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Boolean does not work in Blender 2.8 beta
I'm new to Blender and unsure if this a bug in the beta version or my error. I can't make the union boolean modifier work. It does nothing visible.
Setup:
I created an svg file and imported it. I then converted the curve to a mesh. Since it has several discontinuous parts I selected the linked parts of the mesh and filled them. Then I extruded the mesh to get depth. I intend to 3d print the result so the separate parts needed to be joined. I created a cube and scaled it to use as a connector. I duplicated the result and moved them into place. I selected the shape and added a 'union' boolean modifier. The first cube worked. The other cubes do not work. Picture attached.
What I checked:
I believe the meshes are closed, water tight, and the normals face outward. Any other suggestions?
blender file

You have set your Clip Start to something insanely small. That will probably fix your view port to start with. Then you can upload your file so we could investigate further.

Added link to the post. Thanks for the help

Just use the fast-boolean addon, its better anyway

Usually boolean addons use the same libraries as standard modifier (or use modifier under the hood) so precision errors won't be fixed

@MrZak well this addon has its own code, so just no

Seems rather careless the code doesn't handle obvious edge cases. Thanks for the alternative idea. I'll check it out too

@Yaakov5777 Where can I find fast-boolean? I'd like to check the features

the problem is that you have overlapping faces on the bottom of your mesh.

in this example i create 2 cubes and try to make a union operation but it doesn't work because the cubes faces overlap when i scale down one cube the union operation works as expected.
good rule of thumb if you work with booleans if you have a problem try to move one mesh until it works.


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CUDA Error: Out of Memory in cuArrayCreate(&handle, &desc)
CUDA Error: Out of Memory in cuArrayCreate(&handle, &desc)

I get this error when rendering with Cycles on my GPU. I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with this... My scene DOES have some very high-res textures (up to 10K) and most of the textures also have a map for Gloss, Reflection, Normals, and displacement. My specs are as follows:

CPU: Intel i5-4460
GPU: Geforce GTX 1060 6GB VRAM
RAM: 8GB

Cuda is out of memory, means your scene is too complex for the available memory

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos would reducing the resolution of most of the textures used append this? Or is it because of the geometry? I've handled much more complex geometry in scenes before...

@cegaton I was not aware that when GPU rendering your textures are flushed to VRAM, Not RAM. And I was wasting resources, like you said. Could you put your response in answer format so I can accept it?

@cegaton I just checked and the sum total of all my textures including normal maps etc. is ~700mb. Does Blender inflate texture data or something when it is moved to VRAM for render? If not, what is all the other VRAM space used for?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Create a plane that renders nothing behind it?
I'm kinda following this tutorial, but using cycles instead of blender internal. Because I'm using cycles, I had to manually set up the nodes and render layers. This image is what i'm supposed to have currently (from the tutorial):

And this is what the render result is for me:

I have transparency checked. This is my node setup and render layers:

And these are my layers:
Layer 1:
Layer 2:

This question should help you.

Give the plane a holdout material. This should make it block everything behind it and yet be completely transparent.
I will try to update the answer with screenshots soon.

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


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Array modifier with object offset, rotate and scale at the same time
I'm trying to use an array modifier on an object such that each copy is rotated 2° about the z-axis from the previous one, and then translated along the x and the z axis.
This is what I started with (the Empty at the origin is used to rotate and translate the object):

This is what happens after I rotate and translate the Empty (pivot point is set to median point) (doesn't matter whether I translate or rotate first, It still turns out like that):

The problem in the diagram above is that the translation on the x-axis does not happen; only the z-axis and the rotation is done right.  If the x-axis translation is done correctly, the track should align exactly, like in the diagram below.
This is the effect I want to achieve:

Here is my Blender file, if it helps.
Thanks!

Is using an array mandatory here?

No, this is just an object that I want to 3D print.

OK, I have answered another way as I don't think the array can work here

A way to do it is to use a spiral using add curve extra object standard addon.

To add a first curve, simply add an archimedian spiral curve and tune the parameters on the operator panel on the left:

Now add a second curve, identical except for its radius:

Convert them both to a mesh, using AltC, then join them CtrlJ:

Enter edit mode, select all the vertices, and CtrlE 'bridge edge loops':

Curve the floor of the ramp, adding a loop cut CtrlR (or 2...) and grab the cut a bit down:

Connect the edge (use the F2 addon to do it fast):

Shade smooth, add a subdivision surface modifier, and here you are.

Edit:
In complement, here a script that uses the spiral operator.
What it does is generating spiral from two parts (bottom and top parts) of your initial ramp.
The bottom part is an object named 'from' and the top part is named 'to'.
The script goes along the vertices of 'from' and 'to' and generates the spirals between them.

To be done manually... about 42 'bridge edge loop' after all this is converted to mesh and joint.
But this way, you have the exact same shape as in your original file.

Thanks for the nice GIFs!  Just a slight problem: Since I'm going to 3D-print this, I need it designed to exact dimensions - the ramp needs to be 7mm in diameter and be 1mm apart from the ramp below.  I can't see how  I can use this method to get myself exact arcs.  The F2 addon is something new you've taught me today though :)

@Bernard, when you create the spiral, the wanted dimensions can be given in the operator panel. I think you can choose this parameters to meet your needs. For instance, the 2 base spiral can have 7mm and 7+outer. Concerning the height, same thing with the 'height' value. You can also add more spirals (for instance to have the border of the ramp)

I meant that the cross-section of the ramp is to be an arc with 7mm diameter.  Using your method would mean that I have to build up the arc manually.  In your illustration, it would mean that for the "Curve the floor of the ramp..." step, I will need many more loop cuts, even for the faces hanging from the ramp above, and these loop cuts would have to be done manually (one by one), and if I wanted the arc shape to be exactly right, I would need to do quite a bit of precise measurements to decide exactly how much to displace each loop.

@Bernard, edited for a python script approach

Thanks!  The script does it.  I guess I should learn some python for Blender.

If it fits your needs, an easier way to achieve that shape is probably using the screw modifier.
You would use a single 2 dimensional "U" shape, and use the screw modifier to basically "rotate" the object around the origin. You adjust the screw amount to make it also move up on the Z (or other chosen) axis.

I can't adjust the X while moving it up the Z... The screw modifier seems like a subset of what the array modifier can do.  On a side note, I think there is a bug with the screw modifier; when I tried it a few minutes ago, it froze my whole computer and I had to do a restart.

I've never experienced that bug... And you can adjust the X and Z. However, looks like you have the answer you need above so all good.


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the problem is different animation, when creating and playing
When I create an animation by rotating the bone, I get the result that is different when I play an animation. The mesh is shifted during playback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaNqxWMJLMs&feature=youtu.be
Why?

Because when the animation plays your 3D cursor is not the pivot point anymore, it's the bone.
Position the bones center at the position you want the object to pivot around.

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


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Blender model looks different in Unity
My model looks like this in Blender.

It look different in Unity.

How can I fix it?

Looks like lighting to me, the cube shadow indicates the light is shining straight down. Try adding another light in front of the model or rotating the direction so that it points toward the front of your model. Although I think you also have to manually select the object materials in unity after importing.

thanks that answer solved my problem now i have got another problem, http://oi65.tinypic.com/23h3h1j.jpg - http://oi68.tinypic.com/2pzaeyo.jpg now how can i fix this ?

Ask another question with details of what you want help with.

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


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Can I specify vertices to be unmovable, when sculpting?
Couldn't find anything in constraints. Also searched 'lock vertex', 'anchor vertex'.
I now realize my question wasn't completely clear after reading some replies. Sorry about that. I'm starting a model of a river bend and adjacent banks with the intent of creating a semi-photorealistic render. I am a very new to Blender and expect this WIP to remain so for a while, improving as I do.
My plan is to create 3 objects; north bank landscape, river, and south bank landscape. Starting with the south bank object I decided to start with creating a big plane object, subdivided into a pretty fine mesh, and then moved the top vertices to match the river edge. Then I extruded it in Z direction. Now this is where I'd like to lock the original vertices and sculpt the rest. This is to ensure that the planar edge where the bank meets the water remains unchanged, no matter how clumsily I might select vertices.

Hello, unmovable when you model your object? You could make it invisible

A lot of techniques can achieve that, depending what's the exact result you want to achieve.

XY Problem We still want to help you! Please expand your question a bit.

If you put the unmovable vertices into a group and then use menu "Mesh :: Show/Hide :: Hide Selected", you can edit the remaining vertices (sculpt or otherwise transform).  After you are satisfied you can then "Mesh :: Show/Hide :: Reveal Hidden" to see the full mesh again.

This might be a good start.. masking might be what you're after. with any luck someone will demo it for you.

When you sculpt you can preserve some parts with the Mask brush or with the Face Sets, I don't know if this is what you're looking for

Thanks, masking the bottom plane of vertices in sculpt mode worked. I discovered that I needed to enable 'Front Face Only' in the mask brush options to prevent the masking from 'bleeding thru' to the other side that i wanted to sculpt, so still learning. Back on course.


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In geometry nodes, Object Info doesn't follow the image texture, but primitive cube does
I used an image texture on my geometry nodes. If I use the cube node, it follows the UVMap properly:

But if I use a cube I created without anything, just a newly created cube, it doesn't follow the texture mapping. How do I fix this? I tried to generate different types of UVMaps for the external Cube object but nothing worked.

I am guessing it has something to do with the texture mapping, but I can't find any information or clue to fix it.
There is nothing much to it, I just made a simple scene to illustrate my problem. I just used a square image logo on a 100x100 grid and ran Instance on points. Just the standard Image Texture inside geometry nodes setup, very easy to replicate. My only concern is how to use an external object imported via the Object Info node instead of the primitive mesh Cube node.

In the failing case, the geometry is picking up the externally created UV map of the cube, and maps the image to each one.
There's a 'convenient' default getting in your way. It seems that if both the cube's and the grid's UV maps have the same name, whatever that name is, then the cube's UV map is given priority.
If you delete the cube's UV map, then  the grid's UV map is picked up.
If you rename either of the maps, then you can aim the input attribute at the right one.
Even if the cube's UV-map-name is not listed in the grid GN modifier's input attribute dropdown, you can type it in, and it will be picked up, mapping the image to the cubes' vertices, interpolating the image between them, like vertex colors.
If the cube is created in the GN tree, it has no map other than the one on the GN-modified object, so, no problem.
TL;DR
It's a good idea to give your UV maps unique names, so you always know which one the GN modifier is referring to.

Thanks, Robin, that's a very detailed and very informative answer. Indeed, it solved my problem instantly as soon as I deleted the UVMap of the cube. I couldn't thank you enough.

@Sophia np! playing through the variations taught me stuff, too.


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How to calculate hausdroff distance between two meshes?
Actually I have decimated (ie., reduced the meshes)in the given object using planar option. Now, I need to check the hausdroff distance between original mesh and decimated mesh.

Can we ask what you need this for?

Is this a suitable approximation?

It'a a Geometry Nodes modifier which returns the maximum distance between 2 meshes, when their object- origins are coincident. Depending on how you want to use this number, it could be stored on the mesh, or used elsewhere.

Could you please elaborate how to achieve this one.

@DeepakDeep See Edit: That's why I've asked how you want to use this result.. I don't know, it may need to be scripted? What are you going to do with this number?

Actually based on that, if the max. distance is within limit then I will further proceed with decimation.

@DeepakDeep, it does sound as if someone should write a script or operator to converge on the right level of decimation to meet your threshold, using a combination of
limited dissolve and find nearest. That could automate the search. If this is on the right track, you should edit your question to make that clearer.


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Geometry Nodes: Is there a way to add a vertex on all intersecting edges?
Similar to what is done with auto-merge function as seen here:

This is the start with the curved corners I have

Here I delete the edges that are at a certain angle + very short

Here I extrude the vertices that only have one vetex neighbour

Here is where I need the intersecting edges to create a vertex so that I can merge them.

Yes and no. It depends on your use case. Do you have more information for us?

Yes - it is sort of related to my other post here:
https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/291254/geometry-nodes-is-it-possible-to-turn-rounded-corners-into-sharp-corners
I have line drawings with small curves/angles in the corners. I need sharp corners instead.
Current approach:

Detect edge at a certain angle +length of an edge => Boolean Math (and)
Delete geometry (edge) - this deletes all the edges in the corner areas
To close the holes I extrude the end points tangent to the edge. Now the edges intersect.
I need a way to detect/create a vertex at the intersection

I added more pictures.

did you ever find a solution, im stuck at the same prob


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I'm having trouble understanding how to work with nodes using python
I think I'm close but there's something I'm missing or not doing right. Im trying to create a new material, and then change the metalic value in the Principled BSDF Node.
newmat = bpy.data.materials.new(name)
newmat.use_nodes = True
node_tree = newmat.node_tree
nodes = node_tree.nodes
bsdf = nodes.get("Principled BSDF")
bsdf.inputs[4] = 0.9

The error message I'm getting is:
TypeError: bpy_prop_collection[key] = value: invalid, expected a StructRNA type or None, not a float

Hi. What happens when you run the script? Please be descriptive of the problem you are having. Questions can be edited by using the [edit] link below it. Thanks.

Set the default_value of the input
There are many examples of this here, probable duplicate.  Here is an answer in lieu of a long comment
Set an input node value by altering its default_value property
import bpy
name = "Foo"
newmat = bpy.data.materials.new(name)
newmat.use_nodes = True
node_tree = newmat.node_tree
nodes = node_tree.nodes
bsdf = nodes.get("Principled BSDF")

bsdf.inputs[4].default_value = 0.9

Tip, for new material created as above can
>>> bsdf, output = nodes
>>> bsdf
bpy.data.materials['Foo.002'].node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]

Testing in python console.
>>> import bpy
>>> name = "Foo"
>>> newmat = bpy.data.materials.new(name)
>>> newmat.use_nodes = True
>>> node_tree = newmat.node_tree
>>> nodes = node_tree.nodes
>>> bsdf = nodes.get("Principled BSDF")
>>> bsdf
bpy.data.materials['Foo.002'].node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]

>>> bsdf.inputs[4]
bpy.data.materials['Foo.002'].node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"].inputs[4]

Notice the input node is not a float
If we autocomplete the input node, will see its properties and member methods...
>>> bsdf.inputs[4].
                   as_pointer(
                   bl_idname
                   bl_rna
                   bl_rna_get_subclass(
                   bl_rna_get_subclass_py(
                   default_value
                   display_shape
                   draw(
                   draw_color(
                   driver_add(
                   driver_remove(
                   ....


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Apply All Transforms moves objects away from their location or warps their shape
I am working on a character model and have everything parented together. I've been told that to prevent problems later on in modeling that we should be trying to select all parts of the model and apply all transforms. This is the before and after of applying all transforms and then all locations:
Before Apply Location
After Apply Location
After Apply All Transforms
Apply All Location seems to warp the shape of the flower petals and apply all transforms moves their location. Can anyone tell me what is going on here? Do I even need to apply all transforms?

I think we'd need to know the stack of influences, here.. (object-level transforms, parenting, modifiers, other constraints) to give an accurate answer. Perhaps share your file on https://blend-exchange.com/ for someone to help you out?

As @RobinBetts mentions, without knowing which influences there are on the mesh, it's hard to tell what exactly is going on. Just a general information: let's assume you have a simple object without any modifiers etc., applying rotation and scale usually doesn't change the appearance and origin of an object. Say you move a cube with its origin at the center of the mesh to X = 3, then scale and rotate it. If you now apply rotation and scale, the mesh stays where it is, but rotations will be set to 0° and scale to 1.

But it is still at X = 3, and rotating and scaling it again will do these transformations around the origin at X = 3. However, when you apply the location, this will reset the location to the world origin at X = Y = Z = 0 without moving the mesh. So it is not like Alt+G, clearing the location i.e. moving origin and mesh to 0,0,0. If you now do a different transformation like rotating or scaling, it looks as if it is no longer doing this from its center, because the origin has now been moved away from the center of the mesh. And so this might cause problems with added modifiers, too.

What you already can see in your screenshots is that before applying the location, each object has its origin more or less in the center of its geometry. After applying location, you can only see the origin(s) in the world center. So if some transformations/modifiers etc. rely on the relative location of the object, it doesn't work anymore as expected.

If I understand this correctly what is the way to check the "stack of influences" on each piece of my object? I add the .Blend file to my post. I did not know that I could do that.

This trouble may appear in the case you have some deforming modifiers active. If your actual model is ready just try to apply them and after that apply all transforms.

I did try this method and it still came out warped like in the pictures.

Also check if you have any keyframes in your dope sheet, animated models tend to jump when transforms are applied


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Fluid inflow simulation won't stop overflowing even after using keyframes
So I was watching this YouTube tutorial that keeps the fluid animation going while stopping the flow from overflowing at a certain point, using keyframes. Following exactly what they did, as you can see in this mock file, I turned on "Use Flow" with a keyframe inserted at 5, immediately followed by another keyframe inserted at 6 without the Use Flow, but nothing would change.

my file:

What do you mean by "nothing will change"? It seems to work, maybe under Cache click on Free All and Bake again?

as moonboots wrote in the comments, it looks like that you baked your simulation.
By this Blender ignores any change you made until you bake again.
So either you can delete your bake or e.g. use these settings (replay, uncheck is resumable):

by this Blender does not bake but calculates the sim always. This might be the better settings until you know how it should look like. If you are satisfied with your sim result, then you should bake.

I re-baked it multiple times but it didn't seem to work for me. Is this an error? Or perhaps I did something incorrectly with my keyframes although I clearly followed the tutorial?

you did nothing wrong. It worked for me with your file. What Blender version r u using? is your cache path ok?


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How do I get rid of the curves between the map tiles?
I am a newbie and I used the Blender GIS add on to create a 3D map in Blender using Google Maps satellite images. The area I wanted to create was large so I ended up putting different tiles together and after I inserted the elevation map these curves between the tiles appeared.
What can I do to smoothen the transition between the tiles so that it looks like a whole thing instead of being put together tile by tile?

Here's a sample:

Hello, Beluga, you'll have to give us some idea of your process.. how you made the tiles, how you put them together, otherwise we don''t have much clue about why the creases are there. Maybe share a file with 2 tiles on https://blend-exchange.com/

Hello, Robin. I am using this add-on called Blender GIS. First I put the satellite images together. Then using Edge Slide in Edit mode I mostly get rid of the map parts that are overlapping.  Then I combine these images with Ctrl + J and add the elevation info using the add-on. So far there are no curves. Then I convert this to mesh and extrude in Z direction in Edit mode. This is when the curves appear. Thank you, I uploaded  a sample:

Hi, beluga. Simply switching on 'Autosmooth' in the object's Data tab > Normals panel is enough to improve the appearance by preventing interpolation of normals ovet the edges of the extrusion. But that's  a symptomatic fix.. it depends what you need the result for, You may need something a bit deeper.

Oh, that is great! Thank you a lot for this! This fixes the appearance of the map which is exactly what I wanted. Have a great day!

Check modifiers, on and off, or maybe in shader nodes have the displacement map removed or the normal map. If it's none of that then try go in sculpt mode and smooth out the geometry with smoothing brush.

Thank you for your answer, Ahkai. After combining and converting the tiles into mesh I do not see any modifiers anymore. The issue starts after I extrude this mesh in Z direction to add some thickness to the map which in other case just looks like a surface. Regarding the shader nodes, I understand you mean shader editor, right? ( sorry I am new to Blender). I did not see any displacement map thing there.

As in the Robin Betts's comment, switching on Autosmooth in the object's Properties Window > Object Data > Normals panel solved the issue for me.


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How do I prepare a skeleton for foreign animation?
What do we have?
Both skeletons have similar structures, but they are not exactly the same.
The source of the animations comes from the mixamo website.
I'll try to briefly describe what I'm doing:

I download animation with mixamo.
Import it into Blender.
Import a character.
I fix the character's skeleton (rolls by zeros, clear the quaternions of bones).
Rename animation channels.
Apply the action to the character.

Imgur. In images
What is the problem?. Scaling and renaming seem to be correct. The problem is with the skeleton. But I don't understand what exactly is the problem? Rolls? The quaternions? Which skeleton to fix and how? Request 'Throw the geometry on the rig and set the weight' please last.
Tools. I also have a script for renaming bones and animation channels. There is also a script for changing the scale of the skeleton without deforming.
Google Drive. Animation n' Character
Google Drive. Scripts

As I understand it , I need to replicate the skeleton as accurately as possible. But by changing the bones, the posture itself will change. I come to the conclusion that it is necessary, at least, to set as accurate a scale as possible and do something else to get the minimum loss, well, or at least an argument why this is impossible. Maybe I need to fix something in the graph editor? To get the minimum deformation.

Hi. Any images that you think are relevant to explaining your question better should be included in the question body as well and not in an external link. Thanks. (Also, I don't know what "'Throw the meat on the skeleton and set the weight' please last" means).

Thanks for the answer. It would really be nice to immediately attach the images, and not resort to using third-party services, but this was done so as not to overload the post and if something is not clear, you could follow the link for clarification and download materials from the file hosting to reproduce the problem yourself in case it’s still not clear. I hope you got what I meant. In any case, I can upload images if that is better. Regarding meat) I don’t want to make a “new” rig, but to adapt the existing one, so please do not recommend this method if there is no urgent need for it.Thnx.


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Help replicating sci-fi texture
I'm trying to procedurally replicate the white fabric-like texture on this spaceship:

So far, this is what my render looks like:

And here is my node setup:

Basically, it's two sets of overlapping wave textures with distortion, subtracted against each other to make the "stippling" effect. Then I apply that to a bump node and combine that with a burlap texture normal map to give it that "fabric" look.
But it still doesn't look as good as the source image. I'm still struggling to get that randomized and grunge-y look that I see in the source photo. Any tips on how I might get my texture to look more like the source image? Thanks!
Edit: my blend file as requested:

Edit2: Added a better test render image, for comparison.

Hello, I'd suggest you upload the node setting in a blend file. That could help people to test around your solution. Thanks. Please use this link for uploading: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Thanks! I just added my blend file.

I solved this by using a displacement map. Using Blender 2.8, I used a space shuttle thermal tile texture to influence the height of a displacement node and plugged that into the Material Output displacement. You also need to enable "Displacement and Bump" in the Material Settings -> Surface -> Displacement settings.
I realize this isn't procedural, as I originally asked, and it's not the exact texture shown above, but it solves what I was trying to do in a relatively simple way.
Here's the texture I created, in case anyone wants to use it in their work. It's made from several images of NASA's Space Shuttle thermal blankets.


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Weird gaps in mask texture painting
I'm trying to paint a terrain mesh with multiple textures using a node setup involving masks, the problem is... Something is not letting me paint on these parts (where the rock texture is) The plains leave weird gaps, the mountains and coasts I can't paint at all. Any Ideas? This is driving me crazy.

It can be more things, would be fastest to attach blend https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ if its big file cut a mesh and send just a part with issue persistting.

Yeah, I should have done that from the get-go. I've attached the file now.

please https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/30907/2214 without textures quite hard so say

My bad, I never had to share a blend file before so getting used to the process, now it should be fixed.

Im not sure yet, but since you set Subsurf modifier to 11 also for viewport you can draw without gaps. Will check later.

Huh, that's interesting, just tested it out, It seems that whenever there's a steep enough angle it doesn't paint the texture. Still, no idea what might be causing this since I haven't masked anything based on height.

Uf ...

Apply Scale Ctrl+A ... fixed painting, brush skipped all parts with even minimum slope.

Since painting worked fine without Displacement modifier I was just curious why you used Strength 3000 for such contrast displace map (usually 1 is more than enough). Than I saw your Scale ratio Terrain 7500 / 4500 / 1.
If you try to set Scale 1/1/1, you can see why brush could not handle that :)
Faces are too steep in original ratio. Brush probably thinks faces are on side or squeezed in such a small place to detect or what ever. Scale ratio cause quite a lot of issues in general.

BTW - the similar extreme is use for mesh as a one face for such kind of subdivision, I would suggest subdivide id few times in edit mode (first Ctrl+R to add loopcut in a midle so subdivision faces are square, not rectangle)

And... It's fixed :D Now I can clearly see the danger of crazy scale values... Oh, and I had to put the displacement strength to 300 because that's the only way it was strong enough, otherwise it was just too low for my purposes, I found that weird too, generally that slider is so sensitive! Anyway, thank you so much for your help.

300 is probably correct, since your Dimension is almost 18 km wide.


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More than 5 mix/principled shaders turns material pink in material preview but not in rendered preview? No missing textures
I'm doing a 3D map with a single material only using masks to change between terrain types, but once I add more than 5 mix/principled shaders the material turns pink, this issue just happens in the material preview window, not in the rendered preview.
Like so:

And as you can see it is not a missing texture issue either since it previews just fine if done separately.

I need to fix this otherwise I can't paint on the masks, so if anyone can shed light on the situation I would be grateful, thanks!
I couldn't make the file size lower than 30mb since there are a lot of textures, I hope a google drive link is acceptable? File

What are your system specs? Are you using CPU or GPU for render?

I'm using a GPU for rendering.
My specs are:
CPU: Ryzen 7 1700
GPU: GTX 1070
RAM: 2x8gb 3000Mhz
OS: Windows 10 64bit

Are there any Principled BSDF shaders that are not needed and can be replaced with Diffuse BSDF?

Yeah, actually they can all be replaced with Diffuse shaders, however, I replaced a couple of them but the issue still persists, I'm gonna replace all of them and see if that changes anything.

So I changed all the Principled BSDF shaders to simple Diffuse BSDF shaders, like Craig suggested and it worked! Don't know the exact reason why it worked but I guess the Principled BSDF is too complex for putting a bunch of them in a single material. Anyway thanks for the help again.

yes I get this same error with just 2 BSDF Principle Shaders. It's not tied to 3.0 or 2.93 or 2.91, it happens in all of them. Choosing CPU over GPU doesn't fix it either.
The only thing that did work was removing one of my BSDF Principle Shaders, and replacing it with a Diffuse Shader. That left me with just a single Principle Shader, so it appears you don't need to switch them all out. It seems just the one will always work. Just stay away from using a second one, or heaven forbid, 5 of them. The problem is worse when using Procedural methods for textures. There must be a lot of calculation going on we know very little about.


text:
AN and extra mesh addon
I treid but I see no way of adding addional images to this post so I'm giving up
this question is inspired by a post from wishmasteregel called "How to create explicit  (parametric) functions in animation node?. Answered by Omar Emara  using math nodes.
I followed along the setup and wondered if it were possible to achieve the same result by not using math nodes but a sccript node instread
Here is the result of one of Dupin Cyclids so far (AN 3D viewer).

Here is the node tree.

I was wondering if you could achieve with AN something equivalent to the output of the Extra Mesh Addon

Why bother at all if the Addon already gives back the result, but  I like the challenge, besides I'm ill at the moment an not fit for neccessary heavy learning.
So far I looked under Mesh Nodes but torus does not belong to the
Generators
I've connected the output of the Invoke Subprogramm Loop with a Mesh Object Output node with a Torus as object but all I get in the 3D View is an ouput like the AN 3D viewr just with unconnected vertices
I've tried looking at the tutorials to AN nodes, but found no answers, so I came to ask here.
At the moment the output of the script node is a x-, y- and z-list which I combine to a Vector List.
Is ther a way to flesh out the unconected vertices with edges and faces?
thanks in advance
All I need is a good starting point

What about using a spline with control points in the center of each ring of the output vectors, and then controlling its size depending on the radius of each ring ? Would you mind sharing your blend file, or at least the script your are using ?

Hi Gregorius,I apologize for not answering earlier - I was on the lookout for answers and forgot all about comments.


text:
Blender changes location of loop cut after selecting vertices
I have a script that creates a frustum with an upper lip and I add a loopcut to the mesh to create that lip. When I run the script until the first return in my code, it works fine. But when I run it till the second return, where all I do is select new vertices, for some reason the indexing of the vertices in the mesh data changes and the wrong part receives the loop cut.
How is this possible? Does this have to do with overrides?
import bpy
import numpy as np

# Reset scene/delete all objects
bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='SELECT')
bpy.ops.object.delete(use_global=False)
# TODO: LARGE EXTRUDE PERCENTUALLY EQUIVALENT ACROSS ALL NS TYPES SEE LINE 177
def create_NS(d2,S):

    '''Create a Normschliff from inputs for dimensions
    of a frustum. d2 is the larger diameter and S the
    length of the inner side of the frustum (not the
    height).'''

    def calculate_specs(d2,S):

        '''Get height and d1 for the frustum.'''
        a_half = 1/20
        L = S*np.cos(a_half)
        d1 = d2 - 2*L*np.tan(a_half)

        return L,d1

    def get_override():

        '''Obtains the current overwrite for a scene...or something.'''
        for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
            if area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
                for region in area.regions:
                    if region.type == 'WINDOW':
                        override = {'area': area, 'region': region, 'edit_object':bpy.context.edit_object}

        return override

    def select_vertices(vert_list):

        '''Selects the vertices in the vert_list. Relevant vertices need to be determined beforehand.
        Vertices can be found in the bpy.context.active_object.data.vertices list. They are indexed
        by time of creation/in chronological order.'''

        # upper ring vertices selection
        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'OBJECT')
        obj = bpy.context.active_object
        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'EDIT')
        bpy.ops.mesh.select_mode(type="VERT")
        bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action = 'DESELECT')
        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'OBJECT')

        for i in vert_list:
            obj.data.vertices[i].select = True

        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode = 'EDIT')

    def len_verts():

        '''Returns the current length of the vertex list of the active object.'''

        obj = bpy.context.active_object

        return len(obj.data.vertices)

    L,d1 = calculate_specs(d2,S)

    r1 = d1/2
    r2 = d2/2

    # add reference image. this needs to be adapted manually and isn't necessary for the final function.
    bpy.ops.object.load_reference_image(filepath="C:\\Users\\Chris\\Desktop\\Jobs\\Uni\\Virtual Lab\\Models\\NS29_32.png")
    bpy.ops.transform.rotate(value=1.5708, orient_axis='X', orient_type='GLOBAL', orient_matrix=((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), orient_matrix_type='GLOBAL', constraint_axis=(True, False, False), mirror=False, use_proportional_edit=False, proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, use_proportional_connected=False, use_proportional_projected=False)
    bpy.ops.transform.resize(value=(0.35, 0.35, 0.35), orient_type='GLOBAL', orient_matrix=((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), orient_matrix_type='GLOBAL', mirror=False, use_proportional_edit=False, proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, use_proportional_connected=False, use_proportional_projected=False)
    bpy.ops.transform.translate(value=(-0.005, -0, -0.52), orient_axis_ortho='X', orient_type='GLOBAL', orient_matrix=((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), orient_matrix_type='GLOBAL', constraint_axis=(False, False, True), mirror=False, use_proportional_edit=False, proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, use_proportional_connected=False, use_proportional_projected=False)

    # Add lower radius of frustum
    bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_circle_add(vertices=64, radius=r1/100, enter_editmode=False, align='WORLD', location=(0, 0, 0), scale=(1, 1, 1))

    # Go to edit mode to start vertex editing
    bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
    bpy.ops.mesh.extrude_region_move(MESH_OT_extrude_region={"use_normal_flip":False,"use_dissolve_ortho_edges":False, "mirror":False}, TRANSFORM_OT_translate={"value":(0, 0, L/100), "orient_axis_ortho":'X', "orient_type":'GLOBAL', "orient_matrix":((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), "orient_matrix_type":'GLOBAL', "constraint_axis":(True, True, True), "mirror":False, "use_proportional_edit":False, "proportional_edit_falloff":'SMOOTH', "proportional_size":1, "use_proportional_connected":False, "use_proportional_projected":False, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "gpencil_strokes":False, "cursor_transform":False, "texture_space":False, "remove_on_cancel":False, "view2d_edge_pan":False, "release_confirm":False, "use_accurate":False, "use_automerge_and_split":False})

    # resize upper radius to r2 size.
    scaling_fac = r2/r1
    bpy.ops.transform.resize(value=(scaling_fac, scaling_fac, scaling_fac), orient_type='GLOBAL', orient_matrix=((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), orient_matrix_type='GLOBAL', mirror=True, use_proportional_edit=False, proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, use_proportional_connected=False, use_proportional_projected=False)

    # Add loopcuts
    bpy.ops.mesh.loopcut_slide(get_override(),MESH_OT_loopcut={"number_cuts":4, "smoothness":0, "falloff":'INVERSE_SQUARE', "object_index":0, "edge_index":131, "mesh_select_mode_init":(True, False, False)}, TRANSFORM_OT_edge_slide={"value":0, "single_side":False, "use_even":False, "flipped":False, "use_clamp":True, "mirror":False, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "correct_uv":True, "release_confirm":False, "use_accurate":False})
    bpy.ops.mesh.loopcut_slide(get_override(),MESH_OT_loopcut={"number_cuts":1, "smoothness":0, "falloff":'INVERSE_SQUARE', "object_index":0, "edge_index":131, "mesh_select_mode_init":(True, False, False)}, TRANSFORM_OT_edge_slide={"value":0.756757, "single_side":False, "use_even":False, "flipped":False, "use_clamp":True, "mirror":True, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "correct_uv":True, "release_confirm":False, "use_accurate":False})
    bpy.ops.transform.resize(value=(1.01947, 1.01947, 1), orient_type='GLOBAL', orient_matrix=((1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)), orient_matrix_type='GLOBAL', constraint_axis=(True, True, False), mirror=True, use_proportional_edit=False, proportional_edit_falloff='SMOOTH', proportional_size=1, use_proportional_connected=False, use_proportional_projected=False)

    return
    vertex_list_upper_ring = [i for i in range(64,128)] + [i for i in range(64*6,64*7)]
    select_vertices(vertex_list_upper_ring)
    return

create_NS(29,32)

```

This is not the final solution just a fix I found:
For whatever reason, my blind guessing fixed the problem:
If you change the edge_index in
bpy.ops.mesh.loopcut_slide(get_override(),MESH_OT_loopcut={"number_cuts":1, "smoothness":0, "falloff":'INVERSE_SQUARE', "object_index":0, "edge_index":131, "mesh_select_mode_init":(True, False, False)}, TRANSFORM_OT_edge_slide={"value":0.756757, "single_side":False, "use_even":False, "flipped":False, "use_clamp":True, "mirror":True, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "correct_uv":True, "release_confirm":False, "use_accurate":False})

from 131 to 130, suddenly everything works.


text:
Export glTF with armature
I'm trying to export my model with aramature, but for some reason, I can't. When I export it and then reimport it to blender, I get only empties as a bones. If I try to import to Unreal, no armature at all. Am I exporting is somehow wrong?
Edit:
using blender 2.91.0
Mesh is parented to the bone and export works fine with fbx ( I can see the bone structure and bones are connected to the meshes)

Do you have a mesh with an Armature modifier? Is "Skinning" turned on in the export options?

Are you exporting .glb, .gltf or .gltf seperate?
In which Blender Version do you work?
Some else make sure Animation and skinning is selected in the export properties.

re "Mesh is parented to the bone". If you mean you do NOT have an armature modifier then you should know there is no distinction between "empties" and "bones" in glTF, and no notion of an "armature" at all. Unless a bone is used for skinning there will be no way to tell it was a bone, rather than an empty, after export.

Ahaa, parenting is not enough. Is there tutorial how to do this export right?


text:
Move vertices same distance as a shape keyed vertex / add vertices to shape key
I need to add vertices / objects to an object with shape keys. I need to move the new vertices along with the shape-keyed pre-existing vertices. One idea I had is to somehow measure the distance or somehow take note of the start position and end position of a single vertex, then apply that measurement to the new vertices.

This image represents one of many examples where I need to have the new eye lashes move with the eye lids opening and closing.
Do you have any suggestions or techniques that you can give me to accomplish this?
Edit: Ok I found one way, but let me know if there's a better one because this is quite convoluted.

Go to edit mode for the meshes in question
Preferences -> Addons -> search "extra" and enable "Add Mesh: Extra ObjectS"
Click on the desired vertex to measure position change.
F3 to search action -> Snap cursor to selected
Add -> Single Vert -> Add Single Vert (adds a single vertex at 3d cursor)
Activate shape key so that the vertex you need to measure has moved.
Repeat the steps to add a single vertex at the new location
Activate snapping / vertex / active / move / (project onto self?)
Move the two new vertexes using snapping to one of the new mesh's vertices so now the two vertices represent the distance that the new mesh needs to move.
Move the new mesh using snapping to the new location (the 2nd of the two new vertices) while the desired shape key is fully active.

Edit: The above only works if your mesh just moves around rather than moves and morphs. So this won't work for me. Next idea is to texture-paint reference points and just eye it; get the mesh to be positioned in the same place before and after shape key movements with the image texture as a guide.

I think it would be better if you described all the context. Why are you doing this? What are you  trying to achieve? Could you add some screenshots or share the .blend file? It seems like you are trying to solve a complicated problem that you might not need to have in the first place.

done . . . . . . .

Sorry but I don't get the point. What is so complex and needs such a process? Is it because lids and lashes are separated objects? Or?

I can make 3 examples of 3 different ways of doing this (and there can be many more).
1 - Vertex parent: select 3 vertices of the eyelid, then in object mode select the eyelash; shift select the eyelid and press Ctrl P (choose vertex triangle), so that eyelashes will follow any movement of the 3 choosen vertices.
2 - Drivers: set a shape key for the eyelash also and set a driver so that it will act together with the eyelid shapekey.
3 - Join the two objects: select the eyelash FISRT, then shift select the eyelid, press ctrl J, then select the shapekey and in edit mode put the eyelash in the correct position.

How about...

In the basis key position, bind the eyelash to the eyelid using a
Surface Deform modifier
The eyelash should now follow the lid's deformations. Duplicate the pair off at various lid key positions.
Taking care to apply the modifier on the lash, and delete the keys on the lid in the right order, you now have independent, matched, static pairs of objects.
CtrlJJoin the pairs, lash-to-lid
Taking one joined-pair as a master, set a Basis shape key on it.
Select the other joined-pairs, and 'Join as Shape Keys' them to the master using the Shape Key Specials menu.

Now any edits you make to the Master Basis, (welding, etc.) which change its topology, should follow through in its keys.


text:
Modeling Advice - Extrude Organic Shape
I would like to take an irregular shape and extrude it up. I would then like to apply a different finish to the top/bottom faces to the side faces. For example glossy on top and matt on the sides. When I apply the subdivision surface on my object (after Edge Split) I get some artifacts. Either the top surface edge becomes jagged, or I get a surface artifact. Does anyone know a smarter approach to moddeling something like this? Or how to solve my issue? I'm mainly a Nurb/Solid modeller, I'm using Blender to try and build out my skills in organic shapes so I'm still nooby.
Thanks!

After moonboots comment I feel I wasn't clear on my design intent. Moonboots suggestion could work for some people but not in my instance.
Attempt 2 - To illustrate, I made a sketch in Fusion360 hit the Extrude command and exported that as an STL. The reason I'm trying to learn Blender is that this workflow is quick and works for me in some instances but it produces bad topography. So in Blender, I basically wanted to freehand draw a loop and extrude the fella. Fill the top and bottom surfaces. So I googled some more on Bezier curves and found how to use the Draw tool to freehand a curve, convert it to a mesh, extrude the Edges (not the vertices like the first time I tried). Select the top Edge Loop (Alt left click) which then gives me an option to fill the loop with a face (as opposed to a Grid Fill which produces problems). Now I can Shade Smooth the sides, and Edge Split the top edge, now my problem is that the top Edge Loop Face is now jagged. Is this fixable? When I - Add Modifier - Subdivision Surface, I can't work out why I get these tiger lines. My ultimate goal is to apply one shade to the top face and another shade to the side walls. Any tips, or help much appreciated.

You can use grid fill and play with span and offset to have better topology https://i.sstatic.net/BYgKK.gif

You could do it this way, create a cubic shape, select the vertical edges:

Bevel:

Bevel the top and bottom edges:

Give it a Subdivision Surface modifier, it should work without artifacts:

Hi moonboots, thanks for your advice but in this instance it wouldn't solve my problem. I've added further clarity and a new attempt in my original post. If you have any ideas on how to improve I'd greatly appreciate the feedback!

have you tried to simplify the top face? Use X > Limited Dissolve. Then bevel the top edge as I did. If it still doesn't work please share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

a quick way to fix would be to activate the Auto Smooth option in the Properties panel > Object Data > Normals


text:
Superellipse bevel with unevenly distributed edges?
I want to create a simple box shape with rounded corners. This is, of course, easy enough to do with a simple bevel of the relevant edges:

However, this approach has a minor problem. With certain materials, the sudden curvature change from corner to flat face produces a faint but noticeable point of transition and an unsightly optical illusion similar to that produced by Mach bands:

These issues appear regardless of whether the Auto Smooth or Harden Normals options are used.
Strictly speaking, these are not shading artifacts: a physical object with the same shape would produce the same results. Product designers know this, which is why many Apple products, for example, are not actually rounded rectangles, but superellipses. Naturally, it seems wise to take a page from their book and model a superellipse myself.
Fortunately, Blender’s bevel operation makes it easy enough to create a superellipse by using options like the following:

This yields a superellipse shape that, as desired, completely eliminates the problem:

However, this solution has a different issue: lots of unnecessary geometry! In order to get corners with a similar smoothness to the original bevel, I had to crank up the bevel segments to 35, since all the segments are evenly sized:

This is less than ideal, as the whole point of creating a superellipse is to take advantage of the fact that the curvature smoothly varies over each side. What I actually want is for the edges to be unevenly distributed—denser at the corners and sparser towards the middle of the sides—so that the angle between each face is the same, not that the faces have equal widths. That would allow me to get the most bang for my polycount buck, so to speak.
However, I’m not sure how to do this. Thus, my question: is there any way to bevel faces into a superellipse shape while preserving the angle between the faces, not face width? I am fine with destructive modeling solutions (though of course nondestructive ones are always nicer), but I specifically want to be able to do this to an arbitrary existing edge the way I can with a bevel—so an “Add Superellipse” primitive isn’t good enough.

[I'm the bevel developer] There is not such a way right now. As I discussed on your devtalk.blender.org thread, I had assumed artists would want evenly spaced chords, and went to quite a bit of trouble to achieve that.


text:
What does the simplify AO bounces value do?
I recently discovered that turning on Simplify in the Scene panel, and setting "AO Bounces" to 2, reduced my render times from 30 minutes to 10 minutes. A three times speed improvement! But... I still don't know what it actually does, and there appears to be no documentation for it.

Besides looking darker, there's not much noticeable difference.
Someone on twitter told me that it limits the light bounces in the scene to the value you set, then uses AO (with color set to the world color) in it's place.
But I'm confused by this, because
1. AO isn't even turned on
2. I changed the AO dist from 1 to 6 and it made no difference
But yes, it is using the world color somewhere (set to black in the above example) because I did a test setting it to purple, and the scene looked purple.
So does anyone know what it actually does?

Someone just sent this to me on twitter: https://www.mail-archive.com/bf-blender-cvs@blender.org/msg78834.html Sergey confirms that yes it uses AO in place of real bounces. But how? AO isn't turned on, and distance doesn't alter render results.

As an addition to @MikePan answer, it does make a difference while using Refractive materials (Glass, Principled > Transimission = 1). It seems like these materials needs about >=4 Bounces before switch to AO to look somehow ok.

I made a test in my scene here http://bit.ly/2FKTU0p.
Result:
As soon as the AO bounces go below 6 my glass objects became black. When I set the bounce values up, to get the transparancy back, the render time reset to the origin value without any simplify fx.
But I think it is a real time safer, when working with objects without any transparency.

TL;DR:
To put it simply, after n light bounces, Cycles switches the material shader to a simplified diffuse material (i.e. AO), instead of evaluating the full material node tree.
This Simplify to AO feature can be replicated with this node setup:

Note that because the math node is set to 'greater than 1', the AO node will only kick in at ray depth 2.
Why?
This often give a significant speed up because we author the materials to look good to the camera, all those normal maps, fresnel effects and fancy edge shaders don't really change how the light behaves after a few bounces. For bounced light, all that matters is how reflective the material is(i.e. its albedo), does it bounce back 10% of the light, or 99% of the light?
Here is a more elaborate example of the optimization at work.

We can easily cut the render time in half by falling back to a diffuse BSDF after 1 bounce instead of whatever megashader we are using. This test is an outdoor scene with bounced limited to 3. The rendertime improvement will only get better if there is more bounced light, as with most interior scene.
AO distance setting definitely plays a role in the output image. But it is unclear how other ambient occlusion settings (factor and world color) affects the AO pass.
Effect on perfectly specular surfaces
A question was raised about how this will affect perfectly glossy surfaces. To answer that we can assemble a test scene with 2 parallel mirrors with a subject in the middle:
This is with the bounce turned all the way up to 8. We can see precisely 8 monkeys before the mirror turns black.

If we turn on Simplify to AO to 2, it seems the shader returns the environment color after 2 bounces instead of returning black, which is arguable more energy conserving and correct.

A final comparison: this is with the global bounce setting turned down to 2. Notice all reflection rays after 2 bounces are black.

This is an extreme example, with normal world scenes, it's unlikely we'll need anything with more than 2 bounces.
Take Away:
Always set AO Simplify to 2, or just limit your global bounces to 2 or 3.
If you have a complex shader network, create a diffuse shader for all the non-camera rays. This can be faster and more accurate than the AO simplify option.

So am I correct in saying that it has nothing to do with the AO settings (enabled/disabled, distance, factor) in the World Panel?

Also, when you say "Cycles switches the material shader to a simplified diffuse material", does that mean that if a reflective wall receives a light ray that it's on it's 3rd bounce, that it won't show up in the reflection of the wall, but just in the diffuse?

@Mike Pan what is you shader you've used with dust and rust color?

The shader is a proprietary setup developed for "Sunny & Gerd". We haven't made it public yet.

You scene shouldn't get darker if the world value is turned to the proper values you can usually replicate the look you had before. Also the AO falloff size has a huge affect on how it looks.. Usually in an interior scene I try to have the AO go half way up the wall
But still im sure blender guru has a tutorial about it

I think I am going to upvote this because it is pretty funny. Does no one see the irony here. lol

I'm laughing so hard right now.

Just came after watching blender guru tutorial :p

The only documentation of this feature at the moment appears to be the tooltip:

Approximate indirect light with background tinted ambient occlusion at the specified bounce, 0 disables this feature.

I.e. by using black for world color you kill the feature completely. Try it again with white for world background and record the difference, it should not darken the scene that much anymore.
Then change the AO distance and record the difference again - there should be one.
Note that AO does not need to be turned on for it to work just as AO does not need to be turned on for the AO shader to work.
Here is a simple setup to demonstrate - camera inside a cube (10 BU * 10 BU), only light source is an HDRI on the world:

Of course is normally renders black as no light can make it into the cube. Here is how it renders with simplify AO bounces set to 1, the minimum settings:

Here the same render but AO distance in world is set to 1.0 instead of the default 10.0:

Takeaway: Simplify uses the AO shader tinted by the world color. The distance setting is still taken into account just like when the AO shader is used in a material.
Note that the factor setting is not taken into account because that is only used when global AO is turned on (once again just like when using the AO shader in a material).


text:
How can I remove visible edge of solidified object (inverse hull outlining)
I'm not entirely sure how to phrase this question and the title might be misleading so i'll show with images. I'm making a toon shader that uses a solidify modifier to apply an outline to the meshes it goes on to by flipping the normals of a material that has backface culling. However, this is prone to cause artifacts as seen here

Is there any way to fix this? by fix i mean a way for the outline to fill the areas that it dosent as shown in the images and if not then what is the best work around to making an outline with no artifacts

Note: this suggests an alternative approach
Backface culling for toon outlines has some rough edges that can't easily be fixed. If you don't need realtime performance and this project is only in Blender, I'd recommend Grease Pencil line-art.
Grease Pencil has a powerful option for Line Art, as in the screenshot below. This can either be per scene, per collection, or per object.

This creates new lines from the perspective of a Camera object. It adds a new LineArt object into your scene with a lot of modifiers to change up the style of the outline. This can be anything from a simple outline like your image to complex multi-modifier styles.
Sorry this doesn't resolve your specific use case, but it's one worth considering if your project allows it. If this doesn't help, there may be a way you can control the outline visibility through nodes rather than explicit backface culling. I'll try experiment!

this is def something i want to try however i cant seem to get the line art to appear on any object

There could be a few reasons for this. You'll need a Camera as the lines are projected from the Camera view's perspective (you can move a Camera to your current view with Ctrl+Alt+Numpad 0). The backface culling geometry could also be interfering with the new lines, so try disable this and see if anything changes.


text:
My cloth physics stop working when baked, what's going on and how can i fix it?
I'm trying to follow a towel tutorial. However my physics aren't operating correctly. Even before baking my cloth only will fall correctly when i hit play, then tab out of object mode and into edit, then back into object mode. But after baking, it stops altogether. It's a plane with denim cloth physics added, in front of a larger pane with collision on it. I got it to operate but inconsistently, it required me constantly switching between mode types. But once i baked it it stopped altogether.
Here's a link to a video of it, but why is it being wonky before baking and why does it stop completely afterwards?

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

My only reaction is that you have some extremely high setting for stiffness and damping.  Cardboard?  Try lowering stiffness to 15 (all) and Damping to 5 (all).  Otherwise both before and after baking look the same to me.  Also, and perhaps most important you have to shake the simulation that is stored -- try setting and unsetting "disk cache" to clear out any cache that isn't properly clearing.  And then throw salt over yer shoulder.  quirky, i know...

Cloth simulation seems to fail if the cloth is too perpendicular to the global axis, if you rotate it slightly on Z it will work fine:


text:
Scaling instances with a float curve
Hi
I have instanced an object (CYLINDER) on a BEZIER CURVE after generating points on it using geometry nodes.
I have tried to scale the instances on the z axis using as scale fator the output of a float curve, but it seems like the output is zero.
How can I sort it out?

THANKS

Geometry primitive Points don't have a Curve Parameter.
Unless the attribute is captured while the geometry is still a curve, it will evaluate to 0.
Here, the Curve Parameter is manipulated before capture.. you could do it afterwards.

As requested, the attribute is captured on the (implicitly) evaluated sample points of the curve, at capture-time. Thereafter, it is linearly interpolated for other entities occupying that field, that are on the same (green) Geometry branch of the tree.

Many thanks - is there a way to scale the instances as above using a bezier curve instead of float curve?


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Blender 4.0 Empty Hair Curve Only adding to specific line on mesh
I'm using the new Blender empty hair curve to add hair to my model.
I followed the tutorial How to Easily Create Realistic Hair using the New Hair tools in Blender by PixelicaCG,but when I go into sculpt mode to add hair to the mesh it only will add on to a single line to the head and not the full thing.
I attached two images of the issue if I need to provide more let me know, I'm pretty stumped on this.
Full image of error

Here is the second Image. Let me know if I need to provide more.


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Create a realistic puddle?
I'm creating a scene involving a spilled Nuka-Cola bottle. Here's how it looks:
The puddle on the ground looks too.. smooth. I would like it too look a little bit more noisy and realistic. Changing color settings or roughness or IOR didn't help.

It should have some roughness (probably 0.025-0.1), IOR much more around 1 (4.9 is ridiculously high), could also use some glossy shader mixed in...

https://youtu.be/oojlF0m8KSE

From your Blender file, i've done the following node setup, if you do the same, just change a bit your camera position or lightsource position, so the fluid can have something to reflect:

On node editor, you can try the following:
add glass shader -->
add glossy shader-->
add mix shader-->
add layer weight-->
connect glass and glossy to "shader" in mix shader node-->
connect layer weight node's "facing" or "fresnel" to "fac" in mix shader-->
connect mix shader to material output.
Instead of using glass shader, you can also consider using transparent shader

as your IOR might be too high, you might consider to use some more realistic values, like on the following post:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php?t-513458.html


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Is there a way to "merge" two extruded regions to one?
I have a model as shown below, which is the product of two extrudes, bottom step followed by upper step. These are disjoint which I can see if I select the front face of the upper stair and drag it up, there's even a hidden face between.
Is there a way to merge them by deleting said hidden faces (orange arrow in the bottom image) and perhaps triangulate like I outlined with two lines on the bottom image?
If I had extruded upwards from the bottom step my hidden face would be along the wall instead, so no improvement. (I think it's a non-manifold mesh but https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/7914 does not help here as it selects no vertices or anything).

I could fix this by deleting the two faces touching in the above image and manually recreating the 3 triangles seen below. I was just hoping there was an automatic way to collapse "touching" geometry.

Tried that but it seems to join the underside face seeing as the that's the only route between the vertices since they were extruded independently, if that makes sense. Tried it here Jkey

The face I want to get rid of and connect the above stair to the below one so operations such as subdivision works properly.

I updated main post with a manual fix (had to remove your edit sorry!). Was just hoping for a automatic way to merge two touching faces like that.

Select the vertices you want to join and press M. Then, press at center.

Could you add more info please?


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OSL: HalfVector Question
EDIT:  I pasted a copy of the code for convenience.
I have a question about the halfway vector between the camera and light vectors giving odd results in my shader.  I included screenshots of my OSL code, in case I may have got something wrong there.
I've been playing around with OSL, trying to understand lighting and shading more and using this site https://learnopengl.com/PBR/Theory as a sort of guide to help me.  I had to do some hacks to compensate for blender's OSL limitations, but most things have been going okay-- until I tried to display my halfway vector.  When I plug the halfway vector into the fresnel-schlick equation (used from the link to learnopengl), I get a flat wash of my base reflectance (variable 'f0' in my code).  This can be seen in the first picture.
fresnelSchlick = f0 + (1.0 - f0) * pow(1.0 - max(dot(halfVector, V), 0.0), 5.0);

however when I swap the half vector for the surface normal, I get what I would expect the fresnel to look like.
fresnelSchlick = f0 + (1.0 - f0) * pow(1.0 - max(dot(Nn, V), 0.0), 5.0);

--
My question is, shouldn't I get a similar result when using the halfway vector?  And shouldn't that be more "accurate" according to the fresnel-schlick approximation?
Thanks for any help and insight in advance!
EDIT: I pasted copy of the code for my fresnel calculations here.  The light_position, camera_position, camera_vector, and shading_position parameters are driven by other Blender nodes.  Since my original post I had updated my shader in other places, but I tried to simplify things here to only included things related to my issue with the fresnel.
shader microfacet_model(
    vector light_position = vector(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
    vector camera_position = vector(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
    vector camera_vector = vector(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
    vector shading_position = vector (0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
    color albedo = color(1.0, 1.0, 1.0),
    float metallic = 0.0,
    float roughness = 0.0,
    output closure color BRDF = 0.0
    )
{
    vector Pp = shading_position;

    vector L;
    L = normalize(light_position - P);

    I; //OSL's global variable for incidence ray
    vector V;
    V = normalize(camera_position - P);

    vector halfVector; //halfway vector between the incidence ray and incoming light vector
    halfVector = normalize(V + L);

    //fresnel-schlick approximation
    //describes the ratio of light reflected to light refracted
    //----------------------------------------
    color f0 = color(0.04); // surface reflection at zero incidence (i.e. typically 0.04 for most dielectric materials)
    f0 = mix(f0, albedo, metallic);
    vector fresnelSchlick;
    fresnelSchlick = f0 + (1.0 - f0) * pow(1.0 - max(dot(halfVector, V), 0.0), 5.0);
    BRDF = color(fresnelSchlick) * emission();
}

[

While it helps to see the code, i would recommend to paste the code you mention in the pictures as text in the question using the "code sample" {} function.

Thank you for the heads up!  I just updated my post to include the code mentioned in the pictures as text.
It looks different because I've since updated my shader in other places, but I trimmed it down in my post to just the issue with the fresnel not behaving like I would have expected it.


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Is there a way to fill in a hollow object?
I am trying to make a mold of an airway.  My goal is to fill in the mold (rectangles) up to the inner geometry.  Right now, they are completely hollow and I was curious if there is a way to fill in the inside of hollow objects.  Ideally it would be a similar style to the third picture.

could you add an illustration or example of what you'd like to achieve?

Just added one!

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/50252/can-i-fill-an-empty-object/50254#50254


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Diffuse indirect pass shows part of texture
Trying to save "DiffInd" pass of composition layer render pass as image. But I see part of the object texture being rendered.
Attached is the texture image and Render pass composition shader.

Did you use the texture itself as base color of the object or is it used as a mix factor for colors and/or metallic or something similar? Would have been nice if you showed us the material setup of the seemingly incorrect appearing object. Because, if the texture for example is used to make the text metallic, than (all) the diffuse passes would show this part as black. And of course if the black part has the shape of the text, this part of the texture becomes somehow visible.

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.

@GordonBrinkmann added texture and shader details

As it seems (what I did not really know since I usually never use the DiffInd output) it is simply because the color in those areas is pure black (0, 0, 0) hence the DiffInd (and the DiffDir) pass just shows that these parts do not contribute to the diffuse lighting at all. If you make the black text just very dark grey, it starts vanishing (especially if you would denoise the pass). Maybe when the question will be re-opened I can write a proper answer with screenshots.

But it is not just the black text. Even if you would just take the colors without any text, you could see differences between the colored areas. On the cube where each side has its own color and is facing in a different direction it's not visible, but if you just take a flat plane and put the texture on it (even if you paint the text out), you can see differences between the colored parts themselves and the white background as well. With a Denoise filter it might be smoothed to look the same, but not if you plug Denoising Normal and (especially) Denoising Albedo in there.

The more I think about it, is there a reason why you think different colored (or different bright) parts of surfaces should all reflect light the same in the diffuse passes? It is not just textures, just using different base colors in the Principled BSDF would show the same effect.


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How to model repeating pyramid pattern shrinking in the center?
An object was created that repeats, narrows towards the center. There is an animation.
I'm graduating please help

I found this model on youtube
This model is based on the "Golden Ratio"
Click to video

What's up with graduating? How can we help with that?

Create a plane, subdivide, select its middle face, activate the Proportional Editing option, scale down, rotate on Z. Create a pyramid:

Enable the addon called Tissue (by alessandro-zomparelli), open the N panel > Tissue, select the pyramid, shift select the plane, click on the Tesselate button then OK:

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! <3


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Technique on UV seaming bevels?
I'm looking for expert advise on how to get a good seam on this object.
I have a vintage television here that is ready for texturing. I'm at a loss for how to add UV seams to the bevelled corners. Later, throughout seaming, I considered running a loop cut in the middle of the bevel and seaming it, but I believe it is inefficient.
Do you have any expert advice?

Hello, why do you think it is inefficient? It depends on how you want the texture to be projected, the way you do it works, as L0lock's way

I think it is inefficient because I would have to add more polygon count and had to like manually place them because you can't just run multiple loops through triangles and you'd have to like add a vertex at them and join them.

Using the default cube as an example, I would just use seams on 2 of the 3 edges of each bevel's triangles like so:

I think of it as the little tabs of a paper template to put the glue on.


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I want to use the color of one volume to color a mesh
Is there a way to use the color of a volume object to shade it?
I haven't found anything online or when checking shaders and geo-nodes.

Does anyone have an idea to solve this? I didn't understand on how I could use the tools in shaders and geonodes for achieving this (volume info, object info, texture coordinate etc.)
Basically I want to get the color of the mesh by sampling the volume at that point. Or by transferring the attribute of the points (when reading the volume as vertices) to the mesh.

What do you mean by saying "by sampling checking for the volume"? Or what do you mean by " the color of a volume object"? The color of a volume object is whatever color you assign to it. So of course you could use that color for other objects as well. Or do you mean the density of the volume? The density at any point in the volume is given by a float value in the 0 to 1 range. So the Density output of a Volume Info node gives you these values.

First point was a mistake.
My problem is the transfer to another object. I can either use the density to color the volume (which I have from a 4D-data-array), or import the array as a grid of vertices with the density as attribute.
I need a way to transfer this to a mesh.
In principle I can use the volume info node to color the volume. but I don't actually want to see the volume, but transfer the color from the "density -> color" operation to the mesh inside.
For clarification: while the color seems only green, it isn't. There is a color gradient. so I can't simply assign a color.


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Compositor does not insert Render Layers node after checking Use Nodes
Blender 3.6.4
Windows 10 latest updates
In Blender 3.6.4, after rendering in the image editor completes, I enter the Compositor and check Use Nodes, no Render Layers / Output node is inserted.
If I do the same operation in Blender 2.93 LTS or 4.1, checking Use Nodes creates a Render Layer / Output node.

Weird I've just tested with 3.6.4 and it works fine

Are they there, but  disappeared off the edge of the region? (In the region, A to select all nodes, followed by Numpad '.' to centre the view on selected)

I have read through your comments and I tested to see if the nodes were hidden. They were not hidden.  Thank you for your feedback and assistance. I'll keeping digging.

I think it was an AddOn. I removed Blender 3.6.5 from my computer and cleaned out any related files. Re-installed it with Blender Launcher and it works as I expected: clicking Use Nodes in Compositing brings up the Render Layers and output nodes. So I will proceed from this point and see if I can figure out what or which addon caused it. Thank you again for your assistance.

Sorry if this question might sound stupid: Are you sure they are not there? If you check Use Nodes and hit F12 to render, does it render or is it just throwing an error? If it renders, the nodes are there.
Without the nodes you'll get this error, even if there were many nodes and only the Composite output node was missing it would not render until you uncheck Use Nodes.

So if it renders, it is more likely that they are somewhere outside of the Compositor window's view. To make sure they are not just somewhere out of sight hit A to select all that might be there, then Numpad . to Frame Selected. This should zoom the window so that all selected nodes are in the center of the window.
The reason this could be happening is, as stupid as it sounds, you have for example a large nodetree in the Shader Editor or Geometry Node Editor and moved the view around: their layout is somehow (for whatever reason) linked. Moving one editor window around to view different parts will change what you see in the other editors as well.
And if you save it like this as the Startup File, it will always be out of sight when enabling the Compositor even in a new scene. Or when the nodes are really gone and not just out of sight, the same thing could have happened: they were deleted somehow and you saved this configuration as Startup File.

I think it was an AddOn. I removed Blender 3.6.5 from my computer and cleaned out any related files. Re-installed it with Blender Launcher and it works as I expected: clicking Use Nodes in Compositing brings up the Render Layers and output nodes. So I will proceed from this point and see if I can figure out what or which addon caused it. Thank you again for your assistance.

@Mark You're welcome...I guess I would have simply set it up by adding the nodes in the Compositor and saving as startup file instead of removing everything and cleaning all files, then re-installing it (and probably lose all my custom settings), but to each his own

I did try to save the nodes in the startup file but it didn't work either. In the past I have had an addon interfere with another Blender process. Thank you again for your assistance.


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Calculate angle between 3 vertices
I want to calculate angle between 3 vertices. In blender. When you measure the angle and move the one of the vertices, the angle still stays the same. I want to see angle changing while I move the point.

This might not be a great answer if you need Python code for something you are scripting, because it might be quite some digging to find what you need in the code, but if you only need to see it, MeasureIt add-on is a quick solution:


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Baking Ambient Occlusion map gives triangulated artifacts
I am trying to Bake an Ambient Occlusion map for use in UE5. The imported Model is a brain scan so it is fairly complex. But I am experiencing these black triangulated artifacts. I have tried unwrapping the UVs in different ways, I have tried subdividing the mesh to give it more resolution, but when baking the ambient occlusion I somehow always get these errors as in the image

Here's the file:

Have you checked your model for consistent normals?

Hi! I have looked at the normals, and they weirdly enough seem fine. I have tried unifying them as well. The strange thing is that it very much looks like a normal issue, but it seems like it is not when I look at the normals. I have tried the Mesh rebuild modifier as well to no avail

Maybe you could share a faulty chunk of your mesh, keeping the size down, on https://blend-exchange.com/

Hey! Here is a blend. file! Thank you for taking a look!

Thanks, will have a look when I can.. maybe someone else will before me. Shouldn't be too long.

Did you manage to take a look Robin? :)

Hello Håvard ...  Aaaaahhhh! Sorry, I needed the reminder. I think I see the problem: aliasing: https://imgur.com/a/P6YE73T. The shading is interpolated across triangles from the values at their corners.. in this case from very large pixels, relative to face size. Not a specialist area for me.. Having a think. We need some sort of unwrapping thet wil preserve continuity between faces in visible areas, possibly, somehow, with seams down the bottoms of fissures.


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Keyboard sometimes randomly gets scrambled in Blender
I began using Blender this year and have loved it and modelled a cool stink bug. However, I have a more annoying kind of bug..
Sometimes the keyboard gets scrambled such that if I press any key over and over again it will type a different random key in Blender.
For example, if I press "ssss" Blender will type "k*,#" and if I press ##kk blender will type "p_o[".
This gets really annoying when using shortcuts and it often takes me awhile each time to figure out what is happening. The currently solution I have is to save blender each time it happens, close the program and open it again.
Is there another way to fix this issue and why is it happening?
This issue is happening only in Blender (if I use another application the keyboard works fine).
Cheers
Joel

Hello and welcome. Do you have multiple keyboard layouts to which you can switch to? or is it only EN? Maybe it is a keyboard hardware issue?

This happens after some time using the application? After re-opening Blender, does it work for a while?

Harry, I am not aware of having any other keyboard layouts.
Robin, it will happen awhile after opening Blender. Most of the time it works fine but sometimes it has this glitch and I'm not aware of pressing anything to cause it each time it happens. When I have the problem I can type in other applications and the keyboard works fine but when I come back to Blender it does not work properly until I close and reopen Blender. Sometimes just saving Blender fixes the problem. Blender will then work fine again for some time and then the glitch will come back.


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Cycles black band on render
I am rendering a single image using cycles and I have black rectangle.  I have used instancing to create the concrete sides and pillars across the top, and the original collection renders perfectly fine.

What do you mean by 'The Object' ?

The concrete sides and pillars across the top.

Check the outliner for hidden placeholder objects that may be overlapping with the wall.

definitely overlapping objects or faces.

Thank you yes it's overlapping objects, so much to learn!!


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Texture Paint, problem encounter every time I reopen my blender file
I am still quite new to blender texture paint, and I have been following a tutorial on how to texture paint with layer. The problem I'm encountering here is every time I close and reopen my blender file the texture paint looks complete off(I have double check and save all image before closing).
An image before I close my blender(Apologies for the amateurish painting, I have been trying to solve and pinpoint the problem through retracing my steps)

Here, is the image after I close and reopen blender, as you can see the stroke end up with a "water-stained" outline.

My node set up  for the texture paint.

I'm really confuse on what is causing the problem, or is this method which require the artist to finish everything in one go. An advise to fix this problem is greatly appreciated.
*Edited:
Not sure if this is important information, but this is the setting that I using when creating the "layer" for image texture.

Looks like the alpha is converted to black (or white ?) when the texture is saved to disk, are you using PNG textures with RGBA channels ?

Yes, I'm using PNG texture with RGBA channel, is that the cause of the problem?

I don't really know, I just saw that the problem is located on the falloff area of your brush, and since your problem appeared when you saved the image to disk, I guess some information is lost on the way...

Assuming that is the cause, is there a way to prevent it ?

I don't see a 'water stain', I see a bump as if the texture is also plugged into a vector bump node output - is this the only material applied to the mesh?

Unfortunately yes. I "unplugged" all the normal/bump map from the principled bsdf. the problem still remain whenever i reopen my file.


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UV distortion. Help
been facing some peculiar problem lately when I was unwrapping UV.
The UVs are fully "flat" and does seem to have any distortion. However, as you can see form the image. The checker looks completely distorted. I checked for stretching and It seem decent with no serious distortion. Hence,  I have no idea what causes
it.
Further information:

I use the add-on UV square to unwrap the UV
the checker are from the add-on Texel Density.

I figured it out.  The distortion is cause by the double UV maps in the Object properties Tap. Once I deleted the unwanted map. everything went back to normal.


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Downloaded PBR texture looks different in Blender
I'm looking for a way to further improve the look of my metal texture.
I'm trying to use this texture from a free pbr website. (first image)

If I just import and use the provided textures it looks more like a glass texture than a metal.
I tried to toyed with the roughness, but it tends to "sacrifice" the  reflectiveness of the metal.

Any idea how should I improve it.

Hello :). The main difference is in the lighting. They're using 3-point lighting, while you're using an HDRI. Also, make sure the required textures are set to Non-Color, it makes a big difference.

Related: How to properly hook up various maps types in Cycles?

If you have node wrangler turned on, you can just select the BSDF node and then hit [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [T], then select all the material files in the download and the materials will be attached properly.
Then, make sure you're working in Cycles render engine to make it look more like the material preview.

Hello, thank you for the reply. But I actually did according what you have said. In fact, if i directly import the material and plug it in to it corresponding node in principle bsdf it will look like the "glassy metal" I share above. I have to use node wrangler to preview the provide roughness map and toy with it(roughness) to remove the glassy feel and end up with image 2. Usually I don't mind with the result of image 2 if it was for background mode, but if it for a "main item" I would to further improve it

Did you do as Jaychm Michael said, and make sure you're using the non-color info?

I figure out the problem, after changing it to non color (even roughness and metallic)  I got the result. I was in rendered view and after switching from  material preview it woks.
However, with such low poly I kinda expected it to update it as well..


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Why does my text object look weird along its edge?
I am new to blender, and after I created a text object, I found it had a black material along its edge.
Here is view display and render display, which shows the problem. I don't know understand what is causing this. It looks unrealistic and bad—is there any way to beautify it?

Sadly it's because of default Smooth shading (Normals) on extruded part of Text object.

You can fix that by adding Edge Split modifier.

Or you can search Convert to Mesh and enable under Data Properties > Normals > Auto Smooth. But you would not be able to retype your text.


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Blender's solid-mode and material-preview-mode don't look the same
Left model is in material-preview-mode, right model is in solid-mode:

My main problem is that I can't get my chess texture to appear on the material so that it looks the same in solid-mode and material-preview-mode. I am a total beginner in Blender. Do I need to change anything regarding UV mapping? Why does the texture change so much while in the material-preview-mode?

I assume that you are talking about using the Texture color mode in the Solid viewport shading settings:

This mode is not very sophisticated. It works like this:

If you have an active image texture node in your object’s material, the viewport will use it for shading.

The texture is mapped using the active UV map for the object.

All other aspects of the material are ignored.

This means that if you use nodes to combine information from multiple textures or to alter the texture mapping in any way, those details will not be reflected in Solid mode. This makes the Texture color mode not particularly useful for all but the simplest of materials.
Generally, I recommend not bothering with textured display in Solid mode. Just use the Material Preview mode to get a textured preview of your model. That’s what it’s there for.

The problem is that the texture should look like it is shown in solid viewport shading. I use the texture color mode that you mention. I just wanted to know why the texture changes completely when I switch to material-preview-mode.

@DominikRifert It is impossible to know what could be causing your texture mapping issues without seeing the material settings you are using for that object. Consider asking a new question about the texture mapping issues specifically, and include screenshots of both the material nodes and your UV map. You can also consider uploading your .blend file to https://pasteall.org/blend/ to make it easier for people to debug.

If you wish to have a shadeless view of textures.
Use the material preview view instead of the rendered view.
To my understanding, there is no way for textures to show-up while in solid view.

This is not true—you can use the Texture color mode to get limited textured shading in Solid mode, as I explain in my answer.

You're absolutely right! The author said "textures" and I was thinking about it in technical, image terms, not color terms.


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Objects that aren't parented keep on following each other. It was happening in 2.93 and is happening in 3.0
This is a gif that shows what's happening. Also, they are not parented only the gear is parented to something else.

You have proportional editing turned on. Click this button at the top of the 3D viewport to turn it off:

Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut O to toggle it on and off.

Thank you so much I've been trying to fix this for an hour.


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Have a video sequence be driven by an audio track
Let me start by stating that I have just recently picked up Blender to use as a Video Editor.  Given that my knowledge is limited on this software, I have came across an issue which I can not determine if it is from user error or if it is a bug.
The goal I have is to have a video sequence effect which is driven by an audio track.  By this I mean, as the audio becomes larger/louder the video effect should become more pronounced.
Now, I have done the following:

Created a new project.
Deleted the default sphere.
Created an empty sphere.
Created a single keyframe on the empty sphere's Z Scale.
Baked a sound to the F Curve of the empty sphere's Z Scale.
Added the same sound file to the Video Editing Sequencer at frame 1 channel 1 and extended the animation stop frame to match that of the sound file.
Added an image to the Video Editing Sequencer at frame 1 channel 2 and extended it to the same length.
Added an Effect Strip: Color to the Video Editing Sequencer at frame 1 channel 3. I changed the color to red and set the blend mode to Multiply.  I also extended it to the same length as noted above.
I then created a driver for the Opacity of the Effect Strip: Color.
I set the properties of the driver to take the value of the baked sound of the empty sphere's Z Scale.

When I scrub through on the timeline, I can see the desired results in the preview window.  However, when I render the animation, whatever the value of the Empty Sphere's Z Scale was on the last scrubbed frame is what the effect uses on all (non scrubbed) frames.  Notice in the following screenshot, that the driver is picking up the proper value's.  I'll show a few screenshots of what I am referring to:

What is interesting to note is if instead of creating a driver for the opacity of the effect, I create a new keyframe and bake the sound to the keyframe graph, it will render exactly as the above screenshot shows, which of course is what I am looking to do BUT would really want to do this via a driver instead.  The example here has led me to speculate that one of two things are true.  Either I am doing it wrong or this is just a bug.
Here are two links to a couple renders.  The first is rendered with the effect being driven by a driver linked to the Z Scale of the empty.  The second is with the sound baked directly into the visual effect's opacity keyframes.
Effect with opacity driven by a driver linked to z scale of the empty
Effect with sound baked to it's opacity keyframe
Anyone out there know what I'm missing or care to throw me a bone?

Issue resolved
Thanks to everyone for the assistance and to user2859 for another possible workaround.

That's strange. I'd like to help, but it would be easier if you could provide a minimal complete example.  There were a lot of steps taken here.  Can you try to narrow down the problem?  For example, try getting rid of the Bake Sound to F-Curve part - instead just animate your own empty and set up a driver.  Still have the issue?  Try setting up a driver between 2 objects instead of involving the VSE.

I suspect that if you go through this, you will either discover the error yourself or be able to condense this question into 3 or 4 sentences, in which case more people will be happy to read it and help!

I've had success with drivers in the vse in the past. But I haven't lately rendered or used a baked f curve. I've used noise and min max mods from an objects driver. Perhaps it a class issue? Why can't you start wiyh a key frame? Wait are you trying to drive from a driver?

The problem is:
The scene isn´t updated because the sequencer ignores the scene when it´s not visible in the final output. We might consider this a bug/limitation or a feature. I´ll talk to the core developers. So of course drivers that depend on the values of a hidden scene don´t work as expected.
A workaround:
If you don´t use the scene for output, render the scene so that the output is pure white and add the scene in the sequencer on top of every channel and use multiply as blend mode. Of course this increases the render time a bit. The key point here is that the scene shows up one way or another in the final render.


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Visible gaps in mesh when using adaptive subdiv and multiple materials
No matter what I try, I can't close a visible displacement gap between materials when I'm using Adaptive Subdivision.

Enabling Auto-Smooth in the normal options fixes gaps on the corners of objects within the same material, but not between materials.
Catmull-Clark Subdiv doesn't fix it, nor does enabling Use Creases. Turning off Adaptive will fix it, but I really need it for my scene.
Any other ideas?

You mean the black parts below the bricks on the top?

Didn't noticed first, but which version of Blender are you using here?

Yes, the black parts under the brick.
And this is using Blender 2.8.

Experimental feature.

Lol, I was about to mention "BlenderGuru provides some node groups that make it easier to mix materials" just before I realized who you are... How do your Material Mixer behave in this case?

One painful way to control adaptive subdiv displacement transitions is using Vertex Paint. Ex using stone and grass, each using their own displacement map:

Create 3 materials, two for the real materials and one that will be using the other two for the transition.

Create two node groups corresponding to each of your materials including the BSDF AND the Displacement output.

Create the transition geometry, ex: a band of faces that we'll use for vertex painting:

Make sure to assign each material to its vertices, ex: grass on one side, stone on the other and the transition material in between

Create a vertex color layer and paint where the transition happens, one side white, one side black. This is used to control the displacement "height" transition between the materials

For the transition material, use the Attribute node to get the Vertex Color and drive the transitione by scaling the two materials displacement vectors

Note, you will need one new "Mix" material and vertex color layer for each material transition required.

As mentioned by @lemon, as of Blender 2.80, Adaptive Subdivision is still an "Experimental" feature - and so may encounter unexpected behaviours and issues and may be subject to change in the future (it's only recently that the Displacement socket itself came in to the 'Supported' feature set).
It appears that in Adaptive subdivision mode that each distinct material is currently handled as a separate mesh, effectively splitting the mesh into different faces which are displaced by different amounts, depending on the material. In your case you are telling one material (the bricks) to displace by one amount and the other material (the flat surface) to displace by a different amount. At the boundary between the two materials there is a conflict between where one material ends and the other begins - and so the gap.
I suppose the question to ask is "How should the missing 'surface' between these two displaced edges actually be filled?".
The solution is to ensure that the displacement matches between the two materials at the boundary; if you're expecting the grey surface to fill the gap then that material should displace at its edge to match that of the brickwork. If, however, the brick texture should fill the gap then the brick material should displace to the level of the grey surface at its edges. I suspect this would greatly complicate your materials (as they will need to handle blending the displacement into the surrounding surfaces) but I think this is the only solution at the moment.
Perhaps before the adaptive subdivision comes out of Experimental there will be an option to 'average' or somehow automatically manipulate the displacement at the boundary of contradictory material displacements.