text:
Do ray sensors detect collision bounds?
in my game I have a painting behind glass and the glass is in the front side of the "painting case". Like this:

All 3 objects (Mona Lisa, painting case and the glass) have the block property.
I am trying to detect only the painting case with a ray sensor without the x-ray mode. As I was testing it, I activated all the collision bounds of the objects as a box and the result is that the painting case's box covers the painting(Mona Lisa)'s and the glass's surfaces so I always got the painting case with my ray.
My question is : Does the ray detect surfaces or the collision bounds of the objects or an area near the surfaces, or what if none of the above? And if the correct answer is the collision bounds, should I have them "ticked" for this to work? If they are not ticked what does the ray detect(cause it returns the object, but the paint itselft )?
And as a side-question : How does the margin attribute affect the collision bounds exactly? Is it visible somehow in the viewport?

Background
"Rays" are a method to detect if an imaginary line crosses one or more faces. That leads to the question: What faces?
In the BGE there are two kinds of faces:

visible faces (display mesh) and
collision faces (physics mesh).

These face types can but do not need to match. (Often it is better when there are less collision meshes than display meshes for faster processing).
Rays are part of the physics aspect. Therefore faces the physics would collide with are considered for hit detection.
Conclusion
I guess after this (hopefully understandable) explanation, you come to the conclusion that the ray will hit the shape defined by the objects Physics/Collision Bounds/Bounds

If it is set to Box, the physics mesh is a box where the display mesh fits in.
If it is set to convex hull, the physics mesh will span a convex triangle mesh around the display mesh (faster than triangle mesh processing)
if it is set to triangle mesh, the physics mesh will match the display mesh (creates the most processing overhead)

Be aware: quads are broken into two triangles. The triangles might not match the triangles of the display mesh as there are two ways to break a quad.
You can see the current physics mesh by enabling Main menu/Game/Show Physics Visualization (the green mesh when resting otherwise white lines).
Attention: The visualization on a convex hull is not necessarily correct. I guess it is simpler to detect collisions than drawing a convex hull.
Answer
The ray detects the collision bounds your explicitly set up.

Thank you professor Monster!
When you rotate the object during the game, the orientation of the collision bound, let's say the convex hull changes but not like it is parented. More like recalculated so it kind messes things up. Do you know if I am correct in this or I misunderstood the graphics. (Maybe it all sums up to the convex hull not being correct though.)

I'm not sure if I get what you mean. The physics mesh (convex hull in the example) rotates and moves with the object. This is independent from any parent-child relationship. The red box around the object is the bounding box relative to the scene. This is an helper to speed up identifying possible collisions and should not have further meaning to you.


text:
How to swap the "visible" box option in the visibility actuator?
I have this script.
import bge
from initialization import initialization

initialization(__name__)
scene = bge.logic.getCurrentScene()
cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
obj = cont.owner
act = cont.actuators["Aura"]
status = act.visibility

if Flashlight["targetName"] == str(obj).replace(" ","_"):
    status = True
    cont.activate(Aura)
    print ("TRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEE")
else:
#   status = False
    cont.deactivate(Aura)
    print ("FAAAALLSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE")

Logic bricks are like this:

It works, but I wondered why setting the status = False (at line 17-comment) and then swapping the line with cont.activate(Aura) would not work.
So my question: Doesn't "act.visibility" toggle the "Visible" box option to ticked if True and unticked if False? If yes what does it do and how can I swap the status of the "Visible" box option. *searching for a python solution
p.s. My script checks a string value, if it is equal to the object's name it makes a mesh that acts as an aura visible for as long as the value remains equal.

Variable assignment
status has no relationship to act.visibility. You can't expect to change the variable and the actuator takes over this change. You need to change the actuator, not a variable that contains an earlier copy of the attributes value:
actuator.visibility = False

Know the API:
Due to the dynamic nature of the requested behavior I recommend to toggle visibility with KX_GameObject.visible
owner.visible = True

Remarks:
I wonder how your code can work without errors

Flashlight is not defined
Aura is not defined

I strongly suggest to use complete words for naming. "cont", "obj", "act" are unnecessary abbreviations leading to confusion. e.g. is act an actor, action, actuator, or an act? Is cont an contact or continuation? Is object an objective?
If we already have words why invent new one? :)
Your code can look like that:
import bge
from initialization import initialization

initialization(__name__)
scene = bge.logic.getCurrentScene()
controller = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
owner = controller.owner
aura = controller.actuators["Aura"]

if Flashlight["targetName"] == owner.name.replace(" ","_"):
    aura.visibility = True
    cont.activate(Aura)
else:
    aura.visibility = False
controller.activate(aura)

I failed, should have thought that about the "status", thanks. Thanks also  for the tip about the full names, and for your elaborated answer again. Initialization defines all the elements I need (like the flashlight here that is an object). Later on I might swap initialization if I find it to be problematic, it saves me time for now. I just did not add it to the question cause my point was on the "status" issue. This is the script : http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/79833

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Origin to geometry by default
Is there a way (can't find in preferences) to set the origin to geometry by default to imported objects? Very time consuming to set each time manually, I'm working a lot with svg's...

Imported objects origins are determined by the original origin in the source application, or worst case scenario by the importer addon's discretion, not some arbitrary global preference. SVG files don't have a concept of "Object Origins" for the most part, with the possible exception of instances or groups. That being said you can batch set origins-to-geometry on a bunch of objects at once. It's a one step process, and shouldn't be that time consuming.

I'm importing a lot of svg's during the work' not all together, this one step process multiply by a lot of times it's time consuming... anyway, thnx for answering! maybe a way to set the object in inkscape to be imported to blender with right origin?

One possibility would be to manually edit the SVG import python script to run the operator that changes object origins for each imported curve at the end, though that may is well above my skill level.

I took the python template Simple Operator and inserted the operator that sets the origin to geometry (found when pressing the button and looking in the Info window). I then selected a few objects and set them up with origins at the cursor so I could test, and ran the script. With all of them selected, I pressed the space bar and chose "Origin to Geometry All", the name of the new operator.
Maybe it could help, though it isn't as clean as it could be with some work.
edit: turns out you don't need all that since the operator works on multiple objects at once already. Simply select all the objects you need to change origins to geometry and then press 'Origin to Geometry' in the tool bar. So if you have imported 30 objects and need to fix their origins, select all and then press the operator.

thnx, for answering. Yes' of cours I know that I can change them all together' the problem that I importing a lot of svg one by one' during all the animation work' not all together' and each time I have to scale them and put the origin to geometry' it's just so not user friendly' It's not  a smooth, professional user experience...

Maybe I can take a look at the code that is in the importer script - might be easy to just add the operator there then.

It would be great to have an option like that!

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


text:
Copy AN nodes to another file
Since the last releases of Blender, there is no more the possibility to copy/paste nodes between files (that was hyper-useful). Now the only solutions is to Group/Append Group.
But I can't group AN nodes neither... so the question is not "how to group AN nodes", but "how to move them to another file", if there is another way to do that.
PS: About grouping AN nodes, I think I'll open another question,
as you see on the screenshot - the group options are grayed out...

The only way I know of it's importing (appending in blender terms) the entire node-tree :/
File->Append->select the blend file to copy from-> click NodeTree-> click the tree of interest.
Definitively not user friendly considering the more common case to import into your current tree, but you can invoke the subprograms inside the newly imported node-tree and use it in your main tree.
Another way would be to add the code to recreate to the templates dir and repackage-reinstall the addon (or just add them directly in your addon's  installation directory) for example:
    [...]
    sourceObjectNode = self.newNode("an_DataInputNode", x = 0, y = 0, label = "Source Object")
    sourceObjectNode.assignedType = "Object"

    timeInfoNode = self.newNode("an_TimeInfoNode", x = 0, y = -200)
    [...]

See here for the full explanation of how to take advantage of multiple node-tree

Currently a simple to do that is to append the whole nodetree data from old file to new file, then copy wanted nodes (or delete unwanted ones) from it. Here is the way:
File > Append, then click on the old file, find NodeTree folder, then choose the nodetree datablock you want to append.
Tip: Relatively, you can completely remove an AN nodetree by hitting spacebar in Node Editor, then search for "Remove Animation Node Tree".


text:
Animate text as TEXT
I have recently bought this plugin IK-TextEffects
as i really needed to animate text as text (my client wanted to see the animation, but he hasn't yet the final version of text) - but I was very disappointed as you need to BAKE the text in this plugin. So there is no point in this plugin as it's much easier to just animate a text witch is converted to a mesh.
My question IS:
Is it possible to make this kind of thing in Blender AT ALL? Is it possible to write a plugin for this very needful feature for motion design? If it's possible I will find a way to write a plugin for this - this is a must have feature for a professional workflow!

Of course it's possible. You would probably want to make the script by automatically adding keyframes and curves based on the position of objects and text characters rather than baking it, thus sounding more logical and efficient. See here: http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/58877/23798

The animation nodes addon can manipulate and animate text objects.

Thnx, now I see it's possible. The problem with animation node add-on that it's so difficult to learn to use it. It's like learning new program from scratch. It's not very convenient to start playing with this than you have a dead line for a project...


text:
VSE channel's volume
Helo,
can't figure out how to change the volume of multiple strips or one separate channel.
i have a video with multiple audio channels, one for background music, one for audio effects, and one for narrating. i have to rise the volume of all the narrating channel - it's a lot of strips, it's already after editing (the audio editing was made in blender as well).
maybe some plugin or atleast already exist that i can't find on the web.
thanx for any help.

Maybe an adjustment Layer might help you out?

The volume of an audio strip can be changed in the sound properties panel which you can find in the sequencer's properties region - press N

To alter multiple strips, select them and adjust the volume then right click on the volume and select Copy To Selected

THNX a lot! didn't thought about the "copy to selected"...

It was very helpful!

Still, isn't change the volume of the channel is a so basic feature in a video editor?

That was how it was done years ago and no-one has offered a different approach.

In Blender 2.76 and later you can actually use another VSE sequence as a source. You could edit all of you music or sound as required then select them all and create a metastrip. Then copy the metasrtip to another scene VSE timeline. Mute the original (but keep it incase you want to make further edits), and replace it with the other scene's strip. Then in its properties activate "USE SEQUENCE". This will give you a mix down and control of master volume for all of the strips that you copied. Sadly you cannot change channel balance here for panning effects.

authors: иван мочалов


text:
How do I fix Exception Access Violation error on startup?
I just installed Blender, but when I try to start it, the command prompt comes up with "Error: Exception_Access_Violation" and then closes (and Blender never starts of course). How do I fix this? I tried running as administrator and that doesn't help either.

Are you running windows vista?

No. I'm running on Windows 8.1

What is the directory where Blender installed into ? Also - if installed version by no means won't work, download and execute .zip version. It doesn't need to be installed.

Which version? 2.8? Because 2.8 is in Beta testing and isn't stable yet.

For example, there was a recent change that broke the build on the previous version's config file. So you might try deleting the configuration if that's the case. If you're looking for better guaranteed functionality, though, you'll want to stick with the release version.

I want to answer so that anyone with my particular situation might benefit ... I had this same frustrating problem with WIN 7, and  a Intel HD graphics  (which supports only OpenGL 2.1) ... I tried some suggestions which didn't work (though I needed the 2013 C++ library anyway, a link to this is given at the Blender site just below the Blender download links--I had only 2010) then I simply updated the graphics driver from a 2010 version to the 2012 version . and that did it. Actually I was surprised it did, but it did.
Read also that some other people had to go back to an older driver instead.
At any rate 2.77 can at least run with a Intel HD graphics, I am proof.
By the way I used an Intel utility called Intel driver update Utility to find the right driver. The screen went black after the driver was installed, and I feared the worst, but after restarting things seemed ok, the driver was installed and even Blender worked! Darkest before the dawn or something. Assuming all is well..
Oh last detail which probably doesn't matter) I didn't install Blender, I unzipped the zip file and ran it straight..

Sadly didn't work for me. Already using latest graphics drivers.

I googled this and found this bug report:
https://developer.blender.org/T44334
You need to delete ALL versions of blender (you will need admin privileges), then reinstall the latest version.
"I was also experiencing this bug on with version 2.76 windows 10 like Will Tice. Like Will I had followed all the instructions above to no avail. I decided to try the older 2.73 version of blender and was uninstalling 2.76 when I noticed there were left over files from version 2.69 from windows 8. After thoroughly cleaning out all blender files and reinstalling 2.76 I'm having no issues. Checking for and removing previous versions of blender may help with this issue."
"I had the same problem but noticed I had a 32bit 2.6x version around together with the 2.76 I had just installed. Getting rid of the two of them and reinstalling just the 64bit 2.76 got rid of the problem."
"I'm using Windows 10 and had this issue. Uninstalling both versions of blender and reinstalling blender-2.76b-windows64.msi fixed it."
Another potential problem could be your drivers/video card, although I highly doubt it:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/32552796/6655092

I've never had Blender on this computer before and it's brand new. There's no way there could possibly be a previous version of Blender on my computer. My graphics card is an AMD Radeon R9 M275X. Idk if that's not good enough to run Blender. I have had problems in the past with programs thinking I'm running intel graphics because my monitor is intel and my cpu is intel.

Nothing worked but deleting this C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.93\config

Downgrading from 2.79 to 2.78 worked for me aswell, until I activated cycles render, then it crashed.
I had to upgrade my intel graphics driver, too Intel Support. The thing was, that my intel graphics were disabled (It seems that many motherboards do this automatically, when a graphic card is plugged in). So I had to activate onboard graphics in the bios first, before I could update the intel graphic driver.
Now everything is fine again.

Had the same issue. Tried updating graphics driver, removing all of the old blender installs, as well as reinstalling newest blender version only. None of them worked for me.
Downgraded blender from 2.79 to 2.78, and it worked again!
Maybe this helps someone out there.

It turns out Windows Update doesn't do anything to update the graphics driver. Go to Intel's support site, look for your graphics card (in my case Intel HD Graphics 620), and manually install the graphics driver. This solved the problem for me.

i just downloaded opengl32.dll from this web site ftp://ftp.blender.org/sergey/softwaregl
i hope that's well help some one because it worked for me.

Where did you put the file?

Had the same error on Win7 laptop. All the drivers were up to date, but still wouldn't run - the only thing that helped was downloading a portable (.zip) 2.78 Blender.

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


text:
3 scenes into a add and alpha over
Im making a animation for some 3D words and i have 3 scenes 1 is the words 2 is a smoke particles and then 3 is like extra particles for color affect. When i go to composting and add them only 3d words show in the pre-render window or the smoke and extra affects appear in the pre-render window. Im watching this guy on YouTube doing and i did the same but his works and my doesn't. My question is why is the alpha over not working with my 3 scenes with a mix set to add with the particles linked?
Extra things if you really want to help
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xp2cfq0n4jbzaw/Intro%20v3.blend?dl=0

I have found the answer to my question my render for the 3D words was not a transparent in shading.


text:
What is the right polygon count?
Firstly, I was surprised I did not find a thread like that here(I hope I did not miss it.)
So what is the right number of polygon count or better triangle count, since this is what BGE renders from what I've read.

Is there a max tris count number that I should not exceed?
Is there a default tris count number for
small(ornaments)/medium(furnitures)/big(houses/terrains) that I
should be aware of? Experienced BGE users should propably have an
idea. Or do I keep checking till the fps drops and try to dissolve
meshes afterwards?
Objects in different layers or stand-by scenes that might appear
briefly or not appear at all in the game affect the fps? For example,
meshes in different layers that replace other meshes through
actuators or meshes in overlay scenes that get added briefly and are
removed/suspended afterwards.
And at last. Objects with dynamic physics or objects with animations
or characters with armatures or in general objects that interact with
one way or another, do they need lower poly count than a similar one
that would not act like the above and let's say would remain static
and act as a decorative level asset?

I really think there is a connection in the 4 above question-points. If you doubt it I can split them to more questions. My search so far has shown that there might not be a definite answer but more experienced users can judge better.

Out of the 4 points of the question only the 2nd one could come close to the "almost entirely be based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise" quote. The rest of them are very specific so I disagree with the on-hold status.

Is there a max tris count number that I should not exceed?

Nothing you need to worry about it. I'm sure nobody managed to get that many vertices that hit that limit and can still use Blender. Remember you have limited memory ;).

Is there a default tris count number for small(ornaments)/medium(furnitures)/big(houses/terrains) that I should be aware of?
  No
... do I keep checking till the fps drops and try to dissolve meshes afterwards?

It is the purpose of profiling to identify bottlenecks. It depends how much effort you want to investigate in it.

Objects in different layers or stand-by scenes that might appear briefly or not appear at all in the game affect the fps?

Not loaded scenes just cost disk space.
Inactive objects (residing in hidden layers) just cost memory and load time, but no processing time while the game is running.
Added Objects need additional processing time to get added (which just a little). After that they are treated as normal objects.

Objects with dynamic physics or objects with animations or characters with armatures or in general objects that interact with one way or another, do they need lower poly count than a similar one that would not act like the above and let's say would remain static and act as a decorative level asset?

Every detail causes costs in one way or the other. If you do not need a detail it is more efficient to skip that detail.
Example: A tree can have a lot of polygonal details for rendering but much less regarding physics. Other details are better presented in a texture rather then lots of polygons.
In general it is better to care such things when you have performance problems. Otherwise you spend time on aspects that might not be relevant to your situation.
Surely this is different when working on large projects, with several team members, strict budget and deadlines. Even than you will hit performance issues.

It is always best to use the smallest number that will get the job done to a satisfactory level, but as far as I know, there is no absolute maximum number of tris in Blender. Partly, this is because the number is greatly hardware dependent. A user with a low end PC, with no additional RAM and an integrated graphics capability will not be able to use as large a file as a sophisticated user with much RAM, and a high end dedicated graphics card. There are no default tris counts for specific types of object, either. If you're using Blender to model the interior subcellular strutures of a bacterium, you may use several hundred tris on a mesh that if viewed at "human scale" you won't even be able to see. Developing objects for use in animation, will bring to bear other techniques, too, such as multiple levels of detail, where a building seen in high detail close up, is swapped out for a simple cube when the same building is to be seen as distant in the view of the camera.
As to how much subsidiary scenes and objects might affect the fps, that is dependent in part upon your graphics capability, the rendering engine you chose to use, and whether you're rendering for fast fps, or for high detail.
Again, the hardest and best rule of thumb about vertex density or triangle count, is use the smallest number you can to get the level of satisfaction you want.


text:
Unnecessary stuff in animation
I've never rigged a character so bare with me in what I am gonna ask.
I've been given a rigged character with animations. It works fine. I want to clean it up a bit by deleting things I don't need. Here is the image of the objects:

I guess I should not delete anything in the rig hierarchy, but can I delete all the ik/fk objects since the rig has been made and the animations are done ? If not what can I delete? If nothing, can I somehow bake the animations (I think I've heard it somewhere) and delete things I don't need after? And what things would those be?

why not give it a try and don't save if it messes things up?

Cause it might not cause a short-term problem but something I will find later on when it is too late.

Those objects are labeled in a way that suggests they are shape widgets for the bones. Without these, the bones will look like the normal octahedral shapes (or however your armature is displayed). You could delete them if you really wanted to, but it's easier for those working on the file if you don't, especially us animators. It's very easy to get lost in a complex rig.
I would just parent them under an empty to clean up the outliner, if that's what you're really after.
The only parts I would delete are the lights, because those should be done in a separate file after animation is complete.

Yup a simple parenting covers me. I hope I won't see any problem in the future, thanks for the info!

You shouldn't need to worry about that. The bone shape is specified internally with a unique object ID, so no matter the hierarchy, it will always specify that object. You'll be fine.


text:
Object appears in camera?
How can I investigate if an object appears through a camera in BGE?
Ray sensor does not suit me cause it is one line, while I am searching for the whole screen.

My answer should help you.

@David I think it is your answer that will help me but I 've failed to make it work so far, even with simple examples. The object to which I placed the radar sensor is a camera, where I used its local axis to define the radar axis and also I 've tried different angles. None of which seemed to work. To be more clear since it printed none of the messages it seemed that it never got the sensor to get activated. Do you have a blend to share?

Nevermind, used physics visualization and it seemed I had the distance wrong. Many thanks. Make it dupli to divert people to the answer. Or post a new one to mark it.

As far as I know the API does not provide direct access to the frustum calculation.
You can use KX_Camera.boxInsideFrustum, KX_Camera.sphereInsideFrustum and bge.types.KX_Camera.pointInsideFrustum to get an estimate if something is at the screen (or maybe not).


text:
Problem in animating multiple materials of the same object
Below is the image. I am animating those speaker "waves".
In the timeline it works great.
The logic bricks are shown below. 4 action actuuators, one for each segment of the object (the speaker and the 3 waves). Now when I run it all segments become red even if the speaker-segment's mat never becomes red(and I even keyframed it to 2 black mat keyframes to make sure).
What should happen is from frame 1-96 segment 1 stays black.
From frame 1-48 second segment(first wave) goes from black to red. And from frames 1-72 and 1-96 the next segments do the same.
I double checked to see if I assigned materials correctly and I did. Also I repeat in the timeline it works as intented. So what could be wrong?

What channel have you animated?

What do you mean? I animated the diffuse values or each mat.

That is what I wanted to know. It was not visible on your screenshot.

why not just animate the uv or use animated textures? this would be way better.

@Radish, the things you mentioned are 2 different things? I have followed tutorials to animate textures and they always worked. But when I try my textures something always goes wrong. Anyways, I don't know  exactly how to do this so if you want can you make an answer specific to my situation?


text:
Materials and properties, color changes react differently
in my game I have a ray sensor in my player-object searching for the property "block".
If the "block" property is found in a target-object, it changes the color of the target-object from [ 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1.0] to [ 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.2] (so it changes the alpha). These target-objects have the same material, let's call it target-material.
If I use a logic brick actuator to replace the mesh of the target-object with the mesh of another object, the following things happen:
a)If the material of the new mesh is a different one or non-existent the color does not change when hit by the ray.
b)If the material of the new mesh is the target-material then everything works as intented.
So my question is, since the property "block" still exists in the object, why does it not change the color of the new mesh's material? I understand that if there is no material in the new mesh then the color won't change cause it needs one. Am I wrong there?
And my 2nd question is this.
Why when I add more target-objects in the scene (I noticed it happens if I add more >2 but it might be random) does the color differ? Check the 2 pictures below.

To be honest the 2nd image feels more right since I only messed with the alpha so it should only make it more transparent and not darker, but still why does this happen? Nothing else was changed. Just another cube like the rest was added.


text:
actions and layers in bge
I am using a script to decide which animation my player will run, based on if he holds a flashlight or not. All the actions can be seen in the following image. The actions's layers start from 0 and reach 7.

Here is the script I use to define which animation should play and when.

Everything works, except from the fact that when game starts and the player is still with no flashlight in his hands, he uses the "stand_f" action while he should have used the "stand_no_f". Also there is some visible lag sometimes when changing from one action to the other.
I think these problems connect to the layers somehow, since if I change "stand_no_f" action's layer to 8 instead of 0, now the correct action happens when he is still with no flashlight, but every other action stops happening or lags indefinitely.
So any ideas why the first action is wrong or why there is a random tiny lag between changes of actions?
P.S. the file is big to share and all the scripts are external that is why I did not share in the first place. Also I use a script to define sensors/conts/acts.

Your logic cares keyboard sensors only.
You need to describe and handle a "at startup" event. This is typically triggered via an always sensor.

If I understand correctly what you say, my always sensor with true level triggering will do this, right? It will get inside the "else" and activate the actuator with the name "stand_no_f" at the very start. Since with TLT it will always check.

No, because you enabled true level triggering it will constantly trigger the controller. You would need additional logic to "filter" the right event. - I added an image that you can see the sensor. You might want to enable [Tap] to ensure it does not evaluate positive after the first frame.

Yeah since the time I posted I changed to "states" and completely removed the python controller. The fps drop was huge cause the controller was running constantly. Thanks again.

In case of states I suggest to enable the [Level] flag to detect state entry events :D.

Yup, I did that almost 10 minutes ago, cause after using a combination of buttons for motion my animations would not work. And I experimented till I found it :)


text:
Problem with constraints-parenting in bge
I have the following blend file.
I am trying to use constraints to make the camera follow the cube(named "logic bricks player"). I tried copy location with offset to keep the camera at its height, but it did not work. Also just parenting the camera does not work cause it loses the rotation. Even when I tried to bypass it by pressing "Keep transform" the camera disappeared!?! (I know this cause I used plane to track it).
The thing is though, that the constraints worked in the 3d viewport but failed to work during gameplay.
I have no idea what I am doing wrong and I am new to the use of constraints in bge. So how do I fix my problem?
(credits for the hand rig go to eGlyde from blendswap,it was his model)

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/16624/how-do-i-get-constraints-to-work-in-game-engine @Lev, constraints are not supported for BGE, try using a logic brick equivalent, (the camera actuator comes to mind)

Oh damn, ok make it into an answer to mark it, or mark it as a duplicate if you can.


text:
Can I bake the animation of a mesh and get rid of its armature?
Bare with me since I am not so familiar with the baking animation process.
I have a mesh, where its vertices (and so its faces) get moved as a result of its armature.
There is an animation based on some different poses.
I wanna take this animation to use it in unity. But I don't want to drag the armature with me.
So is it possible to just "bake" the translation (motion) -animation- of the mesh and just drag the object along with its mesh and an animation only?

The word for that kind of thing is "vertex animation". Blender supports shape keys that can be imported into unity via FBX. They are typically used for cloth animation and facial animations that are difficult to do with bones - if you're looking for movement in general then you'd generally want to stick to the armature and use an armature in Unity as well. You could also try to use a different armature in Unity and retarget the animations with Mechanim - if the armatures are compatible Mechanim usually works great.
If you just converted the keyframed poses to shape keys you might get an animation that looks roughly like the armature-based animation, but shape keys don't interpolate the same way that bones do. If you have to use shape keys you might have to create a shape key for every frame and change the blend shape in Unity in every frame.
You can create a shape key by selecting "Apply as Shape Key" in the armature modifier of the mesh that's controlled by the armature:

This thread might be of intererest to you:
https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?300572-Is-it-possible-to-bake-armature-poses-into-shape-keys-morph-targets

The .mdd export suggested in the thread and the application of it as shape keys for a 2nd copy-object is what I wanted, thank you.


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Making sure the faces are flat (for paper model)
I am willing to use Blender for creating paper models. I am experimenting with this extension by Adam Dominec.
I am struggling to find way how to make sure that all the faces of my model are really flat. If all the faces of a model are triangular then whatever positions the vertices are moved to, all the faces are flat. However, it is easily possible to create a model that has quadrilateral faces that has one or more faces that are not flat. Here's a cube with one vertex moved one unit along X axis:

This clearly has one face non-flat. If I create a paper model from this (also, if I do UV unwrap), this non-flat face is one piece there. If I'd create a paper model, that face would be bent:

I'd like to create models with complex shape faces, not just triangles. Form complex models, say, animal head, that would be hard time to manually keep all the vertices aligned so that all faces are flat. Is there some way how to make sure my model has all faces flat, and fix, if they are not?

Have a try: in edit mode, select all, go to the mesh menu, then clean up and make planar faces.

And/or, look in to properties menu (N key) in edit mode, and use "mesh analysis" > type: distortion, it will let you see what's wrong

And/or, use the 3d print add-on, set a low angle into "distortion" and press the button: it will let you see what's wrong

@lemon applying the "make planar faces" works, but I had to switch to Face select mode in order to make it work - one can select the faces to fix and then apply the "make planar faces"

@m.ardito the "mesh analysis" > type: distortion really helps to identify the distorted faces.

Thanks to comments from users @lemon and @m.ardito I can answer this myself now.
The distorted face fixing can be done in two steps:

Identify the distorted faces by activating the "mesh analysis" in the properties menu (N key), select type: distortion.
Flatten the distorted faces by selecting them (Edit mode, face select mode) and then going to Mesh menu > Clean up > Make planar faces.


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Can't Keep Loop Cut & Slide Where I Want With Measurements
Whenever I'm adding loop cuts to my model, I drag the cut to the edge of the model and type in a value (such as 0.5 meters) and it goes back to the center and works from there..?
I'm pretty sure I'm doing it right, I just want to have exact measurements since I'm making building models and I have a set of guidelines for them all, such as 0.5 meter thick walls, 1 meter wide doorways, 2 meter wide windows and so on. How do I get it to stop A) Snapping the loop cut back to the center when I add one, and B) When I do create loop cuts then it will change how big the rest can be. I want it to just keep loop cutting based off the original face size, not the new faces create by adding the vertices, and I need it to not snap the cuts back to the center, but from the side I drag them to. Sorry if I didn't explain properly, I'll try to explain further if required. Also the shortcuts to work faster would be nice :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZ9KEGjSUk&feature=youtu.be <- If you skip to around 5 minutes you'll see him start creating a building, I want to build like that but yeah xD

If you put a loop cut on a cube at its center, and then add another one on the right of that and then type <gx.1>, the loop moves .1 units on the x axis, as expected. If you type <ggx.1> instead, it will move .1 of the current distance on that axis. I'm not completely clear how this works, but it's what you're looking for.

The loop cut tool or Loop Subdivide as it may be called, is a two step tool that subdivides the chosen edge loop and then starts an Edge Slide.
In the first stage you can use the  MW or numpad-/+ to increase/decrease the number of cuts being made. You can also press E to keep a single loop parallel to the next edge loop and F will flip that to the other side.
In the second stage you are sliding the new edge loop/s along the edge that you are subdividing, the value you enter is a factor relative to the edge being cut with 0.0 being in the centre and 1.0/-1.0 moving the new edge loop to either end of the edge being cut.
For more precise placement of vertices you want to use other tools that allow movement based on global position. The snapping tools make it easy to align items to each other.
When moving vertices and objects you can restrict movement to an axis and enter a distance to move. eg GX0.5 will move the selection 0.5 units on the x axis.
In the mesh display panel which can be found in the properties region N of the 3DView you can display the length of selected edges while editing.

The scene settings allow all sizes to be shown using metric or imperial units rather than an arbitrary unit.

As you are modelling buildings you might be interested in the Archimesh addon which you can download here - this addon has recently been added to the standard addons and will be included in the 2.78 release.

Yay, that helped quite a bit, but I have a new problem now xD when I'm editing the faces I need precise measurements since I need to make buildings, so the walls all need to be 0.5m thick, doors 1m wide etc, but when I create more faces it only goes from the face I'm working on, instead of the entire face (like, the original one). Is there a way to keep it to the exact measurements so that it doesn't change the scale?

NEVERMIND I UNDERSTAND IT ALL PERFECTLY NOW, THANK YOU!

The shortcut for "Loop cut and slide" is Ctrl+R.
Use the shortcut (while in edit mode) then hover your mouse over the mesh edges and you will see a pink loop. Left click to apply it, then move the mouse (to slide the loop) and left click to apply again. If you want more options (after doing this) hit T to open toolbox, and you will see more options (see image below).

Hope this helps and feel free to ask ;)


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Exporting a shape made with modifier:boolean-difference
I have made a new shape, using a boolean modifier. I subtract 1 shape from another, then hide the shape I subtracted & I'm left with the new shape. However. I am left with 2 objects, 1 being hidden, instead if 1 new shape. I want to export the new shape. ???

Click apply then export.

You need to apply the modifier first. Then you will have 1 shape. To do so you can either click Apply on the right in the Properties Tab or if you want to use python you can use bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(apply_as='DATA', modifier='newTray'). But you need the object having the modifier selected for it to work. tray.select = True should do the trick. After that you'll still have to delete the object you subtracted from the other one (in your case trayCutout). To use python it's bpy.ops.object.delete(). Again, for it to work you need to select it first: trayCutout.select = True and deselect the other one tray.select = False.
So we have (if you want to delete trayCutout, otherwise you'll have to leave the last three lines out):
tray.select = True
bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(apply_as='DATA', modifier='newTray')
trayCutout.select = True
tray.select = False
bpy.ops.object.delete()

Thanks for the quick response, but I don't see any mention of Boolean nor Difference and I'm not able to follow your lead here. Can you flesh this instruction out a bit ?

My mistake was in trying the export an stl file. With the 'Tray' selected, an 3ds file exports beautifully. Thanks to palkonimo.

You should accept one of the answers so that everybody knows your issue is solved (click the check mark next to the answer)


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Is a domed plane possible?
So I'm trying to create a new icon, and I've managed to use curves to successfully create the object in a 2D sense, but I want to be able to give it a domed appearance. I know I could extrude and bevel, but the sides will be pushed out and it will make the image seem like its a marshmallow. If I extrude and scale, the separate parts of the plane will scale based off of the cursors location. Heres a screenshot of the plane:

I want this face to be domed. How can I do this?

Could you post a blend file to: http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com? I'll try to make it.

Depends on the topology. Care to upload, as LukeD suggested?

Yes, but it may be tricky to get a stack of modifiers that will work well for you modifiers. Here's an example with a simple target shape made with 2D Bezier curves getting warped in 3D space by a Lattice modifier:

The mesh created by the bezier object isn't going to play will with deformations, but the Remesh modifier will. But that won't work on something flat, so you need to use Solidify first. Give it a small thickness if you want the end result to still seem flat.
Depending on your shape, Remesh may need a larger Octree Depth, and sharpness tweaking.
Next, to fix the smooth shading around the edges, I added an EdgeSplit - the default options should work well.
Finally, the deform is done with a Lattice. If you aren't familiar with using a Lattice to deform objects, these are a little out of date, but still accurate: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Tutorials/Modifiers/Lattice/Shaping_a_Fork
If you don't need the level of control the Lattice gives you, you could also try the Cast modifier (with an Empty as the center of the virtual sphere it is being cast to):


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Boolean modifier cannot be executed error
I'm trying to create a background for a friend with his username, so I've created two text objects, and given them meshes. I hope to make some pretty cool semi-transparent materials for them. However, some of the materials for the objects' perimeter shows through from under the front and back surfaces. I understand the Boolean modifier can perform a "negative extrusion" so to speak on the area in which the two objects intersect, but when I select carve, I get a warning saying that the modifier cannot be executed. Can anyone tell me how to correct this?

please add at least a screenshot of your setup (edit the question, add the image with the relevant editor button), so that we can understand it...

Your mesh is open, and that is when the Boolean modifier will start to complain. You have to close the mesh. When you mentioned that parts of the mesh are showing through, it proves that your mesh is open. To fix this, you should redo the whole process, perhaps with a less complex font to make sure weird things do not happen to your mesh (that is if you are using another font apart from the default). Hope this helped!

Okay. I managed to figure it out. Thanks man.


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How do I make my layers appear in a certain orientation?
Okay, so I am working on this little pet project just for fun. It's a wallpaper for my friend with his gamertag. My problem, is that I can't seem to find the right node orientation/ settings to get his tag to appear in FRONT of the shockwave. Everything I try won't help, and it still looks like it's either between the red and purple, or behind both. Anyone got any ideas?

That link actually gave me exactly what I wanted. Thanks for that!


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Noise texture node is not available
I am creating a shockwave similar to that in a youtube tutorial, and I want to make it multiple colors (Purple and red), but it seems the noise texture node is not available in compositing, which is EXACTLY what I need.

Shockwave tutorial:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWNLOjw5HYc&t=1829s
However, since it's not at my disposal, I need another way of getting this result. Anyone know how to do this? Or, if there  is a way to get access to the noise texture itself, I'd appreciate that as well. Anything helps. Thanks!

If I am understanding what you say, you could set up a second render layer with a plane facing the camera, with an emissive shader with its color mapped to a noise texture, render that and the use that render layer in compositing, do note that this will only produce "2D" noise, not exactly sure why you need noise in the compositor.

Possible duplicate of Particular nodes are missing from node editor

I'll give that a shot. Basically, I'm hoping to add noise in the compositor so that I can have two different colors within this shockwave.

check the bottom of the frame you captured, he is not editing the Composition nodes, he is just adding the noise texture to the material so the strands would have color variation.

I understand that, and that is also what I am trying to achieve. Unfortunately, the noise texture node is not available in compositor, so I need another way to achieve this.

What I'm saying is that you don't need the compositor. You need to add the noise in the Material Node Editor


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How do I transfer only single vertex groups between objects?
I have two identical models and want to transfer a single vertex group from one of them to the other. I do NOT want to transfer all of the vertex groups, just a single one out of the list.  Is this possible?

Select object where you'd like the vertex group to copy to. You don't need to create empty vertex group there as it will be added automatically, still it's possible to do for testing purposes.
With this object still selected,  Shift + RMB to select object which has original vertex group.
Choose Copy Vertex Group entry from drop-down menu. The thing is that you should select mesh with vertex group to be copied last.

This way transfers all the groups from original object (selected last) to the desired one (selected first). So it's handy but won't work as expected if more than one group is being copied.

I tried this to copy a single group as in the question title, but it replaces all groups. If you hover mouse over "Copy vertex group to selected" the tooltip says "Replace vertex groups of select" which is hardly a "Copy Single" and more of a "Replace All".

There are several ways to do so. The recommended one is by using Transfer Weights operator:

First select the source object, then select target object by holding Shift.
Switch to Weight Paint mode, find Transfer Weights button from Weight Tools panel in the tool tab.
In F6 panel, set Vertex Mapping method to Topology. Then set the source/target layer as expected, and Mix Mode if needed.

P.S.:

The operator will automatically create a new vertex group for you if there is no vertex groups on target object.
The operation will transfer all vertex weights, including zero-weight data. To fix it, press Clean button in Weight Tools panel, keep the Limit value as default 0.000.

I see. Then see my updated answer. :)

Duplicate the model with many vertex groups. Keystroke Shift-D. Let us name the new object Mesh02.
Delete the undesired vertex groups from Mesh02.  Vertex Groups can be deleted or added freely.  Mesh02 now has the desired vertex group of your choice.
You have stated your models are identical.


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Why can't I apply an Empty's rotation?
I’m following a tutorial which has got me using images, imported via the use of Empties.
I start with a new project, deleting the default cube and adding an Empty of type ‘Image’.
I open the Empty’s image, and it appears, lying flat in the XY plane. I apply a rotation of 90 degrees about the X axis. The image is now ‘standing up’ in the XZ plane.
I could very happily leave things as they are, but my inner neat-freak wants to apply this rotation.
With the Empty selected, I press CTRL-A and select ‘Apply Rotation’. I’m expecting the Empty to keep displaying the image in the XZ plane, but for its rotation values in the Transform panel to be zeroed out. Its rotation values are, indeed, now all zero, but the image lies back down in the XY plane.
If I add, say, a Cylinder primitive, it’s orientation doesn’t change when I apply its rotation.
There’s clearly something about the logic of Empties and the way they behave which I’m not understanding. What am I missing?
Thank You in advance to anyone who can throw some light on this.

Empties only store position, rotation, and scale. You are thinking of them as if they are mesh objects, but they are just the transform component of objects, and thus, you cannot apply rotation and get the result that you are expecting.


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Cannot continue my model because of unexplained angles in the X Y and Z orientations
Hey everyone (something happened to my account so had to ask this question again),
I'm very new to Blender and i'm learning a lot through tutorials. I have come to a part where I cannot continue because the orientation of my X Y and Z is completely off for some reason. In every orientation (Normal, Local, Global), it doesnt seem to align to the right path my vertices and edges have. This way I cannot move my edges and vertices around without them crooking to the left, or down. I have tried looking at other posts and problems on Google too, but I cannot find it and I also don't know how to describe this problem to be honest because I am so new to Blender. Now it seems like I cannot even individually pick a vertice or edge without moving the entire thumb.

How can I make the X Y and Z orientation back to the default settings so i can move my vertices and edges in the right direction?
How can I tell Blender I want to move around vertices and edges without moving the entire thumb or object around?

I have attached an image here.
Thank you in advance, if I could fix this problem, and understand this for the next time, it would help me incredibly.

It looks like the object is placed in such a way that default axes don't suit your needs. One way would be to align view to the mesh like here - http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/38487/1245. Another way would be to create custom transform orientation and move / extrude verts/faces along it.

@zeffii Yeah for some reason, Google Chrome didn't let me registrate with the un-registrated account I asked the question with, so I had to create a new account because I like to be registrated onto this forum to learn more about this problem and this program. I don't know how to delete the question of the un-registrated account so I wanted to ask this question again with my real newly made account. I know it is an almost exact duplicate... Really, I'm trying my best...

@Kelli Don't worry, we can have a Mod remove it for you.

@kelli it's OK. it'll get cleared up.

Try to change the transform orientation type to Global (in your case it is set to Normal).

You may also add a custom transformation for precise axes set up. Press Ctrl+Alt+Space and name it in the Transform Orientations panel of the Properties Shelf (N). In my case I filled the edge loop with a face (F) to set up the axes along its normal. Then added a custom transformation, deleted the face (X-->Faces) and extruded the edge loop along local Z axis (pressed E, then Z twice).

If the entire thumb moves while transforming it means, that you've enabled the proportional editing. Disable it.


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My UV map isn't wiring Properly with my normal direction
I'm a bit of an amateur in Blender, but I'm making a mockup LEGO box for a school project, and I can't seem to figure out why my image texture is showing up on the inside panels on my box. Only two panels seem to be at fault. The box has a solidify modifier, but doesn't have any real depth, which is why I set it up this way.
My normals are all facing outwards, and my UV map seems to be set up correctly.
Here is a link to some screens from within blender.
https://i.sstatic.net/nLXxM.jpg
This may not be the correct method of doing this, if that is the case I'll figure out a different method.

You need to add a "UV Map Node" and connect it to the "Vector" of your image texture. While in the "Node Editor" Press "Shift + A" and find the "UV Map Node" under the "Input category.

Also, make sure that you have selected your image in the UV Editor.
Try this simple node set up.

I added that node in, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

Try this simple node set up:
[UV Map] to “Vector” of [Image Texture] > [Image texture] “Color” to [Diffuse BSDF] “Color” >
[Diffuse BSDF] “BSDF” to [Mix Shader] “Shader” [Glossy BSDF] "BSDF" to [Mix Shader] “Shader” > [Mix Shader] “Shader” to [Material Output] “Surface".
(I will upload an image as soon as I can)

Like this? The image is now back on both sides of the box. http://imgur.com/a/6UMvj

Yes. Although, unless something has changed you can only put a texture on one side of a mesh (You see it in the 3D viewport but it wont Render on both sides).


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Procedural texture is stretching
I have this procedural texture which creates a little camouflage pattern, but it appears to be stretching on the hull of the plane.
Here is the node setup, super simple.

And here is the issue. You can see the texture looks good on the sphere and the wings, but not on the hull or the vertical stabilizer...
I did initially stretch a cube to start modelling the hull, but I have tried applying scale to no benefit. Am I missing a node or step here?

It seems to me you will not cope with the UV edition

What do you mean UV edition?

add a texture coordinates node and connect the Output Object to the vector input of Noise

Bounding Box Size
I may guess is caused by a different bounding box size between the objects.
When there is no vector input in a texture node, Blender automatically use Generated coordinate type. As stated by the Blender manual page:

Automatically-generated texture coordinates from the vertex positions of the mesh without deformation, keeping them sticking to the surface under animation. Range from 0.0 to 1. 0 over the bounding box of the undeformed mesh.

The hull certenly looks less tall than long, causing a "compression" of the values upon the Z-axis.

See in the image above the different mapping caused by a different bounding box's size.

And here you can see the values that the noise texture is passing to the Voronoi node. Notice how the mapping range is the same (0,1) but as is placed on object who has different sizes, the results don't match.

That's not probably your case, but remember that each kind of geometry is taken in to account for bonding box calculations, even loose vertices:

If you would like to spread the texture homogeneously upon the objects, I would suggest to use a Object Texture coordinate instead, maybe pointong not to the object itself (changing its scale would affect the texture size too) but to an Empty like in the example below:

Awesome, thank you. I did not realize that it was based on the bounding box size. I applied the texture coordinate node using an empty like you suggested, and it worked as I had originally intended. Thanks for the informative and detailed answer!

Thanks a lot, Carlo! Exsctly what I was looking for and after all kinds of UV hints I luckily came across your perfectly explained answer!!


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Way to apply height data into Displace modifier (or equivalent transformation) on a plane
I am quite knowledgeable on Python, but not so much on Blender. And I have no experience on Python scripting (although eager to learn). My problem is that I have some raw data of height from which I want to build a 3D model.
I have thought of two main alternatives

Make a Blender script that reads the raw data and changes the Z value of vertices
Convert the raw data into a Z-height Blender-friendly format

1. Blender Script
Well, it intimidates me a little bit. I have not found a way of accessing the vertices with a sane ordering, and I feel like I will be doing a very ad-hoc thing. However, maybe I haven't look enough at it. I would be delighted to find some similar example, but I have been unable to find it.
2. Blender-friendly format
I thought that maybe using an intermediate representation is a good thing. The data can be reused by other people and adapted. It seems to be resolution agnostic, which is a good thing.
My first approach was using a "Float" TIFF (supported by Pillow). But Blender seems to dislike it (it doesn't seem to read non-colour formats). My raw data is float, so I would prefer to use it. I know that I can use instead a 8-bit grayscale, but this is not enough information for my purposes. 16-bit would be meh-okay --I am ready to settle with that. Which formats would be nice for Blender? OpenEXR seems to be powerful but there is a lack of export tools --I am doing the raw-data conversion from Python scripts.

Sorry if this seems a two-in-one question. But my genuine problem is the one at the top, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts in my two different approaches. Though I hadn't got much far in any of them... :(

If you want to convert height data into a 3D surface, take a look at the answers in http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/27933/creating-a-large-landscape-with-accurately-varied-elevations

@EdTate all the answers seem to rely on images. I fail to choose a image format with enough data information in it. Any suggestion on a sensible format choice?

If not enough information, means not enough resolution in the image, then if 16 bits is enough resolution, you might try using your data to generate a 16 bit grey scale tiff in python - see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7247371/python-and-16-bit-tiff, then use the displacement modifier.

@EdTate "Blender seems to dislike it (it doesn't seem to read non-colour formats)." it seems to apply also to integer 16bit tiff. I have tested some tiff variations, and Blender keeps on considering all "strange" TIFF as RGB space and messing it up completely. But, there is a workaround...

Use a RGB TIFF
Ok, it is a tricky solution, and I am not sure the behaviour of the "Fields" checkbox. But it seems to yield reasonable result with my testing toy data. The idea is using the commonly used displace modifier. But, as I could not come up with a friendly format, I use a regular RGB to work in Blender.
The workflow is the following:

Adapt the raw data into a 24 bit resolution (integer), and partition it in three bytes. The idea is that (0, 0, 0) is the lowest, (255, 255, 255) the highest, and the following trivial conditions are assured:

(0, 0, 255) < (0, 1, 0)
(0, 255, 0) < (1, 0, 0)

Save the previous 24 bit into a RGB channel TIFF. The data is a bit strange, but as a matter of fact, you have 24-bit of "information" per pixel.
Make the typical plane > displace > image > etc. in Blender, and activate the checkbox of "Fields".
If I'm not mistaken, you have now a height-mapped 24-bit resolution thanks to the RGB 8-bit per channel TIFF.

Edit: Now I'm trying this with real data, and it seems to fail (the height is veeery noisy, so it seems that I have misunderstood the "Use fields" option, which I cannot find in the documentation. For now, I will use 8 bits of data. Which I am not very happy with.


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Why is my model pink?
I have a model which was in cycles. When I shifted it to Blender Render it became pink. When I render it the color is fine but in object mode and edit mode it is pink. Someone help. It has no textures applied on it and I made a new material for it in Blender Render. Help...


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How to fold cloth
I'm trying to fold cloth around a table to created a fitted look. I found someone who asked a question about pinning cloth to an object, which seems to do what I want, but there is a key difference; I need to do it with multiple objects.
The way I see it in my head, I would parent the cloth's corners to the object, and then move the objects into the location I need them in to fold the cloth how I want. Does anyone know how to do either this, or an easier way to fold cloth? Any help is appreciated!
Link to related question:
Pin cloth to model

Did you try vertex groups? And give a screenshot of what you want to do.

The cloth object can have multiple hooks setup, each linked to a different object. Unless you are animating the cloth being folded, you don't need the sim to fold some clothing. Just model it as if it was folded.

You can do it by modeling a cube to a narrow bar and give it a collision physics and put the cloth above it with a cloth simulation. Play the animation select the perfect frame apply the modifier .Move it where ever you want .

In the future, it would be best to add a .blend file or to be more specific about your objectives. In lieu of this, here is a quick script that does folding and then unfolding of cloth. Hopefully you can build upon this for your own needs. I am using Blender 2.82a. Quick summary of the script:

Removes starting cube and creates a supporting plane to go under the cloth.
Creates the cloth via a plane and subdividing, and adds cloth modifier.
Creates an armature, and assigns a vertex group to a designated index. (Unfortunately, finding desired vertex indices is sometimes challenging, and to start I refer you to this question. The code is also somewhat delicate in that re-arranging some of the lines of code will lead to undesired results even if it seems harmless.)
Assigns keyframes to the armature so that it will make a fold, and then an unfold because why not?

The script:
import bpy
from mathutils import Vector

def clear_scene():
    # Get rid of the starting cube..
    bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    bpy.data.objects['Cube'].select_set(True)
    bpy.ops.object.delete()

def make_supporting_plane():
    # Make an underlying plane to support cloth, with high cloth_friction.
    bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_plane_add(size=6, location=(0, 0, 0))
    #bpy.ops.transform.resize(value=(6.0, 6.0, 6.0))
    bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='COLLISION')
    bpy.context.object.collision.cloth_friction = 50

def make_cloth_and_arm():
    # Add the cloth. Tune the number of cuts for cloth detail.
    bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_plane_add(size=3, location=(0, 0, 0.1))
    bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
    bpy.ops.mesh.subdivide(number_cuts=20)
    bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
    bpy.ops.object.modifier_add(type='CLOTH')

    # Turn on collisions an increase the quality of the steps.
    cloth = bpy.data.objects["Plane.001"]
    cloth.modifiers["Cloth"].settings.quality = 10
    cloth.modifiers["Cloth"].collision_settings.collision_quality = 5
    cloth.modifiers["Cloth"].collision_settings.use_self_collision = True

    # Add armature, and make it the parent of the cloth. Creating the
    # armature 'deselects' cloth, so re-select cloth (in addition to armature).
    bpy.ops.object.armature_add(enter_editmode=False, location=(0, 0, 0))
    arm = bpy.context.object
    cloth.select_set(True)

    # The arm must be the active object if it is the parent (else it's the child).
    bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = arm
    bpy.ops.object.parent_set(type='ARMATURE_NAME')

    # Hard-code a vertex index to see which ones to pin. Look in edit mode.
    bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = cloth
    vertices_to_pin = [1]
    cloth_vgroup = cloth.vertex_groups.new(name='Pinned')
    cloth_vgroup.add(vertices_to_pin, 1.0, 'ADD')
    cloth.modifiers["Cloth"].settings.vertex_group_mass = cloth_vgroup.name

    # The modifier must be at the TOP of the modifier stack (over cloth)!
    for _ in range(3):
        bpy.ops.object.modifier_move_up(modifier="Armature")

    # Need this to make armature move the vertices. But I'm not sure why it works. :)
    arm_group = bpy.context.object.vertex_groups["Bone"]
    arm_group.add(vertices_to_pin, 1.0, 'ADD')
    return (cloth, arm)

def animate(cloth, arm):
    # Select items, enter Pose mode.
    arm.select_set(True)
    bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = arm
    bpy.ops.object.posemode_toggle()

    # Adjust keyframes of armature, which will move it along with cloth vertices.
    frames = [0, 30, 90, 120, 130, 160, 220, 250]
    bone = arm.pose.bones['Bone']
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[0])
    bone.location += Vector((0, 1, 0))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[1])
    bone.location += Vector((-2, 0, -2))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[2])
    bone.location += Vector((0, -1, 0))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[3])
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[4]) # pause 10 frames
    bone.location += Vector((0, 1, 0))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[5])
    bone.location += Vector((2, 0, 2))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[6])
    bone.location += Vector((0, -1, 0))
    bone.keyframe_insert("location", frame=frames[7])

    # Back to Object mode.
    bpy.ops.object.posemode_toggle()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    clear_scene()
    make_supporting_plane()
    cloth, arm = make_cloth_and_arm()
    animate(cloth, arm)

If the script is in test.py, then run blender -P test.py from the command line. Upon opening Blender, I click the cloth and bake the simulation. Then, I click "play," I see this in my screen recording:

Hope this helps!

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


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Unable to adjust weight paints
So I'm working on a character I want to animate, and the eyes and hair are being manipulated by my arm bones. I have gone into weight paint mode and tried to erase the weights on the eyes. This did not seem to fix it. I tried again in wireframe mode to make sure I didn't miss any of the geography, and that still didn't work. Is there a way to see which vertex groups are affecting the area in question?
Here is the character both before and after posing:

its more noticeable with the hair, but its essentially the same issue.

maybe this answer will help: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/145042/leftover-vertices-after-parenting-to-bone-mouth-eyeballs-not-rigged/145065#145065


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Can't select (Most) of my armature
So I have an interesting situation I have been unable to find an answer for anywhere. I recently started working on a character for an animation. I am ready to start animating, but for some strange reason, I can only select 1-2 of the bones in the armature, in any mode (pose, object, edit, etc.). The "A" command works no problem, but I'm not wanting to select all the bones. Has anyone else come across a situation such as this? One thing I will point out is that occasionally I will see  one bone with a thicker black outline than the others. Idk if this has anything to do with it, but here is a screenshot showing what I mean:

The bone in question is the one at the base of the spine, which also happens to be one of the few bones I can select. Any input would be appreciated!

So I went and updated my Blender Version, and it seems to have solved my problem (Heads up to anybody who sees this, 2.8 is close to being stabilized, so if you haven't already, update your version).


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Extrude and Bevel problems with SVG Curves
Alright, so I'm working on a background using a 2D logo I've created for myself in Illustrator. Ive decided that for starters, I want to turn the logo into a 3D object, with each path beveled on the sides. I can import/ extrude the .svg no problem, but when I reach the beveling part, I come across two problems; the curves corners get stretched out of proportion increase the bevel to where I want it to be, and the bevel itself has artifacts in those same areas. Here are screenshots before and after beveling:

Is there a way to make the bevel dig into the model itself, rather than add more volume to the curve? Also, is there any other way to clean up the corner artifacts aside from manually?

Possible duplicate of Extrude and bevel an imported svg curve

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/51327/bevelling-concave-curve-part-results-in-buggy-mesh/


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Cant edit in edit mode?
So I'm on Blender 2.8, and I'm having the weirdest problem right now. I select an object and go into edit mode, but the wireframe doesn't appear, and I can't actually edit anything! There are some times where i can't select the object directly in object mode, and actually need to select it in the hierarchy too. I suspect this is an issue with either the collections or layers, because I tried the "m" shortcut and was thrown off when it asked about collections instead of layers. Anyone know how to help?

Please show your problem as a Blender screen capture. Make sure no vertices are hidden.  Show your outliner window.  Show the Visiblity settings for the object.  Use the panel on the left to have your cursor go into select mode. Circle Select. Box Select. Blender Outliner can also show Layers.

I guess overlays are turned off. Check in the top right of your 3D viewport (by default) and make sure following icon is blue:

Manual link: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/editors/3dview/display/overlays.html


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Make an object Always face the camera, and always be upright?
So I'm planning a new portfolio piece, and for it to turn out how I want, I need some help with constraints. There is going to be a star that always faces the camera, and that much I figured out. The problem is I want the star to always be right side up from the cameras POV, so I think there needs to be an additional rotation constraint as well. I don't know how to go about it though. Advice?

What is your setup like? Have you parented the camera to the star? This will both make the object always face the camera, as well as move with it (including rotation).

Are you trying to lock cam to object and limit rotation to single axis of object at same time?

Hi Christopher, I tried parenting the camera to the star, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. More or less, I just want the star to orient itself to appear right side up in the camera's view, no matter what position the camera is in.
And Timaroberts, I think that might be what I'm looking to do. How would I go about setting that up?

One way to do this is with constraints. Namely the damped track and limit rotation constraints.
Here is how to do it:
First select your object and add a constraint, choose damped tracked from the drop down. In many cases, the axis will be -Z and in this case, our target will be the camera object.

Next, add a limit rotation, and tick both axes you wish to lock or limit. Here, I have ticked  the X and Y axes thus disabling them, permitting the star to only rotate around the Z axis as it tracks the camera. This of course can be arranged however you need for your specific scene.

This is the result:

Locked Track Constraint

Locked Track Constraint
Setup Suzanne  akin to a compass needle via the locked track constraint. Suzanne faces the camera (To -Y) and can only rotate on the Z axis (Lock)

If I understand correctly, you want your star to behave as a "billboard". There are lots of tutorials out there, one for example here: https://www.blendernation.com/2019/04/27/how-to-properly-billboard-sprites-particles-in-blender/
This tutorial shows essentially the method also described by @batFINGER, using the "locked track"-constraint.

Imagine this is the track to constraint... could you please flesh this out in answer. Link only answers often get removed in review.

My answer is essentially a link to a tutorial describing the method you also posted as your answer with the "locked track" constraint. Mainly I wanted to bring up the "billboard"-keyword, so OP has a better lead for searching further instructions.

Thanks for the help everyone! Ultimately, it wound up being a combination of Tima and Batfinger's solutions. I applied both to the star. I also added a track to constraint on the camera, targeting an empty that was a child of the star It turned out beautifully! Thank you both!

@haarigertroll Ok,I  need to look it up too lol, assumed it was the full monty track to


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Best way to unwrap angle without stretching?
I guess I'm doing something worng, which others ways it may be unwrapped?

if I dont add this seams it would be very streaked, if I do than my UV overlaps.

You just need another seam along the edge where that quad is attached (it becomes its own island), or along the "long" quads' attached edges. The bottom line: more seams = less distortion (good), more islands (bad).

Solved by adding this triangle part to other part of UV. If you have any recommendations would be happy to see them.

Would have done it in exactly the same way. Good use of the UV space and no stretching. Depending on the model and its purpose, that's more important than having fewer cuts.


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Blender Operation Success or Failure Feedback?
Sometimes when I try to apply an operation in Blender (e.g. Mesh > Faces > Tris to Quads) nothing seems to happen (similar to here). I wonder whether I selected the correct operation, or what else I might be doing incorrectly.
Is there a way to see any feedback on the success or failure of an operation? I'm used to software (such as Rhino), that puts useful messages in the command line after each operation like "3 meshes joined" or error messages explaining why the operation failed.

@DuaneDibbley, thanks for the tip. I'll put other problems in separate questions. I'm really interested in finding out whether I can get instantaneous success/failure feedback from Blender.

F6 (operator properties)
Operators may still be active, if you press F6 after noticing a seemingly 'no-op' operator you can get a chance to tweak parameters.

Info Panel (Operator reporting)
As a rule you will get some kind of confirmation that an operator has completed, you could drop down the Info panel to see any output printed by the operator.

Terminal / Console
For more verbose messages sometimes operators print to the Command window, on windows this can be opened while Blender is running ( Window > Toggle System Console). On osx or linux Blender needs to be started from a terminal to get the print-outs.
Windows users be warned
Don't close the Console window manually using the X, that will close Blender. To close the System Console, click the menu item at Window > Toggle System Console again -- that will toggle the console off.

Thanks zeffii, that is exactly what I wanted! By the way, what software did you use to create that GIF? I think the use of a GIF to demonstrate how to open the Info Panel was very appropriate.

@MechtEngineer I used GifCam for windows - that's the original site (disclaimer, this is not an endorsement...etc).


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Why does the Remesh Modifier change object outer dimensions?
I am trying to use the Remesh Modifier to reduce the number of polygons in a hemisphere shape (and simultaneously convert the tris to quads), as shown in the Blender page on the topic here. Note how the outer dimensions of the cone stay roughly constant as the Octree Depth increases (Original on left, then increasing Octree Depth from left to right).

However, when I try to use it, it drastically changes the outer dimensions of the hemisphere, such that it only keeps the top section of the hemisphere, as shown in the series of images below. Note how the hemisphere height decreases as the Octree Depth decreases.

Why is this?
Note: I am using Blender v2.66 (released 2013), which may be the cause.

The problem is resolved by using a closed hemisphere mesh (below left), rather than an open hemisphere mesh (below right).

Using a fully enclosed mesh, the remesh tool retains the outer dimensions of the geometry (without shrinking the input shape) as the Octree Depth is decreased.

Perhaps in future I will close the geometry, apply the Remesh Modifier, and then remove the plane that closes the geometry after the modifier is applied.


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pose bone drivers through python
Background: I am trying to do a animation of the deformation of a thin sheet, that has its motion at each point that is modeled as a sin wave (something like z = A*sin(freq*t + phi), where A and phi are the amplitude and phase offset of each point, and t is time.  Much like water wave simulation, but I do need to be able to set each point amplitude and phase precisely.  I modelled the surface as your standard grid, but with two planes so it is a sheet.  I then added an armature with a bone for each point ( I tried shapekeys, but bones seemed to be easier), and also added a driver for each pose bone. I can access the drivers through Python with code like the following
obj = bpy.data.objects['Armature']   # the armature my model is
drivers = obj.animation_data.drivers
for d in drivers:
    d.driver.expression = "%f *sin(frame / %f + %f)" % (amp, frame_div, phi)

However, then problem I have no idea which driver applies to which pose bone. The driver data structure seems to give no indication which bone it is driving.  I assumed the order in which I added the drivers is the same as the order of the bones, and this cam close but some seemed off.
So, the basic problem is, how do you know which driver applies to which pose bone, in Python?
Alternatively, is there a better way to do what I am trying to accomplish, without using bones/drivers?

You might try this:
import bpy

obj = bpy.data.objects['Armature']

#get pose_bone
pb = obj.pose.bones['Bone']
#add drivers
driver_loc = pb.driver_add('location')
driver_rot = pb.driver_add('rotation_quaternion')

#search for a driver
for d in obj.animation_data.drivers:
    if d.data_path.startswith('pose.bones'):
        id = d.data_path.split('"')[1]
        prop = d.data_path.rsplit('.', 1)[1]
        if id == pb.name and prop == 'location':
            break
else:
   d = None

if d:
    #... settings
    d.driver.expression = your_expr

Thanks!   I will give this a try. I am also thinking about scripting the creation of the armature/bones as well.

pink vertex has a solution.  The core is that driver.data_path tells you what field is being modified.  There's also an array_index which is needed for tuples like location, scale, and rotation_* .
I have an example at http://web.purplefrog.com/~thoth/blender/python-cookbook/driver-fin.html which creates several drivers to animate a waving fin.
I'll include part of it here:
def addDrivers(ao, nSegs, rotor):

    nRotors = len(rotor.pose.bones)-1
    for u in range(0, nSegs+1):
        for r in range(1,3):
            bn = "u=%d r=%d"%(u,r)
            dr = ao.driver_add("pose.bones[\"%s\"].rotation_euler"%bn, 0)
            dr.driver.type = 'AVERAGE'
            var = dr.driver.variables.new()
            var.type = 'TRANSFORMS'
            var.targets[0].id = rotor
            if (r==1):
                ridx = u%nRotors
            else:
                ridx = (u-2 + nRotors)%nRotors
            var.targets[0].bone_target = "rotor %d" % ridx
            var.targets[0].transform_type = 'LOC_Y'

If you're going to use expressions instead of targets (like world/local position/rotation) then your code will be simple like pink vertex wrote.
I used targets because I like to avoid having to enable python in my drivers when I know how to get around it (it's a mathematics machismo thing).


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DupliFrame is deforming the object
I am trying to make a domino movie, but i got stuck while using this dupliframe feature
It keeps on deforming the object!
I thought this is used when you just want the object aligned and oriented along the path, but not deformed...
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Modeling/Objects/Duplication/DupliFrames
I am using blender version 2.71 did the feature changed during the updates or something??

the highlighted mesh is domino shaped mesh an i am trying to duplicate it along the curve without any deformations as the screenshot shows.

Could you show us what you've got so far, and what exactly is wrong with it?

how can i upload the blend file??

@Overnoobed Upload it to pasteall or a host you like, and put the link here.


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Overal dimensions of objects
I've made the model of a table, actually it consists of 3 objects (i need to keep them as separate) is there any way how I can see the overal dimensions (actually I  need to get the height) of all objects that the table consists of ? After selecting objects the panel on the right shows the dimensions of the bigest object one.

Thx.

You could enable edge or face infos in Edit Mode it would display the measures for the selected edges/faces since only one object is active in Edit Mode you can only pick one.
Although you can set Viewport Shading to bounding box there is no option to display the length.

Related:

How to model effectively using exact measurements?
Display bounding box around objects


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How to tell which object uses which animation/action
I have a scene with multiple objects, each potentially using multiple actions.
I want to export the keyframes for each action with my own Python script, but only for the object that uses that action.
I see that each action has a user count, but I can't figure out how it keeps track of which objects use it. I know how to export the keyframes, but I can't find a way to associate actions with only certain objects.
Is this even possible? If not, how do other people deal with this problem?

Actions are globally stored in bpy.data.actions, regardless of scenes.
Every object can reference one and only one action (Object.animation_data.action). Thus, you can't know which actions are made for / compatible with which objects without extra work on the user oder coder side.

User-based solution:Let the user specify which actions are supposed to be exported for which objects, either in a Panel in the export file selector or for every object in the object tab - both are not ideal. The former needs to be re-done every time (unless presets are used), in the latter renaming actions will break it.
Programmatic solution:Check all FCurves' data_paths and see if these properties are available for your object type. This should work reliable to distinguish Armature actions from other more generic ones, as the data paths start with 'pose.bones' for Pose actions.

I went with a combination of those two things.

It's also actually possible to have multiple actions associated with a single object via the NLA editor and the tracks therein. In my exporter, I am using this and muting the NLA tracks for animations that are not currently active.
Here's the routine I use to gather all of the actions from the object and all of it's NLA tracks:
def get_all_actions(obj):
  """Retrieve all actions given a blender object. Includes NLA-actions"""
  if obj.animation_data:
    if obj.animation_data.action:
      yield obj.animation_data.action
    for track in obj.animation_data.nla_tracks:
      for strip in track.strips:
        yield strip.action

Another solution might be to name the action using the name of the target object.
For example, if you want multiple actions for an object named Cube, then name your actions Cube_Action1, Cube_Action2, etc...
Or you might use Action1[Cube], Jump[Cube] etc...
Don't name it Cube.001 because that would clash with a copied object of that name.
In your export script, look through the actions, and then associate them with the object of the same name.


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Normal map baked from multires looks bad (seams and general wrongness)
I'm trying to bake a normal map to a low-poly model with a multires modifier on it (no sculpting, just 3 subdivisions). It seems to work at first, but the final render has obvious seams in the lighting corresponding to the model's UV seams (for example: along the back of the left ear as shown in the picture, and between the fingers). Plus, the shading just looks like hot garbage in general; not at all smooth like I would expect. Why?

Here's the blend file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ijba9uxtwuaq3dt/normalMapFailure.blend?dl=0
To reproduce my images, just Bake the normals again, then render the model. The image, texture, and multires should be set up already.
I've gotten the same results in Blender 2.66 and 2.73.
Edit: I get much better results if I make a copy of the object and Bake "selected to active" instead of "from Multires", so I think the major problem is not related to the UVs.

From my (limited) experience with normal maps on extremely low poly models, this is about what you can expect..

That model should bake fine, the poly count is on the low end of ideal.  It's the UV coordinates that are causing the biggest problem here.  I'll post something later today.  It's already started,  but for now, I have some things to do elsewhere. :)

@gandalf3, I found that normal map texture needs to have dynamic range 16bit, not 8bit. Then it will work for very small changes with an underlying low poly model.

problem #1 is that there are not enough seams.  If you can't make the UV islands out of real paper and still be able to wrap it around a real model; then you are going to have problems trying to do this with computer art.
The texture will be stretched to the point where some parts of it will have a high resolution and some parts may be low enough that all you will see in that area are pixelated artifacts.

After adding a texture, you can change the type for visualization purposes.  The texture for the next few steps is a checker texture that allows you to see if the UV's are mapping to the model well.

It's a good idea to repeatedly toggle the SubDivide UV's option for the generative modifier to make sure nothing weird is going on here.  OpenSubD is supposed to correct this issue but it has not been implemented yet. ;)
Also, you can toggle the modifiers visibility on and off to look for potential problems that should be corrected.
In the following .gif animation, there is some minor distortion when the modifier's settings are toggled.

If you see any obvious stretching when toggling a Sub-Division modifier, you can sometimes correct this by adding a control loop near the area that is being affected.
The following animation shows the difference before and after a control loop is added to the wrist area.

The ears have no seams along the sharp edges which flow along a curve.  This area will be distorted.

Uv islands should have at least a few pixels between them and if you zoom the UV Image Editor in and out, you should be able to see a clear distinction between the UV Islands for all distances that the model may be viewed at.
If the edges appear to be in the same place visually, then texture Mip-Mapping will shows artifacts along the seams when the model is zoomed in and out of the 3D Viewport.
The various UV Islands will bleed color into one another at the seams.  Normal maps will exaggerate these errors.
A Margin of 0.01 is a good place to start.  This factor depends on how many Islands there are and how big the texture is and the models position relative to the view position, scale, etc...

There are settings for both Blender Internal and Cycles that must be set when using normal maps. In BI, the Image Sampling Normal Field must be set.  In Cycles, the texture node should be changed to Non-Color.  The normal map will look broken if you forget this step.

Here's the final result.(Right-click the image and choose 'View Image' to see the larger version.)

The following link shows a turntable animation hosted on Vimeo.  (I get an invalid certificate warning from this link.  Vimeo should be safe I think?, could be a mistake)
https://vimeo.com/123225350
Here is the .blend file.  http://www.pasteall.org/blend/35226
And some further reading on the topic.  How can I bake textures on uneven goemetry without tearing and stretching

Your final picture/video shows exactly what I want, but I just can't reproduce it on my own... Seems like you've posted a lot of good tips on doing this well, but I feel like there's still something fundamental about the workflow that I'm not getting. Is it possible without using Cycles and object-space maps?

The above shows Blender Internal(GLSL mode).  Maybe the .blend file I posted was set to Cycles because I tend to switch between the two frequently when baking.
What texture resolution are you baking at?  I used 4096x4096.   I usually scale them down after the bake to about 1024x or 2048x.

I'm using a 4096x4096. I figured that would negate any problems with my bad UV unwrapping.

There are many tools for editing the UV's. The following video from the CGmasters website is helpful.  They call it 'UV-Unfolding' http://www.cgmasters.net/free-tutorials/uv-unfolding-blender/  .

There are a dozen+ distinct tools for UV mapping available in Blender.
It's like the 3D Viewport Edit Mesh tools.  Uv's work the same way.  You model them as part of your model with the same care that you would use for altering the 3D mesh components.  They are just as important and many of the tools are directly connected to Edit Mesh tools.  Look for tool options that mention UV's, they bridge both modes.  You can model the UV's directly at the same time that you build the 3D mesh components but with only one operation often required.

Even using your UVs I get bad results. I'm not convinced UVs are the answer.

Alright, now we have something to work with.  Re-post the updated .blend file and give it an iterative name like 'name_PASS2.blend'.  I'll have a look through it and see if there is something I naturally do but forgot to mention.


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Converting Blender Internal Textures to Cycles
i have looked around the internet, and even on this site, but the answers seemed to not work with me yet.
I have a Blender Internal texture like this

And a Cycles Render like this

The first image has the correct texture i want to use, but the second image has the realistic metal material i need. Is there a way to transfer either of these two textures, (The suit, or the metal texture) into either of each others rendering engines?
Is there a clear tutorial anyone can link me to or an explanation of how to do this?

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13610/convert-materials-from-cycles-to-blender-internal-render , http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/364/how-do-i-convert-materials-from-blender-internal-to-cycles

Now ... what you want to do is render this robot arm in Cycle engine or Blender internal Engine? Need to be clear about that.

Look at the top picture, specifically the texture of the suit. Now look at the bottom picture, specifically the metal material texture. I want both of these to be in the same scene. However, I am not even sure if it is possible to retain the blender internal suit texture while in cycles, or vice versa for the metal material.

Use the python script here:
How do I convert materials from Blender Internal to Cycles?
it should help you convert the BI materials to Cycles.
Hope this helps!


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When texture painting, black line is pixelated when viewed up close
I've just started to get into Texture Painting, and I've started one for a model I've made. Now I need to add black lines onto the mesh in places that make the model resemble a 3D outlined character. However, as I started painting the black lines, they came out pixelated as I stroke them. Is this an issue of the map dimensions? Where I would have to greatly increase the size of it in order to have clean lines up close? Please help.

Sounds like the UV map of the part you're trying to paint doesn't have enough area on the map.

Okay, I'm going to try and make a map specifically for the head instead of having just one for the entire mesh.

I don't know, It seems like it's still pixelated, maybe it has to do with anti-aliasing?

What size is the image, and what is the curve on the brush?

Right now it's 4K 4096 x 4096 dimensions, and the curve is the first preset.

Check the stroke settings for your brush, it looks like a dots stroke. Maybe you have spacing or jitter turned.

I would suggest giving the area where you need detail more real estate on the UV map. If that isn't enough, increase the size of the image. You can always bake down to a smaller image and a different UV map later.

I know this answer is actually not painting per se, but have you thought about using a second uv mapping and setting it to the standard all faces mapped to the one image - and then you can use a single square image with a colored border and then bake the texture to the previous uv mapped blank texture. Every face will get this outline then, but then it will be transferred to your painting image.


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Creating a leaf material that shows transparency from UV image (Blender Internal)
I've run into a complication when creating one of the trees for a location. I am not sure how to really ask this question without this picture:

As you can see I have a UV leaf texture that I want to apply to the rectangular generated leaves from the tree. When I put this into the texture tab it shows the leaf in the rendering, but keeps the white space that fills the rest of the rectangular shape.
Is there a way to eliminate this white space between the leaf and the edge of the rectangles to have it look like there are leaves on the tree?
Thank you for any help and suggestions.

I guess so, same problem so yeah.

Either use these material notes. Or use blenders addon that imports images as planes and enabling transparency on the left


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How to rig a 3D arm to the footage of my real arm in movie.
Hello I have only been using blender for a little while but I have a project I want to work on. I have created a 3D model of my real arm in blender in a rock form. I want to be able to capture my arm on video and have the 3d model move with my motion and also change from my real skin to the rock form almost like beast in x-men. I think it's simple but that I'm not doing something correct. Please help me. Thank You.

or use video tracking...

can you do Motion tacking with just a dslr camera

All the motion tracking will be happening in Blender, so you could technically do it with a Logitech webcam.

you just need an up-to-date Blender.

Okay so after taking to footage of the film how to a make this real arm turn to this animation?


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Setting Shader via BGL
How to set up a shader in bgl ?
Thats what I've so far:
shaderVert = 0
shaderFrag = 0

shaderProgramVert = 0
shaderProgramFrag = 0

def __init__(self):

    if(self.__class__.shaderVert == 0 or self.__class__.shaderFrag == 0):
        bgl.glShaderSource(self.__class__.shaderVert, shaderVertString)
        bgl.glShaderSource(self.__class__.shaderFrag, shaderFragString)

        bgl.glCompileShader(self.__class__.shaderVert)
        bgl.glCompileShader(self.__class__.shaderFrag)

        self.__class__.shaderProgramVert = bgl.glCreateShader(bgl.GL_VERTEX_SHADER)
        self.__class__.shaderProgramFrag = bgl.glCreateShader(bgl.GL_FRAGMENT_SHADER)

        bgl.glAttachShader(self.__class__.shaderProgramVert, self.__class__.shaderVert)
        bgl.glAttachShader(self.__class__.shaderProgramFrag, self.__class__.shaderFrag)

        bgl.glLinkProgram(self.__class__.shaderProgramVert)
        bgl.glLinkProgram(self.__class__.shaderProgramFrag)

        print("Shader sucessfully compiled and linked")

#

    bgl.glUseProgram(self.__class__.shaderProgramVert)
    bgl.glUseProgram(self.__class__.shaderProgramFrag)

But how can I set Uniforms in bgl ?
Didn't found anything...

noOne out there with any idea ?

Geometry-Shader-using-OpenGL-Wrapper  does that help? if it does please write out an answer that uses it, else I will.