text:
White text in texture appears bigger than other colors, even without emitting
I'm struggling to get a consistent look for text on a book spline.
All colors looks ok and like the origin font, except white, which appears bolder, I assume due to some emission.
However, nothing I tried in the shader helped me overcome that. Even if the Principle BSDF roughness is set to 1.0.
I'm using a uv map for the text and a color mixer to control the text color over the base color.
How can I get the white text to not look oversized?
(I'm rendering with Cycles)

Have you tried setting the "Non-Color" value in the texture node instead of "sRGB"?

Try using alpha instead of color under the color mixer Mix (Spline Text color). That should solve your problem

I suggest working with a Map range after the Texture Image Node, and adjusting "From Min"-"To-Max" this might help improve the range, and use "Non-Color" colorspace for the Texrture mask

Update
Here, I found an interesting article in Italian (We can use Google Translate on the page) which explains the phenomenon called “Irradiation Phenomenon” or “Irradiation Illusion”.
In fact I checked your file, and the dimensions are actually the same, see for yourself in these 2 images. Take a look at the article it's very interesting
Irradiation Illusion-Phenomenon article
Irradiation Illusion From Wikipedia
In practice, white writing on a black background can appear larger than black writing on a white background due to this optical effect.

Thanks, but unfortunately it didn't do the trick. I tried adding the image as a plane and then shrinkwrap it to the face instead of doing it in the shader, and it results with the same problem. White looks much bolder than it should.
Any other ideas?

@Boaz It would be helpful at this point for you to share the.blend file, remember to pack the textures if you want to do this. This would be useful to better understand the situation.

Thanks Cat for offering to take a look. Here's the file:https://drive.google.com/file/d/18gB1R9FHzBybMcqOBZ5sPOh1mxg3knsu/view?usp=sharing

@Boaz Take a look at my update

this is an unexpected twist. But you're right. Great job uncovering this, thanks!


text:
I cannot get rigid body physics to work properly
Can anyone have a look at my file and or tell me how I can fix this and achieve what I am trying to achieve here? I am trying to make a rosary that a monk would where animate and I started with basic rigid body experiments to see what I could get working and I could not even move on from my first test on things because as soon as I add a passive rigid body to the clothes just to see what the rosery does, it goes upwards. And it goes down without a passive rigid body object. Here is the drop box link to the file.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/a2rcvuwyc55dnci9d11f7/RuyLopez.Testblend.blend?rlkey=ljzuic9jpm9d6wx020mqv355l&dl=0

Maybe you should have written that you are a total Blender beginner....https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/rigid_body/properties/collisions.html -> convex hull as shape for rigid body can only be used for very simple objects like boxes. If you would shrinkwrap your rosary, you would get a "circle like" thing with thickness. That's why it flies off. So you have to use shape "mesh" in your case for both, cloth and rosary.

the second big problem is, that you didn't apply scale and rotation for both objects. Rigid body simulation will act weird if you don't apply that.

the third problem is, that a rosary is NOT a rigid body and the simulation will look totally unrealistic if you fix the two problems i told you: [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/oplsA.gif

So either you can try it with softbody simulation, or cloth simulation or rigid body, but a lot of rigid bodies (for each segment one) and maybe connect them with a point hinge.

Okay, that helps thanks! I have not done anything in Blender in like a year or anything in CG for that matter and I have never tried anything like this before. It seemed like a complex ambition, but I will take your advice and see if I can make anything of it. Thanks again!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Features of the Blender viewport
I don't use Blender myself, and I was wondering if it's possible to "look up and down" in the viewport, like Quake? I know that EEVEE will let you "go in", ie. the UP key in Quake, but it would be really cool if you could look up and down as well. If it's not there, could someone suggest it to the devs? :)
Thanks.

Yes.
You can enter Walk Navigation mode and control the camera like it's usual in games with W A S D keys and mouse.

If you look at the status bar while in that mode, you can see all the hotkeys the modal operator has:

So it's even possible to turn on gravity if you have ground in your scene.
You could right-click the menu item and assign a hotkey to it for easy access, or add it to your Quick Favourites menu(Q). I believe it used to be Ctrl+Alt+Shift +F by default many many versions ago, or maybe it was for Fly mode, but anyway, that hotkey is free, or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W for walk maybe. These will not conflict with anything else in Blender by default, but it can be anything you want obviously.
If you wanted arrow keys, that might get a bit complicated, but it's possible with Python. But, yes, it's a bit more tricky and one might need to write some custom operators for that.

Sorry, W A S D is for in and backwards etc. right? They're not for "looking up and down"??

No, the mouse is for looking around. Like in computer games. The arrow keys actually work for walking as well. If you wanted to turn the camera around with arrow keys, you would have to do some somewhat complicated scripting('complicated' keeping in mind you don't use Blender and are new to this, it's doable with Python)

Oh, cool! :) Thanks!

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


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Why does the shape and size of an array part deforming when using curve modifier
So basically im trying to make a tiled roof top thats curved. Simple deform doesnt do what i want so i want to use a curve modifier however whenever i add the curve modifier to the array the size of the array changes and looks terrible.
Here are the steps i took:
1.Made the part i want
2.fixed its rotation
3. Set all transforms on the part
4.added array to increase number of parts
5.Made the curve i want
6. Moves it to world origin
7. Set all transforms for the curve
8.moved part to world origin so they both have the same origin
9. Set all transforms for both just incase
10. Added curve modifier
11. Terrible results parts become bigger and are flying above curve not on it
Where did i go wrong? Please help me ive been stuck for weeks

Yes i see your problem , here is the solution :
Create the mesh you wanna repeat , the curve , move everything to world origin .
Create a plane , re-size it to kinda fit the size of the mesh ( the size of the plane not really essential ) , apply the scale of the plane and the mesh .
Move the plane to the same location of the mesh
Select the mesh , select the plane , hit CTRL+P , select Object .
Now go to the plane Object properties ( the yellow triangle in the toolbar menu ) , go to Instancing , select Faces , in the same Propoerties , go to Visibility , Show in , and disable viewport and render .
Now you're good to go , apply the array and curve modifier and you wont have any deformation .


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How can I select 2 specific edges all around this gear?

How can I quickly select those two edges all the way around the circle?

You can use Checker Deselect for this.

Select all the edges around using Select > Edge Rings
Deselect one of the edges (Shift + LMB) to break the loop
Use Select > Checker Deselect (play with the values, and adjust offset if needed)
Add that one edge to selection (again using Shift + LMB)

First suggestion: work under an Array modifier, based on a rotated Empty at the wheel's center. That way, all adjustments you make to one cog will be reflected in all the others.
But you could make a reasonably quick selection:

Select one of the edges of interest
ShiftG > select similar > direction
In an orthographic view, using circle-select, enclose the unwanted (inner) edges in that direction, and middle-click, deselect those.


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Alpha semi transparent issue
I downloaded a model of the game FF7re,after adding alpha texture,the part supposed to be transparent can still be seen.

Also,the normal tangent creates weird effect(the right picture).I am new to blender and I guess it might be some error settings because I heard it doesn't go wrong in maya.
Here is the packed blend file https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XWDHbqCjwzVMJ0q8tFMpTxiwGTRac7p2/view?usp=sharing

It seems light gets stronger after it pass the alpha part of the mesh.

I just request access to your file,
but I think the issue is from material setting
you should switch the Blend Mode to Alpha Clip

I find that option but it doesn't help.

can you please give me access to the file,? (i requested yesterday already)
maybe i can solve the issue

I already put the google link in the description - -

yeah i know, but its permission required and i already requested.

Oh I am sorry , I wanted to set it accessable for everyone. Here is the new link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XWDHbqCjwzVMJ0q8tFMpTxiwGTRac7p2/view?usp=sharing

sorry i can't solve the issue
but i think its likely common problem in cycles engine
its caused by overlapping or intersecting the geometry which caused the black artifact
but its fine in eevee with alpha clip setting
see image below
https://prnt.sc/ti8a3y
i've follow this question hope will be solved soon


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Vray material to Blender
I want to convert 3ds max vray material to blender,however the nodes are quite different.If I want to achieve a two-sided material in vray,I use the node Vray2sidedmtl.In blender I can use mixshader and backfacing.But there is a translucency Tex in Vray2sidedmtl so that I can determines which side (front or back) relative to the camera is more visible in the rendering process,how can I do this in Blender?
If someone tells exactly how to transform vray material to blender,it will be much better.


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Thin translucency node in cycle
I thought it was pretty straight forward  to do this just by mixing shader until I saw this https://devtalk.blender.org/t/diffuse-translucency-way-too-difficult-to-set-up-in-cycles/807   .So I group these nodes and achieve good result.However,I still need other nodes in Principle BSDF such as specular ,normal to achieve other results.I wonder if I can add these nodes to my node group without causing other problems.

The shader is used to shade object that should have thin thickness but not due to modeling convenience such as leaf.


text:
Stocking material
I am trying to make a stocking,but it looks like a sweater in my case.I an using a procedural texture.It seems the stocking should be kind of "transparent" or light passes the detailed structure of single knit  somehow.
It is a simple principle BSDF now.

Change the thickness of thread so stitches get a hole in between, that is what make it feel transparent in real world, right?

@vklidu There are already holes in between.I tested a blackbody emission behind it and it looks like a sweater.I think the thing is that a single knit itself is kind of "transparent" when it is thin enough.

I can just repeat myself from comment ... by using thinner thread you get bigger holes in knitting that brings your material from far view as partly transparent.
And it is fully depend on you if you need such detail for close up look or you fake it by just darker/ brighter tone of skin for far view of whole leg.

Here is example of knitting bump texture (because I didnt find a procedural shader where I can adjust thread thickness) just for a quick preview what I mean. This texture works here not only for the Bump map, but also as factor for stocking / transparent material. You can add Transparency, Subsurf Scattering (SSS), Trancluence or what ever, but essential is to make spaced knitting to let see what behind.

Stocking object is dupli part of legs with Solidify modifier Offset zero.

Really nice.. is the top example the actual knit, or faked in the way you describe? It looks as if it could be achieved with a layer-weight to whiter and more diffuse at a raking angle..

@RobinBetts Yes, all screens (top one including) is what you can see in detail - skin seen through holes. And yes if you don't need present such detail Layer-weight is faster way to get such result. Also in this example could be result improved on sides that seems to be too much skin tone visible (because just bump doesn't give a thickness to thread). Or maybe time for micro displacement :)

I'll try this,though it seems it's not easy in my node group to adjust this.

You don't need true transparency (the Alpha slot of Principled BSDF) to create stockings. You can just mix the skin color with the fabric color and use this as the base color of the Principled BSDF. For black stockings add some black sheen/fesnel.
Simple Stockings Shader for Eevee
If you want to use the shader in Eevee only you can use a simple setup:
Mix the colors and set a negative Sheen value for black stockings, like -4.
For white stockings, a positive number does the trick. Just enter the number to overcome the 0 to 1 limitation of the arrows.

I used the AO texture map of this fabric from texturehaven.com to create the fabric.
The Color Ramp 1 at the top controls the color of the stockings, the Color Ramp 2 below controls the transparency of the fabric. The slot Color 1 of the Mix RGB node is the skin tone (from another texture). Sheen is set to -4. The right leg has some interesting pattern because of my lazy weird painted skin texture.
Stockings Shader, version 2 for Eevee and Cycles
Cycles renders negative a Sheen value very bright and black stockings look a bit too transparent at the side because of this. To match black stockings of reference photos a mix of some black Fresnel is needed. Set Sheen to 0 in this case. Then it looks fine in Eevee and in Cycles. White stockings may not need the extra Fesnel sheen. You can experiment here with the Sheen values of Principle BSDF. (Very high Sheen values, like 20 and more, are great for satin fabric.)

Material preview and Cycles preview (32 samples):

White stockings, close-up, Fresnel mix node is muted, Sheen 4 (Cycles 32 samples):

(UV map is messed up, ignore the texture stretching)


text:
Merge particle system (hair)
How to merge particle hair guides into one particle system ?
There is an addon called Hair_extension_toolkit on blender market that seems to have the function.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/markets-rails/uploads%2F1602637387000-6.gif


text:
How to create files argument for bpy.ops.import_scene.fbx()?
How to create files argument for example for bpy.ops.import_scene.fbx()?
https://docs.blender.org/api/current/bpy.ops.import_scene.html
I have only strings - file names

nvm:
files = ({'name': filename},)
works fine


text:
How to press Generate Data Layers button
Any ideas how to press Generate Data Layers button from DataTransfer modifier in python? Can't find it in documentation: https://docs.blender.org/api/current/bpy.types.DataTransferModifier.html

import bpy

obj = bpy.data.objects["Cube"]

with bpy.context.temp_override(object=obj):
    bpy.ops.object.datalayout_transfer(modifier="DataTransfer")

https://docs.blender.org/api/current/bpy.ops.object.html#bpy.ops.object.datalayout_transfer

Wow it works, thank you. This is very unobvious thing


text:
Why does the bounced part with the mirror modifier go through the mesh
At first, I added a circle with 10 vertices, then I extruded it, removed two vertices and turned on the mirror modifier, and that's how I got this error.
I would like to know what I have to do to make the reflected part of the modifier not go through the mesh and to be like this;

Enable the Clipping option of the Mirror modifier and see if it fixes your problem?

I've just tried but it's still the same

please share your file: https://blend-exchange.com/

 here you go

Display the local orientation of your object, as you can see it is not aligned with the global orientation, so it probably deceives you. Switch back to Object mode and apply the rotation (CtrlA).

Okay, Now I'm gonna try

Oooh, thank a lot, bro


text:
How to change the shape of the object so that it doesn't change in all keys in the animation?
I'm making animation and I need to pull a cylinder in the direction X there and when I go to edit mode and stretch the cylinder, it caused changing the object in all keyframes but I do not need this I want to change this object were only in one keyframe.

Can you give an example because I didn't understand you very well?

Create a keyframe (Location, Rotation and Scale) at frame 1, move your player at the frame you want, move your cylinder, scale it on Z, create a new keyframe (Location, Rotation and Scale), the object will progressively stretch on Z

The keyframes you're placing are object location, rotation, and scale keyframes. Your edit is an object data edit. To store object data edits in a way that can be keyframed, you need to use Shape keys. You store your edit in a shape key, and animate its Value from 0.0 to 1.0.

For your specific case, this may be an overkill as your edit can be done at the object level.
There is another easier way to keyframe object data edits by using an add-on that comes bundled with Blender (if I remember correctly) called AnimAll.

Geometry nodes should also allow you to edit the object data in a way that can be keyframed.

Yes it works, but when I change the value of the object of the second frame using shape keys, these changes are also applied to the first frame

Are you sure you're placing a keyframe on the value of the shape key? It should light up in yellow if you do as shown in my screenshot. On the first keyframe, the value should be 0.0, and on the second, it should be 1.0.

Aaahhh I've just done something wrong, thanks a lot

You're welcome!

You can set the keyframe interpolation to constant. Or you can duplicate the previous keyframe and place it at the frame before you want to see the change.


text:
Is there a way to mirror the pose of the left hand to the right hand?

I tried to copy and paste each bone but it turns the right hand's pose into something different

Hello, maybe the bones are not correctly oriented, you need to check in Edit mode, or please share your file

You need the bones to have the same names as the opposite, ones ending in '.L' and the others in '.R' for eft and right side respectively. When you copy the pose of one side select the bones of the hand and do Ctrl+C. When you past them on the other side, select the bones and hit Ctrl+Shift+V, otherwise it doesn't paste the mirrored pose


text:
Can see obscured geometry in orthographic view, while can't see it in perspective
For some reason I can see geometry that is supposed to be obscured when im in orthographic view, while in perspective

Orthographic view^

Perspective view^
How do I revert to not seeing obscured geometry in orthographic view? (so it looks like in perspective view)

Turns out the issue was with high clip end distance, as it was set to its maximum value.


text:
How to create simple sticky lips
I want to create cartoonish lips for my character. I used several methods but still can't figure it out, is there any way to create sticky lips like this from scratch or sculpting. here is an image for more details. but it must be on a sphere

what do you mean by "but it must be on a sphere"?

I mean this lips on a cube but I want that in a sphere
But if you use sculpting then no need of it

You could create a cube, subdivide, cut a hole:

Extrude the edge loop of the hole and scale down:

Add loopcuts, move some vertices, extrude the lips inwards:

It will be exactly the same thing with a sphere: First cut a hole:

Then extrude and scale down:

Move some vertices, add loop cuts, extrude inwards:

If you want to make sure that it keeps a good spherical shape, you can use the Shrinkwrap modifier with a sphere as target.

is this method also work with the UV sphere

Sure, please show or share your wireframe

It just a simple UV sphere
https://ibb.co/pxRTJzr

So, same thing, you just need to cut a hole, extrude and scale down, add some loopcuts, etc


text:
Extrude and scale problem
So I am following along on a video and I can't scale when extruding like on the video. When I do it, my object duplicates into a copy instead of expanding as I want it to.
I am in edit mode.
I mouse over the object and press L
median point is selected
I press E then the axis.
But my result is wrong as you can see in the picture. The left is mine and the righ is the result I "should" get
There is a step i am missing.
Thank you

Select the whole object in edit mode (while in face select mode), right click and select "Extrude faces along normals".

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I tried that but it does not look the same ( or i am did something wrong in a prior step.
It just bloats everything outward.

Hmmm... maybe try the "usual" (mesh problem) things first. Select all in edit mode then press M (merge) and select "By distance" - this will make sure you don't have any stray verts/edges. Then while still all selected, press Shift+N (Recalculate Normals Outside). Then finally, select the object in object mode and press Ctrl+A and select "Scale" (removes possibility of non-uniform scale). Then try the extrusion again

Ok so manager to get the desired shape ( but I am not sure how I did it and I can't reproduce it ). I did all you said.
So here is the funny thing
In edit mode.
I select all ( press L )
If I press E the move thing happens.
If I press enter I get extrude and move region. The move seems to be the wrong part.
hmmmm

please share your file: https://pasteall.org/blend/

https://pasteall.org/blend/d414e4acdaf34598a077180b42263d99
@moonboots

it works fine for me, I've deleted everything except one U, then press E (you can also try Alt E > Extrude Faces along Normal), then Enter, then S Shift Z so that it scales on X and Y only

Resolve thanks moon


text:
Rending produces black shadows
I am very new to Blender.
When I render using Cycles. I get a portion of my object that turns out black. Under evee it's normal.

I am not sure what other info to share to help with my problem.
I have reduced the form 4k to 2k tried GPU and CPU rendering to the same effect.
Thank you

Could be flipped normals

You might need to expand please.
Also Opix run's.

select the black objects, go into edit mode with tab, select everything with A, then go to Mesh > Normals > Recalculate Outside or SHIFT N. Basically the renderer thinks these parts are the inside of the mesh, so it doesn't illuminate them

@Gorgious Just tried it. Still black
Thanks for trying to help

This could also occur because of overlapping geometry by duplicate objects / mesh.
Try selecting one of those objects and hiding it or moving it around to see if there are multiple copies of the same object in the exact same place. If that doesn't work, try hiding or moving individual faces in Edit Mode.

@Adisage you nailed it.
Stacked objects.....Feel stupid now.
Thank you and have a good weekend

Glad to be of help! Happy weekend to you too !
PS : Kindly upvote the comment ;)

I can't see how to up vote it.
Help a brother do the right thing


text:
I can't see anything in my render
So this is the default project. No anything expect transformed the default cube a bit.
When I press render as in the pic that's what I see.
I have run the normal google fixes to no avail.
Camera is selected and looks at the cube, Lightning is on but nothing.
It has to be noted that my other projects have the same problem and I have reset the factory settings to try and fix the issue.

Have you actually rendered your image via F12 or the Render > Render Image menu? You should see 'Render Result' in the centre of the top menu bar and the time and memory used at the top-left immediately after rendering.

I was up until 12:30 working on a model and missed the most important thing. Press F12
I am sorry for wasting you time.

Ah! Yes. That does help! :^))


text:
Mesh on Mesh Clipping
Morning
I have a mesh on top of another mesh and if I make the thickness too low the image clips.
Why and what can I do to avoid it.

you can either increase the thickness or move some vertices so that the faces don't overlap?

I neglected to add that if I increase the thickness the problem is resolved.
I am worried that I did something wrong on the lower mesh

I'm not sure why it bothers you, what we see is just vertices going through the faces, what you can try, if you don't want to give it more thickness, is enable the Snap to faces option and move the mesh so that its vertices stick to the faces underneath. You can also try a Shrinkwrap modifier

Thank you. I am learning so I want to try and understand as much as I can while moving forward.


text:
Can one transfer an object's animation data between seperate projects?
I had made two copies of a robot that I animated in full in one but unfortunately messed up the parenting within its limbs to a point of irreversibility.
Is it possible for me to copy only the animation I have linked to each limb on the new ruined copy back over to the old workable copy without having to redo the entire animation process again?

You can copy data blocks from one blender file to another using the Append functionality. Though this will only work if both your rigs are the same.
Step by step process :

Open your 'old workable' Blender file, to which the animation needs to be imported.
Go to File > Append.
In the file browser, select the blender file from which animation needs to be copied. Go to Action folder, and append the required animation clip.
Assign the appended action to your working rig using the Action Editor window.

Hope this helps !


text:
Geo Nodes: looking for example of Geo Node *path* in a driver function
I am trying to pass a Geonode data_path that can be used in a driver nodes variable, for example a Group Output attribute, or even a Stored Named Attribute, from one GeoNode to another.

I have object ["mesh with stored attr and output attr"] that is passing through the "Matl Idx2" group input value to both an group output and a Stored Attribute .
Alas I managed to find one data_path that was accepted without an error, but isn't working:

And these (copy data path) pasted into the field gives errors:

I should have 2 red objects and the sphere should be at Z=1.1 if all is working, but alas:

In my  you'll see that I know how to use a reference a GN named attribute as in the red object ["mesh using stored attr"].

In your 3rd screenshot (the Edit Driver popup), for Prop you must not specify 'NodeTree' but 'Object' and then choose the object with the second dropdown menu because the object has the modifier. Then you can enter the copied datapath. But this will give you not a number but the Attribute Name that you've entered for the GN group output of the GN modifier of the object 'mesh with stored attr and output attr'. (https://i.sstatic.net/KStF2.jpg). The attribute name is a String and the driver's target wants a number. So 'hello' becomes 0.000 in the driver.

It's looks like that you are trying to do something not possible. This reference
nodes['Store Named Attribute'].inputs[6]

is not a number, it is the socket itself. (and yes, index is 6, not 1). But anyway, socket is an abstract representation of this node element, but it is not the data which it holds.
The only data that you can get from socket it is a default value, but not the computed value from nodetree:
 nodes['Store Named Attribute'].inputs[6].default_value

This is 1 in your node tree. But I suppose this is not that you are looking for. But computed value is not assessable, because it may lead to textures, field values, or context values, that are depends on geometry data, so cannot be reproduced by a single value.
I suppose you can grab data for driver from socket input of modifier.


text:
creating a vertex group with "distance to another object" criteria (for a Mask modifier)
I have a character where occasionally an underlying mesh (clothing or body) pokes through an "upper layer":

While I have used Surface Deform to get jeans to better deform over skin/body, it is never perfect (e.g., muscle bulge can poke through shirt or pants).   In the image above multiple layers get more complex.   I was thinking in this case that having a vertex group in the pants, that is Masked by a driver (bpy.data.objects["Shirt"].hide_render) might work.  I'd lose the deforming of the shirt by the pants, but I would suffice.
Getting the Vertex Group defined is my challenge, something that an operator like Shrinkwrap probably has built in.   While I could go the python route, am I overlooking a simpler Interface/"Select by distance to another object" that might define the selection?

Does the Vertex Weight Proximity modifier head in the right direction?

The trick I think you are missing is that you don't create a vertex group, you modify an existing one. See the Vertex Weight Proximity modifier https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/153177/worms-crawling-under-skin or https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/165827/using-a-b%c3%a9zier-curve-to-raise-lower-height-of-vertices


text:
Boolean Difference on an edited Duplicate of an object
In the attached   I duplicated a torus and edited many of the faces out, essentially get windows onto the original Torus object.   I've tried various things like adding a Solidify or Extruding the faces on the edited object, which doesn't seem to work.   Nor does trying many variation on the Boolean parameters.   I would think I'm overlooking something fairly obvious.

I have searched the other questions and they seem to mostly have to do with normal directions, which I don't think apply here.

Blender's Boolean operators don't work well with surfaces that coincide and don't do well with very large objects.  I thought to shrink/fatten the Holes object to make it smaller than the original Torus and then add a Solidify but 2.93.6 is taking forever to perform operations on it on my Windows box.

If you're using a boolean, it expects a manifold mesh so it can cleanly distinguish inside from outside-- a mesh without borders, identifiable by select non manifold.  A solidify modifier should eliminate border problems, as you mentioned, but the modifier order matters.  A solidify after the boolean does nothing useful for the boolean, because the boolean doesn't see the solidify.  A file demonstrating what you want to boolean would probably help people identify your particular problem.

Thanks @Nathan, I did include the blend file in the first sentence of the question.

Oh, I'm sorry for missing that!  I'll take a look.

@MartyFouts -- thanks I have seen other comments related to the Boolean being quite an imperfect solution for may things.   I'll try other directions.

Your Torus is a manifold mesh, like it should be.  Your Holes object, which you are using as the target of the torus's boolean modifier, is not, so the boolean doesn't make any sense to Blender.  And, it's laying on the surface of Torus, with aligned edges, so there's really not any difference between meshes to boolean away.
We can give Holes a solidify modifier, which will turn it into a (nearly) manifold mesh, at which point our boolean ought to work:

Notice the settings on the solidify.  I set the offset to 0, so that Holes would thicken in both directions (it's no good if it just thickens outwards, it's lying on the surface of Torus.)  I tuned the thickness to eye, and you can see the results in the left window, where I've just got Torus visible: Torus now has thickened Holes cut from it.
I said almost manifold.  Holes has some faces like these:

When we solidify Holes, that turns into an edge shared by 4 different faces, which is a big no-no.  Calculating normals from a mesh with edges like that is unreliable at best.  In your file (exact solver), in 2.93.5, it works.  I would expect it to break in older versions of Blender.  It still leaves the post-boolean Torus with some non-manifold geometry, which might be a problem for further operations.
If you want to fix that, you might give some thought about exactly what you want these kinds of holes to be, and either clearly join or separate Holes's faces that are joined by only a single vertex.

Thanks, Nathan.  I'm investigating whether I can do something like Select Interior Faces and then Rip Vertex, to create separate panels on the Holes object.


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Array modifier and merge distance for curve

I want to do some knitting on cloth mesh and need to array knit curve,connect points and finally add bevel depth.But there is no merge by distance for curve and array modifier can't apply to curve.
What should I do ?

Hello :). The Array modifier has a built in. Merge option. Or you can use the Weld modifier.

@JachymMichal these modifiers are constructive,they can't be applied on curves.

Oh ok, I'm not sure it's at all possible: How to weld two control points of a curve?


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Particle edit mode invisible geometry
In particle edit mode when combing hairs,I find that some areas have collision "the guides can't be at that place" while there is nothing there.I don't know what is the cause.

The file :

It's the "deflect emitter" checkbox, if turned on it tries to deflect the particle curves from the emitter in with a very rough distance scale (for example turning it down to 1mm doesn't actually work, it remains somewhere around a few centis)

It should have something to do with face normal.Add a solidify modifier, it will solve the problem.


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How to duplicate particle system (unlinked)
When I duplicate a particle system,they are linked.The make single user button is freezed.
How should I solve this ?
Or I just want to separate hair guides into two particle system.

It's because you've edited the particles, if you delete the edit (Delete Edit button) you can make it single user.


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How to recover rotation angle?
I have a rotated mesh and original mesh knowing the correspondence of vertices.Then how can I recover the rotation angles ?

are you trying to realign the local orientation with the orientation of a face of your mesh?

@moonboots -- yes, I believe Michael's comment on my earliest answer (Sept 22) indicates that is what he's looking for.  Perhaps there's and easier solution to my latest answer of Sept 26?

The following might work (see "cleanup" below), by choosing a face in the object with applied rotation, that you want to apply to an object with no rotaion.  Here, I have applied the rotation of a Cube:

I then put the Object with Rotation applied in Edit Mode, and in View: "Align the View to Active" : "Top" (notice that the un-rotated Cube on the left now APPEARS rotated relative to the View angle that is normal to the cube on the right.

I not select the un-rotated left Cube and Use Object : Transform : Align to Transform Orientation, and in the popup panel I select "View".
CLEANUP: When I check the rotations, I had applied a 30.2 deg Y axis rotation to the object with applied rotation and now I have an object with a 30.2 deg X axis rotation and 90 deg and Z=90 that need cleanup.

This may also be an over-simplifed example using a cube, but you may be able to use a cube of perhaps better to use an Empty as an intermediary object.

hopefully other experts like @moonboots might comments on an easier way, or how to correctly align the view for the correct angle (front instead of top?).

It seems that euler angle can be determined by correspending points by solving some linear equations..So maybe a script will do ?

Your question is a bit terse, but if I'm interpreting correctly, you can select the mesh with the rotation you want and then the object you want to transform (recover), and use the Object menu -> Transform -> Apply Selected to Active.

However this will apply EVERY transformation, including Rotation and Scale.

This doesn't seem to work..I think I might restate my problem another way.Assume I have a mesh 1 with no transform.Then I duplicate it to mesh 2,give it some rotation and apply rotation transform.But I don't know the rotation value I set,how can I get the rotation value ?


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How to project camera background image onto mesh?
I have set up camera background image with offset and scale,then how to project it onto mesh ?

Check option Apply camera Image in Options in toolbar:

Also, available in Properties  Panel (N):

Can you tell the exact steps?Still confused.

This is as simple as it is. If your texture paint and UV is properly set up, you just press the button.


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Convert curve to particle hair guide
I have created curves for a character's eyelash,I wonder if it is possible to convert them to particle hair guides so that I can use children and other control.

There are two free add-ons for Blender that can convert curves and sheets (hair cards) to hair particles guides:

HairNet 0.6.3 (https://github.com/Jandals/HairNet/releases) forum thread at blenderartists.org
Particle Hair Guides (https://github.com/Lichtso/hair_guides) forum thread at blenderartists.org

The add-on Select Islands by Face Count by Stan_Pancakes is a useful helper if you want to convert hair cards to particles with one of the add-ons above.


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create polished brass
Good morning, all.
I'm trying to create a 3D image of my business logo from a 2D.
I'd like the finished product to be Steampunk styled, so I'm going with a weathered wood look background with the logo itself in polished brass on top.
I got the logo extruded and I think it looks fine, but now I need to get it looking like polished brass.
It would probably be easy to "give me a fish" but if you could "teach me to fish", that would be better for me.
Thanks so much for your time.
James

This is not a tutorial site so "teach me to fish" questions are off-topic here. Post what you have tried so far and we may be able to help but there are already many suitable tutorials online if you are prepared to search for them.

Is the second image what you have done and what it looks like right now? It would help to see a reference of polished brass.

For polished brass try a Principled BSDF node with the Base Color E1C16E (Hex), set Metallic to 1, and Roughness between 0.15 and 0.22. If you want to have to look more antique/weathered you need to mix in some textures. Musgrave is a good choice. Set Lacunarity to something low like 0.3 and Detail high to 9 and you will get something that looks like rust stains.


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how to make animation like in the video in blender
please help to make  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJQ6czHRiss  this animation

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

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.

You can use the Simple Deform modifier in its Bend mode, just keyframe its Angle value:

thank you very much. please  now tell how can make animation like in this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70kBeurvp_Q

@Kebab Sharif please ask a new question and i'll answer   ;)

My dear , I would like to know how did you make this GiF/Animation  ?

You mean what app? It's called ScreenToGif, it's free  ;)

DEAR  , I TRIED TO REPLICATE  WHAT YOU SHOWED ,BUT IT DOESN'T WORK WITH OUT Origin( i hav to give an empty ) , so my asking is :why it works in your animation?

maybe apply the rotation of your plane?


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How to add or use 3 pivot o center on rotation
Hello as you seen in the photo below, I want to make the animation of the scale.I want to make  the cube as a active  Rigid boby  & when i press play animation the cube should move down for gravity and the plate of the scale is A passive rigid body so that the cube will be stop on it and in that moment the scale should move becoz of the weight of the cube and the motion should have point of rotation those called center ,pivot1  ,pivot2 .Is it possible to do so ,or Have to make  the animation of the wight scale moving using the location transformation ?

It's possible to do what you want.  The plate should not be a passive body though.
Start with the scale.  We will need four rigid bodies: the two plates and the arm, all of which move, and an anchor for the arm, so that it will rotate rather than fall.  We will need three rigid body constraints, one for each pivot point:

The rigid body constraints are point-type, as demonstrated in the properties viewport.  Each joins a pair of rigid bodies and is located at the pivot point.  The origins of rigid bodies are used as their center of gravity, and so here, the origins need to be placed carefully, particularly the origin of the crossarm, which needs to be located at the same position as the "center" joint.
The anchoring rigid body should be either passive or animated.  With its placement as I have here, I need to leave the default "disable collisions" on the "center" rigid body constraint.  All other rigid bodies should be the default "dynamic".
To work like a scale, the "pivot" rigid body constraints need to be directly above their corresponding plates, and equal distances from "center".  I have changed the mass of one of the plates here to demonstrate its effect.
You may wish to replace "center" joint with a generic spring type constraint in order to create some damping and resistance to the rotation, which will otherwise rotate the crossarm to the vertical with any difference in weight.
If we want to drop a cube on top of the plate, we can:

We simply create a new rigid body, without any constraints, and drop it onto the plate.  I'm showing the original, "rest" state of the system to the left.

Thank you very much .I wish you shared the bleder file also, hope you don't mind. Thank you  once again.

Sorry, I don't think I bothered saving it.  If you're having problems with implementation, it would be best to mention exactly what you're trying and what's going wrong in the question.

From What I understood from your suggetions , I made this  in the link (https://github.com/kebab03/WeightScale)  please tell me what should me corrected?Will be waiting for your answer.

Your rigid body constraints need to link your rigid body objects together, not your other RB constraints.

Kindly make the changes on my model and then  share the modified file or the screenshot of that .Thank you for your kindness.


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Is there a free (or cheap) addon to scatter objects (manually) onto surface of other objects?
I want to scatter a lot of small objects onto other meshes, with a brush, the best would be using tablet, using its pressure sensitivity to modify brush size/scattering intensity or other parameters. For example spikes on an animal skin, crystals in a cave, craters on planet, etc...
Is there a good script for this?
I know there are automatic scattering techniques, like particles, geometry nodes and others, but sometimes it is better to precisely paint manually for finer artistic control. The surface snap + copy method is too slow for larger number of objects, and it doesn't support rotation and scale jittering of the distributed meshes, nor selecting them randomly from a pool of meshes.

Why not weight paint + GN or particles? You also can use textures instead of weights if you don't want to make the base object high-poly for precise weight painting.

I think Blender already has all the needed functionality.
You can have your objects in a collection for easy selection and use Random Select operator in deselect mode to randomly deselect once you have all collection objects selected:

There is also Randomize Transform operator that can randomize location, rotation and scale of selected objects:

Snapping supports "Project Individual Elements" and works well with multiple objects:

You can also use Duplicate Linked (alt+d) to reuse object data and save memory.

Yes, I know this method, but this is not really artist-friendly. I am looking for a tool that can spray paint with objects, and where I can instantly see the end-result, use a brush that can spray objects with a given rate, with a given radius, falloff curve.


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What causes the offset of the cube here?
Can anyone tell me, what causes the offset of the cube in this scene?
There is a parent object (the grid) at 0,0,0 and its child object (the cube) at (0,0,0) local coordinates. It has no delta transform. I can't find, what causes the shift. Is it a bug or I don't know anything?

Here is the .blend file

you should definitely not force us to ask for access if you want to help from us...sorry

Oh, sorry! It was my mistake. I changed the link permission, now you can download it. :)

Once you've parented an object, its location will stay the one it had before parenting. If your cube was at the center of the scene (location 0:0:0), you've parented it and moved the parent, it's normal that the cube still located at 0:0:0 even though it is no longer visually at the center of the scene.

If both the child and the parent are at local coordinates 0,0,0, there is no reason for the child to be displaced. Where does this offset value appear numerically in the editor?

it doesn't appear, the location remains 0:0:0, maybe describe what you exactly did to have your current scene?

To be honest, I can't remember. I exprerimented with coordinate tranformations, Geom Nodes and parenting, and this happened, but I don't know yet exactly, how to reproduce this.


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Is there any way to reveal the type of a node in shader editor?
I cannot reveal the node type of nodes when they was renamed. Is there a way to check is? I don't really understand, why Blender does not display it on the node itself, or in its properties, or a popup text or other way.

Select the Node, hit the 'N' key to bring up the sidebar. On the Node tab the 'Name' field shows the node type and the 'Label' shows the renamed label.

@JohnEason .. I think that constitutes a full  answer? I can imagine others might be similarly mystified, and find your info. useful.

@RobinBetts Question is already closed to answers as it's been answered before: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/251143/what-shader-node-is-it Mind you the answers in that posting do seem to be making something of a meal of it to coin a phrase! :^)

Ahhh. OK, thanks, @John


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Hi, i want to install Blender so i downloaded windows64.msi version but my computer is not supporting the file
i want to install Blender so i downloaded windows64.msi version but my computer is not supporting the file. Can you suggest me which file should i install. I mention my computer specifications
WIndows-7
processor- Pentium(R) Dual Core- 3GHz
System- 32bit Operating system

Uh... You can't use 64-Bit software on a 32-Bit operating system. Blender 2.80 is the last version that's available on 32-bit operating systems. Also (and although I'm still using it myself) Windows 7 is not going to be supported for very much longer.


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Fluid simulation mesh baking issue
I created a simple fluid simulation with cube as domain and sphere as flow object (geometry) in Blender 2.82. After baking the data I played the animation, the particles simulated as expected. Then under mesh section, I checked 'mesh' and click on bake mesh, and waited for it to be 100%. When it was finally done, I played the animation, it behaved in a weird way. The flow object takes shape of domain at the end. Seems like the mesh was not baked. Can someone please explain whats wrong with my simulation ?

Try setting the object visibility to textured.

It worked. Thank you


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Background image linked to mesh?
I'm trying to add background images to my project. I added the first one fine, scaled and moved it where I wanted, but when I add the 2nd one for some reason it links to my mesh. If I rotate/scale/move either one, the other goes with it. Anyone know why?

Nevermind, I'm an idiot and had proportional editing on. :)

Happens to everyone :).


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Mesh: Plastic bottle curved indent, boolean or displacement map? Or maybe something else?
I'm new to blender and I'm trying to make a 3d model of a complex-ish water bottle.
Now I'm stuck at a part where there's an array of wavy lines that need to be indented at the top.
I've tried a few things, some didn't work and other's didn't really look right.
...and now I'm left with the question, if what I'm trying to do is even possible. :)

First I tried using an array of curves and applying a boolean modifier to cut the waves into the bottle.
But it instead ended up destroying the mesh.
(Maybe by increasing the size of the bottle, cutting it and scaling it down?)
I also tried using a displacement map which actually works, but at rendering I run out of memory.
Only when I turn off experimental mode can it render it and it doesn't look smooth enough either way:

My question, if it's possible and what's the best way of doing it is?
I look forward to your replies, thank you.
Kind Regards,
Peter

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/55635/making-rounded-dips-in-cylinder https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/134710/how-do-i-make-this-twisted-surface-on-a-bottle/134718 https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/75692/creating-curve-design/75697

@Duarte, I've just found a solution for him, his topology is a bit different from the ones you link  ;)

What you could do is:

Create your pattern, make it repeatable, dig and bevel.

Repeat with an Array modifier

Bend it with the Simple Deform modifier (Bend mode)

Give it a Subdivision Surface modifier, apply the Array and Simple Deform modifiers, remove the doubles.

Not too much pinching with this topology.

A bit less pinching with this solution.

No pinching at all with this very heterodox topology.

Thanks you that really helped.
I was thinking that this morning. ...but I was thinking about it from totally the wrong angle. Like somehow separating the top half of the bottle and flattening it. lol


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How to fix a texture to the object it is being mapped to?
I'm new to Blender 2.8 and have been playing around with UV mapping onto objects. After following this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbEMKGOla0 I noticed that once I had added the environment texture node then reposition the sphere, the texture seems to warp as if it is still trying to map around a sphere at the global 0,0,0 coordinate. Below shows the texture before the movement and after
Before
After
I've also noticed that when rotating the sphere, the geometry of the sphere rotates because the 'poles' of the uv sphere move as shown below. Despite this, the texture still remains in its initial position. I am wondering if there is a way to fix the texture to the sphere when moving it, or is there a better way to achieve this in general?
Sphere pole rotates about the x axis, however the texture remains the same
Thanks for any help

Have you tried adding a mapping node then a texture coordinate node?

Just tried that and got a very strange result, the texture is warped around the sphere beyond recognition. Rebuilt the sphere from scratch again and got the same result, would you have any idea what caused this? Thanks for you help, image linked here
https://imgur.com/4b0pWGG

It looks like there's an issue with the UV unwrapping. I'm able to achieve a seamless result just using the default UV for the sphere (not even touching the unwrapping, just applying the image texture with the mapping and texture coordinate nodes). Maybe look in your UV view to see how the image is being mapped?

I've played around with it for a while, it seems that contrary to the tutorial I had watched, image texture needs to be used instead of environment texture. After doing that and adding texture coordinate and mapping nodes everything works as it should. Thanks for your help @obfuscate


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Lightning issue: pitch black object
I wanted to create a tent but I noticed that the front appears pitch black when rendering.
I even created an area light to make the front brighter but it's still remaining black.
First picture is viewport rendered in Cycles and the 2nd picture shows the Material Preview mode. I downloaded the dark green tent material on textures.com and didnt change for example the roughness, I used the textures.
Greetings

it might be Z fighting, which means that you have overlapping faces, what does it give if you select all in Edit mode and press M > Merge by Distance?

does the area point at the tent or away from it? It's hard to see...


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How to apply a bevel to a curve using python?
In a previous version of blender I had script that applied a bevel to a curve, but now cannot get it to work in 2.92. or above.
I want to apply the bevel to an object referenced by the variable curveOB1 and have tried the following.
bpy.data.objects[curveOB1.name].select_set(True)
bpy.context.object.data.bevel_mode = 'OBJECT'
bpy.context.object.data.bevel_object = bpy.data.objects['BezCirc-001']

Everything else in my script works but the above, seems to do nothing and no errors. As an alternative I have aslo tried
bpy.ops.object.select_pattern(pattern=curveOB1.name) in place of the first line.
The old code was:
bpy.context.scene.objects.active = curveOB1
bpy.context.object.data.bevel_object = bpy.data.objects['BezCirc-001']

This gives an error on the first line.
If I use the object data properties manually it works fine.
Any help would be appreciated.
John

See this answer for details of how to set active object since 2.8x.
For your example the following should work;
bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = curveOB1
bpy.context.object.data.bevel_mode = 'OBJECT'
bpy.context.object.data.bevel_object = bpy.data.objects['BezCirc-001']

Thanks that worked a treat. Why does bpy.data.objects[curveOB1.name].select_set(True) or bpy.ops.object.select_pattern(pattern=curveOB1.name) not work when they also apprear to select the object and allow it to be manipulated. As in bpy.ops.object.select_pattern(pattern=curveOB1.name) bpy.ops.transform.translate(value=(displaceX, 0, 0))

From my understanding operators depend on context which implies they are best utilized in scripts which establish the correct context is active before executing them. The poll() method is used to prevent operators being executed in invalid scenarios. Typically operators are executed through UI interaction. So while it might be possible to change the selection state for objects using an operator in a particular context, other operators might not be available.


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Object is dark when in Cycles and in Eevee when I turn on AO even though lighting is plenty in the scene
I am trying to figure out why the model I imported is dark. It is a .glb file which I have imported. I usually do not have this problem with .obj files.
The object looks correct when the AO is turned off in eevee but when it is turned on OR I switch to Cycles, it goes dark.

At first, check normals orientation, if displayed red, flip them (in Edit Mode) with Alt+N > Flip

Second, I would try going to Object Data Properties and under Geometry Tab check if Clear Custom Normals button is available. Sometimes it causes shading errors.

Thanks a lot Jan! The Clear Custom Normals button did the trick.
Dzieki! <3


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Make the arms of a PNG stickman move
I have a PNG of a stickman, and I'd like to make his arms move.
I thought I had to reproduce the stickman on Blender to only move some parts of him.
The problem is that I'm unable to reproduce him well, and I also believe there's a more efficient way to do that.
On the right, there's the PNG of the stickman imported on Blender. On the left, there's my trial to reproduce him.

so you probably need to make one piece instead of separating the arms, and create a series of small bones for the shoulder, or maybe a segmented bone?

@moonboots How can I create the shoulder? I'm struggling to reproduce that shape

The problem is how to model it so that it bends the way you want when you'll animate it. Maybe you should tell a bit more about how you want to animate it, what are the different poses etc? I wonder if the best would not to create some shapekeys

@moonboots I just want to move his arms, so that the stickman can say hello and hold something. Is that hard to do?

It's probably not easy to animate, first you should think carefuly about what different poses you need, for example if he's supposed to raise his arm, here is the kind of topology and armature you could create:

The arm bones have some Copy Rotation constraints, so you just need to rotate the first one and the other ones will follow:

The problem is that I don't know how to create all those shapes, could you please provide some extra information on how to do that or share the blender file? Thanks for helping :)

First you need to be extra precise about all the poses he is supposed to do, like a storyboard, it will help to find the best solution for your character

I want him to hold a fish can and to move his arms up and down as you showed in your answer (without the can). It would be great if he could bring the arms as up as possible. Is this precise enough?

Could you share with me the file that contains the arm shown in your answer? I still did not figure it out

Sure, here it is: https://blend-exchange.com/b/bqG4JrZ1

Thank you so much, the arm movement that you made possible is perfect. Could you give me some hints on how to create the other arm and add static legs head?

Blender Stack Exchange is for precise questions, for more broad request, maybe as on Blenderartists?

Also explain all the things that your character is supposed to do, with some drawings


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Why is my Extrude Along Normals acting like Extrude Along Individual Faces?
I am trying to Extrude Along Normals, but I am getting Extrude Along Individual faces instead:
My Pivot Point is set to Median.
Why is it acting like this?

Hello and welcome. It looks like you have duplicate vertices. Can you try remove them with A then M > Merge By Distance


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How do I remove the UV division lines, how do I hide them?
the uv lines are clearly showing and I have no idea on how to hide them, tutorials simply say ''if you did a good texturing job then uv lines shouldn't be visible''
I'm here like : " I was supposed to texture it? when? how? How do you even texture something without an UV map ?

are you using some texture with white/grey gradient or is this only simple blank color in material? If you are using only 1 blank color and your mesh still looks like this then it is problem with shading and not texture or uv map... can you share more information or your file if possible?

@MikoCG blank material + baked normal map from multiresolution to a lower poly model

Oh so this is with normal map... then the problem is in the incorrect normal map that makes those weird shadings, also many possibilities why this is the case and many possible solutions as well, try to bake that normal map with different settings in your scene and check if face orientation of normals is as it is supposed to be, also apply scale if you didn't... maybe someone else will give you more ideas how to solve if none of these helps

Maybe switch the Image Texture node with the normal map from sRGB to non-color. If it still doesn't work, please pack the image and share your file?

This can be caused by normal map, either you have a bad normal map, either you didn't use it correctly. Normapl maps should be used as Non-color data : https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/233867/115533


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Vertex paint does it have any use?
Can I bake vertex painted models into flat textures to export in other programs?
If not what exactly is the use of vertex painting mode?

I am 90% sure you can make vertex colors to image textures. If not, vertex colors are accessible to materials, and it is basically useful as another way to store data besides vertex groups.

Yes, the vertex colors can be baked to a texture with the Vertex Color node in the shader editor. Vertex colors are useful for coloring high-poly sculptures. Or to create a dirt map (menu).


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Blender 3.1.2 Eevee Transparency Problem
I'm having an issue regarding eevee's transparency as in here:

I have already enabled refraction:

and Screen Space Refraction in the Material tab:

This 3d Model was downloaded from poliigon it looks fine in cycles render as shown below:

You can clearly see the blades inside the blender.
its not present in eevee render though.
Here's a comparison between the two renders:

this is the transmission material provided with the 3d model:

The problem is I have to render this scene in eevee for a quick animation, so cycles is not a good choice for me,
I hope someone can help me with this issue.

I have found a solution, if you can call it that.
I noticed that it is transparent to everything except itself. I tried putting the glass next to the espresso machine, and voila: it's transparent!
So I took the blade out of the Blender model and created a new material for it (This is important because the same material or a duplicate material won't work) and added the texture specified for the 3D model and it works!

If anyone has this problem, here is a workaround for it:


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How can I simplify this triplanar material so that I only need to feed my texture into one slot instead of three?
I found a setup for a tri-planar shader online and it gives good results for me so I quite like it. But every time I want to swap the texture I have to swap it for each of the texture nodes. That feels like it is unnecessary trouble so I was wondering if there is a way to simplify it so that I can easily swap them. Something like instancing the texture nodes to inherit the texture swap.
The same problem applies to the "Mapping" nodes only that there I have a free slot for scale on each node so I think I can just control each of them simultaneously with one node that gives a constant value.
Thanks for your help!

Place the texture node (or mapping) in its own node group. Modifying the node group will impact all its instances. This is not a perfect solution compared to some input or node class as you suggest, though...

That would solve it! :)
I am not sure where I can upvote your answer but thank you a lot for the help! :)


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How to open bag with blender!
I modeled this foil bag for the company i work for. Im trying to figure out how to make an "opened" comp. I try but it splits as i only want to give the appearance that its open.
But it just splits. Heres the link to the file

It's actually not hard at all, after looking at the downloaded file just merge the vertices on the outsides of the two parts. Then just use a shapekey to model the open bag version using proportional editing. Use the shapekey to get the open/closed bag version. You could animate it very easily as well if you want.

can you show me an example?


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Hide Emitter not working in particles
I tried to uncheck the "Show Emitter" checkbox under the Render tab, but the emitter is still visible.

when you say that it is still visible, do you mean it is still visible when you render an image?

The steps you made should hide the emitter from the final render but I'm guessing you mean whilst you're working in the viewport.
In the Properties panel, with the emitter selected uncheck both viewport and render (as needed) under Instancing > Faces:
Properties Panel > Object Properties > Instancing > Faces > (show instancer) viewport + render


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What is the order of transformations when exporting to Collada?
When I export models to Collada format, some transformations (bone animations, mainly) use transformation matrices. In order to decompose these matrices in the target program that loads the Collada file, I need to know the order of the transformations (scale, rotation, translation). Mainly I'm concerned if the scale is applied before or after the rotation.

Object and bone transformation in Blender are applied in the order of scale, rotation, translation. As a matrix this would be written like this:
object_matrix = translation_matrix * rotation_matrix * scale_matrix

Note that this order ensures there is no shearing, which happens when you do scaling after rotation.
If parenting is included in the matrix, multiple such object or bone matrices might be multiplied together, which means there is no longer a clear correct way to decompose the matrix into scale, rotation and translation.

Thanks! Parenting shouldn't be a problem as each node has its own matrix. :)

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


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Some parts of my project aren't saved in the .blend file
I created a model and added some Actions in the DopeSheet editor (more or less 5).
I exported the model to my game engine, saved the .blend file (Ctrl-S) and closed it.
Then I opened it again, and all the actions were gone, it just had the one I was using last.
The same happens with some preferences (for example, I disabled mip-maps on User Preferences -> System, and I have to re-enable it every time I open the .blend file again.
Does somebody knows how to restore the Actions and save everything? Thanks.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2670/can-multiple-animations-be-saved-in-a-blend-file, and http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/1520/save-custom-layout-in-blender-2-67b/1522#1522

Blender does not save unused datablocks you need to add a fake user to store datablocks that are not in use. See DataSystem Sections Users and Fake User
The setting of mip-maps is not stored in a .blend file you would need to save the user-preferences in the same dialog (button in the lower left corner).
Related:
What does "users" means in term of datablocks?

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


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Low res texture in UV map with repetitive polygons
I have a really simple object with less than 20 polygons, that is used on a platform for my game. I was able to model and unwrapped it, but I want to resize all the side polygons so they are 32px high, and stack them together (as they are all the same).
Also, I wanted to know if it was possible to set the resolution of the UV-map viewport (where the 2D texture is displayed) so it has a resolution according to my target texture, and the polygons faces are aligned.
Here is the picture of what I have done so far:

What do you mean by setting the resolution of the viewport? It already displays the images at the size of the scale of the UVMaps.

@CharlesL But the 'resolution' of the polygons on the UV viewport is waaay higher than the resolution of my texture.

Your screen shot shows that you have chosen a UV Grid with a resolution of 64 x 64, giving you a set of four squares with red and yellow plus signs in them. Is this the 'resolution' you are referring to? If so, it would be better if you accepted the default resolution of 1024 x 1024, or, if you have a texture, then make its resolution 1024 x 1024.

@SteveW No, I mean the resolution of the polygons (the top and bottom part, and the sides). I want to align them to my small texture, pixel by pixel. Do you understand what I mean?

Do you mean that the polygon 'faces' are different sizes relative to each other in the UV/Image Editor, and so will have different resolutions where they meet on the object?

@SteveW Exactly

I think you will find that the relative sizes will match up correctly as they are, - but I might attempt to answer your question anyway.

In the UV Editor (as shown in your picture), select one of the 'sides' (position the mouse cursor over one and hit L) then hit ctrl P - this will make it fill the image vertically at 64px high. Now scale it by half S (.5). Do the same with all the other 'sides' (not the top or bottom), they should now sit neatly one on top of the other, and be 32px high.
Position the 2D Cursor on one of the vertices at the bottom of the 'sides' (select a vertex and hit shift S > Cursor to Selected),

and then set the pivot to 2D Cursor.

Now grab G the 'bottom' and position one of it's vertices on the 2D Cursor and then scale (S) until the next vertex lines up as shown.

Do the same with the 'top'. Now all resolutions should be the same and the sides will be 32px high. I hope this solves the problem.


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Join 2 faces with different shapes together
I want to join the bottom part of that octagon in the plane below it (both are selected in the image). I also want to keep the size of both of them, I just want to insert the octagon in the plane, with the same X, Y coordinate and the Z coordinate of the plane.
Thanks.

Drop the bottom face of the octagon down to the same z location as the plane.
Then delete the faces on the plane and bottom of the octagon.

You can then select the edges of the bottom of the octagon, as well as the edges of the plane, and F to create a face (which would be an n-gon)...

Then with the face you just created selected, press Ctrl-Fto bring up the face menu and select "triangulate faces"...

This will result in triangle faces connecting the outer edge of the octagon to the inner edge of the plane.
If you are not happy with triangular faces, you can select the faces in question and use Ctrl-F > Tris to quads
Edit: you may have to join the objects first by selecting both, pressing spacebar, and searching for "join"
EDIT 2: Upon testing my explanation, it didn't work for me as intended... i will leave it there for posterity but ill post the way i did it that DID work.
1: extend the bottom face of the octagon down JUST BELOW the face of the secondary mesh
2: ensure that only the octagon is selected and add a boolean modifier to it [Properties Window > Modifiers > Boolean]
3: Set the "Operation" to "Union" and the "Object" to the mesh in question.
4: Apply the modifier

note that the boolean modifier will create a copy of the "Object" you selected and work with that, so you may need to delete the unmodified mesh that is left behind from the modifier...

good luck, and sorry if my first answer didn't work =(

The first way worked. I was so stupid trying to find out a Blender function to do that, and it was so simple. Thanks.


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Exporting to fbx - halo material is lost
I have a simple cube (the starting scene cube) that I applied a halo material to. When I export to fbx and use the fbx in xna, it just shows the normal grey cube, sans halo. How would I keep the material when exporting?

Is there some sort of halo material in XNA? It's necessary that the software you're exporting to has some sort of halo material. Even so, Blender may not even export halo materials. I would recommend using the exports for nothing more than the meshes (and UV Maps). Create all the materials later on in the game engine.

I don't think that Blender's .FBX exporter exports halo's. Even if it did, the software you're exporting to (in this case XNA) also has to have support for halo materials.
Most of the time, it's just best to export meshes, UV maps and animations with the exporters, as materials and lights vary wildly from program to program. Do all the material setup in the target program.


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How do you do an island select?
According to this video tutorial, on blender 2.71 to select just one of two objects that have previously been joined (with control + j), you hover your mouse over the object, and press L. ( Thats a lowercase L )
However, this does not do an island select, but instead pops up a menu, none of which do what is expected.
How do you do an island select on blender 2.7x?

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/6679/599

As you have joined the two objects, they are now one object. In order to edit/select the geometry of an object, you must be in edit mode.
You can press ↹ Tab to toggle edit mode, or set the mode via the selector in 3D view > header:

Once in edit mode, L works as expected:

Note that you can also select geometry connected the selected geometry with ⎈ CtrlL:


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Why is this surface wrinkly?
I have made a ring in blender 2.71.
I have applied a subsurface smoothing modifier, and set the shading to smooth.
For some reason I don't understand, the model is covered in wrinkles.

When I go into edit mode, The subdivision surface appears to have a lot of curves.

This is causing problems when I try and apply a shrink wrap.

I have attached the actual blender file here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/460997/Blender/PaveTest.blend
How can I make the surface smoother, and not have all these wrinkles?

The topology of your object has lots of tris, ngons, and really thin faces which are causing the subserf to look strange. Try to make your mesh a out of evenly spaced quads, and avoid ngons and tris.

Your object has very irregular topology containing triangles and ngons:

These should be avoided as much as possible when working with the subdivision surface modifier, as they will cause strange distortions like the ones you are seeing.
When working with subsurf, try to make your object completely out of evenly spaced quads (faces with four vertices):

Also try to keep the normals consistently pointing outwards, otherwise you might see dark shading artifacts. You can recalculate the normals by selecting everything (A) in edit mode (↹ Tab) and pressing ⎈ CtrlN.
This will result in a much smoother surface, which makes shrink wrap give the desired result:

Note that the object you are shrink-wrapping is made up of tris, so subsurf isn't advisable on it either.
Example .blend


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How to set render engine in blender?
I'm new to blender. How do you change the render engine?
According to this video, the button should be along the top. I've searched google, and the blender documentation with no luck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_d7aT39mHQ

Could you upload a screenshot of how your screen looks? Is there a "back to previous" button?


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Simplest way to create a database symbol
I'm trying to model a database symbol like this

The only way I currently know how to do this is by starting with a flat cylinder and repeatedly extruding and scaling.
extrude
scale Z
scale .9
extrude
scale Z
scale 1.1

This is very tedious. How else could I accomplish this?


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Why are circles always created upside down?
Why is it that when you create a circle, then do a curve deform across that circle, the object always jumps to the opposite side?
Here is what the final result should look like:

Here is what happens when trying to create that object.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXvMSw_9VRc&feature=youtu.be
How can I simplify deforming a shape to a curve without having to rotate multiple times?
Blender File

You could also bring the shape into the position (illustarted by the first image) by moving it along the x-axis.
G,X  followed by mouse movement.


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Environment for implementing/testing Computer Graphics algorithms
I need to code up a computer graphics algorithm for Surface Registration.
Briefly surface registration is the process of finding "optimal" one-one correspondence
between surfaces, where the meaning of optimal depends on the specific problem.
I do not have much experience with Computer Graphics software, and so I was looking around
the web for a good software environment to code my algorithm up in.
One promising option I hit upon was Blender, which to my delight also has a Python interface to it.
My questions are

Is Blender + Python a good software environment for implementing and testing computer graphics algorithms?
If not, are there better alternatives to it (hopefully using a Pythonic interface)?
Are there any particular points from your experience
which I should keep in mind while using Blender (or whatever package you recommend) while implementing/testing my algorithm?

Brief Answer

Yes (but it depends, read on...)
Not that I know of, you can use PyOpenGL, NumPy etc together though.
Yes, automate testing your algorithm. while interactive tools like blender are nice, try to setup your workflow so you can spend most of your time programming (rather then pressing buttons in blender), This is well supported but not necessarily obvious at first.

Longer Answer
There are pros and cons with using Blender for testing cg algorithms,
Of course it depends entirely on what you try to solve however I've found it very useful in some cases, even developing Blender its self I sometimes test algorithms in blender-python first before porting to C.
Pros...

the viewport for navigation and inspecting results.
meshes can be created to visualize data without having to write drawing code, they have vertex colors UV's and any number of weight's per vertex, so you can  store useful data here.
mathutils python module, handy modules for graphics math, written in C...
other modules (you're not limited to blender modules), see NumPy.
realtime updates, I don't want to over emphasize this since it can encourage not thinking enough and just guessing, BUT - it can still be valuable.
the power of a full 3d application at your disposal, so you can spit out ray-traced images, run operations like convex-hull or booleans on and see the result.
format support, this may seem uninteresting but being able to load data from all sorts of sources can save you time writing your own loaders, with support for animation, mesh formats, image formats, even sound.

Cons...

Python is slow, for algorithms that require speed such as image manipulation or very large data-sets, I wouldn't recommend it, though for testing, speed can sometimes be overlooked so its not useless either for this task and if you are clever you could use NumPy to load in larger datasets.
Blender has limited data support, so for example, colored-point-clouds and user-defined-voxel structures are not supported, and nurbs only have limited support. If you want to display data that happens not to fit well into a mesh, meta-balls, curve ... etc, then using blender becomes less of an advantage Note that Python can call OpenGL directly, but its not that convenient.

Listed some example usage...
Console for fast feedback
You have access to the python console which can manipulate data and get fast feedback, for testing small snippets I find it quite handy, There is also the MathVis addon you can use to show points, lines, matrix types etc in the viewport.
If you come up with something useful you can Copy as Script from the menu, which strips out the '>>> ' prefix to make the input useful as a script to further develop elsewhere.
Realtime Updates
Blender can easily be setup to run your code in a loop, and update the viewport.
Here is an example, After running this script, play the animation.
import bpy
import os

filepath = "/path/to/my_script.py"

def run_script_on_frame(scene):
    global_namespace = {"__file__": filepath, "__name__": "__main__"}
    with open(filepath, 'rb') as file:
        exec(compile(file.read(), filepath, 'exec'), global_namespace)

bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_pre.append(run_script_on_frame)

Ability "Use" Your Algorithm
Again, this is only useful in some cases but you may want to make some testing code that uses mouse input for example, maybe to change the values the algorithm (to check for jitter) for example and to get a feel for how the algorithm works.
For example in the case you give, you could have 2 meshes and move them, drawing a line between the 2, constantly updating.
This can be done by writing an Operator, or a Modal Operator, see templates from the text editor.
Run outside of Blender
Having to use Blender can be a hassle and you may want to stay in your python editor, in some cases I've setup Blender to render output, used with an image viewer that auto-refreshes, it can be quite quick to execute the script and see the result without touching blenders UI. See Tip: Don't Use Blender

ideasman42's answer is great. I'd also add that you could look at the Visualization Toolkit (VTK) as an alternative. It also has Python bindings, and has more of a pipeline approach to data processing, which might make it faster for certain things. It supports many data types, including point clouds and 3D grids. The downside is that, while it has support for manipulating the view and you can probably build tools with it, it doesn't have the rich interactive toolset that Blender does.


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Is there way to control opacity of selection/active color in 3DView?
In the user preferences, color for selection and active object can be set, but there is no alpha slider, i.e. opacity is always 100%.
I want to match a slightly distorted texture onto an object using UV editing, but due to the selection mesh lines showing in the 3DView with 100% opacity, it is hard to do this with pixel accuracy.
It there a way to set opacity of the selected mesh (by default: orange) or an alternative solution for this use case?

No, this feature isn't currently available. Workarounds can be found in following questions: Remove selection overlays when Editing UVs?


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Texture that only effects faces that are facing upwards
Does anyone know how to apply a texture in Cycles that only effects the faces of a mesh that are facing upwards (ie in the global Z direction within an angular tolerance)?
This would be very useful for snow, frost, dirt or dust.
I've done some experiments using the Tangent node but the results are not ideal.
I believe Maya has a snow texture that produces this type of result.

You should accept this answer if it was helpful, and don't confuse your accounts.

Use this node setup for your material:

The dot product of the face normal with vector (0, 0, 1) is 0 when the face normal is orthogonal (= horizontal) and maximal when equal. When pointing downwards the dot product is negative.
With the color ramp you can control the angular tolerance. If you don't want to have a smooth transition between texture and green you can move white handle to the black one.
This is used as the factor of a Mix Shader mixing the texture with a green diffuse material.
Result:

Great answer from Maccesch, helped me a lot, thanks. Alternatively, you can use the greater than operator if you want a hard separation. In the example below, only faces that are facing (i.e. their normal has same direction as) the x-axis:


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Blender does not fully load when running python script at boot
I am using a start up script to run IPython from the terminal I started blender from. To do this, I have a script containing the following:
import bpy

#For importing from my local python environment
import sys
ps = ['','/usr/bin','/usr/lib/python3.3',
'/usr/lib/python3.3/plat-x86_64-linux-gnu','/usr/lib/python3.3/lib-dynload', '/usr/local/lib/python3.3/dist-packages',
'/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages', '/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/IPython/extensions']
for p in ps:
    sys.path.append(p)

import IPython
IPython.embed()

When I attempt to run the script with:
blender2 --debug-all --python run_ipython.py

The ipython interpreter is brought up, a window is created, but nothing except gray space or glitchy nonsense is found inside of the window. However, when I ctrl-D out of ipython, blender finishes loading as expected and runs as normal.
The following is what is printed to the terminal after I close IPython.
bpy.ops.wm.splash()
WM_operator_last_properties_store: storing properties for 'WM_OT_splash'
ghost_event_proc: window 1 state = normal
wm_window_make_drawable: set drawable 1
ghost_event_proc: ghost redraw 1
ghost_event_proc: ghost redraw 1
recalcob Cube
recalcdata Cube
ED_screen_refresh: set screen

I can only assume that it is the debug log from whatever actions are loading the rest of blender. Here's the question: How can I reproduce what is happening in the above lines so that I can fully load blender with ipython in the terminal?

Please define "fully loaded" - Initializing blender is complex and there are many details but its hard to know which is important in your case.

Voted to close, this question asks about API details which are unrelated to the real problem (XY-issue). I've updated my answer to http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2918/use-the-terminal-i-called-blender-from-as-my-console so this question isn't needed.


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Is it possible to hide curves' guides in edit mode?
In this example I use Nurbs curves to create shoe laces and it becomes quite hard to operate curves in the regions of loops and knots because of the curves' tilt/scale guides (not sure how to call them). I would really like to hide these guides when I edit curves. Is it possible?


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Objects in edit mode are all black
I have created two bezier circles, then converted them to meshes. When I press tab to enter edit mode, the objects appear completely black.
You can see the exact tutorial I am following at 6:20 of this video
Why do they appear black, and not have any subdivisions? Is this a problem with blender, or is there a setting I need to change?
Edit Mode

Edit Mode + Wireframe view

Are you sure you remembered to convert the Bezier curves to meshes?

From what i can see in the image your object has about 166000 Vertices. In Edit Mode vertices are displayed in a certain size independent from the polygon size, so it may well be that you only see the black vertices, while all edges are hidden because of the vertex "display size". Here is an example with 4 rings of increasing vertex density:

Also none of your vertices is selected right now, so this would explain why the mesh appears in black. So i guess when you hit A then your rings will turn from black to light orange (the color of selected vertices)
Maybe you had added a subdivision modifier to your Curve ? When converting your curve to a mesh the subdivision modifier would be applied...

That's a good a pretty good guess Gaia, I thought that maybe he had a default black texture assigned.  166000 vertices, I suspect you are correct.

Tip: User Preferences > Themes > 3D Viewport > Vertex Size try to change px or use edge select mode to hide vertices.

Sorry for threadmancy but this may help people in future.
There's a possibility that blender has flipped the lighting of those objects. if you select all of the vertices of the objects and then go into Mesh>normals> and try recalculating outside. If that doesn't work go into Mesh>normals> recalculate inside.
This is how i solved a similar issue i had. good luck.

What fixed this issue for me is:
Material>shading> enable the checkbox that

Incomplete answer.


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How to 'weaken' or 'strengthen' a normal map texture?
I would like to export a normal map texture itself, what is a correct way to make it stronger or weaker?
I found that weakening effect can be accomplished by mixing texture with #8080ff color using MixRGB node, but I am not sure it is the best/proper way to do it.

First of all, to understand how the normal directions are mapped to colours, see this excellent answer in gamedev.sa. Basically, the blue value is

B = cos(alpha) × 0.5 + 0.5

and the red and green are the corresponding

R or G = sin(alpha·(x or y)) × 0.5 + 0.5

values for both directions, with alpha being the angle away from the surface normal. You might notice that it's not immediately trivial to make it stronger or weaker, the standard transformations (saturation, contrast, brightness) on their own will not do what you want.
A quick and dirty way ...
... to strengthen the map would be to, for example, subtract 0.1 from the red and green channels and then multiply the red and green channels by a factor of 1/(1 - 2*0.1) = 1.25. The problem with this is that you can clip colors and that you end up with a normal map that is technically wrong because the normals will be longer than 1. Basically, this stretches the normal in the x and y directions. For normal maps that are far too weak because they were created from a very smooth surface, this method might work fine. Do not use it on anything where steep angles are already in the map.
Setup:
Be careful here to make sure you work in linear image coordinates without any gamma correction.
Done right
Per the formulae above, you get the angle in a range from 0 to 1 this way:

angle = 2/pi × arccos((B-0.5)×2)
angle_x = 2/pi × arcsin((R-0.5)×2)
angle_y = 2/pi × arcsin((G-0.5)×2)

We can then transform this value in a way that retains its range (for example via a gamma-node) and re-apply

B = pi/2 × cos(angle)×0.5+0.5
R = pi/2 × sin(angle_x)×0.5+0.5
G = pi/2 × sin(angle_y)×0.5+0.5

This looks something like this:

You still have to watch your image gamma.
Clipping is not a problem any more here and even strong strengthening should not create any problems. You bend the normals away from the centre while retaining their length.
Notes:

In this setup, a smaller gamma value creates a stronger normal map, while gamma = 1.0 doesn't change the map.
The values of 0.637 are actually 2/pi, while 1.570 is pi/2 (enter the values as "2/pi" etc., python will understand what you mean).
Interestingly, Doc:2.4/Bump_and_Normal suggests that Blender uses the full range of the blue channel for the range of 0.0 to 1.0, which makes the ((B-0.5)×2) and ()×0.5+0.5 transformations unnecessary for this channel. I can't find a more current reference, but I assume this is still true in the current versions. So I might have to change the second setup accordingly.

Julian, thanks for sharing the setup. It's somewhat easier than what I used. Jeez, one would think that blender would have a simple node for that kind of thing by now, since lots of people seem to have that kind of problems with normal maps. It would also be nice to have a node that mixes two normal maps into one...

i did not see in the link you provided how did you come with RG and B values

@dimus The relevant quote is: "If a normal is (x, y, z), the corresponding pixel in the normal map will have each of x, y, and z mapped from the range (-1,1) to (0,255) to get the red, green, and blue components respectively."  -- Only that in the general case, we don't use 255 steps but only the generalized range from 0 to 1, as we don't know what the bit-depth of the image is (and don't need to).

I converted @JulianHzg answer into OSL script which allows to do all calculations in one node:
shader norm (
    color norm = color(0.5,0.5,1.0),
    float Fac = 1.0,
    output color norm2 = 1
) {
    color v1 = (norm-0.5)*2;
    v1[0] = asin(v1[0]);
    v1[1] = asin(v1[1]);
    v1[2] = acos(v1[2]);
    v1 *= Fac;
    v1[0] = sin(v1[0]);
    v1[1] = sin(v1[1]);
    v1[2] = cos(v1[2]);
    //normalize to the 1 unit length
    v1 /= length(v1);
    norm2 = v1/2 + 0.5;
}

Before using OSL Script node don't forget to switch on OSL checkbox:

To generate a "weakened" or "strengthened" normal map I use the following node setup:

And then bake it as Emit on a texture in Raw format, with Float set.

Finaly save it as 16 bit png with Save as Render checked

The resulting normal map will have a "neutral" color set at #8080FF as required by game engines.
As a "bonus" here is a version of the script for mixing two normal maps together with a control over relative strength of each map:
  shader norm (
    color norm1 = color(0.5, 0.5, 1.0),
    float Strength1 = 1.0,
    color norm2 = color(0.5, 0.5, 1.0),
    float Strength2 = 1.0,
    output color norm3 = 1
) {
    vector v1 = (norm1 - 0.5) * 2;
    v1[0] = asin(v1[0]);
    v1[1] = asin(v1[1]);
    v1[2] = acos(v1[2]);
    v1 *= Strength1;

    vector v2 = (norm2 - 0.5) * 2;
    v2[0] = asin(v2[0]);
    v2[1] = asin(v2[1]);
    v2[2] = acos(v2[2]);
    v2 *= Strength2;

    vector v3 = v1 + v2;
    v3[0] = sin(v3[0]);
    v3[1] = sin(v3[1]);
    v3[2] = cos(v3[2]);
    v3 /= length(v3);
    norm3 = v3/2 + 0.5;
}

For Blender v3.x there is an easier way to mix/strengthen/weaken normals using linear algebra nodes. In this example three normal maps are mixed together.


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How to apply shape keys?
I used shape keys to create a middle shape between other two. Can I now remove shape keys and 'apply' them as a modifier to the resulting mesh?

Try creating a new shapekey by pressing the arrow under the add/remove buttons and selecting new shape from mix:

This will create a new shapekey from the current mix. You can then delete all the shapekeys, making sure you delete the new one last.
This gives you a shapekey-free mesh with the shape from the original shapekey mix.

Deleting shapekeys one by one until we have the last one is quite tedious, actually. We need an operator to simply: bake shapekey, leave final shape.

this doesn't even seem to work any more in 2.93.8 or 3.0.0.  moving the desired shape key to the top, then deleting others (including the demoted basis) until it is the last key, and then deleting it...  just reverts it back to the basis.
i ended up having to use Apply: Visual Geometry to Mesh.  note this also applies all modifiers as well.  (like the below-mentioned Oscurant tools option.)

@blr 'new shape from mix' still works for me in Blender 3.2. 'Apply: Visual Geometry to Mesh' doesn't.

there is now an "Apply All Shape Keys" button in this drop down in recent blender versions

You can use the Corrective Shape Key addon. It's under Community > Animation in Addons.
Once installed, just find the desired blend you want, press the black triangle in the Shape Keys panel and choose Create duplicate for editing. This will apply the state and create a new copy while preserving the old one with the keys.

Apply shape key to your mesh
This will affect all the objects on your scene :
import bpy
scene = bpy.context.scene

for ob in scene.objects:
    if not hasattr(ob.data, "shape_keys"):
        continue
    ob.shape_key_add(name='CombinedKeys', from_mix=True)
    if ob.data.shape_keys:
        for shapeKey in ob.data.shape_keys.key_blocks:
            ob.shape_key_remove(shapeKey)

Go to the script editor :

Copy-paste the code and click on the "Play" button

Script fails when scene contains objects that cant use Shapekeys like Camera, Light, ...

Seems to no longer work when tested in v2.93 (ed5507de8a25).
The solution is to add , from_mix=True to the shape_key_add line.

To apply a key you should just delete 'basis' in the Shape keys pannel and then delete the key itself. Then it would be applied to original mesh. It works for me

In Blender 3.3 you can find it inside the down arrow button

simplest answer, no addon or script required anymore

There is a way most people don't know.
Go to File >  User Preferences > select Community supported level Object -> Category Oscurart Tools. For Blender version 2.8+ select Addons > Only Community and type in the search bar os now you should see Object : Oscurart Tools.

Tick it to active and save settings.

Select the mesh you want to copy (no edit mode needed)
Press enter to open the search function and then type mesh
Make sure its typed with small letters and spelled the right way.

If this happens then you didn't select the mesh.

If you get this option you did it the right way:

Select Object to Mesh

Done, now you have a copy of the mesh the way you setup the shapekeys and or pose but without shapekeys.
Note that it also applies modifiers like subsurface etc. and because its a copy you still got the original mesh with all modifiers, bones, shapekeys you started out with.

I'm having trouble reproducing this behavior .. Version? Add-ons?

Thanks for the edit, still no luck, object selected,  couple of builds of 279, search gives some options you're not getting, because of add-ons I've installed but you haven't.. maybe see if you still get 'Object to mesh' with all you add-ons temporarily disabled?

ty for the respond. Ive looked it up again tried some enable and disable and found that there`s indeed a addon that enables this option. ive re-edit the post. hope it works now for you.

Seems for 2.8 that useful function was removed? I can't find it in search and the only similar thing the OscurartTools context menu contains is "shapes to objects" which creates one object per shape key. EDIT: Damn, seems the tool doesn't even work anymore, since the objects that "shapes to objects" generate doesn't have the shapekeys applied. :(

I found a simpler solution for Blender 3.0
(1) Add new Shape Key from mix
(2) Press tab to go into Edit Mode
(3) With last (new) shape key selected, go to Vertex > Propagate to Shape
This will let you delete all the shape keys and keep the last shape data.
(Note that Blender 3.1+ has no Vertex > Propagate to Shape option)

In Blender 3.6, when you select a shape key, there is an option called "Apply Selected Shapekey to Basis", which lets you apply specific shape keys to the base mesh. I'm not sure when this was added but it seems like it wasn't in older Blender versions.

In Edit Mode, select the basis (or the destination shape) and go Vertex > Blend from Shape, there you can pick the source shape in the popup, tick Add, and then you can delete or untick the shape you just applied to Basis.