text:
In BGE, can you make an objects animation only play when that object is in motion?
How can I make an object's animation only play when that object is moving?
I do not need it to play on mouse press, only when's it's moving.

Well, make a Mouse sensor, and controller and action actuator and connect them together. Set the mouse sensor to what you need(for example, left button with true level triggering) and action actuator to your action! So simple!;)

he does NOT want it to play on mouse press, only when the character is moving. However the question is worded so poorly I can't tell if that is really what he wants.

Well than he can use python to get object's linear velocity and than, activate action if the object's linear velocity is higher than 0! But in that case he need to move object using force or linear velocity!


text:
How could I place objects (buildings) on a flat surface in the BGE?
I'm working on an RTS in BGE, and I am not sure how I could make it so you can place buildings on flat surfaces (or unless there is an easier way). I would love to know how to place buildings when you click a certain button to place it.
I don't really need anything fancy like price and stuff like that yet. I really have no idea if Python is required to do this.

Warning: this is a long answer. It may take a while for some of the images to load. For those of you who don't like reading: The working .blend files are at the bottom of this answer.
Basic Mechanics
You first need an empty (named Arrow) to follow the mouse. This empty will add the buildings.
You will need a script like this.
from bge import logic

def main():
    scene = logic.getCurrentScene()
    cont = logic.getCurrentController()

    mouse_over = cont.sensors["MouseOver"]

    if mouse_over.positive and scene.objects["Arrow"]['ActiveYesNo?'] :
        tracker = scene.objects["Arrow"]
        tracker.worldPosition = mouse_over.hitPosition
        tracker.worldPosition.z += 1

And use this on your empty.

That way your empty will always track to your mouse.
Now all you need to do is make it add the buildings when you click and it is in a valid position. You can do this by adding some more simple logic on your empty.

Now when the Boolean property OkSpot? is true, and the left mouse button is pressed, it will add your building object. however this doesn't help us much if there is nothing to toggle that property when the placement spot is valid.

Now when the arrow receives the message GoodSpot it will set the Boolean OkSpot? to true and, when the arrow receives the message BadSpot it will set the Boolean OkSpot? to false. Now we are done with the empty (named Arrow), but we now need something to send those messages.
We obviously need some sort of collision detector. In this case, a simple cube will work. Add a cube and parent it to your empty (named Arrow).
We need to edit the cube so that it is slightly above the ground.

Now when it is on the slightest slope, it will be colliding with the ground.
It is also important that you change your Collision object's collision type from static to sensor, because static objects can't detect collisions with other static objects and, I assume that your ground will be a static object. You also should set it's collision bounds to Box.

Now that we have our collision object detecting collisions properly, we still need it to send that information to the arrow. We can do this by using this logic setup.

Now we can test it. Everything should be working so far. the building we will be adding is just a cube for now.

The basic mechanics should be working now to place the buildings. skip to the end if you don't care about how your game looks.
If you want to be make it much more complicated, you can have two other no-collision duplicates of the building that will be added, one transparent green, and the other transparent red. (to show when the selection is valid.) Then you can make the arrow directly connected to the red and green objects telling it when the selection is or is not valid.  TO make this simpler, first we should set the maximum draw type on your collision detector to wire. we also need to make it invisible.

Now if we look at the viewport, it should look like this.

Now we can add the red and green cubes. These are just graphics to make it look pretty and are actually irrelevant for the basic mechanics. The system already works fine (skip to the end if you don't need it to look good).
Now, both your red and green cubes should be no-collision and both parented to the main empty (still named Arrow).

Now all we need to do is make them toggle their visibility depending on whether or not the selection is valid. we can do this by adding two visibility actuators to both Cube Red and Cube Green then we need to add another property sensor on the empty (yes, it is still named Arrow) to detect when the Boolean OkSpot? is false.
If you don't like reading but are ok with pictures, skip this part.
we already have a property sensor to detect when it is true, so we can re-use that one. If we connect them to the appropriate visibility actuators on both cubes, it should change color accordingly. I have named the and controllers ok and not to make connecting them simpler. The and controller that is connected to the property sensor that detects when OkSpot? is true, receives a positive pulse when the arrow is in a valid spot. because we are going to use the green cube to show when the selection is valid, it should be visible when the selection is valid. the red cube should not be visible when the selection is valid. connect the other *and * controller to the visibility actuators that are still unused.

Now that everything is working, we can test it again.

Everything seems to be working fine.
We are now going to add the button to toggle on/off the build system. If you only want it to work and look cool, skip to the very end where the blend files are. Doing this will make a big mess of the logic, and I recommend also downloading the simplified blend so you can get an idea of how this works without the messy logic of the working one.
We can now add the button to turn on/off the arrow.
We need an overlay scene with a camera and a button. the button can be something fancy, or just a plane with logic.

Now we can go back to the main scene and add a scene actuator to one of the objects to add the HUD scene. It is true that you could put it on any one of your objects, But I usually add an empty and put it somewhere where it is easily accessible. This empty holds all of the Game start/end and Scene add/remove logic.

We also need the mouse to display. In newer versions, this is much easier than before.

Now we need to modify the logic on the original empty (still named Arrow). When logic starts to get this messy, you can un-check the check boxes to make editing easier.
Note that doing this also disables the logic bricks so be sure to re-enable them before testing.

From the newly added logic on the Arrow, now when you place a building, it will deactivate the arrow.
We need to add a way so that clicking the Build button on the HUD will activate it add a new one.

We should test it now to see if this part is working.
Don't forget to re-enable the logic that we un-checked

This part is working. However, we can still see the arrow if it isn't active. This can be fixed easily enough.
You need to significantly change the logic on your arrow to match this.
(Simplified)

(Expanded)

There are two blend files below. One is without that mess, one has it working.
We must test it again.

If you had any trouble following that, you can always look at, take apart, and/or  modify the blend files.
Blend file without button to build (always has arrow active) - Logic is simple.

Blend file with button to build (Click button to activate arrow, click to place cube, clicking also deactivates arrow so you must click build button for each cube you want to add again) - full working demo. Logic is harder to understand.

For some reason the .gifs sometimes will not work :-(

@X-27 The second .blend file is missing

@NoviceInDisguise Fixed it, GiantCowFilms was very nice and made that blend file #27 on the blend exchange server, and I still had the link in the question linking to the previous link location.

BTW you can use mouse wheel to rotate them.

source: Stack Exchange

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

authors: Михайло Муравинець

sort: votes


text:
Modifiers: add and set "live" parameters then apply via python
Here is my question: I have a single object and 5 modifiers to be applied to it. I would like to:

Add all of them together
Allow the user to change a set of parameters with some GUI, maybe a bar scrolling from a minimum to a maximum value
Allow the user to apply the modifiers (all together) when he is satisfied with the result.

Let's keep it simple for now and let's say I consider

DECIMATE MODIFIER with the ratio parameter to be set
WIREFRAME MODIFIER with the thickness parameter to be set

Point 1.
I was thinking to something simple
Code:
class AddModifiers(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "modifiers.add"
    bl_label = "Adding Modifiers"
    bl_options = {"UNDO"}

    def execute(self,context):
        obj = bpy.context.active_object
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='DECIMATE')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Decimate"].ratio=0.5 # parameter inizialization
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='WIREFRAME')
        bpy.context.object.modifiers["Wireframe"].thickness=2 # parameter initialization

        return {'FINISHED'}

class Panel(bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
    bl_context = "objectmode"
    bl_category = "Modifiers"
    bl_label = "Add Modifiers"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        # ALLINEAMENTO
        row = layout.row(align=True)
        row.alignment = 'EXPAND'
        row.operator("modifiers.add", text="Adding Modifiers")

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

register()

Point 2.
Really don't know how to do that... class and gui...
Point 3.
Adding a class like that (with its own button in the gui of course)
Code:
class ApplyModifiers(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "modifiers.apply"
    bl_label = "Applying Modifiers"
    bl_options = {"UNDO"}

    bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(apply_as='DATA', modifier="Decimate")
    bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(apply_as='DATA', modifier="Wireframe")
    return {'FINISHED'}

In point 1 for the add modifiers operator you set obj to the active_object but don't use it. Rather than using other operators it would be better to perform the task as -
obj = context.active_object
dm = obj.modifiers.new('Decimate','DECIMATE')
dm.ratio = 0.5

And similar for other modifiers.
For point 2
Inside draw() for your panel class you want to add
obj = context.active_object
row.prop(obj.modifiers['Decimate'], "ratio")

That will show the decimate modifiers ratio property right there in your panel. Adjust for other modifier properties you want.
For point 3 the apply modifiers needs to be inside the execute function.

hi sambler thanks for your question, very helpful.

thanks again sambler, I have 2 more questions

is it possible to constraint the parameter modifiers in a pre-set range?

I always get in the python console "keyError: 'bpy_prop_collection[key]: key "Descimate" not found'", although it works. The error is referred to the line in draw()
row.prop(obj.modifiers['Decimate'], "ratio")

no, the limits are set in the source code. 2. The panel can't display the value before the modifier is created, add a test if the modifier exists to show the ratio.

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


text:
Several Missing Tools
I seem to be missing several tools in Blender 2.62, or at least I'm not able to get to them the way the manual says they should be accessed. For example:
According to the Help file, the Bevel Tool is supposed to be accessible either with the Hotkey of CTRL-B or W > Bevel, or from Mesh > Edge > Bevel while in Editing mode, but it's not there. Nor am I able to access the Knife tool.
Any ideas where they've gone?

IIRC these features where added after 2.62. Any particular reason you are using that version? The current version is 2.73a

Partly because I only just started modeling again after a hiatus, so didn't update.

The knife tool is in 2.62, however it's nothing like the modern knife tool. It was rewritten into it's modern form in 2.63 with the introduction of bmesh.
The Bevel tool was also added in 2.63, after being missing since 2.5x.
However both these tools (and many others) have been improved enormously since then, so I highly recommend updating to the latest version.

Yeah, I went ahead and updated. The part that had confused me is that the help file said it was there, but I guess didn't specify what version of 2.6 it was for. Thanks.


text:
How to set font size in points?
I am using Metric and want to type text to export as a STL for my 3D Printer. Is there a method of knowing or setting up the text size in points (pt)? In all other programs I select the size and know that I need a size of say 155, how can I do this in Blender? The scale I have as 1.000 if that's correct?

What units are the other programs using? (points?)

Yes, Points so I have 2 Different Text Sizes I use, 155pt and 255pt so I'm trying to do this in Blender.

No, there is no way to set the size of a text object in points.
A point is just another unit of measure (wikipedia), so if you know the size point that your other programs and printer are using then you can set the size in blender. Typically a point is 1/72 of a inch or 0.3515mm. So for your 155pt you could set the size to be 54.4825mm.
The quickest way to do so would be to first, set the units to be Metric.
Then in the Properties panel, N to show it. Type in 54.4825mm to the Y axis. Copy the scale from the Y axis to the X and Z axes. The text is now sized at 155pt.

THANK YOU David, that really explained a lot, my only difference is I see Metres in the Y Dimension not cm like it shows in your image. At least I have something appearing when exporting it as an STL

@ken Blender will automatically change the units depending on how big the object is. So when you scale it down to the right size it will say cm. Plus you can type any units in there no matter what unit it is using.


text:
fluid simulation baking error
What I am trying is following:
I want to "melt" a human body, so that the body turns into water and splashes onto the ground. OR that the human body is melting.
Basically: to turn a more complex form/object into fluid.
The problem I have is the following:
When I bake the body (selected as fluid > fluid) the body turns into a weird shape and splashed onto the floor (fluid > obstacle). But I need the body staying exactly in form and melting down from there.
The first picture is the bodyshape before I bake it and the second one you can see what it turns into when baking it (BEFORE it splashes down to the floor)
something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx5KCEX6SZ0
BUT of course not turn into smoke, but water, splashing onto the floor.

I think you might have your images reversed.

Hi David! Thanks for answearing! What do you mean by that? And where can I hange it? Thanks again!! x M

when i choose volume initialization: shell, it comes closer to the original form, but even when i put the final domain resolution up to 200 before baking it, it has still way less verticles than the original body

I was just talking about your 2 images in your question, I think they might be backwards.

ah yes, that is right, i changed it

Can you show a blend file?

It definitely should work if your human mesh is a nice clean non-manifold mesh. Here is a test I did: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ac0nygtnuaie4t/meltHuman.blend?dl=0

Try making the viscosity of the fluid slightly higher, subdividing the fluid, and using surface smoothing.

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


text:
Determine if object is bezier circle curve?
I'm trying to modify my local copy of dynamic spacebar to include a "Snap to Curve Intersection" option on the "Snap Cursor Menu" starting with circle-circle intersections and circle-path intersections for straight paths that will snap the cursor to the closest intersection to its existing location.  I've gotten as far as making a new menu option that only appears enabled when two curves are selected and broken out a separate curveIntersect function to encapsulate the whole thing but I'm having trouble finding a way to distinguish curve types.
So the questions here are:
Does anyone know how to determine curve types from within an addon, or are those only applied at the time of curve creation and all checks would have to be based on their vertices?
Is there already an addon that does this which might save time, or a function built into Blender to handle curve intersections that could be called to pick the from a list of vertices by distance from the existing cursor position?  (so far I haven't found one anywhere in the API)
Worried I might have to go at this completely from scratch as my existing repository of c# functions for 2D geometry doesn't include bezier intersections I might port over to python.

this will return the curve type
bpy.data.curves['curve'].splines[0].type

the output is in  [‘POLY’, ‘BEZIER’, ‘BSPLINE’, ‘CARDINAL’, ‘NURBS’]
for more info Spline

Are you guys serious, Blender doesn't detect curve intersection ?  This must be intentional. So many hindered possibilities. How isn't this a bigger issue. This means you can't actually construct anything mathematically perfect using the Ruler and Compass method.


text:
Rotate Empty on Local X-Axis using Python Script
I have created a grid of hexagons.  I want to animate the rotation of a series of them diagonally, so I have parented each hexagon to its own Empty, and rotated the Empty's orientation to the angle I want to rotate the hexagons at.  But when I try to rotate each Empty on its local x-axis using python script, I can't seem to get the expected rotation.  What I've tried so far:
Selected Empty in 3D viewport, then ran (where the value "1.5708" is the equivalent of rotating 90 degrees):
bpy.context.object.rotation.euler[0] = 1.5708

or . . .
bpy.ops.transform.rotate(value=1.5708,
                         axis=(0.866025, 0.5, 0),
                         constraint_axis=(True, False, False),
                         constraint_orientation='LOCAL',
                         mirror=False,
                         proportional='DISABLED',
                         proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH',
                         proportional_size=1,
                         release_confirm=True)

The first one results in an error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "", line 1, in
      AttributeError: 'Object' object has no attribute 'rotation'

The second one rotates the Empty, but not according to local x-axis. (looks like maybe global x-axis)
Note: the above commands come from the info panel where first one is the same as setting rotation in the "Properties" panel (N key in 3D Viewport) and second one is the result of using the 3D Manipulation Widget
I am using Blender 2.73a on Mac OSX 10.8.5

The first one needs to be rotation_euler (underscore instead of . )

Your first attempt did not work because (as Ray Mairlot pointed out) the attribute is rotation_euler, not rotation.euler. Further more, with the proper notation it will only rotate the active object, not all objects selected.
This five line script rotates all selected objects by 90° on the local X axis.
import bpy
from math import pi
for ob in bpy.context.selected_objects:
    ob.rotation_euler[0] = pi/2
    ob.convert_space(from_space='LOCAL', to_space='WORLD')

The from math import pi line is just so we can use pi/2 instead of 1.5708 as the value to rotate by.


text:
VSE strip previews
When opening a .blend file in the Video Sequence Editor, occasionally there is a strip preview going on which significantly slows down Blender until it is done with the preview. Can anyone tell me what it's about and why it does that every time you open the file? Where are settings for the strip previews?

Maybe there are proxy files being created?

The behaviour you describe sounds like the Waveforms are being generated for some Sound strips and that is causing your slowdowns.
When you have one or multiple Sound strips you can check Draw Waveform in the Strips Sound Properties (on the right, open VSE's Properties Panel pressing the N key) per Strip.
When you want to set the behaviour for all Strips you can do so since the work on the gooseberry branch. They introduced this Feature there directly in the VSE's Menu Bar, but later implemented it in the Master Branch into the View menu with an own submenu Waveform Drawing where you can switch between two global options for turning Waveforms On or Off for all strips or let each strip determine on it's on property as described above whether or not to display its Waveform via Use Strip Option.
(You can script this if needed)

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/57839/2843


text:
How to get a MovieClipSequence Clip File via Python
I was wondering whether it was possible to get the name of the Clip File of a Sequence via Python.
The current Sequence can be accessed via:
bpy.context.scene.sequence_editor.active_strip

I had a look at the Blender Python API, but did not find anything there.
EDIT:
I guess I did not express myself quite clearly. My question is whether (and if so - how) it would be posssible to get the associated Movie Clip of a VSE Strip of the type 'Clip' (imported via the Movie Clip Editor and then added to the VSE via Add -> Clip... -> <Clipname>).

I presume you mean something other than ...sequence_editor.active_strip.name?

Yes, because that just returns the sequence's name, not the clip's one.

Not quite sure what you mean by reimporting...

I guess he means adding it as a fresh strip into the Sequencer again.

Actually it doesn't seem possible.
When you open the Add menu (Shift+A) you will see a list of all currently loaded Clips that have been opened in a Movie Clip Editor respectively their current Name properties.
Once you Add a "Clip" to the Sequencer it will initially get the original MovieClips name. But the corresponding MovieClip from the Strip of the Type MovieClipSequence being titled Clip in the Strips properties is only internally referenced. You cannot access it from the Sequencer anymore nor through the Python API. You can proof this via an Outliner view which is set to Datablocks Display Mode. There you can see all your Movie Clips in your Blendfile Data. Those have a name Property which can be set through Python via bpy.data.movieclips["clip_name"].name. Not that the Movie Clip is of the RNA Type MovieClip.
But when you look at your Scenes, <scene_name>, Sequence Editor, Sequence Editor, All sequences you can see all of your added Strips including the added Movie Clip (with it's original name) and an own name property which can be edited via bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].sequence_editor.sequences_all["clip_name"].name. Note its RNA Type MovieClipSequence.
When you now change the name of the MovieClip in the Sequencer you change the name of the MovieClipSequence object which can differ from the name of your MovieClip object. And only when they match the Strip in the sequencer will only show one name followed by a | and the MovieClipSequencer objects frame length. But as soon as you change one of these names, both will be displayed, the MovieClipSequenc objects first, followed by a colon : and the MovieClip objects name (followed by the | and the MovieClipSequence objects frame length). Unselected it's all a bit hard to read as imported Clips get a dark blue strip color by default.
But as soon as you see a colon : in a Clip strips name in the sequencer you can no longer match a MovieClip and a MovieClipSequencer as you cannot get the other ones name from one of these objects in Python as you can see there is no such link neither in the Python autocompletion nor in the Outliners Datablocks display mode. It's all handled internally by Blender for now.

Thank you! That is exactly what I wanted to know (although I find it very sad that it currently is that way).

Yeah... - but I'm happy I found something out about the Clips and how they work. Didn't use them yet in my projects. It's great to be able to insert them directly into the VSE using the undistortion feature and other advantages normal Movie Strips don't have. Anyways, feel free to open a Feature Request...

The active 'clip name' is the only real reference at the moment so avoid 'renaming' in VSE:
import bpy

seq = bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].sequence_editor
strip_name = seq.active_strip.name

print (bpy.data.movieclips[strip_name].filepath)

Console output: /home/user/videos/file_name.mp4

Otherwise (although not ideal) you could iterate through bpy.data.movieclips and compare the duration of the 'active strip' with 'all other' clips:
import bpy

seq = bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].sequence_editor
strip = seq.active_strip
strip_duration = strip.frame_duration

for i in bpy.data.movieclips:
    if (i.frame_duration == strip_duration):
        print (i.filepath)

This goes in the right direction, but when renaming the strip in vse this method - sadly - no longer applies.

Jep I know, but it seems that this is your only chance to get the clip directly, since there is no unique id at the moment.

Yeah... There seems to be one (because in vse the strip is named like that: ": "). It was sort of my question whether it is accessible it via Python :).

@PaulBrachmann As you can see it is accessible, but with limitations (at the moment). I've also tried comparing the clip pointers and thought about other solutions but unfortunately without any real success. Just out of interest: What you are trying to achieve?

I'm working on an AddOn that "precomposes" vse clips into scenes editeable via the compositor (in order to establish a NUKE like VFX/Compositing workflow in Blender). Therefore I have to know what the corresponding MovieClip to a MovieClipSequence is (to later on import it into the node editor).

I am including an EDL Importer for Sony Vegas (support of other applications is planned). But I want to give users the freedom to import clips on their own. (Also: As far as I know that solution would only work if the user never closed Blender in between.)

Nope you could also store it in a (blend) file...

This Answer was given before OPs edit while the question was still very vague, see my other answer as well.
Just Run this Script in a Text Editor:
import bpy
for seq in bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].sequence_editor.sequences_all:
    print(seq.name)

You should then see the desired output in the System Console (Toggle via Window menu).
When you hover over a Strips name property, you get the Python hint: MovieClipSequence.name and its Python path below: bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].sequence_editor.sequences_all["clip_name"].name.
You can import your MovieClips in an Editor/View of the type MovieClipEditor where there is the MovieClip selection in its menu bar. When you hover over an imported and selected clip in this Dropdown Box you will see the Python hint: MovieClip.name with its the Python path below: bpy.data.movieclips["clip_name"].name - there are more Python properties on the MovieClip directly accessible like its complete filepath, the count of its users, its dimensions as a size-array (with [0] being width and [1] being height) or its source type (movie, image, ...) and more.

"AttributeError: 'MovieClipSequence' pbject has not attribute 'elements'"
Besides: Are you sure that is the right way of getting a Movie Clip's name (because if so, wouldn't  bpy.context.scene.sequence_editor.active_strip.filename do the job as well)?

no, not each strip has a filename. Even a MovieClipSequence doesn't have one... You can just get the name, I edited the answer.

There is no need to iterate through the sequences since you can use active_strip. To provide a different answer than mine (both looking more and more the same) you could check if the select attribute is true or false.

@poor: Yeah, one can use active_strip, but then the script is dependant on a selection. By iterating it isn't, you will get all the names from all the clips.

Who was downvoting this answer and why? Please leave a comment if somebody downvotes.


text:
Timebase error when encoding mp4 file

I am using Blenders Video Sequence Editor and it won't let me render it. The message:

Timebase 20999/500000 not supported by MPEG 4 standard, the maximum admitted value for the Timebase denominator is 65535

keeps popping up. I don't know what to do. It also won't let me save it either.

Could you add screenshot of Rendering options inluding Dimensions and output. Can you try changing frame rate from there to see if it works?

Answer to your most recent post, that's the same question: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/56894/26541


text:
No Preview in the Preview Sequencer View (just white on black)
I am a new user and I just installed Blender 2.76b on a Lenovo R500, OS Windows XP Pro. I intend to use it mostly for (short) video editing.
I could load, hear audio, cut and animate video correctly, but the preview is in a white square on a black background.
When I initialize Blender, I got the following output:
"AL lib: <EE> ALCdsoundPLayback_reset: Unknown system speaker config:0x0
Warning! Using result of ChoosePixelFormat."

and at the start this alert:
"Your system does not use 3D hardware acceleration.
Such system can cause stability problems in Blender and they are unsupported.
This may cause by:
* A missing or faulty graphics driver installation.
  Blender needs a graphic card driver to work correctly.
* Accessing Blender through a remote connession
* Using Blender through a virtual machine"

Cases two and three are not mine. Do I need any special driver for my graphics card (ATI Mobility Radeaon HD 3400 Series) to use Blender? Does it have anything to do with seeing no preview?

Well... Still using Windows XP is ... njay... ehm... try to upgrade ;-) And of course you should install a graphics driver. You should find the one for your graphics card at http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/737-28041SupportforATIMobility.aspx

I already had a graphics cards driver problem with Blender. The developers helped me out to find out whether the problem is one with the driver.
You should use the opengl32.dll from http://download.blender.org/ftp/sergey/softwaregl/ and place it next to blender.exe as described by sergey to find out if the problem is your driver. Beware, that Blender might be very slow while using this wrapper dll as everything is done on CPU only without using your graphics card.
But in your case it should be enough to simply install a current Driver

either from AMD/ATI
or better directly from Lenovo, selecting Display and Video Graphics as your Component on this site and then choosing your OS, this will lead you to the drivers download page directly where your Graphics card is listed as well.

Hy Samoth, thank you for your reply! I know my OS is outdated, I am working on that too, but in the meanwhile I wanted to practice with Blender with my old good mule! I will try to follow your suggestions! Give me a couple of days...

@ThreeShell so did this work for you?

It improved! After downloading the library file opengl32.dll, I can see now the movie in the preview. I coudn't download the driver, instead. Maybe it would help to see the preview like it should, and not in...slow motion! I will try again, and tell you! In the meanwhile, thank you for your help!


text:
How make clouds less square?
I am trying to create clouds using cycles, but they are looking  too squared.
I am using volume and the modifiers are:

The mesh I am using is a simple meatball.

How can I create clouds with more details?

Is there any specific reason for you to go through the process of adding an empty volume object and then a Mesh to Volume modifier on it, instead of just setting up a volumetric shader on your mesh directly?

btw, go to Light Paths and turn volume bounces up 1 or 2, it'll give you some lighter color options

You need to increase the "Voxel Amount" in your Mesh to Volume modifier. You can think of a voxel as a 3D pixel. The more pixels/voxels, the finer the resolution. This will increase the computations required, so adjust by small increments to avoid soft/hard locking your PC.

Thanks, I had set to 64, but I didn't notice any change. I had to change to a higher number.

@ViniciusMorais You're welcome :) It's also a little difficult to see a difference without enough samples because the edges are so soft.

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


text:
How can I make musgrave texture more uniform along my model?
I am trying to make a wood material, but I am having some trouble to make my noise texture to be uniform.
This is my nodes.

This is the visualization:

As you can see the musgrave texture is weird in these parts.
I tried to use UV Coordinates, but my my model is circular and I coulnd't make it.

Is there a way to make this noise texture more uniform?

Procedural wood grain more typically simulates growth rings, and carves out of the log: see here and maybe here. For a  more sophisticated approach, I rate  Lance Phan's  turorial


text:
Why won't fur particles attach to model? (2.8)
I, for the life of me, can't get the fur particles to attach to the model! Here's a screen-cap for those who want to see what I have to deal with (Render engine is Eevee, btw. Doesn't work in Cycles, either). I'd perfer to only share the model's file if absolutely necessary.

Do you mean Hair or actual Particles

Hair. I used the Particle Edit menu to add it. Before that I used Quick Fur, then went from there.

Assuming Zesk is the hair do Ctrl + J to join or you could make a hair system on the model.

It kinda worked. Now the black lines do follow the model (there's some jankiness here and there). I did something, at least. I swear, every time I "fix" something I just break something else. I forgot what exactly I did, but now the fur won't show up in rendering! I think I'll try looking at other questions similar and my own model to see what the problem is exactly.

Sorry if I came off as aggressive earlier. Blender was (and still is) getting me all riled up and I needed to blow off steam. So, here's my current situation: the black lines that indicate where the fur goes follow the model and everything, but the fur isn't rendering now.  Everything else is fine.

Assuming the fur and Zesk are still separate try rendeing them individually.


text:
Bones Not Showing In Pose Mode
Heyo,
Bones are not showing up in pose mode/object for me. They only appear in edit mode.
There is no visibility to toggle (I've still tried right clicking and using the 'unhide option' but nothing.) I also have 'In Front' active.

You are in Blender sculpt mode. Try saving the object as an STL, and rigging it in default Blender.

Thank you! That fixed my issue.


text:
How to I set up hair particle collision?
Youtube and the rest of the internet all have different answers for this... I was just wondering how I make my hair collide with my mesh instead of falling through it in 2.8.

Apparently, there's a bug. Can anyone confirm this? https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/159163/hair-collision-problem-in-blender-2-8


text:
Is there a way to create a collision between the hair and body in my character in Blender 2.8?
I tried creating a force field and also emitting the hair from a separate object but it keeps falling through the mesh. I'm new to Blender and might be missing a simple solution...

The way to solve this would be setting the particle emitter to collision. You can do this in the physics tab. There is an option labeled collision.

I tried this as well... is there any other possible solution?


text:
VSE Blender (editing formats native RAW, XAVC, ProRes, cinemaDNG)
I wanted to see if someone worked in the Blender VSE with XAVC video formats (codec used in Sony cameras) and RAW CinemaDNG and ProRes (used in cameras like the Blackmagic codec). I'm interested in editing and post-production work on Blender in Linux. Does Blender accept these formats as native? Can you use them in the Blender VSE?
Estimados. Para la edición y posproducción trabajo en Linux con el software de Blender. Quería consultar si alguien a trabajado en el VSE de Blender con formatos de video XAVC (códec usado en cámaras Sony) y formatos de video RAW CinemaDNG y ProRes (códec usados en cámaras como las de Blackmagic). La duda es si Blender aceptar estos formatos como nativo, si se puede trabajar con ellos en el VSE de Blender. Muchas gracias.

Blender VSE is not a time-based video editor (like Premier Pro or Sony Vegas is), but it is a frame-based video editor (like After FX or Nuke).
As such it caches the frames into memory and has no native codec to speak of.
The question which remains is whether it will decode/encode such codecs:

Blender can already read ProRes, ProRes encoder is in development.
There is no support for CinemaDNG. There was a discussion about it and it was suggested it would be better to include the support into the openimageio open-source library directly, rather than into Blender. There was a Google_Summer_Of_Code project wanting to implement DNG but never materialized.
OpenEXR is fully supported

It is generally better to export still frames from Blender and encode the video with different application - for output formats and performance reasons.

From the Manual:

AVI Codec
  AVI codec compression. Available codecs are operating-system dependent. When an AVI codec is initially chosen, the codec dialog is automatically launched. The codec can be changed directly using the Set Codec button which appears (AVI Codec settings.).

  AVI Jpeg
  AVI but with Jpeg compression. Lossy, smaller files but not as small as you can get with a Codec compression algorithm. Jpeg compression is also the one used in the DV format used in digital camcorders.
  AVI Raw
  Audio-Video Interlaced (AVI) uncompressed frames.
  Frameserver
  Blender puts out frames upon request as part of a render farm. The port number is specified in the User Preferences.
  H.264
  Encodes movies with the H.264 codec.
  MPEG
  Encodes movies with the MPEG codec.
  Ogg Theora
  Encodes movies with the Theora codec as Ogg files.
  QuickTime
  Apple’s Quicktime .mov file. The Quicktime codec dialog is available when this codec is installed on OSX. See Quicktime in Video Containers.
  Xvid
  Encodes movies with the Xvid codec.

It looks like the answer is "probably not." Although, it's likely that someone has written an addon for Blender that will allow you to import those types.


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Why is Network Render creating .exr's instead of .png's?
So i have been fighting this 2 days now. As i send job to slave computer on Network render and have told it to use cycles engine, where i have set the default output type to png, it still returns rendered images as .exr files... Would not be problem on still images, but at VSE i'd like to use png as .exr doesn't seem to work on it too well (need to use composite to even see the frames)
So what py. file i need to modify to change deafault network render output to .png and do i have to modify it on master + client computer or in a slave computer?
Edit: Some screenies. Like you can see; master, client and slave settings are not tweaked. Only changed Client engine setting to cycles

That's a good question... Can you upload some screenshots of your settings?

Settings should be fine, but i'm pretty sure it's related to python scripts. Too bad i haven't started to learning python yet, to track the bit of code that makes this happen.

In your question, you originally called it the "Network Render addon." Which addon are you using?

According to this bug report:

"the problem is that even if you have PNG selected in the blend to be
  rendered, if you use the 'Download render results from Network', they
  will always come back as layered .exr files. You only get them as PNGs
  when you press 'get animation' button."

Have you tried the Get Animation button instead?
Or, according to this page:

If you just need PNG then in the network render properties, under
  client tab you should choose 'animation on network' rather than 'send
  job to network'. Both will render in EXR file but with 'animation on
  network' option, it'll deliver the png (or whatever format you choose)
  to specified folder.

I would say, if you set your Render output folder path to "//something", which means relative to the blend file, with the output type as PNG, and then initiated the job by choosing Animation on Network, and then when complete, retrieve the frames with the Get Animation button, it should bring back PNG files.

Yes i have tried that also, for animation and that brought me 70 .exr files instead of png

Ok, found additional info, please review.

Sorry but i thought i found them first, but they were my earlier renders on normal cycles... Any idea what that spesific folder could be as it aint, folder set on network render settings, nor it doesn't sent those png's to cycles output folder either


text:
Why is mesh moving out of place while weight painting?
When I try and weight paint a mesh, it jumps out of place. This happens every time I try and weight paint something, so it's obviously something I'm doing wrong rather than something wrong with the model or the file. If the bone is in the center, it works fine, but if it's a mirrored bone (for example hands) everything goes wrong. The first image is before I do any weight painting, and the second is what happens if I try and weight paint the hands (or really any part of this besides the head and main body.

This is because your armature is not in its rest pose. As you add vertices to a bone, they will begin to be deformed by the bone you're adding them to. Since that bone is in a deformed position, the vertices have to move because they're beginning to be deformed by that bone (as you add weight to them).
To solve this problem, you want to set the rest position of your armature so that as you add weight to a vertex, it's not being deformed by the bone you're adding it to (because the bone hasn't yet moved from its default position).
The best way to do this is in edit mode for the armature. While in edit mode (the bones should be orange, not blue), you need to move all the bones in the positions they are in the picture you posted. Then, in pose mode (the bones should be blue), you need to clear all transforms. This makes it so that there's no deformation to be applied as you add vertices to a bone. The vertices will still be deformed when the bone does move... it just hasn't moved yet.


text:
Stretching cloth to targets
I'm competent enough with modelling objects, but I'm less experienced with cloth and I'm struggling with something. I've googled it, but can't find what I'm looking for, and for all I suspect I might need to use pinning somehow, since this is a static model I can't seem to make it work.
I've created an airship, as the pic below shows.

The net suspends the gondola and spreads the weight over the top of the balloon.
The version of the net I have so far is a plane, with the cloth modifier, and then I ran the simulation. The cloth fell nicely over it, but obviously only draped straight down. I then had to convert to mesh and use proportional editing to make the net look stretched to the gondola points.
What I really want to do is use cloth simulation properly to stretch the net to the anchor points of the gondola. I've tried hooking the edges to rigidbody spheres and letting them fall, I even tried using force fields to blow the material to where I want it, but no joy.
Can someone kindly tell me what I'm missing please?
Many thanks
Ian.

The same question was answered here: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/14242/pin-cloth-to-model

A recent feature somewhere in 2.6x offered up called 'sewing springs'
http://s6.postimg.org/s0xtlxxkx/sew_Spring0.gif
System depends upon edges to act as pull string, here's how.
Setup pinned vertex group to act as final 'pull' position and anchor. Have it be attached to cloth via extruded 'edges only'.

Followed by a group of edges to bridge distance by pulling.
Enable sewing springs and attach group.

Add collision detection, bake, rinse and repeat.

That looks exactly like what I need. Fantastic, Thankyou. I'll have a go when I can get to my computer tomorrow.


text:
Simple UIList for float data stored in a list in the scene
I studied a lot of examples but with no success. The script I'm working on is calculating the area of the selected object faces (or the whole area), and then I would like to call the operator to store the area. The area should be stored in a list of simple floats, which then I would like to save by another operator.  However, I can't force python to create a list of values. I analyzed UIList "simple" example for materials list, but is was not too simple at all. Also, I analyzed solutions found here:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?343863-List-of-strings-as-scene-variable&highlight=UI+list+from+python
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?349417-How-to-add-custom-list-property&highlight=UI+list+from+python
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?376910-UI-list-for-actions&highlight=UI+list+from+python
How can I store and retrieve a custom list in a blend file?
What ui would work for choosing from a long, long list?
and few more. No solution works for me. Obviously I miss something.
The question is: how to do a list of float values added to it by pressing a button. The list should expand to for example at most 10 values and then a scrollbar should appear, similar to other lists in Blender UI. I don't need any searching, no clicking on the list, no selecting items, nothing. The list of values should act as a history of measurements, that's it. And I would like to have data in memory in a list form, to save it on demand to a text file (but this is not important here).
So far I created script like this:
import bpy, bmesh
from bpy.types import ( Operator, Panel, UIList )
from bpy.props import ( IntProperty, CollectionProperty )

# returns -1 if object has no area property
def calcArea(self,obj):
    area = 0.0
    #.... calculating the area, unimportant
    return(area)

# this was supposed to be a list, but it is not working
class AreaItemList(UIList):
    def draw_item(self, context, layout, data, item, icon, active_data, active_propname):
        if self.layout_type in {'DEFAULT', 'COMPACT'}:
            layout.prop(item, "name", text="", emboss=False, icon_value=icon)
        elif self.layout_type in {'GRID'}:
            pass

# this class should actually store area in the list
# but right now I stored only one area in custom data
# I should get rid of this when I manage to store data in a list
class AreaStorage(Operator):
    bl_idname = "area.storage"
    bl_label  = "Area Storage"
    def execute(self,context):
        ob = context.active_object
        area = calcArea(self,ob)
        ob['area'] = area
        return {'FINISHED'}

class AreaCalculator(Panel):
    """Some text"""
    bl_idname = "area.calculator"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
    bl_category = "aaa"
    bl_label    = "bbb"

# I've put calculating area code also in draw panel class
# because then simple selecting the object is showing a result
# in the panel. Dunno how to make this better.
    def draw(self, context):
        ob = context.active_object
        if ob is not None and ob.type == 'MESH' and (ob.mode == 'OBJECT' or ob.mode == 'EDIT'):
            area = calcArea(self,ob)
            layout = self.layout
            if area >= 0.0:
                r = layout.row(align=True)
                b = r.box()
                b.label(str(context.active_object.name)+":")
                b.label(str(round(area,6))+'m²')
                if ob.scale[0] != 1.000 or ob.scale[1] != 1.000 or ob.scale[2] != 1.000:
                    b.label('Set scale to 1.0!!!',icon='ERROR')
            else:
                if area < 0.0:
                    r = layout.row(align=True)
                    b = r.box()
                    b.label(str(context.active_object.name))
                    b.label("has no polygons!")
            r = layout.row(align=False)
            r.operator("area.storage",text="Store Area",icon='FACESEL')

  # and here is the list, which DOES NOT WORK
  # simply I have no idea how to generate proper data for it
            s = context.scene
            layout.template_list("AreaItemList", "", s, "areas", s, "area_index")
        else:
            layout = self.layout
            r = layout.row(align=False)
            r.label("Select a mesh.")

# this was written as one of the examples from network, did not
# work either.
class Area(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):
    id = IntProperty()

def register():
# here is a mess
    bpy.utils.register_class(Area)
    bpy.types.Scene.areas = CollectionProperty(type=Area)
    bpy.types.Scene.area_index = IntProperty()
# those two classess are ok so far
    bpy.utils.register_class(AreaStorage)
    bpy.utils.register_class(AreaCalculator)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(AreaStorage)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(AreaCalculator)
    del bpy.types.Scene.area_index
    del bpy.types.Scene.areas
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(Area)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

So it seems that I did not understand how to create lists. I do not need any custom listing, nothing fancy, and I did not found working example of this very simple case. Please help.

scene.areas is defined but not populated.
The following will add to the areas list.
class AreaStorage(Operator):
    bl_idname = "area.storage"
    bl_label  = "Area Storage"
    def execute(self,context):
        ob = context.active_object
        scene = context.scene
        area = calcArea(self,ob)
        ob['area'] = area
        ar = scene.areas.get(ob.name)
        # make sure it's only stored once.
        if ar is None:
            ar = scene.areas.add()
            ar.name = ob.name
        ar.id = 3 # what should id be?
        # make it the active area
        scene.area_index = scene.areas.find(ob.name)
        return {'FINISHED'}

and remember to register AreaItemList
Could also just repopulate the entire list
import bpy
context = bpy.context
scene = context.scene

# list of all objects in scene with area custom prop.
aobs = [o for o in scene.objects if 'area' in o.keys()]

# clear and populate scene.areas
scene.areas.clear()
for o in aobs:
    ao = scene.areas.add()
    ao.name = o.name
    ao.id = 3 # some id.

Thank you. This solution works for me. I could later add Clear button which clears the list, etc. I changed the line ar.name = ob.name to something like this: ar.name = str(round(area,4))+' ('+ob.name+')' which shows the area of the object on the list.
Small improvement is still needed: how to put elements in that list in reversed order? I can't reverse it like and array and the collection seems to have tuples in the list: first my string, then something: '0.5615 (Plane.001)', bpy.data.scenes['Scene'].areas[0]. How to build this list in reversed order?

Could put layout.label("%.4f" % context.scene.objects[item.name]["area"]) in the list UI layout rather than concatenating area and name.  Have a look at the def filter_items in UIList template (text editor) to reorder the list.


text:
Why are the UV coordinates from dupli parent returning black?
I have a sphere UV mapped like so:

I parented a Suzanne to it and enable dupli verts, then setup a material on the Suzanne which I expected to color all the dupli Suzannes in a replica of the texture mapped to the sphere. Instead I just get all black:

However, generated coordinates work as expected:

Why do UV coordinates return all black?

I think that the node setup is correct, as it work as expected if you use a particle system instead of dupli verts. But it works ony with particles from faces (it make sense as texture belong to faces) but not with a grid distribution (and this make no sense...). Maybe there is a connection between this two issues.

@Carlo Ah, I think you found it. It works with duplifaces too, so it seems the answer is that it only works when the dupli objects are duplicated based on the parent's faces. Add that as an answer and I'll accept it ;)

Ok, I'll write down something only because I'm assuming you are too busy. The bare truth is that I didn't think of that! But it sounds obiouvs now... Though I'm still wondering why it doesn't work with face grid particles...

Hm.. The grid distribution isn't really dependent on the arrangement of faces. I don't see why it couldn't work, but by the same token I don't see why it couldn't work with duplis instanced from vertices.. I guess these are just not implemented? Interestingly the tooltip for the BI version of this option says "Duplis instanced from verts, faces or particles, inherit texture coordinate from their parent"; despite not working on UVs for anything except faces.

I'm with you in saying it is not yet implemented. The subject is a little bit mysterious, I wasn't able to find any kind of documentation. And before today I was thinking that it would project the tex...while apparently it is just picking a color (maybe the one in the center?...) http://i.imgur.com/MSvaYIu.jpg

@Carlo Actually the reason I asked this question is because I'm attempting to write some documentation about it :P

Because you are duplicating from verts.
Seems that Blender currently (2.75a) can't inherit coordinates of duplicated objects from the parent only if they are not duplicated from faces.

It would not be tehorically impossible to obtain the behavoiour you need as object mapping should not be strictly related to the way is generated, but for the moment it is.

The same issue is present with particles:

Note: is not clear why it doesnt work with with grid option enabled...


text:
How does the Cloth Stiffness Scaling option work?
I'd like to know how the Cloth Stiffness Scaling option works. It can be found in the Cloth Modifier's Physics Panel; however, the manual doesn't mention this feature at all. How does the Cloth Stiffness Scaling option work?
More specifically, I'd like to use cloth simulation to model a shirt with a stiffish collar. I tried weight painting the collar and setting stiffness scaling to use said vertex group; however, I didn't see any change in the simulation. Additionally, the simulation doesn't prevent the intersection of itself and the collision mesh. Are there any tricks to improving this result?

I never used stiffness scaling, but it looks like setting Bending Stiffness to much higher values (5-10k) give better results.

@Denis The Max bending stiffness in the stiffness scaling section? Or the setting in the cloth section? When I set the max bending stiffness to 5000 it just kinda goes crazy..

I tried that in stiffness scaling

Are you referring to the "Bending" or "Structural" parameter? Or another stiffness parameter?

 Cloth Stiffness Scaling
Q: How does Cloth Stiffness Scaling work?
A: Basically, you just (1) Create a Vector Group from the Plane, (2) Weight Paint each half of the Plane red/blue, (3) Then set the min&max values for Bending stiffness to 0.0001&1000.0. You can test it with a cloth falling over a collision sphere. The following post aims to elaborate on this explanation.

Feature Functionality
According to the Documentation for Blender 2.4, the Stiffness Scaling feature allows a vertex group to have a different bending/structural stiffness value for each vertex within the vertex group (as opposed to the same bending/structural stiffness value for each vertex). This requires working with "Vertex Groups" and "Weight Paint" features.
Blender 2.4 Docs:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.4/Reference/Panels/Object/Physics/Cloth#Stiffness_Scaling

Same Stiffness Values
The usual way to apply (bending/structural) stiffness values to a vertex group (or a plane mesh), is to apply a "Cloth" Modifier to a Plane Mesh (hopefully, well subdivided) via the "Modifiers > Add Modifier" Panel. Once the Cloth Modifier is applied to the Plane Mesh, then you can set the "Structural" and "Bending" stiffness values via the "Physics > Cloth" Panel. For example, you can set "Bending" to 0.0001 to be very silky, or you can set "Bending" to 1000.00 to be very leathery. Now all of the vertices within the Plane Mesh will have the same stiffness values.

Different Stiffness Values
Now, let's say that we want each of the vertices (of the Plane Mesh) to have a different structural/bending stiffness value. In this example, we want the left half of the cloth to have 1000.0 "Bending" stiffness and the right half of the cloth to have 0.0001 "Bending" stiffness (aka, leathery on the left and silky on the right). To do this, we will need to work with the "Vertex Groups", "Weight Paint", and "Cloth Stiffness Scaling" features.
First, we want to group all of the vertices from the Plane Mesh into a Vertex Group. To do this, we "add a new vertex group to the active object" via the "Data > Vertex Groups" panel (in this case, the active object should be the Plane Mesh). Once the new Vertex Group is created, it should have a default name of "Group". Feel free to re-name it to anything you want -- I will rename it to "Cloth_Group_001". Now, we've created our Vertex Group! Great Job!

Second, we need to Weight Paint the Vertex Group of the Plane Mesh (aka, "Cloth_Group_001"). Weight Paint controls can be accessed by changing "Object Mode" (or "Edit Mode") to "Weight Paint". Now, you will be controlling an interactive brush with a "Weight" between 0.000 to 1.000, a "Radius" between 1 to 200 pixels, and a "Strength" between 0.000 and 1.000. Paint the left half of the Plane Mesh to Red (aka, Weight=1.0), and paint the right half of the Plane Mesh to Blue (aka, Weight=0.0). ((I suggest using a Strength of 1.0, and choosing an Radius Size that is comfortable for you)). Now, you should see the left half colored Red and the right half colored Blue. You've just Weight Painted the vertices in your Vertex Group (of the Plane Mesh)! Great job!

Finally, we can go back to our "Physics > Cloth" and "Physics > Cloth Stiffness Scaling" panels. Using these Cloth panels, we are going to set the minimum value for "Stiffness Scaling" and we are going to set the maximum value for "Stiffness Scaling". We first need to enable "Cloth Stiffness Scaling" via "Physics > Cloth Stiffness Scaling" panel. Now that stiffness scaling is enabled, we want to set a minimum and maximum value for our "Bending" stiffness values for "Cloth_Group_001" (note: we can do the same thing for our "Structural" stiffness values, but this example will only demonstrate the min and max for "Bending" stiffness values). To set the maximum value for our "Bending" stiffness, we need to select "Cloth_Group_001" from the dropdown-menu under "Physics > Cloth Stiffness Scaling > Bending Stiffness:" and then set the max-value for the "Bending Stiffness" to be 1000.0 (you can set this to anything you want, we will use 1000.0 in this example). At this point, be sure that you did both: set the Vertex Group and set the Bending Stiffness "Max:". The last thing you need to do in this section is set the minimum value. To do this, we need go to the "Physics > Cloth" panel and set "Bending:" to 0.0001 (this will serve as the minimum bending value, whenever "Cloth Stiffness Scaling" is enabled --  which you already enabled earlier). You have now set the min and max values for the Vertex Group's Bending Stiffness (Remember that the Vertex Group of your Plane Mesh is re-named to "Cloth_Group_001" for this example). Great job!

To conclude, let's try to understand what we just did. We basically set the Red-Painted vertices to 1000.0 and the Blue-Painted to 0.0001. This is because 1000.0 (maximum) maps to the "Weight"=1.0 from the "Weight Paint" earlier; similarly, 0.0001 (minimum) maps to the "Weight"=0.0. Note that anything that is painted between Red or Blue (e.g., Green/Yellow/Orange) has a Weight in between 0.0 and 1.0; this means that Green/Yellow/Orange will have a Bending Stiffness between 0.0001 (minimum) and 1000.0 (maximum). In our case, we should only have the left half of the vertices painted Red and the right half of the vertices painted Blue; this means that the left half of the vertices have a Bending Stiffness of 1000.0 and the right half of the vertices have a Bending Stiffness of 0.0001.
That's it! Now you have each vertex with a different stiffness value.
(Note: If you want to change the stiffness for every single vertex in your cloth, just use a different Weight value for each vertex while "Weight Painting".)

Testing
You can take my word that this works, but I'm sure you're eager to see it work for yourself. I would add a Sphere under the Cloth, and add a Collision Modifier to it. Have the Cloth (aka, Plane Mesh) above the Sphere so that when you begin Simulating/Animating it will fall under the force of Gravity and drape the Sphere. Remember to have "Cloth Collision" enabled via the "Physics > Cloth Collision" panel (optional: feel free to enable "Self Collision" as well).
Now, you can press the "Play Animation" button (towards the bottom of the Blender UI) and see the results of the Cloth falling over a Sphere and draping it. You will notice two (2) things:

The right half of the cloth will want to hug/engulf/fit the sphere, since the right half of the Vertex Group is silkier ("Bending"=0.0001).
The left half of the cloth will want to try to "spring" back into a planar shape and definitely NOT hug/engulf/fit the sphere as tightly as the other half. (Aka, the cloth will be very stiff in this half; "Bending"=1000.0).

(Note: I've tested Cloth Stiffness Scaling with Blender 2.74, and it works perfectly.)

Conclusion
In conclusion, you will have a very stiff left half (due to the RED paint) and an extremely low stiffness on the right half (due to the BLUE paint).

Does this make sense? Any questions, comments, or feedback are welcome.

References
This link explains one user's struggle and eventual understanding of the Stiffness Scaling feature: https://developer.blender.org/T39371 . Feel free to open the "ClothStiffness2.blend" file referenced in the link, so that you can see a Blender Scene similar to the one example referred to above.

How can I do Cloth Stiffness Scaling in 2.8 or 2.9?

Simulating the Collar of a Dress Shirt:
Assuming you have a dress shirt that you want to simulate with Blender's Cloth Modifier. I would simulate the shirt with the Cloth Modifier; however, the shirt collar I would treat differently. In fact, I would personally want the shirt collar to be so "stiff" that it does't have any wrinkles in it. So if you aren't using any wrinkles in the shirt collar, then the question is: does the shirt collar experience any "stretching" or "shearing"? I don't think it would. In this case, I just wouldn't use the Cloth Modifier at all for the dress shirt collar.
At most (for simulation), I would treat it as a Collision Object (but I don't think it's necessary). I would just vertex-pin the shirt collar to another part of the shirt -- or even simpler vertex-pin to somewhere on the humanoid model's neck area.
If you still want to simulate the shirt collar with the Cloth Modifier, then you are going to want to make the shirt collar "extremely stiff" for bending (you probably don't want wrinkles), and very stiff for stretching/shearing (assuming you aren't expecting too many stretching forces or shearing forces to act on the shirt). That said, if you want to use high stiffness values, then your simulation will probably explode (aka, "goes crazy") -- unless you increase the number "Simulation Steps per Frame" to an extremely high number. Increasing your Simulation "Steps" Per Frame will result in an extremely long simulation time -- it will slow down your simulation time from minutes to hours.
You can find more information about why you need to increase the "Steps", when you have high "Stiffness" here via Witkin & Baraff 1998. It talks about "how not to blow up":
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~baraff/sigcourse/slidese.pdf

Cloth Stiffness Parameters:
The bending stiffness is based on the Ko & Choi 2002 Wrinkling Cloth paper:
http://graphics.snu.ac.kr/~kjchoi/publication/cloth.pdf
The structural stiffness refers to the stretching and shearing deformations. The parameter is based on the Provot Cloth paper:
https://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs468-02-winter/Papers/Rigidcloth.pdf
More information on the Blender Cloth Implementation and Parameters can be found here:
On what Cloth Simulation Model is Blender Cloth Physics Based?

This is interesting information, but I don't see how it answers the question..

Very good point. I have added possible solutions now.

Does this additional information/suggestions help? Any questions? Perhaps I didn't understand your original question. Any clarification/comments/questions are welcome.

Well.. My question is that blender has a cloth stiffness scaling option which appears to be useful for doing just that (setting the stiffness of a vertex group). However it doesn't appear to be doing anything.

Thank you. Are you referring to Kologe's requested feature regarding "animated vertex groups"? See both links: (1) http://blenderartists.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-259900.html ; (2) https://developer.blender.org/rB863aee6caf89724a33d8bc1d06278f01fe05fee9

No, just the stiffness scaling option. the only mention I can find of it is in the 2.4x docs, but it's still here in 2.7. It looks like it allows one to set a different amount of bending stiffness for an arbitrary group of vertices, but this doesn't seem to be the case. I can't see any indication of what is going on (even after examining the example file given as a response to this bug report). Does it let you do the opposite? (limit the amount of bending stiffness for a vertex group?)

Thanks for information. I got it to work now. I will elaborate in the form of an answer. :)

I went ahead and authored another answer. Does the other answer help at all?

Looks good, I'll have to try it later though (that must have taken a long time to write :O) thanks

You're welcome. It's not too long/hard, my explanation is just wordy for beginners. Basically, you just (1) Create a Vector Group from the Plane, (2) Weight Paint each half of the Plane red/blue, (3) Then set the min&max values for Bending stiffness to 0.0001&1000.0. You can test it with a cloth falling over a collision sphere.

I see, it just takes really large values to have a noticeable effect. Thanks again :)

Yes, using very SMALL values is where you'll see the Big differences (such as 0.01 or 0.0001 or 0.000001). Values such as 5 or 5000 usually look the same to me. You're quite welcome :)

On another note, if you're still working on your Dress Shirt Collar, then I would just not simulate the collar as a Cloth Simulation at all. The Stiffness Scaling feature will not help with that, since even the stiffest cloth will still simulate. Maybe you could consider significantly decreasing the mass for the collar to avoid external forces of gravity. +++ Either way, Stiffness Scaling won't help with that. I would just separate the Dress Shirt collar as a separate mesh (and deal with it independently).

Also, if you don't want to separate the shirt and the collar into 2 meshes, then you can use "Pinning vertex group in cloth settings" to simulate the shirt but not the collar: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/29246/cloth-simulation-question


text:
What Are the Differences between Smoke Collision Types?
What are the technical differences between Rigid, Static, and Animated smoke collision types?

In the Documentation, it says that:

Smoke can collide with mesh objects, using the 'Collision' option in
  smoke. Currently only static collision objects are supported.

However, the other collision types are obviously doing something. If they are all simply acting the same, why is there currently an option to use the other types, and what will the differences be once the other types are implemented?

In reply to dukejib's answer,
Animated
I scaled the domain, so the smoke cannot go around the animated brick on the Y axis to make the effects of the brick passing through more obvious:

Here is the same test baked with different collision types:
Animated:

Rigid:

Static:

All are identical as far as I can tell.
Rigid
The same seems to be true with the rigid body test:
Rigid:

Animated:

Static:

Input from a developer or someone who can look at the code to see if these collision types really are the same would be nice. ;)

I imagine the 'animated' collision type allows the smoke engine to properly work with armature and shapekey driven animations. Not sure about the difference between rigid and static. Can't seems to see a difference.

@MikePan tested it, and I could not see any difference at all between them when colliding a keyframed shape-keyed Suzanne. They all collide correctly, adapting to the changing shape of the mesh, except all three "explode" the smoke at the same places (and in the same pattern).

Your example is correct mine was wrong. I m still guessing that they'll provide collision settings, which are available via external collision tab in future.
Sorry for inconvenience and wrong info.

@dukejib No problem. it's a learning experience for everyone. :)

This is my theory:
"Static" means a non-animated, non-moving object
"Rigid" means a non-animated, (possibly) moving object
"Animated" means an animated (shape keys, armatures, etc.), (possibly) moving object.
Tests won't resolve the issue, since, as the original question points out, they're currently all the same.
Here's my theory: I've heard talk about using volumetrics in the game engine.  When that happens, the interactions between static, rigid, and animated objects is going to be essential - it would be a waste to calculate everything if you weren't having the smoke interact with animated objects, for instance.  My theory is that they are currently "the same" because it does not matter outside of the game engine - it doesn't have to be specified, and resources are not delegated real-time as they are in the game engine.  But in the game engine, you DO need to label an object as static, rigid, or animated - and that goes for smoke as well.  Essentially, the technical difference between all of the above would be the same for any other object in the game engine - a necessary setting that tells physics how to interact with it to optimize resources.

Thanks for your answer :) Could you add links to some mentions of smoke sim in the game engine? I was unable to find anything recent..

In Blender 2.68, all three options are supported for smoke.

Animated: used with objects with animation. It allows the smoke simulator to calculate the predefined animation path of the object. It leaves the path of animation from smoke simulation.
Rigid: used with rigid bodies. To use this option, set an object as a Rigid Body and a rigid Smoke collider. This allows a smoke trail behind rigid body, within the domain of the smoke.

This is what I understand about these options with simple test.
Check out this file.
Layer 1 = Animated
Layer 2 = Rigid

Thanks for your answer. However, I get nearly identical (I can't see any visible difference) results with your tests with other collision types too.  Could you clarify your answer some more? (what do you mean by "it leaves the path of animation from smoke simulation"? And other collision types leave smoke trails as well? What is  exactly different about the Rigid one?)

in smoke simulation, Particles do leave smoke trail, since they are part of it. In collisions, Animated objects, move and create effects of pass through, with small movement in smoke.
On Layer 1, Anim body is just passing through the smoke ,  look from the side view, you'll understand what i am saying.
In Layer 2, brick is falling and leaving a long trail of smoke (brick is also engulfed in smoke). Rigid bodies also react to physics, so their simulation calculation is different then animated or static.
I suggest baking the simulation, and viewing it by removing both rigid & animated bricks.

Try using both collision tyeps with Riggid Character to know the difference more clearly.

I followed your advice of using the other collision types with the Rigid body, however I still don't see any difference (see my updated answer)


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Auto smooth does not render
I have made a corridor with smooth edges. The model has autosmooth aplied (30 degrees) and for som reason when I render it, the auto smooth is not visible.
Viewport:

Render:


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How to add texture to end of extruded object?
I'm new to blender, and probably just don't know what to search for.
I am trying to add a wooden texture to the end of the white extruded profile.
But i'm not able to follow any of the guides I have found.
It is like I'm missing a step before I'm allowed to select the end face of the white profile.
Any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks.
Brian

Your object is a bezier curve, you can't really "select faces" to apply materials like in mesh objects. Either apply a texture to the whole spline, or convert to a mesh if you really require just one face. Beware that this is a destructive process, and you should keep an original in a separate layer/scene for safe keeping. You can also make a shader that masks textures by normal

Thanks.
Saved a new file and managed to convert to mesh and apply an image as texture.


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Can't 3D print my model
After ending the modeling process, I wanted to 3D print my model, I apply the solodify modifier, and whater I solidify or not, the resulting stl won't slice properly.

I have 468 non-mainford verts (don't know it it matters.)

If I add smooth modifier, I get weird results.

If I try to slice the .blend I shared on this post (exported as stl) I shared here, holes can be seen.

I would recommend that you use Ultimaker Cura to slice 3D models, as it is a free and powerful program that supports almost all 3D-printers. It has never failed me yet.
https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-connect

In order for the slicer to have a good chance of properly slicing your model you'll want to try and give it a manifold mesh, free from self-intersections, thin walls, etc. This tutorial is a bit older but perhaps useful?

Already checked it. Didn't work


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Hiding any mesh when another mesh touches it
I have a bunch of balls [Meshes], I want them to disappear or hide when another object [Mesh] (A specific Mesh) touches it.

Describe the way they should disappear. You can use dynamic paint.

But it seems like a job for Animation Nodes: https://github.com/JacquesLucke/animation_nodes

It's like I have several cubes and One Sphere, When I move sphere through those cubes it hides or deactivates every cube it touches.


text:
boolean not working properly
I have 1 Sphere and 1 Cylinder. I try to join them by boolean. when I Join the cylinder with Sphere, Cylinder behaves weird while sculpting however Sphere seems to be normal. There seems to be some issue of either Clean mesh or Normals. But not  sure how to fix that in Blender 2.8. Please help

Is it necessary to use the boolean? eg To model cylinder with sphere attached could add a uv sphere, choose a latitude edge ring, delete all verts "south" and extrude.

Or create and position one with Ctrl+R and then do what batFINGER says. And Ctrl+J is always there.

This looks like Z-fighting. Do you still have the cylinder, as well as the sphere-plus-cylinder, so they're overlapping?

You should adjust the Overlap Threshold of Boolean Modifier.
In my case correct Overlap Threshold is from 0.000001 to 0.001:

After apply Boolean Modifier sculpt is correct:

Just to illustrate batFINGER's point:
Delete faces with Delete > Faces.
Select an edge loop and extrude downwards.

To close the bottom, just Fill and Poke faces.


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Is this SpaceNavigator issue a Blender problem or an OS/Driver problem?
On Windows I am able to use the 3Dconnexion Space Navigator just fine. I customized the functionality of the two side buttons.
On a Mac, however, no matter what settings I change in the System Preferences for 3Dconnexion, the buttons will not do what I want. They only open the blender NDOF settings menu.
Is there a plugin or something I need in order to get full functionality/customizability out of my 3D Space Navigator with Blender for Mac? I'd hate to switch to Windows from now on, but if that's what it takes, I'll just have to.

This seems like a question that you need to take it up with the maker of 3Dconnexion Space navigator on their support on Mac OSX machines?

Can you not assign the functions in Blender's User Prefs? I believe you can  modify the key assignments to switch to SpaceNav buttons. It would be a bit of work, but may help you.

I looked into changing it in Blenders prefs, but to get the buttons to function like I want, (as Tab, and Ctrl+Tab) I would have to go through and change every single context in which Tab and Ctrl+Tab are used. It is pretty ridiculous. There really needs to be an option in blender to map the NDOF buttons to keystrokes and not based on events/functions/etc. Know what I mean?

Works4Me! B. 2.78a + SpaceNav Drivers 10.4.3 + OSX El.Cap 10.11. NDOF + LMB pops 3D Mouse Settings menu & RMB zooms objects to fit 3D View.

At the time I tried 2.75a. I'll give it a shot on 2.78a. Thanks!

The short answer is: Blender doesn't look at the setting of the 3Dconnexion you make in the OS X system preferences for the SpaceNavigator or other 3D mice.

Without the Mac drivers from 3Dconnexion.com, Blender doesn't recognize the SpaceNavigator (It's spelled as one word/name, no typo). It will move the mouse cursor in a 2D style like in the Finder.
With the Mac OS X drivers / System panel installed, Blender recognizes the SpaceNavigator / 3D-mouse, but while orbiting, the axis from the mouse do not correspond to the axis in the application. This is because Blender assumes you want to move the viewport camera aka your screen preview. Most people will know this mode from FPS (First Person Shooter) games. This is generally called Camera Mode. This can be frustrating if you want to work on your model and therefore keep it centered (Object Mode view).
Fortunately, orbiting in Object Mode is possible. Select the object you want to rotate, if you have more than one, and hold down the CTRL key.

It took me a week to figure this all out. That's why I'm writing an in depth article about using the SpaceNavigator with Blender on Mac OS X on buijs.pro


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How do I use Blender's built-in stereoscopic features?
I followed instructions I found online. It was pretty straightforward. Just enable "Views" in the scene tab. But it doesn't seem to work for me. When I render, it just renders both left and right and then layers it on top of each other as a flat image.
I'm unable to preview or render the images correctly. Here's a video of what I did.
Is my Blender buggy or am I just doing it wrong?

you are changing too much options. Did exactly as your fiddling and result was as expected. I suggest, starting with a new file (since its a cube only) and change options, step by step.

@AliRaj I only changed one option. I enabled "Views". Everything after that was to demonstrate that it wasn't working. It was to demonstrate that the camera preview wasn't working properly, etc.. Also, this was a new file.

well, i copied your video, and everything is working fine with me. why not reset your blender to original settings (preferences etc) and try again.

Can you specify what isn't working?

@reden I'm unable to preview the stereoscopic image. I'm also unable to render it. When I render, it just renders both left and right and then layers it on top of each other as a flat image.

OK. Then I think my answer here will help you: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/42289/stereoscopic-sbs-is-anaglyphic/50263#50263

I already had a problem with stereoscopy and it turned out, my graphics card didn't support Triple Buffer which is necessary for it to work. You might test your setup using a software wrapper for OpenGL and see if it helps. Oh and there's a little Stereo Icon below the Render Result. Does this help?

It seems that the render result will always be either anaglyphic or both images overlaid. You can toggle it with one of the icons at the bottom.
Whatever stereoscopic format you choose when rendering doesn't seem to do any difference. It's when saving the result that you can choose the format. The same (or similar) panel is shown when choosing a name to save it as.
(This actually makes more sense since you may want to try out or save to different formats and it would be a shame if you had to render it again.)

I don't see that icon in the viewer. Also, just to clarify, when I say preview, I meant the camera preview in the 3d viewport. Also, I don't get any stereoscopy options when naming the file after Save As

I can get Side by Side to work with the preview viewport. By: after setting Views, go to Window/Set Stereo 3D. Anaglyphic doesn't seem to work, though. Regarding the Save options, did you render with Stereo 3D?

When you render it out, it will always show 2 layers on top of each other. red and blue or depending which color you choose and it will be a flat image. If you have the required 3D red-blue lens goggles they give you the desired depth. But when you save it, 2 images will be saved always. you need to composite them together using photoshop or any other photo editing software you have. Normally I watch videos in 3D rendered out by blender which gives 2 videos. So I use Adobe After Effects to composite them as a final 3D video to watch with the 3D goggles.

authors: Михаил Субботин


text:
How can I separate my scene into render layers to render my animation faster in Cycles?
I guess this is more of a general 3D question than specifically of Blender.
How can I separate my scene in layers to render my animation faster on Cycles?
Meaning, is there any rule what should be on what layer and how should it be composited?
I don't want to spend a huge amount of time rendering the whole set for each frame when I can just render the animation and composite it over the BG.
There's a lot of tutorials on how to do it with stills, but I haven't been able to find anything regarding animation.
Thanks a lot!

The methods for stills are done in the compositor, which renders for each frame. Those methods should work. Note that it will be very slow :P

I managed to do a kind of a setup that renders the character animation and it's shadow on the ground and then combines it with a pre-rendered BG and FG. It speed up the render considerably, of course, but I don't know if there's some kind of mainstream process for this. This process only allows still shots, of course, otherwise you'd have to render the BG and FG for every frame

You can render them out as animations, you can use video sequences in the compositor

thanks @cegaton ! I had seen this before. And a bunch of others that explain the process I'm trying to achieve but simply don't work for some reason or other.

So here's what I came up with:

Basically, if the shot's fixed, and the camera doesn't move I pre-render the BG and the FG (The first 2 image inputs).
Then, with render layers:
Animation Render Layer: I put everything that has to be animated or interacts with the animation on visible layers and the rest just influencing those objects, but NOT VISIBLE.
Shadows Render Layer: Has a basic ground plane to receive the shadows with Shadows and AO render passes enabled. Here, I EXCLUDE the BG and FG.

Then, the Shadows Layer needs a Dilute/Erode node
And voilá! From about 1-2 hours of render time to 5 minutes per frame.
Again, this requires fixed shots.
Still...I'm no compositor wiz and this surely needs improving! For example, the Shadow Pass simply doesn't work...why is it there in the first place. Only the AO works. But it would make sense that the Shadows pass is what enables the shadow only calculation in the first place.

Apparently, the Shadow pass only works with Lamps and not with emission planes?


text:
How do I increase the resolution of a text object for use with a Shrinkwrap modifier?
Guys can I give more resolution to the font without converting to a mesh so this kind of effect when used Shrinkwrap can be fixed?

if you convert it into a mesh you could use a Boolean to get the same effect

That´s the thing I cannot convert it need to be non destructive!


text:
Why is this passive rigid body allowing objects to pass through it?
I have an object falling to the ground and breaking into pieces, but my plane, which is a passive rigid body, allows many pieces to pass through it:

Why is this happening and how can I fix it?

You can add a collision margin on the plane (the passive rigid body).
Also, increasing the number of simulation steps per frame from the rigid body properties panel in Scene properties tab will give you better results.

Increasing the number of steps did the trick (for a box), thanks!

I encountered this in blender 3.2.2. The settings have moved to Properties > Scene tab > Rigid Body World > "Substeps per frame" and "Solver Iterations". For my usecase I had to increase them to 15 and 150 respectively to get clipping down to an acceptable level.

@PLATO where the heck is this option?!?! Could you please share a screenshot?

Here it is: https://imgur.com/a/Z3nD9S1

Planes are notoriously bad objects to use as solid collision objects.
I would suggest to use a cube, with a cube bounding box.

Agreed. Pop a very subtle solidify on there and see if you get better results.

How to make a Cube with A Cube bounding box ?

Switch "Shape" from Rigid Body Options from Mesh to Box

In the Rigid settings pannel, if you are using a plane or a cube, change the default Convex Hull in Collisions shape to box, so it simulates the collision of a cube


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How to add details on a model
I started on low poly models, but now I'd like to create HIGH poly models too, with details. How do people create details like those in the red boxes?

Is this done with something of normal mapping/bumps? Or is this done literally adding a new cube and create a model of it and place on it... I really wonder how people to these DETAILED parts.
Here's a link to the blender artist thread about the spaceship.

Usually particle placed models

Luc, welcome to the site. You might want to take the tour, and review the sections of the help center related to asking and answering questions.

Those in the image definitely look modeled, not some sort of bump map or normal map trick, but both techniques can be used or even combined to achieve desired effect.
Deciding whether to model them or use some trick like normal maps or bump mapping/parallax mapping will largely depend on the purposed of your model , where or what for it will be used, and the limitations of that system.
If you are doing regular rendering with cycles/blender internal and have no/very little constraints in terms of polygon counts you should definitely consider modeling them for more realistic accurate results.
If your computer is slow or can't handle the details, or if they are not the main focus of the artwork and will be very far away/out of view you may consider using some sort of simplification like a bump map or a normal map to simulate the effect.
You can combine both techniques (modeling + normals) to obtain even further detailed model.
You may also choose displacement maps to generate actual geometry bumps from an image texture, at the expense of higher polygon counts. These are generally more suited for organic or irregular models.
If you are planning using it in some sort of game engine or real time visualization where complexity is a limiting factor you may bake the details into normal maps or bump maps from a high poly to a low poly version of the model
Either way, if you want to do it very accurately, you will probably have to model the gribbles in 3D yourself anyway, so you can use it later to bake it to the lower poly version.
As to the modeling part they seem to be simple boxes repeated across the surface, nothing too special about them. Use modifiers like Array for repetition, or the Shrink Wrap to place "2D" shapes across the larger surfaces then give them volume with a Solidify modifier. You can keep the greebles as a separate object parented to the main mesh so as to not increase the polygon counts/triangulation of the original, and still be able to turn them off or reuse them elsewhere with ease.

There is a thread on blenderartists.org which deals with one way of achieving this effect.
Sculpting with UVs and Displacement
There's also a complete video tut from Oliver Villar that shows this technique in great depth.
Video Tutorial


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How to repostion/reset the selector closer to the object with mirror modifier still active?
the question is on the Image.

if I reset orgion to 3d cusor is messes up the clipping and adjusting it does not help fix it.

Thank You...

I Just figured it out:

Place 3d cursor where you want it.
Unselect Clipping on the Mirror Modifier.
In tools, Set origin select Origin to 3D cursor.
On the Mirror Modifier, re-select Clipping.
Adjust the Merge limit to place the two sides back together.

That looks like it worked.

writting or using actual number are a matter of option... terminology is a matter of getting to know what everyting is called.... lalalalala lame O mod ... is my option ...


text:
Blender UI bleeding through and refresh is messed up
who do I report this too? whenever I mouse over it the UI goes bonkers, redraws previous states of being or the desktop bleeds through. If I change the lay out it will show parts of the previous one when I move the mouse over it.

default showing with video editing being selected.

Default just bleeds though showing desktop and part of UI.

This feels more like an OS refresh/redraw issue, I see some penguins, and I'm guessing you run mint or similar, and I also realize this is usually a MS  answer but have you tried rebooting? Gnome/KDE/x/etc.. can get messed up too.

humm let me try killing them penguins - this is slack with fluxbox I am running. btw fyi - that didn't work. MS ?? too this is the only app that this does this with, OS refresh would effect everything all UI's yes?

Hmm, did it used to work and just recently starting doing this?  Have you tried (are you on)  latest stable build of blender?


text:
Python automate Assign parent relation and keep transform
I have automated the task of parenting in Blender with Python.
The code affects the relation parent according to the two last characters of the names of the objects.
example:
obj1.name = Cube.01
obj2.name = Suzanne.01

If obj1 is in the group "children" and obj2 is not in the group "children" : obj2 is the parent of obj1.
My code works, but without keeping children's transformation.
How can I do to keep the children's transformation?
import bpy

for obj1 in bpy.context.selected_objects:
    if obj1.name in  bpy.data.groups["Children"].objects:
    a = obj1.name[-2:]

    for obj2 in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            if obj2.name not in  bpy.data.groups["Children"].objects:
                b = obj2.name[-2:]
                if a == b:
                   obj1.parent= obj2

You have to set the inverse matrix  of the child to clear the initial transformation of the parent at parenting moment :
obj1.parent= obj2
obj1.matrix_parent_inverse = obj2.matrix_world.inverted()

This doesn't seem to work for clearing the scale. Any thoughts on how to do that?

this will not keep transform, at least in blender 3.1 when your parent is a curve. if you find the solution could you please post it here https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/273079/parenting-to-a-curve-with-python-leads-to-unexplained-results

An additional note to Chebhou's answer and for other community members searching for answers related to keeping the child's transform when the parent object is a Curve. The solution comes from this thread: If your parent object is a Curve, you need to set the use_path property of the curve's data to False.
curve.data.use_path = False
obj.parent = curve
obj.matrix_parent_inverse = curve.matrix_world.inverted()

I tried Chebhou's method but it didn't work as expected. To keep an object's position, rotation, and scale unchanged when changing its parent, you need to multiply the new parent's inverse matrix with the object's world matrix. This ensures the object maintains its world space transform after reparenting.
    # First, calculate the inverse of the parent's world matrix
    parent_inverse_world_matrix = parent.matrix_world.inverted()

    # Now, set the parent
    obj.parent = parent

    obj.matrix_parent_inverse =  parent_inverse_world_matrix @ obj.matrix_world


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Atmosphere Colour Change (Blender Render)
Just a quick congrats to the moderators who won! Glad to see some friendly faces keeping their spots as you've help so many out including me with this project and others.
Back to my Earth project. Done some more tweaking and have much more to do to try and perfect everything. My next step though is changing the colour of the atmosphere when transitioning from day to night. I want to have that golden/orange glow that appears around the edges of the day and night shift. I've attached my current render and what I'd like the transition to eventually look like.
My render:

What I'm aiming for:

I'm also trying to make 3D clouds as well or 3D manipulated clouds with the texture I'm currently using. But one at a time ey? Look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/7509/599, http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/18393/599, and http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/8847/599

@gandalf3 This isn't with the Cycles engine just the normal Blender Render. I've now changed the title addressing this.


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Play .mov or .avi in BGE
I am trying to make an explosion in the game engine, using GLSL shading.
The Alpha works so all you can see is the fire, but blender is treating it as an image texture and not playing the video.
Are there any easy ways to make the game engine play animated textures? I do not mean by using this method:

I vaguely recall someone made a commit to BGE regarding playing videos sometime about a month or two ago.  If you feel like doing some digging.  http://www.miikahweb.com/en/blender/git-logs/page/0

You can play videos (and images and render from other cameras) with the VideoTexture module.
You can test that with Dynamic Texture 1.0 - easy to use VideoTexture.
Edit: You can find the official documentation of the VideoTexture module (incl. example) in the BGE API.

This is a link only answer. Please add more info here, explain the process of using your videoTexture module, how it works etc.
Just posting a blend file would not be a very good answer, but just posting a link to a place to download a blend file, can hardily be considered an answer.


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How to lock center vertices with mirror modifier?
I'm having trouble keeping center vertices in place while editing a head.
Am I missing a lock function?

Do you have clipping enabled in the mirror modifier?

You want to enable clipping in the mirror modifier.
From the blender manual page for the mirror modifier.

Clipping
Prevents vertices from crossing through the mirror plane(s). Note that this is only valid in Edit mode (i.e when using object transformations, translations, scaling, et cetera, in Object mode, vertices will happily cross these borders.)
If Clipping is selected but vertices are outside of the Merge Limit the vertices will not merge. As soon as the vertices are within Merge Limit they are clipped together and cannot be moved beyond the mirror plane. If several vertices are selected and are at different distances from the mirror plane, they will one by one be clipped at the mirror plane.

authors: Катерина Михайлова