Bake Sound to F Curves".
A file explorer window will open up.  Browse and select the audio file.

Blender will automatically sample this and convert it to a waveform.  (Press Home to see it properly)

If it doesn't, try converting the audio to a wav file.

Back in the 3D window press play. (ALT-A)  to see the sound bar's size expanding and contracting to the sound's amplitude.  The lips should also be curving open and shut.

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

If the sound bar isn't expanding enough, remove it's keyframe by selecting that axis strip's name in the DOPESHEET at extreme left and pressing X.  Check the graph editor to see that the F-curve has indeed disappeared.

Go back to "POINT A" above...

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

Information -  Sound can also modulate lateral movement, rotation and even colour and brightness, the last two requiring some manual trickery because with most audio, it won't drive it bright enough.


Throw an object with Blender I am interested to know if you can "throw objects" with Blender. Like throwing a basketball against a wall (not necessarily showing a character but showing the flow of the ball, and the interaction with the wall and floor). Or throwing a dart in the bull's eye ...

I have no idea if these kind of things can be done in Blender and what know-how and skills are required to create that kind of animations. If you can advise some tutorials that would be helpful.

You can do this using the physics tab in blender. Then you can enable a rigid body for both your active object(Ball) and your passive object(wall/floor). If you want to animate it follow these steps:

Uncheck the dynamic check box and check the animated box.
Insert a key frame for both of the boxes
Animate the motion of the ball(think about this as the ball being thrown)
Insert another keyframe for unchecking the animated box and checking the dynamic box.


UVUnwrap splitting other edges besides seams I'm coming from 3DS Max and I am having issues unwrapping my model. I marked the seams, as I would have in 3DS Max but when I go to unwrap, the edges that I want to keep together split. I've tried all the unwrap options but all seem to do the same thing. How do I go about just unwrapping faces but keeping all edges that aren't marked as seams together?

If an edge isn't marked with a seam it will be kept together when using the standard 'Unwrap' tool as long as the geometry is connected. From your screenshot it looks like you have some extra faces between the two blue faces you have selected (the black dots are 'face-dots'), which could mean the faces aren't actually connected; outlined in red here:

Select all the faces in the mesh with A (press A again if it deselects everything) and choose Mesh> Vertices> Remove Doubles:

This will remove any vertices that are extremely close to each other and should remove those extra faces, meaning your geometry is properly connected.


Timeline header python modification I would like to add a custom frame rate slider in the timeline header, but I can't figure out how to do it.

I've tried to add following line in space_time.py (between line 75 and 77), but nothing happens:

layout.prop(scene, "render.fps", text="")

What am I missing?

Thanks.

Here is how it should be :

layout.prop(scene.render, "fps", text="fps")
since the property is fps  and it is in scene.render


Grid Fill Loops are not connected by wire/boundary edges Want to grid fill selection (circle in picture) but get "Loops are not connected by wire/boundary edges" error. Am exhausted for solutions. There are no double vertices, the circle selects flawlessly with CtrlRMB (so it is one continuous loop), there are an even number (32) of vertices in the circle.

If it was possible to Grid Fill the selected edges, you would get edges that are shared by 3 faces.

It is technically allowed topology, but is not considered correct topology. Most tools don't produce this awkward topology because it is rarely desirable due to how normals and subsurf are calculated.

In the image above I duplicated the edge ring so it isn't joined to the original edge ring, then did a Grid Fill. If you really wanted to make a problem mesh you could remove doubles and it would merge the edges. But you will not be able to force the Grid Fill to produce mesh results that are considered bad.


Make Less Water Come From an Inflow Blender How can I make an Inflow release less water? I looked at the Inflow settings and there is nothing. What settings in the Domain (I would assume it is the Domain) would make it look like there is less water coming out of the Inflow object? I want there to still be the same amount of frames, have the water travels just as far (I can't just slow down the time), and have everything else look the same.

Lower the velocity you have set in the sources fluid settings. The velocity changes how fast water flows out of it. Also, scaling down the object can change the size f the stream that comes out.


How to set the camera view When i Press Shift+Z to render preview. I can see the full view of scene in real time. I want to set the same view in the camera so i press Ctrl+0 but when i press in camera view (0) im away or not the same result i need. Any setting or option i can have the same view which is seen in the render view. Any suggestion or help how it works.

https://imgur.com/a/OSV911W

Preview view

camera view

With a default cube i added a camera and change to ortho and press ctrl+alt+0 but when i see in camera view the cube i cut. I want to have same result which i see in the solid view or render preview. Thanks

A couple strange things to note here...

the Viewport has its own field of view

[N] to match "View" Lens (70.00) to your Camera's Focal Length
It won't be perfect, but it will lessen the difference.

Through the Camera View, you can maximize the look at it with
[Shift]+[Home]

That let's most any view occupy all available space in whatever window the keystrokes apply to.
[Home] (alone) will comfortably fit the view without taking all available space, and

Enable Border in the Dimensions dropdown under the Render Tab

[Ctrl]+[B] left-click drag around the Camera's dotted border to Preview only THAT in Render Mode; it makes things happen faster.

You should be set in your workflow for the most part if I understand what you wanted.


How to rotate a bone around multiple times? It just snaps to closest rotation? I have some fans that I need to rotate using an armature:

the problem here is blender's bone posing system makes it so if you key a rotation, then rotate around multiple times, blender just goes to the closest rotation. I cant have this - I need to keep spinning (like a fan).

how can I do this?

In the 3D View properties panel (activated with N), or in the Properties panel > Bone > Transform, switch the rotation mode from Quaternion to XYZ Euler, otherwise you will have the kind of problem you describe.

If you want your rotation to be linear (and not accelerate and decelerate, which will happen by default), go in the Graph Editor, select all and click T > Linear.

If you want the rotation to be infinite, select all and press shiftE > Linear Extrapolation.


Is it possible to export object from Blender with modifiers and use them in external applications? Can Blender modifiers be exported with the model and work in other 3D software or game engine software?

For example, I have applied the wave modifier on a plant, that automatically set up an "animation like" property of wind when "play" is pressed.

Without adding animations, but just setting up the modifier, I got the desired result. Now I would like to take that result somewhere else, say Unity3D or 3Dmax, how can I create/export a file that stores the "wave" information?

Please don't tell me to export an .mdd, because I really don't know how to use it. Tried several plugins for Unity that supposedly converts the .mdd to .fbx and it failed. 3Dmax doesn't read .mdd. Please don't refer me to a similar question asked here (the one with the image of water pouring from one place to another), I've read it all and still don't get it.

Thank you all.

A modifier uses part of blenders programming to dynamically alter the mesh data. As such they can only be used within blender, though other software may provide ways to get similar results.

The only way to use the results of blenders modifiers in other software is to apply the modifiers before exporting. For a static mesh nothing more than applying the modifier before exporting is needed, many exporters provide an option to do this for you.

For a modifier that generates an animated result, you will need to "bake" the result as a series of meshes for each frame. The .mdd and .pc2 file formats support mesh data that is different for each frame. Alembic is a newer format that supports baked animations, 3dsmax is listed as supporting alembic.

The only difference between exporting to an .obj file and an .mdd file is that the .mdd file contains multiple copies of the mesh for each of it's visual states. Whether exporting a static or animated object, it is a matter of finding a file format supported in both applications that provides a desired result.


blender 2.7 gesture inputs are discontinued? I use wacom and searching for gesture input methods blender used to have. Please let me know where the option is?

Gesture Ops add on let you customize your mouse gesture to execute any operator in Blender.

BTW, I am the creator of this add-on.

You can download it here


How to make textures made in Blender appear in Unity3d? So I am modeling a truck to be used in Unity. I colored different parts of the truck, but when I apply UV texture, it doesn't show up in Unity, but the colors do. What am I doing wrong, how can I make UV textures show in Unity? Thanks!

Most likely you will have to import your texture to Unity as well as your model, then edit the object you have imported and its material. You often have to reassign the texture to the material inside of Unity to make the texture appear.


Hair Dynamics not working on mesh from Daz Bridge An interesting problem trying to use Blender particle hair with Daz models via the Daz Blender bridge (because Daz don't offer strand/particle hair with physics to the masses).  Duplicated some mesh from the head to create a cap and added particle hair with dynamics.  Nothings happens when you simulate. To debug I have eliminated all other assets from the file and also added a new UV sphere.  With the same setup, hair dynamics on UV sphere works fine but hair on cap does not.  Can anyone tell me why this is.  File uploaded if you want to try it.  Issue is the same in 2.83 and 2.92.

you set the simulation end on the cap to 0. Set it to 250 and it works.


Python: bend modifier math I want to create a custom bend tool with python. Could you help me with math?
I just need something like this:

I'm not good in math. I hope you can help me a bit.
I also found this thread for maxScript. Not sure if it's helpful...
http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-726810.html

For example, I need to bend vertices to 180 degrees with a center of 0,0,0.

There are 2 methods i found how to implement Bend modifier:

First Method(Circle and Spiral). You can tweak parameters of ofset_axys ans offset_rotation:

import bpy
import math
import mathutils
import random
from bpy.props import *
from mathutils import *

point_id = StringProperty(default="")

context = bpy.context
obj = context.scene.objects[0]
f_dist = 1.0
vv = Vector((0.0, 0.0, 1.0))

x_min = obj.data.vertices[0].co.x
x_max = obj.data.vertices[0].co.x
y_min = obj.data.vertices[0].co.y
y_max = obj.data.vertices[0].co.y
z_min = obj.data.vertices[0].co.z
z_max = obj.data.vertices[0].co.z

offset_rotation = 0.2
offset_axis = 5.0
bend_scale = 0.7

for vert in obj.data.vertices:
    if vert.co.x > x_max:
        x_max = vert.co.x
    if vert.co.x < x_min:
        x_min = vert.co.x
    if vert.co.y > y_max:
        y_max = vert.co.y
    if vert.co.y < y_min:
        y_min = vert.co.y
    if vert.co.z > z_max:
        z_max = vert.co.z
    if vert.co.z < z_min:
        z_min = vert.co.z

x_orig = ((x_max-x_min) / 2.0) + x_min
y_orig = ((y_max-y_min) / 2.0) + y_min
z_orig = z_min
rot_origin = Vector((x_orig, y_orig, z_orig))

visual_max = z_max-z_min

for vert in obj.data.vertices:
    vec = vert.co.copy()
    visual_z = vec.z - z_min

    if z_max != 0:
        beta = math.radians(720 * (visual_z/visual_max) )
        if beta != 0:
            final_offset = visual_z * offset_rotation
            if beta < 0:
                final_offset = -final_offset

            vert.co.x -= ((visual_z / beta) + final_offset) * bend_scale
            vert.co.z = rot_origin.z
            #vert.co.z *= 0.5

            rot_mat = Matrix.Rotation(beta, 3, 'Y')
            vert.co = rot_mat * (vert.co - rot_origin) + rot_origin

            #eul = mathutils.Euler((0.0, beta, 0.0), 'XYZ')
            #vert.co.rotate(eul)

            vert.co.x += (visual_z / (beta))*bend_scale

            # offset axys
            vert.co.y += offset_axis * (visual_z/visual_max)

Second Method(Spiral only):

import bpy
import math
import mathutils
import random
from bpy.props import *
from mathutils import *

context = bpy.context
obj = context.scene.objects[0]

z_max = 0
for vert in obj.data.vertices:
    if vert.co.z > z_max:
        z_max = vert.co.z

for vert in obj.data.vertices:
    #print(vert.co.z)
    vec = vert.co.copy()

    beta = math.radians(360 * (vec.z/z_max) )
    if beta > 0:
        # vec2
        vert.co.x = 0
        #vert.co.x -= vec.z / (beta)
        #vert.co.z *= 0.5

        eul = mathutils.Euler((0.0, beta, 0.0), 'XYZ')
        vert.co.rotate(eul)

        #vert.co.x += vec.z / (beta)

        vec2 = vert.co.copy()

        # vec3
        vert.co = vec.copy()
        #vert.co.x -= vec.z / (beta)
        #vert.co.z *= 0.5

        eul = mathutils.Euler((0.0, beta, 0.0), 'XYZ')
        vert.co.rotate(eul)

        #vert.co.x += vec.z / (beta)
        vec3 = vert.co.copy()

        # vec4-5
        vec4 = (vec3 - vec2)
        vec4_len = vec4.length
        vec4 = vec4.normalized()
        vec5 = (Vector((0.0, 0.0, 0.0)) - vec2).normalized()
        angle_fix = vec5.angle(vec4)
        angle_fix *= min(z_max,vec.z*beta/math.radians(60)) / z_max  # 5.0 is for better faloff of rotation_fix
        eul = mathutils.Euler((0.0, angle_fix, 0.0), 'XYZ')
        vec4.rotate(eul)
        vert.co =  vec2 + (vec4.normalized() * vec4_len)


Cloth simulation is all compressing! Any cloth simulation I do is very strangely compressing, and deform in very abstract and weird way.

Its bothering me for several days already, and I can't seem to find an answer.

Please can anybody take a look at my Blend file and help me?

Before the Simulation:

After:

Actually never mind my bad, I just forgot the way Solidify modifier works. The thickness adds up kinda it doesn't just appear there. Thanks :D

The reason I asked you to remove the solidify modifier was to be sure of what was causing the issue, you can add it in the settings and bake it, but when you add solidify modifier do not increase the thickness to a high amount, I have tested it and it produces the same result if I add it before or after the cloth attribute is added in physics... a thickness of 0.1 to 0.2 should do,..... the plane you used to create your cloth is thin so increase it a little bit in z axis to accommodate some thickness because solidify adds some amount of thickness.


Select box selects just one of multiple overlaping vertexes If there is multiple vertexes with the same coordintates (i.e. on top of each other) in a mesh, the select box tool selects just one of them and ignores the rest.

Is this a feature or a bug?
Can it be switched/modified in order to really select all vertexes within the box even when they overlap

background:

I have some mesh exported from external editor where triangles (faces) are disconnected
=> each triangle has its own corner vertex => if you have e.g. 5 triangles meeting at one corner, you have 5 independent vertexes at that corner

In order to edit such a mesh I need to select all these vertexes and move them simultanously.

Toggle X-Ray

In the 3D view header, check Toggle X-Ray (or press Alt+Z). You can now select the vertices sharing the same coordinates, but also the "backfacing" vertices (those hidden by the mesh).

Merge vertices

If you really want to merge those vertices (so your 5 independent vertices become one unique vertex), you can use the Merge by Distance feature.

Select all your vertices (A), then go to Vertex/Merge vertices/By Distance (or press Alt+M). In the Last Operator menu, you can specify the distance under which the vertices will be merged.


Creation of realistic old wax Tell me please what I must do with node of wax materials that I made. It looks very plastic and I cannot believe that this material is real.

You can see what I do in nodes. I think what dust and displacement are good but there are problems with color and subsurface scattering.

I found one sample which I'd like to make because it looks auseme.

Here is a quick attempt to a wax shader... not as nice as the example but there's room for improvemment. Let me know what you come up with.

start with Principled BSDF
play around SSS values
add dust in crevasse and other areas using AO, pointiness and normal Z value and noise
add some translucency


Inset pulling along wrong faces I'm following a PluralSight Blender fundamentals course. It's my first attempt at using Blender, love it so far!

However, during the course I have to inset some circles. This worked perfectly until I accidentally deselected the right faces. Now when I re-select the faces and try to inset them I get this weird result.
It looks like some faces are somehow connected to other faces?

It supposed to be a circle, like most of it is.

Been fiddling with this for over two hours. Any help is appreciated!

After using Clean up -> Merge by distance I get the following, interesting yet unwanted, result. It looks like still something too much is being selected.

This looks like non-manifold geometry.

Check possible interior faces through Select > All by trait > Interior Faces
Get rid of them through Delete > Faces
Select all and remove double vertices through Mesh > Clean up > Merge by distance, Alt + M

Remove interior faces and double vertices left behind.


Compositing heat distortion not rendering I'm trying to create a heat distortion effect by combining a particle layer over a background image. I can see the effect inside the compositor but when I render it only renders the particle layer. (seen bottom right) I check the Compositor option in "Post Processing" any help?

Whatever is connected to the composite node is your final render, the Viewer does not get saved using the output settings.

In your current setup you are feeding just one layer directly into the Composite (output) Node, bypassing any displacement.

Connect the output of the displacement to the composite node and be happy ever after.


large scale modelling, numeric problems? I would like to create some models on the scale of 1-10k blender units. I remember reading somewhere that modelling on that scale can cause numeric problems. Is this correct?

The emphasis of Blender development is Artistic, and not high precision modelling like is expected from dedicated CAD/Engineering software. This doesn't mean you can't model or represent big things, but it does mean that you are limited to a level of precision in one mesh.

To get an idea about precision read Ideasman42's response to Digits of precision of vertices coordinates . The technical answer to your question can be found in this response.

Another resource which can really give a sense of the relative scales we're talking about is Alex Januszkiewicz's Article On AutoCad Accuracy. An excerpt:

  If you try to do a drawing that extends 4 km in each direction, Microstation's 32 bit format will limit your accuracy to 0.001 mm. The same size AutoCAD drawing can be drawn with an accuracy of 0.000000001 mm, that is one million times more accurate.

This refers to 32 bit Single Precision (Blender uses this) vs AutoCAD's 64 bit Double Precision storage.

The link for that text may not be available permanently, but if you google  "Alex Januszkiewicz AutoCAD accuracy" you will find it.


How to load a movie file into blender, and re-export it as a sequence of images, headlessly (via .bpy/python script) Trying to get to grips with the abilities of blender when used purely as a python library (without any GUI interactions). (Forgive my lack of knowledge and misuse of words)

The code examples and documentation I am finding seem geared towards scripts to apply when content is already present within the blender GUI. (e.g. Extract sequence of frames from imported MP4 - scripted?)

Does an example exist in documentation for loading external files into a blender virtual stage?
e.g. 1 picture node and 1 video node
and (secondarily) exporting the rendered output (e.g. video with an image overlaid) as an image sequence.

I've been looking through https://www.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_72_release/info_quickstart.html and http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Py/Scripts but I haven't been able so far to find a good starting point for my knowledge level.

This script accepts the movie file and output directory as command line arguments, then loads the video file as a video sequence editor (VSE) clip and renders it out as frames (by default as PNG, change if needed).

It automatically sets the render resolution and frame duration according to the video file.

import bpy, sys

# Take movie clip filepath and output directory as command line arguments
movieFilePath, OutputPath = sys.argv[-2:]

S  = bpy.context.scene
mc = bpy.data.movieclips.load( movieFilePath )

# Set render resolution to match movie clip
S.render.resolution_x          = mc.size[0]
S.render.resolution_y          = mc.size[1]
S.render.resolution_percentage = 100

# Set number of frames to match movie clip length
S.frame_start = 0
S.frame_end   = mc.frame_duration

# Set render format and output folder
S.render.image_settings.file_format = 'PNG'
S.render.filepath                   = OutputPath

# Load clip to sequencer
se = bpy.context.scene.sequence_editor_create()
se.sequences.new_clip( "MyClip", mc, 0, 0 )

# Render animation to create image sequence
bpy.ops.render.render( animation = True, write_still = True )

To use it, save the script file, then run blender from the command line and provide the filepath and output directory as arguments:

blender -b -P movie_to_images.py -- C:/MyMovie.avi C:/OutputFolder/


Difficulties centering the object on the middle of the screen I have some difficulties centering the object on the middle of the screen. Infact when I press the mouse wheel the view seems to fly away too fast. This is what happens : on the picture below you see that the object is too far,I don't see it clearly and I can't edit it :

instead,below you can see that happens when I scroll a little the mouse wheel : the object "disappear" totally.

I have also attached this video to explain better. thanks.

I have solved your problem by Centering the thing I want to look at in every angle. Go to top view [numbpad 7], drag things I want to look at to the centre of my view by holding [shift] and [mouse 3]. Do the same with view from the front and from the right/left. When that's done you should be able to interact with your thing perfetly.

Another way to zoom in slowly is by holding [ctrl] nad dragging with [mouse3].

Yet another way to wiew you object is by using [shift]+[f] shortcut. This shortcut lets you use your WASD keys and mouse as if you were playing a videogame. With [Q] and [E] you can move up and down.


Box Trim has no effect I have recorded a video here.
As one can see, the Box Trim sculpting has no effect in this case.
What might I be missing?
Thank you!

Your character is in Pose Position but should be in Rest Position to sculpt the mesh.
Select the Armature in the outliner, then select the Object Data Properties tab ("green running man" icon); look at the section "Skeleton", there switch to Rest Position.


Open new editor pane in workspace (handle is missing) There are a few tutorials (for example this one, screen shots below) which show you can add a new pane to a workspace but in my version of Blender 2.8 (running on Windows 10) I can't recreate this option.  It looks like the handle is missing.  The handle being the little diagonal lines in the top right corner.

It appears that the UI is different?  You can create a new editor pane inside a workspace by clicking and dragging in the tiny dark space between the panes.  See annotated screenshot below.


change object pivot after animation and keep animation positions I need some help. I have this truck... it is animated that it moves forward and do some other stuff... i animated the whole thing (3000 frames) but i didn't think about spinning the wheels when i was constructing it. I have set all origins into one point so i could move objects around and then back to 0,0,0.

The question is how can i make the wheels rotate around it axis (the phisical one) without breaking other animation.

I tried parenting wheels on empty object and than parant that on truck (so i could rotate empty object and it would rotate the wheel). It didn't work, the tires flew away during the animation.

If i just change pivot of each object they move to that point (red arrow on picture).

So is there a way to rotate tires around its mass without changing the pivot? Or to change the pivot of objects but keeping the translations and rotations like they are now?

Please help. If i go remake the whole truck animation it will take me like forever again.

Thanks in advance!

I deleted all wheels animation, parented them (the wheels) to truck, then just add rotations for each child (wheel animation).

Thank you @MattFerndz for the idea!


SVG path extrude seems to leave open objects I want to visualize constructing (sliding & press fitting) a few multiplex panels into a table or stool. The shapes of these panels can be provided in SVG or DXF.
The svg is here online. I tried to extrude that shape using this tutorial (skipping the inkscape part).

I only seem to be able to extrude the borderlines of the elements not the surface of the element, also the holes don't look like holes. I made sure that the SVG-paths are closed, but still not the desired output.

Sert the curves to be 2D shape and Fill to Both:


UV wrapping brushed steel hard-surface models So I have one today I hope really can be found by others and learned from! I am really trying to create some high quality models and I think the area I am having the hardest time with is proper UV wrapping. I am working with a brushed steel material from Poliigon.com and I want the angle of the brushed lines in specific directions.

First, here is the model and texture:

Now, despite my best efforts, and hours on YouTube this model is still loaded with imperfections. Here are just a few examples:

Lastly here is the desired flow I am wanting for my brushed lines:

So, I am really just curious if anyone has any pointers, or ideas as to how I can get really tight clean UV wraps or even point me in the direction of a paid course, etc. I have learned a lot about seams, marking sharp, and even the general process of UV wrapping and it's interface within Blender. However, wrapping these lines in a seamless and flawless manner, that point in the desired direction, is beyond me at the moment and ANY help would be incredibly appreciated!

I hope this also can help others who are struggling with intermediate level UV stuff.

Let me know if someone wants the .blend

THANK YOU ALL !!!

Some of the texture files were missing so I used the waves texture instead.


Convert curve to particle hair guide I have created curves for a character's eyelash,I wonder if it is possible to convert them to particle hair guides so that I can use children and other control.

There are two free add-ons for Blender that can convert curves and sheets (hair cards) to hair particles guides:

HairNet 0.6.3 (https://github.com/Jandals/HairNet/releases) forum thread at blenderartists.org
Particle Hair Guides (https://github.com/Lichtso/hair_guides) forum thread at blenderartists.org

The add-on Select Islands by Face Count by Stan_Pancakes is a useful helper if you want to convert hair cards to particles with one of the add-ons above.


Wrapping a Pattern over an object I am trying to build some arches in blender, and I want to find a way to apply a pattern to an object in a similar way as using a texture, however instead of having a texture applied to the model I want the model to be the pattern. I am afraid I am missing the knowledge to name precisely what I want.

A view of the 3D models and the UV mapping of one of the arches

A few things that hopefully clear things up:

The darker shapes to the left are the models that I have. They already have the pattern I want applied to them as a texture. This can be seen on the right where the UV map of the selected middle shape can be seen.
At the moment however this is only a texture wrapped around a flat model. I want the pattern to not be just a texture but to be a true part of the model itself, so that I can extrude the pattern and the model is no longer flat but has a thickness.
I tried to find a way to wrap a flat and square object along the models but I can not figure out how to do it. The object I want to use is the white pattern next to the darker models. This is not a textured plane but the same pattern layed out in vertices and not an image.

So:

Either I am looking for a way to use the Alpha layer of my (darker pattern) texture to somehow be removed from the models, so that only the pattern remains.
Or to wrap the (lighter pattern) shape along the models not unlike a UV map so that the result is the pattern in the shape of the models.

I hope someone with more skills in Blender can help me out!

Just for fun, you can achieve this using displacement.
It works on any BW image texture, but requires a heavily subdivided mesh.
01) Displacement Node

Subdivide your mesh enough
Connect texture through Displacement Node
Enable true displacement in material settings

02) Displacement modifier

Use your image to create a texture
You can apply the modifier to turn the displacement into real geometry