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How can I unparent an object in an animaton?
I was working on a baby project in which a toy trains takes a block (typically a cube).
So I parented the block to the train and it moves perfectly from starting point to the stopping point.
At the stoping point I want this block to be un parented and start moving along a curve.

If I try to un parent it using Alt + P its jumps around as shown below:

Parenting can't be disabled during timeline. If you want this, you must use Child Of constraint instead. It has influence value, that can be animated.

Look also:
How do I "parent" objects?
Dynamic parent addon

Thank you very much for your answer, so how can I set child to un parent on a certain frame and keep the location same ?

Use two Child Of constraints. One is referencing the moving object and the other is referencing the static one. Animate the influences to obtain the desired effect.

@BlenderForYou see my links in answer

The Dynamic parent addon does not exist. The link is no good.


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How to assign a color value to face (object) using python
I have the following two functions:
def get_random_color():
    ''' generate rgb using a list comprehension '''
    r, g, b = [random.random() for i in range(3)]
    return r, g, b, 1

def createMeshFromData(name, origin, verts, faces):
    # Create mesh and object
    me = bpy.data.meshes.new(name + 'Mesh')
    ob = bpy.data.objects.new(name, me)
    ob.location = origin
    ob.show_name = True

    # Link object to scene and make active
    scn = bpy.context.scene
    scn.objects.link(ob)
    scn.objects.active = ob
    ob.select = True
    ob.color = get_random_color()

    # Create mesh from given verts, faces.
    me.from_pydata(verts, [], faces)
    # Update mesh with new data
    me.update()
    return ob

createMeshFromData gets its data from a database for verts and faces. Later on it will also get a color value.
So far I am trying to assign a random color using the function get_random_color. I assign this color with ob.color = get_random_color() but this does not seem to work once I press F12 to render.
How to assign a color value to an object?
I am not familiar with blender (coming from matplotlib) and I would apprecite your help.

You cant just blindly assign color values to an object or even a face, as far as I know. Colors go either into materials, textures, or at best vertex color layers.

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos Thanks. I have found this https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/23434/51114 to assign a material to my object.

Set Material.use_object_color to True
From code in this answer which demonstrates use of object colour
# get mat create.
mat = bpy.data.materials.get("randobjcol")
if not mat:
    mat = bpy.data.materials.new("randobjcol")
    mat.use_object_color = True

# assign to object
ob.active_material = mat

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Weird Shrink/Fatten Scalling Problem
Quite the noob since I'm trying to learn how to use Blender for the first time (Sorta). That said, I've been experiencing a weird problem with the shrink/fatten tool as it appears to be shrinking one object, and fattening the other, even though they've all been selected, as shown in the gif within the link: https://i.sstatic.net/k6gER.jpg
Don't know exactly what could be causing it, but possibly an easy solution can fix it.

Recalculate your normals. Select all vertices of the meshes in Edit Mode and press Ctrl + N.

As Akados mentioned, there is a problem with your normals.
What are normals?
Every face has a normal. It's the direction the face is pointing at. One side of every triangle is considered the "outer" side and the other is the "inner" side.
Why is shrink/fatten confused?
When you use shrink/fatten, it moves the faces in the direction of the normals.
Fatten = move towards the "outer" side.
Shrink = move towards the "inner" side.
It makes sense when you think about it.
Since the "3" in your example has the correct normals, it works fine for that part of the mesh. But the "D" part seems to have flipped normals, so the shrink/fatten actually moves faces in the opposite direction.
How to fix it?
Blender knows how to automatically get the normals right. You have to select everything in the mesh and Make normals consistent, using the shortcut ControlN.

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


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Normal Map image being used for texturing
Here's a link to my files and texture images
For some reason certain parts of my mesh are using their normal maps for texturing/color instead of the texture images I have selected for color with their respective blender materials. The result is shown below:

You can see that the hair and fins on the arm are affected. Their colors should be closer to this:

Just double checked that and they do have the desired materials assigned to them.

Than multitexture setting enabled, faces displays last assigned texture in UV-image editor.
Switch to GLSL mode, in this mode faces tries to display close to material settings:

However, when it is set to "solid" I still see the normal map as
  opposed to the proper texture.

If you have textures in solid mode, uncheck textures solid:

That seems to work for when "viewport shading" is set to "texture." However, when it is set to "solid" I still see the normal map as opposed to the proper texture.

Hmm, seems that it must have been a weird visual glitch, because after deleting and recreating the texture image the hair now displays correctly in all shading modes for the viewport.

Uncheck also "textured solid" option


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Action Constraint - Local Space With Parent NOT WORKING
I've created an action constraint for the shoulder when the hand controller moves in local space (with parent) in one direction. It works fine when the character is upright, but not when the character is rotated at all.

Upon rotation of any parent bone in the chain, the constraint is not evaluated the same. Even though the local transformation is exactly the same on the hand bone (which drives the action constraint). Example with root bone rotated 45 degrees:

Here's what the constraint setup looks like:

This problem happens whether I select "Local" or "Local with Parent" for the target transform type. Anyone have an idea what's going on here? It seems like a bug to me.

Is it an Auto Rig Pro rig? If so be aware that it helds lots of inconstancies, expecially on constraints, baking animations and visual keying. I gave up all experiments on its cusomizations and switched back to good old solid Rigify.

I have had this problem on non-Auto-Rig-Pro rigs as well; but yes, this is a customized ARP rig. The constraint setup is very very simple, and the problem is reproduceable even on a simple 2-bone armature. So I think it's a bug. I've reported it here:
https://developer.blender.org/T95896

Turns out the problem only happens when a Child of Constraint is used on the bone driving the action constraint. When you use a bone with a true parent to drive the action constraint this behaves as expected.
It is a bug and being tracked here:
https://developer.blender.org/T95896

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


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Why isn't my Normal Map visible after baking&applying texture?
Here's my .blend file for reference:
AllMight Blend File
I have two meshes. One Low Poly mesh in layer one, another high poly in layer 2. I believe I've followed the correct steps for baking and applying a normal map to the low poly mesh, but it doesn't even seem to appear in render mode. And I don't think it looks right in texture mode either.
If someone could take a look at my file and settings for baking/applying the normal map UV that would be tremendously helpful.
P.S. There's a sun lamp in layer 3.

Looks like you applied the texture to the silver material. I can see the effect on the belt buckle. Have you tried applying the normal texture to the rest of the materials?

Oh my gosh, I'm going to check this right now.. I had no idea you had to go through and bake your texture to every material you have.

That was definitely the issue! Now my problem is that the normal map looks really dark on my low poly mesh. Not at all like the high poly mesh.

I didn't check your normals. maybe they're inverted? That would make the lighting act funny. Glad I could help!

Thanks, but normals definitely aren't inverted. I have backface culling selected to make sure I never do that lol. Perhaps I just need to try the baking process again with different settings. I did it with a margin of 30px and a distance of 1.000 last time.

I found out what went wrong. I forgot to select "Normal Map" under "Image Sampling" in the Texture options.


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Cycles Combined Texture Bake doesn't match Cycles Render
Fairly experienced Blender user here with many bakes under my belt with textures that perfectly match combined render pass.
My problem is, my texture baked as a combined pass in cycles doesn't match in this case and I'm not sure why. See below:

I've checked, and the below aren't an issue:

Lights enabled for bakes, but not for viewport preview
Objects enabled for bakes, not for viewport, which might be casting shadows or obscuring lights
Resolution settings for cycles bakes
Disabling Optix / Denoise doesn't change that the result is wrong.

What I'm considering:

Whether this is a blender 3.6 issue. Going to check if this happens in blender 4.
Any other ideas?

Scene Layout (circled items are what I want in render+bake):

Bake and Sampling Settings:

I've tried tons of variations of this, see above bullets.

Material:

Does your mesh have a subdiv surface modifier ? Maybe it's only visible for rendering and not used for baking, or something like that ?

@Lutzi THIS WAS THE CULPRIT! How silly, many thanks

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


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Weird texture issues when importing Collada from SketchUp
I'm relatively new to Blender and trying to import an architectural render from SketchUp 2017.
I export from SketchUp with Collada, then import, and end up with something like this:

The meshes with problems do have two materials:

Putting the correct material on top helps some. Deleting the secondary material helps some of the time, but not all of the time.
Any ideas what this is? I've heard that importing from Collada can require hours of cleanup, but in this case am not sure where to start.
Thanks!

look like Z fighting to me. See if there are any doubled up faces. That could be duplicate objects in the same spot, or duplicate faces in the same object.

Yup, that is not caused neither by materials nor textures, that loks like Z-Fighting to me, which is cause by overlapping geometry or coinciding faces. That means it's cleanup time, and one of the reasons why Sketchup is such a clumsy modelling tool.

maybe duplicate of http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/70913/sketchup-to-blender-material-not-visible/70918#70918

Thanks for the comments! Yes, it was just normal Z-fighting (no pun intended).
Once I removed duplicate vertices, I could apply the textures and everything worked fine.


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Deforming a series of roof tiles to fit roof's geometry?
Here's the situation I have — there's a roof tile geometry (a beveled path) that I'm trying to get to fit the shape of the roof.

This is an array here, which is working well; the bump I'm running into is adjusting the shape to fit angled areas, e.g. the triangle shapes on the edge of the roof.
There's a lot of roof space beyond this that would need the tile — and I'm wondering how to fit this "tile" to the shape of the roof. Ideally in some way that would let me continue to refine the path as time goes on.
It seems like there might be good ways to do this short of converting it all to a mesh and making it fit by brute force — that, as a Blender newbie, I'm not yet aware of.
Thank you!

I couldn't get your issue: what you did, what you got, and why it doesn't work, sorry...

Look into Tissue Addon: http://www.co-de-it.com/wordpress/code/blender-tissue. It lets you tile a mesh piece (ie. a roof tile) by guiding surface, that you can easily adjust for the shape you need.

You're trying to shingle a roof? Unless you need some super close-ups I'd say do this with a bump texture. If you do need more "3D-ness" than that, try a particle system, but the particles will still collide at the corners and require special attention.


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Putting image on model in cycles
I wanted to put an image from a company onto my 3D model. How would I do this with blender cycles? I have the image file and I want to put it on the torso of my character (which is about 4 faces put together) I would really appreciate any help!

Add a new material and go to compositing then add image texture into the diffuse bsdf


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Question about nGon
Ive just retopologized this sculpt, but theres a few faces i can't connect without causing distortion as there are 5 sides and when you look from the side view the vertices all run in a column but don't have anywhere to join (pic 2).
Ive tried just joining the faces together and then seeing if the knife tool but it causes the same thing to happen on the face next to it.
Any help?
Thanks!

De select everything (Pressing "A" once or twice) then select the edge loop you are pointing to with your red arrow and then delete it. Press "X" > Delete Edge Loop. Repeat for the other one. Then if you like you can add complete edge loops back.

you can create a loop on the remaining faces with Ctrl+R, this will give you a missing loop because of the ngon
then select the last 2 verticies on the sides and hit j to join them


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Rendered image is not as smooth as in 3d preview
I'm a newb to blender so apologies if this is obvious.  I modelled a simple cup and set the modifier subdivisions to 5 after I turned on 'smooth'.  It renders fine in the CTRL+Z render preview window but when I do a final render the handle of the cup is blocky and not smooth.... Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
Attached pics of the render with blocky handle and the object/render settings
Many thanks

Ahh yeah, I totally forgot! Thank you very much!

Well, Cegaton already found the problem, but the question needs an answer for future users.
The Subdivision surface modifier has two important parameters: the view and the render subdivisions. As their name suggests, view determines how smoothed out the surface will be when viewing it in the viewport, and render does the same for rendered images.

This is useful if you want a smoother object when rendering, but want a better performance of the viewport and don't need much detail when previewing – you can set a lower view and a higher render.
If you set the render parameter lower than the view parameter, objects will appear smoother in the viewport than in actual renders.
Another possible cause of this problem is that the modifier is visible  but isn't being rendered . In that case, click the camera icon to enable rendering of the modifier (in the image above, both rendering and viewing are enabled).


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Pixelated light in final render
I've rendered my final scene but the emitting light from the bulb shows a weird pixelated shade at the base and on the bulb... however it seems like its clear in the viewport render.  Any ideas? Is it the emission node?
View port light looks clearer...

Final render looks very pixelated...

Ahh... I thought 1000 samples would be fine


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Texture on inside of mesh
Ive added an image texture to this object and the texture shows all over, which is fine however I wanted to create another texture image (of rust) on the INSIDE this time... how would I go about doing that in the nodes as the outside faces are the same as the inside ones so I cant select them and just create a new material
Thanks for any help

You can use the solidify modifier to essentially add a second copy of the object on the inside. Select the inside geometry and assign it to one material, and the outside geometry to another material. Then they can be textured differently!


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UV Wrap or Bake Normals first?
I wanted to texture paint this high poly object (left).  I've created a low poly version (right).  My question is; do I have to UV unwrap it first then bake the normals... and if so do I unwrap the high poly or low poly version?
Been searching for a while on the best way to do this so any tutorials would be much appreciated.
Many thanks

Baking won't work without unwrapping. So yes, unwrap is done before baking for object you're baking to (lowpoly).

You must unwrap the low poly version first. That is how your bake will have coordinates to match up from low poly to high poly. If you tried to bake normals first, you would get an error because the program would not know where to put them in your image.

Sweet thank you very much!  Once I've unwrapped the low poly, do i need to bake high\low on top of each other or can it be done side by side?

You should have them in the same space so that the rays can intersect both.


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Make axis parallel to face
I'm making a grenade and still a blender newbie, but how do i make the x axis parallel to the face i want to move (drawn the line in pic 1).  Its off and every time I select edges to move along the axis it causes a weird movement (pic 2) when I want the grenade  faces to be aligned and not distorted...

Ahhh, figured it out, orientation was set to global and needed to be set to normal
In object mode, select transformation from global to local to normal etc at the bottom of the screen

Could you please expand on this answer, eg how to set the orientation to global.

In object mode, select transformation from global to local to normal etc at the bottom of the screen

So like @obloquy said, you can switch your orientation of the object manipulator by clicking on where the blue arrow shows in the photo and clicking the dropdown and selecting "normal". What this won't do right away, is allow you to move on the x normal.
You have to hit the grab tool with g then x then x again. Since you're in the normal axis mode, the first time you press x it will move globally (as per usual), and the 2nd time you press x, it will move along the normals! You can verify this by looking at the infobar at the bottom of your screen where it shows your actions. (unable to screenshot this piece unfortunately!). The same technique works for local space etc.
Hope this answers your questions.
Cheers, David C - Blenderforall


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Subsurface mod doing odd things to mesh
Hey can anyone tell me whats going on with my mesh? I added a subsurface mod and the entire thing became pinched in weird places and not at all like the what i intended.  Im trying to model the top part of this image but when I add the subsurf mod it becomes too smooth and weird when it needs to be hard surface.  Any idea? Ive attached the blend file also

Related: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/101170/weird-blender-subsurface-glitch/101174#101174

Your topology is not good. You should try and have faces that have four vertices.


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Merging objects back after applying boolean difference modifier
I've difference booleaned part A from part B, which is fine but, I was wondering if theres anyway to merge the two now separate objects back to make them as one rather than editing them separately?


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How to tighten up mesh before subsurface mod added
I'm modelling this detail and when I add the subsurface mod, it does odd things.  I cant make any loop cuts on it for some reason so have to use the knife tool.  Would I have to add alot of cuts to be able to get a clean looking mesh... any help on where to make cuts without creating ngons?

You already created Ngons which is why no loopcuts can be added (works only on 4 sided faces) and also why Subsurf creates artifacts - it doesn't go well with Ngons

Select the edges you want to tighten and hit ctrl-b.


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Can you use drivers on sverchok nodes?
I just tried adding a driver to a sverchok node property, but it won't show up in the graph editor. Is it not possible to do that? Why not?

As a developer of Sverchok i'd like to answer in the negative.
No F-Curves or Drivers for a slider/property from a custom NodeTree will show up in the Graph Editor. Custom NodeTrees are things like Animation Nodes and Sverchok, ie: anything not from a Shader Node Tree / Compositor Node Tree.
I asked Blender developers in IRC about enabling this for custom node trees, but it appears not so trivial or not a priority.
I think what you could do is make a custom property for a normal Empty object, and add a Driver and reference the specific node tree in the driver code. Can't confirm this works, but it's worth trying.


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Shortcut to open editor type menu
I would like to be able to change the currently active editor type through keyboard shortcuts only (rather than having to click twice). – is there a way to assign a shortcut to the menu? (in the menu you can simply press the underlined letters to select.)

is it maybe possible to simulate clicks on buttons with python?

it could also be nice to have a radial menu for this.

I prefer to change the current screen which changes multiple editors at the same time.

obviously the default keyboard shortcuts @Crantisz mentioned work. however I find them hard to remember, so I created a custom pie menu addon: blender-editor-switcher

EDIT:
turns out this exists already, as part of https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/viewport_pies

It's Shift+F2-F12 buttons.
You can change hotkeys in User Preferences (Input Tab) They are in a window section:


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How to generate a closed surface using sverchok?
I just learned how to create a surface from a number of circles with different radii:

the problem with this though is that the shape has a hole at the top and bottom (although the radius is 0 at both points). that's why when applying a subsurf modifier creates this kind of unwanted result:

so my question is: using only sverchok, is there a way to close these holes?

Also, you can close the ends by enabling "Cup U" or "Cup V", (it's a mis-spelling of "cap"). This will however produce a face without area because the ends are made my verts with identical locations. Not useful in this location, but normally that's what you'd do to "make the surface closed"

Please, use cap U/V button to close mesh instead of both cycle U/V
Use help there nikitron.cc.ua/sverch/html/nodes/modifier_make/uv_connect.html

It looks like that you have an internal vertex/circle of vertices on the top. Can you check the topology before subsurf?

You can see on the second picture that there is one circle with 0 radius inside on this reproduction of your problem.
Then, I dont know sverchok but i guess it should do the trick:
sverch Remove Doubles

Remove Doubles will not be merge the desired vertices in their mean location (sadly) it might however just merge them in 1 of the original locations. https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/619340/27597495-c9c10b7c-5b62-11e7-848e-4c9b3d29f221.png -- if those vertices share the same 3d location, this effect will be unnoticed.


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How to create a circular armature?
let's say I wanted to rig and animate a torus. — is it possible to have a circular armature?
from what I can tell, this is not possible. so I thought maybe it's an idea to add a driver to the tail position of the last bone, that gets the head position of the first bone. however, this also doesn't seem to be an option.

The thing, what you want to build will cast loop in parents (circular dependency), it doesn't allow. When Blender calculates bones coordinates, it moves from child through parents to root bone. And if you have loop in parents, blender can't find root bone
To avoid circular dependency you can bild rig like this:

This type of rig you can find in BlenRig, in lips rigging

Could you add a little description to your answer explaining how you achieved that result and how/why it works?

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos I've added a gif

The first one was enough, I meant an actual written text explanation detailing what you did and how. This is a good answer, and obviously you have put some effort into it, but as it stands this answer is non-searchable and not easily indexed, making it impossible to find through search, and hard to find for possible future users

thanks, I figured it out studying the second gif. – still wondering though how you get the bones to snap to each other. I ended up using the cursor to selected and selection to cursor snap functions.

@kindoflike change snapping from snapping to increment (grid) to snapping to vertex.


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How to use an RGB normal map in the Displace modifier
I have a model which was created for a game engine. It uses the usual RGB normal format (most pixels are just under $(.5, .5, 1)$ for some normal maps in the form of PNG images.
I'd like to use these normal maps and the low-poly geometry to approximate the original high-poly geometry. I know I need to use the subdivision or multires modifers, followed by a displace modifier, but what settings should I use to apply this kind of normal map in the displace modifier?
So far in experimenting I've set "direction" to "RGB to XYZ" and "texture co-ordinates" to "UV", but I'm not sure what the correct values for "space", "midlevel", and "strength" should be, nor if there's anything I need to change in the texture block.
Other questions on this subject seem to be about using greyscale bump maps for displacement, or about the (more common) reverse process of baking a high-poly mesh into a normal map.


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Move group instances together after rotation
I am trying to model a tripod. The idea was to model just one leg, making it a group, and then create two group instances of the leg, rotate them +-120 degrees (to face each other) and voila.
The problem I have though is that once rotated the grouped instances no longer move in the same global direction as the original leg. Instead, after the rotation, if I move the leg along the x axis, the instances will move along THEIR x axis thereby breaking the tripod apart.
Without rotation:

With rotation:

Is there a way to move these rotated instances in the same global coordinate as the original leg?
Thanks.

Set Transform orientation to Global, not Local. It seems that 3d manipulator widget confuses you and you drag with it.
You can move them along global axis also via keyabord -  G >
 X and Rightclick Drag + X.


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Relax some of the pinching in uv texture grid?
I've unwrapped this object and probably cant fully straighten the map without causing insane stretching given the shape of the piece - however I wanted to know if theres a way to relax the pinching (3,4) on some parts of my model, would I have to make more cuts... and if so where? Or would it be fine?

Have a look at: What would be the easiest way to uv map a complex object

Have you tried the "minimize stretch" operation in UV editor?  It won't make up for insufficient seaming, but it can be useful.

The only thing i could really think of is projecting from view but I don't think that would be good for the model you're trying to texture.

Hey, I did try that but yeah sadly it doesnt help for relaxing some tight parts sadly :(

IMO what you need to do is add seams to edges like this one.

I don't know if you only want to texture this or if you plan to bake from a high-poly to low-poly model, but when baking normal maps you have to have at least an seam on each edge that exceeds your autosmooth degree threshold, at the absolute minimum. Right now you're using essentially no seams and hoping that an angle like this in 3D space --

Will somehow come out straight in the UV map. Which if you think about is asking a bit much.
My old trick when uv mapping hard surface objects is to set the Select Linked Flat Faces command to some free hotkey (Alt-shift-F for instance, it might actually already be that hotkey idk), set that degree to something that works for you, often 30degrees, and then use that tool to select areas, get the boundary loop and to get your baseline for seams on the model.
Like this:


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Why is light reflection in glass different in the viewport than in the rendered image?
just a quick question.  When I do a viewport render, I like the reflection I have on glass (picture 1).  However when I do a final render, I get a really weird looking reflection (picture 2).  I'm not using any lamps or area lights, just planes set with emissions.  Anyone know why and can offer any advise?

Check if there's an emission plane hidden in viewport but renderable. Note also that view angle between 2 renders doesn't match a bit

Ahh i figured it out, my geometry had a dip in it which was causing that weird shape in the reflection


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Difference boolean giving odd results - any help?
I've got a weird problems when using the boolean tool.
I'm trying to boolean part A and B together using with difference operation (pic 1).   However every time I try to do this by selecting part B and then choosing part A to difference boolean, it only joins the left side of part A to B even though the two pieces of part A were joined in the first place (pic 2).
Then when I click the apply mod, the pieces have joined separately (pic 3) andnot all as one.  I tried then to boolean a new mesh together in the same fashion as before but the parts do the same thing weirdly (pic 4)...
There arent any doubles or duplicate meshes so not sure whats happened.  Anyone offer any help?

Possibly it’s an issue with the meshes being non-manifold, which can cause unexpected results with Boolean operations.

Remove half of both objects, boolean them and then add Mirror modifier, will be much faster. Depending on the desired result Boolean might not be needed (but anyway it should work generally)

Thanks Mr Zak, probably shouldve done that in the first place lol


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How would I go about creating holes in mesh
I want to model this old microphone and wanted to know if anyone had any ideas on how to specifically model the inset holes of the microphone?

There are plenty of questions like this already. A B C D which mostly advise using the tissue addon

Then there is the "there is no spoon" workflow: maybe just use a texture to make the holes transparent.


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Help making extruded vent on a circle flat surface
I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to do these air vent folds that actually look like their coming out of the flat surface (pic 1).  Any ideas on how to achieve this given my current geometry? (pic 2)
Many thanks

Unrelated, but please, my eyes are hurting.

haha i saw that but couldn't be bothered to fix it just yet


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How to the set orientation for spin tool
I'm modelling an m26 grenade, specifically the top part (pic 1).  Ive used the spin tool to extrude and move down the top part of the clip (pic 2) . I want to do the same to the bottom face (pic 3) by using the spin tool and match the way the curve moves inward, however I cant seem to replicate the top spin and am struggling to find the correct orientation for it without causing weird spins to occur... any help?

I've created the curve going down (A) but want to do the same for the other side (B) on a different angle

Select the face you want to spin, then use View >> Align View >> Align View to Active. Find the view you need to see along your desired spin axis and spin. You can use a second window to do the selection if necessary.

An alternative approach to modeling this handle similar to how it was probably manufactured "Stamped":
Start with a flat version spine the two prongs in the front. Add three Loop Cuts where the edges of the side pieces are. CTRL + R

In the tail end of the mesh add a bunch of Loop Cuts. I used 30.  CTRL + R Mouse wheel to 30.

Select the following Edges and place the Cursor approximately here and use the Spin Tool ALT + R You can adjust the angle and increments in the Tool Panel (Pressing T toggles the panel on/off).

Extrude those same edges down a bit E + Z

Select the following Edge and Extrude down some more E + Z

Select the following Edges and Extrude  theem down E + Z

Hide everything but the following.

Enable Proportional Editing with a Linear Falloff and scale the bottom Edge inward S + X

Select the bottom middle Vertex and change the Falloff to Sphere to create the following shape.

Select the back edge and change the Falloff to Sharp and drag down to create this shape G SHFT Y To constrain the movement to the x and z axis.

Disable Proportional Editing. Change the Pivot Center to the 3D Cursor. Select all of the following and Rotate on the Y axis R Y

Thank you for the thorough guide Dontwalk and for taking the time to do it!


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Any help removing a stubborn tri?
I've got one stubborn tri on my mesh that wont go away, and was wondering if anyone could cast a quick look at it to see if its possible to make it into a quad?
I want to unwrap the mesh and then texture it in substance painter so I don't want any pinching. I'm still a newbie so forgive me.  I've spent probably too much time on this tri alone (haha) and whilst the Removing triangles and ngons is helpful, it doesn't help me massively.  I've tried with the knife but it ends up solving the problem but creating a new tri or ngon elsewhere.  I've tried loop cuts on either side and up and down but with same result.
Sorry if this is a repeat question
Blend file attached

The simplest solution is this:

Thank you so much Haunt_House, was so obvious I don't know why I didn't see it!

@obloquy 'obvious', That's the very reason. I focused on the southern part as well. Initially.


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Removing solidifier mod on a certain part of a mesh
Just a quick question, is there any way to remove a solidify mod on a certain part of a mesh whilst keeping the modifier intact on the rest of the mesh?

Yes, you can add a vertex group to your mesh, which lets you apply the modifier to a specific set of verticies alone.
See this for more information on the solidify modifier, and this for information on creating vertex groups.

No problem. -comment length minimums wat?


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How best to make glue/resin
I wanted to model the inside of this lightbulb screw, specifically the red glue (or resin) and uneven edges/mottled look it has... any ideas on how to do that? I've modeled a rough shape for the area where it dips from the rim but not sure whats the best way to get an 'organic' look...
Any help?

I approached this by creating a custom texture. First I Marked three seams in the base mesh CTRL + E > Mark Seam.

Then unwrapped it. By selecting all of the vertices and pressing U > Unwrap. I scaled the UV Map larger because I was only interested in the area I applied the custom resin texture to.

Then exported the UV layout and in an image editor created a custom texture. Of course turned off the UV Layout before saving the finished texture.

You are welcome. And thank you for inspiring me to ask another question about the broken glass!


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Problem to select multiple objects in in sculptmode in 2.91
In 2.91 from 25st of Sept and onwards you are supposed to select multiple objects in sculpt mode by hovering with mouse and push D. It's simply not working for me and I need this feature. What am I doing wrong and am I the only one having this problem?
//Erik

it does not allow to select multiple objects, it allows to switch from an object to another, and you need to enable this option because it is still experimental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkj338ytNPQ#t=17m

I meant switch objects. Where do I enable the option? It is not found in the video

in the Preferences > Interface > Display > Developer Extras, then there's a Experimental button in the left column, it may be there?

You made my day! Big thanks! It would be good if Youtubers could add this info

well it's a brand new feature, it's still in test


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Poles not correct in Rigify add-on after skinning
I have a big problems with the Rigify addon. It seems that you need to have a slight bend for the knees and elbows (the natural bend) to get the poles for knees and elbows correct. If the poles are wrong and I try to fix change the poles afterwards I get weird twisting on legs. My solution was to reshape the basemesh a bit to get a slight correct bend and then the poles are correct. Is this a bug or is there a better way to solve this?

Closed; mentioned in manual:
"Limbs: Keep the legs as straight as possible in the front view (Rigify human works better in predictable cases). Give the knee and the elbow a slight bend angle (Rigify needs to know where your knee/elbow is pointing)."
A limitation just to be aware of


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Missing CUDA option
I am running Blender 2.76b on Kubuntu 16.04. I am using proprietary drivers at version 375.85 and my graphic card is GTX 1070. From what I read the drivers are recent enough and 3 years old Blender had already the CUDA support.
Any ideas what is wrong?
PS: I assume drivers are alright, because GPU acceleration is working fine in games.

Version 2.76 was released in the end of 2015 and support for GTX10X0 series is available from 2.78 version

If you installed the nvidia drivers from the repository, you might not have the cuda library.

@Denis Oh, official Ubuntu repository is not updating often then. I'll try installing some other way, thank you.

Unlike Windows, the proprietary driver packet does not include CUDA under Linux, you have to install it additionally, I tripped over this problem a few times myself.
You can follow these instructions, they describe the process in detail:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/799184/how-can-i-install-cuda-on-ubuntu-16-04


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Removing a few unwanted triangles and ngons/tsplines - is it necessary?
I've got these triangles and ngon on my mesh.  Can anyone give some advice on how to make these quads and will it effect my mesh if i want to unwrap it?  Every time I try and dissolve or merge the verts I end up creating more triangles or tsplines.
I've tried seeing if the previous question Removing triangles and ngons might help but I'm still stuggling
Many thanks

Here are some ideas to try, since I don't know what the parts of the mesh outside the viewport look like.
For the first one:
1. Add the green edge via the knife tool
2. Delete the red edge (or merge the verts so it's effectively gone)
3. Combine the triangles in the bluish triangle.

This will leave you with one triangle but the rest will be quads.  If you want to eliminate the triangle, you could try adding the yellow edge and then combining the resulting triangles and you'll have all quads.
For the T-spline, I'd try to remove it if it were me.  If not, you're basically trusting Blender to deal with it because at some point it'll triangulate it internally to render, and it might not choose the edges ideally.  In this case there are many options, and any of the ones in this image would probably work ok.  Personally I'd probably go with the light blue one.

The green one is ok, but it will give you a triangle, if that matters.  The orange one would just give you a tiny triangle, but it might be small enough to not look bad.
Modeling is definitely an art and these might not be the perfect answers for your situation. I doubt it would affect your unwrapping even if you left it as-is, but your shading might be odd in the problem areas.  Hope this is helpful!


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Help with "Cuda Error: Out of memory"
can anyone help me... I just wanted to do a quick clay render to see some shadow issues but I keep getting a "Cuda Error: Out of memory" message come up.  I'm running the render off of my GPU which is an 8GB 1080 GTX so I cant really image a problem.
I turned off caustics and put the samples at 64 and still I'm getting the error.   Would anyone be able to offer any advice and maybe try the render with their PC?

Your scene contains some incredibly high amounts of subdivision. You can see in the stat readout above the scene had reached 6.7GB of memory use. (the remaining 1.3GB was probably lost to overhead and OS). Even just in the viewport, your scene is almost 15 million triangles. And several objects have higher render subdivision than viewport subdivision, resulting in even more geometry at render time! For example, you have a number of objects with a modifier like this:

This uses subdivision level 4 at render time, which is 16x the polygons of subdivision level 2!
Most objects in that scene are not going to look substantially different with reduced subdivision. The "door" and "body" objects might need one more level than they have in the viewport, everything else looks fine just at the viewport level it's currently set to, or even lower!

you're absolutely right Jtheninja! many thanks.  And thanks for the informative links cegaton.  Decreasing my tile size helped massively!


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How to complete a circular shape using an array modifier?
How would I use the array modifier to duplicate this pattern all the way around the top and bottom circle faces? Whenever I try to use the array modifier, the pattern just copies next to itself. Its hopefully going to be a grenade. Ive added the blend file in case anyone can help. Thanks

With the help of circular array addon download here
New link for addon
Go to edit mode and with the shift select remove the top and bottom circles. Press P and select Selection
Now in the object mode select the mesh and Press Ctrl+A
and select rotation & Scale press F6 and click location tick mark.
Now in the modifiers tab add 8 count and press search bar and type Circle Array and your done.

Beautiful vase you got there ;) You don't need this addon if you use object offset but it makes things more straight forward I guess.

Thanks atek but the links are dead. Much appreciated though

Solved.  Had to create an empty in the center and rotate the pattern on the axis.  Thanks again for your help guys

@obloquy new link added for the addon


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how should I go about creating this?
I want to make this:
Just the mesh, not the texture. But in 3d of course. It's supposed to be a plush (animal).

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/63246/how-do-i-make-a-3-dimensional-character-out-of-flat-picture/ also https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/39044/making-3d-object-from-a-svg-file and

You know that is an almost flat image. One way could be importit as plane or svg, and just extrude it to give it some depth... if you need a "cartoonish horse head" instead, you'll need to model it from scratch, using that image as a reference....


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Graphics are broken
So i'm making a game and so i'm just making all my 3d models for it and the boat that i making is for some reason see though in my game engine (unity 3D) and when like the inside of the model is see through but the outside seems to be good,so is their any way that can make the inside not see though i was hoping if anyone knew a way around this.

See https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/6651/599

@gandalf3 this makes it do the complete opposite i can see the inside but not the outside i need it to render both

Yes, for that you'll want to give your mesh some thickness. Right now it's essentially a 2D surface (like infinitely thin paper or something), something that's quite impossible in the real world. See point two in my answer to that question

@gandalf3 THANKS one last question can i make a comment a answer

I'm not sure what you mean..? Do you want to accept a comment? If so, that isn't possible, and I can no longer add answers to this question now that I've marked it as a duplicate. I'm glad you got it sorted out though :)

@gandalf3 ok but thanks for helping :)


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Custom number of faces
Hello I have a cylinder with 32 inner faces. I need to make 42 inner faces with the same width of faces. Subdivide doesn't help me bcs when i divide all faces to half i will make 62 faces. And when i divide some of faces, all faces will not have the same width.

It will be much, much easier to reconstruct the cylinder from scratch, this time before confirming, set 42 subdivisions...

If you want to create a more complex shape than a cylinder that is still a solid of revolution, using the revolution modifier can be really useful.
Instead of modeling the complete object, just create its profile and add a Screw modifier.
Using this modifier will allow you to change the number of faces with the Steps parameter, without rebuilding your object from scratch.
Simple example with a bent profile


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Custom Chain Breaks When Animated no matter what
So I have customized this chain that I'm looking forward to animate.
I have seen a bunch of videos of how others make it and followed every possible lead:
Increased scale,
increased mass of some links,
increased steps per second (300),
assigned material mesh,
even played with gravity...
i've spent 3 whole days on trying to improve it but it still doesn't work, as the second link always tends to break, or, the whole chain falls off its anchored hook (active-non-dynamic).
Suspicious of my chainlink, i tried to mix it with regular toruses, and individually they work! But when hooked together, they split.
SO! I can only assume that the chainlinks are too thin, which doesn't really make much sense to me.. Attaching pics below. Any hints? Pllleeeeeeeeaaaaaase!!]2[]6

Could you provide the .blend? It is hard to guess what  could cause these problems. Maybe it is caused by the gaps in the links. I'd try to simulate with a closed object and than substitude it with the custom links.

Your links seem to have scale values. Select your objects, hit Ctrl+A and apply the scale. Play with lower margin values, because your objects are quite close to eachother. Make sure, that in the resting position, none of the objects are intersecting or almost touching, they need a little distance. Don't increase the simulation steps to super high values, the problem is definately somewhere else.

oh of course yann, here is a link to the actual .blend doc https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_etny9LYl5uRldzQ3pqbV9BcTg

I looked at your file and made out some problems.

Scale was not applied. For any kind of simulation, you would want your scale values to be 1, 1, 1, so after you scaled an object in object mode, hit CtrlA and choose 'scale' to apply it.
The objects were very large. In the scene tab choose a unit system (metric or imperial) to get an idea of the overall scale of your objects. Once I got them ready for simulation (step 3), they were falling very slow, because they had to travel several meters.
Keep your topology clean. Something went quite wrong with your objects, the topology is completely messed up. It also is very dense, that caused your long simulation times. (The numbers of verts are for the whole scene)

The collision margin was way too high. That caused the links to "jump off" as soon, as the simulation started.

What I couldn't fix is the jittering. To make it work somehow, I dialed down the gravity influence of the rigid body world, but that cannot be the solution. Could anyone take a second look at the files and explain, why the jittering is happening?
Also: the solver somehow has problems with the uppermost hook. I removed the rigid body collision from that one and placed some cylinders. Whenever you can, I would recommend to use the collision primitives in the rigid body settings. That is unfortunately not possible for your animation, because the objects intersect with eachother.
Here is the (partially) fixed .blend:

I hope this brings you a bit closer to your goal.

Oh yeah the links look a lot better! I tried to Add Modifier>Decimate the original link to simplify the mesh and thats why I ended with such a weird topology. How did you fix it? Also, I tried to animate your file, and again, the second link keeps snapping from the top.. The bottom piece is moving weirdly in your gif but I guess that may have to do with the origin not being in its center of mass?

I used bézier curves to recreate the shapes. Then I beveld them (beveling curves isn't related to beveling in meshes, it adds thickness to the curve) and converted them to meshes (alt-C). This gives you very nice and even quads.

I see, that's also how I made them, I just added way too much resolution to them at first. Thanks so much for this! But still, on your new file the piece keeps snapping on the second link, even after checking all your steps..

What do you mean by snapping? Does it break again? It is all in all very shaky, I hope we didn't already reach the limitation of blenders rigid body system. I hope someone else will have a look at the files, maybe i missed something.

That is really odd. I uploaded the exact same file I made the GIF from.

Yeah it def keeps breaking.I managed to keep it from breaking by reducing the gravity to -0.5m/s but then of course, it moves as if underwater. However, I def got to see how they keep jittering, as if affected by some magnetic force. How weird.. no idea why this happens.


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Blender undesiredly merges objects into single object at export
I have the following Blender structure:

When I export it as an obj with default export settings, I see the following if I import it for example into Unity:

As one can see, Blender merges the 4 objects into a single one.
However, I don't want that.
I have tried changing the export settings, but none of my approaches kept the objects separate.
Can somebody explain why Blender merges my objects and how I could keep them separate (as children of a main object)?
This is what I tried and what didn't work:

I got it.
I unticked "Objects as OBJ Objects", and I unticked "Objects as OBJ Groups".
Also, I ticked "Write Materials" and "Write Material Groups".
Here is a screenshot of the entire settings:


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Separating models
I have purchased a FBX / OBJ file.
Unfortunately it's not really separated.
It seems to be the same model in different "poses".
When I delete just the "inlay" object (the foam like object that is put into the weapon cage and which is shown on the "bottom" of the screenshot), the UVs stay intact.
I can however not easily delete the upper model because it's tightly stacked on the other model.
How could I most comfortably separate these models?
Thank you!

Try this: unselect all; Change the selection mode to Faces; Hit L over some meshes to select the connected meshes; Hit P to separate the selected meshes.

Thank you, that worked when I imported it as an FBX. I first tried it as an OBJ, and that wouldn't work.

Can you please make your comment the answer? Can you also please note that L should be pressed repeatedly on each surface that should be included? That did the job perfectly for me.

Change the selection mode to Faces.
Hit  L  over some meshes to select the connected meshes. Repeat it to include other meshes.
Hit  P  to separate the selected meshes.


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What are these handles?
I have downloaded an fbx file.
When I import it into Blender, it shows some handles.
Can somebody tell me what these handles are and what they're used for?
Thank you!

These are so called "bones" they make up the "armature"
They are commonly used to control the mesh when animating.
Example: the bending of the fingers when doing a first is controlled by bones in real life, so is it in blender, but simpler.
In your case they control the animation of the pistol. Be it the magazine snapping out. The recoil. Or just the whole model when moving.
It's a large subject and you can watch many tutorials on youtube.


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Aligning a grouped object on the global axes
A similar question like this one exists already, but this one is much more specific.
I have uploaded a model here.
This model consists of 2 meshes.
I have used an Empty to group them.
I want to bring this object over to Unity.
This works fine, but in Unity, I have noticed that there's a slightly wrong rotation.
While I want the object to be perfectly rotated along the global axis (so that it appears not rotated in Unity), I can see that it is slightly rotated.
I have spent really much time trying to fix this manually.
I have found a way to automatically align a single object, but I have not found a way to automatically align a grouped object to the global axes.
Can somebody have a look at my grouped object (Blender 2.8 file) and tell me how I could solve this problem?
Thank you!

Firstly, I wouldn't worry that much about slight rotations. They are very hard to notice unless you stare at the model close up in orthographic view. It's also pretty normal for models imported into Unity3D to get given annoying rotations like 89.999999 on some axis. It's better to just ignore it than go insane trying to fix it.
However, to align all your objects to some axis you just have to align the top level parent how you want. Then you can apply the rotations down the stack or not as you wish.
First thing I noticed is your objects have picked up some delta transformations from somewhere. That can make the transformation values confusing, because the actual orientation will be transform + delta. So I'm going to clear the delta transformations from the empty. I'm also going to clear the delta rotations from the child objects because they are all the same. I will leave the delta location on the children because that is how they are matched up. I also zero out the regular transforms on the empty:

Now I find a face or faces in edit mode that I think should be aligned along a global axis but aren't. I take these ones in the centre of the 'bottom' object and snap the cursor to them as well as aligning my view to their Z axis (SHIFT+Numpad 7) since I think they should be aligned on Z:

Exiting edit mode, I add an object and align it to view. I choose an empty in this case:

The 'WeaponCase' empty gets parented to this new empty I just made:

Finally I clear the rotations from the new empty and then clear the parent of 'WeaponCase' making sure to 'keep Transformations':

For here you can delete the empty and apply transforms if desired. Repeat the process if you need to make other alignments but keep in mind that depending on what faces you use to make new alignments, you may break this one.


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Where is "Align with view" for new objects in Blender 2.8
I'm trying to follow a short video.
In this video, the user creates a new plane and then checks "Align with view" in the "Add" panel:

I don't see this "Add panel" in Blender 2.8.
How could I achieve the same in Blender 2.8?
Thank you!

In 2.8 the last operation box is in the bottom left of the 3D View, open it and select View in the Align dropdown menu.

Thank you very much!


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Keeping plane 1-sided while UVing
I have added a pane.
I would now like to unwrap it and keep it 1-sided.
I don't want to have any UV space on the back of the pane.
The pane will only be looked at from 1 way. Having UV space on its back would be a waste of ressources.
However, when I use Smart UV Project, Blender creates 2 sides for it: 1 for the back, and 1 for the font:

How could I avoid this?
Thank you!

In your properties panel, it looks like its a cube, not a plane. I can also tell because in your UV, there are more than 2 faces. There's actually 6.
To fix it, just edit your UVs. It won't take long at all. Or you can completely restart your UV job if you wish. I recommend doing so with one of the following methods.
Regular Unwrapping
Go into edit mode, sleect the faces you want to be in your UV, and hit U and then click on unwrap. You can edit the UVs further from the UV editor, as I am sure you are aware.
Project From View
If you don't already know how to project from view, I suggest reading up on it as it is quite useful and I use it a lot. In your case, it should get the job done instantly.

Thank you very much! "Project from View" did the job! Also, I didn't notice I still worked with a cube. I was under the impression I had replaced it with a plane.


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Multiplying mesh multiple times in Blender
I'm trying to create a mesh in the shape of acoustic foam. This foam is used to cancel out echoes and is also used in transportation:

To create such a material, I add a cube, then I select the upper 4 vertices and click Alt + m, then "At center".
This creates a pyramid.
How could I now multiply this pyramid in order to form such a foam object?
Thank you!

To create a "matrix" of objects, just use the Array modifier twice with the Relative Offset set to x=0 y=1 z=0 and x=1 y=0 z=0 as shown in the screenshot:

Add an array modifier to the object

Great, thank you. This modifier adds copies to the right. Is there a way to have it do to both the right and to the bottom?

I found a solution: Add an array multiplier, then add like 10 and click "Apply". Now select the entire thing and rotate it and click "Apply rotation". Now add an array modifier again and do the same. Now it has multiplied to all directions. :-)

@tmighty You don't need to Apply or Rotate - just add two array modifiers, one with the offset in the X direction (the default) and the second in the Y direction (just change the 1.0 for Relative X to 0.0 and the 0.0 for Relative Y to 1.0 on the second modifier).


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Select specific joined object
I have an object to which another object has been added.
However, only the first object appears in the outliner.
I'm able to select it using the B key and then trying to catch all vertices of this object, but if the 2 objects were even overlapping, this wouldn't be possible.
Is there a way to select the attached (or the original object) with a shortcut instead of having to select each vertex of it?

with L you can select a whole separate mesh, is that what you want?

with L you can select a whole separate mesh

When you add an object while in edit mode, the new mesh gets merged into the current mesh object.
As already answered, pressing L will select all vertices linked to the vertex under the cursor. ⎈ CtrlL is similar but it works from the existing selection instead of what is near the cursor.
Once you have selected the vertices you could either use X to delete them if they were added by mistake, or you can press P->Selection to split the selected verts into an object of its own. In your example you can also skip the selecting and just use P->By Loose Parts to split each non-connected mesh into its own object.


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Inserting extra vertices / triangles to give the model more geometry
I have a lo poly model.
I would like to give it a bit more geometry here and there.
This is a screenshot of what I would like to achieve:

The left side shows the "original" object.
On the right side one can see how some extra vertices were inserted.
This was done in a different software.
How could this be done in Blender?
Thank you very much!
I'm using Blender 2.81.

You can subdivide (W->S) Triangulate (Ctrl+T) or poke (Alt+P) the faces. And check out these menus: Ctrl+F Ctrl+E Ctrl+V (faces, edges, verts), may be you will find some useful tool.

@FFeller W->S does something different in Blender 2.8, I think?

@FFeller "W" brings up a circle, and "S" scales the face.

W calls up the Face Context Menu for me, if you want to find it in the Preferences. You can also use the search function in the 3D view. Subdivision also located in the CTRL+E (edge) menu.

Thanks. I have added my own answer.

I think what you want there is to actually have geometry to model the pockets? If so, more than subdividing, you'd probably want to make the border of the pocket with a separate plane, and then connect it manually to the geometry so it keeps the quads

First, I have to select the faces in question.
To do that, select the face selection.
Select all your faces by using Shift.
Then, click the "Edge" menu, then click "Subdivide" to subdivide all selected faces.


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Applying Transform for Group resets rotation
I have 3 items. They are grouped under "Group001".
I want to rotate the group so that the object appears aligned with the axes.
To do that, I edit the rotation of "Group001".
Then I want to make it so that the current rotation appears as 0, 0, 0.
To do that, I click "Object" -> "Apply" -> "All Transforms".
This however doesn't work as expected: It simply resets the rotation values.
I have recorded a video here.
Can anybody tell me how to do this correctly?
I would like to keep the "Group001" object because it gives me the possibility to rotate all of the objects, and I don't have to do this individually.
Thank you.

I have solved the problem the hardcore way:
I delete the "Group001" object and created a new "Empty" object and parented the objects to it.
This "Empty" object had no weirdness and worked fine.


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Creating normal map from foam like geometry
I would like to create a certain material in order to use it in Unity. It is foam and it looks like this:

To create such a material, I have constructed a pyramid:

How could I now bake a normal map from the pyramid?
The pyramid would be the "high poly model", and then I would need a low poly model, right?
If yes, what should I choose for a low poly model? A cube?
Thank you very much for the help!

I think you need Bump Map (Heightmap) ...

Unwrap from top view
Create this material with disconnected, but selected Texture node (and newly created image texture)
Bake Emit pass

Save as OpenEXR or some 32bit format.

Use the baked texture for Plane object material as Displacement ...

... wait a minute ... you said for Unity ... do you want to bake pyramid shape or foam structure for pyramid?
The thing is I used it as a Heightmap that is possible in Unity, but require dense geometry ussually optimised by tesselation - nice quick explanation - Displacement in Unity.
On other hand using Bump or Normal map affects only shading - light behaviour on a surface, that will never gives you believable result for such object.

Source

Again I didn't notice the date ... that is terrible system ...

Thank you! I I wanted to bake both foam and pyramid. :-) I mean pyramid with a foam-like structure to it.

... two years later :) I guess you already solved that ... so go a head ... you can create also your own answer here :)

I guess procedural distance-from-grid-edge (min(abs(XY)))would mean no model / baking required..

@RobinBetts I love you :) ... what the hell is that :) Don't use incantatio at me and show your magic :)

@vklidu at least it's not just me :D

@vklidu Sorry :). I've popped in an answer to the cryptic remark. Mine's a pretty dismal shot at the material, though.. it would take more tweaking than I can stay up for atm.

You have two options-- bake interim as bump, or bake straight to normals.  The first is better but more work.
Either way, first you want a camera.  Set your camera to orthographic instead of perspective in properties/object data/lens.  In the same area, set the orthographic scale to the world-space width of your pyramid.  Clear rotation and location on the camera, then move it up a bit in the world Z so that it's looking down on your pyramid.  In properties/render, set an appropriate resolution, such as 1024x1024.  In properties/render/color management, set display device to "none" to render unprocessed numbers.  Adopt a camera view to make sure you have what you want.
To render a straight normal map, create a new material where you remap your world space normals from -1,1 to 0,1 and output as emission:

To render a bump (depth) map, create a new material where you remap position.z to pure emission:

The remapping of position.z depends on the scale of your pyramid.  You're remapping the lowest altitude to black and the highest altitude to white, in order to get the most precision out of your bump map.  vklidu's answer, using generated texture coordinates rather than remapping, is a great way to do this (in the absence of a complicated modifier stack at least); I just wanted to make sure you were thinking about what was going on here, for cases where it might not do what you expected.
Render.  It's fine to use Eevee for this, you don't need any raytracing, and Eevee is faster.
If you chose to make a bump map, set it up: scale it with a mapping node, run it through a displacement node on your object and then bake normals on that object (in Cycles, and well described elsewhere.)  The reason that's better is because probably, you're using tangent space normal maps, which depend on the specific orientation of your model's UV map-- rendering normals for this object gets you normals appropriate for a default plane, not for a complicated object with a bunch of rotated UV islands.
An alternative method to bake the normals is to simply do a selected-to-active bake from the pyramid to a plane on top of the pyramid (also, documented elsewhere with a bit of research.)  This doesn't require any material setup, but you have to use Cycles, which is slower.

This doesn't exactly answer the question.. it's more to explain a (sorry) cryptic comment on @vklidu's answer.
You don't need to build a pyramid-object to bake heights.. those can be derived from  tiled Object-space coordinates without too much trouble:

resulting in a distance-from-grid-edge pattern:

That can be used to displace a surface.. as others have mentioned, that scale of detail can't be faked with a bump-map close up. The rest of the nodes in the tree are a not-so-great attempt at the foam....

With this sort of result, which, to say the least, needs tweaking. I would love to get that fringe from backlighting.

I don't think you need to make a Normal map to do this.

Add a plane. Extrude it along the z axis a little..
Select the top face and subdivide it as you need. Extrude them to match the height of the foam pyramids.
Select the pivot point to 'Individual Origins' and scale them to 0
Remove doubles from the W key menu.

Thanks, but I don't understand what your approach is. I really need the normal map, I can't do this with geometry unfortunately.

I will post gif after some time. I don't have access to my pc at the moment.

Sorry for the late reply. I tried baking a normal map from it but it doesn't seem to work when applied to a plane. Maybe I am missing something.


text:
Image Texture Size V's Mesh Size
I hope your all having fun been creative.
This is my first post so go easy on me if this has already been asked
I have 3 separate meshes at 3 different size which have had the scale applied and have been unwrapped.  I create a material with a seamless image texture and give each mesh this material. The material appears on each of the 3 meshes at different scales.
Is there a way to have the texture appear at the exact same scale for each mesh size without compromising on the quality of the texture?
I don't want to use the mapping node or scale the UV's down as both methods require a guess and will only give me a similar scale not an exact scale
Thanks
James

There is a free addon called Texel Density Checker that will allow you to scale the density to the level you want.

Sound like this is what I need. I will give it a try, thanks

One option that may work for you depending on what your objects are, their size, shape, etc. is to join the three objects together, unwrap the combined object so that the scale is exactly the same, and then split the object back into the original 3 parts.
If you ever need to make any tweaks to your texture scale after splitting the objects simply use numeric input so that you can scale each UV map by the exact same amount.


text:
where are the UV Angles Based to Conformal settings
I've seeked them here,
I've seeked them there,
My flipping UV's,
Don't come out square,
the conformal setting,
Is what I need,
However these,
Are nowhere to be seen,
The title is the question I have found an answer to this same question on here and it says the settings are at the bottom of the tool shelf when you unwrap but there are no options here. Could it be that these options have been removed from version 2.79
I am unwrapping a rectangle with an applied subsurface modifier but the sides are shorter than the top edges and the solutions I have found point to the UV's Angles Based or Conformal settings.
Thanks in advance

Make sure the object has uniform (1, 1, 1 ratio) scaling and that you have a square image in the image editor or no image there. The settings that people keep referring to will appear in the bottom of the left toolbar of 3D vindow only after you have used Unwrap in the 3D window. If your window is not high enough it could be offscreen and you can only see [+] sign where you can drag it visible.

Does this https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/23037/cant-find-the-palette-to-alter-new-objects or this https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/81566/operator-panel-values-tweek-options-dont-show-up help?

Thanks @kheetor I have found it straight away.  For some reason I cant see a tick to mark as solved


text:
Cycles Normal Bake does'nt bake indents that are not tapered
I can bake high poly normal maps with a lot of success, however if I try to bake a very simple indentation on a cube with no tapering I get a flat baked normal map, please see the below image to clarify what I mean.

I dont know I am doing wrong because if I scale down the indented face slightly it will bake the normal map correctly, as seen in the image below.

Is scaling indented face down the only change between screenshots? E.g. objects selected on the screenshots are different, "hp" on the 1st and "lp" on the second, are you sure you selected correct (highpoly) object first and lowpoly last?

Yes I selected the HP then the LP with my new image assigned to an image texture and not connected just selected. On the screen shots I hided the LP mesh so the indent can be seen but only did this after the bake process.

Indeed as I tested looks like it bakes like that. Maybe this has to do with what normal map information is, as side faces of the indent didn't change neither X nor Y. Although bottom did change its Z.. however Z in normal map is blue which fits the background color, so this seems expected.

You're not doing anything wrong, what you want to do is just not possible to achieve with normal maps. If you look at it from the top, you can't see the sidewalls, therefore no normal information can be baked to the normalmap (the normal-information for the sides is infinitely small). normal maps can't represent height differences – only differences in the orientation of the faces.

Thanks for explaining I understand what is going on now, is there a way to achieve this result because the mesh I have modelled has multiple small indents like above without the taper and would preffer not to use additional faces. Worst case senario I will have to create a minimal taper so the normal map picks this up (I wonder how low I can take it? ha ha).  Thank you Mr Zak & bstnhnsl  you have answered my question


text:
weight painting copying to other side of mesh
I completed one half of my rig and then copied it to the othr side of my mesh. when I finished only the left half of the rig(The part of the rig I finished first) moved the mesh, furthermore It moved the mesh on both halves of my human model.
for example: when I moved the left leg rig both the right and the left legg were moved
I tried to fix it in weight painting, but when I began to paint the right leg it was duplicated on the left leg,
ps. yes I did use mirror modifier for my model

Don't move rigged mesh. If necessary move rig instead otherwise parenting will go crazy

Does this answer your question? Is it possible to symmetric weight-paint an asymmetric mesh?

You probably have weight paint X mirror on, someone else already had a problem similar to your own. Answer If you go down to the first answer it shows you how to turn x mirror mode off.
Also it might save you some time if you do a general search for the tool causing your problem, I just searched "weight painting symmetry tool" and the first result was the problem your having now.
Hope this helps!


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FBX export from Blender 2.8 change scale
I am exporting a mesh in Fbx format with all the transformations applied and the     scene set in meters and when I import to max set system the scale of the mesh changes to cm.
I have tried to import to blender 2.79 and if I do any transformation to the mesh before exporting from Blender 2.8 it does not maintain the scale in meter even if I apply the transformations.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance.

Blockquote


text:
Why some vertex on weight paint aren't painted
I think it's very self explanatory. When I try to paint some vertex in the weight painting mode they refuse to be painted. I have the weight normalized and tried painting with auto-normalice on and off, with mirror and without it, isolating the mesh with face or vertex selection.
Tried in 2.8 and 2.81 Alpha.
https://i.sstatic.net/rgDKL.jpg
Blend file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T_33LFSt5vYAAiFWkQ5F7rpAhXdhSMrg
I'm very desesperated because it'sso arbitrary and random.

Go to Edit mode and assign some weight to all the vertices, then you should be able to weight paint them all... not sure what is the reason though.

I did that, it works, but when I try to smooth the weight paint or paint it again it goes blue again.


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How to rig a bone that moves the entire object?

So what i'd like to do is use that bone to move the entire rig. Right now it is not parented with any other bone, i've just created it.

Enter Edit Mode of the armature and parent every bone that doesn't have a parent yet to your main bone with offset.


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two same objects rotating differently
I got two steers that are physically the same, both of them are parented to an Empty which is rotated in X axis, but both rotate differently when I see them from camera point of view (while holding R), in this picture you can see how the top one (steer 1) rotates 90 degrees in Y axis while X and Z remains in 0. In the other hand, the lower one behaves completely different, it rotates 90 degrees in Z axis while X and Y values are also being changed:

Here is the blend file: https://puu.sh/F1GTy/12964c9a79.blend
The real problem with this is that I'm building a game with working steers and using only Y axis to rotate completely simplified my life, sadly the guy who did the steer that rotates correctly at Y axis is now unreachable. Now all I want to do now is to imitate that behavior, all the steers I made are suffering from this issue. I've already tried clearing Scale, Rotation, Position, etc, getting this problem with the steer that was supposed to work fine made me to ask for help.

I've fixed it for you.

You needed to keep the Y-axes of the steering wheel aligned to the direction perpendicular to the plane of rotation (shown below). The purpose of parenting the steering wheel to the empty was so the axis of the steering wheel stayed aligned for your desired rotation axis.

All I needed to do was to enable Transform Only > Origins, and Face Snapping with Align Rotation to Target then snap the origin onto that flat panel in the middle of the steering wheel. This allowed me to realign the origin of the steering wheel with the normals of that surface. However, this places the Z-axis in the direction you wanted the Y-Axis, so I just rotated it 90 degrees about the X-axis.
Then, just to make sure I didn't move the origin, I pressed Shift+S, Selection to cursor. (The 3D cursor was conveniently already at the origin's original location)

Edit: Alternative metohd for pre 2.81
Rotate the empty box back to 0 degrees for all axes. This will bring the steering wheel back into an orientation where the global Y-axis matches up with the desired rotational axis. Unparent the steering wheel with Alt+P, and press Ctrl+A and Apply rotation to the steering wheel. Then you can reparent the wheel to the empty and it should work as intended.

It appears the OP is using 2.7x.

@batFINGER How did I not notice that...welp

Updated with another method to fix for pre 2.81 builds.

thank you very much!! it worked perfectly! (and yes, i was using 2.79)


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Why do I get this two whole different mesh looks depending on method of display?
I'm trying to isolate certain parts of my sculpture but somewhere in the process I realized that the looks of the basic tile frame I was using changed between the wireframe in Object mode and Edit mode.
It's as if they had whole different vertices...

Whatever those are, which the images do a poor job of illustrating, they seem to have pretty bad topology and suffer from geometry issues

I still dont master topology. Im talking about the surrounding frame on the right. The floor in an shape of a cross.


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How can I thicken the walls of my model for a more sturdy 3D printing?
Good afternoon,
I have been trying to print a 3D tile on my XYZ da Vinci 1.0 Pro 3-in-1, with Simplify 3D, but every time I try it seems that the lightness of the walls + the complexity of the inner layers affects the process and end up with this:

Instead of this

This is a photo of the 3D model

How can I make a blender model for this print?

This is not my first try with this model, I have tried so far 5 different variations in the making process in simplify 3D but eventually they all suffer this accident. If I could relief some stress on the precision of the printing by eliminating inner detail or thickening the walls I think this  print could go through.

The quick solution to make a Blender model of this is to export it as an stl then import it in Blender. Blender can read stl files. That's the quick, though often dirty, solution. It works most of the time, though you often have to check the model and redo some stuff.
I believe that the inner geometry of the piece is unnecessarily complex, thus why it generates so much problem. The gif, while fast, seems to show some problem arising when the model is sliced and it seems that there are missing layers and holes when I compare the end of the gif to the picture of the 3D model you provided.
That being said, my main concern, if I interpret your gif right, is the insane movements of the printer head! If I'm not mistaken, the thin red lines on the gif must represent the movements of the printhead, and they're all over the place! With such a geometric pattern inside, I would expect the printhead to follow the lines, but yours seems to jump all around.
That would also explain why your print fails: the printhead has to do too many retractions.
I would suggest to simply the inner geometry, and you can thicken the walls of an object using the 'Solidify' modifiers in Blender.
Although, I think it would be best to just rebuild it from scratch in Blender and make the walls thicker from the start.


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Why are some objects not showing on the depth pass?
I am using blender2.78c to create a visual parking scene model, by using the python script I could produce a RGB picture of the parking scene as well as the depth image.
RGB picture

And depth image

My problem is: Why is it rendering only the cars and not the lightposts?

Why are you using a script for the rendering? Probably there is no light because there is no lamp. Which renderer are you using?

@HenrikD I guess he refers to the lamps objects that are visible in the first image... they are not visible in the second one the depth map. Now, as to why, it could be needed to see the script that renders it, and perhaps also the .blend file: there could also be clipping, layers, or else...

forget that with the lamp... I was a little brain AFK, but I still really what to know which renderer he is using otherwise it would be hard to help.


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How to randomly render credit card number values with Python scripts
Modeling a bank card with Blender, but I don't know how to use a Python script to randomly update bank card values。

Use Animation Node plugin and build a node network that generates a random number from frame number input. Feed that into Text object. Render the animation, each frame will have a random number.

Can give me a Python programming instance from the Text object.

Here is an Animation Nodes solution:

Which produces:

It works by taking a frame number and using it as a seed to generate 4 random strings of 0-9 characters. Each node has also its own seed, they should differ, so you get 4 different numbers from a single frame number.

Last step is to join the strings together into single one with a space separator in between:

To fool the average viewer the solution above is enough but to be correct more math should be involved which is not hard but would clutter the example. Not every made up credit card number is valid. Each CC company has some rules the numbers should obey and they also differ in length:
Payment card numbers (wiki)
The last digit is also usually a checksum number that can be calculated using Luhn algorithm (Mod 10).
A starting point to get a list of random digits that you can do math on and then convert it to text could look like this:

Let's say you had a text object named 'Text' (bpy.data.objects['Text']) and wanted to generate a random credit card number every 5 frames and write it to the text object(bpy.data.objects['Text'].data.body). You could use an Application Handler for this.
import bpy
from random import randint #We need something to generate random numbers with

def random_numbers(scene):
    card_number=''
    #card number reset to empty string

    if (scene.frame_current%5==0):
    #every 5th frame could be every frame number that has no reminder after dividing by 5

        for group_of_4 in range(0,4):
        #we need to do it 4 times so let's use a loop instead of typing

            card_number += str(randint(0,9999)).zfill(4) + ' '
            #zfill is for leading zeros

        bpy.data.objects['Text'].data.body = card_number
        #let's write the text to the text object

bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_pre.append(random_numbers)
#and let's add the actual handler that will run before every frame change

If it bothered you that the numbers change every time you scroll through the timeline you could use the frame number as the seed for random function(as in Jaroslav's great answer) with the handler as well:
import bpy
from random import random, seed

def random_numbers(scene):
    card_number=''
    if (scene.frame_current%5==0):
        seed(scene.frame_current)
        i = random()
        for group_of_4 in range(0,4):
            card_number += str(int(i*10000)).zfill(4) + ' '
            i = i*10000 - int(i*10000)
        bpy.data.objects['Text'].data.body = card_number

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


text:
smoke sim fades out
Im trying to sim a long smoke trail but it just fades of, or dissipates, too quickly.
I have set the Smoke Cache to 400f. The adaptive domain seem so grow but the smoke doesn't extend beyond a certain point.
Any tips greatly appreciated.
:)

There is a setting in the domain to make smoke dissolve over time. Try turning that off.

In the provided screenshot the Dissolve checkbox is clearly not checked.

Ah, sorry about that.


text:
Smoke along a motion Path
I'm interested in recreating Reaper's smoke transformations from the Overwatch Shorts. In the video below, they showcase how they achieved this. I'd like to know if it is achievable in Blender:
BlizzCon 2016 Overwatch Animated Short | Reaper's Smoke Animation

I would suggest looking at particles and using point density.

Particles can be used to emit smoke, and I've seen something quite similar to what you posted.
The current version of Blender allows a lot of particle tricks, like particles fighting flocking etc..
It might take Blender a bit more time to render, but smoke is pretty good from blender. Here is Death-Eater (Harry Potter effect) that's quite close to what you seem to be looking for.

Is there any way to make that effect a little more thick? Also, thanks for the answer!

To change thickness of smoke alter the material of the volumetric object. But to get heavier smoke you have to change the physics of the volume. Mostly subdivision.

or change the shader


text:
Consistent unwrapping
I have a set of different shapes that align on a 1m x 3m grid as you can see in the following image:

Is there a way to unwrap them so that the texture will be aligned to my grid?
Wanted outcome:

What you want is Project from View (Bounds). That will take what you see in the view and put it over top of the image, stretching it to fit.
Note that since the image you're mapping it to is square, this will likely make it too tall for your figure; you'll then have to scale your UV map down in the UV/Image Editor to make the squares actually be square. (Of course, you can just crop your image in an external program like GIMP to  have the right number of squares.)


text:
Squares caused by reflected area light

There are squares in my pictures. I do not know how or why this happens. Anyone who has experienced such problems?
First i tough it could be the denoise that made the squares, then I tought it could be collision between the lights or maybe the texture from the table.
I have now tried to render without the denoise, I have removed the light from the candle and moved the table. I still can`t figure out what makes the squares. Same results every time.

I remove gloss from the lamps in the background (bookcase). It removed the squares, but I want the gloss on the table. Any way around this?
I now know that the problem is from the area lamp in the bookcase.
When I turn the gloss off, the problem with the squares are gone, but I want the gloss though.
So I remove the whiskey glass and glass that is in the bookcase. I remove the emissive from the spotlights and turn down the strength from the area lamps. But I still get the squares.
I tried a different angle, but the results remains the same.

Not sure why, but they seem to only appear as a reflection of the lights in the bookcase. The reflection of the candle and windows are fine. Check the setting for the bookcase lights.

Perhaps not related, but there also seems to be something semi-transparent on the empty shelf of the bookcase. This may be right in the path of the reflected rays.

I remove gloss from the lamps in the background (bookcase). It removed the squares, but I want the gloss on the table. Not sure how to get around this. Guess I just have to try and fail with settings.

Try to increase number of Bouncesin render settings. Or even try Transparency, Max and Min.

I will give u the file soon. Have to get my son to sleep first :P

It happens on the newest blender file>blender-2.79-d59c2d1 with the new compiler. Happens when I use the GPU and CPU at the same time when rendering. Dident happent when I just used CPU.

Nvidia gtx 1060 6GB

Finally!

I had to increase the size of the area of the arealamp. i was set to 2mm or something. So the area was to small and messed up the light.

Want to give my thanks to Bfoot for helping me out! :D
Now I just have to redo every change I made to correct this :P

I tried to help. Perhaps just encouraged you to look further until you figured it out yourself. Congrats!


text:
Usage of the blender logo and copyright
I have created my own logo. I want to have the blender icon as eyes in my logo. As a tribute and to show that I'm using Blender as my main 3D software.
Wondering if this violates the copyright with blender.
I read through Q & A here: https://www.blender.org/about/logo/
But I'm still unsure if I can use it in my logo.
I also could not find other tags that match "Tradermark, logos, copyright etc". Perhaps somone with access could make a tag for it?

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about  legality/licensing. See: https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/422/are-licensing-questions-off-topic/423#423

Agreed. I did not know about that, but it explains why it lacked tags for the topic. Can I close the question myself? Tried to shut it, but do not know how. I did vote it for closing tho.

On reading the linked “about logo” page I’d say ‘no’. Mostly due to the paragraph :

You will visualize and promote your own branding more prominent than
  you use the Blender logo. The Blender logo only can be used as a
  secondary brand, which means it has to be clear for an average viewer
  that this is not an official Blender or Blender Foundation website,
  publication or product.

IMO, by making the Blender logo part of your logo (the eye) there is no separation between your logo and the Blender logo so it isn’t clear as a “secondary brand”, making it appear to be endorsed or affiliated with Blender.

Thx for you answer and making it clear for me.
It sucks, but it`s fair tho. I'll find something else I can do.
Perhaps someone who knows about a blender logo or something that reminds of blender, which is without copyrights?

you could make the eye a stylised version of the Blender logo.

Yes, a distortion of the logo shape may allude to the blender logo without actually being an infringement on the copyright. Perhaps to make that logo wrap the eye and side of head and to have some feather texture to the tips but still resemble the logo.

Yes, I will see what I`ll do :) thx for the tips guys! :D


text:
How do I make smoke fill a specific object
How do I make it so that smoke only fits a specific object like a cube or sphere so the smoke makes the shape of the object.
Let's say I have a single object of a hat and what I want to do is make the smoke in the shape of the hat.
Help

Use a particle system and set it up and at the end make the particle system to be the smoke/fire.

I think this has been asked previously here:
Why isn't smoke flowing with the shape of the domain?
Basically - use a cube as usual as your smoke domain, and within that add your hollow hat-shaped object, make it a 'collision' object in the physics properties, and place your smoke emitters within that object.


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How do you rig a character made out of linked parts?
I've modeled a character that I want to rig. Various parts of the character are mirrored (e.g. left and right arms), so I want to at least partially link them to make iterating on the model easier (that is, to make sure that modifying one modifies the other: vertex data, modifiers, materials, etc).
If I try using instancing to do the linking (that is, grouping one arm together, and making the other arm an instance of that group), any pose change applies to both arms.
If I try sharing the mesh datablock only, the problem remains the same, as the vertex groups (which define which bones have influence on the mesh) are shared.
Is there no way to avoid duplicating the two similar objects?

You should be able to use the mirror modifier here.
It has an option for mirroring vertex weights.
It uses the standard mirroring name convention (like bones, so it works fine with rigging). Basically if a vertex has weight 0.6 in group.L, its mirrored copy will instead have a weight of 0.6 in group.R. By creating empty groups for the mirrored side it is quite easy to rig one side and have it cleanly mirrored.

This works perfectly, thanks! Of note, it looks like you need to create an empty group for the mirrored vertex weights to properly be generated; for my mesh which only had an "Arm.L" group for instance, I needed to create an empty "Arm.R" group for things to work.


text:
Why are bones sticking out in Blender?
I am exporting a model from DAZ3D as an fbx. In DAZ, the bone orientation looks perfectly fine:

When I import the FBX in Blender, the bones are sticking out.

Why is that so, and how could I get it to look like in DAZ3D?
Thank you.

In the FBX importer window there is an "Armature" tab in the right-side. You can adjust the bone rotation under it.

@FFeller Thank you. When I use "Automatic Bone Orientation", it gets better, but still not right. Perhaps a bug? I will file a bug report as I don't see any other way to get it right.

Probably not a bug, because most of the imported bones are rotated with 90°. For example Unreal Engine's rigs. The softwares have different coordinate system. Other rig's bones appears correctly like Mixamo characters.


text:
Switching from World Space to Local has no effect on rotation tool
When I press R (followed by X, Y or Z), I can rotate the selected bone.
No matter which setting (Local, World, Gimbal, etc.) I select in Blender, the rotation method doesn't change for me.
Also, changing the Transform Pivot Point doesn't change the way the rotation tool works for me.
What am I missing?

It seems that it doesn't have an effect if one uses the shortcut R.
However, when one presses the rotation tool, it actually changes and displays it as well:


text:
How do I switch to Sculpting mode?
I have my model selected, and I click "Sculpting" in the upper menu.
However, "Sculpting" is not possible, only "Object", "Edit" and "Pose".
What do I have to do to go to Sculpting Mode?
Thank you!

you have selected the armature, not the character object, you need to come back to object mode to be able to select the object, then switch to sculpt mode

@moonboots In my answer, I have added info about having to switch to Object Mode first. I have also added a video that shows what I had to do. Do you think it's a bug that one has to switch to Object mode first before he can select Sculpting Mode?

No it's the way it works, you need to go out of the armature modes before being able to have access to the object modes. That said, if in the header menu > Edit > you udisable the Lock Object Mode, you can be in armature's Pose mode, shift select the character object and switch it to Sculpt mode

I had to manually left-click to select the model, not the armature.
Also, I had to switch to Object Mode first. Here is a video of my workflow:
Workflow


text:
Keyframes not on time
When I import a certain model (which doesn't come with an animation), blender creates keyframes on "odd" times. They are not placed at times 0, 1, 2, 3, etc.
Instead they are placed at 1, 1.85, 2.75, 3.5, etc.
Why is that so?

Is the animation created at a different time base (frames per second)? Make sure the blender project settings matching the original.

@susu I didn't create an animation, and there is no animation in the model when I import it.

Maybe you've played with its speed in the NLA, then moved the keyframes in the Dope Sheet, in that case even if you come back to the original, it's not aligned with the frame, it will automatically if you move them

@moonboots Thank you, but I didn't do that. I automatically happens each time I import it, even if it doesn't have any animation. The key frames are added automatically.


text:
Why can I not Loop Cut my plane?
Why can I not Loop Cut my plane?

The yellow dots appear on the side... I just don't understand it.
I guess it can only be really understood with the blend file, so I have uploaded it here:

Thank you.

Loop cuts do not work on n-gons (polygons with more than 4 vertices).
When I switched to Vertex Selection Mode there were some vertices on the sides.

After I removed them using Dissolve Vertices, Loop Cutting worked as expected.


text:
Plane not visible in Hierarchy
I want to add a plane as shown in this video.
In this video (please watch it at 0.25 speed), the author creates a plane.
His plane appears upright, and it is shown in the Hierarchy.
I do the same, but my plane lays flat on the floor and doesn't appear in the Hierarchy.
What am I doing differently than he does?
Thank you!

It looks like you're creating the plane in edit mode, and therefore it's just adding to your cube object (hence why it's not appearing in the heirarchy). Planes come "flat" (X/Y axis aligned) by default (in both object and edit mode) - just rotate it in edit mode by 90 degrees.

@Carlo It doesn't answer my question.

Don't know why that is. Maybe some preset they saved. Every time I add a plane, it is always "flat".  ALSO - sorry about my first (misleading) comment - I meant to say you were adding in edit mode - adding it in object mode is the correct way. I corrected my first comment to reflect this.

"        ,         ". As @ChristopherBennett said, creating a plane in EDIT mode as you are doing add the mesh to the current object (cube.001). So as the linked answer explain, you are not creating a new object. You should create it in OBJECT mode, and though it's fast, it is being rotate 90 deg on x axis, you can see it written in the lower left in this frame: https://i.sstatic.net/Wry96.png

@Carlo I find my question more distinct, so I would to keep my own question open if possible.

No problem with that. I was only pointing toward an already well made answer that was adressing your problem so you didn't have to wait for one.


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faces are lined and stripey in the view port after extruding
I'm new to Blender and I was wondering how to correct this; i'm not sure what to call it on my faces...

i'd be grateful if you legends could enlighten me?

nice, remove doubles worked nicely, thanks

To get straight to the point if you try to extrude an object that is completely selected, it creates a duplicate of the object. Basically the weird "glitch" you are seeing is blender's lighting is having trouble processing your model because there's two of them in almost the exact same place.
Note: Extruding an entire object isn't a bad thing in blender, it can be used add another layer to the model, if you scale what you just extruded.
I tried my best to recreate the problem you were having in the following pictures:

The first image is an extruded but fully selected model

The second is after I extruded the model

This picture is of the same extruded model from picture two except I scaled the object on the X and Z axis (You can scale objects on specific axis by pressing your S key to scale and then X, Y, or Z for it so scale on one of those specific axis.)

In picture four I'm trying to show a huge use for extruding an object. If you were to bring an object with only one set of faces ("only one layer thick") it would only show one side and the other would be invisible.

Hope this helps sorry for the barrage of information, but I remember being new and I just don't want you to hit my same pot holes.

sweet, thanks for the help, good to know blender does that; accidentaly extruding outwards if the model is selected. remove doubles worked nicely.


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I can't move anything
so I was happily working away, until translate stopped working.
when i press g to translate a verticie; it doesn't move, although it gives the impression that it is.
when i press 1 and go into reference mode: it works again, and side view with 3.
but in the normal camera perspective: nothing works.
please why please?
I am fairly new to blender, i tried looking up a solution myself, no success.

How does it work when in preset ortho views? Is vertex moved smooth or by steps? Maybe related - https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2834/cursor-is-set-to-move-by-increments-how-to-reset-to-normal. Also try disabling Mirror modifier and moving vertex after that.

thanks for your help, but it's fixed, i'm so stupid. the magnet icon was on; snap during transform... ahhh i'm kicking myself haha

Then it probably wasn't moving in perspective view due to too big increment steps relatively to the view; and zoom level while in the ortho views was big enough to transform freely.