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issue regarding a character face(with a different face texture) shading unexpectedly
The issue I'm having is that I have 2 materials applied to the body of a low-poly character I'm modelling. One of these materials has just been texture painted on and is the skin/underclothes color, and the other is a 2D drawn face that can swap between some expressions with shader nodes

despite the skin tone of the both being the same color(as per the hex code used to paint both), they're differently shaded in the viewports. Lighting doesn't seem to have any effect, as even in renderview, the outlines of the areas where the face texture has been applied remain as clear as the material preview. I dont know what other information is relevant to give an answer to this, But I don't know how to fix it myself

Hard to tell without further infos: do colors match in the 2D image textures? Do the Image texture nodes share the same Color space? Did you paint with full power of the brush? Are face normals correct? Maybe you could pack external data and share your file.

the colors do match in the 2D image textures, but both textures have different shader node setups, so they wouldnt share the same nodes. Brush was at full strength, and as far as correcting the face normals if they're messed up....I wouldn't really know how to do that.
https://mega.nz/file/euBCRJxJ#PRY5xmU-ZM8oImlzEeighB_fSv15uDi7Bjvfc4XyS1U is a packed file of the model

The Fbx doesn't contain the textures. You can go to File Menu > Exernal Data > Pack Resources, then directly upload the Blender file.

whoops, heres the blend file. https://mega.nz/file/e2h10JRa#pi65nCvp-ohnDJWpr6gZCS0QA6ik_JoNGOCdOdApvbs

The body material uses Principled BSDF Shader, while the Face material uses an Emission Shader.
In order to have continuity you have to use only one of them for both materials:
to solve, go to object mode, select the Face material, go to Shader editor window, delete the Emission node, go to menu > Add > Shader > Principled BSDF, and plug Color to Base Color Input, and BSDF to Surface Output.

Oh, thanks a bunch! Didn't know there was a distinction like that.


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Shadow Artifacts in viewport
I have these weird shadow artifacts on my mesh in solid, material and rendered preview. The mesh is not shaded smooth and all UV's have been manually cleaned up. All faces are also quads or tri's.

Those look very much, almost exactly, like shadows from a point light that is near the top of the model. Did you not want shadows to be shown in the viewport?

hello could you please share your file? https://blend-exchange.com/

@Phrogz there shouldn't be any light affecting the mesh in this mode and the shadows make no sense for that.

I seem to be able to fix it by removing the principled BSDF between the image texture and the output but I need to know why it makes a difference

@moonboots this should be the blender file Drive link

For some reason your split normals (the normals that determine the shading) are messed up (it happens with imported fbx for example), to fix that go into the Data panel > Geometry Data > click on Clear Custom Split Normals Data:

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Vertex color interpolation issue on edges
I've been using blender to procedurally make terrain for a video game I am working on in Unreal engine. I want to use vertex colors as a way to interpolate between different textures on unreal. Worth noting that my texturing is "tile-based" in a style not too different from minecraft with the addition of blending between tile textures.
My issue is when coloring vertices in a corner style, there seems to be improper blending in the middle along the diagonal. As an example:

In this image, the bottom left vertex is white and the other 3 are black. The quad is also split into tris as such:

I know that vertex colors are per tri, and I've already painted vertices the same color in both tris but I still cannot tell why the blending is off.
I've considered adding more tris but that doesn't eliminate the problem, only makes it smaller and I cannot afford to over-poly these tiles as it would over complicate the procedural generation of the terrain.
My research tells me this is an issue with how vertex colors are interpolated which ties my hands in trying to fix it. I did a quick test on Matlab to interpolated based on 4 vertices and the result is the blend I am looking for:

However, blender and unreal only interpolate based on 3 vertex triangles. With all that in mind, I'm not really sure how I can achieve this so I'd appreciate any pointers or ideas whether it uses vertex colors or anything else. Thanks in advance!

Do you know the algorithm matlab uses for this interpolation? In the end of the day what you will need is triangulate yourself, store corners of the triangle for each vertex, and also store the corner outside the triangle. I think this is a good start: How to reproduce Blender's smooth shading?

I wrote the interpolation on matlab myself, its just a simple bilinear interpolation but using 4 vertices which is kinda impossible in blender/unreal because the interpolation is done behind closed curtains as far as I know, and it only uses 3 verts. I've been trying to think of a way to reverse-calculate what the values of each of 3 verts could be so that it emulates the same effect but haven't figured it out yet

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


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How can i import an image sequence with transparent background (no smooth) on Blender 2.91.0?
I need to import a short image sequence (PNG) that has alpha channel to Blender (Eevee) on the version 2.91.0, also selecting the frame rate (30 on this case)
I'm planning to use the Emission node for not losing brightnes/color of the image when having it working.
How can i do this? i'm a little lost since i used older versions of Blender and this changed a lot.
Also, maybe my 'clip' is working but not showing when i press 'play' on the timeline, do i need to activate something else?
Thanks in advance.

The framerate for the clip depends on the project's framerate.

what do you mean by "no smooth"?

@HISEROD like not having any kind of anisotropic filtering on it, just the 'plain' image being rendered.


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How can i export a model on gltf format with texture?
I made a 3D model on Blender, where it shows the texture working without problem (psd file, i also tried with png format of the same image)

But when i try to export it, the model can be seen on Windows (11) but the texture is nowhere to be seen.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem? The model is low poly, the texture/material is the same as in the picture, but when opening it on the viewer it doesnt show textures at all.

The exporters that come with Blender mostly only recognize very simple graphs using the default Principled node. In your case you should use

If you're using alpha, you also need to set the Blend Mode in the Properties editor (if using Cycles, look under "Viewport Display"). Use Alpha Blend for partial translucency, or Alpha Clip for cut-out style transparency. (Also consider turning on Backface Culling.)

The default Principled node doesn't quite match your Diffuse node setup though. To make it match exactly, you'd need to set the Principled's Specular to 0.0 instead of 0.5. However Specular doesn't get exported to glTF (glTF material always use 0.5 basically). So recommend the next best thing: set the Roughness to 1.0.
You can read most of this and more in the manual.

Nope, sadly, it still doesnt do anything, just made a new scene with a basic cube and a texture like the first one you told me to do without even transparency and it doesnt export it at all with texture. Is there any other format that is not glTF that can be easily be exported with Blender and easily be open with any viewer?

It looks like your texture is in .psd format? May need to convert to PNG or JPG to export. The example above should certainly work with the glTF exporter in Blender 2.80+. I'm not sure what other formats support PBR materials in Blender...

Exporter should convert to .png/.jpg for you. It works with a .psd for me.


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How to set the render to look the same as the viewport?
i'm using Eevee render and i want my scene to render/output the same as how it looks as the preview screen, because when i go to activate the textures and lights, it does look different, but i dont want to add more parameters to it, just be able to render like that look, it is possible?
I am not able to upload any image from this web navigator right now, but i mean the quality of the penultimate 'sphere' before pressing the last viewport shading option (which looks exactly like the render right now)

Could you explain specifically some of the quality loss you're experiencing?

Sorry if my english isnt that good, what i mean is that the lights are 'On' on the final render so the 'preview look' i want seems different from that option when i try to render it, what i want to achieve is a render with the same look as the viewport.

You could use Viewport Render Image in the View menu.

Thank you, i think that does work, is there any way to change settings there, such as sampling or resolution?

If you make sure your viewport is in camera view (numpad 0) when running a viewport render, the resolution is the same as in the ouput settings. Viewport render normally renders the viewport as is (except when in Cycles rendered preview). If it's Eevee render preview, just change the viewport sampling options. If it's any other shading modes of the viewport, try playing with the shading settings popover, and also the viewport preferences in the Preference Editor.

@L0Lock thank you very much! it works for me!


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How can i put a Force Field between two items for Keyed particles?
I made two objects and a controler using Keyed particles on Blender Cycles, and it works fine, because i wanted to make the particles going into another object so i don't want to change this.
What i want to know (and need) is to put a force field (for example a Curve Guide) between them to make a distortion on the ''Line'' of particles made by the keyed items, because it's still to static.
How can i activate it? Since i already added a force field, isn't working for me..
Please help!
Thanks in regard :)

With the physics set to newtonian, boids or fluid, particles are influenced by force fields and curve guides, while keyed particles only follow their own control systems. Keyed particle systems move particles from the position of one system to the position of another particle system. The key point is that you can use more than two systems for keyed particles.
By having a third system in the middle that uses newtonian physics I got the keyed particles to follow the middle particles as they followed the curve.

I didn't tried or even know the existence of that! Thanks!!

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


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How can i make transparent glass like material to put it over another object?
I'm trying to make a 'glass' material for a 3D Eye that i'm creating, the second one (on the image) works fine since it have the colors and everything that i want, but now i'm trying to create a transparent material like a glass to put it over the second one...i'm trying and the nearest solution for this is like the one in the image..but obviously transparent..i also tried Glass BSDF but i cannot make to get it transparent.
Please help me if you can.

Make the color have less saturation and a higher value. Answering . . .

Hmm..i think that should work..but i do not know how to do that on Blender yet..it is too difficult? :/

What about using a Glass BSFD node and a Transparent node, mixed together according to a light path node, using the "is shadow ray" output?

What you need to change is the Saturation and the Value of the Glass BSDF node. With an RGB Input you just do this:

With an image texture, you will need to do something more like this:

This will make the saturation less, the value less, and the contrast less, allowing the glass to be much more transparent.
Here are some examples:
High Saturation, low Value:

Low Saturation, high Value:

As you can see, the cubes in the background are now visible, and the environment texture behind the sphere is now much more visible.
Other things to check:

The Roughness value
Any mix nodes, even unused (press M to mute them)
The right material is assigned to the object

Hmm, the problem right now is that the sphere is still reflecting the HDRI, if i turn it off, the material turns it off too...the sphere that needs to have the glass material only has the Glass BSDF and Material Output nodes...is there any way to make this transparent without intefering with the other object and its lighting?

Follow the RGB Input diagram, decrease the Saturation and increase the Value. (click on the color on the Glass BSDF node to get the color chart)

@beavoru Also you may want to change the roughness

if i turn it off, the material turns it off too... Could you please explain @beavoru ? Come on over to chat if the problem persists.

My material depends of the Hdri i'm using, if i turn off the hdri, then the material goes totally black, even if i have a light in front of it.

Totally black? Even with a light and something behind it?

Yes, totally black :/
I uploaded a new photo:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10987699_337711359750810_8072476765028847908_n.jpg?oh=58c3cc24f616580b219f93d1b22ee155&oe=55575EFD&gda=1432870516_0636628924c4bf4f196856b67da4cb13

I don't really know how to say it, english is not my main language, but what i want from the 'exterior sphere' is something like this:
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10947289_337711563084123_4723576344319284774_n.jpg?oh=259244efa80825b8844c8cf835dabf4d&oe=55654EC0

That is how it should render. Do you have an object around the eye? Because you will need to move it or disable Shadows on it if that is the case.

Hmm, i think i just found the solution! i just needed to add a transparent BSDF to the glass BSDF and it looks transparent (i didn't knew it even existed, i was searching for 'translucent' or something like that)
But now, the last thing to do is to make the light looks like a little 'white ball', but it's still not working, i'm still trying :p

That does work, sort of. You shouldn't need it though. There must be other issues in the scene. As for the other thing, make the Roughness less.

The Roughness of the Glass BSDF is 0.1 and it worked! IT'S Finally working :D
The original Roughness was 0... -_- i'll have to be more cautious next time..
The 'light' still isnt a perfect 'white ball'...is that because of the samples, right?
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10968381_337713686417244_8642711211672493251_n.jpg?oh=a704689ec285d9dee015f45816895476&oe=55964023&gda=1432981162_3d8297cc05cf6bf0be12b94ac304f06b
Thanks for all your patience :D

Well, it was about the samples, thank you for all! ill give you the correct answer, after all, it was a step to reach the initial goal :)

Glad it is finally working :)

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


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How to render as only wireframe in Cycles?
I need to know how to render a object on Blender Cycles but only as a wireframe, for example, like this:

Also, it is possible to vary between the smooth wireframe object and the polygonal wireframe object?
Thanks in regard.

You can do this using OpenGL render and by pressing Z > Wireframe int he viewport

You could use freestyle.

How? this is my first time trying to render like this, also i need this for an animation, not an static render.

Dear God! That looks like the Animus's loading screed from Assassin's Creed. Good job man,I like it and I hope you continue on this project.

Add the Wireframe modifier and adjust the Thickness value.

Now set up the World's color to black and make the wire look brighter (replace Diffuse with an Emission shader). You may also increase its Strenght value to 2.000 or 3.000 if it isn't bright enough.

To vary between the smooth wireframe object and the polygonal wireframe object place the Subdivision Surface modifier above the Wireframe modifier and set up the desired amount of subdivisions. Now changing the type from Catmull-Clark to Simple will result in making the wire look more polygonal.

Here's the rendered result.

If like me you don't see the wireframe modifier in the "generate" column, perhaps it's because you need to scroll down the list, as the panel is too short for this column in version 3.1.

In addition to Paul Gonet's answer, we now have the wireframe node in cycles (⇧ ShiftA>Input>Wireframe).

Using the pixel size checkbox, you can make the width of the wireframe remain constant no matter the camera position.

Just in case somebody else bumps into this: make sure the transparent shader goes into the second channel of the Mix Shader, and the Diffuse (or otherwise) material goes into the third. If you switch these two around, the effect won't work. it took me 15 minutes to find out. :) But maybe this is obvious for experienced Blender users.


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Reflection of HDRI in Cycles not working?
I added a HDRI as enviroment on cycles, but the model that i got here (an Eye) isnt reflecting good, at least, not a definite picture.
That's what i have:

But this is what i need:

Can someone help me with this? :( i'm a little lost on Cycles and materials..

Isn't this a duplicate of you previous question? Also it looks like it is working, the only thing you have to change is your materials.

Oh, no, on the previous question i was asking about the enviroment Hdri and the reflection, right now i'm only asking about the reflection, because it doesnt work for me, i also tried adding more samples, but is still the same.

It is obviously reflecting something. The glossy has a very high roughness it looks like . . . could you upload a .blend?

Ok, give me a second, even though its reflecting something the reflection look pretty blurry :/ give me a sec..

Ok, here is it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a8ot4mtbsw1sw5b/eye.rar?dl=0

Also check and make sure that you don't have another version of the eye over the one you are working on. That would do it.

Inside the .rar is the .blend :)

Still is not working at all :/

@beavoru You need to change the roughness of your glossy cycles shader. Based on your recent questions, I would recommend you follow some cycles video tutorials, in-order to understand better how it works!

It looks like you need to turn down the roughness on the glossy shader.  Roughness is how much the light scatters away from the perfect specular angle.  It makes for blurrier, less crisp reflections.
Here is a diagram:

The first three examples on the left are a ray hitting glossy surfaces with varying roughness (left to right no roughness to high roughness), the fourth example is a ray hitting a diffuse surface for comparison.

The roughness of the glossy shader is 0.017, is pretty low already :/

Fixed it! i changed the roughness to 0 :D

Good diagrams! +1

@VinceScalia Thanks!  I made that diagram a while ago for fun when I was bored, I figured I would use it sooner or later. :D


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fire texture look worst in render then view
Why in the viewport the fire texture looks nice but you can't get the same result in the shading on render mode?
Why not put the texture of the viewport on the render view?

Hello and welcome, Elad :). Please add some images to better illustrate your issue. Like viewport result vs. render result.


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CTRL+R stops working until reboot 2.82
Just randomly my Ctrl+R Loop-Cut shortcut stops working in Blender 2.82 and won't work again until I reboot my PC.
Has anyone else seen that?

Should at least work when opening up a new instance of blender (without a reboot). Any error messages in the console?

Good call I've not checked the console will check that next time, but even a fresh restart of blender doesn't fix it, requires reboot. Weird.

Huh, I guess it's either your graphics card or the keyboard. How about executing the operator via F3 -> "Loop Cut and..."?

It works if I select loop cut from the toolbar, it's just the shortcut that stops working randomly.


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EEVEE Render issue
Trying to do a low poly animation using EEVEE and when I did a test render of a single frame today the frame looks fine in the viewport render but the actual render is messed up with duplicate parts of the image and objects not in the right place.
Any ideas?

Actually just tried Cycles too and get the same issue

One object (Car.003) is hidden is the viewport. Is it hidden in the render too ? (to verify, click the "funnel" icon on top of the outliner, then select the "camera" icon)

Yeah that was it :D thank you, still learning :D

You need to click the Filter dropdown above the Collection tree and enable the Disable in Renders option so it's visible. Then, click it so that it's turned off on Car.003.

Thank you, that was the issue, still learning :D


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Lag when viewing meshes in texture shading mode
I've been working on a ps1-style model, very low poly, and was UV mapping some textures onto the mesh, but when I tried adding another texture, the viewport started lagging a ton.
I could still move the mesh around, but it was extremely slow and choppy, like 1-2 fps. I changed the viewport shading to solid, though, and it worked fine again. I had been working with the texture shading on the whole time, so I'm just curious why it started lagging.
I'm using a Lenovo laptop running Windows, 8gb ram, intel core i5-7200u CPU, and am using Blender 2.72
I'd really appreciate any form of help with this problem since this is probably the furthest I've gotten on a project.
The textures I'm using are 5184*3456 in resolution, maybe that's the problem?

Ps1 texture for world maps reached a maximum of 1024x1024 pixels and a lot of "sharpening filter applied, from photoshop".
If you're using such an old computer, the maximum texture will be 1280x1280 pixels for Ps1 styles. Your texture is causing the lag, yes. Upgrade to Blender 2.79. Most of texture mip issues have been solved there as well, if you don't want to go to 2.8.


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Understanding blender collection, instancing from Sketchup side of view
I'm trying to migrate to Blender from Sketchup.
There, instancing is managed simply by 'group' and 'component'.
Groups are just separate coordinate system while components make object an instance. So when you want to separate singular object you make group, else to make linked objects you make component. Groups can have components and components also do. There is no depth restriction so a group can have groups which have component which have another components that have a group, and so on.
This kind of structuring is very crucial in architectural modeling as they tend to have duplicated objects and become very hierarchical.
I've read this and that about blender instancing, grouping, tied playing with boxes for days but still things are not clear. I think one of the cause is that parenting and grouping is separate in Blender.
So I'm asking here hopping someone could give a golden answer (once again) that would weave everything vividly and reveal real power of Blender specific hierarchy structure represented by 'collection'.
Is there anyone coming from Sketchup side and managed to understand instancing in Blender? How should I reroute my thinking?

Collections are a very general mechanism for grouping, used in many ways in Blender, much like a directory system with symbolic linking.. so objects can be linked to more than one collection, collections can be nested, and so on. Maybe what you're looking for is Collection Instances


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Leg won't bend right
I want the backside of the knee to bend smoother.
Watch the backside of the knee

This has to be subdivided to work. Add a subdivision-surface modifier to the object being rigged, and set the view and render to about 3-4. Also, this should be set to simple subdividing if you want the geometry to look the same.
If it does not look the same, Ctrl+R in Edit Mode, and slide the loopcuts to the sides of the original geometry, this will fix your issue.


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OpenGL render doesnt render with the Panoramic Fisheye Lens?
I made a animation with a Panoramic Lens (Fisheye Equidistant) but i need to render it with the OpenGL render for preview purposes....
But how can i activate that type of camera? or is it impossible?
Thanks in regards.

Sadly this feature is not supported. Here is a snippet from the Wiki:

Cycles supports Equirectangular and Fisheye panoramic cameras. Note that these can't be displayed with OpenGL rendering in the viewport; they will only work for rendering.

Here is a link to the Blender wiki page on Cameras > >


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Geometry Nodes: Separate each instance on a curve as individual object keeping each instance's original pivot position
I’m new to Blender. I want to export each instance on a geometry node curve as its own object (for a unity game) but keep the original pivot for each one. When I make instances real they all merge into one mesh and after separating by loose parts all the objects have 0,0,0 for their rotation. Any tips?

Make instances real is a correct option, but make sure, that As Instance is checked:

Then in object mode, press Ctrl + A → Make instances real.
As you see, rotation is preserved:

blinks stupidly well my answer was a waste of time. lollllllllll. I only use the Convert to Mesh to apply  the GN mods, so I never even knew that this function did this. Lmao. Ya learn something new every day. ¯_(ツ)_/¯


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IK constraint moves in the wrong direction - Blender 4.1
I was animating an Airbus a340-600 nose gear.
so to retract the gear there is an arm in front of it that pulls it up, this arm is composed out of 2 parts wich i animated with an IK constraint but can't figure out how to invert rotation direction on the IK constraint [![Needs to go in the arrow direction][1]][1]
[![Actually go in the arrow direction][2]][2]
Blender File:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/jrc8rgxjoo4dk0z/Nose_Gear.blend/file
[1]: https://i.sstatic.net/E4DlDobZ.png
[2]: https://i.sstatic.net/bZaNl3TU.png

Blender needs to know in what direction it is supposed to bend the bones, so in Edit mode slightly push the knee in the right direction:

Result:

already tried but didn't worked

I've edited my answer, is it not what you want?

Deso jai fini parr reussir falait peut etre le bouger plus

D'accord, bonne continuation   ;)


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I am getting "Parsing errors in Document (see Blender Console)" when importing a dae file
So, I am trying to import a dae file to blender but only get "Parsing errors in Document (see Blender Console)". When I got to the console I get no further error output about the exact reason. Any ideas how to fix this?


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Weird rig deform after outline effect
I followed this video to get an outline effect for my materials.
I've rigged my model and the outline effect deforms weirdly?

I just selected all of my meshes and parented with automatic weights, the wrist band also seems to not have parented correctly and I can't get it to.

Automatic weights don't work with inverted normals. Have you checked the normals?

hey thanks! Didn't even think about that


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Keyframes don't change on geometry node driven animation
I made a geometry node animation, and I am new to animation settings on Blender. I looked at some solutions, but I need some support.
I am trying to change a geometry node value that changes this fractal neuron shape. I want to set keyframe, not sure what I should use when I press 'K', I tried locaton, rotation, scale, and setup several different keyframes with the image staying exactly as it was.
What do I need to know to solve this issue? I tried a simple NPC animaiton tutorial, and even a new Blender file and the keyframes work, so using geometry nodes might be why.

Have you tried right-clicking on the Geometry node field that you want to keyframe and selecting "Insert Keyframe" ?

That was the answer, thanks a ton! I felt so stuck seeing all the widgets.

No problem. That applies to almost any setting field in Blender. Glad you're sorted!


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Importing external python files depending on execution context
I'm trying to seperate out my code into other files that contain functions etc that I can reuse. The issue I have is how I have to call these functions depending on whether it's part of a package or not (it's context).
When it's not part of a package (during dev), I'm loading all my python scripts in the scene (via the scripting workspace). I can access my functions via a function = bpy.data.texts["functions.py"].as_module() statement and calling function.function_name() and all works well.
However, this approach doesn't work when I distribute it as a package.
In this situation, a __all__ = ["functions"] statement is required in my init.py file and then a from . functions import * to import all functions. In this situation I just call function_name() and again, it works.
This is messy enough, but the real issue is what I need to call depends on the context. So when not a package, I have to call function.function_name() but when in a package it has to be just function_name()
Surely there must be a nicer way than this?
Thanks for any help!

What exactly is the purpose of the functions? I get the feeling this an XY Problem. Tell us what your end goal is, not how to debug your solution, because it's possible there's a much easier way to do what you're trying to do that involves an entirely different approach.

Several reasons. Firstly, I'd like to reduce the size of my code by breaking it into more manageable pieces and secondly (and hopefully) share functions across different packages.

You can use __package__ or __spec__ in an if statement to support both import X and from . import X, but it is better to stick to using your addon as a module. So from my_addon import utils if you want to use the addon from outside, to check something in the text editor, but inside it is from . import utils.
I recommend you to use VSCode plus fake-bpy-module for the addon development. To edit any addon with VSCode you open the addon's folder as a workspace or a folder. To implement reloading the addon without restarting Blender, see this answer or use Blender Development extension.

Many thanks, fake-bpy-module resolved this.


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My keyframes doesn't appear on the Dopesheet at all?
My dopesheet's keyframes doesn't appear at all, when i add a keyframe a kind of orange rectangle appears between the keyframes but i can't see the actual yellow dot that are normally on the software.
Please, if someone knows what to do please tell me, i would be really thankful.

In the header of the Dope Sheet you have selected to show only animation channels that have errors:

De-select this to show your keyframes.


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How can I make a plane always look at camera?
How can I make a plane always look at camera? Like in old videogames, like Doom or Wolfenstein, this kind of software used static images that always looked at the camera, is this possible to make on Blender Cycles?

did you try track to constraint ?

Do you mean the ''Track To'' constraint?

yes the constraint

I think it worked, but now i tried with the'' Copy Rotation ''and it worked! thanks :)

please write your solution as answer here

You could make the camera as parent and the plane as child

related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13949/bge-problem-with-speech-bubbles/13963#13963

I think I know what you're talking about (cause I'm a huge fan of these kind of oldschool 3d-imitating games :)). You may use a Damped Track constraint.

Select the plane, go to Constraints header, select a Damped Track constraint and set the Camera as a Target. Then select an axis you want a plane to lie on.

If you move the plane in any direction it'll always face the camera. Remember that you may also decrease the Influence of this constraint for different results.

that's what the question is about

Thank you! that's even a more better option that the one that i found :)

This works but what is even better when dealing with planes that need to follow the camera is to use "copy rotation" and then select the camera. The reason why is because the object is facing the camera as an object but not necessarily the lens. This is an issue if you deal with instances with many objects as when you zoom in the instances follow the original object which might not look into the lens of the camera. This is completely avoided with copying the rotation and object always face the lens directly.

I found a solution to this, first select the Plane you want to track with the camera, and then the Object Constraints option, select 'Copy Rotation'
After that, select the Camera in the list next to the orange cube icon, and then just move the camera as usual, the camera will work as normally do but with a plane following automatically.

Also, first be sure to put the plane in front of the camera as you want to show it.

That won't point to it if you move it . . .

Oh, now that i tried, you're right, for the purpose that i needed (camera movement only) worked perfectly, but yes, if you move the object (plane) it will fail :/

the last thread says : it doesn't work in 2,76, while plane is created, all vertices are stuck in the pivot point

I'm talking about the add-on called Create camera image plane...


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How can i get a proper reflection on a material without a background or another objects?
i'm trying to make a shining/reflection material but i don't need to add any other object to the scene/layer, is there any way in order to do this? or should i add objects and then just hide them from the render?
Reference (as you can see, there are lights/reflections but not other objects)

Or, more realistic 'metal' like this?

just add an HDR as a background, but disable it's rendering

Or disable Camera Ray visibility on all the background objects

In Cycle render engine you have an option to disable direct visibility of the objects to the camera.
Open Object Data tab and in Ray Visiility section disable this option on all the objects that you want to be invisible in render.

You can do the same with the background in World tab.

You probably need Background image. This can be anoying to set up. You need to look into something called Equirectangular maps. These are images that look all warped but will wrap around in a sphere around your entire scene. If you do not want to see this background, look to the scene/render area. Look for the "shading" area and find the bit that says "alpha" you can change it from "sky" to "transparent". This will give you the background image as a reflection but remove the background.
Alternatively, you can use texture mapping on the material. The coordinates should be "reflection". Although not as accurate, its very fast and less noisy.


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How can i make a proper light inside a circle with objects so their surface is illuminated?
I'm trying to do a Solar System representation with Cycles, i already have the planets in order, the orbits, and i'm basing my file on a picture, and i'm trying to achieve the same illumination, but it seems pretty hard, so maybe or i'm using the wrong options, or even position of lighting.
The thing is, i do not want to put the Sun on the image because later i'll add it in another software, but what i want to achieve is the same kind of lighting effect.
Here's my reference (plus, my image will not have any kind of background image)

And this is what happens if i add a Point light inside the circles, i think the lighting is too weak for the objects and also if i add more Strenght to it, probably the planets would end up being totally white (or the color of the light)

Also, i tried putting an Emission object (a simple sphere, on this case) and again, the lighting seems too weak compared to the reference, and if i add more Strenght..this happens:

Please if someone have a method to add this kind of lighting, or maybe even a trick, please tell me, i'm really in trouble right now with this one..

what you did with the point light looks good.  Now try lowering the planets' color values to compensate for the lights high intensity.  If the light appears to be reaching around the planets too much, you can also decrease its size.

The light sources can be invisible to the camera. Set Cycles Ray Visibility to FALSE

You mentioned trick.  Consider the point light external to the sphere.  Set Cycles Ray Visibility to FALSE.  Each planet has a sister light planet not visible to the camera.  They can both rotate relative to Sun. You may consider [Tracking] Constraint.
The Sun. Set Cycles Ray Visibility to FALSE.


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How can i properly rotate my object?
When i try to rotate my object then adding a keyframe to it, it doesnt work, rotating also in X or Z (i just need it to make it rotate in Y on this time, like in the picture) creating a weird movement between the initial and final keyframes (those are only two, i need a continuous simple, rotation)
How can i make it rotate? also, i think it's about the pivot, how can i fix it in order to be able to properly rotate the object?

To get a constant rotation you only need to use two keyframes on the axis you want to rotate. With two keyframes in place you can then set the extrapolation to linear and the rotation will then continue as long as needed. You can then adjust one of the keyframes to alter the speed of the rotation. The channel extrapolation can be set in the graph editor by pressing ⇧ ShiftE and choosing Linear Extrapolation, which can also be found in Channel->Extrapolation Mode->Linear Extrapolation

If you then want your object to rotate at an odd angle or as it is moving around, you can add an empty, make it the parent of your object and then move the empty, your object will continue rotating on it's axis as it follows it's parent.

Consider parenting your current object with a parent object.
In the image above the blue ParentIcosphere rotate contributes a second rotation while the gold ChildText has an animated rotation on its local axis as indicated by the timeline.  The object ParentIcosphere is the parent of the ChildText object as indicated by the heirarchy in the outliner window.
You may also consider an armature.


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Is it possible to make visible spotlight lightrays?
I'm using a Spotlight on one of my scenes, first I planned to make the effect of the lightrays on other editing software, but maybe it's possible on Blender. It is possible to make a spotlight look like the image below? (also, I'm using cycles)
Thanks in regard! :)

Answer here: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/12220/3127 as well

Yes, this is now very easy to do efficiently. Add a spot lamp where you want it, and then add a cube and edit to just barely contain the spot lamp:

Make the material of the cube as shown. Note that the Transparent shader is not necessary, and you can leave the Surface input blank. However you can have a surface material and a volume material at the same time.

Then add a plane as the ground and render:

Since the volume is so small to render, it renders very quickly, this test render took about 3.5 seconds.
If you want to move your spot lamp, just parent the mesh to it with CtrlP > Object.

no need of transparent BSDF.

Not necessary for functionality, but I still use it. It makes it clearer what is happening.

No need AND no side effect? (slower render or anything bad) I agree that getting things clearer can be useful.

On that I am not certain, I have noticed no major differences. That is a good question for a dev.

BTW, volume shaders tends to be better with more render samples, less noisy. The screenshot is very noisy because of a very low (and fast, good for testing) render/preview samples. For this you won't need many volume bounces anyway (0 should do).

I thought that was obvious enough for people :/

Maybe not for true novices (not in diguise :) )

It did worked! thanks a lot!
Now...i want to know something...if i want to add an image texture to it, like a rainbow for example, where on the nodes should i have to add it?

For the volume color? You could try light falloff node and color ramp node.


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Is there any way to use instances using Array modifier?
i'm duplicating an object with Array but the object itself has a lot of geometry, so my computer slows down a lot, is there any solution to this, like adding more ''copies'' as instances?
Thanks in regard.

Copying with Alt+D should work to a degree.

Try using a Simplify option. Check the Simplify box in Scene header and reduce the subdivisions to 2, 1 or 0. It may help you.


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Is there any way to get a quick render, like OpenGL for cycles and fisheye camera?
Is there any way to get a quick render, like OpenGL for cycles and fisheye camera? Maybe deleting all the materials alltogether, or giving them wireframes? (this could be the best option) ?

you can override the materials in the layers tab

Thanks! that helped a lot..but still the thing is that i need to save time by rendering, and a lot of time :/

do you want a script for wireframe ?

Hmmm, maybe if that helps to save time, yes, because i tried the modifier + material but it didn't help at all... :/

it is just for adding the modifier to all objects without going one by one

override all the materials from the layer tab :

to add wireframe to all objects :
import bpy

for obj in bpy.data.objects:
    if obj.type == 'MESH':
        obj.modifiers.new("temp_mod", 'WIREFRAME')

run this and all the objects will be in wireframe render then use this script to remove it :
import bpy
for obj in bpy.data.objects:
    if obj.type == 'MESH':
        obj.modifiers.remove(obj.modifiers['temp_mod'])

It worked! but is that the same as the modifier? it still takes a lot of time to render

@beavoru do you need to apply all the modifiers at once ?


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How to maintain the same pixel appearance, when rendering a exported image sequence
I need to import a animation png (with alpha) sequence into Blender, then put it on a geometry (a simple plane) to move some vertices (very subtle animation) and after that, export it again with the new deformation animation.
How can i maintain the same pixel ratio/animation when rendering the output? i don't want or need Blender to soften the edges for example.
(i want to render this on render internal, with plain colors, not adding any kind of light)
I also need to mention, the frame 0 need to be the same as the static image, with the same pixel appearance, without any 'filter' appeared.
Thanks in advance.

When you say move some vertices, you think to what ? If you don't use the video sequence editor with exact frame ration in input as in output, your render will pass through a matrice that will recalculate each pixel, and it won't be the EXACT same pixel (there is anti aliasing and other things) If you are effraied of losing some detail, render 10% bigger depending on your needs.

With the vertices i mean the vertices in the 3D plane, imagine a 3D 'word' that has kind of 3d extruded vertices, and i want to move these, but just a little.

If you move slightly a vertex, it will have to resample new pixel to regenerate this change.
Best you can do is turn into shadeless, change filmic to srgb (if it is what you need) and it will be ok for your needs i think.

Imagine an image of 140x139 (this one : )
If you import in blender with images as plane addon, with emission or shadeless shader
And set your render output to the same resolution and framerate
And add an orthographic camera above to the center of your image, with orthographic view
[
[
You can adjust the size by zooming a lot in a corner from the camera view (Numpad 0) and adjust the Orthographic Scale.
Set color management to standard to don't have filmic transformation
And sampling to 1 to avoid anti aliasing.

The resulting image shouldn't be different.(I checked on photoshop : )
However, if you want to move the plane (rotate, or distort) the pixel will change as the raster sample the same pixels to in the same location. It will rasterize the image depending on the new transform, some pixels may stay the same, but some others will change.
Example of a distorted image :


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Why is my light in the 2nd picture not as sharp as in the 1st?
why is the light on the 1st picture so sharp, and on the 2nd so scattered?
Area light - square is used on both pictures.
the 1st one is a screenshot from youtube, 2nd one is my work.
thank you very much for any help.

looking at the shadow of the walls on the external ground, it doesn't seem significantly different. The differences could be the light object's position, light size, or even just the materials it lights up that aren't the same and thus don't react the same to the light.

I don't see much of a difference either. It seems to me that there are different lighting conditions in those two images, because there are some shadows in one image that are not in the other, so of course different light locations and/or lamp types can create different shadows. But those which are in both images seem to have more or less the same sharpness.


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I ran into a problem regarding the textures and shading on some parts of my model
The images probably do a better way of explaining it than I will here but I will try my best. When I open my models on my laptop, some parts of my model's texture are just pure red. The crowsnest, the mast, the yard, the crates, even the main ship itself is all red. But it's weird because some elements such as the outline of the crates, the bottom half of the mast, and somehow all of the cannons all have their regular textures.
And it isn't because I'm in the wrong render view, I'm currently in Viewport Shading; which should display the textures and colors but not the lighting. So I'm kind of confused here. If anybody can help with this, that'd be great! If there's any extra info needed here, I'm more than happy to oblige. I do believe this is only affecting Blender on my LAPTOP and not on my PC since it was fine before then.

Are you sure they're not using a material tied to an image textures somewhere ? Usually pink means a texture is missing, because the link is broken and Blender can't find it anymore

Can confirm they are not using a material tied to image textures. As you can see on the shader editor below, I'm simply using some noise and voronoi textures along with a color ramp for some of the coloring. This is to create a wood like effect as I tried using an image texture but ran into another problem, namely, being dumb.
Edit: Would also like to add that, again, opening this model works completely fine on my PC, but since I'm running a bit short on time, I usually bring my laptop to run on the go. But opening it on laptop for some reason breaks it.

Then likely a hardware problem, are you sure the laptop adhere to the minimum hardware requirements ? Have you updated the graphics car drivers ?

It's most likely that. I had a look at my laptop specs and yeah, they do fit the minimum requirements and is pretty capable running Blender; it's more likely the specs are just that: MINIMUM. The textures did seem to hold a lot of rendering power on them so it's most probably my laptop couldn't handle it. Regardless, thank you for the reply! I'll look more into it if I can. Just needed to know maybe I hit a random setting that causes this.


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Render dont work - Rendered image cuts off the edges

Hey guys i have a  problem with my render image. I rendered a 48-frame sequence in Cycles. In the normal view, everything looks correct, but when I render with the background, it cuts off the edges in an unusual way. The camera is set to 17.2 mm.

This looks like some sort of fisheye effect. Can you add a screenshot of your Compositor?


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Light/Shadow problem with eevee next
I'm brand new to Blender and recently decided to learn how to render on Eevee. I've only used Cycles so far because I preferred the style but I'd like to do some animation so I need to learn Eevee which allows me to render much faster.
So I decided to follow this step-by-step tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKZQaBkVcT4&t=1386s
I had no particular problems until I had to manage my lights in the volumetric fog...
Indeed, I was able to get a good result in my viewport, but once the rendering was finished, I had a scene with shadows flickering all over the place.
Here's an example:
https://youtube.com/shorts/X-Ti2t_r8-4?feature=share
(sorry idk how to add a video here, gifs allow 2MB max)
My other concern is that sometimes white dots appear and disappear where I've put pointlights in the buildings (visible on the GIF above).

I was very careful to hide each light behind a wall, so that they're never in direct contact with the camera, but there's no difference...
Also, in front of my ship, there's supposed to be a kind of headlight that's visible in certain angles in my viewport but invisible in the render, would you know why?
Am I setting up Eevee wrong? Are there any specific things to check before working with volumetric lights and fogs?
I'm using a MacBook Pro M2 max 32Gb RAM with Blender 4.2.2
Please let me know if you need more information about my scene or my Blender settings.
Thank you very much for your answers

Hello and welcome. Please use a title that matches the content of the post. It should read like a question, be descriptive but succinct, unique and identifying, summarizing the problem so that anyone searching for similar issues is likely to find this. Remove anything superfluous, avoid using words like "this", "help with", "issue" or "question about", instead describe what "it" is. Remember, your title is the first thing visitors see, answers you get depend heavily on it. See What is the problem of asking “How do I do this?"


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Make material looks less 'shiny'?
I'm making a model on Blender, and i'm adding texture for it on Cycles, i added a Diffuse BSDF material, on a curves i made but with the lighting (it does need to be with that kind of light) the color seems too shiny/bright, how can i make it look not too bright and maybe even with a little shadow?

Not too sure what you mean.. But that's a very bright and saturated blue. Perhaps you might try using a darker, less saturated color?

It worked i think, i also added a little saturation by controling the colors, thanks :)

You can increase the Roughness value of Diffuse node to 1.000. It may help a bit.

@Gonzou I think that would actually decrease the amount of shadow.

This is just my suggestion.  With roughness set to 1, the light is more diffused on a surface, which makes the contrast between light and shadow less visible. Illuminated areas are less shiny and the shady areas are less sharp. If you then darken it and desaturate it a bit (like gandalf3 suggested) the final effect may work better in this case.

A mix shader with a dark ambient occlusion node, colored to fit your object, factored mostly toward the diffuse might help depending on what results you're looking for.
Otherwise I would suggest moving the light farther away, that will at least soften out the white highlights


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How can i randomize the position of particles even more?
I'm trying to do a Asteroid belt, as you can see in the image the first one works well (for its own size) because the asteroids have a lot more random positions that the big one, but that's the problem, in the bigger asteroid belt, i made a different particle system, based in one single asteroid, rotated (and it still works grealy) because if i add a group as particles, the groups are too notorious and i want to make this as natural as possible, is there any way to randomize even more the particles, like in the small asteroid belt i did?

Attach a Voronoi or Noise Texture.  Affect the pattern of particles by selecting Influence Density TRUE.

The texture in the particles system

Modify to suit your artistic goal.


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Is there any way to delete the light bounces without losing the illumination?
Is there any way to delete the light bounces without losing the illumination? I mean, can i delete or hide that 'white dot' on the image without losing the coloration made by the lighting? (I'm doing this on Blender Render)

Make the specular value less

That's only on the texture/material, right?

Right in the material settings there is a Specular setting

Hmm, i actually know about that, but is there another option besides that? (just to know) now i think ill do what you say because it's the easiest and fastest way, thanks again :)

remove specular from your lamp settings, or move it where the plane won't reflect it. Or use render passes and render with spec separated, then compositing, mask....

This can easily be done by disabling the specular highlights of a lamp.
To do this, with the lamp selected and in the Properties panel, go to the Object Data tab (this is how it's actually called, but it's the one with the Lamp icon), and under the Lamp subsection uncheck the Specular checkmark.


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Is there any way to apply a modifier to multiple objects in order to make an animation?
i'm making an animation of the objects (you can see them in the image) and as you can see they are separate objects, the thing is i want to curve/animate the objects separately with the SimpleDeform modifier (i need to make them 'move' as if they were underwater, but just sightly), but they are a lot, and i want an animation kind of ''harmonius'', so i wanted to know if there's any option to apply the modifier to all objects and then just move/modify keyframes on the dopesheet.
Is this possible? Thanks in regard.

It didnt worked, it still just applies to one object

It might not be possible, but you might be able to link to modifiers between multiple objects. I can, t remember the shortcut, though

Ctrl+L gives you the option to link the modifiers from the active object to all other selected objects.
This will overwrite the modifiers of the object being copied to, so there is a really useful plugin to copy any one of the modifiers and not overwrite others, which is called: 3D View: Copy Attributes Menu.
When this is enabled, use the hotkey Crtl+C to bring up the menu options, and use the copy selected modifiers option to copy your modifier.


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How can i fix the lighting to make the ''glint'' looks like a perfect circle?
I was rendering a 3D eye where i have a 'glint' on the upper-left side of the object, and it looks like a white circle (just like in the image) the problem is that i animated the camera into the black part of the texture, and when it reach some point the texture looks weird the geometry 'shows too much' and the light doesn't look right...i know the model isn't totally a perfect sphere but maybe there's a way to only fix that light.
Is that possible?

adding a loop cut inside that red circle will get rid of the glitches

The issue is you are using a non-symmetrical sphere type, the UV sphere has these artifacts when subdivided, similar to cylinders. An icosphere reacts much better to subdivision.

To make a perfectly spherical sphere, that responds well to modifiers, you need to use an Icosphere. This is a spherical mesh made from congruent triangular faces:

When using smooth shading or a subdivision modifier, there are no artifacts as all the faces are exactly the same in size and shape.
In contrast, a UV Sphere is made up in the manner of a globe, with degrees of Longitude and Latitude:

Icsphere is perfectly even, but not suited for things like crystalline lens modeling. A workaround is to use a UV sphere and "quadify" the bad star pole(s). This can be done by merging faces (tri+tri = quad) but not so good. Another way is to delete the center vertex and to use face menu/grid fill (Ctrl+F for menu). Nothing's perfect...

As others have pointed out the issue is from the triangulated points on a uv sphere. You only see the issue if you have the triangulated part at the front of the eye, if you rotate the sphere 90 degrees it won't be visible, because that section will be hidden behind the eyelid.
Another option is to use a polyshere, which is a sphere made of square polygons. You can make one by adding a subsurf of level 3 to a cube and applying the modifier. You will also want to use To Sphere in edit mode to get it 'rounder' with ⇧ Shift ⎇ Alt S

Or a simpler way is to enable the Extra Objects addon and you will find a polyshere in your add mesh menu.

If you do start with a cube and a Sub-surf modifier, you should apply the modifier and then use 'To Sphere'-(Alt+Ctrl+s) while in Edit mode to round it out because the subdivision modifier leaves the sphered-cube a bit out of shape.

I did think of the to sphere step but seem to have missed it. add it now.

You don't have to apply the subsurf, you can use a 'Cast' modifier with a factor of '1'.


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My Enviroment Background doesn't show up?
I'm trying to do a Space scene on Cycles so i'm using a Star map background as an Enviroment Map, i made the Nodes already, the texture/image shows up on the Preview..but not in the Render, why? It's the last step i need for this render but this is still giving me troubles :/

What is the mix for?

You could try swapping 'Background' shader and 'Mix shader'

The Mix was for visibility, i based my nodes on another scene.
I just swapped the Background and Mix Shader, but nothing happens.

Could you upload a .blend?

Ok, i uploaded it here, the image file is the actual background.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/dvnlu1rz8ulbxw7/SolarSystemBG.rar

Shows up fine on my machine. You need to uncheck "Transparent" under "Film" on the "Render" tab  of your "Properties Panel".

Hmm, but without modifying anything in the nodes?

Sorry, but I can't open the .rar file.  Could you try Blend-Exchange instead please?

Wait, the solution of @galingong worked! :)

The environment is not showing up in the render because you have Transparent checked in the Film section of the Render property panel. Uncheck that and it will work.
I would also add that if you DO want to composite the foreground and background element, to leave the Transparent box checked. Then you can enable the Environment render pass and combine the foreground and background renders in the compositor.

If someone answers a question correctly in the comments we usually give them a day or so to put it as an answer so they can get the rep, see this meta post.

If he wants to post his solution as an official answer, that's fine by me.


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How can i get 'shining' borders to a material in Blender Render?
I'm using Blender Render right now and i'm trying to achieve something like this picture:

With that i mean, if its possible or is there a way to render the object with Blender Render, but adding those kind of 'shining borders'? (circled in the picture)
I need to make that kind of material, is there any setup to do it?
Thanks in regard.

This is in large part lighting, however I think some of it is based on Fresnel as well.

@NᴏᴠɪᴄᴇIɴDɪsɢᴜɪsᴇ Is there any set up to do it loyal to that image?

Just remember that at some point you have to just try it yourself and see what you come up with. We don't have time to stop our projects and make an arbitrary material and light setup. If you can't find the Fresnel effect, or something specific, please ask, but I personally have no time to dig into the Blender Internal render engine and figure it out

and, to have "really shining" borders, some sort of "beveling" on them helps a lot, since a "perfect" border cannot shine in that way (it's not real).
Otherwise, you have to add them as postprocessing/compositing with some sort of trick...

@m.ardito thanks, i guess it does have something to do with compositing..

You should be able to create an effect very similar to this by using a matcap as your material.

Thank you both, i already fixed it somehow using a Fresnel material.

@beavoru If you have a solution please add it as an answer using the answer box below.

You could also try the rim light/fall-off texture described here: http://www.cgmasters.net/free-tutorials/falloff/ (You can get the same affect in Cycles with a velvet shader.)

Finally i found a solution, at least, it's working, but isn't a configuration based on the material, but in the lighting on the scene itself.
Afte creating a regular basic Fresnel texture, with geometry bump added of a texture based on a photography of rocks (on this case) and added two Sun type lamps at the side of the scene based on the position on the camera.
The 'effect' didn't worked at first due to the specular activated, it was too shiny and it even looked like plastic, but after deactiviting it, it worked a lot better, and also i added a little translucency parameter of 0.028.
And the light strenght itself, based on the distance has a parameter of 7.

Also, as a tip, the effect worked since the camera only 'zooms' into the objects and rotates but following a direct (invisible) line between only two points. Still, i rotated every single DNA object with their respective individual parameters and the effect doesn't change at all, because the position of the lighting also doesn't change.


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It is possible to render layers sequentially?
If i have 3 layers of animation, same camera, but different objects, can i render them sequentially without having to doing it manually between processes? i ask this because i need to do this, but sometimes i won't be near the computer so it's important for me to acomplish this.
If i try to render them separately, every single sequence takes a lot of time so i should be near the computer after every process, the thing is that if i am not near the computer when one render finish, i will just lose time between renders.

yes, with python ;)

Youn can go to the compositor, add 2 layer nodes and 2 file output nodes.
The standard Composite node will refer to the standard output file path which is set in the properties panel, while in the new output nodes you can set two different output file paths.
Every layer will be rendered in one go.


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Assigning texture to material in Blender 2.9
I just downloaded Blender 2.9 and tried to create a material for an object.  I wanted to assign a texture to the Base Color slot of the default material, so I clicked on the dot on the right side in the property window.  However, instead of getting a drop down menu of material options like in older versions, the dot just changes to a diamond and back again.
I can't find anything in the docs explaining how to assign textures.  I did notice that the 2.9 docs are calling the textures 'legacy textures'.  What's going on?  Can I still assign a texture?  Do I have to set up a shading network if I want to use textures?

The little dot on the right side of the Base Color slot is for keyframing. You can click the yellow dot on the left side of the color to get the drop down menu for textures.

If you click the actual color panel you can choose the base color.


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How to get the grid size in a Python script?
I'm trying to find a way to get the grid size so I can align some vertices to it in a script.  Frustratingly, bpy.context.space_data.overlay.grid_scale allows you to set the grid size but not get it.  The overlays tooltip suggests using bpy.data.screens["Scripting"].overlay.grid_scale, but this causes an error:
>>> bpy.data.screens["Scripting"].overlay.grid_scale
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<blender_console>", line 1, in <module>
AttributeError: 'Screen' object has no attribute 'overlay'

What's a good way to try to get the grid size for my script?

Overlays are set per view.
You need to find the (or a) 3d view area.
import bpy

def get_areas_by_type(context, type):
    return [a for a in context.screen.areas if a.type == type]

# Get view3d areas
view3d_areas = get_areas_by_type(bpy.context, 'VIEW_3D')

# Assuming there is one (if not test it in your code)
view3d_area = view3d_areas[0]

# The view space
view_space = view3d_area.spaces[0]

# It has overlay
view_space.overlay.grid_scale = 4.0

Or if you know that your context is the 3d view, you can use:
context.space_data.overlay.grid_scale

I did not realize the grid was different for each view (which I suppose makes sense since it is part of the Overlay).  bpy.context.space_data.overlay.grid_scale actually does work in that case then.

If in the good context, yes. I'll add that, you're right.


text:
How to render height map in Blender?
I've seen several tutorials on how to use a displacement modifier and a texture to create a terrain from height map data, but I want to go the other way.  Given that I have used sculpt tools to hand draw a landscape on a mesh in Blender, is there a way to generate a height map from it?

I've tried setting up an orthographic camera, going into compositing and sending the depth channel to my output layer, but this results in a distorted image with the peaks being much too high:

Using the assumption that the depth buffer is calculated the same way OpenGL does it, I tried piping the calculation through a 1/n math node:

This fixed the distortion, but I'm finding it very hard to set up my network since I have no real idea how the 'depth' values are actually calculated.  I've used a bunch of math nodes to try and map the depth buffer onto height values, but I'm getting weird results that make me wonder how blender is actually calculating all of this.  For example, simply doubling the resolution of the output gives me this:

Why is it so light?  Shouldn't the Normalize node still transform the image to the full range of 0 to 1?
If anyone knows how to generate a height map, please let me know.

You can always bake it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arvhK4tvYuY

I don't know the method you're using, here is one that seems to work and that is close to the one explained here by CGMatter as linked by @NascentSpace:

Create the 3D object you want to bake, put an Orthographic camera over it, give your object the following node setup: Texture Coordinate (Generated Output) > Separate XYZ > ColorRamp (if you need to tweak the highest and lowest) > Emission > Material Output:

In the Render panel, choose a good Sampling resolution. In the Output panel choose OpenEXR as File Format, otherwise you'll have artifacts. Keep the other settings as they are and render the image.

Create a plane, subdivide it, give it a new material with an Image Texture (in Non-Color mode) that you plug into the Height of a Displacement node that you plug into the Material Output Displacement socket. Load the OpenEXR image in the Image Texture node. In the Material panel > Settings > Surface > Displacement, choose Displacement Only. It should work (or use a Displace modifier):


text:
Way to temporarily draw a uv grid over blender meshes?
I have a scene where all of the objects have a material assigned to them.  However, it would be useful if I could temporarily assign them a special material which simply a texture map of a grid square.  The point of this would be to let me see the UV lines to help me make editing decisions.
As far as I can tell, Blender does not allow you to do this.  Am I wrong?  Is there some way to temporarily view my scene with this grid material and then switch back to the materials I've assigned?

It seems that there used to be such a feature, but it was removed for some reason - People complain a lot about it in this post, but there doesn't seem to be any real solution - https://blenderartists.org/t/uv-texture-preview-in-the-3d-view-in-blender-2-8/1144916

Cycles has a render-layer material override feature where you can render your scene with all materials replaced with the override material. Is that the kind of feature you're looking for?

Select your object, in a shader editor window create an image texture node, create a new UV grid image, mantaine the node unconnected and selected.
In the 3d window you can now select the solid viewport shading, in texture mode, to show your UV Grid.
By selecting the material texture nodes you can display the UV grid or the material images.


text:
How do I add a new tab to the 3D Viewport?
I'm creating a Panel that sits in the 3D Viewport.  Right now when it runs, it is inserted under the Misc tab.  I'd like to create my own tab to place it in.  How do I do that?
class NormalToolPropsPanel(bpy.types.Panel):

    """Properties Panel for the Normal Tool on tool shelf"""
    bl_label = "Normal Tool Properties Panel"
    bl_idname = "OBJECT_PT_normal_tool_props"
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout

        scene = context.scene
        settings = scene.my_tool

        col = layout.column();
        col.prop(settings, "strength")
        col.prop(settings, "normal_length")
        col.prop(settings, "selected_only")

bl_category See example here https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/209202/15543

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/146302/how-to-change-the-location-of-an-addon-in-the-ui

Mr batFINGER always has the good stuff, but this should get you started:
import bpy
from bpy.types import Panel

class TestPanel(Panel):
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "UI"
    bl_label = "Test Panel"
    bl_category = "Test Panel"

    def draw(self, context):
        pass

class TestPanelSub(TestPanel, Panel):
    bl_parent_id = "TestPanel"
    bl_label = "Test Panel Sub Panel"

    def draw(self, context):

        layout = self.layout

bpy.utils.register_class(TestPanel)
bpy.utils.register_class(TestPanelSub)

Thanks, but I'm having a few errors in your code.  First I got a warning about 'PT' so I added bl_idname = "OBJECT_PT_test_panel" to TestPanel, then I needed to change TestPanelNew to TestPanelSub.  But that's still causing a parent 'TestPanel' not found error.

Oops, yeah, changed the name, forgot about the register.
I edited the answer, this works for me. (Still complains about PT but doesn't matter)


text:
How to remove text written over top of FloatVectorProperty
I'm writing a panel that displays a vector that in meant to indicate the direction of a normal.  Using FloatVectorProperty with subtype="DIRECTION" would seem ideal for this, but the result has the property name written over top of the control.  Since the property name is already written above it, is there a way to remove this name from the control display?

import bpy
from bpy.types import Panel

class NormalToolSettings(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):

    normal : bpy.props.FloatVectorProperty(
        name="Normal",
        description="Direction of normal in Fixed mode",
        default = (1, 0, 0),
        subtype="DIRECTION"
    )

class TestPanel(Panel):
    bl_idname = "OBJECT_PT_test_panel"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "UI"
    bl_label = "Test Panel"
    bl_category = "Test Panel"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout

        scene = context.scene
        settings = scene.my_tool

        col = layout.column()
        col.prop(settings, "normal")

bpy.utils.register_class(NormalToolSettings)
bpy.utils.register_class(TestPanel)

bpy.types.Scene.my_tool = bpy.props.PointerProperty(type=NormalToolSettings)

Set the text of the layout
If text argument is not set in layout functions, it defaults to the name of the property. Set it to "" to "remove".
    col.prop(settings, "normal", text="")

Note: will also take out the prop name written above. Can be replaced with
    col.label(text="Normal")


text:
How to get face normal from a mesh loop?
I'm iterating through the loops of my mesh and would like to get the face it is attached to (so I can get the face's normal).  I'm looking specifically for the face normal, not the vertex or loop normals.  The docs provide information for finding the associated vertex, but I can't find anything to get the face index.  Is there a way to do this?
    for obj in ctx.selected_objects:
        if obj.type == 'MESH':
            mesh = obj.data
            for l in mesh.loops:
                v = mesh.vertices[l.vertex_index]
                #looking for face here

Loop the faces
Suggest this is easier to loop the faces and get the loop indices.
for f in mesh.polygons:
    print(f.index, f.loop_indices)

default cube
0 range(0, 4)
1 range(4, 8)
2 range(8, 12)
3 range(12, 16)
4 range(16, 20)
5 range(20, 24)


text:
How to create actions that animate texture uv offsets?
I'm trying to create a simple animation for water in a stream.  The idea is to have a repeating texture and then animate it's offset along the x so that over time the image scrolls to the right.
This partly works.  While I can set the animation keys and while it does show the correct results when I render the image, there is no visual feedback in the 3DView when I play the timeline which makes it very difficult to tweak the animation.
Even worse, if I try to encapsulate this in an action, none of the keys that I set on the image offset show up in the action editor.  I'd like to export this for a game which means that I need to have the keys in the action, but for some reason blender isn't doing this.  (I can set keys for location, rotation etc of the object just fine.  It's just the UV offset that isn't showing up there.)

Maybe try changing your viewport to GLSL shading since you're in Blender Game Engine. To get to the setting press "N" in the viewport and scroll down to "Shading" panel. Then change the shading from the default Multitexture to GLSL.

I've tried using both GLSL and Multitexture, and both Blender Render and Blender Game.  All fail to update the texture in the 3d view.  I even tried adding a driver to the offset and creating an empty to drive it, but still no luck.  The only time changing the offset updates the viewport is when you manually adjust the control.

Hmmm... This is out of my area of expertise unfortunately. Good luck

I created a simple .blend file using Blender Render (BI) and put a texture on the default cube and animated the offset X of the texture.  I set the viewport to Material (between Texture and Render).
While the Material view shows me the texture, and is updated if I alter the Offset X manually, it utterly fails to draw correctly when that Offset X is altered by the animation system.
I am inclined to say this is a bug in blender, and you are mildly doomed.  I say mildly, because when I change the viewport scheme from Material to Render, then I can click around in the timeline and it updates the view correctly.  Unforunately, that version of the view is incapable of animating on my laptop (and maybe all computers).
As for the dope sheet, it only shows keyframes for the ACTIVE action.  Once you have "encapsulated" the keyframes (probably using the double chevron in the NLA editor) that action is now a strip and you have to select it and Tab into it to make it the active action.  It is also important to remember that these keyframes are in the action on your MATERIAL datablock, not your object datablock.

authors: Чарльз Бронсон


text:
Where is the menu to modify newly created objects?
So I've installed the Add Mesh: Extra Objects add-on because I want to make a mesh from a mathematical function.
However, the tutorial I'm following seems to use an old menu that I cannot find in the latest version. It looks like this :

How can I find this menu in the latest version of Blender. I'm new to Blender so any help would be appreciated.

That's the Adjust Last Operation panel.

Registered operators in versions 2.5x to 2.7x displayed their  details at the bottom of the toolbar (by default on the left)  as shown in question image. For 2.8 when you select add Z function surface from the menu it looks as pointed out in the duplicate.


text:
I need help with mechanical rig
I want bone.004 and bone.002 to always stay straight (edit: I don't want any bend between)
already tried track to constraint

final rig

Give bone.004 a copy rotation constraint targeting bone.002, world space->world space.  (Check the bone axes of each to make sure they exist in the exact same orientation.)

not working @Nathan


text:
Designing a sticker template based on a 3D model
I'm an absolute rookie in Blender, but recently I faced a hands-on challenge. I feel like Blender can help me out with it.
I want to print and cut decals for my gamepad, something like that:

The gamepad manufacturer has published its exact three-dimensional model:

Is it possible to design a decal template based on this three-dimensional model in Blender? How?
Thank you.

Is that decal material able to bent or what? Water transfer? Or it is paper and you want to cut a little bit space for bending surface

If that picture is what you want, using project from view and directly design on texture image should be your answer

@Hikariztw I'm going to print it on a sheet of adhesive vinyl, so it can bend and it can stretch to a moderate extent.

You can assign some face to a material that use for the sticker. And for UV, you should project from top view with orthogonal camera. Each time you modified the image you should see the effect of it

@Hikariztw Um, sorry, either I didn't get it, or it's not quite what I am looking for. I want to design a two-dimensional outline of the sticker. Somehow figure out from a three-dimensional model what shape the thing I cut out of the vinyl has to be so that it will stick to certain edges perfectly, bending and stretching at the right places.
Don't know if that's even doable with this kind of a tool, to be honest.

In other words, I want to figure out the shape of a decal so it can be lasercut. From a 3d model.

did you found the solution for your problem?


text:
Should I in general always unwrap my entire object in one UV map?
I have difficulty creating a normal map for a sword and I have the feeling it might be caused by how I approached the project.
Instead of making the entire sword out of a single cube I started with one cube for the blade, then added a cylinder for the grip and so on.
After I was satisfied with the general form I unwrapped each single mesh, instead of making one unwrap for the entire sword, and gave them textures. I proceeded with copying my sword so I could have one low poly object and one high poly object. On the high poly object I added details with sculpting again for each single mesh of the high poly object (grip, blade, etc).
In order to bake both objects together I now need to overlap them perfectly.
But because each of the two swords consists of several independent meshes this is quite hard. So I joined the meshes together for each sword.
Now I could easily make them overlap. But after I bake them together I only get a normal map for the grip and not for the entire sword.
So I think I need to make an unwrap for the entire sword instead of making them for each mesh. Should I in general always unwrap my entire object in one?
But that makes texturing so much harder when I use different textures for each part.

Even my low poly sword has 15000 vertices. I once read that high detailed characters in video games have around 30000 vertices. So 15000 sounds like quite a lot for a single sword. But is a high number of vertices always a problem?
For example I can insert vertices on a flat surface as much as I want without changing the amount of detail of the surface. It is still a flat surface with four corners. So are these additional vertices a performance problem when I later use the sword in a selfmade game?
I also tried to make a human. I watched some tutorials on youtube where they sculpted the entire face and body, but is that actually how you do it for a video game?

My human had over 70000 vertices after I did it that way. Sounds like way to much.
So to sum it up:

Should I always make my objects a one mesh and should I always make one unwrap for the entire object?
Are a lot of vertices a performance problem even if they don't add more detail to the object?
Should I create characters by sculpting?

Hi. Please only ask one question at a time. You are welcome to ask several questions, but as separate posts.

Oh im sorry i keep that in mind next time! My question got already answered now

A couple of screenshots would go a long way in helping you explain your situation.
I'm going to guess that you have a lot of unnecessary polygons on your models. If you want your game to run smoothly or not require excessive computing power, you're going to want to optimize your models by reducing the vertex/face count.
If you insert a vertex into a side of a quad but don't do anything with it, this is no longer a quad. Extra vertices can cause shading errors and other problems when using modifiers down the line. Removing these extra vertices also helps optimize your model.
As far as the more specific questions about the game asset workflow, try searching up for "Blender game asset creation tutorials." They'll be much clearer.

Thanks you very much! I will look for those tutorials.


text:
Texture satellite images to a sphere (Earth)
I'm tasked with animating satellite images on a sphere (Earth). The satellite images are full disk images from a geostationary satellite, like the ones you can see at https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/fulldisk.php?sat=G18. But I am new to Blender and 3D rendering in general, so any ideas and suggestions are very appreciated:

Is Blender the right tool to do this?
How could I map every pixels onto the sphere? Should I re-project images to Equirectangular projection (Plate Carrée) first?

I think that the Nasa has flat (mercator) pictures of the earth, but if you absolutely need to use these pictures, use the Unwrap > Project from View option?


text:
RDP to Ubuntu from windows
We have an ubuntu server running at home, with two users. We have a Win laptop and I can RDP into the Ubuntu but when starting Blender it starts but does not display it. After some digging I found that it might be because of the OpenGL. I tried VNC that works, but I can not log in simultaneously using the ubuntu with an other user too, like I can with RDP.I only can "take over" the desktop!
Is there a solution to run the Blender remotely (local network only) from Windows utilizing the user's login?


text:
animate the center of the geometry
There is a balloon with physical properties, it flies up (physics of clothes).But its geometry center is not moving. Because of this, I can't bind another object to it. Please help me. Link through the parents , but in this case make the dynamic center of the geometry

You can parent object A to 3 (or 1) vertices of object B: Select object A, shift select object B, switch to Edit mode, select 3 vertices of object B, press CtrlP > Make Vertex Parent. Object A should follow object B when it will move:


text:
I can't see the fire when I go and render the image. It appears in the Render viewport, however, if I start the render it disappears

First is the render image from the camera

Second is the Cycle Render viewport

They're simply disabled in render:

Thank you stupid of me! XD


text:
Scanned Mesh Boolean Doesnt Cut Into Object Correctly
I have a scanned front bumper which comes with problems on its own.
Now i have a modeled mesh over the scanned bumper, and i want to use the bumper to boolean a surface over my mesh, so the mesh will fit nicely over the scanned bumper.
Now when i try to boolean it it cuts the mesh in all ways except for the way it has to.
I have tried adding a solidify modifier on both meshes. I have doubel checked that the normals face outwards. i have made sure the scale and everything is correct and reset, but i still cant get it to work the way it should.
Am i missing something obvious?
File link:
https://we.tl/t-yeACjvUv8c
Had to use wetransfer since the file size was too large for blender-exchange because of the scanned mesh

Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload images or gifs, along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.

Could you explain "i want to use the bumper to boolean a surface over my mesh" ? Under boolean modifier, there are 3 operations : Intersect, Union, Difference. Do you want to "cut" the modeled bumper (in green ?) with the scanned one (in grey ?) ?

No not bumper boolean, i use a mesh of a car bumper, like the front bumper of a car that i have scanned in. The model I am using to cut into my boolean is the mesh of a car bumper


text:
making a complex curve cut on simple cylinder
I'm trying to make this Cylinder object with the curve cut that slides from it, I have already made the two in the back, it was done by making:
Cut-loops -- cutting faces -- Bevel the front edge. This method doesn't work in the cylinder because of the multiple faces that surrounds the form, can anyone aid me and give a hint of how can i make this in the cylinder?

Maybe begin with a 16 vertex cylinder, move down one vertex with Proportional Editing option on:

Remove the bottom faces:

Fill all these faces:

Create this edge loop:

Move it backwards:

Bevel it:

Move the vertices and change the topology a bit:


text:
I need the cut of these three faces to be even, into 3 equal parts of the type. I do not know how to explain
I need the cut of these three faces to be even, into 3 equal parts of the type. I do not know how to explain

Use this.

https://neroduck.ru/screens/blender_GMUyRk-27-10-2024.png @Leander
I select 3 faces, right click, loop tools, space.

Only select the top and bottom horizontal edge loop. Don't select the vertical edges.

authors: десять миллионов


text:
How to map a texture to faces using geometry normals
In my specific scenario I need to align the roof texture to the individual roofes.
I cannot align the roofes in the UV map because there are too many and its real word data.

My thinking is that I can use the Geometry node and its Normal output to get information about the face orientation,
I then just need to calculate the angle of each face, which I can plug into the Mapping node, resulting in the correct texture rotation for each roof face.
The formula for calculating the angle between two vectors (normals) is θ = cos-1 [ (a · b) / (|a| |b|) ]
I tried to create this formula as a node with the Node Quick Maths extension and with Vector Math nodes. I also figured that I was only interested in the Z rotation, so I only needed X, Y (2D coordinates) in the calculation.

The outcome is not what I expected, there is rotation but the wrong rotation, which leads me to believe that either my math is wrong (which could very well be that I am not that well versed in math or Blender math nodes) or I need to approach this in a whole new direction.
What I would like to happen.

let me know if there are Qustions. Thanks a lot ...

You need to use Z to make this calculation (it's the only axis that does not change with the roof positions)

A cross from Z to Normal makes local X (fails for horizontal roofs, where normal = z)
A cross from Normal to local X makes local Y
A dot between Position and the local axis gives the local position

Important: The texture's "Projection" must be "Flat". This method is similar to UV unwrapping every single face. Any non-flat projection will create distortion.

Thank you!  For those passing by, here's an example file with this solution.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5gi7c1h7dzu3948alpfm2/shingles-roof-direction.blend?rlkey=0sgmyad8526lmb4m5ivsgosj3&st=xuhhs7ky&dl=0

One hiccup i've noticed is that when the angle of the roof is increased past a certain point, a texture based material, stops working as expected.
screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sx10elye301nqnuylucen/2024-11-05_20-37-23_blendershingles_roof_direction_-DDropboxTroubleshooting20blender.png?rlkey=o6bvh5m053ksia9crbhidii1y&dl=0
test file: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5gi7c1h7dzu3948alpfm2/shingles-roof-direction.blend?rlkey=0sgmyad8526lmb4m5ivsgosj3&dl=0

@RyanSchultz, that's because you're using a "box" texture instead of a "flat" texture.

That was it.. thanks!


text:
Blender 4.2 - Need help exporting .obj material with both Kd and map_Kd attributes for image textured objects
I'm creating scenery for a glider flight simulation program called Condor2.  The Condor2 object editor requires image textured objects to have both map_Kd  and Kd  attributes in the .mtl file created by the export from Blender.
If there is a way to accomplish this without modifying the export script, I have not been able to discover it.
Otherwise, I'd appreciate some guidance in how best to modify the export code (or even just 'post-process the .mtl file).  All I need is a line with 'Kd 1.0 1.0 1.0' added to any material that includes a map_Kd attribute.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, tips, HOWTO pointers.
David


text:
Having trouble placing textures on my vehicle
I am new to 3d modeling, I recently purchased a model online and now I'm trying to convert it for a game. The problem I am having is that every time I place a texture on a separated part like for instance the bumper and then when I go attach the texture to it, then suddenly texturizes the cab of the vehicle which I didn't intend on doing. I also have an issue where I go to select a texture for the vehicle it doesn't show or make any change.

you need to assign the different materials to the faces you want

I’m voting to close this question because this topic is covered thoroughly in the Blender manual page on material assignment. I would just be copy-pasting or at best rewording portions of it in order to answer this question without further specifics on the situation, and that feels wrong.


text:
Is it possible to separate parts into 3000 vertices a piece?
I am wondering if it's possible to separate a 80k vertices mesh into 3000 vertices a piece?  I am trying to separate a body of my car that has 80k vertices and split it all into 3000 vertices a piece. I am converting it for a game and the game has a limit of 3k vertices per piece. I'm new to blender and love learning new technique to make things go quicker and easier. I am also not sure if I'm asking the question right either.

you can try with the remesh tools of Blender, or use an external tool like Instant Meshes or Quad Remesher? The result may not be very good though in terms of topology and deformation

I'll give it a try, and thank you for replying back with me!


text:
My object is stuck in Local VIew
I am having an issue with my mesh being stuck in Local View, I tried removing it and it does that but when I go back to perspective view and re select the mesh again and go into edit mode it does not appear but when I switch back to local view it's still in local view? Any ideas how to fix this? I can upload blend file if need to be. I've tried blender 3.6, 4.1 and 4.2 to see if it made any difference and it did not. I might be doing something wrong?

The file would be helpful. You can use https://blend-exchange.com/

Sounds like you are mixing things up or confusing terms. Local is when you isolate the view to show only objects which were selected while entering local view with either / (# on German keyboard) or Numpad /, this view can be Perspective or Orthographic just as the regular non-isolated view as well. If a mesh disappears when switching from Object Mode to Edit Mode this usually means you've probably hidden the mesh with H, press Alt+H to unhide it. Although a hidden mesh does not reappear when going into Local. We need your file or at the very least screenshots.

I ended up deleting it and re-making a new one, I probably missed the hide feature or didn't think of it at the time. I've fooled with it for about an hour I got frustrated. I just gave up and told myself just make a new one. Thank you for replying back with me though!


text:
Can you add new bake on to an existing texture in Blender?
I am baking diffuse map for multiple objects on one texture. Lets say texture for two objects is already baked, and I need to add bake of a third object on this already existing texture. Can you do that in blender without re-baking textures for all three objects again?
I know I could just bake the third one separately and then join two images into one, but I'm just wondering if you can do something like that in Blender to save time

Yes, you can. For this to work, Clear Image in the Bake panel should be unchecked. This means that new bakes will only write to the pixels corresponding to the selected objects' UV maps.


text:
Strange Noise in Rendered Viewport [4.2.3]
I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to ask this kind of thing but this is something I'm 100% stumped on. I've asked this on the subreddit but haven't seem to get any help so I'm just going to copy and paste what I wrote there.

Hey there, happy Halloween. So I haven't used Blender in a while with the last version I used being around when 4.0 first started rolling out? And this is an issue I have NEVER had before since using 4.2.3 lately so I'm not sure what's going on.
But in the viewport, if I switch to the rendered setting I get this really strange noise look and I'm not sure what's going on? I've never, ever encountered this before.
I've checked jittered shadows, lowered samples, and turned off shadows but those haven't seemed to really help me.
I've noticed that it gets worse if I turn on raytracing, but did previous versions also use raytracing with Eevee? It's just something I never really paid any mind before because again; I haven't had this issue up until recently with this version.
When I disable raytracing it does look better, but even I can still notice some pixelation-like noise on occasions and I don't really like that, I'm just really confused on what's going on and I hope someone can work with me on how to fix this.
I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm using Blender off of Steam. Here are some images to show what I mean.

(For the first image, look close at the "LET'S ROCK" poster and you'll see the shadows looking pixelated)

Again I could really use some help here please, I've NEVER had this issue until using the latest version and I'm so confused on what's going on. I highly doubt it has anything to do with my computer considering again; previous versions worked just fine, it's only the recent ones.


text:
Hiding the Voronoi texture from the bottom of my chocolate chip cookie
I'm making a chocolate chip cookie in blender using two Principled BDSF materials, one for the cookie material and one for the chocolate chip material. I'm using Voronoi texture and color ramp and mix shader to determine where the chocolate chips appear. The problem is that the chocolate chips appear on the bottom and sides of my cookie, which I don't want. How do I solve this? Can I make some sort of mask and paint only the top of my cookie or something similar?

You could add a "Geometry" node, take the "normal" from this node, separate Z, use a math node to compare this z greater than something around 0.5 and use it as fac to mix. (In short, this considers only  faces pointing up wards with some tolerance given by the limit you gave.

@DanielMöller I tried playing around with what you recommended but I cant seem to get the right results. Where do i put the result of the greater than node, because my fac in mix shader is already occupied by the color ramp.

@DanielMöller I solved the issue by putting a multiply node between the mix shader and color ramp, and connected the greater than and color ramp to the multiply and connected the result to fac. Thanks for your help!


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Curve bevel object on complex shape - corners and curve issues

So I'm trying to model this fireplace surround. I've used a curve, then in the data tab applied bevel to an object (the profile seen in the picture under the surround).

Is there anyway to fix the corners and make it look clean?
I've tried constructing the model manually from scratch with offset edges, but that never looks quite right - lots of distortion on the curvey part of the surround. I need all the different parts to maintain their width and distance from eachother.
I also tried converting the curve with the bevel object on to a mesh, and then manually reposition all the edges, but still: distortion.
Reducing the amount of vertices on the curve also didn't fix that problem.
I have yet to try the spin tool, but I thought I'd ask first before I spend any more hours trying to figure this one out.
Is there any way to model this in a non-destructive way? And if I need to be destructive, how to best tackle the distancing and width between the different parts?


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Turn textures to materials?
I wonder if it's possible to automatically turn a texture mapped model into a material mapped model.
Manual approach:

Create a new material for each color in the texture,
select model,
enter Edit Mode,
manually select each object face and assign the previously created materials.

Is it possible to make blender do this for me?
Ie. take this picture and its texture (below) and assume that I'd like to turn each color present on the texture to a new material, and then assign it to the model on the same faces where the texture color was mapped.
It's fine if I have to manually select the Base color and all the other stuff for each material: I am trying to avoid to manually select every face in edit mode and reassign it to a different material.
The final goal is to export an FBX made of different materials for a prototype game where I have to dynamically change materials. Thank you

That's not possible without extensions (AFAIK). Also, note that with your proposition you can have multiple colors (thus materials) on one face : how do you manage that ? One face can only have one material.

I was thinking to something that could remap a texture to materials by selecting regions on the texture, and then apply those materials to the mapped faces. I could also use an extension if that exists :)

I think it's possible, but you need to manually set a list of materials and a list of material colors. You add a texture node with the coordinates as input (coordinates from here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/269690/texture-coordinate-node-for-geometry-nodes ). Sample the color for the center of the face position, calculate the distances from the color list to find the nearest color and set material to the corresponding material index. (I just don't have the time to experiment now)

Thank you Daniel this seems to be promising! Unfortunately I am not an expert in blender: I have to learn a bunch of stuff before even trying to do this.. :) getting my hands dirty now