text:
Deleting multiple materials from multiple objects?
I imported a model from another app, since I didn't want to have to create it from scratch (not sure that was a good idea). The model was essentially a collection of multiple primitives, color coded by categories, organized by their x, y, z coordinates. Maybe a dozen shader categories, over 300 primitives.
It imported into Blender as a single object. I can (and have, mostly) manually select the primitives while in edit mode and separate the primitives back into separate objects, and they even retain (sort of) the essence of the original shading. However, each object has over 300 materials slots (the number of primitives in the original model), not just a dozen or so (the number of shaders in the original model). Only one of the slots is active for any particular object.
I can remove the unused materials from each individual object with the "Remove Unused Slots" command. However, I'm pretty sure that when I tried that while multiple objects were selected, it only cleaned up the slots for one of them. I know that, once I remove the unused slots, I can select multiple objects and get them to use the same material using CNTL L (link).
Is there an easy way to clean up the unused slots for multiple objects first?

Does File > Clean Up > Unused Data Blocks do the job in this case?

No, it does not. I should have mentioned that. Presumably because the materials are not unused. Before I started editing, each primitive was assigned an individual material, like "red.001" and "red.002." Both identical shades of red, but two materials.

I think you've got a lot of work on your hands in that case unless someone can come up with some Python code to do it! :^(

Someone just submitted (Nov 2024) a python script to do what I was trying to do back in 2022. I hope they did it to amuse themselves and not to help me, because I finished what I had to do with that model years ago (probably by brute force; it was so long ago I don't even remember) and have since moved on. Thanks anyway!

I made this Python script to fix all materials with the suffix .001, .002 etc to use the original material. It matches by name, so if you have 3 materials name Red, Red.001 and Red.002 they will all be only using Red after running the script. Does it on all objects in the scene.
Copy it into notepad, save it, edit the ending to .py and open it in the Text Editor in Blender.
import bpy

mats = bpy.data.materials

for mat in mats:
    (original, _, ext) = mat.name.rpartition(".")

    if ext.isnumeric() and mats.find(original) != -1:
        print("%s -> %s" %(mat.name, original))

        mat.user_remap(mats[original])
        mats.remove(mat)


text:
Subdivison Surface Modifier / UV islands boundary Problem
I have some subdivision + UV boundary problem
My English is poor. So I prepare image

As  you see the picture
The Blender's result of UV islands boundaries are different with other DCC, after subdivision
I think my blender "smooth, keep corners" option didn't work properly
I need the same Result, Like Maya and 3Ds Max
I use blender for modeling and Texture painting
But I cannot do texture paint with This kind of UV islands boundary result to export to other DCC
Please!! Help me!!
Thanks!!

to get the same result as Maya/3DS Max, follow these steps:

apply SubSurf modifier with Sharp option instead of Smooth, keep corners

your uv layout will be changed into this (notice the sharp borders)

select uv's borders and pin them (press P key), so those vertices will keep the position in the uv-space (pinned vertices are red)

select all vertices (in the uv editor) and press U to update all the other vertices - you should get this result

Oh, so this is how you use the sharp option :). Thanks.

Thanks for your solution!!      Usally I painted Low-polyon with Ctrl+1 or Ctrl+2 subdivision surface      As you know, Painted with Ctrl+2 and then turn the model Ctrl+0         There are problems with UV islands boundary       opposite way, Painted with Ctrl+0 and then turn the model Ctrl+2     There are also problems with UV islands boundary       I think I need more radical(?) solution   So kind of Subdivision Add-on or Blender subdivision option       But. this is really cool solution.      Thanks sir!!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Blender Subdivision UV border problem
I want to make character animation in blender.
and, I also want to rendering character object with Ctrl+0, Ctrl+1... case by case
but, I have a problem with UV border.

you can see my problem in the image.
I think the problem came from Subdivision uv border treatment.
Blender's subdivision uv is like 'Pin Corners' in Maya. but I need like 'Pin Borders' in Maya
Is there any function in Blender or any addon?
Thanks!!

Hi. How is this different from your other question?

hi. thanks for your asking!!
g.garone solution is great.
but, g.garone's solution needs "apply" 'subdivision surface.
and edit UV after "apply" subdivision surface.
My question is different.
If I have character and rigging ( Crtl+0 mesh state) is done.
After animating, I will have to render the character.

If my character is far from camera. I'll render the character with Ctrl+0 state.
but, My character is very close. i should render the character with Ctrl+2 state above..
Mesh' Subdivision surface level should be switchable with Scene condition.
But, I cannot find the solution the UV Border problem.
If I paint object wit Citl+0. I have a border seam with Ctrl+1,..
I can't do the g.garone's solution for every scenes.
If you use Maya, Max, or other DCC. you know what I want.
My english is poor. but i hope to understand my question.
Thanks!!

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


text:
Color gradient changing with surface curvature
I am wondering how to make a color gradient following the changes of curvature of a surface. The trick is, I would like the color gradient to only follow the changes of curvature along z, like in the image I post here.
Thank you for your help!
Gaël

You can use the normal output from the "Texture Coordinate" node, then extract the z value. A value of 0 means the normal is orthogonal to the vertical axis, a value of 1 means the face is horizontal, facing up, and a value of -1 means the face is horizontal, facing down.
Shade smooth, shade flat, and wireframe in [-1;1] :

Shade smooth, shade flat, and wireframe in absolute [0;1] mode :

As pointed out in the comments by @Robin Betts, this will give you the normal in local space. It means if you rotate your object, but don't apply the transform, the color of each face will stay the same. If you want your shading to be applied in world space, you should use the normal output from the "Geometry" node.
Illustration :

Top row : World space, using the "Geometry" node
Bottom row : Object space, using the "Texture coordinate" node.
Rotation is not applied in both rows.

This is in Object Space... maybe @Gael wants it in World Space (Geometry>Normal)? Prob. no difference here...

@RobinBetts Alright ! Thanks, that slipped my mind :)

That is wonderful, exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much! :)


text:
I'm brand new to blender - how do I add a texture to a specifically shaped object
I just started learning Blender yesterday (via blender guru's doughnut), so I'm pretty new to this, though I have some experience using Maya in college. That was a few years ago so I'm pretty rusty in all regards. I decided to try making something on my own now and I thought that the blockbuster sign would be fun to design.
I have the shape all finished, now I just need to slap the decal on there that says "Blockbuster" - and this is where I'm running into trouble. I'm sure this is absurdly easy but I can't figure out how to get this image onto my model. I've been searching for a video to find out how to do this for like an hour with no luck. If anyone could point me in the right direction, that would be great!

you need your text as a PNG file with a transparent background (alpha = 0), then upload this image into an Image Texture node, and plug this node's alpha into the factor of a Mix Shader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rng7AYfJk4Q. Hope this helps , uv mapping is a little hard for beginners but it's easy to do it once you get the hang of it.

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/32997/how-to-place-a-png-texture-with-transparency-over-a-material


text:
I'm having trouble getting my texture paint to show up in render/material preview
I have this nice grainy white texture I've been using, and I want to draw some rust on it using texture paint. But the rust only shows up in solid mode view, and disappears when I switch to material preview or render view. Any clue on how to solve this issue?
Here's a video of the issue: https://youtu.be/6w2wEEKd0CU
Thanks!

What happens when you save the painting status to disk? Does the update then show up in the different view modes?

At the material preview the things get really brighter and the colors that you used are shades of white. I think your problem is because of this.


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Draw window and swap doesn' work
I'am writing python script that uses data from IMU sensor and changes armature structure position.
To visualise movement I use
bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=1)
from bpy library.
Recently something happend and I have following issue:
When I start program evething is ok. Then I make some changes, save it and run it again, visualisation doesn't work. When the program stops, it shows last position of sensor data. But during program it doesn't move at all.
I have noticed, that when I change directory of blender file and run it again it works for the first time. But when I save it, the problem occures again.
I see in System console that data is beeing recieved and whenever block of data comes it shows "Warning 1x Draw window and swap: [xx] ms, average [xx] ms". So it seems, that command works.
How to manage this problem? I've no idea what's going on, tried all I can :/
import serial
import time
import bpy
import mathutils
from mathutils import Euler
import math

ser = serial.Serial('COM3','115200')
time.sleep(3)

ob = bpy.data.objects['Armature']
armature = ob.data
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='POSE')
rig = bpy.data.objects.get("Armature")
upperArmL = rig.pose.bones['upper_arm.L']
foreArmL = rig.pose.bones['forearm.L']
upperArmR = rig.pose.bones['upper_arm.R']
foreArmR = rig.pose.bones['forearm.R']
chest = rig.pose.bones['spine.003']

flagaSTART = 0;
kalibracja = 0;
i = 0;

while (flagaSTART == 0):
    readBEGIN = str(ser.readline())
    readBEGIN = (readBEGIN[2:len(readBEGIN)-5])
    print(readBEGIN)
    if(readBEGIN == "BEGIN"):
        flagaSTART = 1
        print("poczatekOdpytywania")

while (flagaSTART == 1):
        ser.write(b'g\n')
        read = str(ser.readline())
        readSTOP = read
        readSTOP = (readSTOP[2:len(readBEGIN)-10])
        print(readSTOP)
        dlug=len(read)
        read = (read[2:dlug-4])
        read = read.split()
        read_floats= []
        while(kalibracja == 0):

            for i in range(11):
                ser.write(b'g\n')
                read = str(ser.readline())
                dlug=len(read)
                read = (read[2:dlug-4])
                read = read.split()
                read_floats= []

                for element in read:
                       read_floats.append(float(element))

                if(i==0):
                    avg_w=read_floats[0]
                    avg_x=read_floats[1]
                    avg_y=read_floats[2]
                    avg_z=read_floats[3]

                avg_w=round(((avg_w+read_floats[0])/2),2)
                avg_x=round(((avg_x+read_floats[1])/2),2)
                avg_y=round(((avg_y+read_floats[2])/2),2)
                avg_z=round(((avg_z+read_floats[3])/2),2)

                print("avgW= ", avg_w)
                print("avgX= ", avg_x)
                print("avgY= ", avg_y)
                print("avgZ= ", avg_z)

                if(i==10):
                    kalibracja=1

        if (readSTOP == "STOP"):
            kalibracja = 0
            break

        for element in read:
           read_floats.append(float(element))

        current_w = read_floats[0]
        current_x = read_floats[1]
        current_y = read_floats[2]
        current_z = read_floats[3]

        rad_w = current_w
        rad_x = current_x
        rad_y = current_y
        rad_z = current_z

        chest.rotation_quaternion = [rad_w, rad_x, rad_z, rad_y]

        bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=1)

ser.close()

Rather than calling bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(), I think you want bpy.context.view_layer.update()
If you're not running code from the console, you need to tell Blender when to redraw the scene.  A timer will do that and I don't know why yours stopped working, but the update function is less heavy weight.


text:
Is it possible to exclude parts of the shrinkwrap target mesh?
I have a quick question about the shrinkwrap modifier. I have a rigged character and the character has some shrinkwrapped clothes, a shirt for example. I know it's possible with vertex groups to make some parts of the shirt less affected by the modifier, but is there any way I can do the same to the target mesh? Like is it possible to exclude the hands of the character from interacting with the shirt when I put his hands on his hips for example? (And I mean other than making the hands a separate object.)

It's not possible using only a shrinkwrap.  But it is possible by using a geometry nodes modifier instead of a shrinkwrap modifier:

Here, I'm using a geometry nodes modifier to acquire the nearest position of a subset of the target cube which I have marked with membership in a vertex group.  I'm then joining it to the original geo, so you can see that where it gets shrinkwrapped is not actually the nearest part of the cube, just the nearest marked subset of the cube.
An alternate way to do this is to duplicate your target mesh, delete geo on it (or use a mask modifier to do the same), surface deform it from the original to preserve future deforation, and shrinkwrap to the duplicate.  That's kinda the old way; GN is more of the new way.


text:
My rig is suddently invisible
My rig is invisible, I know the bones are there but I just can't see them.
I turned on X-ray, I tried to unhide it and I tried switching different skeleton layers but nothing happened. What else can I do to make the rig appear again, or is my file broken?
Please see my file here:
https://we.tl/t-RJKGWhxgkD
Thank you so much!

You have turned off the Bones in the Viewport Overlays menu. Just enable the option to see them again.

Select the armature in the hierarchy, move to Pose Mode, and then press Alt +  H.


text:
problems with Cycles, totally empty image
I was trying to render an architectural model with Cycles, but the render appears empty.

hello, maybe give more details, or even share your file (only keep several objects to make it lighter)? https://blend-exchange.com/

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/53632/render-result-is-completely-blank or https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/67490/why-does-my-object-not-show-up

Here are some things to look for in such cases:

Disconnected compositor Composite node
Sequencer activated and not empty
View layer disabled for rendering
All objects or collections disabled for rendering


text:
too much moves in armature - pose
in pose also the ribs move although I only move the arm

I have nothing parent

unfortunately I don't know how to get this fixed
My Blender file:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Amok31-g9Vyoid1QzxhrViaikey4_A?e=DdsUhv

You've parented the the ribs to the armature, so accidentally the arm acts on the ribs and you need to correct that:

Select the arm to know its name:

Select the ribs, go in the Properties panel > Object Data > Vertex Groups, find the vertex groups that has the same name, click on Remove:

The lower arm influences the ribs as well so do the same. You can also do it in Weight Paint mode.

Great thanks; thanks my problem is solved 100% with these easy illustrated steps


text:
Texture graphic displaying/outputting as low-res/blurry
Having issues with a texture graphic I use as the face of a label for product images. Currently, my strategy is to use an oversized image to be sure that it will output at a high resolution, but I realize this is shooting in the dark and I would love to know EXACTLY what size I should be making them. Regardless, the image file I'm using is around 16,000 px wide, a 10mb file and should be big enough to cover most anything, although I have no idea how to "see" exactly what size the cylinder I'm applying it to is (do I need to "unwrap" the cylinder?). Attaching both a sample of the "low-res" output and the packaged file for reference.
Note that I am using Cycles and trying to get a 1600px squared image at 300 dpi in the end. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Thanks @AllenSimpson - I have already done a great deal of testing before posting, so not sure where to go with your comment. Do you have any advice on what I should be testing? Happy to try anything, but need some direction on what to test, thx!

Thanks @AllenSimpson but I'm not sure that you're understanding the issue here or what the possible solution might be. To clarify, the resulting image has a blurry/low-res look to the image I am using as a texture, and I'm looking for specific advice on what might resolve that issue beyond the normal fixes that I've already tried. Thanks anyway, but I don't think your answer is relevant.

Ok then, I'm happy to delete

All I could say about that is that it doesn't look like it's antialiasing the text properly on the zoomed in image.  If your goal is graphics with infinite resolution you'd turn to vector graphics.  I dug up this question, it seems to be quite a process in blender.  https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/105748/can-i-map-a-vector-image-on-a-mesh

I guess ot all depends on how large the rendered image will be and what percentage of the image will be displayed. It makes no sense to have a huge image if the texture it is only going to be a few pixels wide. Any form of re-scaling (be it from a few pixels to high-res, or a high-res to lower resolution) will introduce interpolation and affect the quality. While it is indeed preferable to have a larger image as texture than a small one, keep in mind that there is a point where the size will no longer make a difference.

Thanks @susu that's helpful information and I understand what you're saying - but how do I determine what the EXACT right size is for that object? I'm a little unclear about the unwrapping UVs, etc. Any advice? thx

First you have to forget the notion of an EXACT size. Work backwards, what is the desired output? Work towards that goal.Test what works and what doesn't, so that your decisions are based on solid experience. 3D is computationally intense and resource hungry, usually you want to work with enough information to get a satisfying output, and no more, anything extra is just wasted computing cycles with no payoff.

Thanks @susu I understand all of that, but just as Allen's comments above, you haven't offered any help beyond "experiment and find what works" -- as I've mentioned before, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't done that already. I need a solid place to start i.e. size of the object itself (no idea how to find out what that size is??? i.e. relative size I need to use for the image in pixels (agree that too big isn't a good thing, but that doesn't explain why it's coming out blurry/low-res looking) i.e. should I output at a larger pixel size and size down? I'm open to options like that if they work


text:
Making a pill capsule filled with powder
I'm trying to create a realistic capsule that has a translucent shell and a powder interior (see image). Ideally, I'd be able to change the color of the powder interior easily. Can't seem to figure out how to get it looking realistic. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Consider using particles on the surface of a smaller interior capsule.  Use a group of particles with different colors.  You can have many different groups with different colors. Since you cannot see the inner powder clearly ... you may also consider a texture .. free textures exist on the internet.  Please research particles and textures here on BSE. ⚛

Please show your work so we can see your progress.

Transparency is very difficult to get right, especially when there's something inside of the transparent object. https://blend-exchange.com/b/6V8odJJx Here is a link to my own recreation of your image. I used a Voronoi texture that's run through a colour ramp to get the right look of the inside of the pill. Doesn't need to be too detailed unless you zoom really close to the object. Then I duplicated the shape in object mode and extruded it to have a bit of thickness. I then added a new material and changed the transmission, alpha, roughness, and specular settings until I got something that looked decent. Make sure to change the IOR as well, it's automatically set to glass.
Here's an example of my attempt, it's by no means perfect but its a good jumping off point.

Want to include a rendered image so visitors don't have to download and render the file to get an impression?

Oh yeah good idea

Thanks so much! I'm playing around with it now and getting some fairly decent results. Would love to hear if anyone knows how to get the interior to feel more like a powder than a sand - but this is a good jumping off point as you say, thanks again!

Try messing with the roughness, sand is almost glass so perhaps making it darker and less shiny might help.

After finding more references to powder-filled pills, I came up to the following result:

Material nodes:

The normal map I used for this: https://quixel.com/assets/vl3kdazg
The color can be changed with a Hue Saturation Value node.


text:
Applying image textures - Bump, Displacement, Opc?
I have an .obj file that I'm trying to place in Blender (see attached pic), and I'm a bit confused about the three image textures contained in the download file. There are three files labeled:

gummy_bum (bump)
gummy_disp (displacement)
gummy_opc (don't know what this means?)

I gather that the bump and displacement can be sort of blended into the output, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. More importantly, I have no idea what 'opc' is referring to, or where to plug that in, and that is the little sugar granules on the gummy. Any ideas on how I should set this up in the shader?

OPC -> Opacity?

Could be, thx. Just not sure what to do with that haha

I'd say it's similar to the alpha setting

Yeah, but when I plug it into the alpha, it makes those areas of the object transparent, so that doesn't seem to get the effect of the sample render here (sugar coating)


text:
Best lighting for minimal shadows for product-on-white rendering
I produce a lot of basic "product on white" renderings for Amazon images. I have a few methods for getting to what I want, but most involve quite a bit of rendering multiple images and compositing via Photoshop, etc. I'm wondering if anyone can offer advice on their preferred workflow to get the best on white product images straight out of one render without having to edit. A couple things I'm looking for advice on acheiving:

Pure white background (do you use a seamless and light it? or
just use a white background? Any other tricks?)
Minimal shadows - on Amazon, the container is a tightly cropped
square, so dealing with shadows is an issue and you can't rely on
those nice long, realistic shadows - I'm trying to determine how to
get minimal shadows like the attached examples straight out of the
gate with no editing. I realize the answer lies in lighting, but it
seems that if I adjust the lighting to make the least amount of
shadow, my subject's lighting suffers, and vise versa. Have you
found any ways to control the shadows separately from the lighting
of the object?

Pure white background is easy to achieve. Don't put any kind of floor under the product, in the Render Properties panel set Film > Transparent and in the Compositor you mix the rendered image with the Alpha Over Node over white colour. For the separate shadow I have to test something tomorrow, but I think there's a way, too.

Oh, of course if you want some floor reflecting light or anything on the product without being visible, select the floor, go to the Visibility settings and disable Camera.

To achieve the desired result it's best to create two scenes: the first one for the product, the second for the shadow.

The first scene contains the product and all lighting like lamps, HDRI environment etc. for lighting the product as it should look like. A floor maybe for light bounces or blocking light from below the product. Set Render Properties > Film > Transparent. Hide the floor from the camera by disabling Object Properties > Visibility > Ray Visibility > Camera.
Create the second scene by copying the first one (a word on linked duplicates at the end of this answer). Make the floor visible again by enabling Ray Visibility > Camera and enable Visibility > Ray Visibility > Shadow Catcher. Delete all lamps, set World > Strength to 0.0, put a plane with Emission shader above the product and play with the settings until the shadow is correct. Now hide the product from the camera like you did with the floor in the other scene.

Now both scenes are setup for rendering. In the Compositor, choose a Render Layer Node  for the shadow scene and use an Alpha Over Node with a white colour to put the shadow on a white background. Add a second Render Layer Node for the product scene and place it above the shadowed background with another Alpha Over Node.

If you hit F12 now to render the image, both scenes will be rendered and composited together.

You can now maybe save the setup as a stage for other products. If you want to change something on the product or the floor without having to create the shadow scene again it's best to make those objects linked duplicates, so any changes will apply to both of them. It's important that they're not the same objects just linked to both scenes, otherwise they cannot have different viisibility settings.
A last side note on rendering with Color Management set to Filmic: because it has a much higher dynamic range, the 'normal' white with a brightness of 1 will usually be a light grey instead of pure white. To achieve pure white in Filmic the background white must have a brightness of around 16.19 - which means, the shadow seems to disappear. Considering you want to render with Filmic it would be the best only composite the shadow and product over a transparent background and add the white in another program like Photoshop, Gimp etc.
//Edit: I've uploaded a file where I show the things described in the comments.

Thanks Gordon, really appreciate your detailed response -- one thing I'm a little confused on is the Emission shader plane - can you show me the setup for nodes for this? I have it in place but can't seem to figure out how to adjust the size/diffusion of the shadow??

I'm also having trouble outputting the composite with a transparent background - can you clarify how I would do that in the node setup? As you say, the white background is not ideal for this but can't seem to figure it out with this setup - thanks again!

To output it on a transparent background you just plug the Render Layers node of the shadow scene directly into the first socket of the Alpha Over node and the product scene into the second socket, so you simply don't put it over white color at the beginning. Then save it as a PNG ot TIF set to RGBA.

For the shadow, here's a few tricks: since this scene only shows a shadow on the floor,, no object, no light etc., you can manipulate it in some ways. For example, if the shadow gets too large in diameter, try adjusting the size and height of the emission plane above it. Or even the strength. If your shadow gets to sharp, maybe blur it in the Compositor before the Alpha Over. The width of shadows not only depends on the relation of the light plane's size and height above object, but also the height of the object itself. Try putting the bottom half of the product on the floor for example.

Cutting off the top the product can also be done non-destrucive by using a Boolean Modifier. I'll take a cube, set it to Intersect and choose the product in the Object selection. I'll edit my answer and attach a file where I do all those tricks.


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Weird Shadows on my donut cycles render

I'm new to blender and I'm following this donut tutorial, but when I render in cycles I get these weird rectangular shadows and I can't fix them. I get them in Eevee too

What are you using as a light source?

I use a point light and even when I try varying its power or other variables, it doesnt change much

What is your light radius? It should be 0.1 by default. Anything over 0.7 seems to cause similar looking shadows for me (at least at the distance I have the light).

Problem solved. Huge difference. Thank you!


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3D animated glass object in video -> how to add reflection
I have a question regarding reflection.
I took a video from me holding a wooden plate and I want to create an aquarium filled with water on it.
I created the aquarium and the water and everything is working perfectly but I have no clue how I make the water and the glass bowl reflect the backround (me). That you can see the reflections of myself and of the wood and so on.
Can you please help me and give me some input how I can do that?
Here is a picture how it looks like so far. As you can see the aquarium is black because there is nothing that is reflecting in it.
For information, I have set the video as a background in my camera settings in blender.

Thank you very much,
Luelaes

Your best bet would probably be to find an HDRI that fits the video lighting, and then use that as the world background.

somehow related: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/45516/how-to-get-reflections-from-3d-to-show-up-on-real-images/45632#45632

https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/140477/30849

Tough one, in the reflection you would see the person holding the tank, but from a different perspective (arms. chest and head and the sky behind).

So to get an accurate reflection, you would need to generate a 3d character that matches the person holding the tank, or shoot some video from a low angle that contains the image that would be reflected and map that onto the surface of the water.
The cheapest (and inaccurate) way to do this would be to create a surface that reflects a plane with the current image mapped to it. That plane would need to be invisible to the camera but visible to glossy rays.

Hello, yes that is a very good idea with the model, I will try that out,
Thank you :-)


text:
hide mesh from an armature
How can I hide a mesh of an armature?
When I click on hiding the object it only hides the bones but not the mesh.
How can I do that?

Thank you,
Luelaes

Hello, what do you mean exactly? Are you trying to hide the armature or the mesh? Maybe share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

I want to hide the whole armature inclusive the mesh of the guy, not only the bones. :-)
when I click the hide button, only the bones are invisible but not the mesh of the armature.

you need to select the character object as well and press H (or in the Outliner, click on the arrow next to the armature name so that you can see the character object and click on its visibility)

ohh man, that was so easy. XD
Thank you very much. :-)


text:
2D Animation: Drawing new strokes makes the existing layer disappear?
Not sure why this is suddenly happening but when I draw any new strokes/fills (the pink blob in the example photo), it deletes the previous strokes/fills on that layer (the sand colored layer in the top photo). How do I fix this?
I've also tried creating a new empty grease pencil as the top layer but when I draw a colored fill (no stroke), it gives a weird thin white line as a stroke.

lol i figured it out. my lines and fills were locked.


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In UV is there a way to scale them automatically, like unwrap does but without changing UVs?
In UVs is there a way to scale them automatically (relative to the 3d model), like unwrap does but without modifying the UVs?

Hello :). There probably is. Could you please add more details about what you want to achieve?


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need to hide the emitters light on the ground keeping the car's reflex

hei everyone, i really need to find a way to not have the light's reflection and to keep the car's

Try the “light path” input node. You might be able to hide the light with that.

i'll try! thanks :)

Disable "Glossy Ray" visibility from your light Object Properties:

that would kinda work but i need the gloss reflection of the car to stay, so that's not the solution i'm looking for, i need to disable gloss reflections for the  ground plane only or isolate the car and it's shadow and render the bg in a new layer


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Can items be stacked in one location for easier animation?
I am building a softbody Tetris animation and am manually placing the pieces above the container above each other, then animating them into position before they drop.
Is it possible/reasonable to have them all start in the same location without having the cloth sim/collision freak out?
The drops/movements/rotations themselves are animated using the NLA editor on the handles.

It's 3D. So you can stack them along the Y-axis, one behind the other, can't you? Alternatively, you can keyframe the collision. There is an "eye" icon in the Collision section in the Physics Properties tab that enables/disables it. You can keyframe this toggle (hover it and press I - or use the context menu) so the simulation should not freak out.

If i move them in the Y i still have to keyframe them into position to fall in. It’s the same issue. I tried the collision thing before posting and as far as i could tell it just hides the visibility of the simulation, it still collides behind the scenes ruining the meshes and turning them into a mess. The moment the visibility is turned back on they are a crumpled ball of vertices.

yes you can, just animate the collision "eye" at the start of your animation with the same value, what your simulation start value is:

so here in my example, i enable collision (keyframe) on frame 50, because my simulation starts at 50.
result:

Perfect thank you!

you are welcome


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Themes - Change bubbles to checkboxes?
In blenders default themes, the toggles are represented by checkmarks with colored backgrounds. In my custom theme, I only have bubbles without any checkmarks.
Where is the setting I can change to make my custom theme into checkmark boxes instead of bubbles?
Bubbles:

Checkboxes:

Under Edit > Preferences > Themes > Interface > Option change the Alpha value for the Item color.

Oh wow I can even set colored checkmarks thanks to this, wonderful!


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Curve to Mesh bulges at intersection
I'm trying to create an even thickness border line around the edges of booleans in a plane.
This is working except i've noticed that at locations where a vertex lies along the middle of an edge, it causes a bulge in the curve to mesh curve.
How can i make sure it's perfectly even thickness all the way around (with sharp edges at the corners, re-sampling creates rounded edges.)

If you take a closer look, the Curve Circle which you are using as profile is set to a radius of 0.012, and only where the curve bulges the diameter is 0.024 m actually. The reason is not that it gets too thick where the vertices inbetween are, the corners are too thin. Because there the curve tangents are $\pm$45° to the horizontal and vertical edges, so they have a diagonal width of 0.024 m. And I do not know if you have looked at the curves only from the front view or also from the side and top view: the cross section on the corner points is not circular, but ellipsoid. Only the intermediate points' cross sections are circular.
But first of all to avoid bulging, I would get rid of those intermediate points. They cannot be avoided when using a Boolean operation to cut holes into the plane, because a hole always needs (at least) two connecting edges to the surrounding geometry.
However, to get the curve for the frame you do not have to use edges from the holes. You can take another Mesh Boolean node set to Intersect to cut out planes where the holes are - these will not have any intermediate vertices. Just note that for whatever reason you will need a Realize Instances node to convert the Collection Info output (Boolean Difference works with instances, Intersect does not).
Then you can plug these planes into a Mesh to Curve and Curve to Mesh node with a Curve Circle as profile just like before but now there is no more bulging:

But as mentioned before, the radius is smaller than 0.012 which you have set for the profile curve, this is because the circle gets flattened in Y direction by the diagonal curve tangent:

What you might expect is that setting the circle's Radius to 0.012 will result in a diameter of 0.024 of the frame like on the left, but what you actually get is the result on the right, because due to the 45° tangents on the corner points, the circle profile gets squeezed in Y direction to a factor of $\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$.

Now speaking in terms of scale, the diagonal has a scale of 1 times the circle radius, but the height of the profile is only $\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ times the given radius as seen on the left in the following image. But if you want to be able to set the diameter of the frame directly with the settings of the Curve Circle > Radius value, you want the scale to be like the right side:

The mathematics behind this are quite simple. In a right triangle we know that
$$a^2 + b^2 = c^2$$
$a$ and $b$ are the dashed red lines in the image above and $c$ is the green line. And with $a=b$ in this case this means
$$2a^2=c^2\implies c=\sqrt{2a^2}$$
and with using the desired scale so that $a=1$ this results in
$$c=\sqrt{2}.$$
Long story short, to get the frame with the correct thickness, we have to multiply the Y dimension of the Curve Circle with $\sqrt{2}$ and we do this with a Transform Geometry node (by the way, you do not have to take a rounded value for the Y scale, you can enter sqrt(2) directly into the value field):

The X value should be 1, the Y value sqrt(2) as said before and the Z value does not matter since the Curve Circle is 2-dimensional. Now the frame has the correct radius and a circular cross section.


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How to I make a plane wrap around and object?
I don't want to fiddle with unwrapping and adding a texture, I just want to add spots to my guy's head. I feel like the easiest was to do that would be to create circles and just place them but how would I get those flat circles to form to the contours of his head?

this should help you get what you want: https://youtu.be/j4WMbr0_qIA?si=c9SGC4rhEcb-TAzT

Just hitting U > Smart UV Project, then creating a new completely red texture and making some white dots on it with a brush set to a hard falloff seems very easy to me. At least easier then fidlling around with placing circles on the mesh or using Geometry Nodes... the tutorial is about evenly sized and distributed dots on a sphere anyway, for more random placement and varying size on a different mesh than a sphere the nodetree has to be changed as well. Your question says you don't want to use UVs and textures, but the tags say this is about texturing and texture-painting?

The title of this question is misleading, isn't it? Where in this example do you wrap a plane around an object? You want to have a procedural texture that creates round dots on a sphere, don't you?

sorry if I wasn't clear enough in my post. I've really only just begun and I'm maybe not articulating as well as I could. What I mean to say is imagine placing 12 circular sticker across the head of the plant, evenly and deliberately spaced. I wouldn't mind using geometry nodes if I knew how since that seems very possible. Using the shrinkwrap modifier gets me very close but I must be doing something wrong since my circle distorts.

Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful help! I was able to figure it out doing the following:

Added circle, filled with triangular faces, and used knife tool to further subdivided (I'm sure there's an easier was to do that but idk how)

added a shrink wrap modifier to the circle with the targe being the head

changed wrap method to project > on surface, offset to -1

Then I was able to literally lie the circles on the mesh like sticker (though I did need to rotate them into an approximate position before hand.)

With a bit of tweaking, it came out perfect.
Thank you again for the suggestions and being so helpful!

You could do it procedurally with a Voronoi Texture, make sure that its Randomness value is low, plug into a red and white ColorRamp, put the ColorRamp needles close to each other to have sharp contours:

Other solution, with an Image Texture, unwrap your object with the Smart UV Project option, give it a material with an Image Texture that is red, switch to Texture Paint mode, in the Tool panel choose a white color:

To paint sharp dots, put the brush Strength at 1, under Falloff choose the square shape:

Result:

+1 Yep, that's the best and easiest way I'd say. Had no time to prepare an answer myself. Just thought I don't get what would be so difficult doing it with textures (either image or like you with Voronoi) that one would want to "wrap a mesh around an object" instead.

I guess it's because when you begin you're not familiar with materials

Lmao, very excellent deduction @moonboots

This was a fantastic suggestion and got me very, very close. Thank you so much :) But I don't seem to have the control I need. I want to duplicate the design of the toy with 12 dots of mostly the same size spread evenly over the head. I've played with the location and scale but it still doesn't give me the desired effect. Thank you again for taking the time to help me though! :

In that case give as many precisions as possible, what do you mean by "duplicate the design of the toy"? you could also unwrap with the Smart UV Project option and paint red spots

I've edited my answer, another solution is to paint onto the surface in Texture Paint mode

@moonboots No worries! I was able to get it working with the shrinkwrap modifier! :)


text:
Can't bring back the "menu back" to its original state
I am having trouble finding out how to bring back the "menu back" pop up, from when you finish an action in the viewport. It randomly happened after adding an add-on.
I am using blender 3.6.5.
This is what it looks like:

and what it should look like:

what can I do to solve this?

Is it still like that if you load the factory settings?(https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/editors/preferences/introduction.html#prefs-menu)

I've tried that initially and nothing had changed, I tried googling numerous times as well and nothing. After some digging on other posts when I went into the interface tag, I read a few others may have that problem. A user "Jade", mentioned using properties tab & switching it to the viewport, which worked: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/305257/how-can-i-expand-the-operator-panel It only happened with this one specific file. (I didn't know about their issues prior posting this problem)

I'm pretty sure I have seen this issue posted here 2 or 3 times, and each time it was mentioned to be a bug. It might have been fixed in the newer releases, you could try Blender v3.6.7 or 4.02. Also perhaps check your graphics drivers is up to date.

I suppose this can be a broken UI layout saved in the Blend file.
So try this:

Use File → New → General to open a default scene with default layout. If UI is ok, proceed to the next step.

When load the file from the blender file browser (File → Open), uncheck the Load UI checkbox, which is on the left-hand side in the toolbar, to ignore the layout in the file to be loaded:

This will keep the UI of the current file.
This issue may occur then you open and save a blend file in older versions that it was saved.

Thank you! I used this on all the files that had this problem, and the menu shows up properly even re-opening the files after saving. It's less of a hassle to re-organize everything compared to the other solution. Thanks so much.


text:
How do you make Empties visible in final renders
I can't see the images I imported into blender in the final render.

You can't render an empty, you should have imported the image as "Images as Planes", or go into View > Viewport Render Image

If you add the image as a Reference or Background, it won't show up in the render. Instead, you should add it as a texture to a plane. There is an add-on called Import Images as Planes that simplifies this.

Once it is enabled, its operator will show up (Add > Image > Images as Planes). When you run it, it will open a file browser to allow you to select the image file you want to use. More importantly, you should tweak the operator settings. The most important are the Material Settings which will determine how the plane will behave in the render.

Thank you. That helped

You're welcome!


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Normals with transparency issues?
I've done a lot of digging and thought I came to a couple of conclusions but it didn't pan out.

When I enable show backfaces and look at the mesh from the side like this, this is what I see.

Since this mesh in particular is using a transparent texture in engine, this is exactly how it looks, I see a bunch of triangles that look almost like an inverted face even though they are not...  If I use a texture that isn't transparent everything is fine.  Has anyone run into a problem like this?  Oddly enough I can seem to fix this one quad at a time by manually cutting in my own triangles.  What is even more odd is when I do this, sometimes it doesn't work and if I cut it again the same exact way, it does...
I've been researching this for two days and I haven't found anything.  Any help or insight would be much appreciated!

If adding triangles works, then does going into face select mode in edit mode, right clicking and selecting "Quads to tris", and then resetting the normal vectors help?

When I triangulate it becomes a mess, resetting the vectors doesn't work, if I focus on the one corner when it triangulates it, half of it is red, and half of it is dark

Hmmm... Might need to have the vectors reset to be pushed outside so they're all normalized facing the same way. If that doesn't work, would you be happy giving a link to your blend file so I can check it out?

I should probably add also that this only happens after I subdivide the mesh, the low poly mesh doesn't have this problem that I can tell.  I found a couple videos that said this would happen and to recalculate outside but that's where it ends

I'm not sure how to do that with vectors, all I know how to do is hit the buttons in the normals menu for them.  Can you have them point towards the cursor like you can do with normals?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RPvp84-JHkznaDKVGG6HHigMClsSw0yR/view?usp=sharing
Here's the blend file if you want to take a look at it.

I think there is some way to do that, but the main way to reset normal vectors outside is to open the normal menu with what I think is Ctrl+N, and to press recalculate outside. Not sure yet about why the subdivision is affecting things. Going to look over your blend file

Also quick question, what Blender version are you using? Might need to upgrade since I only have 2.9 on this laptop for some reason and the file isnt opening

This is using 4.0

While I haven't looked at the file, your normals are fine.  That's not the issue.  The issue is with alpha blend mesh sorting.  To blend alpha right, it has to divide intersecting faces and draw back to front, and doing that just right is really expensive-- Blender doesn't do it, and for things like this, consider alpha hashed instead of alpha blend.  For your engine, you may want to focus your questions somewhere that deals with that engine.  You should be looking for problems/solutions related to "alpha sorting".

Thank you so much for this!  Now that I knew the right terminology I found an article about this.  Sorting elements with all my face selected seems to have done the trick at least to a good enough effect in blender.  When importing into the engine it translates and is correct.

That is actually so confusing! I turned off show backface, and it turns blue, but once you render it, it's completely fine.
Here's what I mean.
In 3D Editor:

When Rendered:

Notes: I also triangulated the whole mesh, though I doubt that did anything. I also did a few other things that I can't remember, but here's the edited version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DH4hkt622IBnxtourTFeeyZxVYcn7kiG/view?usp=sharing
By the way, what engine are you using and what are you trying to export the file as?


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How to create baked toon/cell shaded outlines WITHOUT grease pencil
I'm desperately trying to figure out how to make outlines similar to the image below, without using grease pencil. Essentially I want to make my own marks and lines as textures so they can be imported into a game engine.
I believe grease pencil while perfect to render inside blender, can't be exported/baked as textures (or its gets exported exists as complex splines).
Any help or advice would be wonderful, thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-ZFt-knj4

I highly recommend you to use the Paint Curves.
Here is the short but SUPER informative video about curve painting. It's filmed with an old version of blender, though in the 4.0.2 all stuff works exactly similar: =youtube link=

*Note 1:
You can plan-out strokes with the Annotate tool and then draw curves above the annotations.
I've made a quick example for you. All here is painted by curves - except for the solid dots in the eye-centers, which I've made by the single brush taps.
All the strokes are directly painted on a texture (no grease pencil used) :

*Note 2
My lines here have a quite even width. Though you can add some jittering in the 'Stroke' option (in the brush settings)


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Can I use an instance of an object created with a custom operator to run other custom methods in the same class?
In my Python script, I would like to use the selected object to choose a method from the appropriate class.  Here is an example that explains what I want to do:
import bpy

class CheckShape(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "myops.check_shape"
    bl_label = "Check Shape"

    def execute(self,context):
       obj=bpy.context.active_object
       print("what shape is this?")
       obj.check_shape()
       return {'FINISHED'}

class DrawCube(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "myops.draw_cube"
    bl_label = "Draw Cube"

    def execute(self,context):
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add()
        return {'FINISHED'}

    def check_shape(self,context):
        print ("a cube")
        return {'FINISHED'}

class DrawCylinder(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "myops.draw_cylinder"
    bl_label = "Draw Cylinder"

    def execute(self,context):
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cylinder_add()
        return {'FINISHED'}

    def check_shape(self,context):
        print ("a cylinder")
        return {'FINISHED'}

classes = (
    CheckShape,
    DrawCube,
    DrawCylinder)

def register():
    for cls in classes:
        bpy.utils.register_class(cls)

def unregister():
    for cls in classes:
        bpy.utils.unregister_class(cls)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

So, if I draw a cube with the operator bpy.ops.myops.draw_cube(), I would like to be able to run other methods in the same class when I select the cube.  For instance, I would like the operator bpy.ops.myops.check_shape() to call the method in the appropriate class depending on the selected object.  When my myops.check_shape() operator is called, I get the following error message:
AttributeError: 'Object' object has no attribute 'check_shape'
Is it possible to fix my example so that it would work?
Also, is there an update function of some sort that will be run if the cube created with the custom operator is transformed?
Thanks.

https://docs.blender.org/api/current/info_gotcha.html#using-operators

That link may have some useful suggestions.  Perhaps a model operator would be helpful, but I did not know the correct term.  I have to do some research.

I am trying to write a Python code to save a 3-d model created in Blender so that a simulation program can read it.  In order to save the data from the different types of objects, I have a list of if statements.  I was thinking I can avoid that if I could take advantage of the fact that Python is an object-oriented language and each object could have its own method to save data.
After reading the following question and answer,
Is it possible to create an own object data type through Python?
I think that the answer to my question is no, that will not work.  I may try to use a custom property to store the information I need for each object when I create it.  Then I could just get the value of the custom property instead of having a bunch of if statements.
I think custom properties have an update function, so that if the object is modified, I could catch that in my Python code and adjust the custom property.  Since I am only creating 3d models and not using other aspects of Blender, hopefully a custom property would not cause problems with memory use and execution time in Blender.


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Creating a Shape Using Shrinkwrap Modifier
I would like to create a simple 3d shape from a list of vertices, so I wrote a Python script which subdivides a cube and uses the Shrinkwrap modifier.
After the shape is created, I would like to be able to select the faces and/or edges of the new shape.  If I go into edit mode in the 3d view, I can select an entire face on the object I called "Final".  However, if I look at the number of edges or faces in the Python console, I get a large number (in the case of my example, it says 96 faces).  I am including an example using vertex points from a triangular prism, but I would like to do this with a polygon with an arbitrary number of vertices.  I would like to be able to find the entire face for each of the sides of my object in Python.
import bpy
import bmesh
from mathutils import Vector,Euler
from bpy_extras.object_utils import AddObjectHelper, object_data_add

w = 2
h = 3
length = 4

verts = [
   Vector((w/2,0,0)),Vector((-w/2,0,0)),Vector((-w/2,0,-h)),
   Vector((0,length,0)),Vector((w/2,0,-h)),Vector((0,length,-h))]

mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new(name="New Object Mesh")
mesh.from_pydata(verts, [], [])
objpoints=object_data_add(bpy.context, mesh)
objsize=objpoints.dimensions
bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add()
objmod=bpy.context.active_object
objmod.dimensions=[1.3*objsize.x,1.3*objsize.y,1.3*objsize.z]
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')
bpy.ops.mesh.subdivide(number_cuts=3)
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')
bpy.ops.object.transform_apply(location=False, rotation=False, scale=True)

wrapmod = objmod.modifiers.new(name='shapefrompoints', type='SHRINKWRAP')
wrapmod.target = objpoints
wrapmod.wrap_method = 'NEAREST_VERTEX'
# apply the modifier so we have a real object
depsgraph = bpy.context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()
# apply modifier using depsgraph (dependency graph
# https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/146559/how-do-i-get-a-mesh-data-block-with-modifiers-and-shape-keys-applied-in-blender
object_eval = objmod.evaluated_get(depsgraph)
obj=bpy.data.objects.new("Final",object_eval.data.copy())
bpy.context.collection.objects.link(obj)

1.The object which is created "Final" has to be selected before applying the modifier. Hence added the following:
objf=bpy.data.objects.new("Final",object_eval.data.copy())
bpy.context.collection.objects.link(objf)
bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = objf
objf.select_set(True)

To remove doubles the following lines are added:
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')
bpy.ops.mesh.remove_doubles()
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')

Modifier has to me named for it to effect:
bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(modifier='shapefrompoints')

To verify  the result:
print("No of vertices",len(objf.data.vertices)," No of edges
=",len(objf.data.edges),"No of polygons",len(objf.data.polygons))

the above after running the full code gives:
Info: Removed 50 vertice(s)
No of vertices 6  No of edges = 9 No of polygons 5
which is correct for the triangular prism.
===============================
Full code given below:
 import bpy
 import bmesh
 from mathutils import Vector,Euler
 from bpy_extras.object_utils import AddObjectHelper, object_data_add

 w = 2
 h = 3
 length = 4
 verts = [
 Vector((w/2,0,0)),Vector((-w/2,0,0)),Vector((-w/2,0,-h)),
 Vector((0,length,0)),Vector((w/2,0,-h)),Vector((0,length,-h))]

 mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new(name="New Object Mesh")
 mesh.from_pydata(verts, [], [])
 objpoints=object_data_add(bpy.context, mesh)
 objsize=objpoints.dimensions

 bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add()
 objmod=bpy.context.active_object
 objmod.dimensions=[1.3*objsize.x,1.3*objsize.y,1.3*objsize.z]
 bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')
 bpy.ops.mesh.subdivide(number_cuts=2)
 bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')
 bpy.ops.object.transform_apply(location=False, rotation=False, scale=True)

 wrapmod = objmod.modifiers.new(name='shapefrompoints', type='SHRINKWRAP')
 wrapmod.target = objpoints
 wrapmod.wrap_method = 'NEAREST_VERTEX'
 # apply the modifier so we have a real object
 depsgraph = bpy.context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()
 # apply modifier using depsgraph (dependency graph
 # https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/146559/how-do-i-get-a-mesh-data-
 block-with-modifiers-and-shape-keys-applied-in-blender
 object_eval = objmod.evaluated_get(depsgraph)
 objf=bpy.data.objects.new("Final",object_eval.data.copy())
 bpy.context.collection.objects.link(objf)
 bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = objf
 objf.select_set(True)
 bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')
 bpy.ops.mesh.remove_doubles()
 bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')

 bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(modifier='shapefrompoints')

 print("no of vertices",len(objf.data.vertices)," no of edges
 =",len(objf.data.edges),"no of polygons",len(objf.data.polygons))

Thank you.  Your correction allows me to identify each of the sides of an arbitrary shape.  Correctly using remove_doubles is the main part.  However, if I understand modifiers correctly, I don't need to use both the dependency graph and modifier_apply., and the depsgraph method is more efficient.


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How can I get the Float Property displayed in my Addon?
I've created an Addon which create a standard Light Rig with parameters for adjusting light intensity and color. After executing the code, the parameter of color shows in the addon while the one which associated to intensity doesn't display.
Before creating the script, I used the python console to help me to create the addon.
The code to access/get the color of the light (bpy.context.object.data.color)and that of  (bpy.context.object.data.energy) appear to be similar.
So I created the script below to try to create the attributes to change light intensity and color. But it seems it only works for color but not for intensity. I have looked up the documentation and have been thinking about using PointerProperty to get the intensity by bpy.types.AreaLight from bpy.types.Light and bpy.types.Object. But it doesn't work and it's not displayed in my Addon.
  import bpy from bpy.props import FloatProperty, FloatVectorProperty

class LightSetPanel(bpy.types.Panel):

    bl_label = "Lighting Rig Add-On"
    bl_idname = "LIGHT_PT_PANEL"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "UI"
    bl_category = "Light Rig"

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        row = layout.row()
        row.operator("light.rig_operator")
        ob = bpy.context.active_object
        da = ob.data
        row=layout.row()
        row.prop(da,"color")
        row= layout.row()
        row.prop(da, "intensity")

def updateIntensity(self,context):
    obj = bpy.context.active_object
    light = obj.data
    light.energy = self.intensity
    light.color = self.color

class LightParamSet(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):

    intensity: FloatProperty(
        name="intensity",
        subtype="POWER",
        min=0, max= 12,
        update = updateIntensity)

    color : FloatVectorProperty(
        name="color",
        subtype="COLOR",
        update = updateIntensity)

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(LightSetPanel)
    bpy.utils.register_class(LIGHT_RIG)
    bpy.utils.register_class(LightParamSet)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(LightSetPanel)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(LIGHT_RIG)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(LightParamSet)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

The screenshot of the Addon after executing the Python script.

A big thanks if anyone can help.

It doesn't work because your property group is not registered to the scene properly. In your register function add eg. bpy.types.Scene.my_tool = PointerProperty(type=LightParamSet), this way you can access your properties per scene reference: context.scene.my_tool.intensity, and thus row.prop(context.scene.my_tool, "intensity") in the layout, read: How to create a custom UI?

Many thanks for that. It works now =)

was commenting on recently deleted and it well disappeared. A similar question, re pics in UI, came up 14 or so years ago on BA. IIRC one of the devs mentioned this was deliberately so to avoid clutter.  Prob the chioce is use an icon in header, and   even though it's only an Icon it does leap out of a sparse interface.

I see. The reason why I delete the question is I feel that I probably won't include the icon as a header even if I find out the answer. The sample script is a bit long for loading the image without any executable function. Besides, (it's very personal)I think it's strange to use Python to call GL Function in blender to bind texture, as suggested by the sample scripts in the suggested answer within the forum.


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.mp4 can be accessed normally outside blender but I can't make the sound work on blender vse preview or even render a video with audio
Pretty much self explanatory. As you can see in the screenshot, I am using a configuration that used to work really well in the past. But now it does not work anymore with this .mp4 file that I got from Shadowplay recording. When I access the file outside of Blender, it works well, but if I insert it on Blender, it does not work the audio on VSE preview... If I render it under the setting displayed, it also will not have any audio on it.
Anyone can help me?

Some screen capture apps create files with variable frame rate. Most likely you are going to need to transcode your file using a codec with intraframe encoding and a constant framerate. The VSE is a very outdated tool, if you must use it, then you need to conform  conform your video to a video format that is the exact framerate as your project. As an alternative try editing in a different (more modern) video editing app

Ffmpeg, which is used to import video has been updated in the latest 2.90 beta, so try that version of Blender out.

@susu Is there any good video editing app out there without watermarks or similar? Blender is quite reliable although it is less "friendly" on VSE. I like the fact that it is free to use it.

@susu I tried to use handbrake and made it a constant framerate. Didn't solve my problem but I managed to get my video done with a giant watermark. But what to you mean by "intraframe encoding"? Sorry, I don't know exactly what it means. About the rest of your message, I guess I did what you said. And, tinwotin I will make sure to update it. Thanks!

You will find folks giving you advice and make you jump through hoops and walk through fire just to get your video to play in blender, but the bottom line is that Blenders VSE is a very inefficient and antiquated program. Why put yourself through a poor experience when there are better, friendlier and responsive programs out there? Transcoding shouldn't be necessary in today's software and hardware. Try shutcut, DaVinci resolve free, openshot, media composer first, premiere, etc etc. A search in your favorite search engine for free or cheap video editing sotware will give you plenty of choices. Be happy, stay creative. Don't be bogged down by the tools. Make the tools work for you, not the other way around. Blenders is great for creating 3d, but not a great video editor.

It would be helpful if the downvotes were accompanied by arguments.

It has nothing to do with age or coding, if the screen capture is recorded with a variable frame rate then Blender is not "designed" to deal with it. Simply put Blender expects 1 frame per frame. Blender DOES NOT DO temporal awareness, anywhere. It doesn't do frame blending because it expects event to happen at frame change. If the CODEC doesn't change frames then its a poor fit for Blender. But you're still right... just use Resolve.

Indeed, @pointedit, It was mentioned in the first comment. Most folks would not know that, or how to fix it, not do they want to spend time learning the intricate ways of video encoding. They just want to get their video done. Blender is not the tool for all needs. Being free doesn't make it a useable tool for today's needs. I'm just advocating for saving users a sour experience with Blender's less developed tool.


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Symmetry not working?
so I'm brand new to blender(and 3d programs in general) so I could be missing something obvious, so please forgive me, but I'm trying to sculpt a face in edit mode and symmetry does not seem to be working? I tried to google it but the offered solutions don't seem to be working for me? I made sure to get my object 0,0,0, and I placed my cursor there too? I have X and y symmetry turned on.

it looks like an icosphere, it might not be a symmetrical object, try to test with another object

It is a icosphere! It never occurred to never occurred to me that could be the case! I'll try the other spherical option thank you so much!

Actually my bad it's symmetrical, you just need to rotate it 90° on the Z axis to make it symmetrical   ;)

If you are brand new to blender start with the right foot and work with quad based topology instead of just triangles. Use a UV sphere or a cube as your starting mesh instead of an icosphere. You will find that working with triangles is a lot harder. There are countless "tutorials" out there on how to create a head. Watch them first.

Thank you to everyone! I switched to uv sphere and it fixed it immediately! I didn't realize triangles would make things more difficult and just chose it because it seemed like less faces, but I've learned my lesson.

Actually you've created a icosphere which, by default, is not created symmetrical on the X axis but on the Y axis, so just rotate it 90° in the Z axis in Edit mode and you're good.

I so totally didn't know the icosphere is shorter on the x axis than it is on the y axis, but I just confirmed that this is indeed the case. I was shocked. I always just assumed it was a perfect sphere, but just made exclusively out of triangles. So now I'm wondering why it's not a perfect sphere.

@R-800 The x and y size is actually the same when using 3 and more subdivisions. 1 and 2 subdivisions just don't have enough geometry :).


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trouble with eye holes
so I'm looking to make a doll, and I wanted to start the head by modeling a perfectly symmetrical face that I could then 3D print and work on to of digitally. this is basically my first time sculpting in blender ever so I've run into a few issues, and one that I've just kinda ignored up until this point is this weird thing going on with the eye holes. I've been having trouble with them since I first created them by deleting some vertices. As you can see from my images when I went to work on them in sculpt they went wavy and they pinch in spots no matter what I do. Subdividing as created these kind of vertex milky ways that cause dimples I definitely don't want. And when I solidified the whole thing you can see that it came out wavy and created overlapping spikes in some places. My questions would be, "what do you think caused these problems?", "is there a simple/easy fix?",  and "do I need to start over to fix this?".

The "swirls" in the mesh are likely the result of non-quad geometry in the base (un-subdivided) geometry. Turn off any subdivision modifiers, and look for tris or n-gons.

It is a common beginner mistake t.o subdivide too early in the modeling process. It will only make further detailing harder. Look for tutorials on re-topology. Add detail only in the areas that need it. For finer surfaces just use a subsurf modifier. Using less density will allow you to experiment with different techniques that won't require complicated fixing later on. Also the interface is more responsive if you have less geometry. It is all about controlling what you are doing.

Your mesh is extremely dense. Understand that, while the denser your mesh is, the smoother it is, it's also true that, the denser it is, the harder it is to control. At early stages of modeling, you don't need the smoothness. But you do need the control. Achieving smoothness can be saved for later. Of course, you can certainly put a Subdivision Surface modifier on your mesh at a very early stage if you want, so long as you do not apply it (meaning you don't "finalize" it) until later. This way, you can go back and forth between smooth and not smooth, to check your results over time.

On the left shows about the maximum ammout of mesh density you want while modeling. On the right shows the same mesh with a Subdivision Surface modifier added.
Another issue is topology. You mentioned a doll, so perhaps this isn't relelvant in your case, but if you want it to be animated afterwards, and exhibit facial deformations that look appropriate, you will need to take into consideration the topology, which is to say, the flow of your mesh's contours. In the pic above, note the flow of the mesh contours, and see how they build rings around the eyes. The same approach will be necessary for the mouth, and any other surface that needs to expand and contract convincingly.
Finally, Christopher Bennett correctly notes that triangles can also create a problem, especially if you want to add a Subdivision Surface modifier at any point, but also, even if you don't, because triangles (and five-or-more sided polygons, or n-gons) can create unsightly rendering artifacts, or pinching during deformation. Again, the included pic shows that all polygons are quads, and this is what you want to strive for as a general rule (there are exceptions, but they don't concern us here). These conventions are especially important in modeling a face that will make expressions.
I don't see any easy way to fix this. Likely you will need to start over. However, if you like the overall shape of your mesh, you can remesh it, and start over with the remeshed version of your model. You can put a Decimate modifier on it, and choose the Unsubdivide option. This is good if your mesh is already quads. But if it isn't, you may be better off using Quadriflow Remesh. Press F3 to bring up the search function, and type in "Quadri..." and it should pop up in the list. Select it, and set the options. Choose how many polygons you want the end result to be. For the most part, you can check all the boxes. Experiment. All you care about at this point is ending up with all quads and also keeping the general shape of your mesh in tact. Don't select a high poly count; you'll make it too dense, and that's already your main problem.
When you get done with this, you can get back to modeling the eye holes. If you have a separate eyeball object, this is ideal, because you can use it as a "cut out" guide. Create a sphere primitive. None of its generation settings matter, but make it about the right size for the face. Move it into position. Now you can model around it. Also, to ensure that you get the eyelid part of your face mesh to perfectly meet the eye object, you can put a Shrinkwrap modifier on the face object. However, by default it will shrinkwrap the entire face to the eyeball, which you don't want. So when setting up the Shrinkwrap in the modifier settings, you will want to be able to tell Blender that you only want the eyelid to be affected. To do that,  create a vertex group for the Face object, with only the vertices for the inner rim of the eyelid selected, and assign those vertices only to the vertex group. Then, when you create the Shrinkwrap modifier, in the modifier settings for it, point it to the eye object as a target, as well as to the eyelid rim vertex group you just created. This way, no part of your face will shrinkwrap to the eyeball object except for the inner eyelid rim, which means your eyelid will meet the eyeball object perfectly.
Sorry this stuff isn't easier. Hope this helps.


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what is causing my armature to warp the model so badly when rotating it's arm, how can i fix this?
i've just finished setting up an armature for my model, i used automatic weighting which may be the cause of the problem, but whenever i try to rotate the arms or legs of the model, it causes catastrophic effects on the model's proportions.
if the solution has to do with manually painting the weights, is there a more precise way of editing the weights? i would like things to be symmetrical and that, instead of just doing it by eye.

i would rather the shoulder stay in place when raising the arm, instead of putting it halfway down the torso
thank you

as Frederik Steinmetz, use Weight Paint mode to adjust, but you can also add a bone for the shoulder, it would help to control this part more accurately

Yes, your weight painting is off, you'll have to use envelopes (not the best solution) or manually adjust the weights, so that the upper arm does not effect the chest anymore.
Select the armature, then the guy.
CRTL + TAB -> choose weight paint.
Use the brush tools to adjust your weights.


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UVMap transfer of displacement map
my problem is, that I have a texture set and a mesh I should apply the textures to, but they have different UV mappings. It is no option to change the UVMap of the mesh, so the only chance I have is to remap the texture to the UVMap of the mesh. I know how to bake e.g. the diffuse layer onto a second UVMap, but there is no option to do this for displacement maps. I bet there is a trick also to map float textures to another UVMap but failed to find the workflow yet. Can anyone help me to find the trick or is there no way to do it?

You can use multiple UVMaps for render with the UVMap node. You can also bake texture from one UVMap to an other with is. If you want to do the second option, and there is no bake option for that kind of texture, then you can put it in the Color socket of the shader node, bake and save it, then use the result as a displacement map. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/shader_nodes/input/uv_map.html

Thank you for the answer. I tried exactly that, but it doesn't not exactly work as expected. My displacement map is a float image with also negative numbers, if I plug this into Color and bake the diffuse Color, the output is mapped to a range [0, 1]. This kinda works, but destroys my original height information. Is there a trick to preserve the range, too?

It seems to work when using the Emission channel to bake.


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Selecting an objects child mesh in Python
An object can be selected using obj.select_set(True).
How can I select this objects child (Mesh.004 in the image)?

I tried obj.data.select_set(True), but that doesn't work.

Why do you want to select it? Just for a visual effect of it being selected in the outliner, or is there another reason?

I want to set a plugin-related variable (bpy.context.scene.collider_enum_items.gamemats), I've found that this only works when the mesh itself is selected.

It shouldn't be necessary to select items for code to work under the hood. Most likely you need an operator override somewhere in your script. Could you post a snippet of code of that feature ?

It turns out I got something wrong, it wasn't actually necessary to select the mesh, the object just needed to both be selected and the active object.


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Bake not saving
I'm still trying to light my monkey head on fire. I figured out how to bake the data but when I click off of the fluid tab in simulations it disappears. How do I get my settings to save?
If someone could provide screenshots for this explanation that would be great
Solution: Save the .blend file and pack it together with the "Cache-Folder" to upload it together. Later you can unpack it and only need to select the right folder when opening the .blend file to skip baking anew.

It disappears when you click off the fluid tab? What kind of cache you are using? Replay or any other? To have it saved permanently you need to use either Modular or All, then you have to bake the cache and it is saved in a folder which you can specify. Of course if you place your blend file somewhere else afterwards and the path is specified in a relative way so it cannot be found anymore, then Blender will bake it new... but that's the same in any other software that can use relative paths.

Hi, thanks for the post. While answering your own question is possible and even encouraged, it should be done respecting the site structure. Could you break this up into two posts, rephrasing the problem to read like an actual question or expose a problem, while the solution is written as separate answer in the proper section below? Maybe add a short description of the steps accompanied by a few images illustrating the workflow and final results. See How do I write a good answer?


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I can't get .DXF 3D model to import properly
any help is appreciated, I'm very new to all this. I have Blender 3.2.2 installed on my laptop (Mac OS Monterey). I'm trying to import a 3D model from AutoCAD 2023 for Mac. I've made a copy of the original .DWG file and converted the copy to .DXF. I've also activated the two .DXF add-on's in Blender. However, when I go to import the .DXF file to Blender, all it imports is a couple of lines, as though most of the file (including shaded surfaces) has been erased. Is there any way to import a 3D model into Blender so that it retains full file integrity? If not I guess I'll try importing a 2D floor plan and extruding it in Blender.
Thanks again.

This is the Blender documentation on DXF importing showing what is included.

I would try a few things : Explode your model so it's only 3D faces in acad, not mesh or polyface. look for your model at very high coordinates, you can zoom to the extents of your objects with numpad .


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Zbrush to Blender model, wrong/sharp shading issue with Cycles
I have a shading problem when using a model from zbrush to blender. My faces become non-planar and this is ruining all the shading. (Giving artifacts, sharp shadows)
How can I solve this shading issue/ make all faces flat?
To fix this faces I tried:

Smooth shading
Edge split modifier/ weighten normals
Mesh -> Clean Up -> Make Planar Faces (fix one plane but break all nearby)
Clear Custom split normal
(Geometry Data) Export from Zbrush as smooth/flat normals
Import to Blender with NO custom normals
Blender 3.6 and 4.0
Different models (mine and Zbrush standard)
FBX and obj formats

Maybe your object is REALLY small ? That often occurs whan importing/exporting and can cause that kind of issue.

My object really is small in blender... Its 0.1/0.02/0.1 m according to dimensions. But when I scale it (x100) to 10m/2m/10m (XYZ), it still have this things (less of them, but still)... Or I have to import already scaled object?

Problem solved.
How and what I did:

Scale up my model to the possible real size. (It was VERY small.) This reduced the number of artifacts.
Go to the "Object" tab (orange box) -> "Shading" -> "Shadow Terminator" and increase the "Shading Offset" until the problem is solved (0.3 was fine for me).
*Instead of tweaking the "Shadow Terminator" values, consider adding 1-2 levels of subdivision (or more) to your model. Additional geometry solves the problem best if you can afford it.


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How can I make or where to find muscles that stretch similar to this video
I want to make my own workout videos with an animated model of muscles stretching and bending over my real muscles that look accurate to the raw footage similar to this.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yURXU8LJK88

Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload images or gifs, along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.


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Geometry Nodes: Transfering materials from Object to Instances in Blender 3.6

I have a molecule object that I am creating instances of on a plane. I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out how to match the materials of the instances as well. My current node set up is based on this post: Geometry Nodes: Transfer materials to instances touching faces, but unfortunately it is not working, and I had to make some assumptions since the Transfer Attribute node is no longer available.

Instances within Geometry Nodes can't be assigned different materials directly, but you can leverage attribute values to match them up in the material nodes.

Thank you for the answer. I will give it a try.

I didn't know to accept this as an answer to the question because I was too inexperienced with stackexchange


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Why is it doing that! (SCALING PROBLEM)
Why is it scaling using the edge's position that i selected with. (can't really explain it...)
VIDEO >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0NNw5lPUEsauMDGTBGmUKnV0mQj1mDl/view?usp=sharing

Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload images or gifs, along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.

Also please use a title that reflects the content of the question. It should be descriptive but succinct, unique and identifying, summarizing the issue so that users can at a glance understand what your post is about. Use the [edit] link below your post and avoid anything not strictly essential to the post. Remember, your title is the first thing potential visitors will see, and makes your question findable for future users. See "What is the problem with posting an image or link and asking “How do I do this?""

Please don't write in all caps, it is the online equivalent of shouting, is harder to read and may be considered rude. You can use the [edit] button below to change you text into regular case.

In the Transform Pivot Point panel you've chosen Active Element, so it's going to scale with the active edge as center of the scale, witch to Median Point instead


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My object won’t move in render
My object/model will move in blender but it will go back to its original spot (the spot it originally was placed at when I opened it in blender)when it’s rendering. I’m not sure if I did something but my camera will move but my object/model stays the same. What do I do!

Hmmm .  Suggestion ... place a Blender screen shot in your question.  Show as much as possible.  Show Keyframes, Modifiers, including Geometry Nodes, Constraints.  Take a look at your [keyframes] for your object/model.  I think you can place more effort into your question.

have you keyframed your object? It could explain why it goes back to a location


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Hair dynamics in a moving car. What is the solution?
I have a character with long hair in a moving car. The car is driving along and the hair is blowing back as if she was on a bike. I don't want this. How can I have dynamic hair (so it's falling naturally around her head) but stop the physics of the car affecting it? In a sense I want a forcefield surrounding the car in which gravity and forces act normally on her hair. Any ideas?

The problem in reality is one of 'frame of reference', so one solution could be to move the background instead of the car. :p

I tried around a bit with a very basic hair system and the Field Weights settings and I think I found a solution.
Under "Hair Dynamics"->"Structure" crank Damping up to a very high number (I used over 100). Then go to "Field Weights" and max out Gravity. The slider only goes to 1, but if you type it in manually, it can go to 200.
If it's not enough Gravity, increase it in "Scene Properties", but that probably messes up other sims.
Hope this helps :)


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Enabling extrusion sharpens selected object
Video
When I try to extrude this spinned object, it immediately makes it sharp and then after pulling the extrude marker out, it makes a seam and then makes an odd shape. I tried to right click and merge vertices by distance, but it has no effect and this still happens.

If at first you start extruding it, of course it gets sharp. Before pulling it out the new edge is very close to the old one you start from. Actually, that's what many people do to sharpen round edges caused by the Subdivision Surface Modifier. They add edge loops or knife cuts etc. close to the round edge to make it sharper. And what do you mean by "makes an odd shape" after pulling out?

Hi, the problem i'm facing is that the extrude tool just immediately snaps to a direction as seen in the video. If I press z and then extrude, the direction problem is solved, but the odd shape I am talking about still exists. It is a bulged type shape that appears.
Screenshot

Well, the snapping to a direction is the intended behaviour - the tool extrudes in the median direction of the face(s) when using Extrude Region. The bulge is caused by the Subdivision Surface Modifier. With very few geometry it gets rounded a lot because there are not enough edges preserving a different shape - hence people add edge loops, cuts or simply more geometry to avoid that. As soon as you finish the extrusion and start a new one, this new edge will sharpen the bulge end. If this irritates you, you can disable the subsurf modifier while editing the mesh.

Hi, I've been just playing around and I didn't really find a fix for this, I added more geometry, tried to work with loop cuts, it doesn't work, but I just selected the bulged part and moved it down and it looks normal again.

I don't know what you are doing to make it look "normal" again or what you mean by normal.

The video shows the typical (and not incorrect) bulging that happens when you have a closed tubular object with subdivision surface enabled. To avoid that, delete the face at the end so that the mesh is open on the side where you extrude it. If you want to leave it closed, add a loopcut to sharpen / flatten the bulge. It also helps with the fixed direction so you don't have to hit Z to unlock it. The face normal indicates the direction of the extrude, without it it is not locked at the beginning of the extrusion.


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Extrusion provides rounded result
Video
I am making a cup handle using extrusion and here when I try to extrude, it provides a sort of rounded cylindrical shape rather than the expected extrusion.

Your object appears to have a subdivision surface modifier. Enable the edit mode cage, and you will see the modifier in edit mode. Or set the modifier to simple instead of Catmull Clark subdivision.

You have double geometry, most likely you extruded and then cancelled the translation, causing the 4 new vertices to go back to their origin location. Select everything in edit mode > Right click > Merge > By distance

Hello, I apologize for the late reply. The merge by distance method works for me, but after an extrusion if I right click it it goes back to the double-geometry mode and I just ctrl+z to bring back the merge by distance, is this normal? Thanks for the help:)


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uv map not working
I am working on a powerpoint logo in blender.

I want to add the P on the logo. I tried a refrence image but they dont show in the render. Now i am trying it with a uv map. i already unwrapped it and added the P but it is not showing. Can someone help me please?

Probably the material setting does not consider the image. Can you upload your file with textures included (packed). Please use http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Material settings (either from the property panel or shader editor).

ok thank you very much

can you please provide a picture. i cant find it

This kind of things (don't consider the animation part): https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/194798/how-to-add-an-image-texture-color-as-an-overlay-to-a-base-texture-at-a-specific/194800#194800


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How to make a texture from the view of the camera live (cycles)
i am making a security camera and a want the view of the camera to display as a texture on a monitor. How do i do that?

You probably won't be able to make it happen in real-time, you will need to set your security camera as the active scene render camera, then save the rendered video of it. Then set the texture of your tv screen to that of the video. You could get away with doing a lower sample and lower resolution video if you don't get too close to the screen.

ok thanks! I will try that.

Let me know if it goes well


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"Bad number of vertex" when converting a model made in Blender
I would like to preface this by saying that I only use Blender for one specific activity: I make football football player face models for a football video game (something tells me you may have a had a couple of people like 'round these parts before ;) ), so my knowledge of modelling is quite limited.
Each time I make a new football player's face, I take a .bin file from the game in question that contains the model and texture of a given player, I paint over the texture with a photo of the player whose face I want to make in Photoshop, then use a tool called FEI 2010 to convert the .bin file into a .fef file. and open it with my Blender 2.49
Normally, when I'm done modelling, I overwrite the .fef file and then convert it back to a .bin file, which is then ready to be used in the game, but for some reason, when I try to convert the finished player face model as contained in the .fef file back to a .bin file, I get an error message in FEI saying  "Bad number of vertex. You should NOT delete any vertex". Now, I've had this error a couple of times before back when I was just starting to use FEI/Blender - whenever I tried to write over a .bin file different than the one I used to generate the .fef file, but I've since learned my lesson.
I can't think of anything I may have done differently this time around, which leads me to think I must've clicked something without being aware of it and deleted some part of the model in Blender (in all honesty, I had to look up what a "vertex" even was before asking this question)? Does anybody have any idea how to go around this, please? I still have the .fef file which I can import back into Blender and edit freely... I just can't re-convert the .fef. back to a .bin, which makes the model useless, and it takes quite a bit of work to make each of those faces.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Given the quite ancient Blender version and add-on, you might have a trouble finding someone to answer this. Perhaps you could link to the specific version of add-on you're using? This was others may at least have a chance to reproduce this on their own system.

Thank you for the prompt reply. The version I use is indeed ancient, but it has served me well  and the learning curve was steep enough to keep me from upgrading. I am of course more than happy to provide any all additional information, but this sort of goes back to my previous comment about my having a limited knowledge of the nomenclature, etc. By "add on", do you mean the "FEI 2010" software I mentioned? If so, the version is 2.0 b. Irrespective of the version, does Blender offer the possibility of importing another model and replacing the one currently worked on? Thank you.


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3d view is not properly updating
I am writing a script to stack three cubes.  I would like the user to be able to change the thickness of each cube independently and then have my code restack them on top of each other.  The problem is that if the user changes the thickness of one of the cubes, the 3d view does not update automatically.

I have a panel to change the thickness of any of the cubes.  If the user changes the thickness of the top cube, the locations of the cubes are updated in my code, but not automatically in the 3d view.

If I change the layer number in my panel, then the view updates.  Using bpy.context.view_layer.update() after I update the sizes and locations of the cubes does not help.
I would appreciate it if anyone can help me get the cube locations to change automatically.
Here is my code:
import bpy
from bpy.props import IntProperty, EnumProperty
from bpy.types import Operator,PropertyGroup

chooselayer=[("1","Layer 1","0.014,0.003,0.157,1"),
    ("2","Layer 2","0.014,0.003,0.157,1"),
    ("3","Layer 3","0.014,0.003,0.157,1")]

length = 10
thickness1=10
thickness2=5
thickness3=2

def get_layer_params(self,context):
    layerEnum=bpy.context.scene.layerProps.layerEnum  #which layer
    objlayer=bpy.data.objects["Layer.s"+layerEnum]
    bpy.context.scene.layerProps.thickness=objlayer.dimensions.z

def update_layer(self,context):
    print("in update layer")
    layerlist=[]

    for obj in bpy.data.collections['Collection'].all_objects:
        if "Layer" in obj.name:
            layerlist.append(obj)
    if layerlist==[]:
        return

    layernum=bpy.context.scene.layerProps.layerEnum
    thickness=bpy.context.scene.layerProps.thickness

    changeLayerName="Layer.s"+str(layernum)
    print(changeLayerName, thickness)
    changeobj=bpy.data.objects[changeLayerName]

    thicknessTotal=0
    for layerobj in layerlist:
        if layerobj.name==changeLayerName:
            layerobj.dimensions=[length,length,thickness]
        layerobj.location=[0,0,-thicknessTotal-layerobj.dimensions.z]
        layerobj.location.z=-thicknessTotal-layerobj.dimensions.z/2
        thicknessTotal+=layerobj.dimensions.z
    bpy.context.view_layer.update()

class LayerParams(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):
    layerEnum : EnumProperty(
        items = chooselayer,
        name = "Choose a Layer",
        update = get_layer_params)
    thickness: bpy.props.IntProperty(name="thickness",update=update_layer,default=thickness1)

def setLayers():
    thickness=[thickness1,thickness2,thickness3]
    thicknessTotal=0

    for layernum in range(1,len(thickness)+1): #["Layer.s1","Layer.s2"."Layer.s3"]:
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(scale=(length,length,thickness[layernum-1]))
        objlayer=bpy.context.active_object
        objlayer.name="Layer.s"+str(layernum)
        objlayer.location=[0,0,-thicknessTotal-thickness[layernum-1]/2]
        thicknessTotal += thickness[layernum-1]

class SCENE_PT_layer(bpy.types.Panel):
    """Creates a Panel in the Properties Window"""
    bl_label = "Define layer"
    bl_idname = "SCENE_PT_layer"
    bl_space_type = 'PROPERTIES'
    bl_region_type = 'WINDOW'
    bl_context = "scene"
    bl_options = {"DEFAULT_CLOSED"}

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        scene=context.scene
        layout.use_property_split = True
        row = layout.row()
        row.prop(scene.layerProps, "layerEnum", text="Choose Layer")
        row = layout.row()
        row.prop(scene.layerProps, "thickness", text="thickness")

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(SCENE_PT_layer)
    bpy.utils.register_class(LayerParams)
    bpy.types.Scene.layerProps=bpy.props.PointerProperty(type=LayerParams)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(LayerParams)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(SCENE_PT_layer)
    del bpy.types.Scene.layerProps

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()
    setLayers()

I just started your code and it works. It updates the 3D view. Maybe you should restart Blender and run your script from scratch again.

I have been struggling with the problem for quite a while.  I just did as you suggested, I even disabled the Addon that I am working on, loaded factory settings from the file menu, and it still does not update automatically.  I am using Blender 2.92.  Is there possibly a setting that I need to change?  I don't see anything obvious in the user preferences.

Ok, I try with 2.92

works with 2.92 here. Do you have the newest 2.92?

This sounds a bit like a bug on your version. You might consider dropping it at developer.blender.org so it can be fixed.

Is there a chance you're just missing bmesh.update_edit_mesh([mesh]) before bpy.context.view_layer.update()? This sounds a lot like an issue with BMesh's data duality not getting synchronized at the right time. It would also explain why it works on some systems but not others.

I added            me=layerobj.data
bmesh.update_edit_mesh(me)  to the for loop where I update the location of the cubes in update_layer.  I am not certain I did that correctly, but it did not help.  As far as I can tell, Blender 2.92 was released at the end of February and I updated to 2.92 in March.  I thought that I had gotten this working, so perhaps it stopped working when I updated my Blender version.  I will try developer.blender.org.