text:
How can I have separated Layers in Texture painting in cycles?
I'm following this tutorial here which is just what I wanted, but it is in Blender Render and I can see any similar feature in cycles
enter link description here
I'm having issues working on my painting because I was hoping to have a layer for my strokes and another for color, shadows, hightlight etc.
those layers would be converted in just one UV image file after I am finished painting.
I'm hoping for a blender solution without addon (I bought zero brush but unfortunatelly is buggy and doesn't work well with existing texture)
I appreciate any tips, thanks

The related comment that cegaton provided shows an answer (via a screenshot of the cycles node editor) in the link that identifies how to add more than one image texture to affect your material.
I think more specifically to you is how to manage this in texture paint mode.
The easy answer is add all of the images you wish to use for all of your different reasons first.

If these images do not exist you need to create them as new images in the UV/Image editor and save them to a file first.
You can do this in the node editor if these images already exist by just adding the Texture >> Image Texture node, and selecting that image in the dropdown selection of the node.

Once you have all of your images in your blend, you just need to make sure that they are present in your material.
They need not be connected to anything yet, it just needs to exist.
Once they exist go into texture paint mode within the 3D viewport, and manage the active image by selecting it via the slots tab on the T menu at left.


text:
Why is my animation performing weird rotation from one frame to another?
I have my armature working great on my mesh and I am performing some animations using keyframes(LocRotPos)
for some reason I don't understand there is a weird rotation going on for some bones between one keyframe to another.
I recorded a video with this issue:
enter link description here
if someone can give any directions I would appreciate it.

Can you share your blend file? You can upload here I expect a curve has bad handle positions.

Yes, a blend file would be nicer. It appears to me to be Euler rotations fighting. Quats wouldn't do this without an intermediary key.

I made it quartenion and it works the way I want, make it an answer and I will accept it

This answer is late because I completely missed your comment. Sorry about that! This topic is very large and can take a lot to understand all of it, so I will keep my answer as simple as I can to address the question.
There are two terms I will use in this answer and it is important to understand the differences: rotation and orientation. Orientation is the transform of the bone at any given point. A rotation is the action or difference of changing the orientation of a bone.
Euler:
Euler rotation math is a common cause of problems in animation, primarily because the underlying functionality of Euler angles is hidden from the user. This is something you're discovering for yourself. Euler angles are compound calculations. Each axis is calculated in sequence based on a particular order. In XYZ order, X is calculated first, Y second, Z third. Because of this ordering, axis rotations can counter each other. You don't need to know the particulars of gimbal lock, but when you get further into animation it is good to research. Euler rotations are advantageous when a bone needs to rotate on one axis continually or for long stretches of time.
Quaternion:
Quaternion math is a solution to this problem. When using quaternions, rotations are always interpolated as the shortest path between two orientations. This makes it easier for the animator to work in the 3D view without worrying about underlying functionality. There are no axes fighting each other in the math.
Conclusion:
If you are working in the 3D view, don't need the graph editor, and your bone is not rotating continually in one axis, your safest bet is to use quaternion mode for your rotations. If you rely heavily on the graph editor and you understand the idea of compound rotations, use Euler in one form or another.
For further education, I highly recommend Nathan Vegdahl's Humane Rigging training DVD on Youtube. The video in the link is the start of his explanation of rotation modes.

Without the blend it's difficult to guess, but I bet it's the IK in need of some hinting. Add a pole constraint in the IK constraint and control the twist of the knee in this way

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to change from 30fps in the animation view (not render)?
I'm trying to figure out how to change the fps for when I press the play button in the scene.
It automatically uses 30fps and moves down if the animation uses to much resource.
I want to force it to a specific fps (1fps or 2fps etc)
thanks

Also relevant: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/14236/low-fps-on-animation-playback

thanks man, that worked, never thought the render would also affect the viewport

In time remapping, put New to something like 1000.
This will slow down the playback to 3 fps.

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


text:
How to import uv animation from blender to unity?
I'm animation uvmap in blender just fine using animall adon. When I import it into unity it totally ignores my animation.
Any suggestion how to solve this?

I don’t think this is possible at all on Unity, not in the way Blender allows it with AnimAll (very quick search brings solutions based on scripting, in Unity).
In any case, there is for sure absolutely no standard way to directly export UVMap animation from Blender, FBX does not support such feature afaik, and it’s one of the most advanced and best supported exchange format (Collada does not support this either, see this post…).


text:
How to select all keyframes from left or right having current frame as pivot?
I've been doing some animation with tons of keyframes and when I need to apply some change, I spend a lot of time selecting keyframes on dopesheet (pressing B, select all I want and perform change)
but this is very time consuming, I was hoping for some shortcut where I could select all keyframes from the left or right based on the current frame
script would work too,  I have to clue to start it by the way
any tips are welcome, thanks

Does using Select > After Current Keyframe or Before Current Keyframe help (or using ] and [ shortcuts) ? You could also try using Between Selected markers.

Right click the key frame that should be the first of those you need selected and the hold Ctrl and either click the [ key for all keyframes on the left or the ] for all on the right (while Ctrl is held).

Kervin i tried that but it didnt work for me. do you know why? i was doing everything that you said

In Blender 2.8 the [ or ] keys appeared to work for me without holding the control key.

CTRL + Shift, Click to the left or right of the playhead to select accordingly

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


text:
Why isn't Text Draw working anymore?
I am testing texture painting, I was working fine with TextDraw paint
I tried to test/try Mask brush but now TextDraw isn't working anymore
I think I am missing something obvious here
any help

I assume you were using Mask option from Slots tab. After or before unchecking its box you should also unlink that image used as a mask (I'm not sure why this should be done).


text:
No cycles engine in opensuse?
I am using opensuse 13.1, and blnder 2.67b. In my blender there is no cycles renderer. I tried in the preference to enable it but it says that the cycles script is missing. How do i install the cycles render engine in opensuse??

no i am using the yast (the software manager ) version.
is the download version have cycles renderer??

i have downloaded and installed the blender 2.70a rpm.
but still no success.

Most likely it's because the version from the repositories is compiled without cycles. In case the portable versions from blender.org stop working because of different library versions, you can always compile blender yourself.

I think using standalone version is better option rather than compiling the source codes for beginner like me. Beside that some of the dependencies are not provided by manufacturer for Opensuse 13.1 64bit. And now i have blender 2.70 as software manager installed without cycles, blender 2.71 as extracted version with cycles working well. But thank you gandalf for your help. I have some blender files like landscape scene and 3d name logo created by myself for testing and I am new at blender and i am understanding the differences between blender internal and cycles engine.

Yeah! That solved my problem, i downloaded the blender2.71.tar.gz2 version from blender.org and it have the cycles engine, though the tarball zip does not contain the installation. It have the self dependent blender package, just needed to be extracted. The site says the glibc2.11 is required, but my blender is working. i guess my os already have that. Thanx bro for helping me.


text:
Duplicating object and default value of property
When I create some property in object:
bpy.types.Object.my_prop = bpy.props.IntProperty(name="MyProp",
    default=-1,
    description="My Property"
)

and I set the value of this property e.g.: bpy.context.active_object.my_prop = 10, then duplicated object will have copied value of original object.
Is there any way how to force to use default value (-1) of property in duplicated object?

Each property can have callback functions: update(), set(), get() and get(), set() callback functions allows force to use default value:
import bpy

values = {}

def cb_get(self):
    try:
        value = values[self.name]
    except KeyError:
        value = -1 # default value
    return value

def cb_set(self, value):
    values[self.name] = value
    return None

bpy.types.Object.my_prop = bpy.props.IntProperty(name="MyProp",
    description="My Property",
    get=cb_get,
    set=cb_set
    )

print(bpy.context.active_object.my_prop)
bpy.context.active_object.my_prop = 10
print(bpy.context.active_object.my_prop)

Example with more explanation can be found in this gist:
https://gist.github.com/jirihnidek/2e5218dd8bf06787e538
Edit: Reloading blend file using previous concept is risky (look at comments). Following solution tries to fix problems with reloading blend file.
    import bpy
def cb_get(self):
    if self.name != self.name_:
        self.name_ = self.name
        self.my_prop_ = -1 # default value
    return self.my_prop_

def cb_set(self, value):
    self.my_prop_ = value
    return None

bpy.types.Object.my_prop_ = bpy.props.IntProperty(name="MySecretProp",
    default=-1,
    description="My Secret Property",
    options={'HIDDEN'}
    )

bpy.types.Object.name_ = bpy.props.StringProperty(name="SecretName",
    default="",
    description="Expected name of object storing properties",
    options={'HIDDEN'}
    )

bpy.types.Object.my_prop = bpy.props.IntProperty(name="MyProp",
    description="My Property",
    update=cb_update,
    get=cb_get,
    set=cb_set
    )

print(bpy.context.active_object.my_prop)
bpy.context.active_object.my_prop = 10
print(bpy.context.active_object.my_prop)

This is a bit risky, it will work in simple cases - but could give invalid results if you reload files, especially with many names like Cube.001, You could have a bpy.app.handler.load_post callback to clear the dictionary on file load, but that still wont account for undo/redo. I don't think there is really a fool-proof way to do this.

If you are willing to consider the name a UUID, you could store some hidden __name__ custom property. Then on access, check if they don't match, clear all properties, and write into that name. This could cause problems when renaming though.

Any custom property can not start with '_' character. When you will try to do this, then ValueError will be raised. Previous idea is right, but the custom property will have to be named e.g. name__ and not __name__ :-).


text:
Modify nodes in compositing nodetree using Python
I want to setup basic node tree using Python operator and I cannot use compositor context. Hint over node values pointed to this data path:
bpy.data.node_groups["Compositing Nodetree"].nodes["Alpha Over"].premul

but this collection: bpy.data.node_groups includes only custom node groups.

This bug report: https://developer.blender.org/T35720 pointed me to the right data path. When you want to modify the node tree in compositor, then you have to use the following path:
bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].node_tree.nodes['Alpha Over'].premul

or you can use the following syntax to avoid the hard-coded name of the scene (the current scene will be used):
bpy.context.scene.node_tree.nodes['Alpha Over'].premul

and it just works. :-)

You can also use bpy.context.scene.node_tree.nodes to avoid hardcoding the name for the scene.

@pycoder you are right. Thanks for reminder. I will update answer.


text:
Set active shape key using Python
I would like to set active shape key using Python. I know that I can use following code for this purpose:
bpy.context.active_object.active_shape_key_index = some_index

but, when I have several shape keys, then I don't know how to get this index from given shape key:
sh_key = bpy.context.active_object.data.shape_keys.key_blocks["shape_key_name"]

There is no attribute called index in object sh_key. I tried to use bpy.context.active_object.active_shape_key, but this attribute is read only. Thanks for your help.

Hi here is some quick code from the python console,
I have an active object with a number of shapekeys, "Key 1" being one, I find the index using find(...) then set the active_shape_key_index to this number.
find(...) will return -1 if a key of that name is not found.
>>> index = C.object.data.shape_keys.key_blocks.find('Key 1')
>>> index
1

>>> C.object.active_shape_key_index = index
>>>

At about the same time too.  Suggest using key_blocks.get("shape_key_name") and testing against None, can save hassles down the line for all collections in blender.

I thing, I found solution, but it is a little bit complicated (API of vertex groups is more straightforward). You can set active shape key, when you know its name, using following code:
obj = bpy.context.active_object
shape_key = obj.data.shape_keys.key_blocks["shape_key_name"]
keys = obj.data.shape_keys.key_blocks.keys()
shape_key_index = keys.index(shape_key.name)
obj.active_shape_key_index = shape_key_index


text:
object sharing bevel after joined
I have one object with 1 bevel modifier and second with 2 bevel modifier, when I join both (ctrl j) the 2 bevel changes bevel to the first one...
is there any way for each individual object keep their bevel modifier after joined?

Once several objects are joined they will discard their modifiers and inherit those on the last selected object so it's not possible to join objects with modifiers on them and keep them unique, but you can limit the the modifier to a certain  vertex group :

Join the objects
Assign each object to a vertex group
Add two Bevel modifiers
Set each modifier to effect only one vertex group


text:
how to add object to a keyframe range?
lets assume we have an iron man pointing his hand to a target and shooting few frames later as shown in the picture below:

frame 0 to 10 he will point frame 11 to 15 he will shoot, which is just a long cube with one larger face to give idea or a laser projectile
how can I add the projectile cube only on frame 11?
I don't what it to exist before that
thanks

You can also use particle system to generate the object at a specific time and kill or destroy it at a specific time. Particle system would be the way professional animator would handle the requirement at hand, since modifying the animation would be lesser of an issue. You will only need to key in your start and end frame in the particle system.

You could keyframe the visibility and the renderability of the shot object in the outliner (RMB over the icons and insert keyframe:

Disable visibility and renderability in frame 0 and add keyframe
Enable in frame 11 and add keyframe

An easy way you can do this is kind of cheating, but it does work. On frame 11, set a location keyframe on your laser object. On frame 15, do the same. On frame 10 and 16, move the laser object along any axis an absurd distance away. 9999999 blender units is usually enough. that way, on frames 11-15, your laser will appear in front of the weapon, and it will vanish again at frame 16. This is an alternative method. the one stacker gave in his answer is the proper way to do it.


text:
how to create a selection group in edit mode?
it is pretty annoying to work with different meshes as the same object.
Is there any way I can define a specific numbers of vertex/edges/faces to a group so I could just click that group to all?
I hope I was clear
thanks

Yes, you can define vertex groups per object:

In Edit Mode move to Properties Editor > Data > Vertex Groups
Hit the + sign to create a new vertex group (and rename it to something useful)
Make a selection and Assign the desired vertices to that group

Now by using Select the vertices will automatically selected in the 3d viewport.


text:
How can I print only keyframes from code below?
I just want to print a log if the current frame contains keyframe
is there any method lile: IsKeyframe or something similar?
import bpy
import math
import random
import time

ctx = bpy.context
ops = bpy.ops
obj = ctx.object

ctx.scene.frame_start = 0
ctx.scene.frame_end = 112
ctx.scene.frame_current = 0

for i in range(112):
    ctx.scene.frame_set(i)
    print("Frame %i" % i)

What data you want to log? Can you provide an example? Probably related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/27889/how-to-find-number-of-animated-frames-in-a-scene-via-python/27946#27946

Finding keyframes is a little bit trickier, since any object in the scene could have a keyframe at a given frame.
So this script will check all objects for keyframes at each of the frames between beginning and end, and print out any keyframe on any channel, for each of the objects. It will also print out the value of that channel at that keyframe, just in case.
import bpy

S = bpy.context.scene
O = bpy.context.scene.objects

def isKeyframe( f ):
    for o in O:
        for fc in o.animation_data.action.fcurves:
            kfs  = [ kf.co[0]     for kf in fc.keyframe_points ]
            if f in kfs:
                amp = fc.evaluate( f )
                print(
                    "kf at %s for %s[%s] val: %s" % ( f, o.name, fc.data_path, amp )
                )

for i in range( S.frame_start, S.frame_end ):
    isKeyframe( i )

If you want this to apply only to the active object, use this code instead:
import bpy

S = bpy.context.scene
O = bpy.data.objects
o = bpy.context.object

def isKeyframe( f ):
    for fc in o.animation_data.action.fcurves:
        kfs  = [ kf.co[0]     for kf in fc.keyframe_points ]
        if f in kfs:
            amp = fc.evaluate( f )
            idx = fc.array_index
            print(
                "kf at %s for %s[%s(%s)] val: %s" % ( f, o.name, fc.data_path, idx, amp )
            )

for i in range( S.frame_start, S.frame_end ):
    isKeyframe( i )

Sample output for a scene I just tested:
kf at 33 for Lamp[scale(0)] val: 1.0
kf at 33 for Lamp[scale(1)] val: 1.0
kf at 33 for Lamp[scale(2)] val: 1.0
kf at 70 for Lamp[rotation_euler(0)] val: 0.6503279805183411
kf at 70 for Lamp[rotation_euler(1)] val: 0.055217113345861435
kf at 70 for Lamp[rotation_euler(2)] val: 1.8663908243179321

EDIT: Must add a small disclaimer to this answer. This is will only print out keyframes on objects. This doesn't show keyframes on compositor nodes, scene settings and other non-object related properties. To get those, You need to alter the code a bit and read the fcurves from the specific keyframed element in question.

Suggest using for o in scene.objects to avoid false  matching unlinked objects or objects from other scenes.

Good idea, will update code later

if f in kfs is a bit risky with a float type.  Consider importing a bvh (mocap) file with a high frame rate, most frames will not be at the integer part of the frame.  I'd suggest using a kfs  = [ kf  for kf in fc.keyframe_points if abs(kf.co.x - f) < TOL] approach to select.


text:
How to export UVMap to paint with external tools
I'm searching all over for a way to paint my UVMap in external tool, in my case photoshop, and them load it back to the mesh in render.
The problem is I want to use that blender export feature that creates a basic surface in the uvmap so it would be easy to identify the parts and paint in photoshop.
that this feature just exists in blender render as far as I searched.
any idea how to do that in cycles render?
I hope I was clear, thanks


text:
Access Denied trying to change io_scene_fbx/__init__.py
is there any specific developer environment for scripts in blender?
I wanna change __init__.py inside
Blender Foundation\Blender\2.76\scripts\addons\io_scene_fbx\

and I get access denied from windows
I wanna change
"version": (3, 6, 5),

to "version": (3, 7, 5),
but I would apply more changes
any idea?

There are several places blender looks for python scripts/addons:

MS-Windows
LOCAL
.\2.76\.

USER
C:\Documents and Settings\$USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.76\

SYSTEM
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.76\

Generally the system path isn't writable for a standard user, but naturally this depends on the platform and your specific configuration. Try copying the script to the user path (you may get warnings about duplicate addons).
The local path applies to versions of blender installed though an archive extracted anywhere on your system, as opposed to an installer or package. (e.g. for a local install on windows, the .zip download can be used)


text:
Why doesn't this script extrude the cone base in edit mode?
I'm studying scripting in blender, I am pretty much taking notes of the actions I do in the blender interface and creating the same in a separated script.
One thing I can accomplish in the Blender UI that I can't in the script is extrude the base of a cone in edit mode, see script below:
import bpy

bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cone_add(location=(0,0,0))
bpy.ops.transform.translate(value=(0, 0, 1.94102), constraint_axis=(False, False, True), constraint_orientation='GLOBAL', mirror=False, proportional='DISABLED', proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, release_confirm=True)
bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
bpy.ops.mesh.select_mode(use_extend=False, use_expand=False, type='FACE')
bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
bpy.ops.mesh.extrude_region_move(MESH_OT_extrude_region={"mirror":False}, TRANSFORM_OT_translate={"value":(-1.97143e-009, 3.68831e-009, 0.447236), "constraint_axis":(False, False, True), "constraint_orientation":'NORMAL', "mirror":False, "proportional":'DISABLED', "proportional_edit_falloff":'SMOOTH', "proportional_size":1, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "gpencil_strokes":False, "texture_space":False, "remove_on_cancel":False, "release_confirm":False})

what am I missing?

Adding a mesh starts with the whole mesh selected. You then have select_all(action='TOGGLE') which will deselect everything so there is no selection to extrude. You want to get the one bottom face selected.

IMO the key to blender scripting is avoiding operators.  Not at all costs, yeah use the primitive add op once, after running the new prim is prim = context.object another is prim.copy()   transform translate in the context above is same as prim.location.z += 1.94 .. can expand into answer.  How attached to using only listedf operators in your script?

A Command, select_face_by_sides, can be used.
However, this does not work when the bottom face is a triangle.
import bpy

bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cone_add(location=(0,0,0))
bpy.ops.transform.translate(value=(0, 0, 1.94102), constraint_axis=(False, False, True), constraint_orientation='GLOBAL', mirror=False, proportional='DISABLED', proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, release_confirm=True)
bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()

bpy.ops.mesh.select_face_by_sides(
        number=3,
        type='GREATER',
        extend=False
    )

bpy.ops.mesh.extrude_region_move(MESH_OT_extrude_region={"mirror":False}, TRANSFORM_OT_translate={"value":(-1.97143e-009, 3.68831e-009, 0.447236), "constraint_axis":(False, False, True), "constraint_orientation":'NORMAL', "mirror":False, "proportional":'DISABLED', "proportional_edit_falloff":'SMOOTH', "proportional_size":1, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "gpencil_strokes":False, "texture_space":False, "remove_on_cancel":False, "release_confirm":False})


text:
Can't make the OpenGL Render Active Viewport work on Rendered Shade mode
I'm using the OpenGL Render Active Viewport to preview an animation, but even if I'm set the viewport shade to "Rendered", it switch the shade mode to "Solid". I can make it work with any other mode but the "Rendered" mode.
(I can set the Rendered mode in the viewport with no problems)
Any idea why?

Sucks no one told you but you need to click RenderLayer next to OpenGL Render Active Viewport button. Ez pz. Hope this helps anyone else who might have this problem.


text:
Make Human to Blender with IK doesn't work as expected
I'm exporting the character from MakeHuman with the MHX format with a rig "CMU mb" or the "Game Engine". Then I imported the file to blender overriding the exported data and selecting the MHX as the Rig Type

After that I go to the MHX2 Runtime panel and switch all the FK to IK.

My problem: it doesn't work, if I grab the hand (or any part) it doesn't work as expected.

My blender version is 2.78.
Any ideas? Thanks.

I found the answer here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13620/makehuman-pose-broken-between-2-69-and-2-7x

Enable Autorun python scripts in user preferences


text:
Curves wrong filled when importing svg
I'm working with illustrator and exporting as SVG this graphic.
This is how it looks in illustrator (and how I wanted to be). The green part is all fill, no strokes. The white is all canvas.

But I'm getting this at Blender.

It fills the center of the image, not the border as a stroke.
If you have any clue...thanks!!


text:
Some kind of tabs just keep flashing
I'm trying to work with blender in "blender game". While being in game mode some kind of tabs just keep flashing. Constantly switching between game mode and these tabs in picture. How to solve this?

This is a typical problem of some certain intel GPU's.
You could try to upgrade your drivers, or use a different render mode (GSL, Multitexture).

I got the same issue when I accidentally tried to run in "Multi-Texture" mode. Changing the display mode to GLSL always solved it for me.


text:
How can I achieve a domed or "hangar" type cross-section shape?
Warning: I'm a day-two Blender user.
Specifically, I want the long, straight edges on the top face of the mesh to sort of "merge down" with the same edges on the bottom face (essentially, reduce it to one edge instead of two), with the curved ends ending up with flat bottoms and topsides curved in an even arc.
This shape was imported as an SVG, extruded and then converted to a mesh, but the geometry of it is super janky and overcomplicated-- WAY too many triangles and vertices. Ideally, the top face would simply be a series of long thin faces that line up with the sides. I tried to simplify the mesh in a couple of ways, but it didn't pan out and now I'm stuck. Should I just be reconstructing this shape some other way, or is this shape I've imported salvageable?

EDIT: I've been asked to clarify the end shape I'm talking about.

Can you post a drawing or picture of the end result you are looking for?

Just picture it like this: The entire thing is curved over the top and flat on the bottom, terminating in sharp sides where the long edges of the shape are. So the ends would look like if you made a horizontal cut across the top of a circle.

Sorry, that doesnt help.

Added a drawing for clarification.

If that's the contour of the desired object, you can draw it in Ortho view with vertices and then extrude the result. Use background images to ease drawing.

Not really-- It's important that the shape of the object seen in the top ortho view is maintained. A half-cylinder is somewhat close, but then I have to model the curves in at the short ends. I was hoping that someone would be able to advise me concerning the original imported shape that was extruded and converted to a mesh, but that part of the question hasn't stimulated any response.

Shift+A Select Add a Mesh then select Add a Circle from the drop down menu. You can change the number of vertices in the tool bar on the left.
Press Tab to go into Edit Mode. Select the number of vertices desired to delete bye selecting them and then pressing X and then vertices from the drop down menu.
Select the bottom two vertices and press F to connect them.
Select all of the vertices and press E and then press the letter of the axis you want to extrude them along. For example press E and then Y to extrude along the Y axis.

While I was gone, I was playing around with a cylinder, which I cut down to accomplish basically the same thing (I can create faces to close the object, so that's no problem). Now, the job seems to be figuring out how to recreate the curves on the top ortho view of the shape.
Thanks for your help!

I think the original answer, and comments were useful to this question, but I'm not certain this is the way I'd approach it myself, because many times other methods are faster, and more future proof.
Sometimes modifiers can make the workflow faster, without touching all of the vertices. In this case a simple Boolean>Difference modifier works well.
If I don't apply and delete the bool subtraction object, I can come back later and adjust for future edits.

Hope that helps expand your mind a little.
Kind Regards,
RRiggs

For Clarification: The bottom 'Half-Cone' was spun 180° so that you can see, it closed the surface. The modifier was applied correctly.

There sure is more than one way to skin a cat! I find that, in some cases, as meshes get more complicated Boolean Modifiers can be very tricky. It is great to know all the options though. Thanks for your answer.


text:
bevel only the inside of the plane area without affecting the edges of the initial plane
I want to bevel only the inside of the plane area without affecting the edges of the initial plane from which I created it.
You can see that the plane is no longer perfectly square and is rounded by bevel tool.
I used blender 4.2 alpha version ...

Maybe extrude the outer edges and scale each of them on their axis?

not work with scale ... I will use an older version of Blender 3D ... but I'm not sure if the bevel edge will be fixed to have the same result . I tested also these changes but not work maybe is in development ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9qtIEpa-4

I used an older Blende 3D versions with bevel edge to solve this issue.

Oh OK then    ;)  .................;

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


text:
How to add curve modifier to text?
I am relatively new to blender and am trying to wrap some text around a hair spray bottle that I made.  I have watched many tutorials on how to do it, but it never seems to work.  I am trying to wrap my text around the cylindrical part of the bottle with the curve modifier, but am running into troubles.  When I select the bottle with the selection within the curve modifier, I get a "failed to set value" message at the top of my screen.  And then, when I try to apply it, I get the message "modifier is disabled, skipping applied."  Does any one know if there is a setting that I need to change to enable this curve modifier?
Here is a screen shot of my project if it helps:

it's not an answer to your question, but in more complex cases you could look into the shrinkwrap modifier as well. Happy Blending

You could use a Curve Circle [Shift]+[A] > Curve > Circle  and set it to the same center point and radius as your bottle.  Then apply the curve modifier with a -X Deformation Axis.  Finally, change the Text Object's X rotation to bring it up to a vertical orientation.
Keep in mind, with both this and the Bezier curve approach above, each character will be warped around the circle, causing deformities on the face of the text.  To achieve a smooth curve across the face of the text, you'll need to do something similar to what's described in this post:
https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?366006-How-to-curve-SVG-text-object-for-3D-printing
If you wish to avoid the face distortion, it will be necessary to place each character on the curve manually, avoiding the curve deformation altogether.


text:
Creating an entire planet
I would like to model a fantasy world that I made and I am wondering about the technical limits. The planet is about 3 times bigger than earth and has four continents, each the size of half the USA. I am not talking about making a sphere and texturing it, I mean like Google 3D where you can zoom all the way into a single house except more detailed. Would there be any technical problems? Would the program lag from having that many vertices? Should I just model each continent separately or even each region within the continent separately?

It higly depends from your hardware installed - especially RAM and graphics card.

I suggest you implement some kind of level-of-detail system, so bits that are viewed at a distance are less detailed than closer ones.

Is this for an animation or game?
For an animation you can use compositing to transition between several different versions of your model, each with different scales of detail.
For a game you'll probably need to fetch higher resolution blocks of game data as needed, similarly to how Google Earth fetches higher res textures as you zoom in.
Either way it probably won't be easy, but the result could be impressive if executed well.

This is actually a world I helped create with some fantasy writers for the writers to use as the setting of their novels. I want to make a comic series though and thought 3D modeling would be easier because I don't have to draw every scene. After that I thought it would be cool to have the whole fantasy world as a model.

I see, so it sounds like many still renders from various angles is what you want to create, for now. You'll need to get clever about hiding any unneeded geometry from being rendered to keep render times reasonable. The Mask Modifier is one way to show just one Vertex Group of a given object. So you could have a continent and break it down into states/prefectures of countries (or grid blocks every 100 square kilometers) by Vertex Group, and use Mask Modifiers to reveal just one at a time when possible. Also consider how many zoom levels you will need to tell your story - reference some maps.

Another possibility is multires sculpting, but I think that would probably not be ideal for massive bodies of land that you may later want to make changes to in the topology of their lowest res mesh. On the other hand, hi-res displacement maps could work well with a SubSurf Modifier for giving you up to 6 levels of subdivision per modifier instance. Here's a helpful short tutorial for convincing displacement-based terrain:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZxyN7esQkY

You'll need to do some planning of how to UV map those displacement textures. If your planet is a giant UV sphere you will get pinching at the north and south poles. An icosphere will give you regular faces, but triangles are not ideal. Instead, add a rhombic triacontahedron (using the Add Mesh: Extra Objects add-on) then drop a SubSurf Modifier on it set to "Simple", followed by a Cast Modifier of type "Sphere" with a Factor of 1. This will give you an all-quads globe with each section being the same size rhombi.

A lot of what you said I don't understand because I've never actually used blender or any 3D modeling program :P but thanks, I'll look this all up when I get home to my computer.

(Gotcha... I'll continue what I started writing anyway) So say you then have one massive displacement texture per rhombic grid tile. I've found Blender struggles with textures above 10240x10240 (results may vary with hardware) so you'll probably want to do some tests and calculations to figure out what level of subdiv to apply that first SubSurf Mod at to give you the ideal size of rhombi for a 10240x10240 texture. Then make your UV maps based on that. You can have up to 8 UV maps per object, after that you'll need to separate your planet into smaller chunks...unless you map some other way.

What I mean by map some other way, is for example using Empties or some other means to texture your terrain. Or at least this may be useful for blending textures across different objects. If you're not sure what I mean, the answer I posted to this other question may make it clear: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/33342/how-to-mix-face-textures-across-uv-edges/

A few more thoughts: You'll need to calculate what your real-world scale is in advance so that when you start adding terrain detail, structures, particle system foliage, etc it actually ends up looking like it's the right size. Also since an Ocean Modifier is out of the question at that scale you'll probably need to bake an Ocean Modifier's result into a bump map for your ocean - animated if you intend for these waves to move - and tiling at some point since there's a practical limit to how big of an Ocean Modifier you can make, and also there's that texture size limit.

So, would you like to join in on my project? Like I said I am a complete noob to 3D modeling and having someone smart like you would be good :D I won't be upset if you say no though. Also if there a system similar to github bit for multiple people to work on one model? Oh, and thanks for the detailed help, I'll have to look it up as I go.

Final thoughts for now: Displacement maps don't allow for things like overhanging cliffs or caves, so be ready to adjust for this by using other types of modifiers or separate terrain objects that are cleverly blended in with the rest of the terrain. Give some thought to your planet's sun - how big, how bright, and how far is it from your planet? If you will have shots from space you may need to model and texture this sun, but if not you can probably get away with creating a sky texture of it. Either way it will determine the lighting for your whole planet. Also you should have a plan for fog.

Thanks for the invite, however I hesitate to jump on board a project this ambitious when I'm already pretty tied up with multiple existing projects. Also I can't guarantee that this will work since I've never created a whole planet before! :-) Your question fascinated me because it seems like an impossibly lofty project, but the more I considered it the more I thought it might actually be possible with enough planning and time. Sorry for writing a novel in comments btw - in retrospect I should have posted as a single answer, but when I began answering I didn't realize it would get this deep!

To address your question about "a system similar to github": I think github would work for this actually. You could have multiple people working on different sections of the planet and one master .blend file that relies on the linked data in the other .blend files. Overly simplified answer, but yes I believe it can be done this way.


text:
How do you array a curve
When I try adding an array modifier to a curve, it says that it "Cannot apply constructive modifiers on curve." I'm making a bezier curve which will be followed by the camera to make it seem as if the camera is "Walking", like a 1st person 3D animation. I made the first sequence of the curve but have no way of making it longer without individually modelling every single step throughout the walk path.
Is there any way to sort of array the curve to avoid this?

Like an array modifier? You may need to apply it in order for it to work. Als make sure Merge is enabled

You can convert your curve to a mesh (Alt+C) and then add some modifiers like Array

I couldn't find any really easy way to do this, but I found one which is far easier than modelling each individual step / bump.
First I modeled two full cycles of the sequence -- middle, low, middle, high, middle, low, middle, high. This sequence mimicks a bobbing motion of the camera, as if it is walking in 1st person. Then, I deleted the last 3 vertices of the curve, leaving only middle, low, middle, high, middle.
I turned on snapping to vertices, tabbed into edit mode, selected the whole curve, and duplicated it. I then used vertex locking to lock the very first vertex of the duplicated curve to the very last vertex of the original curve, essentially moving the entire curve where I wanted it. Then, I deleted the very first vertex of the duplicated curve (leaving only low, middle, high, middle), selected what is now the new 1st vertex of the duplicated curve, as well as the last vertex of the original curve, and pressed F to join them.
If anyone knows of an easier way, please post.


text:
Attaching one face to another
I'm just beginning to learn Blender, and I ran into a problem. I ended up with two separate meshes in one object. I want to attach their faces together, as if I had drawn and extruded one from the other. In this example, I have an octagonal prism that I want to attach to the face of a cube. How can I do this without remaking one of the meshes?
What I have now:

I know that one way to work around it would be to simply move the meshes together so they overlap, but then they aren't actually properly attached, and won't move together/etc.

You will have to modify the geometry somewhat since the bottom piece doesn't have the same number of top vertices as the top piece.

You can use either Boolean modificator (in Object mode) or Intersect tool (in Edit mode).

Start with cylinder passing through cube.
Cube and cylinder have different amount of vertices, hence cube should be edited in order to have roughly the same shape as cylinder has. It is possible to skip this and create intersection as is, however this way will create Ngons which may be undesired.
One way to change cube accordingly is to bevel it. Select it and press Ctrl+B, 2 segments, low value of Offset.

Add 1 loopcut per both sides of the cube. Use Connect Vertex Path (J) tool to connect corner vertices.

Select all, in 3D Viewport header choose Mesh > Faces > Intersect tool and in its options (Last Operator panel in the Toolshelf or F6) select Self-Intersect.

Select all again, press W, choose Remove Doubles. Note that you may need to enter higher threshold for Merge Distance, like 0.02.

I'm not seeing the Intersect tool. Is it in some addon?

@a52 answer updated. This tool is present in Blender 2.72+ and it's located in Mesh > Faces > Intersect or you can press Space and type tool's name. See release video for more info on it.

@a52 also note that you might end up with non-manifold mesh (because of internal faces). Depending on purposes of the meshes you can handle it in different ways; one of them is to press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M and delete faces.


text:
Where can I find the diameter of my object?
I imported a file of a globe into Blender and would like to 3d print it on a friends printer.  I would like it to resize it so that I can send him the file, and the globe will be 2.5 inches in diameter when printed.  O can't find out where that info is though.

Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2818/how-do-you-set-the-scale-for-a-specific-project; also - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/254/how-do-blender-units-and-meters-feet-or-yards-correlate

You can change units scall into the scene menu:

Go here:

Choose a one system from Metric and Imperial. You can check mark "Separate Units" to change how the values are shown. Use "Scale" to make the whole world bigger or smaller.


text:
Far away things (skybox cube) not showing up?
When making a little animation thing, I ran into a problem, the camera could not see the entire skybox. (a large cube with textures on it) As in the camera would not render the entire box.
Here is a picture:

Can anybody help me? Essentially I want the camera to be able to see further.

Looks like a clipping problem. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/36417194/why-blender-rendering-objects-to-block-cut-each-other-and-how-to-avoid-it/36424270#36424270

So, it was a clipping problem, thanks DrRiisTab.


text:
Bump map is shoving only on one side of an object
I've got some wooden planks, and the bump map is showing only on the side of the planks, but not on the whole plank. What do i Have to do to change that? Changing the direction of displace modifier to Z isn't helping.

I think, the Image Texture needs a proper Vector as input for its coordinates. You might use the Node Wrangler Add-on and then hit Ctrl + T to create some automagically with your Image Texture Node selected.

I tried that, didn't change anything..the bump map still shows only on the side of the plank

Have you tried out the different Output Vectors of the Texture Coordinate node? Like Generated, Object, UV, ... (for UV it might help you out to UV-unwrap your Planks first - U in Edit mode).


text:
How To use Visual Studio Code to write blender python script integrated with blender?
There are different options out there of Ides to write integrated python blender scripts.
I'm a visual studio person and, even though there is no way to use it for that purpose, I was hoping with Visual Studio Code would be different.
I researched and I can use python there, of course, but I was wondering if I can use integrated with blender (intelisense, debugging, blender diagnostics)
please any new finding is welcome. I'm not expecting someone to have the full answers but I am hoping I can compile a soluiton and post here
thanks

Have you seen this question?

Have you looked at this video? It seems to be useful for you, and me!

For Blender 2.8 Jacques Lucke started working on a new VS Code extension that offers the best integration I found so far between VS Code and Blender. You can find it on GitHub.
You can already create, start and debug Python scripts and addons from VS Code with it. Auto-complete is at the point of this writing missing but planned for the future.
Here is a nice video explaining the setup and how to work with it:
https://youtu.be/q06-hER7Y1Q

I can think of two approaches -

Remote debugging. Options exist for pycharm/eclipse that allow the IDE to remotely debug a script running within blender. I'm not certain if this approach can be adapted to work with VSCode.
Build blender as a module. This option allows you to install the blender binary as a normal python module that can run without a gui in a standard python instance, allowing the script to be debugged like any other script.


text:
How to select all edges/vertex between 2
something selecting edges is very time consuming and you dont want to user the shoertcut to select everything just a small part connected by 2 edges.
how to accomplish that, meaning, I select an edge at one end and another at another end an automatically select everything between?
thanks

Using 'Alt + Right-Click' will select everything in a loop of vertices. I'm not sure whether you can select 2 vertices and everything in-between, but another alternative would be using 'Alt-B' to view a filtered down part of the model?

Note for 2.8+ users, it is now 'Alt + Left-Click' by default as the default selection mouse button has changed


text:
how can I have 2 normal sides of a plane?
I notice that some obj that I import into blender in a plane shape (like a cape, wall) both face sides are visible, instead of only one as a default in blender
I would like to know how to configure that in a new mesh in blender. Currently I have to use box for such requirement that increases complexity modeling it and creating unnecessary faces
thanks

"both face sides are visible, instead of only one as a default in blender" What do you mean ? Is it about Backface Culling from the Properties shelf > Shading rollout ? It should be turned off by default.

When I used to export to iClone via 3Dxchange, the backface culling would always be on even though it would be turned off in Blender when I did the export.   When I'd do the reverse and import models back into Blender, both faces would be visible.  It might depend on the application you're exporting a model to.


text:
writing a batch code to enable video card to support blender
I have desktop Intel core i7 920 quad core
windows vista
ATI Radeon HD 4870
1 GB discrete memory
9 GB DDRS
I need a batch code file to enable my video card to support my blender. please help. I have tried this code which I found it in youtube but it worked on PC with AMD Radeon video card.
                         @ECHO OFf
cd "c:\program files\blender foundation\blender"
set CYCLES_OPENCL_TEST=ALL
start  blender.exe
exit
this is won't work with my video card type. any line I need to add in a batch please let me know. thank you

Is there a difference between AMD and ATI cards?

AMD purchased ATI several years ago.

There was recently a patch submitted by AMD for Blender Cycles OpenCL.  On the following thread there is a link for a build that was made for Windows machines.  http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?254521-A-good-news-for-AMD-ATI-Graphic-cards-owners&p=2841548&viewfull=1#post2841548 (I'm not certain this will solve the issue you are having but it does sound like this is the branch that you want to be using for now)

I have almost the exact same setup. i7 920, HD 4870 1GB GDDR5, and 12GB of DDR3. I say with a fair amount of certainty that it's not possible to render off of this GPU. According to Blenders documentation GPU computing for AMD/ATI is only supported on the GCN architecture. In the video when he enables GPU compute, his GPU is listed as Pitcairn.
Pitcairn is a 28nm GCN1 chip from 2012, where as the HD 4870 is a 55nm chip from 2008. Not that fab size matters, but it just goes to show how old each series is. In case you were wondering, the HD 4870 is on the TeraScale1 microarchitecture. GCN only started with the 7000 series. Essentially all discrete desktop AMD/ATI GPU's 77xx and up will work. Anything lower, like the 4870 just won't. Don't believe me? Try searching for results on Blenchmark. For those wondering about desktop Nvidia cards it's a bit more convoluted, but here's a list.
NVIDIA TITAN X, GTX 1080, GTX 1070, GTX 1060, GTX 1050, GTX TITAN X, GTX TITAN Z, GTX TITAN Black, GTX TITAN, GTX 980 Ti, GTX 980, GTX 970, GTX 960, GTX 950, GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780, GTX 770, GTX 760, GTX 750 Ti, GTX 750, GTX 690, GTX 680, GTX 670, GTX 660 Ti, GTX 660, GTX 650 Ti BOOST, GTX 650 Ti, GTX 650, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 550 Ti, GTX 460, GTS 450, GTX 590, GTX 580, GTX 570, GTX 480, GTX 470, GTX 465, GT 740, GT 730, GT 730 DDR3,128bit, GT 720, GT 705, GT 640 (GDDR5), GT 640 (GDDR3), GT 630, GT 620, GT 610, GT 520, GT 440, GT 430.
*The GT 545, GTX 645, GTX 745, and GT 710 all appear to work despite not being listed on Nvidia's site. You can also find my source plus supported mobile GPU's in the link below.

http://blenchmark.com/gpu-benchmarks
https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus

Note: Going back to the original question, just for some context, the Radeon HD 4000 series was competing against the GeForce 200 series which also doesn't support GPU rendering. It was two years before the release of the GeForce 400 series, the first to support GPU rendering. The card is just to old.

Welcome to the site, good answer and thanks for contributing to an old post!


text:
Applying rotation, location and scale to model bones
I'm not an expert in 3D but I'm using Blender to change model's poses. I have a JSON object which describes how each bone will rotate, translate and scale:
{
  "name": "Soldier",
  "id": "TestId",
  "animMatrices": [
    {
      "name": "mixamorig:Spine",
      "position": [
        0.0,
        0.288420439,
        -0.027956875
      ],
      "rotation": [
        -0.0205147546,
        0.0105156591,
        0.0171466451,
        0.9995872
      ],
      "scale": [
        1.0,
        1.00000012,
        1.00000024
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "mixamorig:Spine1",
      "position": [
        0.0,
        0.338067949,
        5.486072E-9
      ],
      "rotation": [
        0.0558569357,
        0.0207238179,
        0.0163610559,
        0.9980896
      ],
      "scale": [
        1.0,
        1.00000012,
        1.00000024
      ]
    }
  ]
}

I tried to generate the 4x4 matrix and assign it to bone.matrix_basis as following:
pos = mathutils.Matrix.Translation((m['position'][0],m['position'][1], m['position'][2]))

rot1 = mathutils.Matrix.Rotation(math.radians(m['rotation'][0]), 4, 'X')
rot2 = mathutils.Matrix.Rotation(math.radians(m['rotation'][1]), 4, 'Y')
rot3 = mathutils.Matrix.Rotation(math.radians(m['rotation'][2]), 4, 'Z')
rot = rot1 * rot2 * rot3

scale1 = mathutils.Matrix.Scale(m['scale'][0], 4)
scale2 = mathutils.Matrix.Scale(m['scale'][1], 4)
scale3 = mathutils.Matrix.Scale(m['scale'][2], 4)
scale = scale1 * scale2 * scale3

bon_mat = pos * rot * scale
bone.matrix_basis = bon_mat

The model started to be having a very incorrect values, or I don't really know what happened.
I tried to to use bone.rotation_axis_angle but this did not effect anything, and by the way I always set:
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode="POSE")

and I got the JSON object from Unity.

there is a great examples of armature posing in the doc see this page

You need the position for only loose bones. Instead of creating matrices assign the data where it belongs.
import bpy
if bpy.context.active_object.mode != 'POSE':
    bpy.ops.object.mode_set('POSE')

pbones = bpy.context.active_object.pose.bones

pbones['Spine'].location = m['position']
pbones['Spine'].scale = m['scale']

# I think your rotations are in quaternions, they are 4D
pbones['Spine'].rotation_quaternion = m['rotation']

# If not and you only use the first 3 values then:
#pbones['Spine'].rotation_mode = 'XYZ'
#pbones['Spine'].rotation_euler = m['rotation'][:3]

You can sure do this also by building the matrices, but check what your rotation data is in. You are building the rot_mat from Euler but I suspect your data being as quaternions.

I tried to do this but the model did not move at all, do I have to update the scene or do anything?

@AlQurashi there should be no need to update but it doesn't hurt. The code above works with this testing dictionary: m = {} m['position'] = [0.0, 0.288420439, -0.027956875] m['rotation'] = [-0.0205147546, 0.0105156591, 0.0171466451, 0.9995872] m['scale'] = [1.0, 1.00000012, 1.00000024]

Ok, now I get it and its changing, The problem is I get these values out from Unity, when I change these values, the models is damaged, what can I do?

@AlQurashi You should probably also validate the data getting out of unity. If they are in bone space or global space, left/right hand system, check the rotation values if they are correct and also check if or how were the bones transformed on import to blender.


text:
Splitting an objects data_path into hierachal list
Drivers, and in particular driver variable targets have data_paths that will break in the UI using layout.prop(target.id, target.data_path) an example is a mesh target with  shape_keys.key_blocks["Key 1"].value as a datapath.
def split_path(data_path):
    '''
    Split a data_path into parts
    '''
    if not len(data_path):
        return []
     # remove all collection names
    match = re.findall(r'\[\"(.*?)\"\]\.', data_path)

    namedic = {}
    for i, m in enumerate(match):
        key = "Collection___NAME________%d" % i # surely not lol.
        data_path = data_path.replace(m, key, 1)
        namedic[key] = m

    parts = data_path.rpartition(".")
    props = []
    while parts[0] != parts[1] != '':
        dp = parts[0]
        props.append(parts[2])
        parts = dp.rpartition(".")

    props.append(parts[2])

    # replace the names
    propstring = ",".join(props)
    for key, name in namedic.items():
        propstring = propstring.replace(key, name)
    props = propstring.split(",")

    # reverse list
    props.reverse()
    return props

will return  ['shape_keys', 'key_blocks["Key 1"]', 'value'] for aforementioned data_path
However it's possible for users to name their objects with quotes " and square brackets et al which will break the re.
Any suggestions on how to parse more effectively for names?

better put this on stack-overflow, this is about python parsing. Also include an example that will break your code - the case you want to solve. There is no object name in the data_path, I am confused.

@Jerryno yes and no, each path element needs to resolve to a blender object, hence the solution may lay outside the re used in question using bl_rna for instance, so yeah it's here or there with a blender tag.  If I get's migrated I gets migrated.. i suppose.

I think that driver variable with datapath containing for example pose.bones['Bone'] will not work. It only works with parenthesis (" "). You don't need to worry about quotes (' '). Am I understanding the question right?

It's more the case of if the bone is named something dumb like '["Bone["Bone' rather than 'Bone'  If the dp is pose.bones["Bone"].location I want to have ['pose', 'bones["Bone"]', 'location'] returned, even if the name is "dumb name" , from which I can ".".join the first two and use layout.prop(id_obj.path_resolve(joinedbit), 'location') for instance

I see now. Parenthesis as part of a name will not work in a driver but quotes will - and that will break your parser. Something that detects string starts and ends will solve this. I'll write an automaton.

Lol I mean quotes and apostophes, not parenthesis and quotes..

Problems with parsing data_path can occur when the user gives entities names containing apostrophes(names containing quotes will not work in driver data_paths). Such will still work in drivers, i.e:
"""pose.bones["Bone'bla'"].location.x"""

So we can assume every name has to be enclosed with [""] in such datastring that drivers will accept:
def split_path(data_path):
    '''
    Split a data_path into parts
    '''
    if not data_path:
        return []

    # extract names from data_path
    names = data_path.split('"')[1::2]
    data_path_no_names = ''.join(data_path.split('"')[0::2])

    # segment into chunks
    # ID props will be segmented by replacing ][ with ].[
    data_chunks = data_path_no_names.replace('][', '].[').split('.')
    # probably regex should be used here and things put into dictionary
    # so it's clear what chunk is what
    # depends of use case, the main idea is to extract names, segment, then put back

    # put names back into chunks where [] are
    for id, chunk in enumerate(data_chunks):
        if chunk.find('[]') > 0:
            data_chunks[id] = chunk.replace('[]', '["' + names.pop(0) + '"]')

    return data_chunks

The part # segment into chunks is just basic, some more advanced segmenting can be implemented (for example one that will understand location.x is one thing or that will extract correct target.id and target.data_path)

Nice one. Needed the quotes  data_chunks[id] = chunk.replace('[]', '["%s"]' % names.pop(0)) and also there's the ID prop case where datapath is '["prop"]'which is returning ['[]']

Corrected missing "", thanks. Yes the ID prop case I didn't think of. Will look into it in the morning.

Your help is most appreciated, as all the different combinations make it non trivial IMO, and have produced some really ugly code from me (moreso than usual)  for each case scenario,  the script in OP managed to take out a lot of spag.   When I have time I'll make a test list of props.. An ID prop named '[""Prop[[""]' for instance will create hassles.  On one hand I feel if a user is creating such silly names they can learn the hard way.  A robust script to return a split path has many applications for scripts dealing with datapaths.


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Free division of a cube?
I'm sorry if that's an obvious question (it probably is) but I'm new to blender and I couldn't find a solution to my problem so far. What I'm trying to achieve is
divide a cube into two unregular objects so that they fit (see the image). Normally I would use the CTRL+R tool, but it only works with straight lines. How can I do it, then?

Usually I would recommend use of the Boolean Modifier. But since Blender 2.72 there is a new mesh tool to intersect geometry in Edit Mode. Starting from the default Cube and a Plane in Object Mode, subdivide the Plane to your liking and use e.g. the Displace Modifier or Sculpt to give it some bumps.

Apply the Modifier and join the Cube and the Plane with CtrlJ and both selected. Go to Edit Mode (Tab), select only one vertex of the Cube and press CtrlL, hit Space and type "intersect". Choose Intersect from the popup menu. Note, that you need Blender 2.72.

Press P and select "By loose parts". Tab out of Edit Mode and delete (X) the part of the Plane, that lies outside of the Cube. Three objects should be left.

Two open parts from the cube, and the region of intersection. Copy the region with ShiftD.

Select a part of the Cube and one region together (ShiftRMB) and press CtrlJ. Do the same thing with the other two objects. You can now Tab back into Edit Mode and "remove doubles" (optional).


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Having issues exporting FBX Character mesh and rigg into UT4
I'm working on a project and we're making custom models to use in UT4, however when ever we export we're getting an issue with the bones. Saying there is more then one root or it will import with nothing there.   I've followed a few other tutorials and I'm not sure where we're going wrong with this.   Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you're not already using it, switch to Blender 2.7.2 RC; The fbx exporter has been improved.

Thanks,  Getting results now. just a few tweeks and I think we'll be up and running

Update to the latest release candidate, as of now(2.7.2 RC), and it should work much more smoothly. There were some problems with the fbx exporter which have been fixed, such as bones, vertex groups and shape keys, I think.


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Bake Path Animation
I'm trying to animate a horse along a path. What is the best practice to bake the path animation into the root bones position, without affecting other animations?
I added to my root bone the 'Follow Path' constraint and selected a nurbs path. If I try to manually insert the keyframes for my bones, with an active path constraint, those values aren't saved if I disable the constraint.

You can bake any bones path animation with Object > Animation > Bake Action.
Animations for bones are always in pose space (that's local space basically). If you would like them in "global" space, then you need to clear parents and not move with the armature object.
If you bake it only on the Root bone and then delete the Follow Path constraint on it, all other bones will stay unchanged.

One simple solution to animate a rotating root motion is to 'bend' the desired forward distance onto a fraction of a full circle.
For example:
My human character walks in one second 1.5 meters. Now I would like him to travel in sum 90° left or right from the starting position. That means he must travel 1.5 meters on the perimeter of a circle.
The question now is how big is the radius of the circle.
We know that the perimeter of a full circle is (1) p = 2*pi*r. Furthermore our desired distance d on the circle is only one quarter of the perimeter (2) d = p/4.
If we combine equation (1) and (2) and solve for r we get: r = (2 * d)/pi.
For our 1.5m walk animation we get r = 0.95m.
Now we only need to shift our 3d cursor 0.95m and rotate the root bone around this 3d cursor:


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Copy Pose Location, Paste As World Location
I would like to copy the current bone pose location, convert it into world location and paste this world location in the next key frame again in pose location.
Is it possible with a certain command?
Pose->World->[Next Frame]->World->Pose

Same issue here years after. Leaving the solution for newcomers, there is an official add-on for this purpose. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/addons/animation/copy_global_transform.html Hope it helps!


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Auto-Generate Mesh Grid from Contour
I'm currenlty working with this free 3d cloth modeling addon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNXBYI-WPU4), it is similar to Marvelous Designer, even though short on features.
One problem is the creation of an evenly spaced mesh used for the cloth.
A way to tackle this problem is to create a grid mesh with only edges and no faces. Fill the contour with faces and do a Knife Projection from the grid edge mesh onto the contour.

This way I do gain a mesh with evenly spaced faces, however this workflow is quite cumbersome if the contour needs to change.
Therefore my question is: Is it possible to auto generate a mesh grid from a given contour in a non-destructive way?
Optimally the mesh would regenerate if the contour changes.

If you quote an answer to another question, feel free to give the link, it could be useful (as well to answer you as for those who are looking for something similar) https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/152898/55910

You are right! Here it is: how-to-divide-a-face-into-a-square-grid


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Pipe joint addon: changing individual cylinder's geometry (radius, length)
I am new to blender and I'm basically trying to produce a network of bifurcating pipes with different geometry profiles using Y-pipe joints.
When I change the geometry it only seems to be capable of changing the whole Y-joint. I need to define/modify the cylinders' geometry (radius and length) for each individual cylinders. Is there a good way of doing this? Also, is there a clever way of joining each Y-pipe joints to create the pipe network? My approach so far was to manually make each pipes to match and then remove doubles, but sometimes it's hard to put them all together and the edges/circles overlap.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
p.s. I'm using blender 2.75 on mac

Defining length and radius is possible from last operator tab if pipe has been just created (or F6). If it's gone, then: defining lentgh, defining radius, joining ends of 2 different pipes with bridge tool

The geometry of the objects added from the pipe joint addon is the same as any of the other items, whether from the primitives menus, or added by a user, and can be manipulated the same way. Portions of meshes which align neatly with one of the primary axes, in the case of the pipe joint "y", the base which aligns with the z axis are fairly easy. Make a couple of loop cuts, slide them up the cylinder to where you want them, scale them to zero in the appropriate direction (in the case of the base cylinder, this would be "z"), then lock the z axis and scale them to size on the x and y axes.
When the case of the arms of the y-joint, it is a bit more difficult for me, as I've not figured out a good way to move items along an axis which was not parallel to one of the principal axes. With to my current skillset, my procedure is illustrated by this image:

where I use "helper geometry" to get the alignment correct. Sharp eyes may note that in the illustration in step 10 I've not yet removed the helper geometry, but it's trivial to do, selecting the helper geometry edge in edge select mode, and removing the edge only.
Another option, is, of course, to rotate the whole mesh at the beginning so that the axis you want to change is aligned with the x, y, or z axis, and use the simpler procedure outlined above.
Finally a workflow comment: if you are using a lot of modified pipe joints, I'd keep the modifications in a separate blend file, as separate objects, and import them to your working file by appending them. Once you've got one modified y joint with an enlarged arm on one side, it's trivial to create a new instance of that joint, and change the size of the arm for a different location in your mesh.


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Shadows in plain surface
I'm a beginner in Blender - i have a problem with mysterious shades in flat surface. Model comes from SketchUp (exported to OBJ / imported to Blender).
Model is composed of blocks, shades are near block's edges (but only on some of them). My idea was Sketchup model have some smooth edges, but it haven't...
Any idea what is the problem??
Thank you very much in advance!

EDIT
full resolution preview: http://lukex.name/temp/preview.png

remove doubles and recalculate the normals

If you look at the topology in those places I'm guessing they are caused by long tris and ngons. See if flat shading (3D view > Tool Shelf (T) > Tools > Shading) and recalculating the normals helps (Ctrl+N in Edit mode).

I had the same problem. All the objects look as if their faces were set to smooth. I solved the problem by setting flat AND giving a look to "Autosmooth" "checkbox in Normal" panel under "Object data" tab (I had to un-ceck them all). By seeing your screenshots only I would say that you may suffer of the same problem...give it a try

SketchUp exports horrible geometry to .obj. I didn't ever come across one that I haven't had to fix. Normals and doubles are usually the most common, thats very true.

Thank you very much for your comments.
Later i was solving how to import model by separate floors and it gives me a spoiler to solve this.
The problem causes import options and complicacy of model:
In Blender OBJ import options unchecking Smooth Groups and no Split by helped (in case of shadows on simple blocks //Groups in SketchUp had one surface identical and Smooth Groups in blender causes this problems).
Next - SketchUp allows making very complicated surfaces (many edge lines, only one surface [i used it for floor // it isn't showed in pictures]). But OBJ exporter probably has problem to divide it to triangles. It causes overcasting triangles and same shadows in flat surface. Dividing very complicated surfaces (in Sketchup by line tool) helped.
Good luck in rendering ;-)


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Add-on UV Paste Copy/ Align Distribute and Screencast in Blender 2.72
I just installed the latest version (Blender2.72) - Add-on Screencast disappeared. I think it's a shame because it was very useful ...
At a Blender 2.72 RC version I tested the add-on UV Copy/paste. And Align/Distribute UV. Blender on the site, they refer to these two add-on. But when I go to activate the Official, community testing and Blender 2.72 game. I can not find them. They have been removed as well? I thought it was official Add-On?

Screencast keys was removed because it has a lot of limitations.

See http://www.blendernation.com/2014/07/02/screencast-keys-addon-is-removed-b3d/ for some explanation. If you care to dig through the comments, there are some informative responses from the devs in there too. Here's a project to make a better replacement: http://jeh3.net/screencast-keys-status-addon-rewrite, however it seems to have some of the same limitations (they seem to be inherent to blenders python api)

Thank you for your answers and help. I managed to reinstall the add on screencast on the 2.72 release. I recorded the script .py and archive in zip file. The installation went without error and without limitation problem in using this add-on ... A friend possessing an i7 tells me that the add-on works well regardless of the views and / or renderer. This is cool :))

I don't know about UV Copy/Paste addon, but Screencast have been removed indeed.
Still, there's nothing against using it, just install it manually - download source file and install from file:
Screencast wiki page
UV Copy/Paste

Thank you for your answers and help. I managed to reinstall the add on screencast on the 2.72 release. I recorded the script .py and archive in zip file. The installation went without error and without limitation problem in using this add-on ... A friend possessing an i7 tells me that the add-on works well and all the view. Even in the renderer. This is cool :))


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Can't select individual vertices by right clicking in UV image editor (v2.46)
I am in the process of UV unwrapping a rather complex model that I have spent the last few weeks working on. However, at one point this evening whilst trying to make some progress on my project, I found myself unable to select individual vertices by right clicking them. I am still able to select individual faces by selecting the face select tool and right clicking on them, but for some reason I cannot do the same with vertices.
I am aware that one other person had a similar problem with blender 2.7 which turned out to be caused by the "UV sculpt" tool, but no such tool exists in version 2.46, which I am currently using.
This issue only affects the object itself and does not affect any other objects in the scene. I thought that I might be able to Rube-Goldberg-fix the problem by joining the affected object with a non-affected one and vice versa, but this only led to the problem "infecting" the other joined objects regardless of the joining order selected. I have also tried importing the mesh object into a new file, but the problem seems to follow it when I do.
I am now at a stage where I can either scrap the whole model and start over, or find some way of fixing it. Since the model represents quite some time investment from me, I would loathe to have to start over and so come to you, cap in hand, pleading for help with this project-ruining issue.
Thank you all in advance for your assistance.

Just curious, but why are you using 2.46?

Make sure you are in Vertex select mode in UV Image Editor View.  Edge and Face Select Mode are possible conflicts.
Make sure you do [NOT] have proportional editing enabled. Turn it off.

Here is a screenshot of 2.46. http://www.pasteall.org/pic/78115. Strange though, that other objects aren't affected, since selection mode should be global.

Is your question answered?

You know what i don't think this answered the question he had. There's something that blender does that is not normal behavior in most 3d software (surprised?). I believe i have the same problem. Where i want to select the verts of only ONE uv island but it will also select adjacent verts that are connected by geometry on another island. Say you are uv-ing a cube that has spread out uv islands (not connected in the uv map). Either in vert or edge mode select the front uv island, and you move it. This will also move the side. How do you toggle that off? i think this is what he meant.

I had the same problem and what fixed it for me was to turn off "Keep UV and edit mode mesh selection in sync" in the UV editor. I know this thread is a few years old but this might help whoever searches this problem next. :P


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Preview and final render of grass are different
I am making a park with a path in Blender, but I have a problem with the particles. I've put the emission number at 200000 (for starter). At Viewport Shading - Render the grass looks normal (full), but when I actualy render it, the grass doesn't look as it should. Under the path and outside of the camera view I've removed the grass with weight painting. I have no idea how to make it right, so I would be very very thankful for any help. ( Oh and changing the emission number doesn't help much)
Eva

you probably have a modifier with different settings for render and view port

I had the subsurf modifier applied, and when I removed it, the grass looked normal. Thank you very much!


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Blender - Fisheye ( Panoramic camera not available in freestyle?)
I want to render my project with Fisheye camera, but when I click render, I get an error message : Panoramic camera not available in freestyle? What does that mean?

You can not yet render a panoramic shot using the freestyle setting.
You must uncheck freestyle.

You can then try disabling panoramic view. (if you do not need it)

select your camera
switch from panoramic to perspective


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Wood texturing - how to get seamless texturing
i've found a nice wooden texture, and I want to aply it on a bench, but I have no idea how to get a nice wooden look - without the obvious texture repeating. I've tried some node tricks, but nothing was looking ok. What should I do, to make the texture look nice and realistic?

From my experience (this will get off-topic), I have always run textures like this through Gimp, because there are add-ons to make the image seamless. For an on-topic perspective, try finding a longer (in the x-direction) texture, that will match your usage proportions a little better.

There is another approach that may be worth taking. Create a plane at the proportions of (half width x full height) of the image texture, and unwrap it to only half the image. Then apply that texture to the plane. Copy that plane and rotate it 180°, and connect it to the other end of the first plane. Repeat until you have the length of one slat. Then join all of those planes together (select all planes, Ctrl+J). Then extrude to the depth to the depth of a slat.

There are several procedural wood textures available like this one

from http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/52626.
They are seamless by definition. However you have to adjust scale and rotation to your object.

While procedural textures are out there on blendswap and such, it's not too terribly difficult to make a texture that might work for this kind of setting.
To begin, add a texture coordinate input node that runs to a mapping node. This will handle the scaling and actual direction the grain of the wood is going to follow.
Next, I used three different texture nodes. I used a noise, followed by musgrave, then a wave texture. The musgrave texture and wave texture define the outline of the grain, while the noise texture adds some variation. Play with the scale and find a look that suits you.
Finally, the color ramp node is what you control all your colors with, and how they look in the grain. I used four sliders on mine, the far left is the overall color of the
material,and the other three define the detail and size of the grain.
All of this runs out to a diffuse shader which is run to a mix shader, with a layer weight node in the fac input.
Hope this helps. Here's Suzanne rendered with this setup.

I have also added a .blend for you to reference if you would like to familiarize yourself with how the nodes work together to produce this effect.

You have a nice wood texture but it is not a “Seamless” texture. Seamless textures can be repeated, or tiled, next to itself with out any obvious seams. With some care you may be able to make it seamless using an application like Photoshop or Gimp but there are plenty of resources for seamless textures online. I got this low res seamless “WoodFine0050_1_S” from http://www.textures.com/download/woodfine0050/51803
There are many approaches to texturing in this example I created one slat of the bench and UV Unwrapped it
first marking the 7 edges of the cube as seams as in the image below. In “Edit Mode” select the edges then press CTRL + E and select “Mark Seam” from the drop down menu.

Then I added an “Array” Modifier to increase the number of slates and a “Curve” Modifier to create the shape of the bench.
I applied the “Array” Modifier in “Object” Mode.
I applied “Scale” in “Object” Mode by pressing CTRL + A and selecting scale from the drop down menu.
In the UV Editor (In “Edit” Mode) I selected all of the vertices and unwrapped the mesh. Press “U” and select “Unwrap” from the drop down menu.
I used this node set up in the “Node” Editor.
*If you wanted to be true to life the ends of the slats should have a different texture because they would be cut across the grain of the wood.

Note: Ideally you should use square textures in multiples of eight. 1024x1024 is a standard size. I typically use 2048x2048 for greater detail when the camera gets close.


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Object clips in camera view
In my camera view my objects are clipped. I know the "default answer": clipping end value but I changed this already to 100000000 for the camera. The normal 3d view does not clip when I use 1000 end clip value but the camera view does and the render also.
Where can I also change a value? What Is my mistake?

Can you post your blend file?

ok.
www.mevendia.de/fehler1/fehlerreport.blend

Just set clipping End to 500

in my project that does not make any difference

@AlexanderHaase tested: https://i.sstatic.net/ewREx.png

You just probably switched wrong clipping value.
Select the camera and in camera panel increase the clipping: (marked in green)

You saved me!! :,) Thanks!


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Multiple mkv files from blender video render
This is my first time trying to create a video using Blender, and it's from a 4k camera.  I used the following settings:
Video Codec: H.264
Output Quality: High quality
Encoding Speed: Good
Keyframe Interval: 18

File Format: FFmpeg video

The video is fairly long at around 26 minutes, and for some reason it cut the video into 9 mkv files at almost exactly 2gb each.  So I'm guessing I have the max size of video set to 2gb somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.  Any idea where I set that incorrectly?
Also, I'd like to export to a single mp4, or .mov, or other formats, but those don't seem to be options.


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What does clip=True mean in mathutils.geometry.intersect_line_sphere()
This argument seems to be undocumented.
Does it mean that if an intersection point is not between the line's two endpoints (line_a and line_b) then it is not returned?

Short Answer: Yes, it does.

Long Answer:
The source code is located in this file. It calls line_point_factor_v3 which subtracts both, the end point line_b and the intersection point isect from the start point line_a, to get the relative vectors from line_a to line_b and the intersection point isect, respectively.
It then divides the dot product of these relative vectors by the squared length from line_a to line_b.
Since both relative vectors are on the same line, the result of the dot product is negative if they point in opposite directions, else the result of the dot product is the product of the lengths of these vectors.
So basically its
dist(line_a, line_b) * dist(line_a, isect) / dist(line_a, line_b)²

If clip is True it checks wether this is between 0.0 and 1.0 which means the intersection point is on the line segment from line_a to line_b


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My mesh is stuck in lines mode, it renders with faces, but they don't show when editing
So, what I did, was I was looking through the physics tab in the mesh editor, going through all of them, I press "Rigid Body". I unchecked it (as I did all the others) and now my mesh will not go back to object mode. The faces don't show at least. I can render it and it will work perfectly, but I can't make it go out of this view and it's starting to bug me. http://gyazo.com/6ad87d5a902d56c5712edf0c0453d127 I can go into edit mode and it will work normally, but this is in object mode with no modifiers, materials, perticles, nothing. If there is a setting that I might need to check, please tell me.


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How can I UV unwrap a mesh based on its 3D perspective in the viewport?
I am currently working on a mesh made up of many puzzle pieces. My end goal is to place a picture on the puzzle mesh. To do this, I have combined all puzzle pieces into a single mesh, with the intention being to then unwrap it based on a top-down perspective.
Here is my mesh:

Here is a top-down view, which is what I would like my mesh to look like when unwrapped:

I have tried a cube unwrap and smart UV project, but, neither one produces a mesh that allows me to easily place a picture on the puzzle by setting that picture to to be the texture.
I realize that the sides and bottom of the puzzle mesh may be problematic to unwrap, but, I don't care what is on those because they will not be visible in the final render. As such, any sort of errored out texture is fine provided I can render the rest of the mesh without, ie. crashing.
I am using Blender 2.77.

Enter edit mode
Select the face that you want to be unwrapped
Press U then choose "Project From View"
Note : "Project From View (Bounds)" will fit the UV to the texture space like the image down below


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How can I create a non-self-intersecting mesh from a line mesh?
I am currently working on creating a 3D model of a Lorenz system. I want a result fairly similar to the following picture from the Internet, minus the stand:

To accomplish this, I created a C++ program that outputs an OBJ where the lines of the Lorenz system are represented as lines in the OBJ file (via the l command). Then, I was going to apply the skin modifier to this OBJ in Blender to make it solid, as in the picture. When I do this, however, there are two issues. Firstly, the solid lines resemble extruded squares more than the cylinders that I prefer. Secondly, when the Lorentz system wraps back near to its self, there is overlap between the pseudo-extruded-squares. While this overlap is in and of itself not an issue, it creates mesh intersections which are highly problematic for any use of this mesh (ie. rendering, 3D printing):

How can I use Blender to transform the line OBJ file into a model with solid cylindrical lines and correct mesh overlap (similar to a union operator)?

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/93110/how-to-achieve-this-spline-and-particle-effect and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/94991/trace-visualisation-in-3d-how-to-wrap-curves-onto-a-3d-mesh

don't use skin, use 3d curves... in object mode > right click > convert to curve... then in edit mode > set spline mode > bezier... then set handle type > automatic... then in curve data properties > geometry > increase bevel depth... and maybe you should export with lower resolution

Not sure about the overlap issue, but if you add a Subdivision Surface modifier then you should get circular instead of square extrusions.


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Can't render smoke on GPU in 2.77 testbuild 1
It says smoke/fire in cycles has CUDA support now, but I can't seem to get it to work, even on the experimental feature set. Running a GTX 770, 4GB.

Works for me on GTX 460

@cegaton Or better yet - report it before the release so it can get fixed. That is what the testbuilds and rc releases are for.


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how can i make the player run in a certain path ? i already had the animation
i am beginner in working with blender game engine , i already had the character and its animation , in the BGE the action is done only once i wanna know how to make it do the action as long the key pressed and also in certain path , any help ?

Usually you play a looping walking cycle (on place) and It's the parent at the same time.
The resulting animation looks like walking.


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Keep an object's origin at 0 during an animation?
This is difficult for me to explain, unfortunately.. Please bear with me.
I would like to use simulated physics on an object and bake the physics into keyframes for that object, which i have done. But is there a way for me to keep the object's XYZ locations and rotations in object mode at 0 while only the mesh moves?
I'm basically trying to create something like, for example, a model of a brick wall that breaks apart to be used in a video game to give the illusion of real time physics in that game. I figured I could simulate physics for the model and bake to keyframes, and then use those keyframes on the bones that the model will be rigged to. But I need everything's XYZ at 0 in object mode. But I'm a newbie so I don't know how to accomplish this.
So to simplify the question as much as I can: how can I transfer the keyframes from the simulated physics from the object to the bone but keep their origins at 0.

For a video game you don't want to do that. Shape key animations are very expensive and hard to transfer over. Plus, the pieces would not interact with the rest of the game world.
You most likely want to simulate the physics for the pieces in real time in the actual game engine. Often this type of things are made with an intact version of the wall and after the impact happens, the object is removed and the physics-simulated pieces are instantiated.
Or if you want a non-interactive version you could make a rig for the pieces and bake the simulation on the rig in Blender, then export the object with meshes and animation. Considering how advanced and efficient the physics simulation capabilities of even free and indie game engines are today, this is becoming an increasingly obsolete solution.

Yes, shape keys allow you to modify your mesh in a very controlled way, and the animation ability of these things are amazing.
As far as manipulating bones this way, you may be needing to look in the pose library slant of things, but admittedly rigging is not my strong point, so others in this community will still be able to help you, and correct my miss-speakings if necessary.
If you are thinking of transferring keyframes, I believe that you are going to end up looking at copying keyframes over to the Dopesheet >> Action Editor
Under a new action, or just using the pose library actions.
Once you have all of your actions mapped over, you will be able to sequence those actions within the NLA editor.
Now the bigger question is how to take your bone movements, and have them affect your shape keys.
The bigger answer is probably Drivers &/OR Constraints.
All this being said, I believe that I am pointing you in a valid (if not good) direction, but I don't believe that this particular question is granular enough to be accepted here because of how big the scope would have to be to cover all of these topics, and specifically your project. So if someone doesn't come along and answer this one very effectively to validly replace my answer, please read up on the advice of topics (marked in BOLD), and ask smaller questions as you navigate through the learning curve of how to accomplish your workflows.
AND / OR
Modify your answer to demonstrate more specifically what you are trying to get done. Maybe even include your blend file, or some animation that portrays your specific needs.


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How to evenly space vertices along several segments bezier curve
Is there a way I can separate the vertices on the the segments evenly without moving the end points? I would like for the vertices to maintain the current curve.

What has worked for me is converting the bezier curve to a mesh curve, then using the "space" command from Loop Tools (see here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/7698/how-to-evenly-space-vertices) and finally converting back into a bezier curve.

As far as I know there is currently no way to do what you ask in Blender.
There currently is no tool to evenly place existing vertex long a curve.
This is now trivial to achieve using geometry nodes in recent versions of Blender 3.0+, otherwise read below for workarounds.
If you already have a curve with the desired shape and wish to add additional vertex you can use the Subdivide operator under the Specials Menu W key. This will evenly subdivide currently selected segments and place vertex along its length at regular intervals while trying to maintain the shape as best as possible.
One workaround you might use is using an array modifier on a mesh to reconstruct you curve.

Create a new mesh
Erase everything but one single edge
Place one of it's vertex on the object's origin so that the edge starts at local coordinates 0,0,0 and extends horizontally in X
Align that object with your curve (same object coordinates and same rotation)
Add an array modifier to the new mesh and set it to Fit Curve mode
Pick your curve as length object and turn on option Merge in the array modifier
Now add a Curve Modifier to the mesh and set it to use your same curve
You should now have a mesh with the same shape as your curve and evenly spaced vertex.
Adjust your mesh edge length to fit your desired level of detail or vertex spacing
Convert your mesh to a curve with Alt+C > Curve from mesh
Enter edit mode on newly created curve and set it's type to Bezier (Tool Shelf > Tools > Set Spline Type button)
Set it's handle types to Auto for smoothest results with the V menu Set handle type > Automatic

Hope this helps

For Future reference I found another method that may work for individual curve segments.
If your curve only has one segment, select both end points, then use the Subdivide operator and select the number of desired subdivisions, from the operator options panel.

For what it's worth, an alternative approach:

Convert curve to mesh
Extrude it so it's a surface: (name: curve_mesh)
Make a plane (name: tracing_geo), keep just one edge
Place first and last vertex on begin and end of mesh (curve_mesh)
Add a Subdivision Modifier to evenly increase vertices
Add a Shrinkwrap Modifier and stick it to curve_mesh

As desired you can add more vertices nondestructively. You could even do a bit of modelling with a few vertices.
This works well if you need to create many shapes with evenly spaced vertices.

Few steps to follow

Draw the curve as needed

Convert the curve to mesh

Activate loop tool addon (inbuild in Blender in all versions)

Right-click on the curve and select space

Convert the mesh to a curve

Convert the curve to bezier

A small video that can help you link is below.
https://i.sstatic.net/iufFT.jpg


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OpenCL won't work for cycles, Mac
I just started usuing cycles render on a Mac, and Was told GPU rendering is much faster. The only problem is that the GPU rendering never happens it just makes a light grey and dark grey checker board, it isn't running out of space as it it usuing 60 MB and I have 1024. Can anyone help! Thanks.


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Is there a way to use VSE to render faster?
I am a beginner Blender user (Probably always will be), and I sometimes use blender for video editing. I was wondering if there is a way to decrese your time, cause I use the Replay mod to record at 2596x1440p60 and it takes 15 mins to an hour to render a 1 ind video just to add sound. Is there a way to simply merge sound and video without rendering for hours?
Thanks. Btw I'm on a Mac yosemite

You search for a Muxing Software like AviDemux which can help you add an audio track without reencoding.


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Where or how do you find the keyframes for properties in the Dope Sheet?
I have some keyframes for the Radius of DoF on the camera. Let's say I want to change the interpolation on the value changing from Linear to Bezier or the other way around.
I know I have show only selected in the dope sheet, but otherwise it gets way too cluttered, and would take minutes just to find it, and I'm not sure if it is there.
How do I find the keyframes of properties so that I can edit them?

If you click the magnifying glass in the dopesheet header or press Ctrl-F you can search for the property name.

You can also filter by type, in this example I have turned off all dope sheet keyframes except camera:

To change interpolation of keyframes select the keyframe that you want the change to occur after, then press the T key.
However changing interpolation will not be apparent without showing the animation in the Graph or F-Curve editor.


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How to write a small program to use the Crayola Easy Animation Studio with Blender?
Link to more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnX6pHC9VwE
I saw the Crayola Easy Animation Studio for about $17. It would be cool to hack this to drive Blender animations. It looks to have about 16 potentiometers or the equivalent packed onto a manikin that you can position.
I can see that this would make a great, widely useful hack. Either by writing a (presumably small program) to get the values off of all those potentiometers, or by linking it directly into Blender, which would be a much, much bigger job.

Depends on how easy it is to get values from the potentiometers into blender (probably via blender's python api in some way)

I don't see any evidence of potentiometers, or other support for wireless communications (e.g., a battery port cover), and I don't think spatial orientation and wireless communication could be provided at the pricepoint I see. I do note that each exterior surface of each element of the manikin seems to have a unique pattern in green, so that first guess is that it's working from optical recognition. If so, then it becomes simpler, perhaps, as that would be needed is to have optical tracking of the manikin.

So the answer to your question, or at least the title of it is to use Python and OpenCV (Open Computer Vision) http://opencv.org/ and there are tons of books and tutorials available.

The mannequin in the package is simply a few bits of plastic that clip together, there are no electronics in it. The included app that does the animation takes a photo of the mannequin and detects the location of each piece to then position the armature used for animation.
While any mannequin could be used for the same thing, you will find the odd shapes printed on this one will be used to get error free location detection of each piece.
Someone could write an app that detects the mannequin pieces and exports the armature data needed to match it. It will be about shape recognition within an image not reading any data being output by the mannequin.

we already have this software: its called blender ;) (have a look at the motion tracking component of the video editor - see http://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/introduction-to-camera-tracking/ for example)

Not the same thing. Blender's motion tracking is used to follow a point as it moves in a video. Using the mannequin you aren't tracking it's motion in a video, you have a still image and want to automatically locate each body part in that image, then repeat for another image and interpolate between them. Where motion capture is designed to find points that have moved a small amount from one frame to the next, you can expect large jumps between key poses with the mannequin posing that will break (automatic) motion tracking. The app used is closer to OCR than motion tracking.