text:
How to animate multi part object diagrammatic explosion using NLA
I wish to animate a mechanical part (train bogie) exploding and imploding for a realtime system (taqtile manifest) using an fbx export.
I have keyframed the actions shown below.

Then cycle back to frame 0 position at frame 500.
Frame 0-125 and frames 275-350 are hold positions.
I have successfully exported this as a straight keyframed animation, though the realtime system i am exporting to has the function to load animation sequences based on names which is what i need to achieve.
I am pretty certain this is achieved by "pushing" the keyframed actions to an NLA strip.
I have tried to simplify the sequence by just trying to do the same to four coloured boxes.

Even doing this i cannot work out how i can get the desired result.
Ideally i would export an object that would have the options of
a) Unexploded
b) Exploding
c) Exploded
d) Imploding
If I create an action which is then pushed to NLA how can I combine all of the NLA to occur simultaneously. ie all objects "explode" or "implode" or remain static.
I have access to a model that does what i need in the realtime and when i import it i see the following...
I note that the NLA tracks have the name of the animation that is selected in the realtime.

Any help much appreciated. I have only been using Blender for a couple of weeks.

NLA isn't too much intuitive, but if you understood it, it's great.
So to take your 4 box example, you just need to animate once (if both ways are the same), so i have this animation here:

This looks now in NLA like this:

Now pushdown all actions:

Now go to edit -> duplicate
and move them like this:

Now you have to select the right actions again (don't know why, but in my case i didn't see the properties for the actions on the panel), so click the first, then shift select the others, then in then panel (press N if you don't see it) hold CTRL down and press "reversed"

then you will get:

Thankyou so much Chris. I will try that out. That addresses how to reverse the animation in NLA. Any ideas on how to combine the four boxes animation so when exported they are all controlled by one animation name eg "all boxes explode" or "all boxes implode" rather than "box 1 explode"?


text:
Image Composite Saving as Transparent
I'm fairly new to Blender, and I'm using it to mock up some assets for my YouTube channel. I found a tutorial on YouTube for a really nice neon light effect, and I've been trying to make a logo using it. Up until this point everything has worked perfectly.
The problem arose when I tried to create a version of the logo with a transparent background (for thumbnails, etc). I changed the render settings for the background, then played around with the alpha settings in the node viewer until I got what I wanted:

When I render it out and view the result in the image viewer, I get the following:

So far so good, right? The issue comes when I try and save this render. Here are the settings I've been using (I've varied a few of these, to no avail):

Invariably, when I try to view the image in my default image viewer, this happens:

The image is completely invisible, and I don't have any idea why this might be the case. If I switch the color settings to RGB then the image renders how I want, but with a black background instead of a transparent one, so it must be a problem with the alpha.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Stop. Using. PNG.
It is a garbage broken encoding.
And then once everyone learns about how flawed of a file encoding it is, work on getting the default file save option changed.
(I strongly suspect all eight bit file encodings in Blender are still a broken mess. This leaves you with exactly one option for encoding alpha in Blender, and that is EXR. This too is sub-optimal, but until file encodings are fixed in Blender, it is your only option. Once they are fixed, you will be able to use TIFF properly.)

I have re-rendered the image and saved it as an OpenEXR file. The problem persists - my laptop prompts me to open it with Photoshop, whereupon I'm presented with two options: alpha as alpha, or alpha as transparency. The former creates an entirely transparent image, the latter gives me the desired image but on a black background.

If I save the image as a .tif, something even stranger happens. In the default photo viewer, it appears exactly how I want it, i.e. an image with no background. However, as soon as I try to open it in any external program (Photoshop, Word, Illustrator), it instead opens as a completely transparent image.

You are hooped if your hope is to take it into another piece of software. Most software cannot interpret the correct application of alpha, but worse, Blender does not encode it correctly into any image files except for EXR, which is not going to be ideal as it will be missing the picture formation component. Blender needs to fix its alpha on file encodings. It’s been wrong for a decade and a half, and Photoshop also happens to be a broken mess.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How can I connect my vertices and get rid of the red normals?
I'm at the unwrapping stage of my plane and I can't unwrap my plane wing on the simple fact that the normals are red and my vertices will not join. Is there any way that I can fix this?

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/meshes/editing/mesh/merge.html

The red you're seeing is actually the reverse sides of the mesh seen through the gap between the wing and body. It's not because the normals are inverted. If they are one object, follow the link @FFeller points you to, otherwise join the objects with Ctrl-J and then merge the verts.

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


text:
Water Ball Explosion
I'm trying to do a fluid "explosion" but with water. I initially thought to try the flipfluid addon which sort of worked, but there is no way to add a lifetime to the fluid. So basically I can do an explosion ball of fluid, but it never "dies" Is there a way to do what I want with the native fluid in blender. I see there are inflows and outflows, but not seeing any kind of particle or fluid lifetime.

It would seem that you want an explosion with water-drops/clumps ...?   Are you saying that you want the water-drops/clumps to evaporate (die)?  Why wouldn't they just fall onto a kill plane (disappear through the domain bottom)?  If you could elaborate (or portray this) in your question (please "Edit"), it would be helpful.

Edit to explain why "Domain >> Border Collision >> Bottom (disabled)" would not achieve your goal?

The simulation is at zero gravity, so nothing "falls." I need it to explode and stay in the center of the frame and then have the particles die.


text:
obj file cannot be opened or imported to blender. how to change the type of mesh?
recently I have been working on a project that requires the use of obj files but sadly obj file exported from photoshop cannot be opened on blender if I where to import I instantly get this error:
Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\scripts\addons\io_scene_obj\__init__.py", line 151, in execute
    return import_obj.load(context, **keywords)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\scripts\addons\io_scene_obj\import_obj.py", line 1249, in load
    create_materials(filepath, relpath, material_libs, unique_materials,
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\scripts\addons\io_scene_obj\import_obj.py", line 444, in create_materials
    load_material_image(context_material, context_mat_wrap,
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\scripts\addons\io_scene_obj\import_obj.py", line 173, in load_material_image
    map_offset = tuple(map(float_func, map_offset))
ValueError: could not convert string to float: b'Layer'

location: <unknown location>:-1

plus the mesh quality is not ok, here is an example image about it.

this is how it looks like in an online obj viewer.
my desired mesh shape is something like this:

here is the example.obj file that contains the example object used in this post: example.obj

What exact version of Blender are you using? - The obj (wavefront) importer was rewritten in C++ in versions later than 3.0 and is now built into Blender rather than being an addon, so it might be worth trying a more recent Blender version. (Latest is 3.4 as of a few days ago.)

thanks @John_Eason that solved my first issue. now only one issue left the mesh issue i have no idea how to solve it tho

That mesh is a real mess and the mported textures don't appear to be used on it! Not that surprising if it was created in Photoshop to be honest. Is it just supposed to be a single oval-shaped plane with zero thickness? If so, why not just create it directly in Blender?

actually this was supposed to be just a small example that still recreates the issues of a really complex obj file (i created the complex file by simply extruding a png into 3d using photoshop but the thing is that the object itself has holes) and is not easy to draw

As they commented previously, it might be worth giving a shot to more recent Blender versions. I had no problems importing your .obj in blender 3.3, but its size was 1956 x 2954 m! No wonder it might cause you trouble.
I suppose the second problem was retopologizing the mesh. You should look into topology stuff! It'll help you a lot with those holes in your mesh you mentioned. Photoshop's 3D viewer is nice, although really messy when it comes to 3D modelling.

You can achieve this creating a simple plane, using the subsurf modifier and Triangulate Faces in Edit Mode. Hope it helps!

i am having a lot of trouble making this work can you help me with this i need to make this mesh look more homogeneous and triangular just like the desired mesh shown in my question? i will send you the real obj file hopefully it turns out to be possible to fix. and it would be great if you can also send the output along with the procedure. image.obj: link


text:
Changing render image dimensions seems to change borders around a fixed image
I'm working on a scene and had run some test renders at 1920x1080. After some more work, I tried to render at 3840x2160 and I am seeing a transparency box around an otherwise 1080p image:

I'm also noticing that when I scale it down to something like 1280x720, it is a crop of that image. It seems that Blender is just drawing a box of the specified dimensions around a fixed image.
Any ideas what I might have done to cause this?

Since the question was posted, I'm also seeing that if I go to an earlier frame and render it (when the camera is animated to a completely different place and angle), it still gives me the same image.

Solved. In light of some additional (even more confusing) symptoms, I was able to find this post which solved the problem: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/195065/blender-rendering-repeating-same-frame-over-and-over


text:
Doesnt symmetrize in object or pose mode (rigging)
Hello everyone please tell me one moment. I can't deal with him. I'm looking through the lessons on rigging and I can't get what is shown in the video. The bottom line is this: I have already made bones on half of the dummy's body. Further in the video it says that in Edit mode you need to select them all and click symmetrize. I press and symmetry appears, but only in Edit mode. If I switch to Pose mode or Object mode, then there is nothing in place of that symmetry. I switch back to Edit mode and everything is in place. I don't understand what the reason is.

My guess is that there is a pose active. If it looks ok in Edit mode, then switch to Pose mode, select all bones (key A) and clear their transformation (Alt+R, Alt+G, Alt+S or menu Pose > Clear Transform > All (you can assign a shortcut like Alt+T with right click)

nope,doesnt work

Can you share the file?

yeah, sure, here is a link  https://disk.yandex.ru/d/RaPi3pr6CC_1SQ

Your rig has 3 bone layers (1, 2, 3). One layer 1 there are the deformation bones (def-...) that you want to symmetrize. Layer 2 seems to be a copy of layer 1. All these bones have a .001 suffix. And Layer 3 has target bones (tgt-...).
There are two problems:

there are Copy Transformation bone constraints that move the created "right" deformation bones from the character's right side to the left side in Object and Pose mode.

the target bones are not symmetric and you cannot symmetrize them because the suffixes have all an extra space character appended (.l  instead of .l)

You need to remove the extra space character first and symmetrize the target bones. Then you can symmetrize the deformation bones without any problems.
With Batch Rename (Ctrl+F2) in the main menu Edit you can remove the extra space (Find .l  and Replace .l. There should be a message like "27 bones renamed" in the status bar). Then select all bones, symmetrize them, and finally, you can symmetrize the deformation bones. Blender will create the correct bone constraints for them.

Thank you sooooo much!!! it works!!! finally!


text:
How can I rotate bones around a pivot bone?
I'm trying to build a rig for some simple animations and I'm trying to figure out how I can rotate bones around a designated bone as a pivot point. Essentially, what I'd like is to a have a bone (say, a bone at the center of mass or something) whose translation has no effect on the position of other bones, but when rotated, rotates other bones around it as a pivot point.
The pivot constraint seemed like what I'd want, but that causes some strange translations that I can't make sense of, even when the pivot bone isn't moved. Rotating the bones around the 3D cursor and key framing means creating way more keyframes than I'd like or meticulously editing curves to maintain a smooth rotation around the pivot.
Is something like this possible?

I'm on mobile for a while, so no pics/real answer, and no rigorous testing to make sure I'm not forgetting to mention anything.  But make a bone, duplicate it, parent duplicate to original, give duplicate copy location local->local, XYZ all enabled and all inverted.  Move parent, then rotate parent.  Moving the parent will not move the child, but child will rotate around the location of its parent with its inherited rotation.

You can set the bone child of the rotor base bone and animate its influence slider, using the "Set Inverse" button before enabling the influence:
In my example:
frame 1  rest pose
frame 20 base bone moved, influence slider = 0.0
frame 21 press the Set inverse button, then keyframe influence slider to 1.0
frame 40 rotate the base bone, child follows. Mark with the 3D cursor the loc of the child. Slider influence = 1.0
frame 41 Slider = 0.0, select the child, Shift S > selected to cursor
frame 50 base bone back to rest pose.
You will have to use as many Child of Bone constraints as many different pivot points your animation needs.


text:
Blender Bvh file export
I am using Blender 3.31 to export a animation in bvh format file but the channels seem to be wrong.

Here the joint only has three channels rotation X,Y,Z but I want it to be 6, namely Position X Y Z together with Rotation

I set the location as the animation property and it is in the dope sheet animation channel

But when I export it into a bvh, the position channel are still missing, so how can I do to add the position channel?

Is the bone connected child of another bone? If so Loc channels are dismissed.

Yes it is connected child


text:
Prinicple Volume Node not affecting sides of extruded plane
I'm new to Blender and trying to follow this tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9RQ83BKcyI
When I get to 17:44 where he adds the Principle Volume Node, its only affecting the top of my ocean "cube" and not the sides as well, as seen in the tutorial. I have tried starting the entire project over, but it still is not working. Any help would be much appreciated. I have attached my blender file, as well as some screenshots.

My Ocean.blend file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QCjD4JYeoblY3XBNWG7-KX9awWeYL_Tr/view?usp=share_link

It might be worth checking to see if the normals were generated correctly

Thank you! Your comment gave me the idea to just play around in the Normals tab in edit mode and it somehow works now!


text:
Change Lights Brightness
i have downloaded a police car model with its lights. I've noticed that their brightness is too high, and they're already keyframed to display the light pattern.
Is there a way to change their own brightness collectively?

Select the lights, open the Graph Editor, select all the curves (make sure that you only select the curves relative to their Power) and move them down in order to decrease their power at once:


text:
How to use 3d texture for surface?
i have downloaded model from poly haven and this is what i got, does anyone can help me how to turn this into surface? sorry, I'm just a newbie

Bake it https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13508/how-do-i-bake-a-texture-using-cycles-bake

What exactly do you want to do with it? That blend file includes four plants in a collection and a UV sphere object with a particle system on it which uses the collection of plants for the display.


text:
Connected Y-shaped intersection using geometry nodes
I would like to achieve the following intersection between 3 pipes:

The final goal is to then extrude the centre triangle face outwards, and apply a subdivision modifier to get a smooth spike shape:

My question is: How do I create such a Y-shaped intersection with an ico sphere and geometry nodes?
So far, I've created an ico sphere and applied a square curve profile along the edges. Next, I would like to somehow merge the intersecting profiles to create the desired intersections shown in the image above, but I have no idea how to do so.

Hello and welcome to Blender.SE! This is a very tricky and extensive task, which requires not only a good knowledge of Geometry Nodes, but also a relatively large number of nodes. In any case, an answer would go beyond the scope here, I'm afraid. But I might have an idea how to solve it. May I ask what exactly you want to do with it?

May i suggest an alternative? You could use the dul mesh method.the link below might shed some light https://blenderartists.org/t/dual-mesh-sculptures-with-geometry-nodes/1444435?u=anurag_raturi


text:
Mechanical rig problem I can't figure out
I'm trying to rig this mechanical leg to go from a 45 degree angle downward, to an upward 90 degree angle like this:

I have a piston sort of mechanism beneath the leg that extends and contracts as the leg moves, however after a certain point the piston can no longer extent far enough and it disconnects, and so I'd like to be able to move the base of the piston upwards right before the piston disconnects.

I'm not sure how to rig that upward motion to react to the rotation of the leg, and also unsure of how to make it only happen after the piston is fully extended, I'm very new to rigging and mostly figuring this out as I go, any help would be appreciated, thanks a bunch!

Welcome, please consider using the drivers and the law of cosines. Which state is the rest pose, -45 or 90 degree? It's easier to explain if you can share the file.

I call this "IK-to-line", where we want to reach a particular position on a line, but don't much care which point on the line we reach.

ik1 and ikStretch form a 2-chain IK with position, rotation, and stretch enabled. ikStretch has stretch 1.0 in its bone IK settings.  ikT, the target for this IK, is in the same rest pose axes as ikStretch.  Their Y axes are oriented with the line we want to move along.
What we're getting here is the nearest intersection of a circle and a line.  A circle, at origin of ik1, with a radius equal to the length of ik1; and a line, defined by the Y axis of ikT; nearest to the pre-IK tail of ikT.  We find this intersection at the post-IK tail of ik1.
Shown on right, this will drag our target up just like you want.  But shown in middle, it will also drag our target down, which you may not want.  We can fix that with another layer of bones:

Starting with my non-deforming IK as a base, I use a stretch to constraint to reach for the bend in the IK, then use a limit scale constraint to only allow that stretching to shorten the limiter, never extend it.  Deform2, parented to it, has inherit scale disabled, and locked tracks Deform1, which locked tracks the tail of the limiter.
Deform1 and Deform2, our piston bones, never pull away from each other, as seen at right, but they can still push into each other, as seen in the middle.
There are other ways that we could limit this.  This is just one of several methods.


text:
Using Geometry Nodes, how do I get an object to have true upright camera alignment?
I was hoping I could get some help with a project I'm working on. Basically, I'm using Geometry Nodes to create a rotating dial, with an additional rotating arm holding a (planetary) sphere, reminiscent of an orrery. I created a (non-GN) mesh arm with a sort of filigree to hold the sphere, using GN to instance the (non-GN) sphere on a specific point of the mesh. This allows me to create spheres for other planets that are instanced in. The sphere material is a mapped texture, made with LightningBoyShader (I don't think I can share a .blend for reference as a result, so I'll try to be detailed.
My goal is to have the sphere point face the camera, such that the glyph texture faces the camera in an upright position. With the (Neptune) glyph, you can assume the arrows point up in a local +Y direction, as it rotates on the Z axis. From what I've looked into, Align Euler to Vector would be a functional solution; however, the dial on which the arm rotates can rotate itself. At first it seems functional enough, but using both rotation values (which I believe are necessary/essential to the project as a whole) complicates things - more so when I start introducing camera movement for rendering from different angles.
I started research with a CGCookie visualization of Euler axes and made my own "Mesh Axes" node group to get to the bottom of what was happening. It seems to align to the camera successfully, until I try to move the camera itself. That's when things started to fall apart. From what I'm seeing, Sphere 1 (arm rotation value) points Z-axis at camera, but Sphere 2 (arm rotation + cylinder rotation value) reveals that neither sphere actually tracks the camera's relative position but merely uses the camera's vector (CGCookie explains this in the link above), skewed by the additional rotation. Here's one last look at the spheres rotating without mesh axes, to see the way they rotate as the arm/cylinder rotate.
Keeping this in mind, I ask my question: How would I go about correcting both of these spheres, such that they both
(a) point at the camera?
(b) remain oriented with the glyph pointed upright?
My brain is pretty worked over from everything up until this point, so I'm hoping someone can help me connect the dots to what I'm missing.
Here is the main GN setup

and the child node group that instances the geometry

as well as a closeup of the sphere with its glyph. It rotates on the local Z-axis, and its arrows point in the local +Y direction

Thanks for listening!

Maybe this would help: https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/243319/35559 Or, perhaps you can do this with shaders alone: https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/200352/35559

Yes, thank you! Working with shaders is giving me much less of a headache when it comes to the textures staying upright!


text:
loop cut in multiple objects blender
I want to apply loop cut to all columns, how do I do it at once instead of having to do it one by one?

Loop cut doesn't support it. You can select all the vertical edges with for example wireframe view and border selection tool, then use "Subdivide" on them.

@FFeller I would write this as a proper answer since this is the easiest way to do it and it would even work if the object were not symmetrical (to be mirrored for example).

Since the object and task is relatively simple you can just apply a mirror modifier to both of the pillars and set the main house (the large cube) as the mirror object.

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
Trying to use an accurate reference (GIS/Google map) to help create a Stylized NPR (comic/cartoon) background/midground for an animation
I'm relatively new at Blender and trying to make an animation with a specific location in mind. I have the addon BlenderGIS to help me generate the area for my scenes, but not sure how to go about using the addon as a reference to go back and forth from. I want to repaint/shade the area to be used as my background/midground but haven't figured out if I should try something like texture painting or sculpture painting. I was having issues using original and duplicated meshes since changing materials on one would affect both objects. Maybe there is a way to use layers here or could I be overlooking something? I was also looking into sculpture painting, but again, I didn't see a way to keep using the original GIS/Google height map as a reference. I tried using node combinations- to no avail (results were not what I was looking for-such as with the use of toon shading). Any Ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you :)

It might be helpful to people trying to help you if you uploaded an example blend file to the site https://blend-exchange.com and add that link in the question.

Sorry, meant to reply back but lost track during the holidays. Currently working on other areas of the animation. I didn't know of a way to stylize GIS map data and plan on culling or chopping out a lot of those unused vertices when I get back to the background. Will try to post an image or repost a question with the image in the near future.


text:
Wondering how to go about rigging my monarch caterpillar
I am guessing I want to use B-bones. So many resources, but couldn't find a good reference and this is my first rigging experience in Blender. Walk cycle: Supposedly caterpillars start with their guts(?)-the upper portion of the body before the lower/legs. Observed a pulling individual motion w/ the 3 sets of front (true) legs, followed by stretching to cause the last set of fake(prolegs) to move forward in unison, and then the other sets of prolegs in reverse order back to front. Not a hopping motion. Front legs seem to have individual strides, while prolegs seem to move in paired unison.

Maybe try the Spline IK: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/135272/how-do-i-bend-a-model-with-an-armature-worm-caterpillar-tentacle

Thank you @moonboots. I’ll take a look at that. Also reading over the blender 3.4 manual for Animation and Rigging. I think the hook sounds like something that may help, assuming it does what I am guessing. Guessing it will let me attach middle section of body to end so that I can create a squash and stretch motion that helps connect to last set of fake legs. Then continue with a reverse pulling order movement of the rest of the fake legs.

I made this tuto by the way, if it helps (but it's in french):  https://youtu.be/aRdw6SoNTLM


text:
How to Move child to the same spot on a new parent
So I have an child parented to an object. I'd like to move it to the same location on a new parent (which will often be a linked duplicate). I've tried various combinations with keep transform, clear parent inverse and apply scale and can't find a way that works. Is this even possible? How can I achieve this? Thank you!

start by using these object constraints to your child:

then just animate the influences to the "opposite" values, so 1 to 0 and 0 to 1 like this:

result:

Thank you, this does what I need. I wasn't trying to animate it, but it let me put the child in the right place. I could then apply the constraint, change the parent (keeping the transform) and it ends up where I want it. I'm just surprised it seems so convoluted.

you are welcome


text:
How do I fix my models subsurf deformity?
I have no idea what is wrong with my model after beveling the edges and using the subsurf modifier (not applied). For some reason the subsurf creates an odd deformity. I've located the source to a certain face shown below, however I do not know how to fix it.
The model without subsurf:

The model with subsurf:

The model with subsurf when the face the causes the problem is deleted:

maybe share your file? https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Subsurf doesn't work well with N-gons, I can see clearly that the to left face in the image is an N-gon, you might also need to clean your mesh using Remove Double Vertices

@moonboots Sure, here: http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=51491

@Georges I do not know which specific N-gon you refer to, but I will try to fix them and yes I have removed double vertices.

@TheZazern The "top left" face, sorry for the typo in my previous comment

As Georges said, your topology is not good, you have ngons and triangles. You need to rethink your topology with quads, sometimes triangles if it's really necessary. Here is a try that seems to works:


text:
Armature mirroring other side in pose mode of a mesh with mirror modifier
So I have this mesh that has a mirror modifier and I selected automatic weights for the bones and whenever I move the right side of the bones it does the same thing for the left side and I move the left side it just moves the bones but not the mesh. What is the problem? I know it has something to do with the mirror modifier I have on my character but I have to keep it for weight painting later on.
Sorry if it is super obvious. This is my first time trying out armature.
Edit: So apparently it had something to do with making sure they had the right names, so no .001 or .002 on the end of the armatures and that they had the right order in the properties tab which is mirror modifier first and armature last. Also, you must apply the mirror modifier THEN assign automatic weights. Then you must make another mirror modifier on the mesh and delete the other half of the mesh, and then you have a mirror modifier AND have the pose working properly!
That was pretty obvious but I was being stupid so I wasted 30 minutes trying to figure it out!


text:
make a liposome
I'm trying to build a liposome like this:

I made a single unit like this

and used the duplication method described here How to create a sphere with different ring vertex count by scripting?
The problem is that what I get is this

As you can see the little legs are sticking out and not in. Does anyone know if there is a way to change the orientation of the rotation of the object so the legs point inside.

Did you tried to rotate the object itself and apply rotation?

I got a pretty good results using the particle system. However when I scale the sphere, the single unit doe not scale with the sphere.

Also try to change the pivot point of the that object to the end where you want the hair particle should be attached from. What it will do is, the hairs which are lying half inside the sphere will be taken out! if you don't know how to change pivot point see https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/1291/change-pivot-or-local-origin-of-an-object

If you don't want the changed pivot point you can reset it. See also How to reset pivot point?


text:
Model a transparent body
I created a human body shape in blender. I need to show veins or organes in that body but still be able to reconise that it's a body. I tried glass but a glass body look's strange and is full of reflections. Any idea in wish direction to take this ? I'm trying to get something kind of like that :

@cegaton yes that would be the answer but how he would get the same result, if your node stup there is showing the edges a harder and semitransparent color and the rest transparent in the object?

Possible duplicate of How to render a mesh transparent with a color on its edges only, with nodes?

Doesn't look like a Duplicate Q to me. I don't think this is the ghost effect done with fresnel. This looks more like a negative film effect where shadows are the bright parts. Probably a better solution to this using compositing nodes and render layers than shader nodes.

Try the AO node in 2.8 that you can invert to drive the transparency and color to get this "x-ray" negative film effect.

This method is working suprisingly well in EEVEE. It's fully real time (fast, very fast). In Cycles also. And it is very flexible.

Material setup
Basically it is mix between Emission and Emission Transparent shader.
I've used Normal input to drive Facing Blend value, this is for making "highlights". Color Ramp is for fine tuning intensity of those highlights. By rotating sphere inside Normal node you can achieve many interesting setups. The one from example is pointing downwards.

Fresnel is used to make a bit of an outline around object.

EEVEE
To make it work in EEVEE you need to change material Blend Mode to Alpha Blend and turn of (if you need it) Show Backface.

Cycles
For Backfacing in Cycles you can use this setup. It's not working as well as in EEVEE but it is still good.

Using a matcap works in eevee and cycles, allows fast renders and simple setup.
I'm also using the same matcap image as a mask for opacity and color.


text:
How can i achieve this 'bevel' shape effect?
My first post here. i'm quite confused on how could i get a similar bevel style from this i did in photoshop but in blender. I know the basics on how to use an SVG file to bring a 3D extrusion, but i couldn't figure a way to  achieve this effectively.

Let's suppose i'm starting from this point here:

you need to create a central edge and move it up on the Z axis. How you'll do depends on your current topology

Related - https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/216313/how-to-model-text-with-ridges-car-badge/216319#216319


text:
Wall curve issues
Hey I'm having issues curving something, for some reason the walls are being distorted and not staying on the path, my guess is there is too much of an angle but I was hoping to get some other input.

Ahhh, here it is https://pasteall.org/blend/95b24bd4dac34ccc97b6a637afd9c36d

Select your wall, press AltR to reset the rotation. Put the wall at the same position as the curve's origin. Give your wall an Array modifier and a Curve modifier:


text:
Objects disappearing/reappearing behind transparent plane?
I'm a total Blender/3D modeling newbie and this is my first ever project, so apologies if this is a really stupid question.
I'm making this promo for my band, got the bands logo on a plane made transparent with Alpha Blend, and an emission shader to make it glow like a neon sign. As you can see in the gif in the link below, as I pan the viewport (and the camera for the animation) around it, the flyers on the wall behind the logo are popping in and out of view. Any idea how to stop this?
https://ibb.co/34mtRKt
Thanks!

maybe the faces are overlapping, try to move the logo a bit forward

If you provide blend file we can tell you…


text:
Any way to temporarily attach/pin a part of a rigged and animated character to a STATIC object?
so I'm pretty new to Blender in general and completely new to animation. I'm playing around with an animation of King Kong climbing a building, from the perspective of being inside looking out the window. I have Kong rigged and animated with a Mixamo mocap animation of someone climbing.
The problem I'm having is that his hands and feet are sliding around all over the place. Is there any way of temporarily pinning his hand to a certain spot on the static building object (or just a specific point in space) so that the rest of his body pivots around that, then un-pinning it so he can raise his hand to the next spot, while pinning the other hand in place. Does that make sense?
I know I could do it by literally hand animating the entire thing, but I was hoping there was an easier way. Apologies if this is a really stupid and simple question.
Thanks a lot!

you can give a Child Of constraint to the hand controller, with for example an empty as Target, then move the empty when the character is supposed to move his hand from a location to another:


text:
How to make effect of sand blowing away revealing a buried object?
I'm pretty new to Blender and 3D modeling/animation in general so apologies in advance if this is stupid.
I'm trying to create the effect of an object (A sign in this case, so a flat plane) that's buried in sand, just under the surface.. and then wind blows the top layer of sand away, revealing the sign.
I'm probably going to use a mixture of a particle system and smoke for the sand in the wind, the issue I'm facing is the layer of sand covering the sign that's then blown out of the way to reveal it. Any ideas how I could do this? Without just using a particle system and having a million tiny particles that'll take forever to render.
I was thinking of maybe mixing a musgrave texture of the sand texture on the plane, and animating the scale, position and strength of the mix so it sort of... moves and fades away? But I'm not quite sure how to make it look realistic.
Any help would be massively appreciated.
Thanks!

Give a boolean to the sand object, create another object that will be the boolean object (here, a cube), use a Displace modifier for this boolean object so that its surface evolves through time, add an object that will emit the sand particles:

+1 @moonboots, this is great! Could you share your blend-file with us?

sure, I've edited my answer


text:
I need help turning off some setting in Blender
I’m new to blender and accidentally clicked a hot key that turned my normal object into some weird shader mode. I’ve attached an image of what the object looks like. How would I revert my object back to a normal shading mode so it has the default style to it?
Unfortunately I’m not able use ctrl+x to revert my changes as I made multiple other changes before realizing the shading style was changed.

Look to recover the object from an auto-save or blend2 file, and save the file to a new name like "MyFile_Recovered".  Then perhaps you can delete the errant object from "MyFile", and Append the pre-damaged object from "MyFile_Recovered".

Hi Please use a title that reflects the content of the question. It should be descriptive but succinct, unique and identifying, summarizing the issue so that users can at a glance understand what your post is about. Use the [edit] link below your post and avoid anything not strictly essential to the post. Remember, your title is the first thing potential visitors will see, and makes your question findable for future users. See "What is the problem with posting an image or link and asking “How do I do this?""

Can you post an image of the complete Blender window please? - You can take a screenshot via Window > Save Screenshot in Blender.

I found the problem. There must be a hotkey that turned on auto smooth, once I turned it off everything was back to normal.


text:
How to sample vertex color in geometry nodes from a mesh onto another?
I've been trying to sample the (vertex) color of the grass from a plane which has been vertex painted, from what I could gather this should be done with attributes in the geometry node editor, I'm a total newbie in geometry nodes but I could get it to output the color attribute, the problem is sampling from the plane, is it even possible?

The fix was the use of Named Attribute Node. To achieve the proximity-based transfer I used the node tree in the image below. I just fed the named attribute node in the transfer attribute node to get the vertex color.


text:
Blocky VDB artefacts when combine with principle volume?
I notice when i have a VDB volumetric sequence inside a standard blender principle volume setup, this renders with large blocky artefacts that only appear when the principle volume is enabled. Ie if i render the VDB by itself, its fine, no blocky artefacts.
Anyone experience this?
I'm using Embergen to generate the VDB, however ive seen this with other sequences from Houdini. Its not a resolution issue. Like i say above, works fine when rendering the VDB by itself.
Rendering with Cycles.
It seems like layering multiple atmospheric systems over each other causes this issue maybe.
Thank you!
David

First of all, what do you mean by rendering the "VDB by itself"? For rendering you need a material, if it is not the Principled Volume (as this is the blocky one), what are you using to render instead? And would it be asked too much if you would provide any screenshots? Maybe of the blocky version, the fine version, the material setup...

Is it to do with your render-sampling rate in Cycles > Volume settings, or EEVEE > Volumetrics settings ?

Thanks for the reply! VDB by itself;  I mean if i disable the principle volume cube i have in the scene providing general atmospherics. There's currently two atmospheric systems; the standard cube with a principle volume shader applied, and a VDB sequence with a principle volume shader applied. If i disable the cube system, the the VDB renders without blocky effect. Hm, how do i add an image here?

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcBsBWtyi4g


text:
VDB visibility is affected by samples in Eevee, how avoid?
Im having an issue with 4.2 in Eevee, where the VDB is affected by the the render samples. if i go above 12 or so, the VDB is almost transparent. The intended visual effect is what it appears to be at sample 2, however obviously i cannot keep it at 2 samples! :)
Any ideas?
Thank you!
David


text:
How do I even out my faces/topology?
This is my first time modeling, so forgive me if this has an obvious solution. I need to subdivide my mesh to get more detail in preparation for using a displacement map. When I try subdividing the mesh, the face distribution is uneven. My edge flow is good. Do I just need to add edge loops to have even topology? Also, I have to consider that I'm using the bevel modifier, so I don't want the faces to be small enough that the bevel width starts overlapping surrounding edges.


text:
How do I model/sculpt these scales on this video game model?
I'm trying to 3D print a video game model. The ripped model for the Dragon snake (Gobblegut) came with textures for the scales on the head and top half of the body. I tried displacing the mesh with the texture, but it didn't produce a good result. I thought it might be better to sculpt them from scratch, but I'm not sure how to model the scales. I attempted, but with no decent end result. I would appreciate it if someone could help me or give me some guidance. All that's needed is to model one of the scales. Once one is modeled, I can just copy and paste the scale-since the scales are the same and only vary in terms of scale and position.
I uploaded the Blender file if it helps.
Thanks in advance.


text:
How to bend an IK without having to go back to an FK to do the manipulation?
So i'm animating a snail, and i would like to bend the tail to make a curve that goes from the body to the end of the tail. When i'm using the IK controller the tail will end where i want it to be but the curve is vertical, which i dont want it to be. My pole wont do much because the rotation is already fine. I could remove the IK and do it with an FK, but i would like to know if it was possible to get around the problem while keeping the IK?

I have made an answer for a caterpillar, I don't know if it would help: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/135272/how-do-i-bend-a-model-with-an-armature/135286#135286


text:
Are there any tutorials/resources for generating objects in random locations?
I'd like to write a script that places 3 objects of my choosing in random places in all xyz dimensions (with constant size, but varying rotations and locations) and I'm wondering where I should go to learn about this. E.g. if I want my 3 objects to be a sphere, cube, and cube, I'd like to be able to generate and save x number of random configurations of these objects.

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/95616/generate-x-cubes-at-random-locations-but-not-inside-each-other

Welcome to bse. IMO best place to learn this stuff is right inside blender using the python console. Type in C.object.location = (1, 2, 3) for example. Break the problem down, generating objects,  setting object rotation / location,  generating random numbers.  A quick search on "random location" here produced link above.  Asking for tutorials links et al is somewhat open ended.

Thanks for your response. I was just wondering if there was any documentation or textbook or anything sort of definitive to give me an overview on scripting for blender. Your advice is already helpful, thank you

https://docs.blender.org/api/current/


text:
Auto Update Render Window on motion blur properties change?
Is it possible to have the render view update automatically instead of pressing manually F12 every time as I change motion blur effect properties? This is concerning Render view only and has nothing to do with viewport rendering because motion blur only gets applied in the render view if I am correct.

Use the Message Bus to notify when settings change and then render the image.
import bpy

scene = bpy.context.scene
key = scene.render if scene.render.engine == 'CYCLES' else scene.eevee

def msgbus_callback():
    bpy.ops.render.render("INVOKE_DEFAULT")

bpy.msgbus.subscribe_rna(key=key, owner=object(), args=(), notify=msgbus_callback)

FYI: this will render also when different settings are changed.

10 seconds faster than me, good one!

@brockmann I know the pain, I wish there was a feedback like with edits, where you see an answer is being edited - for straight-forward answers like this it would save me some time.

Ez, no pain. Notice that the OP is asking for cycles motion blur.

@brockmann thanks, I didn't read the tags - updated the answer.

This, much more elaborate code will allow for more interactive blur adjustment - still, sadly, I didn't find a way to cancel current render from script, so it's not as interactive as it could be. Perhaps it could be changed to render with 1 sample first and then increase the number of samples and re-render...
import bpy

class BlurPreviewOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Operator helping with interactive blur preview"""
    bl_idname = "render.blur_preview"
    bl_label = "for usage in a script"
    bl_options = {"INTERNAL"}

    delay = .2  # how long to wait after a change to render
    timer_delay = 0.1  # accuracy of delay depends on this
    timer = None
    last_duration = 0
    rendering = None
    last_shutter = None
    shutter = None
    next_shutter = None

    def render_cancel(self, *args, **kwargs):
        # treating cancel the same way as completing
        # instead could add some more logic to allow the user to cancel once
        # to render the most recent setting faster, or cancel twice
        # to avoid rendering (set self.render_needed = False)
        self.render_complete(*args, **kwargs)

    def render_complete(self, scene, depsgraph=None):
        self.rendering = False
        self.last_shutter = self.next_shutter

    def add_handlers(self, C):
        print("add")
        bpy.app.handlers.render_cancel.append(self.render_cancel)
        bpy.app.handlers.render_complete.append(self.render_complete)
        self.timer = C.window_manager.event_timer_add(self.timer_delay, window=C.window)
        print(dir(self.timer))

    def cancel(self, C):
        bpy.app.handlers.render_cancel.remove(self.rendering_stopped)
        bpy.app.handlers.render_complete.remove(self.rendering_stopped)
        C.window_manager.event_timer_remove(self.timer)

    def shutter_check(self, C):
        engine = C.scene.render.engine
        path = C.scene.render if engine == "CYCLES" else C.scene.eevee
        shutter = path.motion_blur_shutter
        if self.shutter != shutter:
            self.shutter = shutter
            self.last_duration = self.timer.time_duration

    def execute(self, C):
        self.add_handlers(C)
        C.window_manager.modal_handler_add(self)
        return {"RUNNING_MODAL"}

    def modal(self, C, event):
        if event.type == "TIMER":
            self.shutter_check(C)
            if self.rendering or self.timer.time_duration < self.last_duration + self.delay:
                return {"PASS_THROUGH"}
            if self.last_shutter != self.shutter:
                self.rendering = True
                self.next_shutter = self.shutter
                bpy.ops.render.render("INVOKE_DEFAULT")
        return {"PASS_THROUGH"}

bpy.utils.register_class(BlurPreviewOperator)
bpy.ops.render.blur_preview()


text:
Subdivision To Preserve Low Poly Style
I'm working on a low poly style scene, meaning that individual triangles are intentionally visible.  I need to subdivide the scene while preserving the original geometry.
Basically, for every triangle I'd like to add 3 new vertices to create 4 triangles like this, so that it's still flat:

It may seem odd that I'm basically just increasing vertex count, but this is because I have a vertex shader that is warping the points, and I need more vertices for the effect to look nice.
I know about the 'poke face' but this does not work because I must reduce edge lengths for the effect.
Is there any built in tool I can use to accomplish my goal?
Thank you

W S (subdivide) should do this? 1 cut, 0 smoothness..

@RobinBetts that should be an answer

Thanks for the tip!  I tried doing that, but it doesn't seem to correctly interpolate the UV map, or possibly the normals?  Every triangle is supposed to have the same normal and uv coordinate.

@Sazerac.. it's one of those.. seems too obvious a thing to have tried, therefore probably not an answer.. I'll have a closer look at it when I can..

I'm having trouble reproducing the problem with UV's / Normals. Is there a sample you can share via https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com ?

Have you tried the Edge Split Modifier?
It does the trick for me.
This is an Ico-Sphere. I added the Edge Split Modifier to it, then I sharpened all the edges (or just the ones between which there should be no interpolation of normal values), then I added Subdivisions with Mesh > Subdivide, Slices set to 1 and Smoothness to 0, like suggested.

The UVs split as they should.


text:
Blender material issue while snapping two objects snaps together

This is two half-sphere snap to each other by the center line.
I am working on a modeling project which run into this problem.
I want to make it like a whole sphere while render it out, but it like this

The vertex at the center line are perfectly aligned.
And I would like to keep it two objects.
Is there any way to make it like one single object but without that center line?

Do you just want to cut 1/4th of the circle with faces inside?

What about boolean modifier?

Could you post a link to download the .blend file so we can have a look?

Possible duplicate of Why are some faces in my mesh darker?

I think there are two reasons here for discontinuous smooth shading.

The normals are flipped on the right half ... CtrlF > F, Flip normals
The normals haven't got anything to interpolate to over the edges of the hemispheres.

To fix (2), retain an intact version of the sphere as a form, same topology, same location, and transfer the normals from it to the 2 halves, by giving them  Data Transfer modifiers, with the intact sphere as target, and the settings shown. You will have to set 'Autosmooth' on the hemispheres in their data tabs.


text:
Animating expanding gradient pattern on object
I'm attempting to create an animation of an expanding gradient area on a simple beam.
I managed to do this with a single color as shown below by applying keyframes to a ColorRamp in the node editor.

However I wish to have the top plane of the beam have a red color that gradually turns blue when going near the bottom side of the beam as pictured below (rough draft made in photoshop below to illustrate what im after if my explanation was confusing).

Is there a simple way to do this in Blender 2.91? I have played around in the node editor for a while but can't come up with any solutions on my own.
Thanks in advance.

Do you want both effects at once, or just the top to bottom?

You could do it this way: Create an Input > Texture Coordinate node, a Vector > Mapping node, a Converter > Serpate XYZ node, use a Color > MixRGB node to mix a red and blue gradient with a grey color, and use a b&w ColorRamp as a factor to create the horizontal gradient. To take Marty's comment into account, if you want the color borders to be sharp, use the Constant option instead of Linear in the ColorRamp.

If you want the edges of the red/blue to bleed into the gray area, use moonboots' approach, but if you want the edges to be sharp here's an alternative:

In this version you animate the threshold value of the Greater Than math node. At 0, the beam is entirely red/blue. At .5 it is entirely whatever you put in Color2.
This approach can give you blurred edges if you replace the Greater Than node with a color ramp.  In this case, animate the left handle of the color ramp for the width:


text:
Smooth only some edges in a mesh
I have a mesh (converted from a curve and extruded with solidify modifier).

As can be seen, the curved surface in the top show the flat faces.
I want to smooth this edges:

And keep sharp this edges:

If I apply a shade smooth globally in the mesh, I get this wrong result:

Even if I mark the edges as sharp, the result is the same. Is it possible smooth the edges in the curved surface and keep the other edges sharp?
This is the Blender file
Thank you.

After you've shade smoothed, use the Auto Smooth option, it will determine under what angle the smooth will happen (the artefacts around the inner hole happen because Blender tries to smooth between these faces and the faces of the hole, which are 90°):

You can also select the faces you want, press CtrlF to access the Face panel and choose Shade Flat (if you want to easily select all these faces, select one then press ShiftG (Select Similar) > Normal):

Also maybe you should simplify these faces with a X > Limited Dissolve.


text:
Simple wrapping dont work
It's probably silly, but I can't get a simple cube to map.
This is the file.
Why doesn't the image render over the cube? Thank you very much.


text:
Convert RGB-256 to RGB-float
I am trying to convert colors from RGB (256) to RGB (float) for use in blender. Apparently you just have to divide each value of RGB 256 by 255 (counting the 0 would be 256 values).
For example in Illustrator I have a value R = 229, it would be
229/255 = 0.89
And so with the three RGB values. However, I find that the two colors are different on screen. Why is that happening? If I am doing the calculation wrong, how is the conversion done?
I attach an example of the same color in Illustrator transformed to float in blender. As can be seen, the resulting color is different.

You need input in Hex
Blender uses a linear color space but Illustrator is not.
Blender color value can greater than 1.

How to convert?
From blender color:
$\left\{x<0.0031308:12.92\cdot x,1.055\cdot\operatorname{abs}\left(x\right)^{\frac{1}{2.4}}-0.055\right\}\left\{0\le x\le1\right\}$
To blender color:
$\left\{x<0.04045:\frac{x}{12.92},\left(\frac{x+0.055}{1.055}\right)^{2.4}\right\}\left\{0\le x\le1\right\}$
python verson:
import bpy, math

def to_blender_color(c):
    c = min(max(0, c), 255) / 255
    return c / 12.92 if c < 0.04045 else math.pow((c + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4)

def from_blender_color(c):
    color = max(0.0, c * 12.92) if c < 0.0031308 else 1.055 * math.pow(c, 1.0 / 2.4) - 0.055
    return hex(max(min(int(color * 255 + 0.5), 255), 0))

Example:
$x=\frac{229}{255}=0.89803921568627$
$(\frac{x+0.055}{1.055})^{2.4}=0.7835377915261935$

Thank you very much for the reply. Although the correction on how to do the conversion is right, I discovered that the main problem was in the management of color profiles. The deviation of my calculation (which was done wrong) is very small it does not explain the huge color divergence.

Please, tell me what do you think, to choose the right answer.

Although the other answer is correct, it does not completely solve the color divergence problem since it is mainly due to the color management settings. Color profiles must be used correctly to achieve consistency between applications.
In this case, just use NONE in display device did the work.

You can choose to None, but it can't choose Filmic. You will lost the benefits of Filmic  transform. And the image result are different.


text:
Render Crash / CUDA error

Hey all,
CUDA error: Out of memory in mem_alloc_result, line 850
I'm unable to render a model I quickly put together (Is it considered simple?) When I attempt to render the scene, my system will completely crash/lock up or blender will force quit.
I'm using blender 2.8 with cycles as my render. I have GPU + CPU selected underneath CUDA in the user prefs and am trying to render at 1080x1920.
My hardware specs: GeForce GTX 1070 8gb, 16gb ram, Intel i7-7700 @ 3.60ghz
I'm confused because I feel like my model is basic. I have a sunlight lamp and materials using only a diffuse.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fRTEdryDYASwWVkwFRNJOR1_GJ7NGgyA/view?usp=sharing
Can anyone point me in the right direction on getting this solved? I've uploaded the blend file here if anyone would be kind enough to inspect what's going on. I'm new so I'm just trying to figure out if this is user error, or if I need a better computer!? Thank you so much! -K

I might have found a solution. Take a look here:
https://github.com/pjreddie/darknet/issues/791
Might be a GPU memory thing.


text:
Importing rigify 2.79 rigs into 2.80
When trying to import a rigify rigged character from 2.79 to 2.80, the shapes disappear. Currently, the only way I know to retrieve them, is to go through the outliner, bone by bone and turn on wireframe. Has anyone found a better way to do this? Who would I contact in development to fix this? Thanks.

select all the bones shapes go in to mode edit-mode and go back to object-mode you will see...tell if it work


text:
is it possible to cycle only some keyframes in the graph editor?
I am creating an animation with lots of cycles and it would be nice to use the cycles modifier in the graph editor but to only affect some keyframes and not the whole thing because I have different patterns

Is there a way to do it?

What is the property that repeats?  Location Rotation Scale Other?

only y location

How many patterns?

You can manually copy and paste a range of keyframes, either in the graph editor or dopesheet. Once you duplicate one motion, you keyframe the next and duplicate that...

duplicating wouldn't be ideal because i'm talking hundreds of keyframes and syncronizing each one isn't feasible (I tried)

No, not in the graph editor, you should use NLA editor for this.
in the graph editor you can setup repeating all bunch of keyframes, not part of it.
First, set up cycles in action editor, each cycle in different action:

Then use Push Down in action editor or Shift+A in NLA Editor to add actions in NLA:

Then in NLA editor's N-panel (properties panel) you can set up any count of cycles using repeat property:

thanks for the answer but is there a way to copy patterns without creating a new track?

Location Constraint

2 location constraints on a single object. Image above.  Note the Y axis is chosen.  So the object can copy the y movement of the torus or cylinder, completely, partially or mix ... with or without offset.  The torus and cylinder need not be rendered and can be Blender [empty] objects for more subtle representation.

Showing Keyframes. Image above.  Consider switching the interpolation type to [constant].  Above is [bezier] which make viewing easier for this explanation.

Consider placing two Copy Location constraints on your object.  2 is my present understanding of the question.  Of course adjustments can be made for any number of patterns if you are patient enough.
Constraints have [influence] meaning the blender value in the constraint pane

[0.0] no influence,
[0.5] half influence,
[1.0] full influence.
If a later constraint [B] in the stack has influence [1.0] then [B] will dominate completely. [.5] half dominant. Being last gives more options for this type of constraint.

If you only have 2 patterns then you can keyframe the  [influence] of the 2nd constraint.  You may need two non renderable items two use for the two targets of the constraint.
I am mentioning many options at this moment.
Blender always has 33 ways of doing things. This bullet is less likely to be useful today. You can have a custom property with keyframes determine which the strength of pattern you are using.  Drivers are can cooperate with these.
NLA Editor has some other options I will not investigate here. I have used NLA recently. I believe constraints will do what you want.  I am glad I did not discuss NLA Editor because someone else has taken the trajectory.


text:
UV mapping and extra images
I keep making a smart UV map for one of my combined meshes and whenever I go into texture paint, it deletes the UV Map. When I into the imported images on the UV map it shows four of the same. I want to reduce my file size. How do I delete the extra imported images?

it's not very clear, maybe your UVs are overlapping? Please show some screenshots

please share the object: https://pasteall.org/blend/


text:
When I Import FBX animation to unity it says there is no animation data
 This is a picture of my settings. I can't apply transforms because then they shrink to their origins even when I don't use scale to individual origins.
Even when I bake keyframes. I don't know why but for some reason I key-framed transforms and custom properties. The scale seems to be 1. I did try changing it to FBX unit scale. I even tried to unapply unit.
When I leave the bake option in the image checked it buffers and crashes. I checked my Ram 3GB of 4GB. It would not open in FBX opener. I have other Fbx animations of the same character that do work but unity doesn't use the entire animation only 87.5%
 This is Unity showing there is no data.
 Only 0.875 maximum. I cannot increase this to 100%. It happens with all. I tried adding a keyframe at the start at end and not baking, making sure it started at 0. Baking keyframes.

This could be an issue on the Blender end of exporting but mostly has to do with some setting between Unity and Blender itself. This forum is best for questions specifically pertaining to how to use Blender.


text:
cannot grab gizmo (super noob)
I am following the doughnut tutorial and only got to 6:54 into it.
I select try to move the light source, I have the move tool selected (see screengrab). But it only drags and brings up this square selector box (see screen grab). When I select and move any other object the gizmo is grabbable and works as described it is only the light source that does not work as it is described in the tutorial I am following.
screengrab:

tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0J27sf9N1Y&list=PLjEaoINr3zgEPv5y--4MKpciLaoQYZB1Z

You linked a tutorial, but Andrew is doing everything right in it regarding moving with gizmos and everything works in it, so how is anyone supposed to know what you are doing wrong just from seeing how it's done right?.. This question cannot be answered without you showing what you do instead. I would recommend you just start the tutorial over until you manage to follow it precisely.

The fact that you're seeing a "selector square" when you click and drag means that you're actually clicking on a space away from one of the arrows rather than directly over one of them. Try scrolling a bit closer with the mouse wheel, moving the cursor directly over one of the arrows and then clicking and dragging it.

hello maybe show a screenshot

sorry for being moody and vague I was frustrated.. I have tried to explain more and included a screen grab.. thank you for your time

@JohnEason it looks like he’s right over the arrow to me. This might be a bug, especially since he mentioned he can move other objects just fine.

@TheLabCat Possibly, but you can box-drag up and left as well as down and right to create the selection box so who knows! :^)

I am grabbing right over the arrow of the gizmo, I have tried many times, I have restarted the tutorial twice, there is not much I can do wrong. It is very early in the tutorial. How can only my version of blender have such an obvious bug? :( I do not see what I can be doing wrong though.  As I say it is super early and not much could go wrong.

It's really weird that only one object causes issues with this. If it was all of them, I would suspect an installation or drivers issue, but here it doesn't sound logical if you did only what the tutorial does. If you delete Suzanne and add another one, do you still have that issue? It might be useful to share your file as well.

I cannot reproduce the issue. Anything unusual about your PC? You are using Windows PC with a regular mouse with up to date GPU drivers, right? Have you tried deleting the light and adding a new one instead?

I started a new project and still the issue persists.. I deleted the light and added a new one and still it persists.. I really wanted to learn blender and I am the only person in the world with this issue :(

hi there is nothing unusual about my laptop its a lenovo x380 yoga, I will double check but all the drivers are up to date, I downloaded the lenovo tool to make sure that the drivers are right... its a real head scratcher just my luck :( I really wanted to learn this for work...

to update this I realised there was a newer version of blender so I did a clean reinstall, and the problem is still there so I reported it

This I a known bug with intel igpu which is huge as nearly every laptop has one. I'm now stuck as I cannot learn blender. so any ideas would be amazing. I could try and buy a different laptop with AMD GPU but need it to have a stylus and touch screen. Otherwise maybe a desktop with some kinda screen that can act as a drawing tablet.

I reported it and it's a known bug thats been present for two years. Kinda annoying as igpu is the most common, wish I knew before I got this laptop I got it specifically for animation


text:
Rotate locally with keyframes
When rotating the object locally on the Z axis, the rotation is correct if I do it manually, but if I add a keyframe at the beginning and another at the end, the interpolation does not respect the rotation axis. The beginning and the end are correct, but the intermediate frames are not.
Watch video (YouTube)
How can I run the animation and have it behave respecting the local Z axis rotation?

3D softwares struggle with this kind of rotation animations, the solution is to parent your object to an empty and tilt the empty, see here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/129834/how-do-i-rotate-an-object-along-its-own-axis-windmill

It works. Thank you!

This issue is caused by axis execution order. By default, it is XYZ:

This means that rotations applied in local X axis, then local Y, and after that Z, so that than it comes to Z, object is already rotated somehow, and Z axis is not local anymore.
To fix that, Z axis should go first:

If you want to keep rotation then changing execution order, do if thought quaternions (keyframes should be removed):


text:
Hair particles with a force field stops at frame 100
I have a simple hair particle system with a wind force field applied. As can be seen in this screen recording, the force field stops after frame 100:
https://youtu.be/fwV7PhLLGm8
This is the file for review, if needed
Thank you.

There is an old bug report from 2017 about the same problem on the Blender developer site, where a user provides an explanation for it:

The force field panel was designed with emitter particles in mind. ... The idea is that some particles of particle system will be force fields moving as particles to influence the other particles of the system. So, nobody really tested the use of hair particles as force field at its creation. Emitter particles and Hair particles are sharing same UI. And presence of this panel for Hair particles is probably an oversight.  Emitter particles have a lifetime. On the contrary, Hair Particles does not born or die. It is probably the reason of the problem. Hair particles have a static root. You can use empties as force fields at same location to obtain same effect.   In the future, emitter particles and hair particles will be separated. But currently, there is no developer working on particles.—ronan ducluzeau

Particles, physics, and simulations are all meant to be overhauled in the recent future in a new node-based system, so I doubt any changes would be made to this particular UI until then. In the meantime, I'd suggest creating force fields via separate empties instead.

Sorry for the off-topic. Could you point me to a tutorial or something explaining this technique? I can't find it. And when I active hair dynamics, force field doesn't work.

Sorry, I'm really not experienced in that area. Why not ask another question about that?

ok, thanks anyway.


text:
How to fix skewed unwrapping
When I try to unwrap a simple cube object, the UV is shown skewed. I guess it has to do with the object rotation. But I don't know how to fix it.

According to this video by Expose Academy, it happens when 2 dimensions of your object are similar and with some UV seams configurations. To fix it, align two of your vertices with the snap option, pin these 2 vertices, unwrap again:


text:
Determine the background color of an object with a clipped texture
I have a simple cube object whith a picture texture clipped, not repeated:
The background of the object (I mean, the surface that is not covered by the image) is black.
How can I change the color of this surface part (the surface that is not covered by the image) to white or another color?

It should work with this setup, plug your Image Texture node into a MixRGB and use the Alpha output as factor:

Ok, thanks. it seems simpler than other method.

I was not sure it would work but it looks like what is outside the picture is considered as alpha 0

@aitor I would suggest this as accepted answer, it is simpler and sufficient. moonboots: Yes, that's how it works  ;)

@ Gordon Brinkmann, yes of course, what could it be except alpha 0  ;)

Ok! I changed it as accepted answer.

you could try this node setup:

I took a very low number as threshold: 0.00001
Sorry, you cannot see that in the screenshot.


text:
Strange line artifact in a mesh
After merge the leg points with the body points I get this strange line in the intersection. Why?
This is the mesh:

This is the effect with shade flat:

And this is the effect with shade smooth:

This is the file for review it.
Thank you!

There is a fully connected face "inside" your leg - meshes like this are known as Non-Manifold (they have stuff in them that shouldn't be there) - Blender works best with manifold geometry ("hollow" meshes) - delete the offending (interior) face and you're good:

You have an internal face - that is, a face that runs inside your mesh from the verts seen on the outside.
You can see this if you go into X-Ray mode:

Delete it and you'll be fine.


text:
Automatically calculate the weight of a mesh
After parenting all meshes with armature, one of them (hair) is not affected by bones.
The weight of all objects has been automatically calculated in parent > armature deform > with automatic weights.
In this capture you can see the weight of the vertex group in de body affected by the bone DEF-spine.006. It is right:

In this other capture you can see the weight of the hair mesh for the same bone. It is wrong. the hair mesh is not affected by the bone at all. Therefore, moving the bone moves the head but not the hair.
When I did the automatic calculation, the hair mesh was included in the selected objects, but it seems to be unaffected.

I could try hand-painting the weight of the hair, but I find it difficult (or impossible) to match the same weight of the head in its specific gradient.
Why hasn't the same weight been applied to the hair mesh as to the mesh body? How can I get hair to be included in the automatic weight calculation?
Sorry for not including the original file. It seems that the upload site (https://pasteall.org/) is down.

Parenting With Automatic Weights may fail, in your case what you can try (if you want to avoid the weight painting which should not be too difficult), you can separate the hair as another object, parent it to the armature, then join it back to the body

ok, thanks. Right now the hair is a separated mesh, so it can be done quickly.


text:
Animate Bevel Weight Parameters
Is there a way to animate the bevel weight settings of a group of lines? Hitting "I" in Edit Mode to insert an animation key doesn't work and I can't find anything when searching the web. Any idea is much appreciated

This could be done in a hacky way, by using geometry nodes + data transfer modifier, similar to this technique: Geometry Nodes: set sharp or crease attribute for an edge - however, because bevel weight is not a boolean, you would also need to use a vertex weight of a vertex group, so you would need to connect the technique above with this one: Assign vertex group in Geometry Nodes (v3.3)

Thanks Markus. I was expecting something hacky but I guess this is too complex for my level of skills. Maybe I'll set the values by hand since the animation will not have too many frames


text:
how to create if condition for one time loading my asset library in asset UserAssetLibrary
import bpy
def execute(self, context):
    scene = context.scene
    mytool = scene.my_tool
    ual = bpy.context.preferences.filepaths.asset_libraries['Stylized_Material_Library'].name
    if ual :
        self.report({'INFO'}, "Stylized_Material_Library allready loaded")
        return
    else:
        bpy.ops.preferences.asset_library_add(directory= mytool.my_dir)
        self.report({'INFO'}, "Stylized_Material_Library Is ready To Use, Open Asset Browser")

    return {'FINISHED'}

Hi, shabnam mansun, and welcome.  .. I see you've got an answer to this... hope it's good .. but please edit to formulate this post as an explicit question in the body: 'How do I ..  xxx', in plain words. This is partly to make the archive more searchable. Thank you.

Verifying Asset Library
By Library name
import bpy
import pathlib

my_dir = pathlib.Path('C:\\Blender Projects\\Assets\\')

def verify_lib_name(my_dir):  # verify by key name
    ual = bpy.context.preferences.filepaths.asset_libraries.get(my_dir.stem)
    if ual:
        print(f"{ual.name} already loaded")
    else:
        print(f"loading {my_dir} as {my_dir.stem}")
        bpy.ops.preferences.asset_library_add(directory=str(my_dir))

verify_lib_name(my_dir)

By Library Path
import bpy
import pathlib

my_dir = pathlib.Path('C:\\Blender Projects\\Assets\\')

def verify_lib_path(my_dir):  # verify by path
    libs = bpy.context.preferences.filepaths.asset_libraries
    loaded_libs = [lib for lib in libs if lib.path == str(my_dir)]
    if loaded_libs:
        for lib in loaded_libs:
            print(f'{str(my_dir)} used by {lib.name}')
    else:
        print(f"loading {my_dir} as {my_dir.stem}")
        bpy.ops.preferences.asset_library_add(directory=str(my_dir))

verify_lib_path(my_dir)

Notes

A single library path can be associated with multiple library names.
No Verification made for existence of path 'C:\Blender Projects\Assets\'

how to connect penal props in this code my path prop


text:
can you accumulate boolean occurrences without recursion?
or rephrased: is it possible to have the switch node result emulate the way a diode works?
I often times find myself in need of a way to accumulate the number of occurrences of a condition being met, and each time I find out accumulate field is not what I'm looking for as the input and output are of a non-field type. It might not be possible but I can't be sure.
Pictured below demonstrates what I mean.
The boolean (imagine it's the result of a group input or comparison) starts at 0, when switched to true it gets converted to a value 1 and added to the result of its original state (0), switching back to false returns its previous state (1) repeat until the reset switch condition is met to start it from the original state again. Clicking the comparison count 6 times would result in 3, clicking reset twice would reset it.
no blend file I'm afraid, just asking so I don't blindly sink hours into a dead end project idea.

"clicking reset twice would reset it" - by design nodes don't interact like that. A node tree is a "dead" description, a program; clicking the checkbox twice cannot change how the program works, as the 2nd click nullifies the first, the program is changed by the first click, but restored with the 2nd click. Perhaps your problem can be answered if you can redesign the question to not concentrate on the interface part (clicking the checkbox), but instead described some kind of iterable state, like having a mesh line with a bool attr. and wanting to do something with every 2nd "True" in a row.

@Markusv Thanks for the response. You're right, my focus on the interface is mostly irrelevant. You've given me a clue as to why it isn't possible with the dead description part, I'm interested in understanding the limits. You also mention using a mesh line with a bool attribute. From what I understand (correct me if I'm not) the result
of a non-field value isn't stored in the node like a variable, but field attributes can be stored in geometry. They can be used later in the tree but not earlier, and field attributes can only be "mixed" with other geometry where the number of IDs are equal.

A node tree is parsed and run by an interpreter similarly to how a Python script is executed by a Python interpreter: if you have code in state A, change statement var = False to var = True (now state B), and again change it to var = False, you effectively returned to the state A. The interpreter doesn't maintain some kind of meta information like the history of the code. Of course it's different if you explicitly somehow output that "meta" information, e.g. in the example here I unmute and mute a node to reset the simulation.

Attributes are stored in the geometry. The chronological order of the evaluation is tricky to get, I explain it here and here. One missing thing there is that you can treat a circular socket as a cached data, so arrows are allowed to go through it only once left, and once right, then you can think of it as cached data, as if the entire tree branch  going from this socket to the left was replaced with e.g. a single float value for a green circular socket .

Hay I just came back to say that the experimental simulation nodes are exactly the kind of self referencing instruction functionality i was looking for, supposedly animation nodes might do something similar. It's quite hard to manage the context evaluation in the newer versions it seems but it opens a lot of doors to my older projects that died from a lack of this. I did know at the time nodes can be iterative not not recursive, I just didn't know where that applied fully when I was new to geometry nodes.


text:
Vertex Paint Alpha Channel - Paint Exact Value
I'm currently making use of the full RGBA components of vertex paint, where RGB stands for color and A for blend height inside a shader.
The shader basically uses alpha 0.0 to 1.0 to set different textures, where 0.0 to 0.25 is one texture, 0.25 to 0.5 is another, and so on.
RGB is used for light baking, so far, it's pretty optimal and runs smoothly inside the game engine.
The workflow is quite difficult to follow mostly because blender has Add Alpha & Erase Alpha as default, not a float grayscale functionality, I'd be willing to pay for an add-on that lets me work with an isolated alpha channel in exact values, there is currently one, called Vertex Color Master, but it's a bit outdated, not working properly with alpha, and the developer doesn't have much time to work on it.
If you have any suggestions or ideas to set exact values in the Vertex Alpha channel, I'd be very happy to hear ideas or suggestions.
I'd love to request the alpha float painting as a feature for the vertex paint tool in blender instead of the add/erase combo, but I don't really know who or where would be appropriate.
Regards.

Does it make more sense to have two color attributes: Color and BlendHeight, and paint in the (say) R channel of BlendHeight? At export time it would be easy to combine them like rgba = (color.r, color.g, color.b, blendheight.r).

It is an interesting proposal, the only issue still lies in having an extra vertex channel when there's an alpha still in blank, and generating another channel creates unnecessary data, I did have a look in tools to transfer vertex that (R to A for example), but that just makes the workflow more complicated for others to follow.

You'd just ignore the channels you aren't using. For a game I imagine you have an automated asset pipeline. You would add the combination there along with any other data munging you need, not do it manually.

You can ignore the channels, but they'll get packed anyways, most game engines just import the model with the attributes they come, when the build is due some things do get optimized, but vertex channel isn't exactly one of them...

Like I said, you should have an automated pipeline to do these things. Being able to munge your data into the exact form you want is the least of the benefits. But if you don't have one, yeah, using two attributes won't work.

I ended up doing this with a script
def set_vertex_alpha(alpha):
    # get the active object and its data
    obj = bpy.context.active_object
    mesh = obj.data

    # enter edit mode and get the bmesh
    bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')
    bm = bmesh.from_edit_mesh(mesh)

    # make a list of selected vertices
    selected_verts = [v for v in bm.verts if v.select]

    # get the active vertex color layer
    col_layer = bm.loops.layers.color.active

    # assign the alpha value to the selected vertices, overwriting the existing values
    for vert in selected_verts:
        for loop in vert.link_loops:
            color = loop[col_layer]
            color[3] = alpha  # set the alpha value
            loop[col_layer] = color

    # update the mesh with the modified bmesh
    bmesh.update_edit_mesh(mesh)

    # exit edit mode
    bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')

To make this easier to use I also packed this up into an addon that let's you overwrites whatever alpha value you have in the selected vertices in case anyone ever needs it.
https://github.com/Desayuno64/VertexAlphaSetter

I am wondering the same thing, for the same purpose to take 4 channels of vertex paint data into a game engine. RGB work well because blender has RGB avaible in the color swatch, in vertex paint mode. However, if you attempt to paint R,G, or B that will automatically assign Alpha as well. In both geometry nodes and the shader editor there is infact a way to set up RGBA.
Im wondering if there is some way to make a new color wheel for the paint mode that allows A.
What does your script do exactly?


text:
Recover visual handlers of rigging
Following this tutorial for rigify addon I've achieved a rigged human model. It work fine when I grab the handlers that are shown in this picture:

From a certain point, without knowing what exactly I have done, the handlers disappeared and the armature has taken on the conventional look:

The elements generated by rigify addon are complex. There is a metarig and a rig, each with multiple layers. I have tried to activate all the layers in both objects and operate with them in the different edition, object and pose modes. I haven't been able to get the handlers back. How can I recover the view of this handlers?
This is the file, if needed for review.

Rigify places various bones on different layers to make it easier for the animator to concentrate on only the bones they need at the moment.  You've simply disabled all of the layers with control bones on them:

There are two ways you can enable/disable visibility, both outlined here.  On the right and below, is the traditional Blender "Layers" interface.  If you click on a layer it will toggle between visible and not visible.  You only have one layer enabled and it happens to be the one containing the original skeleton.
The other interface on the right does the same thing, except the buttons are labeled to make it easy to remember what button enables what layer and what is on the layer.  It's also limited to those layers that have control bones, which is why there's no highlighted button even though you have enabled a layer.
You enabled multiple layers on the left by holding Shift when you click on the layers.  On the right, each button is independent of the others.

Hi marty. Thanks for the answer. These buttons doesn't show the handlers shown in the first picture. Finally I started the rigging process from scratch.

@aitor Sorry I misunderstood.  It's probably too late now, but don't restart.  Try removing the generated rig and simply regenerating it.


text:
Strange baking behavior
When the light is attached to the object, the baking process renders the light but just by separating the light from the object a little the light is not baked in the texture.
What's going on?

See video (youtube)
Blender file for testing attached

Got it! The normal of the face is inverted


text:
How do I attach a material/texture to an IFC object?
I have installed the BlenderBIM addon with the hope that I will be able to render IFC models that I make using Tekla Structures.
I managed to come a long way learning how to work with Blender and add materials and textures to native Blender objects with success, only when I apply the same methods to the IFC object the base color does change but the texture doesnt render on the IFC object.
In the image below you can see that the Blender native sphere object renders the texture but the IFC object only displays a brownish color. The IFC object is a concreet wall so originally its color was gray and the material profile came out of the IFC data, I then removed the concreet material from the wall and instead assigned the planks texture which again changed the base color of the object but the texture does not render.
I am under the impression that the IFC once imported into Blender might have some "super" material that overrides all other assigned materials or perhaps I just don't get any of this.
I followed a few BlenderBIM specific videos that deal with materials but couldnt find information that specifically deals with assigning textures to the IFC materials. Furthermore it doesnt help when every Blender version in videos looks different then what I have on screen (2.93.1) and therefor I am hoping that someone here can guide me with simple steps on how to solve this issue (if possible) :)
Thank you.

Hello ! May I suggest you post this question rather directly on the addon github issues https://github.com/IfcOpenShell/IfcOpenShell/issues or alternatively on the OsArch forum https://community.osarch.org/

Materials in IFC are more complicated than in Blender, as for instance they can include different layers with their own set of properties (eg density, resistance to fire, resistivity, sound suppression, or any custom property really) so it's not as easy as a 1-1 translation between the Blender material and the IFC material

There is currently no texture support in the BlenderBIM Add-on with IFC. Though in theory textures can be supported either through externally referenced material definitions or via UV conventions, this is not something I would advertise to users just yet.
Sorry.


text:
2.8 Preference Menu
My user preference menu is completely different from the 2.8 manual, checked on youtubers and other posts, they have the right menu. I can't find anything.
How do I change this menu? Is it updated recently? There is NO options for ANYTHING in the preference menu.
Right now i'm trying to find the cursor depth toggle, which is usually in the interface tab.
Please help me, I am desperate.

Turning off Cursor Project might be what you are looking for. The 3D Cursor is now a wholly different beast, though. It is bound to have different settings.

It was off already, but it worked when enabled it! Thank you so much :D Been causing me major headache.

Glad it worked for you. Don't forget to mark the answer if it DID work.


text:
How would I be able to fill in the gap indicated by the arrow without filling in the middle portion?

Hello,
I am trying to fill the edge gap of this skull indicated by the red arrows to the right however, when i press F, it covers the whole area including the middle portion which i want to be hollow inside. Is there a way to only fill in the wanted gap? I appreciate the help
Thank you

Possible duplicate of Is there a way to fill the area between two circles?

I tried to bridge the gaps but it ends up filling the whole top area

maybe try in several steps?

Does it needs to be "filled" and connected? I´ll use a boolean and cut it with a plane, leave then another plane to "cap" that region.

Since the mesh has already horrible geometry, I'd give @PierreSchiller's Idea a try.


text:
Detach Individual Settings/Properties Tabs as Small Windows?
Is there any way I can detach individual settings tabs to be their own windows in Blender 2.8 rather than it being stuck within the interface?
Thanks.

Not a free solution, but you could do this with custom panels/menus via the Pie Edit addon: https://blendermarket.com/products/pie-menu-editor?ref=2 It has a lot of wonderful UI functionality.

Thank you. Will definitely look into it.

There is non, as far as I know properties windows tabs are not detachable.
But nothing stops you from having multiple of them open. As a workaround just duplicate the window and change active tabs on each instance.
Just press Shift while dragging from one of the corners to create a new secondary window and change tabs for each

Thank you. This was helpful.

Welcome. Don't post thank you as a comment, if an answer helped you upvote it. If you feel it solved you problem consider marking it as accepted.

Right click on the panel then select duplicate area into new window. Of course after this you can merge the old panel with others in the main window, by right clicking on the separation line between them, and select join area.


text:
How to install freestyle stroke shader script to Blender 2.8
Here is the link that directs me to a script.
http://freestyle.sourceforge.net/GALLERY/python.php?filename=CARTOON/disney.py&headerfilename=pythonheader.txt
I have tried to copy and paste this python script in text editor but will not work. Has anyone figured out how to install this?

From the related FAQ "The Freestyle integration into Blender is still ongoing, and its results are expected to be included into Blender 2.5."  You may need to grab a copy of blender 2.49 and build the Freestyle module as instructed.

It won't work without a bit of reverse-engineering. The modules have different names, and they have a few Blender-specific calls.. Check out your [Blender installation directory]/scripts/freestyle/styles for Blender examples.. and the Blender Freestyle API.
You've probably already been there, but the background reading makes for a good start, if you're trying to get your head round other people's code.


text:
Error when I render to RTX
I have a technical question for you.
The company in which I work has invested in better equipment. It is RTX 2080Ti and Ryzen 7 2700x.
I read that RTX is not currently supported by the program and you have to download the beta version or copy the files to the lib folder. I tested both ways and the render actually starts.
However, after some time everything starts to shouting and the tiles start to go crazy and become transparent. In the meantime I get an error: "CUDA Error: Illegal address in cuCtxSynchronize(),line 1151". Sometimes the numbers are different, e.g. 1372.
Beta version 2.79 and 2.80 can switch off for unknown reasons. The problem does not occur only when rendering on the processor.
I have the latest drivers for my graphics card and Cuda 10 installed.
Is there any way to render stable on 2.79b or any other version?
If something is not understandable, I'm sorry, the whole thing was translated in the Translator.

First question: Windows or Linux? And which version.

Excuse me, I forgot to add. The system is Windows 10 Pro x64.

The latest experimental 2.79 version, in combination with Geforce driver 430.39 appears to give a major performance improvement in rendering with an RTX card!

I am rendering with multiple RTX2080ti GPU's in a windows 7 pro system and I am getting very good and stable results.
What I did was the following;

Download the latest experimental 2.79 version that supports RTX.
Replace the complete content of the C:\program files\blender foundation\blender
folder with the experimental 2.79 version. This will force windows to treat the
experimental version to run as an installed application, much better results!
Do not use the latest Geforce driver but find and install version 417.35

Good luck!

Thank you! I'm sure I'll test it!


text:
Bake hi-res diffuse texture onto low-poly version problem

Hey guys, my problem is that when I do try to bake onto the low-poly version I endup with a blotchy texture and sometimes the program just crashes and closes itself.
Does anyone know the best way of baking a diffuse texture onto a low poly version without getting blotchy and low quality results?
In the image here I have two low-poly versions of the original high-poly, one of which is 'inside' the high-poly version on the left. Maybe you can see what I'm doing wrong here.
Thanks in advance :)

https://i.sstatic.net/j8hYN.png
So I basically answered my own question. I just did a quick test on using the ray distance setting and it completely worked. See image above for results and instructions.

So I basically answered my own question. I just did a quick test on using the ray distance setting and it completely worked. See image above for results and instructions.
My apologies, I'm new to using this site as a member and had no idea where the 'answer question' button was located.

One more thing to mention here is cage baking. Other 3D modelling applications have the ability for automatic cage baking. A copy of the lowpoly mesh is created and inflated along the normals, which is then used as template for the ray distances and (in some cases) the directions the light rays travel. Blender is also capable of cage baking, but only if you create the cage object yourself and assign it before the baking process.