text:
animating object from low poly to higher poly
Absolute beginner here. So thank you.
My objective is to (animate) mimic growth of a model from a simple object with few polygons to a more complex object with more polygons.
Example: A simple cube becoming a cube with that is elongated with a higher polygon count and detail.
Short of building separate, successive models for each frame to be rendered to a timeline (which would be doable but extremely tedious), is there a more efficient workflow?

A cube? How does a cube benefit from having more polygons? Could you clarify how that should look like?

The cube was an example. The objective is to mimic a time-lapse of a single plant growing from seedling to maturity. The polys and details change as the plant matures. So...

Christopher's answer works if you are just looking animate it to be more smooth over time. however, if you want more control over the final model, I would work backwards and animate a Decimate modifier.
Start with a high poly count object, then give it a decimate modifier. Keyframe it at a very low ratio at the start, and then a ratio of 1 at the end to get the original object back. Then the object will build up more triangles over time:

The Weld modifier with an animated Distance value works also very well.

@Blunder: Weld gives strange artifacts sometimes: https://i.sstatic.net/RFLnS.png

I did think about working backwards. So yes, thank you for that idea.

One way you could do it is by adding keyframes to a Subdivison Surface modifier.

NOTE - Make sure to change (and keyframe) the subdivision level for the render as well as the viewport (not pictured) - I just noticed I forgot to do it in the .gif
EDIT - Here's a second example that better illustrates what the OP is looking for. A bevel modifier is used to preserve the cube "shape" while also adding to the resolution in the end. This also gives the subdivision surface modifier "something more to do" to add to the effect. In the example below, it looks "smoother" if I just play the animation instead of dragging the slider across, but that doesn't show the modifier values changing in real time - I thought that was more important to convey then the smoothness, but fret not - I can assure you the interpolation is smooth ;)

The keyframes (as I remember) are this:
Frame 0 - Bevel: Amount 0.5, Segments 2 - SubDiv: Levels 0
Frame 25 - Bevel: Amount 0.25, Segments 2 - SubDiv: Levels 2 - Scale on Y by 2 and keyframe scale
Frame 50 - Bevel: Amount 0.1, Segments 3 - SubDiv: Levels 4 - Scale on Y by 1.5 and keyframe scale

Adding a subdivision surface if you don't already have one will change the object's shape, doesn't it?

It depends on the topology - there will be some change to the model, yes, but not if set to 0 subdivisions for the "starting point". I assume that if the goal is to morph the object to "high poly", a subdivision surface will be necessary at some point, and since the number of subdivisions is the keyframe-able property, it makes sense to have it there from the beginning and just "up" it as time goes on. You are correct, though, this will not accommodate all model topology types - just one way of doing it.

OP mentions "cube" as his example. It you add a subsurf onto a cube, it's not a "cube with many vertices"

The cube was an example. I'm looking to mimic an accurate time-lapse of plant growth.


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Strange particle omission area in render (Internal)
I'm trying to create a scene to render a skydome for a game in Blender Internal, and this strange rendering effect started occurring:

As you can see, there's a weird half-square on both sides of the image that's curved as though against the camera lens, where the cloud particles are completely cut out and there's a difference in colour in the World background. It also looks like there's a thin beam of light on the bottom of the squares which connects horizontally to each other.
The camera has a Field Of View of 90 degrees and the image output ratio is 1:1 (500x500 pixels). Mist is being used.
This is really bizarre and I've got no idea how to fix it or even what to describe it as. Could anyone help me?

Turns out the mist was actually affecting the particle emission volume, so the corners were being affected more by the mist and getting culled out closer towards the vertices. I solved this by just making it a perfect cube and adding power 4 subdivision surface. Not sure why mist affects an invisible particle volume in the first place, but it's for Internal so I guess I can't really complain... :P

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Armature vanished, Alt-H not working, etc
I have a model rigged and animated but the armature is completely invisible and uninteractive. It still seems to be operating as the model animates normally and I can look at all the bone and armature properties but I can't select or interact with it in the 3D viewport.

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

You appear to have pressed the Only Render button. Click it again to disable it and show all objects.

Displays only items that will be rendered. This option hides visualizations, overlays, the 3D cursor, and the grid floor. The 3D manipulator widget has to be toggled separately.
This can be useful for a preview and for OpenGL viewport rendering.

Thanks so much! I wasn't aware that affected much more than the grid floor etc.

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


text:
2.79b YZ rotation widgets are using incorrect AXIS
I have an issue with rotation, using the 3D manipulator is rotating wrong, The Y manipulator is rotating on the X axis, The Z manipulator is rotating on the Y axis, X axis widget appears to be fine. Using the XYZ keys work as intended, this is only a Manipulator via cursor grab issue
I have reset factory setting, I have uninstalled, checked global and local. I have been searching google but don't really know what to search for to get good results.

I doubt this has anything to do with your hardware. Can you show us a screenshot or even better a gif explaining this problem?

Problem https://giphy.com/gifs/8TFmoAEgHjbMMcRXQm

I tried everything I could think of, un installing, re installing, deleting Appdata folder, reset to factory settings, log off user and to a new user installing blender, tried 2.77-2.79b nothing helped untill someone linked me
https://blenderartists.org/t/issues-selecting-the-3d-manipulator-arrows/546452/6
gif of problem https://giphy.com/gifs/8TFmoAEgHjbMMcRXQm
Solution: (( User prefs>System tab>Selection (drop down setting)>OpenGL Depth Picking ))
Thank you


text:
How to join animated/inanimate object without BOTH animating?
Sorry I don’t have a picture. Essentially, I animated a glass tube to spin around, but when I joined it with the larger object I made for it to go inside, the ENTIRE joined object spins. Is there a way to join them as a whole, yet have them animate separately?

Not sure why you need to join them... but the only way I can think of is to skin them to separate bones and animate one of them.

The reason is because I am making a robotic arm and the tube spins in the bicep of the arm. But thank you, I may try that

Ahh that makes perfect sense...

Instead of joining, cant you parent them? Sorry I'm unable to visualize properly. It would help if you can share your file here.


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Exporting objects group in gltf format
In Blender i have differents objects that i would group as unique entity.
What i really care is that after the exportation of the scene in gltf format and importation in my three.js project that group corresponds to a three.js group.
Somebody can help me?

If you've parented your objects to an empty object in Blender, that should remain true after loading the model in three.js. Try loading the glTF model in https://sandbox.babylonjs.com/, then clicking the "Inspect" button on the bottom right. You can then see the node graph on the left sidebar.


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Screen bar of the window screen covers/block the buttons
I am a new blender user and I download the version 2.8 beta. However, when I open the software the bar that shows the software's name(on the top of the screen) and the bar that shows window icon, essential stuff like chrome, microsoft store and file manager(which is located on the bottom of the screen) block/cover those buttons who is on the top and the bottom.

Another thing that the bars also cause, is about the cursor:

When I move the cursor to the roll on top(not the highest) where there are "New", "Add", Subtract" buttons, nothings happen, there aren't the effect that make the button's color lighter, and it won't shows the functions of the button when I click it. But instead, if I move the cursor to a bit below those button it has the effect, and it will shows the functions of the button if I click it too.

When I click the roll on top(not the highest) where there are "New", "Add", Subtract" buttons, it will shows the functions of the buttons on the upper roll(highest roll on the whole screen, includes blender icon, File, Edit, Render buttons)

I think it probably will be solved by fullscreen(I think most users fullscreen when using blender, idk), but I don't know how to do it either
So please if anyone know how to solve this problem, please answer, thank you very much.

try making it fullscreen, windows should tell Blender how much space it can use up. You can right click the windows bar and in taskbar settings remove the Lock and allow taskbar to hide.

Sorry for replying so late, and what you said works. But it only hide the bottom bar, the bar on top is still there. Do you have any ways to hide it?Thank you.


text:
Blender 2.79b on a iMac 27 late 2013 with NVIDIA Geforce GTX 780M
I downloaded Blender 2.79b and i am very excited about it. Until... i read about the rendering on a mac and that apple is not supporting Open GL anymore? This is the mac i have: iMac 27 late 2013 with NVIDIA Geforce GTX 780M - 4096 MB, 3,5 GHz Intel i7 and 16GB memory. As i am a noob with 3D (but very excited and love learning it) i am a COMPLETE noob when it comes to render time, Metal, OpenGL and stuff like that. I am reading it online and find it quite difficult to understand it all. My question is this: is blender 2.79b on my Imac (see specs above) enough for someone who has to learn it all (for the next... months? year?) and when i create 'something' in Blender (no animations, just images) can i render it properly? Maybe these are stupid questions but i hope someone can answer them. Thank you. Kind Regards, Mark.

The specs seems more than sufficient to run Blender smoothly, and render quickly. OpenGL has nothing to do with rendering, it's used to display your scene inside Blender, before rendering (when you're working on it).

@thibsert Thank you so much for the information. That gives me a good feeling about it. I don't know much about OpenGL. Read some more about it today and i get it now. For a noob like me when it comes to 3D, i can learn enough about Blender by doing it a lot! And it's very nice to know that my machine is more than capable of doint just so. Again, thanks for your info. Greetings Mark


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Problem for Procedural Texture of Donut
I am trying to make a procedural texture for donut, I want the white dots ( sugar ) to be only on top instead of all over the donut, How can I do ?

weight paint maybe?

To get a mask of the top of the model, you can use the Normal output of the Texture Coordinate node. This gives a map of colors -1 to 1 along the X Y and Z axis. You can use a separate XYZ node to use only the Z axis, which can be used as a mask of the top of the model.

This gives a nice result

I used the Subtract node to control how high the mask was on the donut. Because the output from separate XYZ is a black and white image, you can manipulate it easily.

Then I added the Sugar texture onto black using the Z Normal as a mask, giving a black and white texture with the white dots acting as sugar.

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


text:
Default lightning, or how to adjust materials properties correctly
Situation:
I always adjust my materials by hdri environment map. This method work well for me. But what if I want to share my materials, or sell it?
I search for some default lightning setup and I found this question with link to default scene used for material preview in material panel.
Problem:
When I adjust my material by this default scene, material looks too bright in hdri lighted scenes, just because this default material scene has low lightning compared to hdri lighted scene.
Question:
Is there some general standard how to "calibrating" materials?

Red car paint will look brighter under a sunny day then at night, materials don't change according to lighting conditions. Even if they did you couldn't possibly adjust a material to fit every conceivable scene setup one might come up with. If it's too bright you adjust exposure or film, not colors.

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos How I can correct it by exposure, when I have different materials from different sources, which was created under different lightning conditions? So some of them are brighten, some are darker. This is also about colors, because creators set colors "wrong" in effort to achieve right colors in "wrong" lighting scene. It looks there is no "default" light setup. And this is the point.

I found solution in "Cycles Encyclopedia" written by Blender certified trainers Frederic Steinmetz and Gottfried Hofmann. (Available on blender store or blendermarket.) Authors use this "Blender Material Preview Scene" by Robìn Marin. So I thing this can be considered as default scene for Cycles material settings.

If this answers your question (I presume it does since it's your answer) you should mark it as the accepted solution (click the icon on the left).

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


text:
Script for save camera position, to file
I need script that can save animated camera position and rotation to file every frame. Ideally in .csv format.
Camera will follow path.
Expected result:
001,0.0,-8.42116,3.4081,70.3,0,0
002,......
where:
frame,location x,y,z, rotation x,y,z
I have very basic knowledge about programming, but I'll be thankful also for guides me to the right direction.
Thanks for your time :-)

From the text_editor templates > python > operator_file_export.py .  Changed the write_some_data function to export matrix_world location of active object.
Just using location and rotation_euler will not give visual location when there are constraints or follow_path (et al).
def write_some_data(context, filepath, use_some_setting):
    print("running write_some_data...")
    camera = context.active_object
    mw = camera.matrix_world
    scene = context.scene
    frame = scene.frame_start

    f = open(filepath, 'w', encoding='utf-8')
    while frame <= scene.frame_end:
        scene.frame_set(frame)
        x, y, z = mw.to_translation()
        rx, ry, rz = mw.to_euler('XYZ')
        f.write("%d" % frame)
        f.write(", ")
        f.write("%5.3f, %5.3f, %5.3f" % (x, y, z))
        f.write(", ")
        f.write("%5.3f, %5.3f, %5.3f" % (rx, ry, rz))
        f.write("\n")
        frame += 1
    f.close()

    return {'FINISHED'}


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Smart UV project to seams
How I can bake islands created by Smart UV project to seams?
I have mesh which is hard to unwrap manually, but Smart UVs do the job well. I need to joint this mesh with mesh with manually selected seams and unwrap again. So I need to bake seams created by Smart UVs to mesh, so they will work with the manually selected seams.

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/2.79/editors/uv_image/uv/editing/unwrapping/seams.html#mark-seams-from-island

@FFeller OMG how could I not have noticed. Thanks


text:
Shrinkwrap modifier jagged edges when solidify modifier is applied
I have added my mesh with the shrinkwrap modifier onto another mesh, and It's causing jagged edges when I add the solidify modifier.

here is the file if someone wants to take a look at it.

Add to plane 02 a couple of holding loops.

That worked fine thank you.


text:
Cycles bake normal image is distorted
I'm trying to bake this mesh as a normal, but the bake is no where near the image of the mesh. I've tried changing the Max Ray Distance but the result is still distorting. Here's the file if someone would like to have a look.

You're currently baking the high-poly object to itself, which will give weird result as the surface that will scan the high-poly is the high-poly itself, you'd better bake the high-poly to the low-poly:

Select the high-poly, shift select the low-poly
Enable Selected to Active
As the high-poly is a bit bigger give it a bit of Extrusion and Ray Distance, not too much, the value is in scene units

What it gives:

Hi moonboots, What version of Blender are you using?

2.91 I guess (maybe Extrusion is a new feature), what version do you use? did you succeed?

I'm currently on 2.90.1. I believe my GPU is not doing a good job, I also sent the file to another friend, he got the same result like you, I'm only one getting the glitchy result, cant wait for a new build... In case you're wondering my PC is a 2009 build, old old specs.

it works fine with 2.90.1 here, make sure to select the high-poly then shift select the low-poly, and use the exact same settings


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Snap camera boundaries to object
Is there a method to snap the camera boundaries to the object I need to render? I tried turning the snap magnet on to see if there is a way those boundaries might work. The only way I do it, is by manually zooming in as much possible to adjust the boundaries around my object, which is a little bit tedious,and some pixels might not be perfect within the boundaries.
thank you.

Not a perfect solution but perhaps it will help. The following works only if your object dimensions relatively match the resolution (e.g. I created a cube of size [1.92m, 2m, 1.08m] for resolution of 1920:1080)

Press Num 1 to enter viewport front view
Press Ctrl + Alt + Num0 to apply the view to camera and enter camera view.
Select the object you want to focus on
In the search bar enter Camera Fit Frame to Selected

Before and after:

Source: How to automatically fit the camera to objects in the view?

Thanks for your reply. But what If I needed the cube to be 700 X 500px, how would the camera fit to frame? That would mean I'd have to convert the cube metres into pixels or vice versa. Seems a little bit confusing.

It's not about metres but rather ratio. If you needed a 700 X 500px render you would set you render resolution to 700:500 and set the cube proportions to match the width/height ratio of 700/500 = 1.4/1. It can be 7m x 5m or 0.7m x 0.5m or even 1.4m x 1m. You can set the ratio through dimensions or scale. Once again, not perfect, but better than manually editing the boundaries


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Jagged mesh from orthographic view when data transfer is applied
I have a clean surface and another surface with selected vertices which are making the surface uneven, so I apply the data transfer and from perspective view it looks clean, fixes up the topology but when seen from orthographic view, the jagged topology is still visible. I had the impression the data transfer takes the good mesh and fixes it up from the good chosen mesh.

No, this way it only takes shading of the object and transfers that shading on your uneven plane, because of that it looks like even plane from top views but from sides and in edit mode you will still see your old topology

To transfer Vertices location from one mesh to another mesh with the same topology you can use Shape Keys. Just select object with final shape then target.

Go to Properties Window > Data > Shape keys and click plus icon to add Base key then under arrow (expand menu) choose Join as Shapes

Now when you change value to 1 vertices results in position of flat object.


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How to connect mix RGB with Noise Texture nodes
I got a set up of nodes which I'd like them to connect with the noise texture so my object can has the ability to have noise and also control the colorRamp.

Sorry, are you trying to add noise to the texture (color), or the surface (normal map)?

To the texture colour

Over the whole thing, or just certain parts?

I'd like the cube to seem like it has noise on it. so I can control how grungy it will appear. and also control the color of the bricks.

If you just want to cover the texture in noise, just combine it with another MixRGB node:

If you want the noise to also affect the surface, just connect it to the Bump Node. I mixed it with white first so the effect is not too strong:

its working fine, but only thing the bump doesn't work, which I have in my nodes set up.

What are you planning on connecting the bump to? Do you have a texture, or are you planning to use the noise?

Here is an easy way to modify the color and bump of a material with a texture.

You can set the Mix RGB node to whatever mode suits you, but I've chosen Overlay for this example.
The bump is simply added to the height input of the Bump node.
The Distance parameter of the Bump node is in meters, and Strength is a multiplier.


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How to animate a mask with interval steps and not consecutive flow animation
I'm animating a mask using the screw modifier and Boolean. but as the mask starts to reveal the LED lights, because its a consecutive flow animation, it's revealing bit by bit the LEDs, rather than one full LED at a time. How can I make the LEDs animate one at a time as the goes around revealing the LEDs.
https://streamable.com/1hwbei

you could choose another method like an array around an offset and you just increase the count?

That worked well, only one thing from making it what I'm after, I cant set the array to 0, Its always 1. So one LED is always visible:  https://ibb.co/vQH1XjV

Several answers here https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/194078/radial-wipe-using-mask-modifier/194101#194101 . Or using the array consider making it invisible when needed.

you can make the object invisible at the beginning (for example keyframe its visibility in the Outliner)

I was this article on BSE, but I'm getting a message it cant be animated, is this what you are referring to? https://ibb.co/Gx6G366

You can't animate the eye icon, but you can animate the screen icon

At last, a use for the Build modifier?
Create a fan-filled circle-mask with the same number of segments as you have LEDs, rotate in Z to the desired start-point. Give it a Build modifier, set to the appropriate frame start/end, and 'Reverse'.

Segments are made visible one at a time.
@blender breath Thanks for the comment.. 'mask' is a bit vague - it could be so many things..

For a 3D mask, as you have done, assign a Solidify modifier to the circle, to get a cylinder disappearing in chunks, which can be used in a Boolean to cut away the LEDs
2D, a perfectly black Diffuse BSDF mask in a black world,
Or, as here, 2D, a Holdout mask through to transparent film, composited against a coloured background -

or, I'm sure, many other possibilities, for use in compositing, or as a texture.

That worked well. For a minute I was confused when you mentioned "mask" I was selecting the circle triangle fan and then the LEDs and doing a Boolean (Ctrl + minus on the number pad) thinking that would be the masking method, but the result was awkward  . Then occurred Ill try adding the solidify modifier to the Build modifier and got the same results as your animation. Is this the same way you did yours? https://streamable.com/falxid

@blenderbreath  Oops, that wasn't very clear, was it? Thanks. See Edit.

Heaps better now, Cheers!


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UV unwrapping a cube that is convert to shere
I have a question, after converting a cube to a sphere via subsurface modifier and then apply the "to sphere tool", what would be the best way to unwrap it to apply like a moon or earth texture on to it?

The best way would be to have it unwrapped before proceeding with all those operations

Are  your planet textures are an equilateral or similar projection.  An example of Mercator  If so the issue is mapping the poles, the top and bottom line of the projection to the centre point  of top and bottom face of cube.


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Python script for adding images always puts in the first file in the folder. How do I fix this?
I have some code (with elements from here) that should work but gives me a weird error.
I import images in strips inside a while loop. The images imported are defined via the frame_range_ parameters. The frame_range_forw_start and the frame_range_back_start work, as the sequence is progressing but they also import the first file in the folder, which is not intended.
 import os

from bpy import context
scene = context.scene

path = "C:/Users/Admin/Documents/Projects/VIDEO/atabilized/timelapse"

files = os.listdir(path)
files.sort()

amp = 20 #Min 1
end = 250
i = 0

    # create the sequencer data

while i <= end - amp + 1:

    starta = amp * i * 2 # start of forward motion
    startb = (amp * i * 2) + amp # start of backward motion

    frame_range_forw_start = (1 + i * 2) # first imported image of forward motion
    frame_range_forw_end = (1 + i * 2 + amp) # last imported image of forward motion
    frame_range_back_start = (2 + i * 2) # first imported image of backward motion (strip will be reversed)
    frame_range_back_end = (2 + i * 2 + amp) # last imported image of backward motion (strip will be reversed)

    scene.sequence_editor_create()

    seq = scene.sequence_editor.sequences.new_image(
                name="MyStrip",
                filepath=os.path.join(path, files[0]),
                channel=1, frame_start=starta)

    # add the rest of the images.
    for f in files[frame_range_forw_start:frame_range_forw_end]:
            seq.elements.append(f)

    seq = scene.sequence_editor.sequences.new_image(
                name="MyStrip",
                filepath=os.path.join(path, files[0]),
                channel=2, frame_start=startb)

    # add the rest of the images.
    for f in files[frame_range_back_start:frame_range_back_end]:
            seq.elements.append(f)

    # reverse if you want
    seq.use_reverse_frames = True
    #bpy.ops.sequencer.gap_remove(all=False)
    i += 1

The first imported image in every strip (from frame_range_forw_start AND frame_range_back_start) is ALWAYS the first file in the folder. The frames after are correct.

this is the right frame

this is the first image in the folder
What have I done wrong?
I also tried it with other equations:
frame_range_forw_start = (i)
frame_range_forw_end = (i + amp)
frame_range_back_start = (2 + i)
frame_range_back_end = (2 + i + amp)

But the problem persists.

On a quick glance would move scene.sequence_editor_create() outside the while loop, it only needs to be called once (if scene.sequence_editor is None)

Thank you. I have done it. Didn't fix the issue though.

Is filepath=os.path.join(path, files[0]), the first file in folder?

Thank you so much. I replaced
filepath=os.path.join(path, files[0])
with
filepath=os.path.join(path, files[i]) and
filepath=os.path.join(path, files[2+i])
And now it works. :)

Excellent. Write up explanation as answer. (backticks (above tab) marks up code in comments)


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cycles compute device shows as "none"
i  had graphic card of  nividia gforce210 but while I want to enable gpu in cycle render then it show the "none" in cycle computer device please help me.

yah, a 210 is rather old. I doubt cycles still supports it.

see how old is this card https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+210 even if current cycles supported it, you won't get fast results anyway...


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how to fix a rig when weightpaints still dont work
hello I am working on this dragon and I used a plug-in for blender..well using this set of bones does work but it pulls in places that it shouldn't even after weight painting I was directed here even though the group I asked the same question in.. some how could not help me..here is a snapshot of it..i don't think it should pull in those places when I move that leg
I have learned some of blender on my own the past two years so I really have had no help except watching video's on youtube so if you guys have any idea's id appreciate it

It's possible that you've simply missed a couple of vertices while weight painting. Sometimes a bone that is quite far away from the vertex can still have influence over it for some reason or another. One thing I've found that can help is to switch to wireframe view while weight painting. In this view the colors are brighter and more uniform, so it's easier to see when something is slightly off.
A value only slightly above zero could be causing this problem, but would still appear quite blue. You could try weight painting while the rig is positioned in a way where you can see the bad deformation as well. Then all you have to do is select every bone that was moved and use the subtract brush (or whatever is appropriate to fix the issue) and paint over the affected area until you find the cause.

May be you have hidden bones or bones in hidden layers?
If not, try to unmarks "Deform" for bones which you don't want to be deformers.


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How to get current marker's name via python?
I wanted to check if any camera is binded to the current marker.
For that I thought I would simply compare the marker's name with the active camera's name (bpy.data.scenes["Scene"].camera).
But cant't understand how to get the current marker's name.

Each marker has a camera and a name property. Easy to figure out using the python console:
>>> C.scene.timeline_markers['F_01'].
                                     as_pointer(
                                     bl_rna
                                     camera
                                     ...
                                     name
                                     ...

To get the cameras just iterate through the markers:
>>> for m in C.scene.timeline_markers:
...     print ("Marker name:", m.name)
...     print ("Camera object:", m.camera)
...     print ("Camera name:", m.camera.name)
...
Marker name: F_01
Camera object: <bpy_struct, Object("Camera")>
Camera name: Camera

Many thanks, It helped me a lot!

authors: Алесь Сиденко


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Text color of buttons and lables
Is there any way to change a text color of my own buttons or labels?
This is an example I made using image editor:

AFAIK No. Adding your own custom icon is one way to set your layout apart from the crowd.

That's a great idea, thank you! I can't accept you answer because it's a comment.

A bit late, but it is possible in some borders. At least for the label and the button hilight color.  col.active_default = True is blue. See https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/8851/in-python-is-it-possible-to-change-the-background-color-of-a-property-ui

authors: Алесь Сиденко


text:
Object's projection in material
Wanted to ask if there any way to project an object onto a surface using nodes or anything else?
As Shrinkwrap does it, but I need it in my nodes to make a shader.

In theory you could bake the vector displacement of the model and use that. In practice: Blender can't do that yet, you'll need another program to bake and re-import the map. It won't work for animation, it will be very tedious to make it perfect. Unless someone with more knowledge about OSL than me comes along and saves the day, I'm afraid that's a very hard thing to do.

@FrederikSteinmetz  I've tried tracing a ray down the normal with OSL .. I can get the heights to show up OK.. but, frustratingly, displacement will not respond. I can only imagine it's all happening at the wrong place in the pipeline?

I remember having the displacement trouble myself with an osl generated texture, that was a long time ago so if they still haven't fixed it, it must be pretty hard.


text:
how to set up brushed aluminium node material
I'm trying to achieve an aluminium texture for my object. I have the following node set up, Im facing 2 problems. On the top of my cube, there's a rounded aluminium, and on the other sides, the aluminium has straight lines, as I want it to be.
The other problem is, the aluminium has too organic lines, and doesn't look natural, like the example photo I have included (silver aluminium). I'm going to render with cycles engine for this material if this node set up needs to meet cycles requirements.

check the answer here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/310408/applying-material-to-a-cube/310409#310409

Thank you Moonboots, worked well, the only thing I added was a bump node going into the normal.


text:
Node Setup to Adjust Colour And Distort Material On Object
I have set up PBR materials of a wooden floor. I'm trying to connect 2 set of nodes, one which can manipulate the texture of the wood ( stretch it, distort it), and the other group which can affect the colour of the wood, ei make it Red, Green, etc etc. I'm confused how to get the noodles set up.
Thank you.

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, I would not recommend using a gradient as a normal map.

You can set it up like this. Start with the same texture coordinate (UV) for all of them, but use separate mapping nodes for the sections you want transformed (stretched, etc).

If you simply want to mix the original basecolor (of the image) with another color, use a MixRGB node. I often use "multiply", however try different mix settings to find one you like.

Thanks always for your node set up and information provided!

The vector output of the mapping node goes into the vector input of the texture.
The Normal output goes into the normal input of the material.
As I said above, unless you have a proper normal map, I would suggest using a bump node instead, but the colorramp approach might suit certain needs none-the-less.
As for the coloring, you can use a color mix node, set to multiply, screen or mix with a factor < 1.


text:
Transparent Cube With illuminating Object
I have a cube which is set up to be glass material, and another object with Emission Node, which is glowing. Once i place the object within the cube which has the emission, it's losing it's glow strength. Is there a method to get the cube to look more lit up from the object which is already acting like a glowing source?
Thank you.

The Emission from your "glass" is interfering, among other things. I've found one of the most practical ways to produce "glass" in eevee, is through the node setup below:

This is Super! Thanks heaps for the Nodes set up, I'd never be able to figure this out without help.


text:
Cursor and Pivot point not centre of Object
I have 2 objects in my scene. I'm selecting the shape which looks like a 3 pointed star and trying cursor to selected and cursor to active. But the cursor isn't right in the middle of the object from the middle section its halved non symmetric as seen in the measurements. But on the rectangle when I do cursor to selected or cursor to active the cursor is right in the centre. How can I get the cursor spot on in the centre of the 3 pointed object?
Thank you.

The object center is based on the whole area.
To find the vertical center, select only the highest and lowest vertices and snap cursor to them.
Origin is at the object's center, 3D cursor is at the 'vertical' center

Thanks heaps for that Jay!!!
Kind regards.

No problem, good luck with your project :).


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Bump Node Not Going Through When Connected Into Normals
I'm connecting the bump Node into the normals of the principle BSDF shader , but it's not appearing on my texture. A user already helped me set up the nodes. But I'd like to add a bump to it as well.
Thank you.

Connect the noise output to the height input of the bump node

I connected the noise output to the height of the bump node, but now I'm getting a non transparency. The PNG file has a background to it. https://ibb.co/QHtTC7P

Plug the alpha output of the Image texture node into the alpha of the principled bsdf

Sorry, when I posted an image before, I forgot to connect the bump node. It really shouldn't change that much though, The only thing I can think is the subsurface color is interfering. I'll post the setup once again (without subsurface color) to show the setup that works for me. You can add subsurface after and see if that's the problem (if you also used 2 materials, maybe you added it to one and not the other). Once again, I used 2 materials, one for the block, and one for the wolf face. This can be done all in one, but, first things first. Have a look:

This is the answer I was looking for.

Connect a texture to the bump. Either a normal map into the normal input or a texture (such as noise) into the height input. Then control the strength with the distance and the strength values.


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Positioning sun light to get drop shadow or an object in orthographic view
I got a cube with some reflective material applied to it, behind it is a plane which has shadow catcher nodes set up. From an angle I can see the shadow behind the cube, but in orthographic camera view I cant figure out how to position the sunlight to get the drop shadow. I've attached an example how I have positioned the light. I tried various angles and positioning on the Z axis but I cant get it to appear.
thank you.

Things to note, probably including ones you already know:

The location of a Sun lamp makes no difference - it's infinitely far away, and its rays are parallel. Put it somewhere convenient, and adjust only its orientation
The 'angle' setting in the lamp's Data tab > Light panel will harden or soften the shadow
If your World has an HDRI, or is making a contribution through its color, the   the sun's shadow will be somewhat filled by the ambient light.
Shadow Catcher is a Cycles-only feature, and only useful on transparent film.. Corrected! See edit.

EDIT:Thanks to  @blenderbreath, who tells me there's a shadow-catcher for EEVEE, which I've never used ..  Here it is:

I would suggest giving the plane an ordinary diffuse white material during adjustment, to make sure it can be seen at all, before switching its setting to Shadow Catcher

Hi Robbin, all points taken which you stated. But there is a shadow catcher for eevee which fakes the shadow using a plane.

@blenderbreath   Oh... thanks so much! I'm behind the times. Do you want to edit the answer?

Sure, no problem, here's the node set up as seen in a tutorial on YT for EEVEE shadow catcher: https://ibb.co/9G9XVST

@blenderbreath .. Thanks! inserted.  I'll delete (now) surplus comments after a while..


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Issue exporting animation with blend keys to FBX
I'm working on a project where I have a character that has its eyelids controlled by blend keys. I'm trying to export the animation to FBX in order to then export it for various targets in our pipeline. I've been using an app from the mac app store called "FBX review" (from autodesk I believe) to test the exported file. I've had success exporting regular bone controlled animations but have never been able to get the eyelid animation.
I've been looking for an answer for a few days now and here are some things I have tried:
I've unchecked 'apply modifiers' in the geometry options of the export settings because it has a warning about preventing shape key export
I've tried exporting the file with the other version of FBX exporter that comes with blender
I've tried exporting with the 'baked animation' option on and off
Is exporting a blend key animation to FBX just not supported in blender? Really hoping I'm just doing something wrong here and someone has an answer.

It would be helpful if you make a smallest not-working version of that problem as a .blend file and include it in your question. https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

The exporting option to support your blendshapes (infalible) is to export a .dae
On the panel options check "EXPORT SHAPE KEYS".
Voilá.
My sincere gratitude if you vote me as the answer.
ps: Yes, I also use Autodesk's FBx review. Normally (2016 FBX format) will BRING in all keyshapes in the model (works in Unity as well).
But a blast from the past with .DAE and go long!
BFCT_Schiller

unfortunately, I haven't had any luck getting the shape keys out even with that option selected =( I ended up solving my issue but in a completely different way. I'm exporting to FBX and then to GLTF and then to collada. Weird process but it works lol

Can you elaborate a little more on that process @MattSich? I'm currently facing a similar problem with my animation

@Tyler Turns out the tools I used to preview the animations didn't support blend shapes but once I made the conversion to GLTF, the preview program I have for that format displayed the blend shape animations. The conversion to collada from there is much more involved and is part of my company IP now but it's basically a custom xCode app that does the conversion.

Thanks very much @MattSich! That's enough information for me to figure out my own solution! Great work finding this work around!

I was able to get shape key animations to export with Blender's default fbx exporter.
In the .fbx export settings uncheck "NLA strips" and "All Actions" under bake animation.

This indeed worked for me and I searched for 2 days for a solution. Thank you!!

If this is for a character I assume you have an armature built, shapekey animation needs to be driven by a bone using drivers.
Create a non-deformable bone as part of your rig and use it to drive the value of the shapekey, this should export with the FBX just fine.

I fixed my issue by removing/applying the Edge Split modifier that I had on my mesh.
It seems that it cancel all Shape Key on FBX export, I assume it's due to the vertex number change in the operation.
Potentially any modifier that have an impact on the vertex count could be a problem for Shape Key export.


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make an object exclude a light source in cycles
I have a spot light behind a treeline image to project the shadows.. but I don't want the spot light to affect the house or anything else.. I saw many posts saying that selective lighting is not possible in cycles. Is there ant tricks or other ways to get this done ? I just need the shadow of treeline without the light effecting the entire scene :) thankyou

If no lights affect your house, how is it going to be lit?
You got 3 choices:
Go to properties>Object>Cycles settings and uncheck SHADOWS (your object cannot cast or recieve shadows) try find what works for you.
Second choice: Use EXCLUDE layers on the PASS LAyer system (that requires a little bit of knowledge on how to exclude things) -again, if you exclude the house, it will appear in your render totally black since no lights lit the object.
Road 3: Setup a LIGHT PATH shader node to exclude to recieve any lights or cast shadow on the object. Have a "per shader per object" override material ready before render. This also requires a bit of work on your side.
(Light emission with a shader / unlit object):

But hey, these are the possibilities.
Thanks if you vote me up as Answer.
BFCT_Schiller

Thankyou for your suggestions :) By the way I used HDR lighting in  the scene .. And to show the treeline in the bright HDR lit environment.. The spotlight behind the treeline had to be really bright.. Which affected the whole scene


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trouble baking displacment map
in trying to bake a high poly sculpt displacment map onto a low poly base mesh, and not having much success, there seems to be not alot of info out there on this particular subject (from what ive seen and read blender perhaps isn't the best program for this process),

am i right in thinking that the low poly mesh has to completly cover the high poly? I saw this mentioned only in passing in a tutorial and not realy explained, other tutorials i have seen are only showing a plane being displaced
or is or is a degree of intersecttion (over and under lapping meshes where sculpted details from the base mesh excede the bounds of low poly) ok or even prefered (this dosnt seem to be a problem when baking normal maps)

I've only realy had any degree of success with the high poly being within the bounds of the low poly, but the resulting displacement image is lacks contrast, and dosen't affect the mesh simply imposing an image on the low
i tried adding a contrast node to ramp up the potential effects of the 'weak' displacement map image to no effect

please could somone walk me through what the correct aproach might be in this case and what i should consider ive only seen demos using simple planes,
for example
--- is my base mesh too low in polycount?
--- are the sculpted details too far from base mesh?
--- could there be sothing overlooked that might be a problem (smooth shading ect)
hope i've made my problem clear,
i will try to upload a blend file with a decimated high poly sculpt
cheers,
billy

What Blender version are you on? If you are in 2.79 you need to switch to "experimental feature set" and in the Material under the section "settings" set Displacement from Bump to "True" or "Booth" then the actual Mesh will be displaced. I can walk you trough the creation also, altough its probably best if i do it with your model.

hello, yes im on 2.79, and thank you for getting back to me so quickly i will look into the experimental features, i tryed to upload the blend file through the blend exchange (https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/),---- is there any prefered method for you to reaceve the file for you to have a look? cheers, billy

here is the download link to the file let me know if it works!, cheers

i'll get to it as soon as i can. Thanks for uploading in the meantime.

That’s very kind of you cheers

I'm busy atm so i can't get around writing a comprehension sadly, but there just arrived this short video, which explains the key parts :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHxv1aNsIPg if there are questions i can answer them.

hey thank you for letting me kniow ill give it a watch

im getting some good results from the video cheers

Thats great! :)


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Can you assign an object to a remesh modifier? (might be a discussion question)
So, I've been messing around with the remesh modifier in Blender 2.8 beta, and I was wondering if you can assign an object to the remesh modifier (kinda like a particle system). Is there a python script, or addon?

Yes, but with the remesh. If you set it to blocks, it looks cool, but what if I want each block to look like a bunch of Suzanne heads? That's what I'm aiming for.

Really just modifying the remesh to have an object option.


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2.8 Normal map and Texture issue
Don't know if it's just because 2.8 is still in the process of making, but here's my problem. I have this man mesh (from cgtrader) that came with a normal map and this texture that matches it to put color in the right place. The problem: It comes out black. I've looked everywhere and this seems to be the right node setup, but help is appreciated. Thanks!

BTW here's the link to the mesh I downloaded if you wanna try: https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/man/3d-character-96a5df4b-49ab-411b-9e1d-fd6e47537e41

okay. lemme try

Nope still black

Your normal map node is currently set to "blender object space". Are you sure that is the correct space? "Tangent" is much more common, especially for a character model that may be rigged.

@JtheNinja switched back to tangent. still black. Not rigged btw

If you change the normal map node from 'Blender Object Space' to 'Tangent Space' and select the 'UV map'in the dropdown that appears, that should work.

If it still appears black, then something else must be wrong. No lights, that sort of thing. I've uploaded my file (which is working for me), so you can compare: character.blend

Thanks. I have that box, but when I click on it, there's no map selection...How'd you do that part?

In other words, which uv map option did you use?

That map was already there for me, i.e. the model is already unwrapped. Did you import the OBJ file? That's the one I used.

Huh. I definitely will check that out and see if it’s works. Thank you!


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How to get a repeating, progressing forward backward sequence of a video file?
My goal is to edit a video automatically, so that there are small parts reapeating in forward and backward motion with variable part lengths.
The sequence of frames for part length 1 would be: 1 2 3 2 3 4 3 4 5
Part length 2: 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 4 3 2 3 4 5
A friend provided me with an array, which can generate this and other sequences.
#!/usr/bin/python
# coding: utf8
amplitude = 5 #Min 1
end = 30
drunkenArr = []
i = 0
while i <= end - amplitude + 1:
    for j in range(amplitude):
        drunkenArr.append(i + j)
    for j in range(amplitude)[::-1][1:-2]:
        drunkenArr.append(i + j)
    i = i + 1
print drunkenArr

There could be multiple ways:
- Opening a video file on consecutive frames and setting frame start to this sequence. This one will be very slow I think.
- Opening one video file and cut and copy the frames after a pattern
- converting the video file to single images and putting them into a folder ( could be done by hand, but with a script it would be much more convenient) and importing them in the sequence of an array.

Mention to your friend blender uses python 3.6

Also the VSE can perform a speed effect that will read frames forwards and backwards but not out of order. It will perform frame skipping if in excess of 100% speed

Perhaps try this:
import os

from bpy import context
scene = context.scene

path = "C:/Users/Admin/Documents/Projects/VIDEO/atabilized/timelapse"
files = os.listdir(path)
files.sort()

# create the sequencer data
scene.sequence_editor_create()

seq = scene.sequence_editor.sequences.new_image(
    name="MyStrip",
    filepath=os.path.join(path, files[0]),
    channel=1, frame_start=1)

# add the images. forward and backwards
amplitude = 25
i=0
while i <= files.len() - amplitude:
    for f in files[i : i + amplitude]: #forward
        seq.elements.append(f)
    for f in files[i + 2 : i + amplitude - 1 ][::-1] #backwards
        seq.elements.append(f)
    i += 1


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How to insert a keyframe in the VSE via script?
I have the following code in which I want to add a keyframe at two points at the end:
import bpy
import os, glob

# glob all movie files from
vid_dir = "/Volumes/Temp/Grau_Benjamin/01_avi_sequences_264frames_backw/0_glitched/"
# note this will recursively find movies in folder
exts = bpy.path.extensions_movie
files = [f for ext in exts for f in glob.glob(os.path.join(vid_dir, "*%s" % ext))]
files.sort()

scene = bpy.context.scene
scene.sequence_editor_create()
seq = scene.sequence_editor.sequences
for i, fp in enumerate(files):
    frame_start = (i * 48) + (i * i) + 1# some offset
    name = os.path.basename(fp)
    seq.new_movie(name=name,
                  filepath=fp,
                  channel=32 - i,
                  frame_start=frame_start
                  )
    scene.sequence_editor.sequences_all[name].blend_type = 'CROSS'
    bpy.context.scene.frame_current = frame_start + ((i+1) * 48) + ((i+1) * (i+1)) + 1
    scene.sequence_editor.sequences_all[name].blend_alpha = 100
    # Here I want to set a keyframe for the blend parameter
    bpy.context.scene.frame_current = frame_start + ((i+2) * 48) + ((i+2) * (i+2)) + 1
    scene.sequence_editor.sequences_all[name].blend_alpha = 0
    # Here I want to set a keyframe for the blend parameter

I tried using the automatic keyframe insertion, but this wouldn't work. And I don't see what's happening inside the console, so that I could paste it to my code, when doing it manually.
Thank you very much.
Benni

Keyframe insert
In a late edit to previous answer I wanted to point out that the sequencers new_movie(..) method returns the newly created strip. (In the docs from the link where it says "Returns") Assigned it to variable ms
The context scene alreasy is assigned to scene.  Hence there is no need for bpy.context.scene.sequences_all[name]...  Doing it this way will cause problems if there already a strip named "foo", the new one will be named "foo.001" and you will be looking at old one instead. This is one big reason to use API methods that return a reference to the object they've created.
There are oodles of questions and answers on bse re adding keyfraems using keyframe_insert(datapath, frame) which can be used like
# set the value
ob.foo_bar = 22
# insert the keyframe at frame f
ob.keyframe_insert("foo_bar", frame=f)

There is no need to change the scene.frame_current first.
Ammended code.
import bpy
import os, glob

# glob all movie files from
vid_dir = "/home/batfinger/Videos/"
# note this will recursively find movies in folder
exts = bpy.path.extensions_movie
files = [f for ext in exts for f in glob.glob(os.path.join(vid_dir, "*%s" % ext))]
files.sort()

scene = bpy.context.scene
scene.sequence_editor_create()
seq = scene.sequence_editor.sequences
for i, fp in enumerate(files):
    frame_start = (i * 48) + (i * i) + 1# some offset
    name = os.path.basename(fp)
    ms = seq.new_movie(name=name,
                  filepath=fp,
                  channel=32 - i,
                  frame_start=frame_start
                  )
    ms.blend_type = 'CROSS'
    f = frame_start + ((i+1) * 48) + ((i+1) * (i+1)) + 1
    ms.blend_alpha = 100
    ms.keyframe_insert("blend_alpha", frame=f)

    f = frame_start + ((i+2) * 48) + ((i+2) * (i+2)) + 1
    ms.blend_alpha = 0
    ms.keyframe_insert("blend_alpha", frame=f)

To see what's happening you need to print something (or throw an error)
print("this will be seen in system console (terminal)")


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Select points within distance to other points
I am working on a procedural city generator. I would like to select all islands/faces that are within a proximity to any other faces.
In other words, I would like to select all faces within distance x to each other.
I tried many ways I found online but I could get none to work. I know the math for that is in Blender since the Merge by Distance node does that trivially; I just wish to, instead of merge, select these islands.
Thank you so much for any hints!

What would you like to select it for? Because they are already been selected. See the pink-colored output from the math node is the selection. And shouldn't you switch the evaluate node to 'faces'?

It unfortunately does not work. It either outputs all buildings or none. I want to select it to evaluate if the building is a free standing building (minimum 3m distance to other buildings) or not

You could say i try to select all buildings that are less or equal than 3m distant from each other

Do you want to select "faces" or "islands/buildings"?

Islands, the building footprints are polygons of several connected faces

Given a selected island index, these nodes separate all that are near.
(You can transform this node into a "Tool" and use "set selection" at the end instead of "separate geometry" too)
The subdivision level is intended to add precision. Instead of doing complicated math to find "point to face" distances, subdividing and doing "point to point" distance is easier, but not precise.

Point distances
This group calculates the smallest distance between all points and the points of the selected island:

Filter islands
This group gets the min distance for each island and filters it in or out.

File

Thank you so much!!!! Your answer is really good, thanks a lot it helps. Though, is it possible to calculate this for every island? Would it need a nested repeat zone or is that not possible/something else more viable?

@ak97,  the only way I can think of it at this moment is having a nested repeat. I tried searching aroud for "grouped attribute statistic" (where the results would be "fields" instead of single values), but the solutions I found were so bizarrely big/complicated that I gave up. Maybe one day I get some insight.

I also haven't figured a way to work with "2d data" in geometry nodes. All its conception was intended for "1d data" only . So, there are two repeats there, one because of the 2d data aspect (one array of points vs another array of points), another because of the attribute statistic.


text:
Smooth join spline tube to square edge
In Blender I have these tubes I created using splines setting resolution 6 and a depth. Now at the end of the tubes I need them to become square so that they will fit or blend nice to the end of the square pieces. Can I somehow move the individual vertices or does Blender have a function that can automatically match /smooth the end of the two objects.

Quick answer, look into the Loft feature of the LoopTools addon?

have you tried to join the square + round pipes, then use W > LoopTools > Bridge?

I have tried the bridge, but which meshes should I select, I triend to select the last ring of meshes on the pipe and the square, but it just removes some of them and others are joint in a single vertx.

I gave up and just manipulated the individual vertices, took some time, but now I am done. Thanks for your input, Blender has a very steep learning curve. Some of those advanced tools, you need to know if to select vertices, edges or faces, what to select and what not to selec. Just like the Bevel tool. If you do not know exactly what to select and what to edit, everything turns into spaghetti.


text:
Is there a way to restrict the operation of a driver or even record the action of the driver in Blender
I have a small animation playing and I have made use of some trajectory equations in order to obtain a more realistic jump in the form of a driver, but I also want to add some additional movements to the object, is there a way to record the action  of the driver to form an f-curve and then delete the driver?

In pose mode go to Menu: Pose-Animation-Bake action. Check the visual keying option. Then you can use the newly created action on a copy of the armature without any costraint or driver.


text:
Clear Hard Flat Plastic Surfaces Without Glass effect
Let me start off with saying, I am new to this.
I downloaded a model to play around with, as I know I am not good enough to make this item myself just yet (a jewel case) but I wanted to learn how to make materials. This one is giving me a lot of pain.
The geometry looks like so:

My Goal is to get it as realistic as I can, and the preview seemed to have it looking pretty good, so I believe the mesh to be ok, but I assume I am making dumb mistakes.
My goal is to make it look like any normal jewel case
https://www.google.com/search?q=jewel+case&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS753US753&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5hfil3N7fAhUHy1kKHeXYC2AQ_AUIDigB&biw=1062&bih=967#imgrc=mKnE1-NPcqzMnM:
note the hard edges, here is what my render ends up looking like, no matter what I do....

Notice how it has more of a glass look and less of a hard plastic look, and it also seems to "lose" geometry, so it looks as though it has melted.
I just need a simple example of a flat plane with some extra geomotry added to it and a short explanation of how to do the effect, I have been trying for days and I am not even close (I have found quite a few examples, but nothing seems to work as I expect)
I would venture to guess I am missing something important.

Can you add a screenshot of what your material nodes currently look like?

Unfortunately I have been playing around with it an messed it up even more. The following is what I tried: https://blenderartists.org/t/rendering-a-transparent-plastic-box-in-blender-cycles/583147/6 Although, along with my own modifications. Although I didn't know what the "Glass Absorption" node was. I can post my current node, but right now it looks like a mirror.


text:
Bone axis alignment
Would anyone know how to align a bone with an axis in blender?
I'm trying to set up a smooth rotation so that the crown in the pic doesn't wobble when it's turning (Blue line is my Z axis).

Pose mode or edit-mode?

@ideasman42 Pose mode.


text:
Will using quads affect game performance?
So I will start out by stating I am new to blender and have a background in software development. I know why Blender uses quads and the importance in using them. I am more curious as to things to avoid or be weary of when making game assets, because from my understanding these quads get converted to tris (somewhere along the line, not sure where) and is then used by the game engine. I just want to know if that is happening in game? and how does (if it does) affect the game performance? I just don't want to go through building a bunch of assets and realizing I had to do something special if my intention was for games. I appreciate any insight.

Stick to quads for modelling, as that is what most modelling tools are designed for.
Either the game engine should handle triangulating the model, or it should be triangulated just before export from blender if that is not the case.
The only exception to this is very low polycount assests where optimising the use of triangles is important (to get the right shape with fewer polys, not many games are going to need much of this though). In this case, you will probably want to switch to modelling directly with triangles at some point during the modelling process.
Its worth noting that everything is actually triangulated when rendering anyway,  even for the viewport opengl render while you are modelling. It is just easier to use a quad representation for mesh manipulation.


text:
Old school material shader (ambient, diffuse, specular)
I recently migrated to the new blender and can't find the old way to use material by choosing the ambient, diffuse and specular color (example image of what I'm looking for).
Is there a way to get it back?
I tested to import a wavefront file and export it directly, it change the colors inside the .mtl

Hello :). Blender Render isn't a part of Blender 2.8+. If you need it, use the official 2.79b release.

Thanks Jachym! So if I understand correctly, the "Blender Render" is gone forever unless using a previous version?

Yes, that's correct :). It was replaced by Eevee, a new realtime render engine.

Its not the same, but there are similar parameters in the new eevee renderer.
Using the Specular shader you can tweak diffuse + specular color.

Via world properties -> color you can tweak the ambient color

Also accesible in shader editor:

Those parameters don't show up in the export for me though.


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How to assign one bone per mesh automatically (e.g. for a robot)
I have a character made with multiple hard surface parts (actually a robot), and a rig (from rigify)
Is it possible to assign each mesh (part) to a bone automatically ?
Something like "parent with automatic weight" but assign one mesh 100% to only one bone.
Right now I do it one mesh at a time which is quite long using this process:

Select all meshes - parent to the rig with empty group
Select one mesh
Edit mode
Select all vertices (if not all selected yet)
Find the correct bone in the vertex groups
Click Assign

=> Return to 2.

there are add-ons called "parent to nearest bone"

Thanks, I'm trying the add-on but it seems to now work for me, I will see if I can debug it.


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Set parent with automatic weight for selected bones only
How can I easily set the the selected bones parent of the selected mesh?
Reading the documentation it works well while setting the bone directly as parent but as soon as I use with automatic weight it use all the bones of my armature.
On my screen-shot if I do ctrl-p then automatic weight and move the hips, it will also deform the arm.

Select the vertices in Edit mode, remove them from all vertex groups named like a bone, and add them to this one group that has the same name as the bone you want to parent the vertices to.
Blender creates a vertex group for each bone if you parent the armature With Automatic Weights, With Empty Groups or With Envelope Weights. The weight assigned to the vertices in the group controls the influence of the bone on the mesh.
If you move the hips and the arm moves as well then you need to remove the arm vertices from the hips vertex group. You can do this visually in Weight Paint mode (paint with WP=0), or in Edit mode with plain numbers by editing the values in the N-panel (Item > Vertex Weights) or assigning/removing vertices from the group (Object Properties > Vertex Groups).
If you remove the weight of the hip bone from the arm you should add it to the arm bone (keyword normalize weights).

Blender does 4 things when you armature parent something:

It parents the mesh object to the armature object, just like any other parenting;
It creates an armature modifier on the mesh object, targeting the selected armature;
If parenting with empty groups or automatic weights, it creates a vertex group for every deforming bone in the armature, with the same name (any groups that already exist are unaffected);
If parenting with automatic weights, it fills those vertex groups from 3 with values determined by the automatic weights algorithm.

Understanding that, we can parent the mesh object to a subset of an armature:

Clean up the vertex groups on the object mesh.  Easiest is to just delete all of them; you don't want any populated vertex groups with the same names as deforming bones.
Duplicate the armature.  Enter edit on the duplicate.  Delete all bones but those you want to affect the mesh (keep your 3 arm bones, delete all others.)
Parent the mesh object to your duplicate with automatic weights.
Re-parent the mesh object to the original armature with armature deform or empty groups.
Delete the duplicate armature and delete the extra, now untargeted armature modifier on the mesh object.

Thanks for the explanation it helps me to understand how it works. And vertex group was the keyword I was missing. It's hard to chose "the" accepted.

If I understand this question correctly, here is a handy solution from panicq06:

Select the mesh and then also the armature.
Parent with "Armature Deform".
Select your desired bones and then also the mesh (depending on your version, you may need to switch from Pose Mode to Object Mode before also selecting the mesh).
Go to "Weight Paint", then to "Weights" (in the header menu) and select "Assign Automatic From Bones".

It should now be rigged using only the selected bones.

Hope this helps any passersby! Peace and God bless!


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Problem adding details to the top part of a model using boolean
I am trying to make this lantern here but I can't figure out how to make the details in the top part (Circled in red).

And this is the 3D view:

I have also tried using the boolean modifier but this strange artifacts on the edges of the boolean area appears:

So, is there any other way to make this without using boolean or am I doing the boolean operation wrongly?

I think you can do it this way but I used a higher topology:

I am still getting the strange artifacts regardless if i made all the faces quads, is there any other method that you could suggest? (I am using blender 2.8 btw if that helps)

you should not have any artifacts, perhaps share this part of your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Here is the .blend file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XUL4NZ57xZ71oRRaCy3QfmFHDBIShFD5   (Apologies, I was having trouble uploading the file to blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com)

please share the version with the problem  ;)  (with the artifact, after applying the boolean)

It's on the file, just hidden. It should be inside the scene collection, collection and it is labelled "Top Part Boolean Test".

oh ok your problem is that you had to recalculate the normals

Ohhh... That immediately fixed it. Thank you so much for your help.


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API: is it possible to save a variable's value for pose space deformations?
Does anyone know if it is possible to make a variable
i.e.
variable = "string data"

and then have that data stored 'somewhere' such that it is saved with your file? So you change the value, save and close blender, reopen blender, and the code loads up that data from before?
I would like to avoid having to export data to a custom file, but instead have it load automatically with everything else.
I am trying to make a plugin that adds a bone constraint. In reality, it is not a bone constraint, it just connects a shape key to a particular bone in a particular direction to give the effect of easy to use pose space deformation like those found in industry level programs like Maya. And in reality, my variable is going to be a float type column vector
vector_to_save = bpy.context.selected_pose_bones[0].matrix.col[1]

You will need a custom property which can be created via the UI (Properties Panel) or with code.

Are you trying you trying to implement pose space deformations. Like what's found in other software. That would be really cool.

Thanks to Leander's comment about custom properties to help me get on the right track.
There is the custom properties subsection in the object tab (found in the properties window). Most of us may be familiar with it, as it is fundamental to doing things such as controlling multiple shape keys or other effects. At the time I knew about these, but not as much as I thought. I didn't want to use these at first because I didn't want the rig's custom properties section to get filled up with a bunch of junk, since I feel that areas should be reserved for users. But since Leander suggested such a thing could be done with code, I looked into the topic further, now searching "properties" as my keyword, to see if I could manage to do this in a discrete way.
https://docs.blender.org/api/2.79/bpy.props.html
- "Custom properties can be added to any subclass of an ID, Bone and PoseBone."
At the mention of custom properties being used for bones as well, I looked and found that indeed, there is a hidden custom properties subsection for each individual bone. This is great because: 1 I can't think of any user who would need to go into this section, to manage custom properties per bone, so this stuff should, for the most part, stay out of users' way; 2 it helps perfectly organize where my data should be found, making the coding a bit easier.


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Is Inflow Animation Broken in 2.80?
So yesterday I spent all day trying to figure out everything I could about the fluid simulation, as I wanted to help answer a post. In one of my test, I came across an issue. So I made a new, bare minimum, test file to test the fundamentals and something seems to be wrong.
In 2.8.0 Build, it seems like animating any property of the inflow objects for fluid simulations breaks the inflow object.
My test was simple as could be, default scene, remove the light and camera, use the starting box as the domain with all default settings (resolution being 200 and up to 400, viewport set to view final resolution) animate for 1 (across 24 frames), and stick an icosphere inside the box, scale it down, apply scale, set to fluid inflow, and use any velocity I wanted to, 10ft/s for z (up) was my default.
What worked: if the inflow or the object had anything/everything animated, it would still work so long as absolutly every keyframe (no matter how many) all were the same value, so nothing ever changed or was really animated).
What did not work: The moment the object or the inflow had a parameter that was animated, and that said value changed to another value in another keyframe, the inflow just stopped working entirely, no mater what values, clearing cashe, etc.
I know inflow could be animated in older 2.79, did it get broken in 2.8.0?

Could you please post a .blend file using a service like
blend-exchange?
By posting a .blend you can make
it much easier for us to replicate the issue.

Sorry, I think this is only the second time I've used the site, this blend exchange looks pretty cool though.

Thats no problem, upload your file to blend-exchange, copy the link and edit this question to include the link to your file.

Setting the "Volume Initialization" type to "Volume" on the inflow icosphere seems to do the trick. But this seems to have the opposite behavior, where if I don't animate it, using shell/both is what works but not volume. I think I just have much to learn.


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Applying roof tilles on cone shaped roof in Blender?
I have problem with applying roof tile texture on a conical roof in blender. I use this image as a reference

And when I try to unwrap the cone I got this circular shaped projection which is useless with horizontally aligned tile texture.

So Is there any other texturing method or any other option to solve this problem.
Thanks a lot.

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/78358/how-to-straighten-curved-uvs-into-straight-belt and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/92812/how-can-i-assign-the-texture-on-saturns-rings or https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/74041/how-to-perfectly-align-uv-coordinates-automatically

I have not unwrapped anything (successfully) before, but here is an idea. In GIMP, open your image:

At the top choose filters>distorts>polar-coordinates and set it up as shown:

It will be easier to map to your cone, and the tiles will point towards the top, but they will be longer towards the bottom I think, so . . . You can try that if you want. :D


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Blender Editing Mode is Too Slow Even With a Simple Model
Here is the video about the problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4YFtXEG6Bs
Basically if I make a cut with CTRL + R, the edge moves like 2 fps. And other edges moves like 5 fps.
I tried to work just with CPU or with my RX 570, results is same.
Do you guys any idea? Sorry for my bad English.

Have you tried disabling the subdivision surface modifier for the edit mode?

Yes, it helps but what is the point then? I need it. What should I do?


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How can I set my origin point in the center of my cube so it can be the same in both edit mode and object mode?
I tried to set the origin point of my cube to be in its center by pressing CTrl+Alt+Shift+C and choosing "Geometry to Origin" but it changed the origin point only in Object mode... in Edit mode the origin point is still not set in the center of the cube. I want to set in the center so I can mirror the other half of my cube correctly with a mirror modifier.
How the origin point is set in object mode:

How the origin point is set in Edit Mode:

Origin point is set only in Object mode because it's related only to object, in Edit mode you edit the meshes inside the object. Mirror modifier will work based on the origin point set in the Object mode.

The origin of your object is where you put it .. you can still see it there, the dot in the center of the half-cube.
What's not where you want it is the 'Pivot Point for Rotation / Scaling', which you have set to either 'Individual Origins' or 'Median Point' (It's hard to tell from the picture - just to the left of the manipulator button). That, in either case, will be at your selected vertex, if you only have one vertex selected.
If want your transformation of elements to be centered on the object's origin while in Edit Mode, go into Object Mode, select the cube, and hit ShiftS > 'Cursor to Selected'. That will move the 3D cursor to the origin of the cube. Now, back in Edit Mode, select '3D Cursor' as the pivot for rotation/scaling, either by using keyboard . or selecting from this rollout:

In Object Mode, you can manipulate only objects, not their meshes, and their 'positions', for transformation purposes, are defined to be the positions of their origins.

How do I select '3D Cursor' as the pivot for rotation/scaling? Where do I find this setting?

@T4yl0r ..  I've expanded my  answer


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How to extrude a region after I selected extrude vertices only?
How to extrude a region after I selected extrude vertices only? I've tried changing 'Extrude>Vertices Only' to something else but I can't because I don't have another option than this one. Here's a screenshot with my problem:

This is how it was before choosing 'Vertices Only':

I noticed that you posted numerous questions today that are very very basic. I'd strongly advise you to take a look at the blender manual regarding basic modeling techniques. (https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/modeling/meshes/editing/basics/index.html). We are glad to help beginners, but your rate of questions suggest no effort to find the solution yourself.

@yann Thanks for noticing me. Next time I'll try to search for the solution by myself for at least two hours before posting a question here.

When doing screenshots don't resize them down please (if you have really big monitor resize them to 1920x1080 resolution), they aren't easy to read.

@Mr Zak Thanks for telling me. I'll be more careful in the future.

When you extruded with Vertices Only there were created new vertices connected to existing vertices of the region:

Selected vertices moved away to show what actually is present after extruding
So you don't have any other option to extrude other than Vertices Only from here because technically there aren't any mesh elements selected except for vertices not forming neither faces nor edges. It's possible to extrude only another vertex from existing vertex (connected with an edge to something else or not).
To avoid creating wrong types of geometry delete these created vertices and select the face to extrude from it one more time. If you didn't move vertices after extruding there's an easy way to remove them, select all in that area and run W > Remove Doubles.


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Why are the vertices extruded instead of the edge?
I selected the two ending vertices of an edge to extrude it but instead of getting the entire edge extruded (after selection) I got only the vertices extruded? I've met this problem a couple of times before. How do I solve it?
Here's a screenshot of the extruded vertices:

You need to select the edge and then extrude. Select the edge using the icon marked in yellow.
EDIT:
When the vertices option is selected you can perform actions on the vertices them self. So you can extrude every vertice separately, or like in your case the ones you selected. When the edge option is selected you can perform actions on the edges. And the same for faces.

Welcome to Stack exchange!  The OP has asked "why" something is happening, not "how" to fix it, could you revise your answer to address the question asked?

To add on to this, you can select edges by selecting vertices on the ends of the edge as well.


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split screen and final render could not show objects
the petals show on split screen and final render.
stem and stamens only show on original screen, and not appear on slip screen and final render.

I checked the alt+h
I checked outliner panel, all camera icons checked.
I checked Obeject panel
Cleaned all restrict render
And the stem and stamens only show on the original screen, and not appear on slip screen or final render

so here is the question: how to make the stem and stamens shows up?
thank you so much for your help!!!

What is "slip screen"? What material does object have? (If any) Make sure object is placed on the scene layers which are set to be rendered in Render Layers tab in Properties editor.


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Bool Tool Add-on missing option
Im following a tutorial using the ad-on Bool tool, and there's an option I dont have in my settings. I downloaded the current Blender version, but still dont get this option in my Bool tool option. Solver: Fast- Exact.

The Exact solver option will be introduced with the release of Blender 2.91 as documented by the release notes. The design task for the boolean redesign was T67744 and the commit that introduced this to the master branch rB9e09b5c418c0a436e3c84ccf38c065527988b0a0.
The release of Blender 2.91 is planned for the end of November 2020. You can download the daily builds of the beta version from builder.blender.org.

Ah OK, i missed that part, Cheers!


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Smooth bevel edges using non destructing Boolean
I have a main mesh which has a subsurface modifier applied to it. I also made some random shapes which also have the subsurface modifier to it. I used the non destructive Boolean method, and it made clean difference cut within the main mesh. The problem I'm having is, the surface of the edges are too sharp, although if you you can notice the inner depth of the cut does have smooth corners, only the surface has the sharpness. I found how to bevel the edges using a bevel node, but it requires Cycles Render, I mainly use EEVEE, because my PC isn't up to date, and cannot render with Cycles. Is there any way getting smooth edges within EEVEE?

To bevel all sharp edges, you can use the Bevel modifier.

Put Bevel Modifier after the Boolean Modifier and set Limit Method > Angle
To avoid 'tight geometry' that would limit the Bevel, you can create a large N-Gon using the Decimate Modifier (try different delimit methods).
Make sure no tight geometry on your mesh limits the Bevel (in your case there is some)

Hi Jachym, I'm adding the modifiers in the order which you have, but I'm getting a messy result. I must be doing something different so its not working. https://ibb.co/2yWt62Q I can also upload the file if you'd like to take a look for better insight.

Hey :). That's caused by ngons resulting from the Boolean. You can probably correct it procedurally, but it might be easier to just apply the boolean and correct it manually. If you share the file, I'll try the non-destructive way :).

On second look - the second image you shown looks allright :). I don't see any shading problems once you hardened the normals.

I did try that, but the result doesnt have any bevelled angles. If you'd like to see the file here it is:

Hey :). You can get better results when you create a large N-Gon under the boolean. I updated the answer. However on complex models this might not work optimally.

Thanks for your help Jachym!

Glad to be of help, learned something new myself :).


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Masking animation not in sync
I have done a masking animation using a Boolean. When the mask animates to reveal the bars, while the mask is a cube, moving in Z direction, it's showing increments of the objects I want to reveal. As seen in the example, increments of the object is shown bit by bit, until the other side is also revealed.

here is the animation:
https://streamable.com/0wn063
thank you.

hello, so what is your question? Also maybe share your file

The animation is lagging, and also both sides of the bars should be revealed while the mask is moving in Z direction. please share link so I can upload the file.

you should know the link now  ;)  https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

here it is:

Boolean doesn't like overlapping (I think it should be fixed in next versions), and the vertices on the left overlap the left face of your cube. Scale a bit (or move) on the X axis, or scale the cube, and it will work fine:

So simple, that was it, just  a bit of a scale! Thank you!


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custom transform orientation doesn't align with object
I'm following along a tutorial how to custom transform orientation. The cube which I select and apply the custom transform, doesn't follow the angle of the cube I want it to align with. Rather it resets to its initial position.
The correct result would be like the cube in Green and not the Red.
If anyone would like to see the 1 min tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHIZBoh3wdc

If you've rotated the cube in Edit mode, then its faces are not aligned with the Local orientation anymore and you need to find another method, is it the case?

I have not rotated the cube in Edit Mode. Are you getting the same results as the tutorial?  The only way I figured to get it aligned exactly the same was to apply all transformations on one cube, then link the object data.

It looks like since 2.9, the orientation that has been selected in the Transform Orientations dropdown menu won't be taken into account by default when you Align to Transform Orientation. Now you need to go into the Operator box and choose the Orientation you want. The previous way made more sense in my opinion (it may also be an oversight/bug).

Yes, that was it. I selected the Orientation in the Operator box, and it worked.  This tutorial was not made so long ago: 30 Jan 2020.  Maybe in the near future they'll fix it.

Agreed. It's an annoyance.. how do you report annoyances?

if it is a bug, Pablo explains here how to report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTD0OJq_rF4&feature=emb_logo ... but I'm not sure that it can be considered as a bug, it may be a choice? In that case the Right-Click Select website? https://blender.community/c/rightclickselect/ but I'm afraid no one will notice this request...


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How to rotate tank treads animation using Bezier circle
I have made an animation of tank treads animating along the x axis. Once I try to animate from the 51st frame to rotate into the Y axis, the whole mesh turns into chaos. What am I doing incorrect? I have tried merging the modifiers, but the animation of the treads then all become one mesh. I also saw this post but it doesn't show how to rotate the treads along rotating axis.
Tank Track Animation

If you parent the object to the curve, or if you parent both the object and the curve to an empty, it will work fine, as the axis will remain relative to the parent. If you don't, the object will go wild as you'll change the deform axis. Note that I also had to animate the tank treads on the right axis so that it moves along the curve, but it is the empty that makes it rotate.

I'm obviously doing something incorrect, I did try both ways, but the tank treads instead of  circulating motion, they just slide as one object when I parent them, so I have included the file if someone can had a look what I have set up incorrect.

I don't see any problem in your file, move the object to the curve, keyframe the object so that it is animated, move the empty to move both object and curve

Ok I understand how it kinda works, but it looks odd when I rotate the tank treads because they dont animate while they turn. Please take a look at my animation.

it's the empty that you need to move and rotate, and parent both object and curve to empty

Ok, so in this file, you'll be able to spot the problem, I have set the keyframes for the empty as the curve and object are parented to the empty, and when it animates, the tank treads don't do nothing but glide across the scene.

you also need to animate the object, in your case on the Y axis, so create one location keyframe at frame 0 and at frame 100 move it on the Y axis and keyframe again, also in the Dope Sheet (or Timeline) press T to choose Linear

because as the object is now parented to the empty it is as if it was not moving along the curve when it is moved by the empty  ;)

Thank you for your help and info!


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Add object constraint follow path
I have an object which is following a path using (Add object constraint). My main animation is fine, but when I want to duplicate the same object with the path animation the object is going astray. The main object animation in the middle which has the cursor to the selected position is fine, but everything else goes odd when I move them around the scene.

Because Follow Path will take into account the location of the object relatively to the world origin, so when you move the curve AND the planet object, the planet object moves twice as it is attached to the curve, and as it changes its location relatively to the world origin.
To fix that, you can either:

Duplicate the curve and planet and only move the curve, the planet will move along, or
Move both, then select each planet and press AltG (to bring back to world origin)

This was the best solution: Move both, then select each planet and press Alt G (to bring back to world origin) Thanks!


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How can the Screw modifier be implemented using Geometry Nodes?
The Screw modifier allows one to revolve a profile curve around an axis to generate geometry. However, there is no such Geometry Node type. Instead, Curve to Mesh is supposed to be a more general solution, accepting generic profile and curve inputs.
A ticket on the blender dev-site even rejects the idea of a "screw node" as something that can be accomplished using existing geometry node types. However, it seems that neither curve-to-mesh, nor any existing geometry node type, can accomplish the axial extrusion that screw accomplishes. Am I missing something?
Specifically, the issue is that curve-to-mesh takes a curve as input, but to emulate the screw function, one would need that curve to be a zero-radius circle, or a zero-length line with non-zero twist. Obviously, this can be worked around by using an extremely small radius (1e-9 seems to work fine) or applying a negative offset to the profile equal to the radius of the curve, but these both feel like hacks and introduce edge cases for certain geometries.
When I try using an actual zero-radius curve, arc, or spiral node, the geometry disappears, with the output vertices having all zeros for one or more axes.

If your question has been solved, please be so kind and mark the answer that contributed to the solution as "Accepted answer". This will make it easier for others to see which path leads to the solution, and the question will no longer show as unsolved. Thank you! Here you can find more information: What should I do if someone answers my question?. If you still haven't gotten a solution to your question, please be kind enough to address it.

Here is an (almost) complete replica of the Screw modifier as a node group:

The instructions for this can actually be taken, by and large, from the Blender documentation.
The only differences to the original modifier are:

Only curves are processed and no meshes!
The axis can be chosen arbitrarily and is not exactly limited to X, Y or Z.
The option Stretch UVs has not been implemented (yet).
The option Merge works here along the whole axis, even if the value for Screw is greater than $0$ (Is this possibly a bug of the original modifier, because it doesn't work like that there?).
Additionally there is the option Fill Caps to close the ends of the extruded profile with a mesh as well (cyclic profile).

Otherwise the thing should work exactly like the original.
The basis of this technique is Curve to Mesh. However, I use this node only to get the mesh.
The individual points of the mesh are then manually rotated around a certain axis and center point and shifted in height (if Screw is greater than $0$).

Here is the test file where I transferred the settings of the one object with Drivers to the Geometry Nodes:

(Blender 3.2)

On a personal note:
The solution presented here is an excerpt from an even more elaborate solution that is available in the Blender Market and can also process UVs, just as the modifier does.
Open source may be all well and good, but development costs time and money. With your contribution you support new features and further updates. Thank you!
Get the full version here: Screw [Replica]

Is that are you looking for? I think it is easy to rotate points depending on curve factor:

One of the advantages of the Screw modifier is that, with adjustment, it can give nice clean topology on a helix, with parallel subdivisions along the twist-axis, and relatively clean quads.
Here's a GN version of Screw, aimed at that advantage:

In this state, it modifies a profile mesh, radius along X, height along Y. It will generate a screw up Z, around the profile's object origin. The orientations could be made more intuitive, but that would mean a few more nodes.

It extrudes the profile along a convenient length, tau (2*pi) per turn.
The extrusion is subdivided by 'Segments' per turn
The X and Y of the extrusion are converted to polar coordinates, to wrap it round a circle.
It sets the height per requested turn of the helix to that of the profile, so the whole lot welds cleanly.

It's an (ahem) 'exercise for the reader' to wrangle the interface to taste.

Making geometry with Curve to Mesh is a different thing than what screw modifier does. If you make a curve with a profile, the geometry is extruded along the curve, while screw extrudes geometry and then rotates and transforms the extruded bit. With screw modifier geometry can intersect itself in different way:

So, I am no expert in GN, but you probably need to extrude geometry. It might look something like this:

There is no way of looping in geometry nodes yet as far as I know and you need many iterations for screw modifier so the only way I can think of is making a group and duplicating it... Not elegant at all:

Let's hope they add some sort of looping functionality in the future.
My recommendation would be to use the screw modifier outside geometry nodes and use it's result.


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Pink and Blue Hairs in Edit Mode?
After importing a file, the resulting mesh is covered in pink and blue hair looking lines.  I'm not sure why this happens and would like to make them not visible so I can actually manipulate the mesh... Any help would be appreciated.
[
Please see this link

What object is it and where was it imported from. What file format did it come in? Could we have a look at said file?

It's a .rip file from Ninja Ripper... I can provide the .rip or a .blend with the imported mesh?

Never heard of rip or Ninja Rippern not sure I'd be able to import it. A as simplified as possible file showing the problem would probably be best. Those look like mesh normal indicators but the colors don't seem to match


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Apply mask in material with condition
I'm trying to do a led panel in Cycles. The "leds" have a Image displaced by object position.
I would like to filter te color of the led if in the object-material is more or less white region, to get the pixel effect.
The mask-image is a black and white jpg.
Any idea?
Thank you!

Related? https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/39508/how-to-give-an-image-or-video-a-tv-screen-effect


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Blender Cycles To Make Hair Thinner?
I am kind of new to Blender Cycles and I don't know how to make hair with the particle system thinner. I am looking it up everywhere and cannot find an answer.

Can you show us what you have so far and your current particle settings?

Yes, what panels shall I show?

Here I use imgur https://imgur.com/a/pT9wJ

I am also want to make the hair move slightly when the model moves, and a lot when there is wind.

Please don't post images in the comments, use the edit link below your question. Also see https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/71480/hair-does-not-show-up-in-final-render and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/73937/no-cycles-hair-rendering-options-in-2-78 and use search before asking

I still need help this isnt a duplicate

What help do you need?


text:
How do I check for corrupt parts in my .blend file?
I have a corrupt .blend file that causes bugs, if I copy/paste into a new file its content will bring the bug along.
The bug emerges in the time stretching, it isn't acting as it should.
Time stretching, with 24 fps, if input old=24, new=72, it renders 24 frames at normal rate then renders the next 50 frames of the last frame.
I tried this mesh checking code but that just spits out hundreds of lines that I have no clue what to make of it.
import bpy
for me in bpy.data.meshes:
    me.validate()

In the file I have rigs, characters, lights, cameras, textures, props, animation data, etc.
How do I go about making sure all of it is corruption free?


text:
2.8 Eevee rendering not working
I have my scene looking really good and its ready to go, but when I hit render animation the warning pops up saying "could not open file for writing". Is there a simple step I'm missing?

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/39389/deleted-dvd-file-and-could-not-open-file-for-writing and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/117346/could-not-open-file-for-writing and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/100974/rendering-video-sequence-editor-by-scripting

Do you set output path?


text:
Using 3D in traditional illustration

Hi guys!
I have a illustration project in my school where I explore the possibilities of using 3D-object in traditional drawing. In the image below I have some objects which I have stumbled into the photoshop-file, but the objects loose their textures and I can't control the lighting as I please. The objects are changed in photoshops 3D-space, but textures would be nice, and a more direct approach to the lighting. As it is now, I have to work in a 2Dspace and 3D space in photoshop.
My question is: Is it possible to place my image file into Blender and place my .obj in 3D space and light/texutre them without affecting the underlying image?
Hope you guys can help and that I have expressed sufficiently what I would like to do (I´m from Norway).
Sincerely
Andreas

You can use the 2d image as a background looking through a camera set to the pixels you want the final render to be, and then manipulate the 3d objects in relation to the 2d image without affecting the 2d image shading. Once you have the 3d objects set up and textured as you want them to be, and have worked out your lighting, you can render the 3d using transparent film setting (cycles) or transparent instead of Sky render(Blender Internal).
If you want a hand painted look for your 3d, you might try texture painting the 3d objects in blender after unwrapping them and setting up an image texture at a high enough resolution to look consistent with your final photoshop render.The material you use can either be set Shadeless(blender internal) or use an Emission shader(Cycles) to avoid unwanted shadow, as you can paint in your own stylized shading on the objects. You can also paint on a ground plane that has a transparent alpha image texture, and just paint the shadow there if you want.
The possibilities are endless with how you can manipulate 3d and 2d together, so I leave that up to your own opinion and taste to guide you.