text:
Hide panels with python
How to hide panels with python? I want to make quick hiding for better viewing.
Here is what I want to hide:

Currently the Python API can't handle opening and closing panels (it's not exposed).
Related: Is it possible to expand/collapes all panels in a region with a keystroke or shortcut?
The only thing you can do with python is to toggle by calling operators:
bpy.ops.view3d.properties()
bpy.ops.view3d.toolshelf()

They need the right context though, so they need to be called from the 3dview area or the context needs to be overwritten. This will toggle all panels in all 3d_views inside window:
for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
        context_copy = bpy.context.copy()
        context_copy['area'] = area
        bpy.ops.view3d.properties(context_copy)
        bpy.ops.view3d.toolshelf(context_copy)

no way to know if one is open or closed ?

Added an answer to test if they are already open or not.

Here is a way to check if they are currently open, you simply test how wide they are,
also suggest storing a variable if you intend to untoggle it "toggle_properties = True" for a modal so you don't have to test again.
# hide 'T' and 'N' panels
for r in bpy.context.area.regions:
    if r.type == 'UI':
        if r.width > 1:
            bpy.ops.view3d.properties()
            toggle_properties = True

    elif r.type == 'TOOLS':
        if r.width > 1:
            bpy.ops.view3d.toolshelf()
            toggle_tools = True

You don't need python to quickly hide. Just make sure your mouse is in 3D view zone and press N to hide/unhide right panel and T to hide/unhide left panel. But, if you need full 3D view, you can select that layout on the top...

I need to do it with python! Not shortcuts.

Why? Are you making a addon or something? Otherwise I don't see point of it...

@AdriansNetlis Probably an addon yes, you can suggest alternatives but he asked for a way with python whether you see the point or not.

I know it's been 5 years, but you can enter full screen mode (ctrl+alt+space), I'm am looking for a way to do this from python, but I think that doable


text:
Viewport position and direction
How to get Viewport Position, Direction, UpVector?
For Perspective and Ortho views.
Here is explanation Screenshot:

related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13738/how-to-calculate-camera-direction-and-up-vector

I don't need camera. I need 3dView. Repspective/Ortho.
But not camera object.

Can you define the view-position much more clearly, this is quite an important distinction. (The point in the center of the view you look at, the point you look from?)

The point i look from.

You can get information about the view from RegionView3D which can be accessed via space_data.region_3d.
There are utility functions available in the bpy_extras.view3d_utils module.
You may get the view direction like this
r3d.view_rotation * Vector((0.0, 0.0, -1.0))

the up direction should be
r3d.view_rotation * Vector((0.0, 1.0, 0.0))

and the view location:
r3d.view_matrix.inverted().translation

Or another way
region = context.region
rv3d = context.region_data
view3d_utils.region_2d_to_origin_3d(region, rv3d, (region.width/2.0, region.height/2.0))

Despite its name, RegionView3D.view_location specifies the view target.

Thanks a lot! But Ortho view does not show position correctly. Here is my video test: http://youtu.be/Ia7wjCMafqA
This line does not work in Ortho "r3d.view_matrix.inverted().translation".
Do you know how to fix it?
Thanks.

I reported the issue with OrthoView here https://developer.blender.org/T43206

I added another approach according to the issue which was discussed. I hope you don't mind.

considering the answer given by pink vertex the first part is equivalent to:
r3d = bpy.context.area.spaces.active.region_3d
view_matrix = r3d.view_matrix
x,y,z = view_matrix.to_3x3()

with
view_dir = -z
up = y

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
Python BGL: X-Ray mode
Is it possible to draw 3d lines/points with X-Ray in BGL?
Here is my custom 3d line in viewport:

As you can see it's drawn behind the monkey head. Is it possible to make it as X-Ray?
Here is the code i use:
https://github.com/mifth/mifthtools/blob/ff2bd836267deb0c0d5f0c0bb28904876068bba3/blender/addons/mira_tools/mi_curve_test.py#L331-L349

i too would like to know this, so far i've been using 2d 'POST_PIXEL' and converted 3d coordinates to 2d screen coordinates

POST_PIXEL is the only way AFAIK, but some OpenGL guru might prove me wrong (disable depth test?).

If you draw the curve after the mesh and disable the depth test(only for the curve) this should work.  Can this be done without altering the C-code? I don't know.   If the previous two commenters don't know, I'd ask Campbell next.  BTW, I finally got around to checking out your Mira tool-set.  It's impressive and moving quickly.  Nice work. :)

as @CoDEmanX noted you can disable the depth test with bgl.glDisable(bgl.GL_DEPTH_TEST) while drawing and use the POST_VIEW.
here is an example code of a modified draw modal operator :

import bpy
import bgl
import blf
from mathutils import Vector
from bpy_extras import view3d_utils

def draw_callback_px(self, context, points):

    bgl.glEnable(bgl.GL_BLEND)
    bgl.glColor4f(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
    bgl.glLineWidth(2)
    bgl.glDisable(bgl.GL_DEPTH_TEST)

    bgl.glBegin(bgl.GL_LINE_STRIP)
    for x, y, z in self.points:
        bgl.glVertex3f(x, y, z)
    bgl.glEnd()

    # restore opengl defaults
    bgl.glLineWidth(1)
    bgl.glDisable(bgl.GL_BLEND)
    bgl.glEnable(bgl.GL_DEPTH_TEST)
    bgl.glColor4f(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0)

class ModalDrawOperator(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Draw a line with the mouse"""
    bl_idname = "view3d.modal_operator"
    bl_label = "Simple Modal View3D Operator"

    def modal(self, context, event):
        context.area.tag_redraw()

        if event.type == 'LEFTMOUSE':
            if event.value == 'RELEASE':
                co_2d = Vector((event.mouse_region_x, event.mouse_region_y))
                viewport = context.area.regions[4]
                r3d = context.area.spaces[0].region_3d
                nor =  view3d_utils.region_2d_to_vector_3d(viewport, r3d, co_2d)
                v3 =  view3d_utils.region_2d_to_location_3d(viewport, r3d, co_2d, nor)

                self.points.append(v3)

        elif event.type in {'RIGHTMOUSE', 'ESC'}:
            bpy.types.SpaceView3D.draw_handler_remove(self._handle, 'WINDOW')
            return {'CANCELLED'}

        return {'RUNNING_MODAL'}

    def invoke(self, context, event):
        if context.area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
            self.points = []
            args = (self, context, self.points)
            self._handle = bpy.types.SpaceView3D.draw_handler_add(draw_callback_px, args, 'WINDOW', 'POST_VIEW')
            context.window_manager.modal_handler_add(self)
            return {'RUNNING_MODAL'}
        else:
            self.report({'WARNING'}, "View3D not found, cannot run operator")
            return {'CANCELLED'}

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

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

I'm really surprised, switching between bgl.glDisable(bgl.GL_DEPTH_TEST) and  bgl.glEnable(bgl.GL_DEPTH_TEST) driven by a bool property even updates the viewport in real time... Awesome! +5 if I could, thanks @Chebhou

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


text:
Why won't the material node displacement work in cycles
I have a plane in blender with a image texture node, connected to a RGB to black and white node connected to a multiplier before being connected to the displacement of the Material Output node. There appears to be some shadowing on the plane but it is only this that changes when I change the multiplier, the plane while viewed from the side rendered is still totally flat. Do I need to bake this in some way? Or have I totally misunderstood how displacement textures are supposed to work?

This explains why I just discovered that a displacement map loaded into an image texture node connected to the displacement input of a Material Output node does not seem to need extra mesh data (as would be excpeted ) it is in fact just a bump map.

Change the displacement type found in the Properties window under Object Data from (the default) Bump to True.
Note that this is an experimental feature and you must change the feature set from Supported to Experimental in Properties > Render Settings > Render.

True Displacement: Mesh vertices will be displaced before rendering, modifying the actual mesh. This gives the best quality results, if the mesh is finely subdivided. As a result this method is also the most memory intensive.
Bump Mapping: When executing the surface shader, a modified surface normal is used instead of the true normal. This is a quick alternative to true displacement, but only an approximation. Surface silhouettes will not be accurate and there will be no self shadowing of the displacement.

Could you please add a summery of the web page to your answer? If the  site goes down, so does the answer.

@CharlesL, the link wasn't the answer, it just provided descriptions of the settings. But now included per your request. ;)

In Houdini, you can apply a displacement map that will do true displacement at render time, but doesn't require you to subdivide the mesh. Is this possible in Blender?

@Justin It is now. Tick the Use Subdivision checkbox and have a subdiv modifier set to be only visible at render time

Where is the Use Subdivision checkbox? And to make the subdiv modifier visible only at render time, do you just unclick the modifier's eyeball button, and make sure its camera button is clicked?

I would love if you could add some images to the answer, as following these steps doesn't give me the expected result (no displacement, or if I click "use subdivision" the faces of the mesh just separate or become solid color)

By default, using the 'Displacement' plug in the Node Editor does not truly displace the mesh, but "bump maps" it instead, which essentially means that it approximates the appearance of displacement without actually displacing it. In order to actually displace the mesh, you are going to have to use a different techique.
Although there are a variety of ways to do this, the standard way to displace a mesh, instead of using node 'Displacement', is to use the Displace modifier. To apply your node setup to the Displace modifer, choose a texture in the modifier panel, then select that texture and edit using the Node Editor.

Thanks for the info, I've tried this now and the displacement just moves my whole plane, what am I doing wrong now?

@LeoSutton You need to use a simple subdivision surface modifier first. Displace only acts on vertices, so you need to use subdivision to give your plane more vertices for it to act on.

Time for update ... True Displacement (called also micro-displacement) ... you make it work in three steps ...
1. Render Engine
... is still available for Cycles render engine and still under Experimental Feature Set ... Dicing Rate specify details in pixels.

2. Modifier
Add Subdivision Surface modifier and enable Adaptive Subdivision this feature is available (appears) only for modifier stacked as last (if there is more modifiers).

3. Material
Under Material Properties > Settings > Surface switch from Bump to Displacement ...

... and under Shader Editor > Add > Vector > Displacement node ... for input socket use your height map or procedural texture ... output socket plug into Material Output > Displacement socket.


text:
Tips for sculpting tile-like terrain
I'm looking to make a terrain system sort of like in the fourth and fifth generation Pokémon games. It's just all gridded basically, and reuses the same pieces all over.
An example of the type of terrain I'm trying to create:

I just started using sculpt mode. The problem I ran into was that I can't get the edges of the pieces to line up without some ugly gap (I'm mainly talking about the mountain-side pieces). Does anyone know how to make it so this kind of thing can work, so the edges will line up without odd gaps?

It could be good if you add a capture of your model that show the problem.

As an expansion of gandalf3's answer, I'll give a quick workflow on how to make tiling easier...

Start with a mirror modifier on your object along both the X and Y axes.

Model the edges of the mesh. Since you have the mirror modifier, it will tile evenly along both the X and Y objects.

Apply the mirror modifier.

Hide the edges of the mesh (Select the edges you want to hide, then press H. To hide in sculpt mode press H (this will bring up box select) and select the very edges of the mesh), and model (or sculpt) the middle part of the rock.
Since you hid the outer edges, they will not be effected when modeling the rest of the rock.

Unhide the hidden edges (Alt+H)

Tile using the Array modifier.

You could use an Array modifier
Note that if you use dynamic topology sculpting you will have to sculpt one piece first, then use the array modifier.

I made a formal blog post for this purpose using a plane and UV texturing to paint seamless textures:
http://jikz.net/archives/651
This may help you get rid of your hard edges.
Cheers!
To sum it up with one picture: Setup a 3x3 plane using loop cuts (then subdivide further or use a multires modifier). As shown in the image, sculpt in the middle square.


text:
Can multiple animations be saved in a .blend file?
With the current version, I created a simple mesh with bones, and by using the Dope Sheet I created two actions. I made animations for each action. Then I exported to FBX to check in Unity3d. So I saw that Blender is good enough for my needs. Then I saved this stuff into a .blend file.
Some time later I loaded this file and saw there was only one animation. I re-created another and saved, exited Blender, and re-loaded the file. The only animation was loaded with what I exited the program.
My question is: what is the proper way to create multiple animations with Blender, such that they can be re-loaded. I would like to have a separate timeline for each animation.
(Script is good too, because I want this for an importer; wanted to test it before coding.)

I think your issue is that Blender is not saving the animation datablocks because there aren't any objects using them. You can protect the datablocks by adding a fake user like so:

Go to the NLA editor

Select the Action

Open your properties panel (N)

In the top panel (Animation Data) select the action you want to protect from the dropdown.

Click the F next to the name to give the action a fake user:

Alternatively this can be done in the header of the Dope Sheet editor while in Action Editor mode.

Exactly the answer I was looking for, thank you. Note here to other beginners like me, that the animations with "fake user" can still be used by the mesh.

I tried adding using the F button on each of my actions, but in Unity the only animation is the one I was working on when I saved the .blend file.  Also the animation is called Default Take.  This is so frustrating...


text:
Why is sun lamp not projecting in parallel... and how to make faded shadows?
I'm using Blender's Internal Renderer....I have some flag shapes, with a sun lamp casting shadows. (see pic) But the sun lamp is not throwing parallel shadows on to the white plane behind it. Why? Is this a Blender bug? Also... I want to export the flags and the shadows ONLY... not the white plane... just its shadows.
And third... I want for the shadows to be somewhat faded (a lighter ghosted, transparent shadows). Any ideas. Thank you.

It's not a bug.  It's just the effect of the camera perspective.  Suppose the sun was directly overhead and you stood on one of the flags.  You wouldn't see any of the shadow of the flag you were standing on, but for the other flags, the further away they were, the more of their shadow you'd see, even though all of the shadows would be directly under their respective flags thanks to the parallel sun rays.
For the effect you're trying to achieve, it would normally be enough to switch the camera to orthographic mode.  Select the camera, go into the "Camera" panel, and change the setting under Lens from "Perspective" to "Orthographic". Unfortunately, it looks like shadows created by Blender Render don't work correctly for orthographic cameras, so they're not all the same size the way they should be.
I'd suggest doing it with another mesh instead.  Delete your plane, make a a copy of all your flags to serve as a shadow and move them down below the real flags.  You can Ctrl-J to join them into a single mesh and then change the material on the copy to be a semi-transparent black.  With an orthographic camera, this should give you the effect you want.  In the Render tab, you should be able to select "Alpha: Transparent" under "Shading" to get proper transparency in the output.
Here's a blend file by way of example:

and the resulting render:

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


text:
How to add glare effect to a object in volumetrics?
Hey guys I need your help!! I want to add the glare effect (fog glow) while volumetrics is turned on in world tab but unfortunately I am not able to do so.


text:
How can I change binary numbers from from top to bottom?
I created a plane and subdivided it 49 times to create a decent amount of vertices.
I did this to instance the numbers 0 and 1 along each point to create a binary animation that randomly changes
numbers across the entire plane.
Now I'm going for, and can't seem to figure out, how to make them randomly change in a pattern. For example, what if I made the top row of numbers randomly change, then row 2 (under row 1) changes, then row 3, etc. So essentially if there are 10 rows, only one is randomly changing at a time as it makes its way down the plane.
I've tried driving textures to affect only one part at a time, but unfortunately, no success. I'm still new to geo-nodes, so that could be why.

Can you please add a screenshot or sketch how it should look like? Thanks

I'm sorry, I have no time right now to work on this... but maybe I can help with some "inspiration". In my answer to another question I explained how random values are bound to seed and the IDs of points. So it might be that in combination with seed and id you can try to find a way to select specific parts that should be affected. Here's my explanation: Random values connected to ID

Here's a shader-only approach.
For this we'll need an Indexed Grid, which is a handy little group to have around, anyway:

It wraps the texture-space into cells, gives each cell its own UV, and an X,Y index: the coordinates of the cell's own UV origin:

Once you have the index, you can use it as an input UV, to pixellate any texture:

Above, It's pixellating noise. It's then put through a threshold, yielding black/white, and, in turn, that's used as a mask between  a '0' texture and a '1' texture:

Above, that's done twice, with two different noise textures, to produce two separate arrangements of '1' and '0'.
Those separate arrangements can then be mixed together using any function you want of the cell index. Here, it's a function which converts the X and Y of the index into a serial number, starting at the bottom left and finishing at the top-right:

... but the wipe between the arrangements could equally be by (cell-index Y), giving a row-by-row change.. included in this .blend.

Wow, nice version, too +1

Love your ignoring of his tags ❣❣❣

@Chris Oops! ... Well. OP did mention they had tried textures and they didn't work.. that's license, in my book :)

@RobinBetts I'd say, if someone tried textures and only switched to GN because it seems impossible with textures, then you're fully licensed to show it is possible

Thanks so much for this. As a noob, I have to ask what node that is in the first image? The one that says "scale"?

@circleofsorrow1 It's a Vector Math node set to Scale.

@GordonBrinkmann thanks so much, you're brilliant.

There might be more elegant solutions but this is just a quick example how it could be achieved. I've subdivided my plane fewer times, but the principle works with your high resolution as well.
I'm looking top down on the plane, so I wanted to change the rows from Y to -Y. For that I used a Separate XYZ node and checked the Y value if it's Less Than a certain value, which is animated from from a positive value down to a negative value. The result "no" (0) or "yes" is then plugged into the Seed input of a Random Value node, basically making the setup switch the the seed from 0 to 1 going down the Y axis.
Of course this setup can be tweaked and manipulated to switch between other seeds etc. and maybe there are better solutions. But here's how it looks as is now:

I guess there are other ways to switch the output text better and the other thing is, if you would use Mesh Primitives > Grid inside Geometry Nodes there might also be a way to select via IDs and so on. As I said, this is just to give you an idea what's possible. Here's the node setup:

I guessed someone such as you would go for a perfectly good GN approach (.. if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail..) so I ducked the other way :D

@RobinBetts Haha, thanks but I'm still a bloody beginner with Geometry Nodes, especially since they are still changing a lot between versions


text:
How do I get a colored object to glow on white?
Emission works great when the environment is darker, but I'm having trouble getting a colored object to show up on my white surface. I tried lowering the roughness, but that ended up making it look more like a reflection. I know it's not realistic, but it's the effect I'm trying to go for.
This is where I'm at:

Are you rendering with Eevee? Emission only casts onto other objects in Cycles, in Eevee you can use something called a Light Probe. If you don't want to use Cycles, I can show you how to do it.

Switch the render engine to Cycles and Emission will cast light onto other objects as expected.

In Eevee, shift+A Add 'Light Probe' >'Irradiance Volume'

Scale it up so the inner bounding box surrounds the scene.
In Render Settings under 'Indirect Lighting' you'll have to 'Bake Indirect Lighting'

In this image I've already baked it so you can see the result. Hope that's what you're looking for.


text:
How can I get a "curved graph" in geometry nodes?
I'm new to geometry nodes and I want to do graph animation. I want to graph rises rapidly, the nearer gets to the middle high point and gets slowly down on both sides in the same way. This is what I want to get:

And this is what I've done so far:

This is what I got with it.
And I know that I won't get the middle point with this function, but I don’t care now. I tried to find an answer on the Internet, but I couldn’t find anything. How can I do it?

TL;DNR: There's a blend file at the end with a node tree that creates a mirrored sigmoid function that accomplishes what you want.
You can accomplish roughly this with this node group:

It generates this curve:

Set keyframes on the amplitude value to change the height of the curve. That's your "certain number".
How it works
The upper framed nodes create a mesh line whose range runs from 0 to whatever maximum X value you set in the range input node.
The lower framed nodes create the function you want to plot.  In this case it's merely $A*sin(f*x)$ over the range set in the top part; where $A$ is the amplitude value and $f$ is the frequencey value.
How to use it
By changing the Math nodes between the separateXYZ and combineXYZ nodes you can change the overall shape of the curve to the one you want.
If you want it centered on the origin, you can simply use a Transform node on the end to move it back, or do a bit of arithmetic on the x value of the coordinates to move it in the Set Postion node. I've done the later.
Your equation
You're looking for a symmetric variation of the sigmoid function
$$ e^x / (e^x + 1) $$
You want the negative values to be in the range of around -4 to around 4 and the positive values to be in the reverse of that range.  Multiply the result by your "certain number" to get a curve that looks like your drawing.
Here's a node group that gives you the negative half of the curve.  Note that I've added the nodes to move the curve back so it ends on the origin.

Note that if you replace $e$ with multiples of $e$ you can make the curve more pronounced:  Here I've replaced $e$ with $3e$:

Finally, by doing the curve twice, once with the x range fed to the function reversed you get this mess of nodes:

and this result:

Controlling the width
It's designed to be symmetric and you can control the two points on the X axis using the Range input that's in the upper framed area.  If you don't want symmetry you will have to do a bit of extra work.
Bonus for reading this far
Here's a blend file containing the final node group.

or you choose the simple way, with this very easy to understand and very easy to handle setup:

so...what you see is what you get... ;)

Very simple indeed.  So simple that it can't be animated.  The OP did write "I want to do graph animation."  Also, not so simple when you're trying to eyeball match the described curve.  And, of course, you can't control the width or the height without more nodes.

@MartyFouts agreed, to a point.... but .. in Chris' defence it could be animated by mixing between 'shape key'  manual curves, and/or between those and 0?  And OP didn't specify a function? I liked your answer, too.. :)

@RobinBetts OP described a function in words; and asked specifically for control of height and width.  But your suggested changes would produce a very different answer than Chris' and not hardly as simple.  This "answer" doesn't answer the question; so I don't think you've offered a defense.


text:
Draw a curve between two random points and randomly place a point on this curve
I'm trying to create a curve between two points in a simple geometry.
I capture the position of vertex index 0 and 3, and I would like to create a curve between these two points. I tried with a Bézier curve node and capturing the position of the selected vertices, but I can't get it to work.
The next steps will be to randomly sample the two initial vertices of the geometry and randomly place a point along the curve between those two vertices.

To do this, you would only have to capture the positions of your selected points with the node Transfer Attributes and use them as start/end points for your curve.
If you then capture a random position with the node Sample Curve, you can use this directly as the position for your sphere.

That's exactly what I needed and it works perfectly. I cannot upvote your answer because of low reputation but that's it.


text:
Moving vertices in global coordinates
I need to move vertices along axis Z GLOBAL but I don't find how to do it. I've tried this:
ob = bpy.data.objects["object1"] #the vertices belong to object1
mat = ob.matrix_world
matloc = ob.matrix_local
for i in range( 0, len(poligonos) ):
    v = mesh.getVertex(0, poligonos[i]) #poligonos is an array where I store the index of each vertex that I want to move
    glo = mat * v.XYZ
    glo.x = glo.x
    glo.y = glo.y
    glo.z = glo.z - 0.1
    aux = matloc * glo
    v.setXYZ([aux.x, aux.y, aux.z])

But this code moves my vertices to weird locations and what I need is the vertices go down in 0.1

Worked for me:
import bpy

obj  = bpy.data.objects['Cube']
mesh = obj.data
vert = mesh.vertices[0]
mat_world = obj.matrix_world

pos_world = mat_world * vert.co
pos_world.z += 0.1
vert.co = mat_world.inverted() * pos_world

If you're editing a lot of vertices then you might want to compose the matrix:
from mathutils import Vector, Matrix

vec = Vector((0.0, 0.0, 0.1))
mat_edit = mat_world.inverted() * Matrix.Translate(vec) * mat_world

vert.co = mat_edit * vert.co

Does this no longer work? I get AttributeError: '_BPyOpsSubModOp' object has no attribute 'inverted'

The answer of "pink vertex" is a great idea but finally I fixed the problem like this:
for i in range( 0, len(poligonos) ):
    v = mesh.getVertex(0, poligonos[i])
    glo = mat * v.XYZ
    glo.z += 0.1
    v.XYZ = mat.inverted() * glo


text:
Stars feature missing?
In the Properties -- World tab, I am no longer seeing the "Stars" option. Has it been removed or did I accidentally do something silly that caused it to be deleted or completely hidden? It is completely absent not just closed, and I have tried with several different files and a new restart.
I am running on Manjaro Linux and the blender version currently installed is 10:2.69.a0dbee6e. I'm not sure of the change occurred at the last upgrade or since then.

Stars feature has been dropped from Blender Internal render engine. See here. However, the official release 2.69 still has it. You can either choose that version, or find another way to get the same result.

It's a shame this 3D feature has been dropped: it was wonderful to have and use it and also was easy to use and intuitive. It needed just some more feature and possible setups, but dropping it, well it's a deep shame! I now like less blender for this wrong choice! Could we hope this feature will come back in future?

Like Leon said, Blender Render Internal no longer supports simple checkbox, but it does support adding a Stucci Texture that is really easy to do and does the same thing as the checkbox, but gives you a bit more control over the stars. This method has one drawback as far as I can tell - if you use he Mist checkbox, the stars appear in the mist and can overlay your scene with stars.
This video shows how to add the Stucci Texture to the World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sb4ryQMvRi4

Yes but it isn't a 3D stars field, it is just a background, for example you cant fly trough it as was possible before. The texture is less intuitive to set up and less realistic. The dropped star function was awesome instead.

The starfield generation feature is only accessible when you use the Blender Internal render engine.
When using Cycles render engine, it's unavailable.
Make sure the render engine is set to Blender Internal, and go to World panel.


text:
Cannot find the action editor in Blender since 2.5x
I am using Blender 2.66 and a newbie I was working on a tutorial which is with the 2.5 version. And I am unable to find the Action editor in version 2.66 while trying to animate a walk cycle. Had it gone? or otherwise can use any other way? Please help. Can the NLA editor do what can be done with the action editor?

The Action Editor is a mode of the Dope Sheet

The Action Editor can be found while in the Dopesheet view ( ShiftF12) as one of its modes.

Can the NLA editor do what can be done with the action editor?

I sense you are thinking of it as an alternative so I say not exactly or plain no.., these are two separate views that serve different purposes though the Action Editor is somewhat of a more detailed view of what you work with in the NLA Editor. The relevant wiki pages offer a more detailed explanation, Action Editor, NLA Editor.


text:
Possible to re-order Python API ENUM's?
I will try to explane.
Lets say,
class BLA_bla_tratata(Menu):
bl_label = "Ololo"

def draw(self, context):
    layout = self.layout
    row = layout.row()
    row.prop(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", expand=True)

This define viewport shade menu... As I understand "viewport_shade" is a  PROPERTY and it is a LIST of some values ( "MATERIAL", "TEXTURED", "SOLID"....)
So what is exactly I need to know - is there any way to reorder this list befor saying
row.prop(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", expand=True)
For example ( "MATERIAL", "TEXTURED", "SOLID"....) -> ("SOLID", "TEXTURED", "MATERIAL", ....)
Or - how can I get access to this data  in blender
Thx!

Can you say why you want this ability?

Yes. Scripting pie menus, it will be cool to just reorder this property list to change places of different pie-menu-elements. So it is just idea. I have done this other way.
For example I replace this line : pie.prop(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", expand=True)
to that :
pie.prop_enum(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", "MATERIAL")
pie.prop_enum(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", "RENDERED")
pie.prop_enum(context.space_data, "viewport_shade", "WIREFRAME").........

In that case you could better ask a question about how to re-arrange pi-menus.

No, you can't re-order them. If the enums are defined in Python its possible to unregister the property and re-register a new enum, based on the old one but with a different ordering, however that seems like an awful lot of effort.
Basically, its not supported.


text:
How to Link/Append a data-block using the Python API?
I'm searching a way to append a group in Python.
It should behave exactly like the Append function (ShiftF1) works, all objects should be local and editable. The idea is to append a character (with rig etc.) via Python and not Link it (to be able to modify it without making everything local one by one).
Thanks

Would you know ahead of time the blend file and path, as well as the exact group name that you want to append? Or do you need some type of browsing interface?

I already know blend, path and group name

Here's a solution. It appends an instance of the group (Blender 2.7x only):
import bpy

filepath = "/path/to/file.blend"
group_name = "CubeGroup"

# append, set to true to keep the link to the original file
link = False

# append all groups from the .blend file
with bpy.data.libraries.load(filepath, link=link) as (data_src, data_dst):
    ## all groups
    # data_to.groups = data_from.groups

    # only append a single group we already know the name of
    data_dst.groups = [group_name]

# add the group instance to the scene
for group in data_dst.groups:
    ob = bpy.data.objects.new(group.name, None)
    ob.dupli_group = group
    ob.dupli_type = 'GROUP'
    bpy.context.scene.objects.link(ob) # Blender 2.7x

Credit: solution is based on this answer: Import object without bpy.ops.wm.link_append

It's basically the same for objects:
import bpy

# path to the blend
filepath = "/path/to/file.blend"

# name of object(s) to append or link
obj_name = "Cube"

# append, set to true to keep the link to the original file
link = False

# link all objects starting with 'Cube'
with bpy.data.libraries.load(filepath, link=link) as (data_from, data_to):
    data_to.objects = [name for name in data_from.objects if name.startswith(obj_name)]

#link object to current scene
for obj in data_to.objects:
    if obj is not None:
       #bpy.context.scene.objects.link(obj) # Blender 2.7x
       bpy.context.collection.objects.link(obj) # Blender 2.8x

As of Blender 2.8 groups have been replaced by the new collection system:
import bpy

# path to the blend
filepath = "/path/to/file.blend"

# name of collection(s) to append or link
coll_name = "MyCollection"

# append, set to true to keep the link to the original file
link = False

# link all collections starting with 'MyCollection'
with bpy.data.libraries.load(filepath, link=link) as (data_from, data_to):
    data_to.collections = [c for c in data_from.collections if c.startswith(coll_name)]

# link collection to scene collection
for coll in data_to.collections:
    if coll is not None:
       bpy.context.scene.collection.children.link(coll)

Further information: https://www.blender.org/api/current/bpy.types.BlendDataLibraries.html

Sorry but this don't make it. This is the solution i have already, that's why i specified "behave like the append operator(shift F1) with everything local/editable".
Here it behave like a link (ctrl alt o). i ll edit my first post to be more clear

@Boris, There is a link argument, Set it to False to behave like Append

In Blender 2.8 replace bpy.context.scene.objects.link(obj) with bpy.context.collection.objects.link(obj)

@brockmann   Re edit, TM chose tthe one? datablock type that has changed... groups become collections to make it 2.8+ compatico.

Ooops, thanks @batFINGER Added a collection example

Is there a way to do this in Blender 4? My old way no longer works.

authors: Делл Конагер


text:
Why does one of the faces show dotted in editmode?
I just started blender a few days ago and I noticed that when making faces, they sometimes have this dotted texture compared to the generic smooth texture. I have been having difficulties with this and was wondering why these dotted faces are different from the regular faces, how do I get rid of them and what are the advantages of using them?
This is my image:

Thank you!

It's possible it is a display bug in 2.67. If you want to experiment, you can try downloading the newest version of Blender which is 2.70, or maybe 2.69.

Its not a bug, recent versions of Blender only show when selected.

The last selected faces is known as the Active Face and draws with a Stipple overlay (dots),
This is used to determine which texture to show in the image window, since its possible to UV map multiple images from a single mesh.

But the face is not selected -- several vertices are selected, and one is active. Wouldn't that make the stippled face neither active nor selected, and hence not stippled?

Actually, notice how none of the selected vertices seem to be connected to the surrounding edges? The active vertex (the white one) doesn't show highlighting outward, and neither does the one directly below the blue Z arrow. This suggests to me there may be lots of duplicate vertices and perhaps overlapping faces. And, maybe in 2.67 (which is what OP is using) these would have stippling-like effects, particularly if the normals are conflicting.

This behavior changed, now only selected+active faces show with stipple. (2.69+)

So, are you saying that in 2.67, the stippling shown here was supposed to be there & isn't a bug?

Right, in 2.70 its there too, just not displayed when the face isnt selected.


text:
Panning with Shift + middle mouse button stopped working
When I pan with the Shift + MMB, it doesn't work. I think I might have accidentally pressed some sort of key-shortcut. It works for other views, so it's not my mouse. What sort of shortcut could I have pressed?

If you say that it "works for other views", do you mean other views of the same Blender instance?
Also, panning works with Shift + MMB, not Ctrl + MMB.

If the problem is only for one 3D View space, and it's in perspective mode, this might help: Why does the zoom sometimes stop at a point?. That's because you said the shortcut is Ctrl+MMB which is for zooming.

Did mean shift+mmb and edited post to clear of further confusion :)
Works for other 3D view spaces in the same blender instance yes.
I tried reloading Factory Defaults as dukejib suggested and it fixed the problem. Thanks :)

Somehow, unbeknownst to me, I had locked my view (Shift-Numpad .). I had to unlock it again (Alt-Numpad .) before Shift-MMB would work again.

Don't know why, but I had to "Toggle Local View" and it worked again.

This fixed it for me: https://brandon3d.com/blender-cant-zoom-in-fix-with-auto-depth/

I've had this happen a few times to me, and not pressed anything I shouldn't.
I found going to object mode and pressing the home key fixes it. (View All).
I seem to get this problem when I've zoomed in too close, or am using the UV view.

I want to upvote this answer more than others. It’s unfair that I can’t. An underrated question following this answer specifically: here.

As a reminder, you can just hit spacebar and type View all.

This is dumb that this fixed it, because it seems like it has nothing to do with the shift / ctrl middle mouse movement. But it fixed my problem. Thank you!

Six years years later and on Blender 3.0 I had a similar problem. Only for me it was very slow to drag but it still worked. Pressing the Home key reset whatever it was that was caused Shift + middle mouse to slow down to a crawl.

This should be the accepted answer

If reloading the factory settings in File>>Load Factory Settings helps, then you can check your mouse settings in the user preferences, input tab:

In the example, the checkboxes are set to pan with MMB and rotate with ShiftMMB.
If that's not the reason, it might be that you are in perspective mode and you have zoomed in a lot. Does the 3d view display 'Persp' in the top left corner? NUMPAD5 or holding NUMPAD- will repair that.

I had the same problem, and this solution worked:

Hit N in the 3D view to open the Properties region.
In the View submenu, turn off Lock to Cursor or Lock to Object.

It's not unlikely that a relatively inexperienced user would not realize that this setting exists, or would not know how to restore it.

Not sure of the Shortcut. but you can get your original settings back by loading Factory Defaults.
Its in File Menu.
The reason why it happened is because the user set clip start on view settings too low. If they use your factory reset method they will potentially lose work. Just set the clip start to 30cm

Be careful to load Factory Defaults as it will reset the scene to the good old cube, erasing all your current work (if you did not save it)!!!

I had the same issue in Blender 3.0. Going in Object Mode then View and then Frame All fixed this issue.

This actually helped me, thank you stranger

Had this same problem.
Zoom (ctrl/mmb) and Pan (shift/mmb) just stopped working for one of my Blender files (but the rest were fine).
The simplest solution I found online was to hit the "period" key on the number pad.
Worked like a charm.
No need to reset to factory defaults or do anything complicated.
Just hit "." on your number pad.

I landed here when I could not find a solution. My 3d viewport allowed me to rotate around the object but panning was not possible anymore (and it worked before in the same scene).
None of the answers here worked for me. I found a simple solution for my case:

add another view panel (or select an existing one around in the UI)
change the type to Viewport 3D
after that, remove/collapse the previous buggy 3D viewport panel

It seems forces Blender to create a new 3D viewport that doesn't have this problem. Everything went back to normal, panning included.

The problem was solved by setting the daemon program "X Neural Switcher", well who would have thought!
Xubuntu 14.04: stop the daemon of "X Neural Switcher".


text:
How to get a lamp icon at the location of a lamp
When you first start up Blender 2.6.9 it has a cube, a camera, and a lamp. Both the camera and the lamp have a simple icon-like image that you can see and move around like other objects in the scene. However, sometime during my modeling process these icons have disappeared and when I try to move my light source a circle shows up around where it is but the circle doesn't move when I try to move the light around. Is there a setting or some way to change it back so that I can see the icons for the lamp and camera and move them around again?
Edit: I also just found out when I tried to move other objects that the circle shows up for them too, is there a way to make that go away as well? It's kind of annoying and I'm not used to it.

The large circle you described is showing because you have Proportional Editing enabled . Click the icon or use O to disable it. As for the missing icons, make sure that you didn't hide them accidentally or that you didn't tick Only Render under Display.

That fixed the circle, thanks, but it didn't seem to do anything to help make the icons show up, is there something else that I'm missing?

@Roboinventor Use Ctrl + Spacebar to make the manipulator appear.

The manipulators were never gone, just the little light bulb and camera icons where the camera and light bulb are, like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Blender3D_StartScreen-2.53.png you can see the little light bulb and camera in the image

@Roboinventor That scene looks normal to me. I'm not sure what i'm looking for here, can you circle the area(s) or save and attach the blend file.

I added the picture in an edit to my question so I didn't have to host it somewhere

@Roboinventor Join me in chat. http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/8888/the-renderfarm

iKIsr: He does not have Proportional Editing enabled.  It's greyed out.

@MarcClintDion which is why we moved the conversation to chat. He wasn't describing the problem accurately. The screenshot above is what he wanted, possibly taken from a default version and not the scene he was in.


text:
How do I make a model resemble one with low poly count?
I want to make a model look like a low poly count, very detail lacking figure such as like this:

Very much resembling mid to late nineties 3-D polygonal model formats that were run in games on consoles like PS1, N64.
If you could have a look and entail, what steps should I take to design a model similar to those?
Or like this, for a better overview:

not sure what you need to know, do you know how to model?

@zeffii The question was very close to being off-topic but as he didn't ask for explicit instructions, it couldn't hurt to give some pointers. We also need some initial questions like these as an example of questions not to ask.

It would seem you want to create low-poly art. The best way to do this is to actually model these objects to achieve this look and quality and then texture them.
No amount of modifiers or tricks will get the same unique look. Also using modifiers can make animating, texturing or rigging very difficult and also destroy your mesh topology something that is key in lowpoly style characters/objects.
The Decimate modifier might be of some help though, it can reduce mesh geometry but it is not very flexible and generally unpredictable in how it does this when used on complex objects.
Also as bummzack points out below, alot of the detail say you see on low-poly models is mostly from the texture(s).

You might want to add that these models usually also use quite small textures (256x256 or even smaller) and don't have sophisticated lighting modes (mostly it's just flat- or Gouraud-shading with pre-baked or pre-painted lighting). A lot of the details actually are part of the texture and not the model...

What i did here is use the images provided as a background image, then trace around them by extruding a vertex.

Then in sideview / orthographic pull and push the internal vertices to give the character some body.

If you don't already know how to model, or use blender, these low poly characters are great things to practice.

i'll leave it like this because the OP hasn't come back to respond to any of the comments. There's little point  in answering the questions we think they should be asking.. i did the lowpoly out of curiosity

First off, FF7 used a stencil buffer implemented on the PS1's video hardware.
Second, as mentioned, low-pixel count textures.
Third, low-poly count as you already stated.
That leaves pretty much everything up to you.
If you wanted advice on how to specifically render a model similar to one you'd seen on FF7, here are some relevant sources that may help you get an understanding of both the model file format, compression, and layout:
http://q-gears.sourceforge.net/gears.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw9mEMep3F8

I just want to say how cool this answer is.


text:
How to show an object in the 3D View as a specific color?
This isn't about the final render using cycles, but in the 3D view when I'm in Object or Edit (or any) mode.   I want to make one object in a tangled mess of object stand out as bright blue (or any color).    I'm usually working with wireframe, solid, or texture view modes.
I guessed that in the properties panel, Object -> Display -> Object Color would set how the object is shown, assuming I'm in Solid view mode.  But no, it's still gray.  I played with the "Maximum Draw Type" but it has no effect.  I couldn't find anything else to play with that helped.
What is "Object Color" supposed to do, if not what I expect?  What is the way to get that object to show as bright blue?

Properties > Material > Settings > Viewport Color

IN REPLY TO A COMMENT

"Used when faces have ObjColor mode enabled"

Yup, perfect.  So what the heck is "Object Color" for?

@DarenW see edit... not sure what thats all about... i would look into objcolor mode

Object color only does stuff in BI. (It's used for setting per-object colors in one material). For a workaround in cycles see this post.

Outdated, please fix

+1 but... While there is a 'Settings' panel when 'Cycles Render' is selected, this panel doesn't exist for 'Blender Render' (v2.79). However with Blender renderer, the object is displayed, when the 3D display is set to 'Solid', using the color set in the 'Diffuse' panel. So the answer for this renderer is to use the 'Diffuse' panel (in my opinion an inconsistency in Blender design).

In newer versions of Blender (2.72):
Check the box
Properties -> Material -> Options -> Object Color
Now the Object Color (from Properties -> Object -> Display) is used for faces in the 3D editor. Very nice to keep things organized.
You might want to create one material called "Object Color" and then with linking CtrlL use it for all other objects that you want to organize by color.

Changing the Viewport color does indeed help when in Object Mode, but when you go into Edit mode, in order to make the mesh distinguishable from other objects not being edited, you can change the colors for the vertices, edges and faces: Preferences > Themes > 3D View > Wire Edit and Vertex
This is invaluable in being able to find the mesh being edited when there are lots of other objects around.

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks a lot.

In Blender 3.x the "ObColor Mode" is enabled (or selected) in the "Viewport Shading" dropdown for each 3D viewport. Object Color mode can be enabled for both solid view (your question).

as well as Wireframe mode

In either case, enter the viewport mode you desire (shortcut Z 4 or Z 6) and then click the small down arrow or "v" shape to the right of the shading selector which looks like four spheres in a line. This is a menu at the right side of the window "Header" which can be at the top or bottom of the "3D Viewport" pane. If the Header is hidden, it can be restored to view by clicking the small chevron arrow in the top-right corner "v" or bottom-right corner "^" of the 3D viewport.
Once you have opened the "Viewport Shading" dropdown, if you are in Wireframe or Solid shading mode, you will see a "color" section. Select the "Object" option, which should be the middle option on the top row. This will display the object color in the 3D Viewport.


text:
Why is this script not working properly?
I am writing an addon,I am here defining variables based on a list to use it in  "for in" statement.But when I run the addon it is not working properly or not working at all.
description of the addon
The addon is made to disable visablity, selection and rendering based on visablity,selection and rendering so for instance if I want to make the hidden object non renderable I can use the addon to do that, I can also make the unselectable hidden and so on, it is useful in some cases like Boolean which we hidded an want to make them non renderable and so on.
It works as following, there is 2 lists and 2 booleans when you run the addon,the 1st Boolean define what will be done (disable or enable) 1st list define which property will be edited (like renderable in the Boolean modifier example). 2nd Boolean define when should the addon be done(when the property is disabled or enabled) 2nd list define the property which the addon will be dobe based on, (like the visability in the Boolean mdofier example)
code
# ##### BEGIN GPL LICENSE BLOCK #####
#
#  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
#  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
#  as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
#  of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
#
#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#  GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
#  Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
#
# ##### END GPL LICENSE BLOCK #####

bl_info = {
    "name": "Restrict Object",
    "author": "Omar Ahmed",
    "version": (1, 0),
    "blender": (2, 75, 0),
    "location": "View3D > Object > ",
    "description": "Enable/Disable viewport visability,selection and rendering based on restrict options",
    "warning": "",
    "wiki_url": "",
    "tracker_url": "",
    "category": "Object"}

import bpy
from bpy.props import EnumProperty,BoolProperty

class RestrictObject(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Restrict Object visability"""
    bl_idname = "object.restrict_object"
    bl_label = "Restrict Object"
    bl_options = {'UNDO','REGISTER'}

    Operation_boolean =  BoolProperty(name="Disable", description="Disabl selected property based on the other selected property", default=True)
    Operation_list =     EnumProperty(items = [('Viewport visibility', 'Viewport visibility', 'viewport visibility'),
                                      ('Viewport selection', 'Viewport selection', 'viewport selection'),
                                      ('Rendering','Rendering','Rendering')],
                             name="Property",
                             description="Select the property you want to change",
                             default="Rendering")
    Original_boolean =  BoolProperty(name="Disabled", description="The original property", default= True)
    Property_list =     EnumProperty(items = [('Viewport visibility', 'Viewport visibility', 'viewport visibility'),
                                      ('Viewport selection', 'Viewport selection', 'viewport selection'),
                                      ('Rendering','Rendering','Rendering')],
                             name="Original property",
                             description="Select the property in which the operation will be based on",
                             default="Viewport visibility")

    def execute(self, context):

        if self.Operation_list == "Viewport visibility" :
            Restricted_property = "object.hide"
        elif self.Operation_list == "Viewport selection" :
            Restricted_property = "object.hide_select"
        else :
            Restricted_property = "object.hide_render"

        if self.Property_list == "Viewport visibility" :
            Original_property = "object.hide"
        elif self.Property_list == "Viewport selection" :
            Original_property = "object.hide_select"
        else :
            Original_property = "object.hide_render"

        for object in bpy.context.scene.objects:
            if Original_property == self.Original_boolean :
                Restricted_property = self.Operation_boolean

            return {'FINISHED'}

class RestrictObjectPanel(bpy.types.Panel):
    """Restrict Object Panel"""
    bl_idname = "SCENE_PT_Restrict_Object"
    bl_label = "Restrict Object Panel"

    bl_space_type = 'PROPERTIES'
    bl_region_type = 'WINDOW'
    bl_context = 'scene'

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        layout.operator(RestrictObject.bl_idname, text = "Restrict object", icon = 'FILE_REFRESH')

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(RestrictObject)
    bpy.utils.register_class(RestrictObjectPanel)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(RestrictObject)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(RestrictObjectPanel)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

I guess that defining variable portion is the wrong,but when I try to fix it it give me more errors,so I want to get a review here before doing anything else.

The execute function is indeed where the magic is failing :)
yours
def execute(self, context):

    if self.Operation_list == "Viewport visibility" :
        Restricted_property = "object.hide"
    elif self.Operation_list == "Viewport selection" :
        Restricted_property = "object.hide_select"
    else :
        Restricted_property = "object.hide_render"

    if self.Property_list == "Viewport visibility" :
        Original_property = "object.hide"
    elif self.Property_list == "Viewport selection" :
        Original_property = "object.hide_select"
    else :
        Original_property = "object.hide_render"

    for object in bpy.context.scene.objects:
        if Original_property == self.Original_boolean :
            Restricted_property = self.Operation_boolean

        return {'FINISHED'}

The most important thing here to realize is that you aren't executing code in your assignment to the Restricted_property variable, but you might want to dive deeper into Python to fully appreciate this.
my Pythonic rewrite
def execute(self, context):

    op_dict = {
        "Viewport visibility": "hide",
        "Viewport selection": "hide_select"
    }

    # if self.operation_list is not explicitely mentioned in op_dict above
    # using .get() will return 'hide_render' instead.
    Restricted_property = op_dict.get(self.Operation_list, 'hide_render')
    Original_property = op_dict.get(self.Property_list, 'hide_render')

    for object in bpy.context.scene.objects:
        if getattr(object, Original_property) == self.Original_boolean:
            setattr(object, Restricted_property, self.Operation_boolean)

    return {'FINISHED'}

I think that's what you want anyway. Notice the use of getattr and setattr they are very useful for dynamic programming.
Additionally I've placed the return statement after the loop, so the loop will iterate over all objects (but if that was intentional returning early, revert that change)
https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#setattr
https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#getattr

I added the code above

thanks for the answer,I am completely new to python so I will take time to get used to this things,But blender is giving me syntax error in  "hide_select" in the line 5 in your rewrite,what is the problem?

I forgot a comma in the op_dict . :)

but an unrelated problem is that you haven't added some of your properties to the draw function..

Most of my properties are going to be custom properties after the excution of the script,and really thanks for your help.


text:
how to find the data_path for scripted keyframes
I would like to script keyframes for bevel modifier width (and many more later). Here is what I have so far. I've commented out the last line which doesn't work. When I type help(ao.keyframe_insert), I get :arg data_path: path to the property to key, analogous to the fcurve's data path. but that doesn't help me since I haven't use fcurves yet.
The first half of my question is "how to key the bevel width as I am trying in the example script?"
...and the second half is "where could I have looked this up?" or "how can I know in general what do write in keyframe_insert(data_path="" without asking a new question each time I want to key something?"
Thanks for your understanding!
import bpy
import numpy as np

frame_a, frame_b = 25, 35
sigma_a, sigma_b = 7, 10
n_frames = 60

if 1 == 1:
    bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(radius=1, location=(0.0, 0.0, 2.0))
    bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='BEVEL')
    bpy.context.object.modifiers["Bevel"].width = 0.3
    bpy.context.object.modifiers["Bevel"].segments = 3

ao = bpy.context.active_object

bpy.context.scene.frame_end = n_frames

for i_frame in range(n_frames):
    a = np.exp(-(i_frame - frame_a)**2 / (2.*sigma_a**2))
    s = 1.0 + 0.3 * a
    bw = 1.0 * a
    ao.modifiers["Bevel"].width = bw
    ao.scale = (s, s, s)
    ao.keyframe_insert(data_path="scale", frame = i_frame + 1, index=-1)
    #ao.keyframe_insert(data_path="modifiers['Bevel'].width", frame = i_frame + 1, index=-1)

just switch the double quotes and the single quotes in the last line 'modifiers["Bevel"].width'

Wow! @Chebhou that's just what I needed - thanks!  I'm wondering now should I just delete the question (it's really a non-question almost).

I'll try @zeffii. That's a good answer to link to. But I don't know what an "outliner" is.

Aha! got it. But I don't see how one could find 'modifiers["Bevel"].width' by looking at the outliner.

@uhoh you can find it from the UI not the outliner exactly

OK up there at the top, the scrolling python narrative, right next to the left-handed smoke shifter.

possible duplicate :(  http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/9363/is-there-a-list-for-keyframe-data-paths-in-blender/9368#9368

To get the data_path of a UI element (property, icon..), rightclick it and select "Copy Data Path"

Wrapping the resulting data_path with double quotes is a legal python string representation (eg: "modifiers['Bevel'].width"), and arguably should be allowed. But the parser of properties favours 'modifiers["Bevel"].width', presumably to keep the string parsing to a  minimal implementation.

The above will be able to compute most kinds of data_path, but if it fails you can

make a keyframe for the property
go to the Outliner (set to view Datablocks)
navigate to Actions -> (Object/Scenename)+Action -> F-Curve
See Data Path. (this is what the initial

path to the property to key, analogous to the fcurve's data path

refers to.)

I see many good things I didn't know where there when I right click things like buttons, objects, or even sub-items in the outliner. But I never see "Copy data_path" I'm using 2.74 but do I need to turn something on?

No, it's me. I just failed to click on things that were actually data. The image is extremely helpful!


text:
Render semi-transparent self-intersecting surface in cycles
I am looking at mesh surfaces that intersect themselves and show both sides (inside/outside). It's easier to put one here than to explain. So far, I can not cycles render it with transparency. It renders completely opaque for me. I'm toggling alt-z and it changes from semi-transparent to opaque in normal view (object mode) but always opaque in render. It is interesting to watch when toggling backface culling.
I give the shape here, because there may be some strange thing due to the variety of surface normal directions.
I don't want glass or refraction, I just want to see the surfaces themselves in some way that I can see inside.
NOTE: it DOES render semi-transparent in blender render. Using 2.74. I think I will have to play with multiple lights and diffuseness before it looks excellent.

import bpy
import numpy as np

nth, nph = 101, 200
th  = np.linspace(-0.5*np.pi, 0.5*np.pi, nth)
phi = np.linspace(-np.pi, np.pi, nph)
y3 = np.sin(th) - 1.8*np.sin(th)**3
X = np.cos(phi)[None,:] * np.cos(th)[:,None]
Y = np.sin(phi)[None,:] * np.cos(th)[:,None]
Z = np.zeros_like(X)            + y3[:,None]

verts = [tuple(thing) for thing in zip(X.flatten(), Y.flatten(), Z.flatten())]
faces = []
for ith in range(nth-1):
    for iph in range(nph-1):
        v1 = nph*ith + iph
        v2 = v1 + 1
        v3 = v2 + nph
        v4 = v3 - 1
        faces.append((v1, v2, v3, v4))

purple = bpy.data.materials.new("transPurple")
purple.diffuse_color = (1.0, 0.0, 0.67)
purple.alpha = 0.2
purple.use_transparency = True

me = bpy.data.meshes.new('wow')
ob = bpy.data.objects.new('wow', me)

ob.location = (0.0, 0.0, 2.0)
bpy.context.scene.objects.link(ob)
me.from_pydata(verts,[],faces)
ob.active_material = purple
ob.show_transparent = True
bpy.data.objects['wow'].select = False
bpy.data.objects['wow'].select = True
bpy.ops.object.shade_smooth()

To increase the clarity of your explanation please include screen snapshots of the rendered mesh.  Please show your successful version and unsuccessful version. Annotations are welcome.

Oh, I didn't know I could do that! Thanks @atomicbezierslinger !!

You mix a diffuse and transparent node in the material

I'm running/animating everything from the script @NoviceInDisguise. Mesh is changing shape and alpha, frame-by-frame, and (some day in the future) on a per-face basis. Are there script commands?

There should be, you will need a diffuse, a transparent, and a mix node. You just animate the factor then

Can I just adjust the material parameters in the script directly, or is it necessary to create nodes in the script for this? I thought nodes were just a GUI to do math that could also be done in script.

uhoh - there's no scarcity economy here, ask as many unique questions as you want. Lumping them into one ongoing question really defeats the purpose of the site, and makes it difficult to find all these nuggets of information that get shared in the comments.

two useful functions
import bmesh
import bpy

def set_smooth(ob):
    mesh = ob.data
    smooth_states = [True] * len(mesh.polygons)
    mesh.polygons.foreach_set('use_smooth', smooth_states)
    mesh.update()

def remove_doubles(ob, d=0.00001):
    bm = bmesh.new()
    bm.from_mesh(ob.data)
    bmesh.ops.remove_doubles(bm, verts=bm.verts[:], dist=d)
    bm.to_mesh(ob.data)
    bm.free()

Those two functions aren't really meant for real-time stuff, but neither is bpy.ops stuff. They can however be integrated in a key-framed and rendered animation, no problem.
import bmesh
import bpy
import numpy as np

# set_smooth() and remove_doubles() are declared elsewhere

nth, nph = 101, 200
th  = np.linspace(-0.5*np.pi, 0.5*np.pi, nth)
phi = np.linspace(-np.pi, np.pi, nph)
y3 = np.sin(th) - 1.8*np.sin(th)**3
X = np.cos(phi)[None,:] * np.cos(th)[:,None]
Y = np.sin(phi)[None,:] * np.cos(th)[:,None]
Z = np.zeros_like(X)            + y3[:,None]

verts = [tuple(thing) for thing in zip(X.flatten(), Y.flatten(), Z.flatten())]
faces = []
for ith in range(nth-1):
    for iph in range(nph-1):
        v1 = nph*ith + iph
        v2 = v1 + 1
        v3 = v2 + nph
        v4 = v3 - 1
        faces.append((v1, v2, v3, v4))

me = bpy.data.meshes.new('wow')
me.from_pydata(verts,[],faces)
ob = bpy.data.objects.new('wow', me)
ob.location = (0.0, 0.0, 2.0)
bpy.context.scene.objects.link(ob)
set_smooth(ob)
remove_doubles(ob)

setting up a cycles material via script is a little bit involved, and you might ask yourself, how much of this should I be doing via script or manually setting up the material and only adjust certain parameters via script at render time..
import bpy

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

my_mat = bpy.data.materials.new('cool_mat')
my_mat.use_nodes = True
nodes = my_mat.node_tree.nodes

# material output and diffuse nodes are present already, get them by name
mat_output = nodes.get("Material Output")
diffuse = nodes.get("Diffuse BSDF") # new(type='ShaderNodeBsdfDiffuse')
# mix and transparent are added by the script
mix = nodes.new(type='ShaderNodeMixShader')
transp = nodes.new(type='ShaderNodeBsdfTransparent')

mat_output.location = 300, 0
mix.location = 0, 0
diffuse.location = -200, 50
transp.location = -200, -100

''' hook up shaders '''

# link mix_shader to material output
a = mix.outputs['Shader']
b = mat_output.inputs['Surface']
my_mat.node_tree.links.new(a, b)

# link diffuse to mix
a = diffuse.outputs['BSDF']
b = mix.inputs[1]  # 'Shader' is used twice, so you access via index.
my_mat.node_tree.links.new(a, b)

# link transparent to mix
a = transp.outputs['BSDF']
b = mix.inputs[2]
my_mat.node_tree.links.new(a, b)

''' small shader adjustments and mixing '''

mix.inputs[0].default_value = 0.8  # factor
diffuse.inputs['Color'].default_value = [0.8, 0.0, 0.191713, 1.0]
transp.inputs['Color'].default_value = [1.0, 0.152801, 0.582658, 1.0]

which combined, gives something like this:

I suspect a node setup like this might be a little more interesting: (note: I have ambient occlusion on!)

The idea is to make the color or factor a function of the cross product between surface normal and the up vector (0,0,z). Using the nodes allows you to embrace vector mathematics for the adjustment of the shader at local points.
or taking the viewing angle into account too:

And notice there is a backfacing output on the Geometry node, worth exploring

Sweet! This is incredible @zeffii - there is a huge amount of stuff here to learn! Thank you! (I wish I could vote more than once on this answer)

OK now I see that I need to read in depth about shaders. That seems to be where the optics is implemented. Thank you @zeffii for taking the time to show how to build nodes from script, and I can understand why sometimes drawing them can be faster.

yeah, they can be imported from other files if you find a nice combo and want to reuse


text:
Can cycles Wireframe Input be coerced into displaying Tris, Quads and Ngons
edit 2 years later: Here is an alternative answer that meets the desired end-result using FreeStyle.

Is there a way to make the wireframe input show the geometry as BMesh polygons instead of the raw triangulated mesh? The example below displays the wireframe of a mesh in edit mode (as you can see it doesn't have any triangles).

When I render the mesh it appears triangulated, but being able to show quads and ngons (instead of only tris) would be more useful to me.

Which wireframe material is this? Can you link to it please?

it's a mix of wireframe input and ambient occlusion shader. nothing special. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3397495/blender_related/quantize_and_normalize.blend

@zeffii had a look around, this might be what you are looking for, I didn't go through it yet tho. http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/41864

@iKlsR that does look promising!

One of the Techniques (UV Based) of the .Blend file on Blendswap is explained here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjhdGY21WqQ But it didnt work out for me, as the Lines get drawn in different Thickness acording to their Face-side ratio.
With fairly even distributes equally sized Polygons its working quite good. Hope that helps
In the mean time here's one workaround that doesn't require UVs:
Note that you have to activate Auto Smooth and set it to 0° (don't ask me why)

As of yet it hasn't been implemented. Although there was no specific mention of improving the wireframe node, Thomas Dinges is working on some Cycles things this GSoC. I think it's just a matter of time before he, or another developer, gets to it.

quite right, I look forward to seeing something more convenient than the old methods.

The other answers don't look great rendered, I'm OK with this answer in the negative for now. I will submit an alternative but leave this one accepted.

I think this is what you want(iKlsR also mentions this in the comments):
http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/41864
The .blend file contains a wireframe shader for both quads and triangles.

Not only is this a link answer but the content is also behind a registration wall. Please include some info on how this shader works.


text:
What does "tweak left" mean?
In Object Mode, the "Select" menu drops down to "Box Select."  The keyboard shortcut shown for this is "Tweak Left."
What does "Tweak Left" mean?  How am I supposed to use this keyboard shortcut (or mouse shortcut)?

You probably have a test build with a tweak patch. Yes, tweaking involves mouse.

(...) drag and let go via either left or right click, which most applications have.

This means you click on an object, drag it while holding down the mouse key and release the key when you're done.
You may also read the posts by a pansi and Fligh users

"This means you click on an object, drag it while holding down the mouse key and release the key when you're done", this seems to be the exact definition of to drag.


text:
After parent bone with another bone, why my bones and mesh only visible in edit mode? No constrains
I'm new to rigging, and there is my problem.
I followed the course called "The Art Of Effective Rigging In Blender", in the course, there is three bone system in one Armature, deform/target/control.
deform :  Directly bind with mesh.
target :  The target bones of "Copy Transforms" constrain added on deform bones.
control:  Control the target bones in world space, Where the problem appears.
Problem: I parent the root bone of target bones to one control bone in edit mode, switch pose mode, everything disappeared (include target bones) but the control bones.
I followed the course all the way down, and compare the blend file with the blend file in course-files, didn't find any key different till now, I'll keep looking for it...
So if there is any solution or advice for this problem, thanks a lot!!
This is two blend files I uploaded to Dropbox

It seems like a Beta version problem, I rigged it in Blender version 2.83.
And I tried to rig it from scratch in version 2.82, It's completely no problem!

Oh, it seems I have to close the question two day later.


text:
Blender 2.8, missing a few things
I just downloaded blender 2.8 from the site, i was watching a tutorial and i noticed the tutorial had things i didn't in it. Im missing a wigets bar and a transform tool. All the red circled things.

You are probably in the wrong Mode. Hit the Tab key and from the menu try to switch to Edit Mode or Object Mode.

I guess since it is now possible to get 2.80 just following a link called "Try Blender 2.80 Beta" without scrolling down and reading all the red warnings this is a valid question.
Blender 2.80 has been in very active development for quite some time now. It is normal for things to change. It is still in beta version. Beta version means it is not yet released as finished software. Although they are now a bit easier to miss, the warnings at blender.org are still valid as well:

You still get some warnings while downloading and you get the explanation as well if you click on "Legend":

What you happened to observe here are changes during the development. Blender simply changed from the time the tutorials were made.


text:
How to add Brushes in 2.8
Trying to add brushes to blender.
Following this tutorial but nothing is the same anymore, I am using 2.80 latest build.
Trying to add these brushes, but I cannot find anything on how to add in 2.80. Thought I had it once but they disappeared once I click on one.

Asking for tutorials, links or resources is considered off topic here. Could you please rephrase your question so if focuses more on solving the problem and less on google searching?

Click Append in File menu
Browse file \ Brush and select brushes you need (b for box select)
In Sculpt mode click on brush preview image and select one

Updated:
Brushes will be saved in you curent file.

Thought I had it once but they disappeared once I click on one.

That mean you have not saved your brushes in Startup file. If you need these brushes in each your project - you need to save they in Startup.

Be careful - with brushes all other data (objects, UI and so on..) will be saved as Startup! Preferably create New file, import brushes and then save Startup file.
Blend file with brushes

tried to open the saved file and found just one brush.
seems like, blender won't set brush textures by user and they become purged by saving.
I think this is a small beta bug, needed to be reported

Thanks appreciate the help. will give it a try.

Why doesn't the brush in .psd file format show up when I try to append it?

M'I doing something wrong ? I'm using Blender 2.82, I follow exactly all these steps, and everytime I start a project, I have to import my brushes, not to mention that all the thumbnails are not being shown when I enter the sculpt mode.


text:
Strange lines when importing FBX file from Fusion 360. What are they?

(Noob here.)
I get these solid black lines in most of my Fusion assembly imports. They mark the XYZ location of each body's origin point. It's not consistent though. Sometimes I see none or just one for the entire assembly. I tried to correlate this with linked vs embedded, hidden F360 origins vs visible, etc. I'm not learning anything.
The graphic shows two Fusion FBX files imported at the same time. One file has the lines and the other doesn't.
They disappear when I uncheck Extras in the Overlay panel. What are these called? How do I get rid of them?

Hello, could you please share your object? https://blend-exchange.com/

Sorry for the late reply. I am new to this forum and reply/comments seem to be extra tiny. So I just now finally saw your message, The two FBX files and blend file are here:
https://kioskgroupinc-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/mjames_kioskgroup_com/EYvYciNJBgFNmBvO6x3haMEBREASFhhrVl8rUeqn3jwMDg
https://kioskgroupinc-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/mjames_kioskgroup_com/EZJ2vAuI1H5IsrM-8Y7B5sYBEViesJP9-_0iljnCPvHCBw
https://kioskgroupinc-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/mjames_kioskgroup_com/EU_k2xo6BGNDpgi-ejKufo4BU_NTno2kOoEvvLk2-_vHeQ

These look like empty objects (you can create them yourself via the menu Add > Empty > Plain Axes).
AFAIK, some 3d exchange formats tend to consider groups or collections of objects as object, with transform coordinates in the 3D world. And, are therefore interpreted as "empty objects" in most importers. Which are empty objects in Blender.
You could remove them if you want, although some objects' placements might be affected by it.
If you just want to not see them and not modify your assets, I'd suggest to product-assign them a to a hidden collection.

In the outliner, click the New Collection button on the top left corner, name it EmptyHidden, uncheck its eye icon to hide it.
Select your empty objects (you can select one of them, then press ⇧ ShiftG to open the Select Group menu and chose Types to select all objects of same type)
Open the Move to Collection menu > select the EmptyHidden collection.

If you want to delete them, I suggest to first select the top-level object of your asset, then ⇧ ShiftG > Children, Alt P > Clear Parents (keep transforms), then you can select the empty objects as previous .2 and delete them without disrupting your asset.

Thank you friend, This helps a lot. Yes they are empties. Apparently, they come in with the Fusion hierarchy. I was able to move them into the EmptyHidden Collection as you suggested. Great trick!
All of the body naming is removed during this process, so I'm left with a bunch of Body1.xxx labels. I'll need to decide which is more of a PITA.
There is one remaining issue of why these come in with the import for some assemblies and not others. From what I can tell, the hierarchies are structured the same, and my import settings are the same.  I'll keep experimenting.
Best regards.


text:
How can I find where an image texture is being used?
I was scrolling the images my file uses, and I noticed an image, that I don't remember, is used in my file. I tried going though all the materials and looking at nodes to find which one uses this image texture. It doesn't have the 0 before its name, so I know it's being used somewhere, but I can't figure out where.
Is there a way I can figure out which material is using this image texture?

Do you remember the image name? If you know the image name: img.png, you can find where the image used via a script.

You can use the Amaranth Toolset that is bundled with Blender. Among other useful tools, you can use it to list the users of an image in your file. It will tell you which material and object is using the image.
Find this in the scene properties under Scene Debug:

So this powerful add-on is disabled in default, we need to turn in on.


text:
Why is the walk cycle not working?
I have a 32-frame walk animation and have converted it to action. With the first and 250 last frames I set the keyframe as a walk cycle. When I hit play it just walks 32 frames and then slides the rest of the frames.

I have set the repeat option (8 repeat). It walks, but not as a normal continuous walk cycle. Where am I going wrong or what else do I have to do to make it a complete walk?

Pose Mode

It looks like your character is moving forwards both in Pose mode and in Object mode. I guess it's your problem.
Most of the time, when you create a repetitive walk cycle in Pose mode, you'll make your character (i.e. his root bone) stand "still" on the X and Y axis, like if he was walking on a treadmill. It's only once in Object mode that you'll make the whole armature move forwards, either with a Follow Path constraint or just making him move from point A to point B with keyframes.
It's the combination of treadmill animation and movement in the scene that will recreate the illusion of walk.
Making an armature move forwards in Pose mode (i.e. moving its root bone or moving the other bones away from the root bone) is only useful for small moves through the scene, or for some complex and non-repetitive movements, and in that case you generally won't make him move in Object mode.

Did not work in pose mode also plz check the question above update

is your walk cycle stationary in Pose mode (i.e. like on a treadmill). If it is not, do it this way, and then, in Object mode, move your object forward.

i have got that walk animation from mixamo website. Is there any issue regarding it.

perhaps the one I'm explaining   ;)  perhaps share your file (at least the armature)

plz check the file in question

the problem is exactly the one I try to explain: if, in Pose mode, you check the armature animation called "Armature|mixamo.com|Layer0", you'll see that the armature will move forward when it should stay still like walking on a treadmill. So what happens on your scene? It repeats the same animation consisting on going forward then back to its start point and again forward and back, etc... you've given an animation to the whole armature but it just makes this back and forth animation going forward... What do you need to do? Create a treadmill walk animation !

im just beginner to learn the walk cycle. Seen video to make walk cycle with the mixamo website. So can u plz explain in the answer with my file how it will work. Little in detail. Thanks

wow it's a little bit hard on a forum, please search tutorials on youtube, you'll find a lot   ;)

That what i want to learn. If u make little steps or give reference video maybe it will be clear.

for example this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuUWxUitJos&

I would also in the first instance use repeat, but increase it by a few increments


text:
How can I fill both ends of a curve using Geometry Notes?
How can I fill both ends of a curve using Geometry Notes?

If, instead of extruding a filled curve, you use Curve > Convert to Mesh:

Cap-filling is already provided as an option.

(Remember to set flat shading - "Set Shade Smooth" node)

A much better suggestion than mine. I knew there was a 'fill caps' somewhere, but blanked on it. My newbie flag is unfurled and flapping wave-texturally in simulated wind.

@SamMitee yours answered generally by extrusion. I wouldn't say Markus's was better. They are just different ♂.

@shmuel echo that :)

There's a good explanation for this from an earlier post here:
https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/256602/181042
The short version is that the extrude mesh node does not preserve the back face. You have to copy/flip it, then merge it with the original geometry to restore it.
Changing the relevant part of your node tree to something more like this might help:


text:
How can I make a mirror which reflects only chosen things?
I'm making an animation and I would like to make a mirror which reflects only things which I choose. To be more specific, two characters are going to stand in front of the mirror, but there would be reflection of just one of them, like on this picture below:

Is there an option to make it in Blender?

Maybe you can build shaders that don have specular bounces, but the easier way is to take advantage of the compositor. Have you tried that?

To be honest, I have not tried anything, it's difficult to try while being a noob in compositor :/

Are you using cycles or eevee?

I'm using cycles. @ChristopherBennett

Use this node setup for the material of the object you don't want reflected (in this case the red object). You can also use the "Is Reflection Ray" output of the light path node as a mix factor:

Yeah, that's exactly what I want to achieve! It works - thank you so much :)

If animated, you can go a step further with a math>subtract from -1 to 1 between the lightpath and factor to hide/reveal objects, makes an interesting effect in some cases....

Is the test Reflection Ray or Glossy Ray?

Composite view layers
You can take advantage of view layers and compositing. It's very flexible and collection-driven.
Create a collection with the objects that you don't want to appear in the mirror (s_vampire in this case).
Create two view layer and in one Disable the collection you created before: one with everything enabled called for example ref

And one othe called for example n vis with the collection disabled.

Now, just use cryptomatte layer to pick the mirror plane as a mask in the compositor:

The scene will be rendered 2 times and the mirror will show only the scene where the collection with s_vampire object is disabled. This is the result.

You can download the file here to explore the scene:

Wow, nice, it looks good. Thank you.


text:
How can I align a texture and material based on the same image?
I am trying to model an "inflationary multiverse", inspired by this picture from Quanta Magazine:

To do that, I am trying to create a bunch of bubble universes expanding out as part of the same space-time manifold. I can get a nice shape for this by using the displacement modifier based on a texture based on this Voronoi image:

So far so good. But now, I want each of those bubble regions to have its own distinct color. I thought that I would be able to accomplish this by taking the same Voronoi image and manually coloring the regions as follows:

But when I try to apply a material based on that colored image to the mesh, the displacement pattern and the colored patches do not align :( Here is what you get by default:

I somewhat understand how the 512x512 colored image is mapped to the icosphere via UV-unwrapping, but it's not at all clear to me how the 512x512 black-and-white Voronoi image is mapped to the texture that is in turn mapped to the icosphere (the texture settings do not seem very configurable). Is there a clean way to get the texture and material to align?
The file is here:

Is your mesh displacement done through its material or through a displace modifier? I recommend doing it through your material, that way you'd be able to use the same map for both displacement and base color.

In your blend file, you have coordinates set as "local" instead of UV. That seems to be the issue (if I understand correctly).
Also don't forget to pack resources, so we can see the external data.

That's it -- thanks!


text:
How to increase the number of faces in a model
I am an absolute beginner with Blender, and to 3D modeling in general.
I am taking a tutorial and my extruded plane with a skin modifier applied is comprised of basically 11 quads, the tutorial I am watching has 32 quads (if I am correct in assuming that each "side" is a quad).
Is it possible to increase and decrease the number of quads that an extruded plane with a skin modifier would have?

Quads are the faces (ones with four sides) If you would like to quickly increase the number of quads, add a sub surf modifier.

Another way to increase the number of faces is to select one or more faces, and use the subdivide tool (in edit mode, W > subdivide). If desirable, you can increase the number of divisions in attribute panel (displaying at the bottom of the tool shelf, or separately by pressing the F6 key. This adds immediate geometry to the mesh, without having to wait for the geometry to be applied, as is the case with the subdivisison surface modifier.

The part about "extruded plane with a skin modifier" don't seem relevant.

tysm! my cube started at 0 poly for some reason

It's hard to know how to help without many details. If you're following a modelling tutorial and you're supposed to have 32 faces and you only have 11, you may want to go back and double check you followed the tutorial properly.
But your question was how to increase the number of faces, and here's a few ways how...
Method 1: Using Subdivide Tool
Select your object and make sure you are in edit mode.

Click this button to enter face select mode:

Select the faces that you wish to divide by right clicking on them:

Press W, and when this menu pops up, click Subdivide:

You can repeat this as many times as you want. Each time the selected faces will be divided into 4 new faces if they are quads.

Method 2: Using Knife Tool
Again, select your object and make sure you're in edit mode:

Press K to activate the knife tool. Now you can draw lines where you want to cut your object:

And press ENTER when you are satisfied, or ESC to cancel.
Method 3: Ring Cut Tool
This is essentially a much more controlled, but limited, version of the knife tool. Once again make sure you select your object and are in edit mode. Press CTRL + R to activate the ring cut tool, and mouse over an edge. The purple line is where the cut will be made.

You can scroll up and down with your mouse to increase/decrease the number of cuts, and click to perform the cut.
At this point you can adjust the position of the cuts, or right click to keep them in the center.
Method 4: Subdivision Surface Modifier
This one is a little different. This time, make sure you are in object mode:

With your object select, go to the modifiers panel on the right (it looks like a wrench) and click Add Modifier and select Subdivision Surface.

You can adjust the number of cuts with the numbers where it says "View" and "Render". If you don't want your object to be rounded, click on Simple. Click Apply when you are satisfied.

As it has already been said, apply the Subdivision surface modifier right after the skin modifier to control the number of faces you get. There is no way to do such directly in skin modifier
Useful reading and tutorial:
Understanding the Power of the Skin Modifier in Blender

You need to explain how to add the modifier, for someone who might not know how.


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Pressing P leaves Blender frozen, how to get undo?

I was rigging a foot to a skeleton when I meant to click CtrlP, I pressed P. Nothing happened so I then clicked CtrlP and my entire skeleton and avatar turned white. My mouse does not show up inside the Blender screen and I don't want to close it and start over. I did save but I'll still lose quite a bit of work.
Is there a button I have pushed that can be undone via the keyboard?

I figured out how to fix it!
I noticed that I could barely put my mouse along the edge as if I wanted to adjust the size of the screen. When I clicked it, I shrunk the screen in some and the black area in the picture above showed my blender tools once more and my avatar was back in normal object mode!
I am not sure if it was simply a blip in the program or if P and then Ctrl P does something but it's solved.

Should I delete this question? It said I could be banned if I delete too many questions. I didn't see that other question when I searched through similar questions.

If this happened when you pressed P, you've started the Game Engine preview. Press Esc to return back to your normal view.

Thank you! I tried Esc. and it acted as if the program had frozen up. I appreciate the reply!


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How do I import a Second -Life Avitar (XML file) into Blender?
I have recently downloaded Blender 2.71 as I thought maybe it would have the import/export option for xml that 2.70 did not. I have only been using blender for two months. I have not used any other game engine software. I'm learning this for rigging purposes for a job that I just got.
I need to import a .xml into blender since that is the type of file the platform uses.
Is there an addon that I can put into Blender for xml and if so, how do I install it to blender? (<<< this is the VERY specific question) Every tutorial on rigging avatars shows how to get the avatar from Second Life into Blender and EVERY single video shows exactly what I commented. They then go into Blender and have the option in their older versions of Blender to IMPORT .xml. So.... again, even though I asked very specifically, is there an addon that I can put in my Blender's Addon folder that allows Blender 2.71 to use/import/open/(whatever other word you would like to use here for the same meaning) .xml so that I can actually begin learning how to rig SecondLife avatars.
Thanks so much!
I have tried using this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJIrQw-RMd0&list=PL11D6E99BB51A2BB2&index=1
However that website does not work anymore.
I then tried using this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELC4B0PAXDs&index=2&list=PL11D6E99BB51A2BB2
However Wiz Daxter's pluggin does not work either. After extracting the files to the addon folder for blender, the next step is to open blender, go to user preferences, go to addons, choose import/export and enable pluggin. The pluggin is not in the list.
So I'm out of ideas on how to download a pluggin, addon, or extension thing to make Blender accept the Appearance to xml avatar. Second Life only allows you to take your avatar from game in this fashion.

XML isn't a 3D format - its a markup language - used to describe lots of things, You may be thinking of X3D or Collada (both are based on XML), however neither use the *.XML file extension by convention.

I'm importing an avatar from SecondLife. The only option is xml.

In that case you should update your Q, to ask about second-life-avatar XML files. But you may be better to ask about what you actually are trying to do, (Take a model from second-life into Blender?)

The way to take a model from second-life into Blender is to enter the game, go to the Develop menu, choose the Avatar submenu, choose character tests menu, then choose Appearance to XML. That is NOT the issue. My issue is that Blender does not let you import xml. I specifically asked in my question how to import xml into blender because that IS what I'm trying to do.

This is like asking how to import an email attachment, ZIP or ISO into Blender, XML is just a container, not a 3D format. For example, blender stores its UI themes in XML format.

Thank you. I'm currently trying to see if I can have two versions of Blender on my computer. Version 2.63 is compatible with Wiz Daxter's pluggin for what I'm trying to do, however I have to use 2.71 for work.

@Candice I tried the Wiz Daxter's pluggin on the 2.71 version of blender, and it work! Be sure to be on a 32bit version of blender!

@lucblender I cannot seem to find the pluggin in the menu to enable. I even tried to just go to import to see if it automatically enabled the addon and it did not. Do you have any advice as to troubleshoot how I somehow messed up installing it. I followed the directions exactly and it doesn't have a new addon in the menu.

@Candice So for the installation I've put the 'SAV' folder from the addon to C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.71\scripts\addons this is the folder of my 32 bit version of blender. Then in blender the addon is in the Impot-Export Section and its name is Import Secondlif Mesh and Skeleton

@lucblender Is there anyway I could speak with you via Skype or is there some way I can put screenshots of what I have going on so that maybe you can see what I've done wrong? I have the folder in the same location. I do not have the option of Import Secondlife Mesh and Skeleton in the import/Export Section of Blender, no matter which version I load. V 2.63 or 2.71. Also I'm using Windows XP and everything on this computer is 32 bit. =)

As you said the Wiz Daxter addon is perfect for the importation of secondlife XML file.
If you have trouble for the installation here are some advice:
First this addon work only for 32 bits version of blender.
After downloading the Wiz Daxter addon, the 1.0.9 version, extract it in you blender folder. In my case it's :
C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.71\scripts\addons
/!\ Put only the SLAV folder and not Blender263_SLAV_109 in your addon folder!
Now you can enable your addon in the user-preferences that you can acces with ctrl+alt+u.
Then the addon is in the Impot-Export Section and its name is Import Secondlif Mesh and Skeleton.

Thank you ever so much. This worked perfectly. I also want to add that this worked for Blender v. 2.71

@Candice If this has answer has answered your question, consider marking it as accepted by clicking the checkmark above.

Install the addon called "Avastar" from: http://blog.machinimatrix.org/avastar/
Avastar is a Blender Addon for making 3D Content for Second Life. Avastar supports the entire 3D production chain:

Please add a bit more info to the answer. What this is doing? why it should be used?