text:
Why is this error happening when trying to export to GLTF/GLB?
I'm getting the following error when I try to export a simple 3D model as GLTF/GLB. I'm using the version 3.6.2 of Blender:
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\__init__.py", line 852, in execute
    return gltf2_blender_export.save(context, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_export.py", line 34, in save
    json, buffer = __export(export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_export.py", line 51, in __export
    __gather_gltf(exporter, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_export.py", line 65, in __gather_gltf
    active_scene_idx, scenes, animations = gltf2_blender_gather.gather_gltf2(export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather.py", line 28, in gather_gltf2
    scenes.append(__gather_scene(blender_scene, export_settings))
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather.py", line 69, in __gather_scene
    node = gltf2_blender_gather_nodes.gather_node(
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_nodes.py", line 34, in gather_node
    mesh=__gather_mesh(vnode, blender_object, export_settings),
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_nodes.py", line 242, in __gather_mesh
    result = gltf2_blender_gather_mesh.gather_mesh(blender_mesh,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_mesh.py", line 57, in gather_mesh
    primitives=__gather_primitives(blender_mesh, uuid_for_skined_data, vertex_groups, modifiers, materials, export_settings),
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_mesh.py", line 134, in __gather_primitives
    return gltf2_blender_gather_primitives.gather_primitives(blender_mesh,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_primitives.py", line 77, in gather_primitives
    material = gltf2_blender_gather_materials.gather_material(
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_materials.py", line 58, in gather_material
    extensions, uvmap_actives_extensions = __gather_extensions(blender_material, emissive_factor, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_materials.py", line 256, in __gather_extensions
    specular_extension, use_actives_uvmap_specular = export_specular(blender_material, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\extensions\gltf2_blender_gather_materials_specular.py", line 151, in export_specular
    specularColorTexture, use_active_uvmap, specularColorFactor = gltf2_blender_gather_texture_info.gather_texture_info(
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_texture_info.py", line 22, in gather_texture_info
    return __gather_texture_info_helper(primary_socket, blender_shader_sockets, 'DEFAULT', filter_type, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_texture_info.py", line 43, in __gather_texture_info_helper
    index, factor = __gather_index(blender_shader_sockets, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_texture_info.py", line 140, in __gather_index
    return gltf2_blender_gather_texture.gather_texture(blender_shader_sockets, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_texture.py", line 29, in gather_texture
    source, factor = __gather_source(blender_shader_sockets, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_texture.py", line 81, in __gather_source
    return gltf2_blender_gather_image.gather_image(blender_shader_sockets, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_image.py", line 44, in gather_image
    buffer_view, factor_buffer_view = __gather_buffer_view(image_data, mime_type, name, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_cache.py", line 35, in wrapper_cached
    result = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\gltf2_blender_gather_image.py", line 98, in __gather_buffer_view
    data, factor = image_data.encode(mime_type, export_settings)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\extensions\gltf2_blender_image.py", line 142, in encode
    pixels, width, height, factor = self.numpy_calc(self.stored)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\extensions\gltf2_blender_texture_specular.py", line 84, in specular_calculation
    factors = [np.amax(out_buf[:, :, i]) for i in range(3)]
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\io_scene_gltf2\blender\exp\material\extensions\gltf2_blender_texture_specular.py", line 84, in <listcomp>
    factors = [np.amax(out_buf[:, :, i]) for i in range(3)]
  File "<__array_function__ internals>", line 180, in amax
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\python\lib\site-packages\numpy\core\fromnumeric.py", line 2793, in amax
    return _wrapreduction(a, np.maximum, 'max', axis, None, out,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Blender\3.6\python\lib\site-packages\numpy\core\fromnumeric.py", line 86, in _wrapreduction
    return ufunc.reduce(obj, axis, dtype, out, **passkwargs)
ValueError: zero-size array to reduction operation maximum which has no identity```

Found the solution: I needed to delete a material that, for some reason, was causing it to glitch.


text:
IK Bone detaches / disconnects / separates during grab movement
Is this a normal result for grabbing the IK bone after connecting an IK to a parent bone? If not, how do I keep the IK bone connected to the forearm bone via the wrist knob?

Thanks!

did u try to check "connected"? this checkbox ensures that the "connected" bone will be directly attached to its parented bone

@Chris Thanks, I never knew there was a connected checkbox in the Bone Properties->Relation dropdown. Selecting the IK bone it's greyed out, shift selecting both bones it's still greyed out. What's the trick?

you have to be in edit mode to do this - and it's "normal" to don't see things who exist and to learn everyday - i make the same experience everyday with Blender ;)

Thanks again @Chris I tried that the other day but in order to connect it in edit mode I have to set the parent and then when I connect it, the ik feature stops functioning. (No bones rotate except the IK bone)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Blender extrude 2 planes inward
Would anyone know how to extrude 2 planes on opposite sides inward? When I select both planes in the cube in edit mode and want both those planes to move closer, the 'e' shortcut only follows one direction so as one moves into the cube the other moves out of the cube.
Example:

AltE > Extrude Faces Along Normals:

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


text:
UV unwrapping however black background appears
I was wonder if anyone can help me. I am trying to unwrap a texture however whenever I unwrap it, it shows a black background. I want to save it as a png file with a transparent background but because there's this black background it shows it up in the png file.

You want to save the UV layout or the texture?

so, basically I want to export the design as a obj.file but before I do that I need to unwrap my textures but whenever I do that it creates this black background and it needs to be transparent. I've tried it on a different layer and it works fine.


text:
How do I fill in missing faces?
I am kind of new to blender and I was working on a player model. I ran into a problem where I dont have faces on the arm pit. I dont know how to fill them in...
I am really sorry if this is a dumb question.

Can also select all the outer vertices of the missing face, right click, then "new edge/face from vertices"

There's multiple ways so let me explain them to you because things like these can really speed up your workflow

You can select any number of vertices (at least 3) and press 'F' to create a face between these vertices.

As you have probably already figured out, quads are the faces you want to go for so ideally you want to select 4 vertices to create a face.

Alternatively you can select two opposing edges to speed things up.

In your example you have like a row of unfilled faces, so you can just select the top edge of the last face before the missing face and press 'F'. Blender recognizes the pattern based on the surrounding faces and fills the next one it. This only works if you have one row of missing faces (in other words: have faces on 3 of 4 sides).

Another technique that's really handy is the grid fill. I think there's no shortcut for this out of the box so just hit F3 to open the search bar and type in "Grid fill". This is especially helpful if you need to connect multiple faces that would result in a grid. An example: a cube that doesn't have a top face and is subdivided 3 times on the sides. Select the edge loop of the top and use grid fill to create top faces based on the subdivions of the sides.

Hope that helps, happy blending!


text:
Connecting 2 bones together
I need to connect 2 bones together for a game im making.
I only know how to parent them together but dont know how to conect them :/
Any help will be appreciated!

I need to connect the bones to the middle bone in the first image. And in the second image that is not how I want it to be.

so what's the problem with ctrl P > Connected?

In unreal engine, a game making engine you can only import armatures, which have the bones conected together. Not with the parent option.

it's not clear to me what you're trying to do, and what's happening in your pictures, maybe try to reformulate, or maybe someone will understand

This isn't a criterion in UE4. I imported my own armatures with loose bones and they work fine. But if you want to do this anyway, the horizontal bones are pointing to the wrong direction. In the bone properties if you check in "Connected" for each bone, you will never have loose bones.

Thank you so much. I recently moved from unity so I am really sorry if Im askikng stupid questions :)


text:
Very low GPU usage while rendering
My GPU usage is at around 5 to 9 percent.

I would like to know if it is normal? And why?

because the scene is not complex enough to use more of GPU

The Task Manager doesn't show CUDA usage by default. You will have to switch to the Performance tab, select the GPU then change one of the panels to CUDA by clicking on the name.

Okay, thank you both

If you have a NVIDIA GPU and would like to see the real GPU usage, you have to use the CUDA tab in Windows Taskmanager. If you are on Windows...

Okay, but Optix is better?

@Hunam this site is not a forum, but a question and answers site. To keep things organized you can ask new questions as a  new post, not as comments. Please take a minute to read the [tour] to understand how to make better use of this pages.


text:
How to make this specific sphere?
How can I make this beautiful specific sphere?

Is there an add-on or something?

It's very hard to see what you're talking about from the photo. You mean a low-poly sphere? Make a cylinder with 5 sides, add a loop cut in the center and scale it outwards.

Create a cube, in edit mode add a subdivision and then select the vertices in the center of each side and scale outward slightly. Then select the corner vertices and scale inward slightly.

actually it's simpler to just add a subdivision surface modifier to the cube and apply it

It's the same result in the end either way

Thanks guys for your answers, I can't upvote you but thanks


text:
Why is the plate small in the render result but normal looking in the view port?

I have tried aplying scale and none are parented to eachother.

Try to add your Blend file to get a quick answer

How do I add my blend file?

use https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ upload the file, then [edit] your question and add the resulting link as part of the text.

maybe you've scaled and keyframed it, but yes please share your file so that we can check

I wonder if there are any modifiers that have different settings  for display and for render. But it is impossible to know with the current information in the question. Please edit your question and show images of the modifiers section of the properties window. Also, since it looks like you are following some "tutorial", you might learn more if you just watch the video over again and find where it is that you didn't follow the directions, and ended with this. At that point you can then write an answer to your own question, and hel others with a similar issue.


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Reflections from a EmissiveTexture and ReceivingShadow
Ok. I have a setup where a plane has a texture that is set to emission to have a good reflection on a glassurface on the opposite side. But now the Surface did not receive shadows anymore.
so I tried shadow rays, glossy rays etc feed into a mixshader to darken the shadow area, but nothing works.
So how do I get the plane to reflect properly and the shadows on the glassdoor  too ?
here is a Picture of the setting and as you can see, there is no shadow on the glasssurface:

This is what i think the Image should look like

Are you trying to have some reflection type to windows glass?

I tried adding the Image as fake reflection in the shader settings but it does not give accurate results and the texture was distorted - is that what you are asking for ?

No, I am asking where you want the reflections to be shown, on Windows?

Yes. As you can see, it is actually showing where it should be - but the shadow from the roof is not darken the Windows and not darken the reflection

okay hang on, I am  giving you a node setup, try applying it on your windows glass shader.

Yeah, that would be great. I am here.

Have a look to this node setup:

Try applying this to your Windows.
Hope this may be helpful.

ok, I tried that, but sorry, that does not solve the problem... With your Setup i now have crystal clear reflections of the objects in front of the window but no background. or - when i inverse the Inputs a fully transparent Window.
Maybe ist a missunderstanding - what I need to have is the reflection of the background in the windows and where the shadow hits the window - there should be shadow on the window - but there isn't !
So why and how do I get that shadow darken the reflection.
look closely on the Image - you see the shadow border on the wall - and there is non on the windows

Do you have a reference image?

 so. this is what i think the Image should look like


text:
Python: How to disconnect and reconnect massive ammount of shading nodes
I am familiar with scripting, a fair bit, but I dont know how to tackle this challenge...
I have a big amount of Materials with a principle BSDF and I need to disconnect the ImageTexture
from the Roughness-Channel insert a invert node and reconnect everything.
Maybe I can check the nodeTree which Map is connected to Roughness, save that - disconnect, insert and
reconnect, and go to the next tree...
but I dont have any clue how that could happen....

I propose the following script for this.
Basically, you access each material in the file, then get a reference to the image texture and bsdf nodes, then create a new invert node and connect everything. You don't care about unlinking first because it will be overwritten by your new link.
import bpy

for mat in bpy.data.materials:
    node_tree = mat.node_tree
    if not node_tree:
        continue

    # Get a reference to the image and bsdf nodes
    tex_image = bsdf = None
    for node in node_tree.nodes:
        if node.type == 'TEX_IMAGE':
            tex_image = node
        elif node.type == 'BSDF_PRINCIPLED':
            bsdf = node

    # If you have several Image Texture nodes, you can access a specific one by its name
    # tex_image = node_tree.nodes.get("Image Texture") # (Or whatever the name of the image texture node connected to the roughness channel usually is)

    if not (tex_image and bsdf):
        continue

    invert_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type='ShaderNodeInvert')
    invert_node.location = (-200, 50)

    tex_image.location = (-600, 50)

    # Update the links. We don't care about unlinking because the current links will get overwritten
    links = node_tree.links
    links.new(tex_image.outputs[0], invert_node.inputs[1])
    links.new(invert_node.outputs[0], bsdf.inputs["Roughness"])

Ok, great, that works... but how do I check if bsdf.inputs["Roughness"] is unconnected before.... so that only already connected nodes get the Invert -- can  I check if input[""] == none?

I cant edit my comment, so here we go...
I put "if bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].links:" in front of your invert node, where you make the links and now it works only for allready connected nodes. thx

Oh, I didn't know you needed that but I am glad you solved it yourself :)

Yes, some failsafe is everytimes good, - if nothing is connected then dont do nothing... if you think that will improve your answer, maybe you would like to integrated in your answer so people facing the same problem can have a proper helpful answer.thx

Look for the links
Similarly as in Blender scripting connect nodes look for the links.
In this case a link from an image texture node to the roughness socket of the bsdf node.
Test script, looks for that link(s) in all materials and if found inserts an invert node between.
import bpy

for m in bpy.data.materials:
    if not m.use_nodes:
        continue
    nodes = m.node_tree.nodes
    links = m.node_tree.links
    image_ps_links = [
        l for l in links
        if l.from_node.type == "TEX_IMAGE"
        and l.to_node.type == 'BSDF_PRINCIPLED'
        and l.to_socket.name == "Roughness"]
    for l in image_ps_links:
        invert_node = nodes.new(type='ShaderNodeInvert')
        links.new(l.from_socket, invert_node.inputs[1])
        links.new(invert_node.outputs[0], l.to_socket)

Note: Using the socket name "Roughness" may not work if you are using a language other than english.  If this is the case would need to translate or use a method that takes into account the socket index.


text:
Holdout Layer not using AlphaMaps in Blender 2.8
It seems that the HoldOut Option in Blender 2.8 does not use alphaMaps with transparency to create a proper holdout ? can somebody confirm this or do I have to tick some option to get this to work ?
or any Workaround ?
thx

Create two View Layers.
In the first one, check only Indirect Only for your Small_Bushes collection. Nothing else.
In the second view layer, disable your others collections with the checkbox to the left of the collection.
Add an alpha over node to mix the 2 layer.


text:
C4d to blender?
this is my first post/question and I wanted to see if there is some plugin/way that I don't know of to get a c4d file to import to Blender or to convert c4d files to fbx without cinema 4d. If there is no current way to do so, who would like to team up with me to create a plugin to import c4d file contents into blender??
Hope someone can help me with this, Thanks for reading this regardless of if you can help or not ^^

Alembic is your best bet for now, also USD is on its way being part of any 3d package so you just have to wait for it. Otherwise I personally see no chance without using cinema because c4d files are binaries.


text:
How to fix weird mesh issue
I've never used blender before and just imported this fbx to find it very strange looking, like something is wrong with the lighting or shadows? Iv'e tried changing a lot of settings but am unsure of how to fix this. Any help would be appreciated.

Hello :). Please upload your file here so others can take a look. Without that, it's just guessing.

Do you have some sort of shiny matcap applied to this model?
Try going into edit mode and clearing any sharp edges if there are any, or try going into your object data tab and "clear custom split normals data"

Recalculate your normals in edit mode with Shift + N


text:
Is it possible to render 180º equirectangular with eevee engine?
I'd like to make the switch to eevee as it is more suitable for my needs, but the panoramic fov lens in eevee only goes up to 173º. In cycles I use a panoramic lens with equirectangular projection at +/- 90º for both longitude and latitude to create 180º renders.
The equirectangular camera settings are essential to create renders for virtual reality.

It appears that this isn’t possible at present - but has been asked before and is expected to be a planned feature - see https://blenderartists.org/t/will-eevee-support-vr-equirectangular-rendering/699631 in particular :

At last blender conference, there was a talk about the benefits of using Grease pencil + VR to create a scene.
  There are devs dedicated to VR. I don’t doubt that VR support for EEVEE is a goal they want to achieve.

Thanks, I just realized that the panoramic lens in 2.8 alpha is a placeholder and does nothing at the moment. I'm guessing they have plans to get to it in the future.


text:
Models extracted from gamre (LOL) get "mirrored"?
I just downloaded Ahri models which was extracted from League, then I used the tool called "lol2dae" to convert the original model file (.skn) to .dae  file so I'm able to importing to Blender.
The model looks fine, I applied its texture (I used PS to convert it from dds to png), and nothing seem to be wrong.
Then I realized that the model has been "mirrored" from the original model.
I don't know if I used the word "mirrored" right.. just take a look at my screenshot here for sure.

I also tried extracting some models myself and got the same problem, so I very appreciate any suggestion to make it work right.

Object/Mirror or Mesh/Mirror then select the axis to mirror on.

You could simply scale the object. In this tab, go down to "Scale:" and set the X value to negative.

Note that this inverts the normals under the hood so object scaled as above will look probably transparent when exported because engines often skip faces with normals pointing inside (and there might be other problems with modifiers, particulalry armature). Either apply scale and flip normals afterwards in Edit mode or use another method

Thanks for the help, also I'm new to blender so Mr Zak note is kinda tricky to me understand it, but I very appreciate and would keep it mind.


text:
How do I create an explosion VFX with the person in the video jumping through the flames and smoke?
I'm trying to achieve the effect shown in the picture using footage of an actor diving and then creating the explosion in blender. I can use masking to get the actor to appear in front of the flames or completely behind it, but can't figure out how to engulf the main character in the flames/smoke as he jumps through it and make him appear through it gradually.
What approach should I take to create this effect without having to create a 3d model of the actor in blender?
Should I be creating a duplicate plane of the footage, create a mask around just the actor and then animate that duplicate plane to move towards the camera through the explosion?
Or can this be achieved using just basic masking?

I'd be using "Foggy" masks for flames and smoke that change shape and move about for this one, so the edges are not clearly defined and get both in front and behind the actor using shape-keys that obviously need to change continuously. An example of masking video characters and or objects for those that don't know is here ->  https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/117572/how-to-put-a-mask-into-3d-space/117941#117941

To add to the above - it would probably be easier to make multiple and shape-changing masks for flame/smoke than keep modifying one (or more) for the actor. You wouldn't need to worry about accuracy for alignment and shape to follow the actor's movements.  Flames etc are haphazard so no accuracy etc is required.  An interesting project.

That's an awesome post! I really like how you've described everything in detail. I would assume the same effect is achievable in blender cycles instead of blender render?

Placing your effects behind and in front of a moving character in a background video would require some Rotoscoping(?) (think that's what they call it in here)  The link above does demonstrate a static  form of that, where the mask is tailored to conceal passing objects behind a particular item in the background.  With video and a moving character however, the mask will need to be 'shape-shifted' to follow the exact shape of  the character as it changes with movement.  If he is in front of a green screen, the process is simpler.

Added to the comment immediately above - I missed your reference to Cycles.  Certainly the flames and smoke would be best produced in Cycles and perhaps rendered onto alpha layered planes to use with your background movie.  I'm unsure if Cycles can do the sort of masking required to get them behind your character however.  Blender Render and OpenGL can.


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How can I make a proper walk cycle following a path for a four-legged animal (tiger in this case)?
How do I make a proper walk cycle for a tiger, following an irregular path?
For bipeds there are several tools, and AI even, to make a cycle that you set to follow a path. Fine. But with a four-legged animal, there are problems when following a curved path, since the whole body just "drifts" around. Manually curving the spine to get it right is really hard and time consuming. There just HAS to be a better way of calculating this?
Also, the walk cycle by itself, where do I find great cycles for tigers? That don't slide in the steps etc. I just want my tiger to walk in a trustworthy fashion.

Hello, there are methods to create non-slipping walk cycles, there's no reason why it should not work for 4 legs

Good to hear. Do you possibly know what those methods are, or point me in the right direction?


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Messed up meshes when moving things
When I move my objects in the scene they smear out and destroys totally. How to I set this up properly (seems like VERY basic stuff)? Destroyed in the picture is a horse, jockey and wagon..

it's hard to guess, maybe share your file? https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

It seems like these meshes have armature(s) and you try to move the meshes without the armatures. Check it in the outliner or hit alt+h to reveal the hidden objects.


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Blender 2.8 - Wireframed objects not rendering
Must have accidentally gotten into some kind of ghost mode for 2 out of hundreds of objects. They show as black wireframes, are editable, but only show as wireframe in every shading mode, and don't render. Regardless of hide / render settings in the object list to the right. Tried flipping normals, recalculating inside/out, everything..
What happened? How do I get the objects back? Snapshot shows the wireframed objects.

Freaky, somehow "Object/Viewport Display/Display As" was set to "Wire" instead of textured AND all "Cycles Settings/Ray Visibility" were unchecked (for only two objects)! I've never even opened these panels before..


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Camera tracking data import
Is there a way to import camera tracking data, like .json or .jsx files into Blender?

Welcome to [blender.se], please make sure to read [ask] and take the [tour].

You can certainly do this the other way round and export to After Effects (*.jsx) using the Adobe After Effects plugin but it hasn't been updated for 2.80.
This has been investigated before please see Does Blender 2.8 have a working import-export plugin for After Effects?
The only truly supported format for tracking data import is *.bvh, again via add-on.
You can always modify the jsx script to import instead, but as it stands I donn't know of any native way to do what you ask.
Perhaps look at this addon from the blendermarket
https://blendermarket.com/products/ae2blend

Thanks for the help!  I've tried that Atom pyton script, but I get stuck in script errors when running it in Blender 2.8... I'm trying out the AE2Blend add-on now.. Kind of hard to use (for me at least), but think it might work...

Please see added link to Does Blender 2.8 have a working import-export plugin for After Effects?


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All preferences gone in 2.81
From 2.79 through all 2.8 beta versions up to the the "proper" 2.8, my preferences (where add-ons are set) were always the same. That was fantastic!
With 2.81, there's a fresh start and all my add-ons are gone in preferences. Can't see a solution in file path... Would absolutely like to refer to the "old" settings file instead of copying.


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How do I change animated values for multiple keyframes?
In Blender 2.82 I have lots of keyframes for a camera that I want to change position to altogether at once, how can I do that? The local animation is correct, but the whole location for all of it needs to be changed, like add 2000m for all in Z axis, add X, Y...
If not possible in Blender, can it be done in AE? It's over 700 frames so nothing I want to do manually :) .

I don't know exactly how much it will help you, but you might want to try looking into the addon AnimAide: https://github.com/aresdevo/animaide
In the graph editor it has the "Anim Transform" tool which "freezes time, so any transformation you do to an animated object or armature affects the entire animation equally".

Great addon, thanks! Lots of useful functionality in there.

If you want to increase the value of the key frames you can box select them all in the graph editor and move them all up or down until you get your desired effect.


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Importing FBX Created in 3ds Max Rearranges Individual Models
I have been attempting to export a FBX file consisting of multiple models from 3ds Max 2019 and importing the FBX file into blender to make some changes.  Every time I have attempted this, the models looks something like what is shown in the image below:

I have attempted to perform the FBX export and the import in different ways and can never change the end result.  I could keep using 3ds Max 2019, but I would prefer to get it working with blender as well.  All the original models were done either in SolidWorks or Inventer, but I really need to use blender to alter them for my projects.
If anyone has experienced the same problem and found a solution, I would really appreciate any advice.

Does it import fine in other software? Can you use a different file type?

I'm having this exact same issue as well, did you happen upon a solution?


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How to get rid of garbage data in blend file
I'm having a problem that by appending collections from scene to scene (or shot to shot) the blend files are inflating in size (well over 1GB already), although they contain more or less the same content. I found a ton of objects, images and materials in the blend file (Outliner>Blender File) which are not visible in the view layer nor viewport but only in the Blender file, and are often duplicates or materials and images from deleted objects or hierarchies. Purging does not get rid of them, and they are simply too many to figure out manually which ones are needed an what is garbage data. There is only 1 scene and 1 view layer in the blend file.
Is there a way with python to get rid of this unused garbage data-blocks?
Example here:

Sorry, just to confirm, you already tried clearing everything from the Orphan Data panel, and that is not satisfactory?

Yes, I already used the purge button from the Orphan Data panel, but there is still a lot of garbage left. To get startet I used python to find objects using certain materials which I was sure were not in use anymore (because I deleted the objects using them), and found a couple of objects only showing up in the Blender File view (after purging!). But doing that for 100s of objects is too tedious.

Yeah, ok. Just checking. I'm not sure about the python code - I'll look into it, but I'll admit it's not my forté, so no promises. I'll upvote so hopefully someone better at .bpy can figure it out.

It almost seems like the Objects like "Grate slope gratecut.002" are still existing somewhere, since the Mesh Data and Materials aren't being orphaned to purge like usual. Is there anything nonstandard about how the scenes/shots themselves are set up? You mentioned your use case is appending collections from scene-to-scene, and I noticed that your results for the Blender File search don't indicate a scene the object could be under. If the object were truly trashed it wouldn't show up under those results, only the remnants in Orphan Data.

Nothing unusual, assets are linked or appended into scenes for shot construction. At times assets are appended from another shot to get the exact last state (pose etc.) for continuity. I noticed that by doing that, sometimes objects show up in the appended data which was deleted in  shot from which it is appended from (sometimes by deleting a hierarchy in the outliner). That's how I noticed that something was wrong (besides growing filesizes) and started to investigate. Unfortunately I don't have enough insight in Blenders data structure to know how to identify and delete such objects.

Finally I found a way do deal with this issue: Atomic Data Manager add-on for Blender by remington creative (free add-on):
https://remington.pro/software/blender/atomic/
It seems that I am not the only one who noticed that something is fishy here.


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Blender rendering issue
I'm new to blender, just trying to learn lighting and got some issue - I've got some strange rendering on the walls and the cup. This is render when I have more than 1 area lamp:

But if lamp is only one, it's okay:

I can't google this issue, because I dont even know how to call this effect :)
Please, help me!
Thanks in advance.

Are you using 'blender-render' or 'Cycles'?

I'm using Cycles


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"Linking" Armatures together
I have created kind of a.. Robot in blender, a legged boat, complete with bones and all.
I have also created, in the same project a character, rigged and ready to go.
In my animation I would like for the character to stand on the boat. Is there a way for me to attach the character armature to the root bone of the boat and still have the character armature fully functional within itself?
Sorry for bad phrasing. I am having a hard time explaining my issuse.

you could give your robot armature a Child Of constraint and choose the root bone as parent, don't forget to click the constraint Set Inverse button so that the armature stays where it was

Yeah, thanks! It worked out great, thanks a ton!

You could give your robot armature a Child Of constraint and choose the root bone as parent, don't forget to click the constraint Set Inverse button so that the armature stays where it was.


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Blender 2.8 bake node displacement as UV

How is it possible to bake?
Or is it possible to change the object?

The correct way of using Displacement in Material Output node is through Displacement node (Vector->Displacement) and connecting image to the Height input. But even that way I believe Displacement in node editor doesn't work in Eevee, only in Cycles in rendered view. In Eevee it only shows up as bump. The only way to get Displacement in Eevee is by using Displace modifier.
Clarifications for baking color:

Then you click New on Image Texture to create new texture. Switch Render Engine to Cycles, set options for baking color:

Click Bake, wait to complete, then get to image editor where you select your image from dropdown at the top and save it as (Shift+S).

It's not wrong to use, just the end result is not a displacement, but bump. Displacement is actual deformation of the mesh, bump is just distortion of mesh normals. If you look at an angle on your mesh it's still flat. If you are just using magic texture you can just bake color from it to new texture. Connect your magic texture to Color Ramp and then to color input of Principled BSDF node, create new image texture (select its node in node editor), switch to Cycles, switch bake type to Diffuse, select under Diffuse to bake only color and click bake. Look up baking tutorials for clarification.


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how do u add colour / texture
hi I'm kinda new to blender and I've managed to create a object buy sculpting it ( a face ) but no matter which youtube videos I watch or web pages I read I just can't add colour / texture. Manny sites are saying about a dot next to my colour option but there is no dot next to it! and when I click anywhere on it I am just taken to a simple colour wheel (which even if that's what I wanted it don't change the colour of the object) .
I've also seen things to do with the uv panel and tried that ( it didn't work) and also I've tried downloading a JPG image but still nothing happened. I hope one of u can help Xo

let's say this cube is the face you made
(step 3 is very important)
1

2

3

4


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Painted over plastic material
Does anybody know how to make this kind of material, where there is a plastic base layer and looks like somebody painted over it? Including the displacement and everything?
The look I would like to achieve:

maybe it's more a question of topology than material? You need to keep your angles round

You could try with displacement

You could Bump your Normal using Noise texture:

You could add smears by modifying (stretching) coordinates:
 Colored noise works nice here, because the effect changes abruptly when the normal changes.
Increase Specular and decrease Roughness for oil painting look.

Yes, thank you, this works very well for the paint layer. But I would also like a plastic layer under it. I did it with the mix shader node, but it looks weird at the intersections. Where the plastic and paint meet. This will be a closeup and I would really like to imitate the thickness of the paint. But I can't really figure out how to make the displacement be only on the paint and still look good. Can you help with that?


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How to rotate several vertices to a single direction?
This is the upper point of view of the low poly environment I'm doing; the vertices selected are not pointing to the direction the viewport is looking from:

and I know that because when I scatter the trees using these vertices to map the trees with a particle system, the tip of the trees are pointing to many directions but most of them to the upper side of the map, you can notice in the left side of the screenshot the pine is pointing somewhere near my POV:

How do I make the pines point to a specific direction? Should I start by making the vertices point to the direction I want or the pines made by the particle system can be rotated all to a common direction?

First debugs I almost always do is check for duplicate vertices (select all > M > by distance), and recalculate normals (select all > mesh > normals > recalculate outside). If that doesn't work, you could select the vertices then Mesh > normals > point to target (then pick a target - options are listed at top after performing operation - select it, check target options, then Ctrl+Z if you have to). If none of that works, perhaps consider Geometry Nodes (Like particles but way better)

do you want all to point towards the same point or do you want all to be oriented the same way? For the latter, if your trees are hair, enable Advanced option in the Hair panel, enable Rotation option, and choose the right Orientation axis?

Ahhh my God, @moonboots, that worked, thanks! But I want to test Christopher answer too so I can mark them as correct answers


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Smoke Generation "Unpaired" from Object / Broken Quick Effect Smoke
So I am trying to use blenders quick effect smoke but I am stopped every time I try because the smoke gen isn't sticking with the object I am using. I have tried following tutorials, but this doesn't happen in their videos. I also haven't been able to find evidence of this anywhere online. What is going on?
Videos:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XH8H9ozSjPsX8_aCMUjrQt17_6WLzw6J?usp=sharing

Could you please include some screenshots or gifs of your issue in your post?  We like to keep things such that readers can understand your issue without having to go elsewhere.

You have at least three choices when blender becomes stubborn in cleaning up its cache:

Go to the (Domain) folder with the particle cache and delete all the subfolders to clean up:

Coax a cache clear by changing a Domain parameter (like Resolution Divisions) and then change it back.

Change the simulation cache setting to Type = Modular, then it will be easier to "Bake", "Free", "Resume" (from an interrupted simulation if you hit ESCape

And yes, you have my sympathies that many things in blender can be a bit quirky and frustrating at times!


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Bake Texture to New UVMap (2.92)
i'm trying to reproduce this answer : Possible to bake texture to new UV map? in latest blender version (2.92)
The UV are baked on the texture but everything is black ( + transparency outside of the UV)
So i was wonderning, if something change in the process.
For theUVMap Camera i tried both but got the same result...

Thanks a lot !

hello, could you please pack the image(s) and share your file? https://pasteall.org/blend/

Yes it's here : https://pasteall.org/media/1/e/1e8ddc98a25fa995a98a76f1c2b33352.blend

You've chosen to bake with the Emit option, it will bake what's emitted, but your object doesn't use any Emission node. In the linked page, the Image Texture is plugged into a Viewer node, which acts like an Emission node. If you want to bake the Diffuse, choose Diffuse instead, and under Influence only enable Color.

Yes exactly Thanks a lot !.


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X-Ray and In Front modes don't work together
I ran into this problem while modeling a character: whenever I try to set an object to X-Ray mode, then when I change the viewport display setting for the object to "in front", my object sets itself to a weird wireframe. I didn't have this issue when I last opened this file, so I'm hoping it's a setting that I flipped by accident. What's going on here? See below for pictures:

Object displaying in solid mode with x-ray on

Object displaying in solid mode with x-ray AND in front on

Why not set the reference image in front and make it semi- transparent?

That works for the front view reference image, but I also have a side view reference image. There's something (bug and/or operator error) preventing me from also setting the side view to transparent. What's your preferred way to make images transparent?


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Problem Re-baking from Voxel model to generic model
I made a voxel model from Magika voxel and I tried to remake the model because the way Magika voxel exporting is simply shrunk uv maps to small pieces of color boxes texture. This makes hard to bake extra effects such as Ambient Occlusion, shadows, ETC.

So I found the solution on YouTube(https://youtu.be/5MY3rsq5JGw) and it quite worked well until I baked more complex model.
I copied mesh and made new material and uvmap. After I bake the new model, it seems the blender bakes some faces reflective.

This is the work space when I baked


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Procedural Wire Generator in Animation Nodes
I’d like to figure out the method to creating this procedural wire generator inside Animation Nodes 2.1 as depicted in this youtube video here:
https://youtu.be/lsXb5ywrg_I
The video gives little indication of how to setup the loop, ive mostly been guessing up to this point, any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BziV080OFHQ&t=664s this and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEYI4lnOprY might be helpful starting points


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I need to be able to walk someone through a 3d model in real time
I am about 4 months into learning blender and I'm still very much new to everything it has to offer.
So, the company that I work for (a real estate remodeling and custom furniture fabrication company) would like to be able to walk out clients through 3D models of the spaces that we have designed for their upcoming real estate projects IN REAL TIME.
The problem that I've run into (I use Blender 2.81 and the Cycles render engine) is that the CPU I'm using takes a very long time to render the screen in real time while using Cycles. Every time I move the viewport the screen has to re-render and takes quite a long time during which it looks just very pixelated. I can render still-frames that look quite realistic, but what my company wants is a 360 degree space that we can essentially walk clients through in real time.
Am I using the wrong render engine? The wrong render options? Is there a solution to this or am I wasting my time? Thanks in advance for the help!

I'm still using vers 2.77a .  The time Blender and Cycles take to render would take my rendering tasks out to a month or more! (?)  (30,000 frames is not unusual)  I therefore render out everything using the Open-GL rendering engine.  This employs the computer's hardware and whilst a long way short of the finess afforded by Blender's internal engine and/or Cycles, it still does the job very well.  Rendering times are typically about 1/4 playback speed so shorter sequences are rendered in seconds, longer sequences taking just minutes.

To add to the above - for real time walk-through's you might find it easier to make your models in Blender and export those to a game engine, do the walk-through in one of those.

Hello :) Since Blender 2.8 there's the Eevee render engine, that seems well suited for this. It works real-time, so it can be (and is) used as viewport preview. I'd go with that.

Walking through real time, with near-render quality, would be possible with eevee rendering engine added with blender 2.8. Depending on your computer, this might be enough.
More viable way would be model everything in blender, export it to a gaming engine - Unity for instance. Unity has a pre-made scrips that will not require you to program, to enable basic walk functionality, however it will take some work to move project between Blender and Unity, depending on how complex it is (screenshot would be helpful for better estimate).
If I was you, I would model the entire scene, including materials while making sure my objects have uvmapping configured. I would then bake all the textures for every object to keep as much information as possible.
After that, I would re-create the scene in Unity by importing objects, applying textures and re-creating materials (materials do not move between modeling software and game engines, they are almost always exclusive to only one software and whenever you move something you have to re-create it). Unity has different material capabilities than blender so it will probably be impossible to make it 100% identical, but with baking (which enables you to save a lot of info as textures - stuff like shadows, ambient occlusion, emission, colours, lotsa stuff) it should be relatively close.
Using game engine has a added benefit of being able to generate the application that client can take home - it can be exe file, phone app (with a bit of work) or even a webapp.
Skillset you'd need would require: Modeling, UVMapping, Baking, basic Unity3d usage.

Thank you for your time and knowledge! I switched to the Eevee render engine, and after tweaking a few of the options, I have a result that I think will work for the purpose I need. Unity sounds promising, but I really needed a fast solution and Eevee seems to be that. I will definitely look into improving my process in the future, and it sounds like Unity will work amazingly after I spent some time learning that soft.

I would look at UE4 for this one, it's builtin lighting is just nice and what you want done can be accomplished with very minimal coding in UE4, even to the point of having said demo being a thing that could be put online as a multiplayer.


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Using GPU in a Blender Python (bpy) script, run within the Blender GUI
I've looked all over this stack for other people's code bits but nothing has worked so far.
I want to run a bpy script.  I have the following function which I call at the end of a for loop, after I change the scenes geometry, as I desire.
def render_image_indexed(output_dir, out_type, step, ani_length):
    string_order= int(np.ceil(np.log10(ani_length+1)))
    index_order = int(np.ceil(np.log10(step+1)))
    out_string = ""

    for i in range(string_order-index_order):
        out_string += "0"
    if (step != 0):
        out_string += str(int(step))
    bpy.context.scene.render.filepath = output_dir+out_string
    bpy.ops.render.render(write_still = True)

I have the following set within the bpy script:
#Render settings
bpy.context.scene.render.engine = 'CYCLES'
bpy.context.scene.cycles.device = 'GPU'

Which I hoped would solve the problem, despite having the same settings set within the Blender GUI.  I know there is a _cycles package I can import with a _cycles.render(), but I can't find any documentation for this function on the internet.  Hopefully you guys have a fish to give, because I'm having trouble catching my own.
Ideally this solution would not involve command line options, though I will welcome one if I must.

Do you have multiple scenes in the file?  You would need to set the value for each scene, as in this answer  But I don't understand why you want to change the settings from the user preferences.  More importantly, what's the behavior you're getting that's different from the behavior you want?

I was able to get this to work.  For anyone who wants to copy and paste a solution allows one to disbatch a single frame at a time to render, on GPU, here is the code that gets you there:
### Performance utilities

def render_image_indexed(output_dir, out_type, step, ani_length):
    string_order= int(np.ceil(np.log10(ani_length+1)))
    index_order = int(np.ceil(np.log10(step+1)))
    out_string = ""

    for i in range(string_order-index_order):
        out_string += "0"
    if (step != 0):
        out_string += str(int(step))
    bpy.context.scene.render.filepath = output_dir+out_string
    bpy.ops.render.render(write_still = True)

def clear_all_data():
    for obj in bpy.context.scene.objects:
        if obj.type == 'MESH':
            obj.select_set(True)
        else:
            obj.select_set(False)
        bpy.ops.object.delete()

    for block in bpy.data.meshes:
        if block.users == 0:
            bpy.data.meshes.remove(block)

    #for block in bpy.data.materials:
    #    if block.users == 0:
    #        bpy.data.materials.remove(block)

    for block in bpy.data.textures:
        if block.users == 0:
            bpy.data.textures.remove(block)

    for block in bpy.data.images:
        if block.users == 0:
            bpy.data.images.remove(block)

    for block in bpy.data.curves:
        if block.users == 0:
            bpy.data.curves.remove(block)

###

if __name__ == "__main__":
    out_dir = "/mnt/<YourHardDrive>/<YourFolderLocation>/"
    pattern = ".png"

    #Technical
    # get_devices() to let Blender detects GPU device
    bpy.context.preferences.addons["cycles"].preferences.get_devices()
    print(bpy.context.preferences.addons["cycles"].preferences.compute_device_type)
    for d in bpy.context.preferences.addons["cycles"].preferences.devices:
        d["use"] = 1 # Using all devices, include GPU and CPU
        print(d["name"], d["use"])

    #clear all objects
    for obj in bpy.data.objects:
        bpy.data.objects.remove(obj,do_unlink=True)
    clear_all_data()
    #Render settings
    bpy.context.scene.render.engine = 'CYCLES'
    bpy.context.scene.cycles.device = 'GPU'
    for frame in range(<NUMFRAMES>):
        <YOUR CODE HERE>
        render_image_indexed(out_dir, pattern, frame, num_frames)

Remember to link your camera  to your scene. Adding camera to scene


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Render animation to WebM with 'Transparent' alpha channels?
I saw this question asked, but all of the answers were out of date by a couple years.  Since most web browsers now support Webm with alpha channels, has Blender included a way to encode alpha channels to Webm?
If not, could someone provide an ffmpeg cli command to render a png sequence to a webm with alpha channels?  I don't see anything in the ffmpeg manual.

Seems there is no option in 2.93.4... ffmpeg -framerate 25 -f image2 -i frames/%03d.png -c:v libvpx-vp9 -pix_fmt yuva420p output.webm from Convert PNGs to webm video with transparency

I was able to succeed by doing all of the following 5 things.  Missing any 1 of these 5 things will cause your animation to render without an alpha channel.

Under Properties Window > Render Properties > Film check Transparent
Under Properties Window > Output Properties > Output change File Format to FFMPEG Video
Under Properties Window > Output Properties > Encoding > Container choose WebM (Webm can hold transparent alpha, other containers might work, but tis one is certain)
Under Properties Window > Output Properties > Encoding > Video > Video Codec; set to WEBM/VP9 (again, other might work, but I know this combination works)
Under Properties Window > Output Properties > Color set to RGBA.

Now your animation will have transparent alpha.

Doesn't work for me in Blender 3.2

@Monstar Of course this works correctly with version 3.2. I have just tested it. If it doesn't work for you, the application where you are processing the material obviously can't handle transparency, or your implementation is buggy.


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Is there a way to resize multiple objects with different sizes, to the same dimensions?
So I am very new to Blender and I am attempting to model a low poly P250, after a lot of struggle I had the wireframe outline, but when I looked at it in 3D view everything had different thicknesses, I've got no clue how to change all parts to the same dimensions. To an experienced user this must be painful to look at haha.

if those are different objects, you can go in the N panel > Item > Dimensions, and give them the same dimension on the chosen axis. If this is one object, you need to find an addon that will give you the dimensions of the selected mesh/edge, maybe check here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/86829/edit-mode-dimensions

press TAB
select all by pressing "A"
press S to scale
now without touching anykey/mouse.. press X
and now move your mouse ... it will start scaling in X direction.


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Is it possible to hide the original object of an array from the camera?
I'm working on a project where a second person need to add images to the postrendered image. The main object is a fruit crate in which I used an array to make the frontal wood bars:

My idea to solve this problem is to make 2 different renderings from the same camera, one where I don't see the anterior set of bars possible by uncheck the camera view in the array modifier, and one in which I don't see all the other elements, ecxept for the object created from the array. So in this way the other person could stack the images and obtain a realistic result without further work. For example if I want to add an apple, I start with the background, then I add my fuit over it and finally I add the wood bars. Is my idea practicable? Is there another way of doing it?

Why use an array at all? Why not make all bars separate instances of the same object? That way you can even put them in different render layers and render all in one go.

You can use either different render layers, cryptomatte layers, object ID layers. You'll need to export in a file format that supports different passes like exr

@Gorgious I didn't know render layers, I have found how tu use them as you have suggested. How can I find the proper usage of the others layers that you mentioned?

So, the faster approach is to use Render Layer. A render layer is a way to separate objects in the scene and render them separately, I'll show quickly how to use them for the use I needed:

Create folders to keep the background objects and what should be put over

Create a new Render Layer (Use the new option in the menu that will show once you click)

Remove the check from the elements that will be part of the background

Switch to the new layer and remove the check from all the other objects

Now Blender will render 2 images, one for each layer, and with a photo editor you can simply paste the background, insert the fruit you want in the crate and then paste over all the final layer.


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Blender crashes after several hours of animation rendering
TL;DR Blender crashes after several hours of cycles animation rendering, why, have old hardware, need new PC anyway, want components that zucc the issue away.
So I have a rather complex scene in cycles with heaps of reflections, refractions, transparencies, light sources and like 2 3K textures and I'm rendering it all in a 500 frame animation. It's taking approximately 2-3 days with my hardware on the saple rate, lightbounces etc. But the problem arises when I get back home/wake up to see that render had crashed and maybe 2-3 hours of rendering was lost. It's no big deal because I can just continue the render right where it stopped.
But what I'm wondering is why this is, I'm assuming at this point it's just my old hardware, too much RAM useage/VRAM useage because sometimes when blender crashes I see some kinda error to do with the gpu or memory (I'll try get the actual error code if there is one) but more often than not blender just closes quietly with no error.
I'm wondering this because I am in big need of a new computer anyway and if I was to get a new one what kind of upgrades would I specifically be looking at to directly crush this issue because it'd be great to just start a nice phat render going over a week while I'm holidays for example.
PC Specs:
Cpu: i7-3770 3.40GHz 4 cores 8 threads
RAM: 16GB 1600MHz RAM
Gpu1: Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1650 4GB VRAM
Gpu2: ASUS GeForce GTX 1050ti 4GB VRAM
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H
OS: Windows 10 Pro

"maybe 2-3 hours of rendering was lost." This can't happen if you render animation to .png.  You'll get a image sequence that can't be 'lost' if blender crashes.  Blender can later create a movie (quickly) out of the image sequence under video editing.

Hello :). One of many possible reasons - your render tiles might be too big. This causes Blender crash without any warning. Scale them down just a bit, and see if it helps. Works for me, but might not work for you.

Thanks for the feedback mates, very appreciated. What I meant, Mike, with "maybe 2-3 hours of rendering" being lost was that the render crashed and 2-3 hours later I found out so that's 2-3 hours it could have been rendering. I have been rendering in PNG and it's beautiful and is why I'm not so fussed with the render crashing. Thanks boys.


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How to Make White Transparent in a Shader
(Eevee) So I have 2 textures hooked up to a color ramp, but I want to combine them in such a way that the colors on either isn't desaturated. I tried a whole heap of blend modes, this seems like a really basic maneuver in shading but I just could not findanything on this except for stuff that only works in cycles.
Neanderthal node setup

Node output

What I want the node to spew out

Thanks to any legend who points me in the right direction.

There are many ways to do it, here it's one of them:

In your color ramps you need to replace the white color with a transparent one (just set the Alpha value to 0). That way you can have a white background and add the colors on top by using the Alpha output of the color ramps.
An alternative way could be to use the black color instead of the alpha and choose Screen or Add as blend modes


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Mask smaller in Video Sequence Editor than in Movie Clip Editor
The mask I created in the Movie Clip Editor is smaller in the Video Sequence Editor Preview. I know that the mask scaling might be wrong (see answer from here), but I don't use nodes for creating masks. I apply my mask in the Video Sequence Editor, but there is no scaling factor.

I found the reason for the mismatch of the mask: the input video in the movie clip editor is in 4K with 4096x2160 px and the output video in the video preview window is downscaled to fullHD with 1920x1080 px. Therefore the aspect ratio of the input (1.89 : 1) is different to the output video (1.77 : 1) hence a mismatch of the mask in the output video


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Screw modifier not working perfectly
Has anyone had problems like this?
just previously the modifier works fine but just take look at this

:(

Have you applied the rotation and scale?

Make sure you apply any previous transformation to your curves/mesh (in Object Mode) with Ctrl+A, in my case, X axis was scaled to zero so naturally it became flat.
I did not realized this all the while thinking the only transform I did was in edit mode.
Hope that someone find this helpful as well :)

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


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Blender Multiple Bake Problem
When I try to bake multiple textures blender don't merge all textures
What I want to make
https://imgur.com/a/n3hbiSw
and this is what is happening

Does this answer your question? Blender Bake Problem

I was able to bake three objects on one UV Map texture by doing the following:

In UV Image Editor, create a new image texture. I did a simple black 1024x1024.
Select all three objects. Tab into Edit Mode. Unwrap "Light Map Pack" for quick and dirty testing. You will see the unwrap of all three objects evenly distributed across the UV image.
Create materials for your objects.
Add a "Image Texture" node to each object material (but do not connect it to anything). Make sure the Image Texture node has the UV map you created for baking in it. You should see "3" users for that Image Texture node. Make sure that node is selected / highlighted in each object.
Select your objects and hit bake.

Almost same thign what i did
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7Xdol5erw
i did everything same

And it still does not work? I would recommend getting the latest stable release of Blender if you have not already.

tried 2.83 and 2.82 but no

Have you tried saving the UV texture bake image? Maybe try CPU render instead of GPU? Could there be conflicting add-ons enabled?

dont have any addons i tried gpu also cpu too

also after bake blender ruin original texture ( image )

You want to send me a blend file so I can look?

https://we.tl/t-ztlaZJViYb


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Geometry Nodes Texture Export
I made building with geometry nodes with textures I asked how to apply textures on realize an instance
Now my question is how I can export the model with textures I am trying to export in unity but model don't have textures.
I don't know if I am explaining correctly
Blend file : https://we.tl/t-875Xpr9eCl

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57531/fbx-export-why-there-are-no-materials-or-textures

nothing changed after 6 Years?
Woah became such work older versions were applying and ready to go realize instance ruined everything –

Well that answer was edited and updated a couple of months ago, but it looks as if the main limitations are due to the export file formats themselves. The Blender manual has this to say about missing features in the FBX format.

Don't get why devs made it so complicated it was working perfectly in 2.93 it was just applying modifier and textures were stayed after exporting


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Building Geometry Nodes
I followed Tutorial 18:44.
In Divide and add node should attach wall and then I extrude should stay stuck on walls but it's not working.
Every time I extrude the walls go further. As far as I know, its because a number is not integer.

Blend File

You placed all your text inside the image description, which is not visible in the body of your post. I've edited it into a readable text, and also added paragraphs and proper punctuation.

i am newbie here dont know how this works thanks

Object size are $0.5$ and Math Node(Add) is $1$, should be $0.5$.

Hi, thanks for the post. This site is not a regular forum, answers should be substantial, stand on their own, and thoroughly explain the solution and procedure. One liners and short tips rarely make for a good answer. If you can [edit] your post and provide some more details about the workflow and how it works, feel free to restore it, otherwise it may be converted to a comment. Perhaps add a few images illustrating some steps and final result. See How to write a good answer?

as I remember correctly  my object (scale dimension size was 0.5) so Math Node(Add) number should be same amount number of object dimension


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Movie clip editing - Rotoscoping output
I have output frames from the Movie editor as PNG before with transparent background but cannot remember the settings. I can only now get the required image with a Black background even though RGBA is elected in the output panel. Has something changed with v3.5?
I do not want to use the compositor for further individual image editing reasons.


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How to bend two parts of a flat objects on two different axis?
Hi guys, I already posted this on reddit blenderhelp but I think it kinda became a meme, and even though I fixed a few things my problem hasn't been solved.
I tried the bend tool and simple bend modifier with no success because it didn't give me enough control on the bend trajectory, I then tried the bezier curve modifier, I applied a bend on the X Axis, to have the wrist part curve, then a second bend on the Z axis to have the top part curve down too.
My problem is that I want the top part to be flat on the X Axis, because after a 180° Z Bend, the top part of the object now moves away from the X Bend trajectory, as it is now mirrored.
I tried applying Vertex groups on the bottom half so that the top wouldn't bend on the X Axis, but blender doesn't make a smooth transition between flat and bent parts, I get weird connection polys instead of a fluid twist (or untwist in this case).
Is there any simple way to bend an object in two different directions ? A bit like so https://blenderartists.org/t/c4d-like-bend-deformer/1146668

Completely rewritten the answer to address the need for the end of the fold to be flat.

You could go with the Bend, using limits and Axis/Orientation Empties in the modifiers, but IMO, you would get finer control over the curves using Curve modifiers throughout?
Excluding the flat region from the circular curve modifier
In order to keep the end of the folded-over region flat, it must remain unaffected either by the mapping of the entire object into the curve, or the subsequent deformation. The first is achieved by arranging origins.

The circle's origin is placed at its first vertex, and at World 0.
The object's origin is placed at the center of its X dimension, at its minimum Z
The object is then translated in X (effectively rotating it around the circle under deformation) until the part of the mesh we want to remain stationary is directly above the circle's origin.

The second is achieved by weight painting:

The circle Curve modifier (deforming in X) is aimed at a vertex group - it does not affect the unweighted region:

The bottom is curved, the top remains flat, and in place.
Adding a second curve modifier to fold over a section.
The folding curve modifier deforms in Z, its curve can be anywhere you like in X, but here shown with its origin in the same place as the circle curve.

You could flatten more or less of the flap with weight-painting.

Hi and thanks for the input Robin. Well that's what I did, I used Bezier Curve modifier, but as I said, I'd like the top part to stay flat while the bottom curves around the wrist and have a clean horizontal bend for the top part.The bend tool didn't give me enough flexibility, I will have a look at the Axis/Orientation Empties in the modifiers.

I just wish I could have it bend around two cylinders, one placed vertically for the wrist curve, one placed horizontally, perpendicular to the first one, for the second bend. May be I need a CAD for this. I tried with Fusion 360, with no luck, there is no bend tool on this software ! While Autodesk has it in Inventor...

@NeanderMat see edit... Is this what you mean? This is just eyeballed. weight painting and adjusting the curve. It could be made into a perfect cylinder if that's what you need

Or.. you could even shrinkwrap to your 2 cylinders... depends.. if you need animated deformation..

Hey Robin, thanks for the edit, the weight painting seems like it would do the trick perfectly ! This is what I was missing when I tried applying vertex group modifiers. The transition between the bent part to the flat one was totally messed up and not smooth at all. I am not 100% confident in my understanding of the first method you proposed though, I will give it a try and adjust placement of every different element.

Yeah I've had a go with shrinkwrapping around cylinders already actually, but it wouldn't give me much maneuverability. At least at my current level with blender... Actually I would rather need a "bend around x shape to x degrees" tool, so that I could make a small cylinder on top, have my object wrap around it on 180° before going back down !

If you want a perfect circular arc in the fold, you could construct the second deformation curve from  a circle, extruding its inside end vertically.

Yeah I was just editing my last comment saying that I could actually do just that with curves hah. Anyway thank you very much for your help, it's late here so I will try the weight paint tomorrow and replicate your first method as well before reporting back, I need to fully understand this tool now before moving on with a peaceful mind !


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Wonky, off-axis rotation
Based on what I have read so far, I'm the 3,600th person to ask this question, but every answer I have read (or have seen on youtube) thus far does not solve MY wonky rotation prob.
--Animation of rotating objects are constrained to global axis.  Got it.
--Creating an empty object and then parenting the object-in-need-of-rotation to the empty.  Got that too.
--Rotate the empty in animation to backdoor the issue.  Check.
--But somehow tilting the empty global axis to match my non-global axis of rotation?  While I can tilt the empty, the axis of rotation remains global.   I've tried it 40 different ways. I suck.  But a quitter I am not.

Could you add an image of your interface?

I got it sorted.  The key (or at least one of them) seems to be to FIRST animate your object on global, THEN parent to an empty, which you can rotate to whichever axis you desire.


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Use dynamic sky as sky and ground
I haven't found anything over the matter. Is it possible to set dynamic sky also "below the horizon line", sort of mirroring it in -Z axys?


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can't select armature bones in weight paint mode?
so for some reason, i can't select individual bones in weight paint mode (i'm on Blender 2.82 currently). I created my armature myself and pretty much left the default bone settings as is, aside from checking the "In Front" option in the viewport. I'm also using the default mouse button settings for 2.8, not the ones from 2.7
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance. :)

The mesh object needs to have an armature deform modifier targeting the armature for the bone selection to work from that armature:
In Object Mode, Select the Mesh object(s), then ⇧ Shift select the armature object, and press ⎈ CtrlP > Set Parent To Armature Deform (and any sub option you prefer within Armature deform).
Then in Object Mode, select the armature object then ⇧ Shift + Click the mesh object, then ↹ Tab into Weight Paint mode.
To select a bone, use ⎇ AltClick (before Blender 4.0, use ⇧ Shift + Click).

that's what i did. it didn't select any bones.


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principled bsdf shader suddenly not available in 2.79?
so i'm on my desktop computer and because of an outdated plugin, i'm having to work in blender 2.79 or below (i've chosen blender 2.79). strangely though, unlike when i work in 2.79b on my laptop, i'm not able to find the principled bsdf shader anymore?? I've tried downloading every conceivable iteration of 2.79, from the alpha to the beta to the official final release, all the way to those midnight releases or whatever they're called, and i'm just not finding it. i've tried enabling node wrangler, disabling node wrangler, disabling ALL my plugins, and still no luck in finding the principled shader. on my laptop where i have the regular 2.79b release, i can use it just fine.
so for now, i've deleted 2.79 on this computer as i'm struggling to use it without the trusty principled shader. do any of you perhaps know of a potential fix for this? because having to migrate all my relevant obj files that are relevant for this project would be an absolute nightmare, so i'd really rather not have to resort to that.
thanks a lot :)

Where have you been trying to find the Principled BSDF? It should be available in the node editor for the material, if you're using Cycles as render engine.

i have been using cycles and looking in the node editor, but for some reason it just isn't there. it's very peculiar

Add > Shader > Principled BSDF (located between Mix Shader and Refraction BSDF). If you still can't find it, please add a screenshot of the entire UI to your question.


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The rendered images differ from the images in the toggle camera view
I am using an orthographic camera. Why do the rendered images differ from the toggle camera view? Please refer to the attachment. My images appear distorted. How can I make my rendered images the same as the toggle camera view? Thanks in advance.
Chen

The difference is due to different lighting. Currently the viewport shows objects in studio lights but the rendering happens in sunlight. To see the rendered image in viewport: Change Viewport Shading to Rendered:


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How to change the size of the particles over distance traveled
I'm using a verticle blend texture to change the size of the particles the more they go up, to mimic a stylised blocky fire. It works, but the starting size of the particles change over time as well. So it looks like the "fire" is getting bigger and bigger over time. While I want it to be a constant starting size, and getting smaller the more it goes up.

maybe this answer will help: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/114300/how-to-affect-particle-size-over-time/114310

I followed those steps, and I'm still getting the same issue

it should not, maybe share your file (just the emitter with its object)? https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/mSoJ3wzD

Use the method explained here. In the file you share the problem is probably that your gradient is vertical when it should be horizontal:

Yes! this worked, Thank you!


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Blender doesn't respond (RAM issue)
I'm a Blender newbie and I have to do an animation of a project.
Shortly i have to move the camera in the scene to create a tour of my city, the problem is that the project is too heavy in terms of resources.
I have a i5-9400f , 16 Gb RAM , GTX 1050-Ti.
The scene is heavy, so heavy that the RAM is always full and often the screen freeze, because is writing to the disk (RAM is full).
Are there any solutions or all I can do is buy more RAM?

I'm a newbie myself so I don't know for sure if something can be done to fix this inside of Blender or not. What I do know is that I had a similar problem in 2.82 and I just decided to buy more ram and that solved my problem. Sorry, don't know why that last part didn't make it in. I'm working with 8k textures and did some research and found out that Blender can use a lot of ram depending on the operation it's performing so that it functions smoothly. Hopefully someone else can be of more help to you.

Hello :). Is your viewport in solid/wireframe mode or in render preview? That's a big difference in regards to performance.


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Soft Body Animation to Keyframe Animation
I was wondering how to add a normal keyframe animation where I just change the location after a soft body simulation where the object is blown across the screen with a wind force. In my animation, the object stops in the middle of the camera angle and I want to animate so that it rolls off to the side. Thanks.

I managed to do it, you need the add-on "Animation: Corrective Shape Keys" though. You can just enable it in your blender preferences.

What you do is you bake your animation, and then at the frame where you want to keep the shape of the softbody and animate it by hand you go into the shapekeys menu and click "create duplicate for editing".

This will create a duplicate of your object that looks exactly like if the SB modifier had been applied, however maybe with different transforms, but that doesnt matter. Select the new duplicate, then select the original (so it's the active object), and again go into the shapekeys menu. This time press "join as shapes". Your object now has a shapekey of that "applied" shape. Set it to 1, and then at the point where your softbody assumes that shape, keyframe the render-/viewport-display of the modifier to disabled. Because this shape is also active as a shapekey you will not notice that the softbody has been deactivated, but you can now transform it like a normal object again, if however with a weird origin point.
If I misunderstood your question and you want to know how to have your keyframes influence the actual SB simulation, you can do this:

Again, get to the point where you want to use your keyframes on the object. Do the "create duplicate for editing" thing again, give it the same transforms as the original. Set its origin to geometry. Link the softbody modifier (ctrl+L) from the original so you don't have to retype all the values, and enable goal. Keyframe the min and max goal values to be 1 at the first frame so it really takes on that default shape, and then min back to 0 at the next frame. Because you have goal active it should now take the transform keyframes into account, and just need to hide the original at that frame. Basically one object does the first half of the animation, the second one the other. You can use goal from the beginning but then you'd have to animate gravity by yourself and pay attention to other stuff. There might be other ways but honestly dealing with SB is often a pain the butt.
You could also try forces, but I never used them myself so I can give no information about that.


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export particle mesh to unreal engine 4
Does anyone know a way to export a particle mesh animation to unreal engine using alembic for example. Or perhaps a way to bake it to a fbx animation.
I know you can convert the particles into a mesh but you loose the animation data of the particles when you do that.

Found a way here Convert particle system to animated meshes
This solution is not perfect. The euler rotation of the particles is not captured perfectly and the workflow to export to unreal is a bit tricky and "crashy".
When you export to fbx make sure you only select a single mesh as more than a couple might crash unreal engine on import. But the interesting thing is that there are multiple animations stored. So you can duplicate the mesh in unreal and select a different animation to create a flock of birds for example. It's no where near as good as the blender particle animation but good enough for a variety of applications.
Hopefully someone else can provide a better solution.


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Blender cycles stops rendering when I add a bevel node to the material
I wanted to have some edge detection on a simple cube to debug this but creating new files and doing the same thing just ends up killing cycles every time. I don't even have to connect the node to anything it's instantly stopped cycles from showing anything except gray or whatever image was last rendered.
I'm on blender 2.81 and supported feature set

Unable to duplicate. Can you please post a blend file?

Hi. Please use blend-exchange if you want to provide files for us to check.


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Convert Particle System to Object With Unique Faces
I've been trying to find info around converting hair particles into a mesh, but with "unique" faces. I'm able to convert the particles into the mesh, which creates a number of linked objects under the Outliner window.
Once complete, each object (object.001, object.002 etc) is linked in so much that selecting a face on one selects that same face on all the others. I can't work out how to unlink them so that each face is its own unique face, and not linked to the rest. When trying to unlink it just removes it from the scene.
I've so far tried a few applications, (make instances real) etc, but I'm not sure how to combine it all into single object.
Any help is appreciated.

You can do it by going to Object > Relations > Make Single User.


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Weird behavior when importing a mesh in wavefront (obj) format with double-sided faces
Since the dataset I use, ShapeNet, contains a large number of obj files with double sides faces, importing it directly into blender and rendering image seems have incorrect materials.
To verify this, I give a simple example. The Box obj file contains 8 vertices and 24 triangle faces, that is, 12 faces for Box, but each of them is double-sided. All face has correct normal.
I think this example is simple enough that everyone can reproduce this bug in blender.
For the 6 faces, I set them to the same material, and the other 6 are the second material. The same is true for the 12 inside faces, but the inside material is opposite to the materials of the face facing the outside.
The content of obj file is as follows:
mtllib model.mtl
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v -0.500000 -0.500000 -0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v 0.500000 -0.500000 -0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v -0.500000 0.500000 -0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v 0.500000 0.500000 -0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v -0.500000 -0.500000 0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v 0.500000 -0.500000 0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v -0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
vn 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
v 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
# 8 vertices, 0 vertices normals

usemtl material_0_24
f 1//1 2//2 3//3
f 4//4 3//3 2//2
f 1//1 3//3 5//5
f 7//7 5//5 3//3
f 1//1 5//5 2//2
f 6//6 2//2 5//5
f 7//7 6//6 8//8
f 6//6 7//7 5//5
f 4//4 7//7 8//8
f 7//7 4//4 3//3
f 6//6 4//4 8//8
f 4//4 6//6 2//2

usemtl material_4_24
f 3//3 2//2 1//1
f 2//2 3//3 4//4
f 5//5 3//3 1//1
f 3//3 5//5 7//7
f 2//2 5//5 1//1
f 5//5 2//2 6//6
f 8//8 6//6 7//7
f 5//5 7//7 6//6
f 8//8 7//7 4//4
f 3//3 4//4 7//7
f 8//8 4//4 6//6
f 2//2 6//6 4//4

And the content of model.mtl is as follows:
# Blender MTL File: 'blank.blend'
# Material Count: 2

newmtl material_0_24
Ns 96.078431
Ka 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Kd 0.000000 0.313726 0.000000
Ks 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
Ni -1.000000
d 1.000000
illum 2

newmtl material_4_24
Ns 96.078431
Ka 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Kd 0.800000 0.000000 0.000000
Ks 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
Ni -1.000000
d 1.000000
illum 2

When I use Meshlab to open obj and set the backface culling, the colors are displayed correctly, of which 6 are blue and the other is red. And Meshlab will show that the current obj has 24 faces and 8 vertices.

But when I import this box obj to Blender, I found some double sides faces have been removed and there are only 12 faces.
Not only that, Blender seems to delete some faces randomly, resulting in inconsistent effects with Meshlab with backface culling turned on.

Besides, Blender shows that there are currently only 12 faces, which means that double sides faces with the same vertex position are removed during the import process, but the removal criteria is strange.

I want to know if this behavior is normal, if it is a bug in blender? If not, how should I config it to make the correct backface culling and display the correct faces and materials?


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Is there a node wrangler for geometry nodes?
I'm trying to figure out the equivalent of node wrangler for geometry nodes, so with node wrangler add-on activated and pressing CTRL+SHIFT+LMB a node called viewer appears. The previous solution doesn't show what the current node is doing to the geometry, is there a shortcut that links the actual node with the group output, showing what an individual node and its predecessors is doing?

did you try shift alt lmb?

if you go to your add-ons -> node wrangler -> show hotkey list you will see:

so if you shift ctrl (or alt) LMB on a node, it automatically connects to the output.
Because i am working on a mac...my combination is Shift-Option-LMB.

if both (shift-alt-lmb and shift-ctrl-lmb) are not working, you should
check whether these combinations are used for other actions. Then
delete these other actions to make it work.

On Windows it works with shift+alt+LMB, thank you so much, now it will be easier to understand what I'm doing

Glad I could help

Viewer is used to  preview the values in spreadsheet:

More about debugging using viewer in my answer

Online I've seen people showing the geometry output instead of values, do you know something like that?

Only if you'll connect node to group output...

Yeah, I know, but it seems like there is a shortcut that I'm missing. Instead to drag the output of the node to the group output, they make it with a shortcut, as the node wrangler in the shader editor


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When in camera view a grey plane appears
I was playing with my POV and suddendly a grey plane, the problem is that I didn't add any, and the plane rotate with the camera, look at the photos for a better understanding.

The worst is that the plane is also rendered, I don't know what is going on.
I'm using Cycles with Supported option and my Blender version is 3.1.2.

I added a new camera, and in this one, there isn't any grey plane, but at this point my curiosity is triggered: what was missing with the previous camera?

please share your file

This looks like your Camera's end clip plane is set too low for your scene. It cuts out the rendering of everything beyond the set distance.
Check the "Clip Start and End" section on the camera's Blender manual page.


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How to use properly viewer node
I'm having my first approach with Nodes, I don't understand how to use the viewer node, on the manual it is said that shift +ctrl+LMB on the node and the viewer must appear, but nothing appends when I do this. And just for clarity, does LMB stands for Left Mouse Botton?

Based off the answer you accepted, it looks like you were looking for a viewer node in the material editor.  This requires the Node Wrangler addon, however the inspiration for this feature comes from the viewer node present by default (accessible through [ctrl]+[shift]+[LMB] as well) in the compositor.  Node wrangler, among other things, adds a similar feature to the material editor which is quite handy.

That action is dependent on having the Node Wrangler Add-on enabled. Go into User Preferences > Add-ons and enable it.

Thank you so much, you make my day


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What is the difference between Evee and Cycles
As mentioned in the title i don't understand which differences are and when is better tu use one render than another

Does this answer your question? EEVEE and Cycles render lighting differences

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/120372


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Object become white when applying booleans
As mentioned in the title, I have a cylinder and I applied to It two booleans, but doing this turns the removed zones' color to white. Does someone have any idea about why this is appening and most of all how can I solve thisa issue?
There is an update, using the fast solver made the magic. Is there a way to obtain the same result also with the exact solver? And why is there this different result?

if the boolean object has a common material with your booleaned object, this material will appear on the booleaned zone. Not sure about the second question though, it should work the same with Fast and Exact...

So, should I apply the same material on the 2 objects?

If you don't want this material, remove it from the cutting object


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I can't use the add menu, how can I fix it?
I'm starting now to modelling in blender, I was trying to create an hexagon, as everyone do, I searched on YouTube and here I understood that you need to do 3 simple steps:

Add a cylinder
Click on the menu in the left bottom part of the screen
Reduce the number of vertices

And the magic is done, but for some reason my add menu doesn't work properly, as you can see in the photo it seems impossible to change the properties and the first time i click on it, it disapears!

you need to make sure that Global Undo is enabled in Preferences > System

It works, but this change remains ot at the next boot of blender I need to select this option again?

it should be enabled by default, so what you can do is open a new file, go in the Preferences, enable Global Undo, then File > Defaults > Save Startup File

As moonboots told me the problem is that the Global Undo was disabled, to fix the problem you need to go here: Edit->Preferences->System and add the check on the Global undo


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Light emitting material in Eevee doesn't cast light on surfaces?
Bit of  noob, so forgive me in advance.
Working in Eevee in 2.81, I can't get an emission shaded material to cast light onto a surface. I've got bloom enabled, and the emitting surface illuminates plenty of bloom effect, but the material doesn't cast light onto anything else. my other surfaces catch illumination from other lights just fine.
I'm just using an emission shader node and material output - that's all.
I'm used to building light sources out of objects in Cycles - what am I missing?

See if enabling screen space reflections under Eevee settings helps.

I'm pretty sure emission doesn't work (yet?!?) in Eevee, the object looks bright & it'll effect bloom but it won't light anything up...


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Creating cables that can drape over objects
I've been trying to create mic cables for a studio scene that can drape realistically over objects, and have had varying success creating a mesh line, extruding vertices to create the basic path and form for the cable, and then converting to a curve and beveling the curve to create a tube.
Then I've converted the tube back to mesh and used the physics tab to apply cloth to it. I've tinkered with various settings, like more or less subdivisions, greater & lesser tension/compression/bend values in the cloth, and it's coming out OK, but I'm having trouble getting the "cable" to not collapse or deform.
Figured out the pinning routine so I can easily pin the cable to the mic, created collision settings so it can drape nicely over a mic stand and floor, used subdivision surface to smooth out the final product, but can't quite get the cable to stay nice & round. Certain bend points tend to flatten out. How can I get the cable to maintain it's roundness?
Any suggestions...?

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/48801/are-curve-physics-possible

You can do this wihout cloth simulation, use the Draw Curves tool.
Add a Bézier curve object.
In edit mode delete all vertices (x).
Select Draw Curve from the toolbox

Press N to bring out the properties region, and in the Tool tab set the Draw Depth to Surface.
Then draw your curve freely.

Then set the curve to have some bevel, to make it the width you need.

You might need to adjust the Tolerance and Detect Corner values to fit your particluar needs.
For more detail on the tool read the manual:
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/curves/tools/draw.html?highlight=draw%20curve

Amazing! Exactly what I needed! thanks so much!

https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/someone-answers

Susu answer works for this, but maybe in general also check out the 'blender secrets' 1 min videos on cables. Just search on 'blender secrets cables' there are a few very good tips.


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How can I simplify a LIDAR scan?
I've got a LIDAR scan of a series of rooms, and I'd love to be able to modify it so I end up with simple boxes for rooms I can create shadowcatching surfaces from.
From a conceptual level, I need to be able to identify the largest more-or-less flat portions of each surface as the  wall/floor/ceiling and create flat planes from them, and deleting all those things that aren't wall/floor/ceiling.
From a practical level, though, I've got no idea how to start the process! Are there plugins or programs that can help me achieve this? Is this a task for some sort of AI approach that could be trained to "see" the bounding box of wall/floor/ceiling, ignoring the noise of smaller details within the box?
Or can it be a simpler process that deconstructs the mesh according to specific constraints?
Sorry I'm so vague about this - I am trying to understand how this process could be started, what sort of approaches could be taken.

You could start with the decimate modifier.

Yes, that's a great start! Thanks!

Question - is it possible to assign the same value to, say, the Z coordinates for a number of selected vertices?

Select them and scald them to zero on the Z acis by pressing S (scale) >Z>0.

I've used Chat GPT to write a script that allows me to replace any particular coordinate among the selected vertices, whether X, Y, or Z with the desired value. Works great1
Can't code for shit, but this is an instance where it looks like Chat GPT can actually help. Amazing!


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How do I keep a camera pointed at a stationary object while moving the camera on X or Y axis?
So, I need the camera to stay "looking" at a particular point while I shift it on X & Y axes. It would rotate on its Z axis to keep pointed at the target.There's no animation involved, I will be moving the camera manually.

Do you try to add to the camera a Track To constraint, selecting "-Z" as Track Axis and "Y" as Up ?

Actually, yes, that's it! Wasn't working before because the origin of the object it was constrained to was way out of its geometry! All I had to do was to set the origin correctly and it works like a charm.

Hello, Dan .. (I hope I haven't misread this) It seems you have a fix without  requiring an answer here, and your post can fairly be called a duplicate. If you disagree, please go ahead and edit for re-opening. Thanks.


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Metal covered with glass makes the mesh always visible in cycles?
I'm quite new to blender and totally thrilled about it. Recently, I tried to render a metal plate with concentric metal rings on it. The whole structure should be covered in glass, giving a flat surface in the end. I'm still not done with the materials and lighting, but the first rendered images look quite funny. To me it looks like I can always see how the structures was meshed, but I can't subdivide any further as I'm running out of RAM quickly. Also it feels like I'm seriouly doing something wrong here.
I'm using blender 2.81.16 with the builtin denoiser (switching it on/off doesn't change anything). I built 2 pieces (metal and glass) positioned very close to each other (maybe thats the problem??) and a sun as a light source.
Any Ideas what how to get a smooth render image?
Here's a link to the blender file: https://file.io/p3S4Dc

Looks like overlapping geometry to me. What happens when you drag the glas object just a tiny bit upwards?

Looks like overlapping geometry to me. What happens when you drag the glas object just a tiny bit upwards? – brockmann

Wow, that did the trick, thanks a lot! I also had to change the ring size so no face are touching anymore, now it looks perfect. Just out of interest - is there a less "hacky" way? Fusing both with a boolean operator didn't help.


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world grid is visible in render (how to remove?)
I've been trying to find a solution for quite some while and I couldn't find one so I decided to make a post here.
I've been trying to learn motion tracking with blender and I got the track and I attach it to a image object. I then add a background image to the camera and the the image object was moving in front of the background image.
Everything was great until I pressed render and guess what? The world grid was IN my render.
Is there a way to have a camera background image and not have the grid on top?
I tried to but the background image in depth: front but then the image object was behind the background image.

plz share image whats the problem

Grid can be disabled by going to 3d view>Properties(N)>Display>Toggle Grid Floor(On/Off).Also the "Only Render" option available in the same panel ,can be used to see the render without objects like grid, camera ,lights etc