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bas relief model from a 3d model/scene?
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief#Bas-relief_or_low_relief

A low relief or bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow
  overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in
  low relief. In the lowest reliefs the relative depth of the elements
  shown is completely distorted, and if seen from the side the image
  makes no sense, but from the front the small variations in depth
  register as a three-dimensional image.

Example image from the same page:

This can obviously be done with sculpting, but I feel like there should be an easier/faster way to make such an effect (for example a coin, medallion, religious icon, etc.) from an existing 3d scene rather than recreating from scratch by sculpting.
I'm not sure how, but I think rendering the scene in a specific way via the Compositing Nodes and then applying that rendered image as Displacement modifier on a grid mesh might give such an effect.
Here are some models from Blendswap someone trying to find a solution can use for testing: http://www.blendswap.com/blends/search?keywords=statue&is_fan_art=1&blend_license=&render_engine=&sort=downloads&direction=desc

Go ahead and add it as an answer. But you need to show how. The models in my link could be used for making an example.

I don't think that adding another answer was worth it; the second solution I meant what was already told in answer by Rob van Wees (it would work with appropriate setup). The first one appeared to not fit your case after further investigation. Good to know that you found a way.

I don't understand his answer and I've asked him to clarify. You can too if you wish.

Other reference of bas relief in Blender : https://blenderartists.org/t/challenge-857-voting-open/1192776

Generating nice heightmaps for bas reliefs:
1) Add a camera facing the model(s).
2) If there are multiple models, make sure the models are the same distance from the camera and have the same "thickness" (Y scale/size in the camera's local Y axis), make the latter 1 blender unit.
3) Set materials to black, shadeless.
Set background and ambient colors to white.
4) Set renderer to Blender Renderer.
5) Enable Mist.
This is where the magic happens. Have the mist appear where the closest polygons to the camera are, have it completely fade in when the farthest polygon from the camera is located.
If the camera is 4 units away from the closest point of the model, set Mist Start value to 4.0, and if the model has been scaled to 1 Blender unit in the Y axis, set the Mist Depth to 1.
A Bright/Contrast Node can be used in the compositing nodes to further adjust the rendered heightmap.
6) Important! Render in OpenEXR or another 32 bit format, otherwise the depth data stored in pixels won't look smooth when applied as a Displacement modifier later.
A model like this (download link in the question, in Blendswap),

Should render into something like this:

Use power-of-two resolutions for this image to save render time when used as heightmap.
Use a high resolution, such as 2048x2048.
Now, add a plane and subdivide it 10 times, or any other flat mesh with many polygons.
Add a Displacement modifier, and set its texture to the image you have generated.
Change the Strength value until it looks good for you.

You should end up with something like this:

To make the edges of your relief less sharp, blur the edges of the model in the heightmap image, or in Blender Compositor nodes when generating that heightmap.
Done.
There is probably a different way to do this besides using Mist. The point is to just have the closest points to the camera colored completely black and the farthest yet visible completely white, or the opposite way.

A way to achieve the effect is by using bump maps or displacement maps (or combine them).
For either, you need a (grayscale) image of the relief you want to superimpose. You can create it from a 3d rendering, Andrew Price paints his map in his snow landscape tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82zWmOqE0Nc
Depending on the desired scene lighting you can use the resulting image as bump map (doesn't add geometry, useful in distance/face-on views) or as displacement map (adds geometry, useful in closeup/angled view).
If you want to combine the two, use bump map and a displacement modifier (see also Andrew Price's tutorial).
To match the relief to an object with more complex geometry than a coin or medallion, you'd probably have to map the relief onto a UV-unwrapped image of the object.
Hope this helps,
Rob.

I would like to know how a scene has to be rendered for the resulting image to be usable a as proper heightmap. As you said in that tutorial he paints the heightmap, doesn't make from a render, so I assume it isn't explained there.

Here's a tutorial on baking normals from Blenderdiplom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_2466766229&feature=iv&src_vid=OrOaZNplUzM&v=GhFBaKEns4I
Here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTGTUd0pCaQ.  Both cover normal maps, used typically for bump mapping. Best do a search for creating displacement maps if you want to go that route.

Sorry but I don't see how baking normals as a texture helps here. The heightmap should be an image of what the camera sees with darker pixels representing surfaces further from the camera, not a UV map of the mesh which is only useful for applying the map to a lower res version of similarly shaped model. Maybe I miss something.


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Animating the "lights" with Matcap materials?
It's hard to explain what I need to achieve here, so please feel free to change the title and text.
Matcaps are a real life saver when I need something rendered fast, but there's one issue I'm unable to solve.
Suppose I have a statue with a golden matcap material on it and I want to animate its shine as if the things which are reflected on it are moving, or it is moving itself but the camera is attached to it. With matcaps the only way to do that is to change the orientation of the camera relative to the model with the matcap on it.
Here's what I want to achieve:
Notice both the model and camera are static.

I've made this possible by applying a "Normal Edit" modifier like so:

But this doesn't look quite right as the results are mixed as seen in the modifier settings, not overwritten.

I think this possible with Blender PBR viewport branch. You can find it here: http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?390592-Blender-PBR-viewport-Branch-v0-2

that's overwhelming, don't think I can comment about it at this point

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


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mesh breaking apart and recombining to form another mesh?
I've had this effect in my head for some time but still unable to think of a possible way to do it. For the sake of simplicity, would there be a practical (time-wise) way to create an effect where the letter A blows up (fractures) and then the pieces recombine to form the letter B?

You know, often CG is about faking effects. You could break the A in small pieces, tiny blocks, then make them move towards a basic B shape, and then fastly make a hidden real B shape become visible instead of the pieces.

Feel free to add that as an answer or a comment with further explanation, I'm not sure how you'd go about doing that. I fracture letter (mesh) A into small pieces, then how would they "get together" to fill a volume similar to the letter B? (which I could then fade into in post processing).

Another way is morphing objects with Particle Systems

You can morph shapes of objects and even objects themselves (influnced by Explode modifier) with Keyed Particle Systems.
From wiki:

The particle paths of keyed particles are determined from the emitter to another particle system’s particles. This allows creation of chains of systems with keyed physics to create long strands or groovy moving particles.

You should only setup them in appropriate way so to make particles travel from one emitter to another.
Step 1: Add objects and assign "simple" particles systems
These systems don't do anything but providing particles needed for action. Because we need them to not emit in time, setup this system (as you can link to both objects the same) so to change Number of particles, Start and End time, Lifetime, Velocity.
Step 2: Add Keyed particle system
Add 2 different Keyed Particle systems - 1 per object. As in the gif above, first setup object on the left. Change Number, Start and End, Lifetime to the same values as for the "simple" particle system and set Velocity > Normal to something more than 1.
And the main, in Physics scroll select Keyed.  Add 2 keyes (in
    both setups) and setup them in this way:

for object Sphere:
    - 1-st key: second ParticleSystem of the Suzanne (use slider in the bottom to select Particle System of the object);
    - 2-nd key: second ParticleSystem of the Sphere.
for object Suzanne:
      - 1-st key: second ParticleSystem of the Sphere;
      - 2-nd key: second ParticleSystem of the Suzanne.

(in example above I also changed timing in Time and Duration sliders so to make systems not interfere with each other, and materials transparency, in order not to see already broken object etc.)
Now, for both objects add Explode modifier, and move it to the bottom (under both particle systems). Choose Cut Edges for finer result.

Note that this way doesn't provide accurate result and it could be greatly enhanced. Particulalry, here are some disadvantages:

Objects' topology means a lot for this to work. Particles will be emitted taking into account amount and distribution of them on the faces.
Keyed Particles aren't affected by physics (so force fields, gravity and so on). Read more about it in this related question. In order to further improve such animation you may consider using 2 approaches:

using simple systems as keys in Keyed Particle System setup (it would involve a lot of cheating to make particles form initial objects)
using 3-rd object and 3-rd Keyed Particle system which shold represent "falling particles down" (if simulating gravity).

Although it could be a beginning for some effects.

(note that stripdown version of file is linked; it includes morphing objects, their setup, ground plane and light).

Credits for particle systems setup:

very good starting lesson on keyed particle
systems

good answer. I know about keyed particles  but I didn't get the part about using Masks.

This intended to be starting point for creating workarounds for that unpleasent result in the end. You could duplicate objects, add Object Index for both copies, make copies invisible and in compositing make their alpha masks influence on each other. Thus when particles of the object1 fly over object2, the last one should be revealed. I didin't test that though.

I am quickly adding what I had in mind: mine was just a suggestion, never did anything similar.
You could use a fracture addon (there are 2 in 2.76, I heard of specific builds, too) to obtain several tiny blocks from "A" object, then

select all them, and

insert keyframes (for their starting point).

then, choose a  "middle point" between "A" and "B" objects,

move all the tiny blocks there, and move to some 40 frames later

then key frame them all, there
then, maybe do "the opposite" for the "B" object

move to the "final" frame, maybe other 40 frames later

fracture the "B" object with similar ending blocks count/size,

keyframe all the "B" blocks in their "final" position

then go to the frame of the "middle point" chosen before

now move the "B" block just "near" the previous "A" blocks,

then key frame the new "middle" position for the "B" blocks.

then you should find a way to hide "A" blocks when they should be replaced by "B" blocks, maybe a high moving speed will help to mask things...
in the end, playing the sequence from 1 to 80, it you should see "A" crash into small pieces moving to a middle point, and then go to the "B" ending point... Ill try to create some simple example, and add it later, maybe in the meanwhile you find some even better way...
[edit] ok, here is a sample .blend, of course the various objects visibility is still to animate, but the general idea is in this file.

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align objects on a surface
I got two cube objects I want two align their bottom to be on one surface , like they are buildings on the ground. i dont want to change objects center

Please see this answer: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/8328/snap-face-to-grid

You use vertex snapping.

Hold down Ctrl when moving your objects to activate it.

i dont get it , can you do it with this screen guids that shows what you are doing

Hold down Z to move it only vertically


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What are the advantages of Rigify versus MakeHuman's MHX rig?
What are the advantages of Rigify versus MakeHuman's MHX rig? My ultimate end goal is to import my character into Unity3D, and it seems like there is going to be a lot of "cleaning" I will need to do to a Rigify rig before bringing it into Unity. I was thinking of just going with MakeHuman and it's mhx rig. What are the disadvantages versus Rigify in rigging in general and also in a blender-to-unity workflow?

I tested out 2 options...
MakeHuman Game Rig Preset:

MakeHuman > Pose/Animate tab > Rig presets > select game.json
Then export to Blender.

Works like a charm in Blender. It seems to have all the posing that Rigify offers. Imported from Blender to Unity3D and worked perfectly with Mecanim. This seems to be the way to go!
MakeHuman with Rigify option checked on export:

No Rig preset set.
On export screen, select "Export for Rigify".

Works great in Blender. Requires that you filter for WGT (widgets) and delete them before importing into Unity3D. However, some of the deformations don't act right with Mecanim in Unity3D. According to Unity's Docs you will need to make adjustments to parents/skinning/etc in Blender before it works.
Conclusion: MakeHuman's own rig preset wins, for a smoother blender-to-unity work flow, and there are no drawbacks in rigging comparision with Rigify that I noticed.


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how to control particle rotation during its lifetime?
In Blender Internal, there's an option in the Particle System Texture panel to let the texture affect the Size of the particle. But nothing for the Rotation.
A gradient texture can be used this way to control the size of a particle as it is spawned, lives and when it dies.
Having a particle rotate when it is spawned but stop rotating after awhile, or slow down and speed up the rotation speed (of each individual particle, not the whole system) doesn't seem to be possible because of the above reason.
Is there any other way to do this?

You can use the Animation Nodes plugin to create your own particle system instances and use a node setup to control their rotation.

control_particle_rotation.blend is a simple example which sets particle rotation to their age. You can create more complex rotation control with more nodes. You can find an AN download on github. You can find discussion and AN examples in the blender artists AN thread.

I've accepted this as an answer but as a reference to any (Blender) developer or anyone curious, I am just going to learn how to do what I need in After Effects. The above plugin, while powerful, has some drawbacks: 1) the documentation/thread is cluttered, 2) it is confusing/complex for such a simple task, 3) it is an unofficial plugin, and unofficial plugins have their drawbacks (arguably slower maintenance, risk of being abandoned by devs, aruably less responsive support) so I believe this really should be supported natively. Otherwise I might as well spend the same time and learn it in AE.

Understood. I recommend you at least experiment with AN, as it's very powerful not only for motion graphics, but also for generative modeling. Hopefully it'll eventually be a core part of Blender.

The file is no longer available for download... Could you please give us a short how-to in your answer or re-upload the file?

authors: Рукк Ноготок


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hair simulation too slow and cache inaccessible
I'm using Blender hair particles for simulating grass and there are two issues.
1) Hair simulation is too slow, even when I set the number to 5 just to check how the grass blades move around. (No there are no Force Fields currently).
2) "Cache" is missing when "Hair" mode is used. This is Blender 2.76b

This means I can neither clear the cache nor bake the animation so I can preview it in the 3d view before so I know everything is fine before running the day-long rendering of the scene.

You should enable Hair Dynamics in order Particle System set to Hair mode to have cache, because

When set to hair mode, particle system creates only static particles, which may be used for hair, fur...

wiki page.
This type of Particle System may be animated using the cloth solver.
Baking particle system may be neccessary if something happens in the scene, i.e. animation is involved. If dynamic hair is disabled, it seems like hair won't change, so nothing to bake.
After you enable Hair Dynamics, Particle System will be accessible for baking results and previewing animation when it's played (and so on):

The info in the wiki isn't correct, the Hair particles are being animated the other way too.

@LeoErvin It can be animated if using Force Fields which have location data animated; afaik no other really useful way  There won't be possibility to play animation and see some changes if only hair particles and fixed force field are used.


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better Curve/Text to Mesh generation?
The triangulation process of Text to Mesh or Curve to Mesh generates some nasty topology.

I get why, but maybe it could be done a bit nicer? Since text is flat, have ngons instead of hundreds of triangles you'll need to modify anyway?
Another issue is when you then want to use the text as a Volume for particles, which for some reason behave weird when you have unusual topology even though they should be using the volume, not vertex or face positions.

See my answer here.

It is possible to Remesh text. You'll be converting to a Mesh anyway if you want to add particles, so what you might do is:

extrude the Text object ( in the properties panel )
Add Remesh Modifier with appropriate settings, usually you need a low threshold.

Convert to Mesh: Alt+C in Object Mode -> Mesh from Curve/Meta/Surf/Text , this will apply the Remesh Modifier too
and you'll get this:

Also, you can first add a solidfy modifier before the remesh so that you needn't convert the text to a mesh before applying the remesh modifier. This allows you to keep the text editable, and if the simple deform modifiers are all you need to apply to the text (i.e. no proportional editing, weight editing etc.) then everything remains quite flexible.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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automatic weights feature seems to be broken
I don't recall since which version of Blender but I've noticed that literally all my character models and armatures no longer work with automatic bone weights feature. None. Every single time get this error:

Bone Heat Weighting: failed to find solution for one or more bones

Actually, Blender fails to find solution for any of the bones.
Here's an example blend with a simplified armature and mesh to be parented to the armature ready. Try it yourself:
http://www.pasteall.org/blend/42650
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but Blender didn't complain few versions back. What might be the issue?

One of the requirements for automatic bone weighting is to have a single mesh; your is made of many separate parts. I selected the main (body) vertices, then inverted the selection, hid the selected spare parts, then the auto weight went allright. Then you will have to manually weight the spare parts (or join them with the main mesh, manifold and unbroken). Auto weighting is an useful shortcut, but we cannot ask it for the complete job.

Being a programmer I can say with 100% certainty that it's a bug that Blender fails to generate weights for a mesh which has some unconnected polygons. This is 100% a bug and I suspect it was introduced when updating the automatic weighting (bone heat) code at some point. Yes, this feature is not a replacement or complete automatic skinning button, but it is definitely a bug that it fails at this. In any case, answer accepted since it's a solution until Blender devs fix this if ever (I'm not a C++ programmer to help myself)

It would also help if Blender (for now) would mention that it wants mesh without disconnected polygons. Maybe could be aded to the hint box of that command. We shouldn't just be left to guess it or dive into pages of online articles and discussion sites to find that out.


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Prevent extruded/poked vertices from inheriting vertex group they were extruded/poked from?
Subject says it all.

Create icosphere
Assign all verts to vertex group.
Poke all faces.
I now want to select SOLELY the verts that were part of the pre-poked icosphere, and NOT select the newly poked verts.

It seems impossible. When I select my original vertex group, the poked verts are included even though I don't want them to be, and didn't manually assign them to the vertex group. Same problem happens with extrusion or applying subdivision surface.
Is there a secret "new verts don't inherit vertex group" setting I'm not aware of?

I was actually trying to replicate this Cinema4D tutorial in Blender:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/204725055?autoplay=1
It makes use of an "editor keeps my old selection" ability of C4D that doesn't seem easy to duplicate in Blender.

This is harder than it should be-- it would be nice if poke faces followed the standard of most other generative tools, that leave only newly created verts selected.  But using checker deselect->assign to v-group->poke->vertex weight edit with custom curve->clean (sigh) it is possible to end up with a v-group that contains only your poke verts.

After 'poking' select one of the new vertices - ShiftG and choose Amount of Adjacent Faces then CtrlI to invert selection. Create new vertex group if necessary.
Should probably add that the behavior is the same as parenting - meaning the children inherit the vertex group of their parents...

That WILL handle the specific case I described, but my gut feeling is it doesn't generalize to all possible cases of adding geometry :(

:) I think your gut feeling is correct.


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Offset mirrored geometry
I'm trying to offset the mirrored geometry procedurally.
For example, here I have some beams with two simple deforms and a mirror modifier:

But I wish to have the beams interlace and look like this:

Which I got by applying all the modifiers and manually moving one side along the x axis a bit.
I want to find a solution that doesn't involve having to apply all the modifiers, for example being able to offset the mirrored side of the geometry, is this possible?
Blend file for anyone interested:

you can choose the mirroring point: add an empty and mirror by that empty. is it what you are trying to do?

Actually a linked duplication of your object would be simpler than any solution: Duplicate your object with AtlD, flip it on the Y axis with SY-1 and move it so that the 2 objects cross each others.
But other than that I was able to do it with the Array modifier. It looks like you can't shift the object with the Mirror modifier(?).

Create an empty close to your object.

Give your object an Array modifier, disable Relative Offset, enable Object Offset with the empty as Object.

Select your empty, flip it on the Y axis with SY-1. The object is mirrored on the Y axis.

Move the empty so that the objects cross the way you want.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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How do I turn off "smart" multiple selection? (3ds Max UI preset)
I'm not sure if this is something to do with the preset or a default setting that I can't find the switch for. I'm trying to finally learn Blender after years of 3ds Max and I was extremely glad that it now ships with the Max and Maya style UI options. In edit mode, when I CTRL-Click to select multiple objects, Blender will try to automatically select any points in between the two I select, unless I go back, unselect the auto-selected point and try selecting again. And if there's multiple points between my two selection points, forget it. I see where this could be a useful feature but not as a default, so how do I turn it off?

This is what blender does by default normally, not sure about the 3Ds max preset. With default blender Shift + RMB selects individual vertices

gandalf, that got me pointed in the right direction. ⇧ Shift⎈ Ctrl LMB does it in the Max preset.


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Blender game - explosion type motion
I have a setup like this:
My task is to create three types of motions: rotate each piece individually, rotate the whole thing, and an explosion type of motion.
I've been unable to figure out how to do the last one, ie. all the pieces would move away from the center one (the one in the very middle, not the selected one). How can I do this?
In case what I'm asking is unclear, I've impemented this in opengl before here - press '1' on the keyboard once, and it will do what I'm trying to achieve in blender.

Just to let you know, most people here will not click on your link to a .exe.

@David I do realize (hell, even the file size is pretty sketchy), I tried making a video with some screen recorder - turned out all back though :(

You can use the manipulate center points option for this. It works best with a pivot set to the 3D cursor so select the center cube, and Shift+S>Cursor to selected to send the cursor there. Then hit . to set the pivot to the 3D cursor.

Enable the manipulate center points option by clicking the arrow with the dots over it. Now simply scale the all the objects to send them further away. (S

Great! One more question: how can I incorporate this into the game engine?

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/24612/how-do-i-play-animations-in-the-game-engine/24614#24614

This link to solve ^^ :)


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It is possible to use painting layers just like in photoshop?
I'm a noob at texturing, and was wondering if is possible to use multiple layers to have better control.

You could also try this addon
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/Texture_paint_layers

You can use a layer stack for texture painting if you've got the render engine set to Blender Internal, but there are plenty of caveats to be aware of and it's perhaps not as comparable to Photoshop as you might like, although it is workable.
First, set up your interface like this:

Stuff in brackets are knobs that need to be turned or fiddled with to have things working correctly. The UV/Image Editor should be set to Paint mode in the bottom bar, the viewport shading mode in the 3D View should be set to Material in the bottom bar, you should have the T panel open in the 3D View and set to the Tools tab, and you should have the Properties editor on the Textures tab, and then the Material Textures tab below that.
You can add layers in area 3 and change their blending modes. To "solo" a texture on the model, set the slot painting mode to Image and switch the 3D View view mode to Texture, then pick the layer of choice from the list. (The 3D View must be set to Multitexture in the N panel for this to work correctly.) Additionally, there's a button to save all of the layers that have changes, but that button will fail unless you've already saved out each new layer to your disk somewhere. Use area 4 to do that (and save them somewhere where you can remember where you put them) before using the Save All Images button or you'll get an error.
In area 1 you can reorder the layers with the up and down buttons, and delete the layers with the X button on the texture datablock just below.
In area 2 you can adjust the opacity of the layers. I recommend dragging this section of the properties up to the top using the little handle with eight dots on the upper right hand corner of each section.
I recommend using the baker to merge layers together. Make a new image and set it as the active image (easiest way to do this is by changing the painting mode to Image in area 3 and making a new image.) This image will hold the merged layers. Then, in your Properties editor in area 1 enable all of the texture layers that will contribute to the merged layer and disable all of the other texture layers. Go to the render settings tab of the Properties panel (it's the leftmost tab), go down to Bake, and set the bake mode to Textures. Make sure Selected to Active is unchecked, then press Bake, wait for the bake to happen, and save out the merged layer from the UV/Image editor. Go back to the Texture Properties tab and remove the texture slots that you have enabled and replace them with a new texture slot that uses the image you baked out.
A similar method can be used to convert procedural noises to something you can paint on.
The traditional blending modes work correctly with all color channels including diffuse and specular color. They don't work with scalar channels such as specular hardness, specular intensity, diffuse intensity, alpha, and emit, which use the DVar for blending instead.
If you just want to paint diffuse textures, you can safely ignore all of this DVar stuff.
First, for scalar channels, check RGB to Intensity for the texture slot so that you can paint with the regular old brushes.
The way that the DVar works is that Blender compares the value of DVar with the value of the scalar channel in the material properties. Then, if DVar is greater than that value, the texture slot will increase the value. But if DVar is less than that value, the texture slot will decrease the value. The more difference there is between the DVar and the value in the material, the more of a difference the texture makes, and if the texture is 100% white at a texel, the value of the scalar channel will be equal to that of the DVar.
It can be confusing, so let's use alpha transparency as an example. Most alpha maps are going to have white represent 100% opacity and black represent 100% transparency. To set this up with DVar, you first put the value that black represents in the material settings, which means on the Properties for that material you would enable Z Transparency and set Alpha and Specular Transparency (aka SpecTra in a few other places) to zero. Then, you would set the DVar to the value that white represents on your texture. In this case, where the texture is white it should have an alpha of one, so you should set the DVar to one. Here's the result of this setup:

The only scalar channel that's an exception to the rule is the specular hardness channel. For specular hardness, a DVar of 1.00 maps to a specular hardness of 255 and a DVar of 0.00 maps to a specular hardness of 1. So, if you're painting a texture for, say, a Dota 2 item and you want to be able to see the specular hardness map working as it would in the Source Engine, you would need to figure out the maximum specular hardness that's going to be used in your .vmt material file, and multiply it by 4 for compatibility between Blender and Source's Phong shader. So, if I'm painting an item for Faceless Void and I want the maximum Source specular hardness to be 20, the maximum specular hardness for Blender's Phong shader would be 80. You would then divide that by 255 to get the DVar you need to accurately depict the Dota 2 shader in Blender, so in this case I'd use 80/255=0.314 for the DVar for specular hardness and then on my specular hardness map black would map to a specular hardness of 1 (which I would set in the Material properties) and white would map to a specular hardness of 80.
If you want a texture to decrease a scalar value where it's white and leave it alone where it's black, you can do that by setting the material value to 1 and the DVar to 0.

OMG this is really good explanation, thank you sir, the last part about source is pretty interesting, I was thinking in try someday making a item for TF2, thanks again :D

Yes, it is. Although rather than thinking in terms of "layers", try to think of it in terms of masks.
Here is an example of how to do this in Cycles. (Sorry, I'm probably not the best person to explain Blender Internal or I would add that too.)

So you create a third texture that is grayscale, and use this to factor the mix of the two textures. You can repeat this as many times as you like, expanding the node tree.

Oh thanks but it's not exactly what i'm looking for, but thanks again this might be useful in future projects :D


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Hard edges in cylindrical shape
I'm having a hard time trying to figuring out, how to add loop or cuts in the inner edges but not adding more geometry to the overall circular shape 'because it will connect in another mesh with the same amount of polys', can a kindly person help me ?
Thanks in advance and here is a picture.

I have trying ho use Inset but turn out pretty bad, I want the inside very hard surface ,and the outside very cilindrical, if a use the inset tool but came out wrong, or I made a mistake using the tool, I can share the mesh if you want take a look

You should be able to get good topology by insetting the faces you want to extrude first.
In this case, I deleted the bottom of the cylinder before making any changes, then recreated with the topology I needed once all my supporting loops had been added.
If you need harder edges than supporting loops give, you can add an edge crease to the hard edges.
Original Mesh - Subdivision Applied - Subdivision + 80% Edge Crease

Original Mesh - Subdivision Applied - Subdivision + 80% Edge Crease

Try the Knife (K) tool: press K select a point of an edge, clic on another point in another edge, confirm the cut with enter key. Check in face mode the new faces created.

yeah it's a great tool but I'm not so sure about the topology without having problem with the geometry, but thanks man c:


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How do I increase the audio volume on a video
I have a .wmv file where the audio volume is too low.  I was able to edit two files into one and match the volume of two video files to the same volume using windows live movie maker, but not to increase the volume, the (edit as opposed to the playback) volume control is max'd out, I can go down in volume but not up.  Can Blender help me increase the playback volume of this video?

You really should use an external program for that, Blender is not really made to make an entire film, especially audio wise. A real audio producer uses a DAW and dozens of tracks, and only merges the audio into the video at the final exportation stage.

You may try some third party software like audacity, idealshare videogo etc simply search the above brand name and step by step to increase audio volume of video files.

You can increase the volume in the strip properties (select the audio and press N)

You can even go past eleven all the way to 100.

How should I approach this after I've already applied the sound crossover to some tracks?

nvm found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1CjP2M7ZkE&list=PLjyuVPBuorqIhlqZtoIvnAVQ3x18sNev4&index=20

If you increase the volume, the static, if any, will increase too. You could use a tool like Audacity to reduce the static.

You can also control the master volume level, in "scene > audio" properties panel: by default is 1.0 but it allows up to 100.0


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Is it possible to export animations/actions separately from Blender to Unity
I want to have a 'master rig' file in Unity that I can plug a separate animation into. So then I can go and edit a single animation without having to re-import the whole FBX with the rig, mesh, and animation.
The problem is that I have no idea how to export the FBX with just animation.
The single file FBX with all my actions works, it just annoying to have to rearrange the rotation, scale, and layers each time I replace the file.
Thanks in advance

If you're exporting to FBX manually from Blender, the checkbox Baked Animation will save the animation to the file. Keep in mind that you do have to select the Armature object type to export (and exclude everything else). The animations reference the armature for keyframes.
Alternatively, you can do this via Python script with the command:
bpy.ops.export_scene.fbx(... use_anim=True, ....)
I actually just published a blog post about exporting multiple FBX files for the purposes of importing into Unity. It's only Part 1, but I should have Part 2 written up sometime soon!
http://undertheweathersoftware.com/building-character-customization-part-1

Note: the link in the answer is now dead; here's where it is now: http://undertheweathersoftware.com/building-character-customization-part-1/

Also here's the second part: http://undertheweathersoftware.com/building-character-customization-part-2/

@UnderTheWeather, Your Link is dead and won't help anyone now. Do you understand now why everything should be included in your answer?


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Object doesn't show in camera viewport or on render
So, I'm having this weird issue where my object doesn't even show up on any renders I try to create.
This is the object in textured view on the 3D Viewport.

And here's what shows up on the camera viewport.

I've made up UV textures for it, applied them to each part of the model, linked the UV maps to each texture and it still shows up as nothing on the render. The camera viewport is just staring at blank space. I've made sure every single mesh in the scene is visible and on the same layer, so I'm really uncertain about what's causing this issue.
I'll see if I can post my blend file for my project.

As a rule of thumb, a single model like that shouldn't be larger than the default grid. While the marked duplicate should fix your problem, simply scale down the model and the problem will go away just the same.

Damn, it really was that simple. Does the grid mark out the boundaries of the render or something?

No, not really, the default clipping size encompasses about that much area.


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Making a object with soft and rigid body physics
I'm a bit stumped on how I can do something like this. I'm making a whip from Steven Universe and I want to know if I can somehow designate parts of the object as vertex groups that are rigid bodies, and other parts that are soft bodies.
What I basically mean, is that I want to know if I can use vertex groups to separate parts of my whip into being soft bodied (the whip section) or rigid bodied (handle, tip and such)
Here's a very quickly done render of my object for reference.

Have you tried making the object a soft body and making the handle a vertex painted area?


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Exported Blender UV Map is blurry
I seem to have a problem that I cant find the solution for any where...
The problem I'm having is that when I export my UV Map and import into my editing program whether that be paint or paint.net I zoom in to the UV Island boundaries and I can see some blurriness and transparency; somewhat like it has some antialiasing. It would make my life easier if I could simply use the magic wand tool to select the right area for each face/island.
I've played with some of the settings in blenders UV tab in the UV editor and I cant seem to find anything that is fixing the problem with the exported texture. I apologize if I don't seem to make any sense, its hard to explain the problem im having and there are no solutions online from what I could find.
Image of what it looks like in blender:

Image of what it looks like once exported into paint.net:

Thankyou in advance!

Welcome to the Blender Stack Exchange community, @RyanEarnshaw. It's standard procedure, here, to edit - cut -the images so that only the relevant parts appear.

PNG will be anti-alliased.
Try to export your UV map as .SVG. It will be anti aliased too but you can change this.

I'm using gimp (it's free). I don't know if you can do that in paint.net
Open your .SVG in gimp. Choose the size and check "Import Paths" and "merge imported Paths" (tried to translate).

in the "Paths" tab, click on "paint along path"

uncheck "antialiasing", choose your line width (color will be foreground color)

your lines will be exactly the color you want, nothing more, nothing less.

cheers man, this worked!

glad to help :)  be aware that diagonals won't be antialiased.

That's caused to the low resolution of the image the UV map is mapped to; this resolution is the same that the file containing the UV layout will have when you export it.
To increase the resolution, press either the New or the + button, next to the name of the texture, depending on wether you already have another texture opened; then, a dialog box will appear, in which you can set the resolution of the texture slot - 1024 squared is the default, so use something like 4096 by 4096. You can change the Generate Type from Blank to UV Grid, and then press Ok.

followed your steps and it didnt fix my problem. I still get the blur around each island unfortunately.

@RyanEarnshaw That's basically inevitable; all you can do is make it higher resolution


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Mesh opens at the back
Being relatively new to Blender and 3D modelling in general, I recently made a low-poly female character using video tutorials by PXstriker (Linked below). The model itself is made using the mirror modifier, as to only need half the work.
After I started rigging and posing this model, I noticed that the model rips open at the back, particularly near the legs. Whether the mirror modifier is applied to the mesh or not doesn't seem to make a difference.
Is this a normal problem using the mirror? I've looked around google and other tutorial sites, but nothing similar to the problem seems to be mentioned.
YouTube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/PXstriker/videos
Front view of the model:

Back view of the model, mesh is visibly opened whenever the legs are posed:

Make sure the vertices are properly alligned along the mirror axis and Merge is activated in the mirror modifier.

You shouldn't have to apply mirror modifier before rigging. Also this issue with holes shouldn't be happening. likely it can be avoided.

@SixthOfFour That's why I also said that he needs to allign the vertices along the mirror axis. Then the vertices will be merged. And since he seems to have the Armature modifier below the Mirror modifier (see different arm poses) they should not rip open again.

As said in the comments, mirror modifier has to be 1st in the list (up), if it's not, click on the up arrow at the upper right corner of the mirror modifier. Be sure to check "merge" and "clipping" options.
If the problem still appears, edit your mesh, select all vertices that should be in the center. Scale them to zero (align) on the X axis (S X 0), then move them on X axis to make them stick (G X -move mouse-) repeat this on the other X direction (G X -move mouse to the other direction-). All center vertices should now be in the center, clipped and merged and will move with the armature as they should.

thx stacker, will try that next time :)

most use a script linked to a button see http://meta.blender.stackexchange.com/questions/388/button-to-insert-kbd-kbd-for-users-with-moderator-rights saves much typing.

looks cool, but i'm just not able to make it work. I installed greasemonkey (firefox user), added the script, checked if it's in the list (it is) but...nothing poped :(

see iKlsR's answer I just added a bookmark with the javascript as link.

Whenever I had issues like this I was able to solve it by editing the mesh. Make sure the
following options of the mirror modifier are ticked:

Move the vertices toward the mirror axis, after that it shouldn't be possible to move them away from the mirror axis.


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Follow crop an object in VSE
Since i am a noob video shooter, i'm require to edit those video to "highlight" the person that i actually want to record (the person is too small compare to the image) to do that, i should do a cropping right? but the problem is the video it self actually a bit shaky so i cannot crop the whole thing in one go. I am thinking to implement feature tracking to track the person and link it to cropping mechanism so it will be a steady-focused video, is it can be done?
Thank you.

You could use a tracker to follow the person you want highlighted then attach a mask to that. No need to stabilise then.

you can stabilize with tracking you're video in blender.  Here is a youtube tutorial for that:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU8zqn091rM


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How do I overlay a photo of a face over a character on a video?
I downloaded an 80s cartoon intro (Jem and the Holograms; traditional cel animation) and I want to animate cutout photos of various family members' faces overtop the cartoon faces. Bonus points if I can apply some "worn out VHS tape" effect to the photo faces. Time permitting, I might even like to add some Terry Gilliam cutout jaw movement.
If I set up tracker points for the cartoon characters' eyes in the Movie Clip Editor, how do I get the photo face to follow these points, such that closely spaced markers indicate the photo face should be smaller/further away and vice versa, or approximate the head tilt like the popular "Elf Yourself" Christmas videos that were hot a few years ago? This seems doubly difficult since the cel animation has a lot of quick cuts and scene changes.


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Duplicate object in different sizes
My goal is to make a field of grass in blender. I have one "blade of grass".
I want to duplicate it 100 times, and make each element a different size.
How can I do this?
Greeting Pat
for a better view i upload screenshot for blender.

If you would like to thank the helper do so in a comment like this.  Answer entries are for educational answers.

my apologies, First steps are always difficult :)

You can use:
1) Hair Particle system
Just set random size to 1 as in the picture below

2) 2D Arrays & Randomize transform
Duplicate the object 10x10 times

Than apply modifers, enter edit mode, spilt by loose parts.
Now you'll have 100 different objects. Run the command Randomize Transform and set the XYZ Pos, Rot, Scale variance factors and the seed.

Obiuvsly the first method gives you the opportunity to change the base object at anytime, so it usually preferred.
3) Random Object Array add-on
It's an add you can find on Blender Market (so it's not free). As stated by the author:

A particle system is great for hair, particles, fur, even grass. But it can become an obstacle for other purposes. Compared to a particle system, the Random Object Array add-on offers much more control over random values like rotation, position, scale.

Here's a video about it:
https://youtu.be/ugaEllRttAk?t=8m13s

Thanks! I even did not expect such a help like This:) i think i will stay here a little longer:p

yeap, its work :) big thanks to You. But unfortunately file dont want open in unreal engine;/  http://i.imgur.com/9I9jfkd.jpg?1


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Baked normals Look a Strange
For a few months I'm researching and making little tests to better understing and optimize a LowRes Workflow, And this "error" continue to occurs on this particulary model that I'm working on, It was baked using tangent space, I tested in Substance Painter and Unity to see if It was a Blender Related Shader issue, and It was less predominant on the others aplication that a tested on.
But that was enough chit chat, here's a screen grab.

And thank you for reading! Have a nice day.

In which application did you bake the normals? Can you show the bake settings? Can you show the material nodes of the screenshot? Can you show the normal map?

Did you set the Color-Space on the normal map image node to Non-Color (or Raw)?

Here man, I will Post some screenshots, and I baked Again I Guess The bake was set to linear and now It's Non-Color, But the seam still appears, but not so glitch like yesterday.

A likely scenario would be if the normals were inverted. That happens for example if the geometry is inverted(scaled by negative values) at some point during modeling to mirror it. You should go to edit mode (tab), select everything (a) and recalculate normals before baking them. The hotkey is ctrl+n in 2.79 and shift+n in 2.80. You can access functions related to normals in the ctrl+f or Mesh > Faces and Mesh>Normals menus in 2.79, while in 2.80 there is a dedicated Normals menu alt+n.
However in this particual case the issue is the normal map made with overlaping UVs for symetrical geometry. If you have a look at a normal map of a symetrical object, the normals are not mirrored - they differ on each side so if you mirror them you get an incorrect result.

The Normal Are fine, I cheked but forget to tell in my First Comment

I saw the screenshot of the normal map in your answer. See my updated answer. Please share all the relevant info like that from the beginning with your questions. That would save time...

Yeah, i guess nothing that can be done with the apparent seams along the car, but In This case the roughness with textures will make less predominant, and Sorry for not mention in the beginning of the question

You can make a UV map without overlapping UVs, re-bake normals and it will work fine.

I made this way to better optimizing the UV layout, so I only baked half of the model.

I guess It was the color space, I originally baked in 2.79 but I guess It was set in linear, Now It's set to Non-Color, but The seams still appears, Not so glitch Like before, But still there.

That seam looks like internal faces along the centre line, like this. Is the merge option enabled in the mirror modifier?

Yes It is, there are no duplicated faces of any kind, I guess It's because I Baked only half of the HighPoly Model, but I'm not so sure


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A better way to make this car air vents holes?
So I'm trying to make a firebird 68 but this air vents in the sides are causing me troubles with the topology, It's possible to do make this a better topology ?
Thanks in advance :D

or you can bevel your edges
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/16321/bevel-specific-edges

I don't understand where I suppose to bevel

Suggestions.  An increment in vertex density and use extrude.
The image above is an exaggeration of your subtle situation. Model progression.
Top Ortho.

Loop Cuts.
Delete Vertices and faces.
Shape the hole manually, or with Proportional edit in Edit Mode, or with Loop Tools which is an addon.
Extrusion marked by arrow and difficult to see

User Persp

Extrusion allowing flexible shaping.  You are vents are somewhat like eyelids. They need less height. Add more loop cuts and shape subtly.

Still exaggerated for readability. Image above.  You can be more artistic with technical improvements.  This is an isolated modeling suggestion.  You can see models of hand and eyes to see how many loop cuts can be reused and reduced.

But if I increment the density It will be more dificult to control the circular shape where the tire go into don't you think ? or I'm worng ?

If you need a circular shape.  See the loop tools comment.  Also there are n-gons on which you can seek more opinions.

authors: Александр Кашкавал


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Having issues with blended shader
I was killing time making a lowpoly version of a trashcan that a kitbash with online parts but I wanted to make around the handles transparent using a alpha texture but, my issue is that or a blend the transparent part or de principle shader.

Try setting transparent color to black?

try using the transmission of the principled shader

change the shader's blending mode (from Opaque to Alpha Blend or Alpa Cliping in case you want to have more control on its threshold)

I'm a idiot, I just realize that I did not paint all the alpha , so of course the black part will be transparent but now I have a question, Why if a leave in alpha blend the normals seems inverted ._.


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Edge split modifier with angle removes smooth shading artifacts
There are these well known shading artifacts when you have edges on a flat surface and put it on smooth shading.
When I use the edge split modifier on an object and put it on the angle mode it will remove these artifacts.
When I mark the edges as sharp and use the sharp edges mode it will still show these artifacts though.
I'm just curious why it doesn't remove them then.

Any screenshot to see what do you mean by "artifacts"? Thx

Your mesh probably have triangles in those areas, try to change to quads.

@ Polosson I'm talking about the general shading "errors" when there are some tris or N-Gons.


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How to Move Bone Joints in Pose Mode like in Edit Mode? (without scaling)
I wonder how to move bones in pose mode like as you would grab the tips in edit mode and move them but without scaling the bone.
Tried to set this up with damped track or ik rig. At both the target to follow which would imitate the tip/joint of the bone can be moved anywhere. It has to stick to the bone though.
Any techniques?

use limit distance constraint

set clamp region to on surface

yup figured that out too

sadly this doesnt work with an ik target though.

that what i was waiting for , the bones start acting weird since they depend on each other


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Reverse objects order in group
I am trying to reverse the order of the object listed in a group using Python Console.
I do the following:
 1. Create a group from few selected objects as normal in Blender.
 2. In python console I create a list from the objects in the group.
 3. I reverse the list
 4. Create new group and add the objects from the reversed list.
When testing the group in the console the objects seem to be added in reverse order as expected. But after I save the file and reopen it the order of the objects in the "reversed" group was reset to the order of the original group.
So my question is - Is it possible to have two groups with the same objects but arranged differently in both groups?

As a workaround you could add an ID prop to each group object and use it as a sort key.  Give the prop the same name as the group.

I don't quite understand, but will this solve the problem with saving file with two identical groups with different objects arrangement in them?

The objects in the group have ordering and I think it is the order of the objects creation in the scene, in this case - the last object created will be the first in the group list. And that is not changeable. If you modify the order of the objects through pyhton, after saving and reopening, the order is reset to default. That is why I would like to figure out if it's possible to have two groups with the same objects, but with different orders in the respective group.

ID property sortkey
Test script to demonstrate adding an ID prop as a sort key.  Creates two groups from scene objects "Group1", the second,  "Group2", in reverse order and adds a sort key  add_key(group)
Saving and reopening the file and group.orderred_list returns "Group2" still in reverse order, as created.
import bpy
context = bpy.context  # for testing

def add_key(group):
    # simple integer key
    key = 0
    # add an IDProp key for each group object
    for o in group.objects:
        o[group.name] = key
        key += 8

    return None

def sorted_group(group):
    def key(obj):
        # key is groupname prop if set else 0
        return obj.get(group.name, 0)

    g = [o for o in group.objects]
    g.sort(key=key)
    return g

bpy.types.Group.orderred_group = property(sorted_group)

# test calls
scene = context.scene

obs = [o for o in scene.objects]

for name in ["Group1", "Group2"]:
    print(name)
    group = bpy.data.groups.get(name)
    if not group:
        group = bpy.data.groups.new(name)
        if name == "Group2":
            obs.reverse()
        for o in obs:
            group.objects.link(o)
        add_key(group)
    elif name == "Group2":
        sl = group.orderred_group
        # reorder by unlink link
        for o in sl:
            group.objects.unlink(o)
            group.objects.link(o)

    print(group.objects.keys())

I've tested your script by creating simple scene with few objects in it.
Immediately after running the script, I saved the file and reopenned it.
Then checked the groups in the Python console with the commands:
list(D.groups[0].objects)
list(D.groups[1].objects)
The print displayed the objects in both groups in the same order i.e. there is no reversed order of the objects in the second group. So I don't think this script works for me.

In the console have a look at D.groups["Group2"].orderred_group which is the collection as a list  in sort key order, or also the list after "Ordered" is printed.  I haven't extended or changed the way the groups objects collection is orderred, which will be inconsistent as lukas_t mentioned in his comment.  which is exactly  what you are printing ...

As a practical use of reversed group, that I have in mind is using those groups as Dupli Group input for particles. Here is an example: https://youtu.be/PV-TA1EYL8Y
How can I use the script that you've proposed to keep the order of the second particle group reversed?

Use the ordered list to repopulate the group.objects collection (after clearing) would be one suggestion, this could be done in an onload handler.

Edited code to preserve order in group2's objects collection, was simply a matter of unlinking and relinking objects in sorted order.  Out of interest what difference does it make re the order of group objects in a particle dupli group?

If you use objects group as particles you have basically two options: 1. To emit every object separately and 2. To emit all object as group. In case of 1 - the objects can be emitted in a) order or b) randomly. In case of a) you have NO control of the order that objects are emitted. I've posted a link to a demo video above. In it I use the same group of objects as particles but the right particle system use reversed order of the objects in the group. I hope made that clear enough.

Another way to understand it better is try to recreate the animation above with 100 objs in a group as particles in particle emitter 1 and the same objs in a second group but reversed order in particle emmiter 2. The objects have to be emitted separately. Then save the file and reopen.

Cool, haven't done much particle system modelling.  Saving and reordering as in code shown above worked for me in saving group order and then reordering with an unlink link in the order..., no luck for you?


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Open GL Render. Anti-aliasing differences
I have a simple scene setup:
Cube and a Sphere lighted decently.
Blender Internal renderer.
Shading - GLSL
Viewport Shading - Material.
I add the Scene in VSE and use Open GL Preview and Sequencer Preview Shading to Material.
Now when I hit the Open GL render button in the 3D View the scene renders with good anti-aliasing of the objects edges. But when I hit the Open GL render button in Video Sequencer Editor the objects are rendered with jagged edges.
Why is that difference and is there a way to Open GL render in VSE with proper anti-aliasing?
Thanks!

OpenGL rendering in the VSE ignores the AA settings because it just pipes the viewport output through while

Render -> OpenGL Render Animation

is more like an own render engine utilizing OpenGL. The OpenGL AA setting is only used by that "engine".
You can still get AA by setting the resolution of your original scene way bigger (like 400%) than the VSE scene. Blender will first render the scene really big in OpenGL and then scale it down in the VSE, wich essentially results in antialiasing.

Has it been fixed or something ? Now I'm trying to disable anti-aliasing using the VSE but I can't.

I found a way to disable anti-aliasing in Blender 2.78 openGL renders : enable viewport ambient occlusion and set the strength to 0 (unless you actually want ambient occlusion in your render)


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Problem with curve modifier on zipper
I'm trying to create an animation of a zipper unzipping, and I'm having some problems with the curve modifier. The flat planes on the sides of the zipper are deforming to create a crease in it. The planes are part of the same zip object that has an array modifier applied to it. The blend file is here. Could someone please explain how to fix this, and maybe even send me an updated file for reference along with the explanation?

I'm trying to follow this tutorial, so if anyone can point out to me where I went wrong, that'd be great. Also,

(Creator of the tutorial here)
One of the curve handles of the curve that deforms the plane is pointing the wrong way, causing part of the mesh to be flipped upside down, as shown below by the directional arrows of the curve:

Enter 'Edit mode' for curve (Bezier Curve.001).
Select the middle curve point, which is the one that is flipped.
Rotate the curve point 180 degrees on the 'x' axis (R,X,1,8,0)
Exit edit mode, and if the error hasn't gone, simply turn the curve modifier on and then off and the mesh should refresh.

Thanks so much. Great channel, by the way. Found it yesterday when I was trying to make a zipper for a social studies project, and I think you have great content. Keep it up :)

Oh, and even though you say to rotate it 180 degrees, you actually rotate it 90 degrees in your keys. I knew what you meant, just pointing that out.

@LukeTaylor Thanks for catching that mistake, updated answer.


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Quickest way to create UVs for a tileset using a single tiling texture
I am still fairly new to Blender (couple months in)
Right now I'm working with a tileset that looks like this:

The code in Unity places these tiles procedurally and creates a world out of them. It works pretty well, but we would also ideally want to use a single texture on all of them.
The texture we have looks like this (the green tickmarks are guides for me and don't show up in the final model):

And here is a screenshot of the tile pieces that I have completed the UVs for. They work, and they tile correctly.

The problem is that this process takes a long time. I am basically moving UV vertexes around manually in the UV editor. Is there a better way to do this? As an aside, the seams I've chosen also look like crap in Unity, which is another issue but may be related to how I'm doing this.
We're trying to accomplish a look of "grass transitioning to dirt" in one texture and tileset, with a kind of cartoony, cell-shaded look.

What method did you use to unwrap your mesh?

I used the basic "UV Unwrap > Unwrap" method: http://i.imgur.com/Evbl8tC.png

you can use transfer UVmap to copy the uvmap from ine to others

@Chebhou That won't really work, though - for that, all objects "need" to have the same topology.

@Chebhou/@someonewithpc I just tried that and it threw this error: http://imgur.com/q63HgTY  I AM using a script that allows me to copy/paste my UVs, which helps a bit to speed things up, but I am hoping there is some fundamental process I'm not aware of

@user2092690 Yeah, that's what I said... Have you tried using the other unwrap methods? Try Smart UV Project - it should give better results.

i suggest that you divide the texture and create 3 materials each one for a part of the texture than assign the materials to each part

I have tried others - they all kind of end up with the same problem though, which is that I end up poking and prodding the vertexes into place to get the tiling right.

You may try the Data Transfer modifier, which will be released with the coming 2.74, but you can still experience it in the latest daily builds here.

Add a Data Transfer modifier, choose the source object you want to copy from.
Toggle Face Corner Data > UVs, then press Generate Data Layers button, which will generate a UV data for the new object (you cannot see it until the modifier is applied).
Choose a proper method from the list on the right, you can preview it in GLSL shading mode. Finally, apply the modifier to generate a solid UV layer.

Before:

After:

NOTE:

For batch copying modifier among objects, you can enable the Copy Attributes Menu addon.
Since it is not fairly stable (currently), use it with caution.

"'Ctrl+L '-> Modifiers" works fine for copying modifiers without having to use an Addon.  The last selected object is the one from which the modifiers will be copied.

@MarcClintDion Right! thanks for reminding! But if the objects already got other different modifiers, it will not work for such case. I mean Ctrl L will overwrite the stack.

Interesting, by this I assume that you are saying that the Copy Attributes Addon will append Modifiers to the ones already there instead of replacing them?  That would make it very useful.

Yes, there is a separate operator for appending.


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Material Editor: Generate mask from color ID texture
I'm trying to work out a way to generate a mask based on a color ID texture in the material editor (not the compositor). What I'm trying to achieve is have a node group I can re-use which has two parameters, the first parameter is the color ID texture and the second parameter is the color from the texture I want to generate a mask from.
I've included an illustration:

I got it working for some colors (such as red, green, or blue) but it didn't work in all cases, I also had a problem where the mask would show up properly when previewing it through an emissive shader but wouldn't show up when viewed through a normal diffuse shader.
Thank you for your time.

so do you need to improve that IDtoMASK node to work with all colors ?

Exactly, it has to work with any input color, basically I need it to extract the selected input color from the color ID texture and output a grayscale mask. There's a similar node in Substance Designer but I don't remember what it's called.

see the answer and adjest its output to get gray scale , i get some work to do now

Two independent node groups for creating a mask based on a color and a texture :
material setup :

the first node group outputs boolean 1/0  ( all comparisions are "less than "):

the second node group outputs grayscale :

adjust the sensitivity/clipping to get a good result "sensitivity is added to overcome  errors due to rounding the numbers"

@Spiderhund use the eyedropper to pick the exact color from the uv/Image editor

Thank you for a quick response! It works much better than what I had before, I noticed that it selects multiple colors though, for example if I choose the orange color it actually selects the blue color instead and if I choose the blue color it selects both the blue and the cyan color.

@Chebhou can this be done without separating colors with something like vector math?

Alright if I add an inverted between the "Absolute" node and the "Greater Than" node I can isolate the exact color I want using the sensitivity slider. Thank you for your help!

@Spiderhund thanks for the correction, i have flipped the comparision now "see the edit" and have added a group node that outputs gray scale

@Chebhou Thank you! This is exactly what I needed!

@Bithur yes some steps can be done with vector math but there is no comparison node for vectors

Can you update your first picture, it only shows one node group while the rest of your question mentions two.

@David it's not supposed two the two at the same time  because they do the same work

So you are showing two different options. right?

2 different options for IDtoMASK node group (screenshots with greenish background) with the same overall connections (1st screenshot)

@David exactly,  sorry for the unclear comment

Here is a little osl script.
In the shader editor import the script node and open the osl file.
Just plug the ID map in the map color and the color that yo want to pick in to the rgb color.
Enable Open Shading Language

Copy&paste this script into Text Editor ...
//instagram https://www.instagram.com/renderthing
//sketchfab https://sketchfab.com/renderthing

shader mySwitch(

color map = color(0,0,1),
color rgb = color(0,0,1),
float threshold = 0.005,
output color finely = 0.5

)
{

//first

color MAX = map + (threshold /2);
color MIN = map - (threshold /2);

if ( (MIN[0] <= rgb[0]) && (MAX[0] >= rgb[0]) && (MIN[1] <= rgb[1]) && (MAX[1] >= rgb[1]) &&
(MIN[1] <= rgb[1]) && (MAX[1] >= rgb[1])

){
    finely = color(1,1,1);
}
else {
    finely = color(0,0,0);
}

}

... and use as Internal (or save in some text app as .osl file and use as External).

wow, i used an other method but mine is so small i'm ashamed of how simple it is :), but i have tested it with different shades of some colors like dark blue and light blue and it worked well.
anyways its like this


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Perfectly matching concentric shell walls?
I have built two concentric hemispherical shells from two spheres centered at (x,y,z) = (0,0,0), and added a thickness to the outside shell to fill the gap between the two shells. However, I have found that -- despite the shells being of the same proportionality (height = 1/2 diameter) -- I do not get a perfect intersection of the inner wall of the green shell and the wall of the blue shell, as illustrated below.

Am I misinterpreting what I'm seeing? How can I make the inner wall of the thickened green shell exactly match the boundary of the (smaller) blue shell? Thank you in advance.

Its not a good idea to have two different visible surfaces (faces) in the same exact position.  The results are not acceptable to most people.

You can join the two meshes in object mode.  Then in edit mode you you can select the two edge and perform a Bridge Edge Loop.  That will also serve as a check to make sure you have the same number of vertices.
If you want two separate objects. You could start with one hemisphere, [solidify modifier], apply the modifier,  The select the inner portion and menu [separate] to form two separate meshes.

Thank you! Your last suggestion is exactly what I was looking for.


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Removing all points below an objects surface
I have an object that is cubical in form, but the top surface is roughened. The point density on all sides of the cube (including top roughened surface and flat bottom) is pretty high.  For illustrative purposes, it's similar to the following image:

Is there an efficient way to remove all points under the top surface (shown highlighted in orange)? This includes all 4 sides, the bottom, and any interior points. I've read about Blender's Circle Select, Lasso select, etc., but wasn't sure if these were effective options for high-density meshes.

Have you tried the tools indicated in your question ? What do you mean by high density mesh ?

I'm trying them now, but I thought I'd ask in the meantime in case there's a suggestion I hadn't thought of, or read of.
By "high density mesh", i mean ~9.1M faces.

OK, selection will work (lasso or circle or border). You can also (if possible) select an edge loop or a median section and delete it. After that the lower part is easy to remove (select a vertex and ctrl + L)

Box Select (B) could be very useful in this case. Make sure to enter front (or side) ortho  view and toggle Wireframe shading before proceeding.

You can select a face from each side of the box then press ctrl-shift-alt-F, this will select all linked flat faces, then you can delete them

Ultimately, the sidewalls were removed before another, more simple file was given to me to work with. However, this is the solution that would've suited my problem the best.

Blender has a built in tool for this called "Select side of Active". To use it you have to switch to vertex select mode and select exactly one vertex. This vertex marks the boundary, that means that either all vertices e.g. to its left or right will be selected after you run the command. See my screenshot for the result, the white vertex was the active one before i ran "Side of Active".
Using the last operator panel (Shortcut F6) you can tell blender which axis and which direction to look for vertices to select. Once done, simply delete them.

I tried this method, but couldn't get it to work properly. Probably something I did on my end :/

what happened when you tried? You have been in Vertex Select mode for sure?

I was in the same modes that you suggested (vertex mode, edit mode, etc.). when I hit F6, I did not get the last operator panel, to choose my axis.

you'll need to do it right after running the select side of active command. if you do something after that, even just selecting something, it will be gone. you can also find the same panel on the left hand side in the viewport.


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Creating a grid of tubes following a mathematical surface
I am creating a 3D mathematical surface using the "Add Mesh: Extra Objects" plugin, resulting in the mesh surface below:

Ultimately, I would like to convert this surface into a grid of Paths, so I can have a circle trace each Path, and recreate the surface above as a grid of tubes.
My first thought was to use the Bridge function of the LoopTools Add-on to create a grid of vertices that describe the surface, as shown:

then collect each row and column of vertices into a Path or curve that I could follow with a circle to create the grid of tubes. However, I do not know how to collect a number of vertices into a Path or curve.

Is there an easier way to create a grid of tubes from a mathematical surface? Or,
How can I create a Path or curve from a collection of vertices?

Why not simply use a Wireframe Modifier

Otherwise see last part of my answer

Or use parent to vertex to instance a sphere to the vertices on the surface: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/15990/replacing-points-with-objects/15997#15997 the procedure is the same except that duplication is called instancing in modern versions of blender. https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/44353/how-to-add-multiple-meshes-on-the-locations-of-the-vertices-of-for-example-a-s/44354#44354

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/1829/is-it-possible-to-render-vertices-in-blender

Hopefully I understood the question correctly...
But if you want to run some tubes along the rows or columns of your grid, you could do it like this:
Just filter out the edges that run in one of the two directions, convert them to curves and apply the node Curve to Mesh to them.

This also works with switching in both directions:

This first thought was not bad. This can be done with hair particles, e.g tiny uv spheres, put at vertices, but you need to know their exact number first. Then convert particles to mesh, remove the surfaces' interior deleting vertices inside or remove the whole surface and you're done.


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Method to specify the Solidify thickness based on another surface
I have a set of concentric spheres of varying radii, each a different color (material). I would like to use the SOLIDIFY modifier, and add a thickness to each such that it fills in the distance between the larger sphere and the smaller sphere.
I plan to put this in a script, so I have tried to build an algorithm based on their radii (and the difference of), but something's not working out. A visual example may help. Below is a 1-D model from the outside of the largest sphere (left) the center of the concentric spheres "(center)":
Crrnt:
1.......2...3......4.....5......(center)
Ideal:
1111111 2222 3333333 444444 5555555 (center)

You could add a driver to the Thickness value.

In this example, I've used the property dimension.x (it corresponds to the diameter).
If you need the value to change only at certain steps, you can set the interpolation mode to constant:

When you duplicate the sphere (alt +d), the driver will automatically update and it will mantain the reference to the proper diameter.
NOTE:
Remember to apply the scale transformation after scaling, otherwise the Thickness value will scale too.

Question:
   I am trying to pre-determine the Thickness property of the Solidify modifier required to completely fill the gap between two concentric, spherical shells. I know the diameter of both shells ahead of time, the shells will always be centered at (0,0,0). I would like to keep Offset = -1.0.
   Using a number of examples, I have tried to back out a mathematical relationship / equation, based on the difference in the diameter of the shells.  But this falls apart when the shells diameters change, but the difference between the shell diameters remains the same.
Example:
    If i have a hemisphere of diameter1 = 8m, and a smaller, concentric shell with diameter1 = 2m (difference = 6m), then a Thickness value of 0.7485 will fill the gap between these two hemispherical shells.
   However, if I use 2 shells that are diam1 = 100m, and diam2 = 94m (difference = 6m), then a Thickness value of 0.05975 fills in the gap between the concentric shells.
How can I pre-determine what this thickness needs to be for any case of 2 concentric shells?
Response:
Not my solution, but from one of the Blender experts:
"I'm quite sure the thickness parameter gives a direct offset from the
surface, i.e. a perfect sphere with radius R and solidify thickness X
creates a sphere with radius (R+X). This matches the first observation,
where dR=3 => thickness = 1.5 / 2 = 0.75 ~= 0.7485. The reason you don't
see these values in the second case is probably because the object is
scaled by 100/8 = 12.5 => thickness = 0.75 / 12.5 = 0.06"

The thickness value is exactly half the difference of the diameters:
(Dmax-Dmin) / 2

Remember to apply the scale transformation (ctrl+a) if you are scaling the sphere, otherwise the Thickness value will scale too.


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Setting camera clip end via Python
Is there a Python command that will allow me to set the camera clip end for viewing my objects in Blender (via scripting)? According to http://www.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_69_release/bpy.context.html the "bpy.context.space_data" variable is read-only.

Note that those API docs are for blender 2.69. See this question for the latest version.

bpy.context.space_data is read-only, but it's properties are not.
For the active scene camera
context.scene.camera.data.clip_end

This gets the clip_end value for the active camera from the current scene, assuming there is one. If the current scene doesn't have an active camera, then context.scene.camera is None and this will raise an AttributeError.
For the viewport:
for a in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if a.type == 'VIEW_3D':
        for s in a.spaces:
            if s.type == 'VIEW_3D':
                s.clip_end = <your value>

This iterates through all areas in the current screen until it finds a 3D view, then iterates through all spaces in the 3D view until it finds a 3D view space, which is the object containing the clip_end property.

This one came up as a link in new post. The camera object, and its data  (from bpy.data.cameras)  may not always have the same name, suggest using cam = context.scene.camera.data

Here is an example of the same data for a driver.


text:
How can I eliminate the added height when applying a thickness to Solidify modifier?
When I add a Solidify modifier to a hemispherical shell, I am given an option to add a thickness (amongst other options). When I add a thickness to the hemispherical shell, I've noticed that Blender increases the overall height of the shell due to the added wall thickness.  An example is shown in the attached image.
Is there a way I can eliminate the extra added thickness? Are there additional steps I can take to suppress it, or make the bottom of the hemispherical shell flat again?

Please list all modifiers if you have more than one.  Do you have a subdivide surface modifier?

This doesn't work -- this still creates a non-flat profile for the base of the shell. I believe flipping the sign of the Thickness value is the same as flipping the sign of the "Offset" value.

Atomic -- the only modifiers I'm adding to the shell are:

Subdivision Surface (to make it smooth for illustration purposes)
Thickness modifier

Adjust normals
Solidify modifier extrudes faces along their normal.
A default UV hemisphere has the bottom faces whose normals are not parallel to the XY plane. So the extrusion vector will have a Z component that will create the effect you see in the image below (which is an outer extrusion, while yours is an inner one, but it follows the same principle):

In blue are evidenced the vertex normals. Note how the last line of vertices has a non-horizontal normal projection.
To keep the bottom of the extrusion co-planar with hemisphere's bottom vertices you should start from a geometry who's last faces normals are not incident with XY plane:

The last picture was made by extruding the last line of vertices a bit on the Z-axis, so the geometry may not exactly represent a standard hemisphere.
To obtain a more precise result you can work with the default UV sphere settings and set an odd number of rings. This way, when you cut the sphere in half the faces will already have the correct normals and the resulting mesh will be a more precise approximation than extruding manually.

Carlo -- thank you! Your last solution, with the impar number of rings was an enormous help. Thank you!


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How would I scale an animated scene?
I am making a new animation for a company, based on their previous version that I have received. The previous version is at some arbitrary scale, but since I am updating and adding geometry (new product) it would be nice to have the scene to scale. (1 blender unit = 1m) Just resizing everything is not enough, as some objects pop back in place & size due to animation keyframes.
Is there an easy way to scale the whole scene, including camera animation, textures etc. so that I can work on it "to scale"?

Add an Empty and patent all the objects to it. Then scale the empty.


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How do I prevent losing contrast when compositing semi-transparent images?
I have a scene with an object and a mirror object, simulating a mirror floor. If I fully composite the image and save it with a white background from blender, the mirror image looses a lot of contrast and detail. However, if I save it as a transparent image and add a white background in Photoshop, is is much clearer. How can I get this result straight out of Blender?
My .blend: https://www.dropbox.com/s/38xzr2y717cjygk/mirror_trans01.blend?dl=0

Could the problem have to do with Gamma and how blender treats grey values? It seems like the dark greys are reduced a lot more than the midtones.

You can get a better result by using the Mix node's Multiply blend mode instead of the Alpha Over node.

Here's the node setup (you first need to create a unified mask to use as a factor for the mix node):

Thanks, but I don't think this is quite right either. Your multiply version is much too dark, since you are adding the main alpha to the full mirror alpha, rather than a somewhat translucent alpha. On the other hand, if the alpha is reduced to 0.7, you get the exact same result as the alpha-over.


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How to bind material change to a single animation action?
I chose objects colour, then fixed its value using i key.

But the colour property was bind globally for the object. It effects all the object's actions. How can I make colour change for a single action, just like rotation property?

I think, you can achieve this using drivers.

You can do it using Drivers.

In my case I used a driver to change the intensity of a color.

Hover the cursor over the intensity slider, press RMB and choose the Add Driver option.

Add an Empty and place it at the origin point of a Cube. Parent an Empty with a Cube using Ctrl+P-->Set Parent To-->Object (Keep Transform).

Go to Graph Editor and change the Mode from F-Curve to Drivers.

Change the Drivers Type to Averaged Value.

Input the previously added Empty's name in the Ob/Bone box as pictured below. This Empty will now control the intensity of the Cube's color. If the error appear, click the Update Dependencies button.

Now specify what kind of the Empty's action would have the influence on the Cube's color intensity. I've chosen the Z Rotation, so anytime I change the Z rotation of an Empty, the insity of a color will be changed. The other kind of transformations (like translating or scaling) would not have any influence on color's intensity values.

Add a Generator Modifier and play with the highlighted values to make the transition speed of the color's intesity slower or faster. You can also redefine the initial and end values here.


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Dyntopo: Re-symmetrize only part of mesh
I've sculpted a mesh using Dyntopo with symmetry enabled. I've then disabled symmetry to make the front half of my creature non-symmetric (think a cat with one paw raised). Then I've turned symmetry back on to work on the back half of the sculpt.
Using Dyntopo has left some non-symmetric artifacts on one side of the back half (the bit that should be symmetric). Is there a way to restore symmetry but only to the back half of the mesh?
I've tried using the mask in sculpting, but the whole mesh is affected by the Dyntopo symmetrize button.
Using the symmetrize function in edit mode only works on selected vertices but leaves holes in the mesh along the selection area. I'll fill these and go back to sculpting but I wondered if there was another way.
A tool that applies the symmetrize function to part of a mesh would have to ease the vertices around the edge of the mask but sculpting already does stuff this clever.

Best bet is to do all your mirrored sculpting first,
then turn mirror off, and finalize asymmetrical details.
For instance:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLb_CCoWn5o
If you've already started sculpting without symmetry,
it's possible to copy your sculpture, then place a cube around the area.
Use boolean modifier set to intersect on one sculpt & cube,
Use boolean modifier set to difference on the other sculpt & cube.
Continue sculpting on the area that only has symmetrical details.
Merge the two halves with a boolean union once you're finished,
and smooth any seam with the sculpt tools.

I tried using booleans to separate, and then rejoin the mesh, but because of the flat faces added at the split the join after the union was ugly and hard to smooth. Doing the symmetrize in edit mode, then filling (ALT-F) the small gap produced a better mesh. Next time I'll leave the asymmetry to last.

I know how you feel.  I ran into the same thing the first time I was using it, too.


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Animation Nodes - Can I make this a loop?
I've been playing around with simple 3D fractals in Animation Nodes and have
worked out how to do this for example.

I could keep adding Replicate Matrices nodes to add more levels, but I've
been trying to do this as a loop, and not quite getting it to work.
In this example, if (M1, M2, M3, M4) is the list of matrices coming out of the Compose Matrix node,
I need the loop to add the following to the loop output at each iteration:

Iteration  Add to Matrix List                  Combined List Length
0          M1, M2, M3, M4                       n
1          M1*M1, M1*M2, .... M3*M4, M4*M4      n + n*n
2          M1*M1*M1, M1*M1*M2, ... M4*M4*M4     n + n*n + n*n*n
3                                               n + n*n + n*n*n + n*n*n*n

where in this example n=4
Any clues?

Animation Nodes loops have parameters that can be reassigned from within a loop. The option to do that is accessible in the Advanced Node Settings for the Loop Input node.

With reassignable parameters it's possible to keep both a queue of matrices that you want to transform, with each single transformation generating multiple additional queue entries that have to be queued, as well as a list of all matrices that have been calculated.
A first loop is created with three parameters:

A static list of matrices with the transformations, in this example a list of four matrices that scale an object by .5 and place it into the lower four corners of a cube
A queue with the matrices that have to be transformed in the current iteration. Once the iteration is finished, the queue will be overwritten with the transformed matrices as a new queue.
A list of all matrices. Once the transformed matrices are calculated for the current iteration we append them to the (initially empty) list of all matrices and reassign the parameter.

A second loop will do the transfromations for the queue items:

For each transformation matrix in the “transformations loop” we transform the whole list of queued matrices items by that transformation matrix. The Transform Matrix node is vectorized for multiple matrices but not for multiple transformations, so I chose Transformation to be the iterator and Queue Items to be a parameter and not the other way around, even though this approach would seem more intuitive to me. But in principle you can also add another loop and calculate, for each item in the queue, the list of transformed matrices.
Finally, the first loop is invoked like this:

As the first loop doesn't have a iterator in the Loop Input node, you can set the number of iterations in the Invoke Subprogram node.
The transformations are four matrices corresponding to the four bottom corners of a cube.
The queue is initialized with list containing a single standard matrix of location corresponding to the origin and a scale of one.
The initial list of all matrices is empty, so it doesn't need an input here. You could also feed in a list with the initial standard matrix above to also add the zeroth iteration to the output.

Blend file (using dev version of AN 2.1.2):

(It might be a good idea to disable automatic node execution when working with a larger number of iterations. Just as a word of caution.)

This works! Thanks for the detailed answer. I'd got as far as two nested loops, but had missed all the goodness in the advanced parameters. The caution on a large number of iterations is needed. I started with the Menger Sponge which has 20 transforms per iteration. 20 to the power of n gets large quickly.

Playing with this some more, here is a version with a single loop and the Replicate node

As above the all matrices parameter socket in the iterations loop needs to be set to both an input and output in the Advanced Node Settings. Also make sure the Create Matrix List that goes into the queue input on the iterations loop only has one element.
This ones about three or four times faster than the double loop.


text:
Turning on OSL breaks node material with Normal node
The following works with Open Shading Language unchecked in the Render panel

but as soon as I check the Open Shading Language box, the material goes completely black. Adding an OSL script node in the same file work correctly so I have OSL set up correctly.
The problem appears to be with the Normal node, as feeding the Normal output of the Geometry node directly into the Emission node works whether OSL is on or off.
Blender 2.79

I get this, too, across to a 2018-08-06 build of 2.79..

So, what is your question?

I’ve also replicated this - looks like a bug to me. Enabling/disabling OSL shouldn’t affect this node. Only option to work around would be to replicate the functionality another way - eg, Mapping node for the Normal output (rotating the normal) and Vector Math ‘Dot Product’ for the ‘Dot’ output (dot product of a vector and the incoming normal).

Thanks  for confirming the bug, I've filed a bug report. https://developer.blender.org/T56623


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Can you use maps from Crazy bump in the BGE
I have been wanting to increase the quality of my textures in the blender game engine and was wondering if the different maps that are created on the program CrazyBump could be used in the BGE on textures to make them look better.  Sorry if this question seems obvious or whatnot as I am new to blender, thanks.

Blender does not care what tools you use to create images. You can even draw it with pencils on a canvas.
Blender cares the image format such as jpg, png, dds, tga.
However you created your images, turn them into one of the supported formats and you can use them within Blender and the BGE.

Yes I understand that however the nodes i used to use the images i different maps i created in the other program dont exist when i switch to the blender game engine.  Idk if there is some other way to input maps like normal, displacement, specularity, and occlusion?


text:
is it possible to declare what info is duplicated during subdivision?
I'm looking to write a script for fun and testing. I want to subdivide a mesh but only the vertex color info. In short, I want blender to create more room for uvless painting with out carrying twice the location and rotation info


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I need to setup a camera to follow a character in blend4web
I'm working on a proof of concept for my comic companies website and want an immersive experience. To that end the goal is too put site visitors in the shoes of a character and have users "follow" the character in a click and point adventure.
(Until I can conceive of a free roaming control scheme that works for mobile and desktop)
I don't need a full third-person camera setup, though that would be ideal. I'd prefer to prototype with logic nodes of that's possible. Problem is not all constraints work in blend4web. Is there a work around that can get the prototype up and running that doesn't require me to dive into "The Joy of Coding" until after I make the proof of concept public?

In b4w where is 3 predefined camera setups:
https://www.blend4web.com/doc/en/camera.html#hover-type-camera
You need to change camera type to hover


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Boid particles will not climb
I'm trying to use Boid particles to create an ant-like insect swarm that moves towards a goal and climbs over everything in its path. My operation and collision tests have been successful so far, with one big exception: I can't get them to climb goal objects.
My approach - based on research - has been to create an obstacle mesh for climbing, enable its collision physics, then set it as a Goal object in the Boids operation stack. The particles do travel towards the goal (in this case, a pyramid), but then they simply bounce off the side and move around.
Here is a screencap of my test setup:

Assuming that 'goal' is where the boids should end up, and the pyramid is an obstacle to climb over, this is the desired outcome. In this case, the pyramid should not be a goal for the boids.

The key to get the boids to climb over the pyramid is to make it 'sticky' using the stickiness collision parameter for the pyramid and plane.

If the stickiness is set to 0, then the boids will flow around the pyramid like below:

The basic setup to get this result is as follows:

Create a scene with a plane, a pyramid, a particle emitter (an icosphere in this example), and a goal object (the text).

For the icosphere, add a particle system. Set it up as shown.

Add collision physics to the plane and pyramid, set the stickiness as shown.

Play the animation...

The blend for the animation above is here:


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Local Config and Userprefs on Network Deployment - How to share an install but allow users to save their own settings per-workstation?
I work in an office setting that handles software installs via push deployments, rather than local installs, for version control and parity purposes.
While attempting a push of Blender 2.93 (with some add-on customization), I'm running into the problem of users not being able to modify their config and userpref files; this means that they cannot enable or disable add-ons at will, cannot create customized startup settings, and Recent Projects does not retain project history. This deployment of Blender also does not appear to retain any customized settings to re-route the add-ons folder to a network drive - when the Scripts directory is manually set in the System menu, it still appears to be reading all plug-ins from the push install directory on C, which cannot be modified. When the user tries to install an add-on from a zip, regardless of local or network location, the add-on appears to install but then is not available when searched in the Add-ons menu.
This is understandably frustrating for the users, and I'm sure it's purely an execution issue on my end, but I'm not an IT expert and I'm not sure how to get this working for the team. Is the only answer to locally install and customize Blender on each individual workstation? Is there some kind of read/write priority on the deployed userpref and config files that I might be missing?

Blender uses appdata roaming folder for user preferences by default, so any user should be able to customize its own independent settings without interfering with others. Only situation I could see this failing is if there is a config folder inside the installation folder, or if it is being launched with any overriding command-line parameters. See https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/63648/what-is-the-proper-way-to-update-a-portable-blender-installation-while-keeping-u/63666


text:
Multiple Textures with Mirror Modifier
I would like to use multiple textures to paint both sides of a mirror modifier. The idea is to paint one side of the mirror modifier, and duplicate it with the text flipped.
The problem is that when I apply my mirror modifier, the texture is still mirrored with no indication of where the other half of the texture is getting its data from.
How can I use two different images to texture the object? Is there a better way, such as mirroring the entire object EXCEPT for the text? If so, how would that be done?

You can adjust the Mirror Texture Settings by checking U or V, or both

The texture won't be mirrored, and when you apply the mirror modifier you will be able to see all the parts clearly ( in the UV editor )

I've seen this solution, but i don't think it solves my problem. This is what happens when I apply that technique.

Yeah, I know, but when you apply your modifier you will be able to position all the parts in UV easily. By the way I've seen that your normals are inverted. Press Ctrl+N in edit mode while all your mesh is selected

Aha! So i can cut a seam out of that area and create a mirrored texture ONLY for the text. Perfect - I'll work on incorporating this into a more complete answer thank you!

Would you mind marking it as an answer then

In Blender 2.8 although it does it, it doesn't show the mirrored UVs in the UV editors, I need to activate something in 2.8 to show them?


text:
How can I get a Sin City/300 monotone and grayscale style
I don't know that I'm using monotone and grayscale in the right way, but I'm curious how to make a scene with has either only one tone like the use of Red in the movie 300, or something like sin city, where only one object is brightly contrasting.  Is this a compositing technique or nodes?  I know nothign about compositing and little about nodes, but i've been playing with them.  thanks for info, or sources to info for that matter.  Happy Blending!

Since you have absolute control over the colors in your scene, you don't have to create convert it to monotone and grayscale in post. You can simply use the proper colors for your materials from the get go. The tricky part will be getting the film Noir lighting right, then toning up the contrast in an artful way in post. I'd suggest you start from these two great resources: http://www.creativeshrimp.com/introduction-to-low-key-lighting-01.html
And: http://www.blenderguru.com/tutorial-category/compositing-tutorials/

maybe this will help http://www.blenderhd.com/2015/stipple-paint-compositing-filter/