text:
How do I get an input for the UV Map of the Normal Map node?
I have a Normal Map node inside a group. I can't know in advance what the name of the UV Map to use might be. How do I supply this to the node?
What I have:

What I need:

Hello ! I don't think you can. You may be able to get this functionality with a custom geometry node tree though, would that be satisfying or do you absolutely need a shader-only solution ?

I've never touched other node trees before, so...maybe? Something rather than nothing I guess.


text:
Struggling with file types for animation render
I'd like to render an animation I've designed in F360. The file type is avi which Blender doesn't support ( I don't think)!
I've followed a tutorial and converted the file to mp4 but still can't get it to work.
Is there a way around this?
Any help much appreciated.
Philip.
p.s Bear in mind I'm new to all this so might struggle a bit with trade jargon.

Blender should support both AVI and MP4, not sure what the issue really is

Maybe you should just start by watching an introduction to the VSE like the one from Mikeycal Meyers?

Thanks for your replies, my mistake re the file support. I have gone through the tutorials and managed to open my file in blender.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Animation frames not being rendered repost with screenshot
New to this but I've gone through the process of rendering an animation I made in F360. The result is 800 odd frames in a folder but none have been rendered (takes about 10 seconds!). Is there a setting I've missed?
Thanks
Philip.

Did you render the animation in Fusion 360? This isn't clear in your post.

Yes, sorry if not clear, Fusion 360. It saves as an avi file which I thought might be the problem but according to others Blender is ok with avi.

Just read your question again. No I didn't render in Fusion because I believe you can't render an animation only a motion. Hence trying to render the animation in Blender.

Hi. Please don't ask the same question twice, even if you have new information. You should have used the [edit] button below the original question to add new information.

Apologies I was asked for a screenshot and I did use the edit button to edit the original post but I couldn't see a way of adding an image, is this possible?

Unless I'm being really thick which is quite possible isn't rendering making a cartoon like image much more life like? I have designed a catch which is made up of several parts in F360. I  made an animation of the catch exploding to show how the parts connect with each other,again in F360. At the moment it's like a cartoon animation and I would like to make it life like if possible. From what I can gather this isn't possible in fusion hence trying to render the animation in blender. When I try this I end up with hundreds of frames but they are not rendered. Perhaps it's not possible.

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


text:
F-curve modifier animation - whole values only
Is there a method to have the graph editor only use whole values between key frames? I've tried linear interpolation as to remove any ease in/out.
For example:
I have key frames at frame 1 and 100 that control a modifiers value (also 1-100). When animated at animation frame 50 one would think it should read 50 in the modifier value, but its 49.637 and frame 51 is value 50.963. I'd like the values to only be whole numbers to remove random effects.
So perhaps something that generates stepping in between frames?

I don't think this is possible at the moment - you can add an f-curve modifier to 'step' based on a number of frames but not to step the actual curve value. I think the only way to achieve this would be to animate another property (eg, the location of an empty) and then use a driver to take that value and apply a script command to 'round' it to the specific step size. Also note that your assumption about frame 50 is actually not correct - frame 50 is 49 frames from 1 and 50 frames from 100 - so is not actually in the centre. For 50 to be the centre you need to animate between frame 0 and 100

Sorry, I might not have made it as clear as I was hoping. It's the modifier value and frame number that I'd like to match as whole numbers. Frame 1 = value 1.00, frame 2 = value 2.00, etc. So frame 50 should be value 50.00, but using 2 key frames with it set to linear interpolation doesn't give whole values, ie: frame 50 = 49.637. The only work around at the moment I'm finding is keying each frame manually, which is not something I think is the proper/time efficient method.

It sounds like the best solution for your situation is to use a Generator modifier on the f-curve. This allows you to specifically set a relationship between x (the frame) and y (the value).

In order to have the f-curve follow precice values (eg, to follow exactly to the frame number) you can use f-curve modifiers to generate the values mathematically.
To achieve this, you first need to add a keyframe to your property to create the f-curve and then view the properties in the Graph Editor (N).
In the Modifiers section, click Add Modifier and select Generator.

The Generator allows you to define an equation to assign a value for the f-curve (y) for each frame (x) as a polynomial equation. For a 'straight line' relationship you need a '1st order' polynomial - so set Poly Order to '1'.
For the value to always equal the frame number you need to define it as y = 0 + 1x (ie, `y=x') - so set the first parameter to '0.0' and the second to '1.0'.
By ensuring the parameters are integers the result will be an integer for any integer frame number.
You can use this same technique to generate values for more complicated scenarios - for example, to set only for a particular range of frames (enable 'Restrict Frame Range') or to jump multiple values per frame (eg, y = 0 + 5x would increment the value by '5' for each frame) or to use a higher-level polynomial for non-linear relationships.

This works!!! :D Thank you!


text:
Amature slowing down after separating and recombining in a single Armature multiple times
I’ve been having this problem recently where I’m working on an Armature where I would separate a Bone and later recombine it to make the rigging easier.
This is actually the second time that this has happend where in the first my personal speculation is that a Rigify created Armature adds additional data and duplicates some of it as Armatures gets separated and recombined which bogs down the system (scrolling through the Armature’s Object Data is also slow) prompting me to avoid it in the future.
Now that I’m in a similar situation where I’ve gotten really far with my rig so I don’t want to start from scratch again where the rig may have been from a Rigify created Armature which I don’t remember as it was one of the rigs I’ve worked on before and salvaged some of its Bones to improve upon.
I was wondering if there’s a way to purge whatever it is that’s slowing my armature.

Just figured it out.
It really was a Rigify issue. What happens is that it left out some junk Drivers and during the process of separating and recombining, it duplicated until there was too many and it slowed down the Armature.
The fix was to look at the drivers and well… delete them. It kinda took some time for me because simply clicking and showing the driver graph slowed Blender also.


text:
How do I make my game music keep playing between scenes?
I'm making a game where each level has its own scene. When a level is completed it switches to the next scene and restarts the music that's playing. How do I make it so that the music plays continuously between scenes?

Add a manager scene, where stuff should happen independently from other scenes. You can set and remove scenes, but the manager should be kept as it is.
On the manager scene, add an object that receives messages, and each message sets a property named song to a integer number. You know, if a message sensor looking for song_1 message is activated, sets the property song to 1, and so on.
On the same object, make a logic to play each song (on loop stop mode) according to its property number. You know, if property song is 1, play song_1.ogg, and so on.
On each level, make an object send a message at startup to change the song. For example, Always > AND > Message with the subject song_1, and so on according to the level.

If everything went well, when a level restarts and the song is already playing, it shouldn't restart the song, and when the property song changes the object will stop the previous song and start the new one according to the logic.
Using this method of a manager scene also helps to keep everything on only one place, instead of looking for each scene to change the song or whatever.

Sorry I'm a Blender beginner.. how would I make a manager scene?

It's a regular scene, but only named manager, just a convention.


text:
Multilayer OpenExr Postfixes
When I output my renders to Multilayer OpenExr the layers produced are postfixed by various different strings.

What do the postfixes like .[V] mean?
Where can I find out more info about this from the Blender docs?

Blender Output Node

Photoshop Layers

You may want to look at T71574 as a starting point. It will lead you to Reading and Writing Image Files that discusses the conventions for naming layers in OpenEXR; but I don't think there is a single place that documents precisely how the layer naming convention is implemented in Blender.

Interesting. So, the [V] is a layer and all three Matte_* layers are sub-layers. Any idea what the [V] actually stands for? Maybe "View Layer" (but then why isn't Image.RGBA called Image.RGBA.[V]?)?

I've been looking at source code and using search engines but I haven't hit on the right search term yet, so no I don't know what the V is.  I'll let you know if anybody gets back to me.


text:
Counting amount of lines in a text object
How would I go about getting the line count for a text object in Blender using Python?
Example:
Line 1
Line 2

Line count = 2

TextCurve.body

Split the text curve body by a newline. Count the result.
>>> D.objects['Text'].data
bpy.data.curves['Text']

>>> D.curves['Text'].body

'Line 1\nLine 2'

>>> len(D.curves['Text'].body.split("\n"))
2

for overflowing text,

one method to guestimate this would be to set overflowing textbox X size to desired width and Y size to 0. A copy of the object with only one character will have the height of one line.
import bpy
context = bpy.context

text = context.object
copy = text.copy()
font = copy.data = text.data.copy()
font.body = "0"
context.collection.objects.link(copy)
context.scene.update()
print(round(text.dimensions.y / copy.dimensions.y))
bpy.data.objects.remove(copy)

If there is line spacing then two lines will be 2 x line height + line space.  I vaguely recall a more accurate way to calculate font dimension, but have not fount the link.
Related Any idea how to fit text width to screen
Text.lines

Python console code.
>>> D.texts['Text']
bpy.data.texts['Text']

>>> len(D.texts['Text'].lines)
2

>>> for line in D.texts['Text'].lines:
...     line.body
...
'line 1'
'line 2'

I should have been clearer. What I meant was getting the line count of text that is in an text object not from a text file, as I see no way of detecting when Blender decides where line breaks should be (which is affected by the text box width. See: https://i.imgur.com/EHS3W88.png

I guess I could find the Height dimension of a single line and divide that by the Height dimension of the entire text object to get a rough estimate of the line count, but that seems like a dirty way of going about it

Hm.. That seems to work for text that I enter myself with newlines and all, but the text I wanted the line count for is read in from a file. There is only 1 linebreak there, which comes from being a new paragraph. It doesn't seem like Blender inserts "\n" when text is wrapping. I did however get the correct value of linecount by doing this
round(textObject.dimensions[1]/0.1), where the 0.1 comes from checking the width of a single line manually at a given text size. It's not perfect nor pretty, but I guess it works

lol.. "great minds think alike" added to answer before seeing this.


text:
why does the Shortcut assigned to the view roll command not work?
Calling the "view roll" command with the shortcut does not work in Object mode and Edit mode, but it works, for example, in Draw mode.
How to make the shortcut work in all modes?

My shortcut set up in the settings ( 3D View -> 3D View ( Global ) )

These custom shortcuts (Shift+1 and Shift+2) are already assigned to other operators in a few modes. If you want them to do the new function, you need to remove the old function first.

Open the preferences (Edit > Preferences).
Click Keymap.
Switch to Key-Binding search.
Type Shift 1 in the search box.
Remove the Shift+1 bindings other than the one you added by pressing the x button.

Repeat the steps for the Shift+2 binding.

As you can see in the screenshot, the shortcuts are not used in Texture Paint mode which allows your custom shortcuts to work as expected.

I removed all "Shift + 1" Shortcuts except "View Roll", but on pressing Shortcut the command still fails. Am I missing something?
Image List of all Shortcuts when searching by "Shift + 1"

I carried out the steps I listed above and added the shortcuts the same way you did, and they work for me. Do you have Emulate Numpad enabled? You can find it in the preferences under Input > Keyboard. If it's enabled, disable it, and check if that makes the shortcuts work as intended.

I see what the problem is. When I press the combination "Shift + 1", for example, Blender for some reason executes the Hide Collection command, for which the hotkey "1" is set. Strange, why is that?
Anyway, I just deactivated hotkeys "1" and "2" that activate the Hide Collection command and everything worked fine


text:
How to select outermost vertices in a shape like this?
I have a mesh, in the shape of a geographical state, which I created (rather crudely) following these steps:

Keeping an image in the background,
Adding a plane with 1000x1000 subdivision over it
Selecting vertices which overlap the state image manually
Separating them to form a mesh

The end result looks like this:
Object Mode:

Edit mode (Vertices):

My question is: How can I select the outermost vertices to form a plane mesh with the given shape?
I would like to be able to bevel this shape (and others like it) to represent some sort of data in a WebGL application.

De-select all and then select one of the innermost vertices in vertex-select mode. Go to Select > Select Similar > Amount of Adjacent Faces. This will select all vertices with 4 adjacent faces (ie, all those 'inner' vertices).
Next just Select > Invert to invert the selection so you have all the outer vertices (and so Edges) selected.

Not sure if it works here, but might involve less steps to select non manifold

Good spot @DuarteFarrajotaRamos - yes - that seems to work.

lol, Non manifold was the first thing I tried... didn't think it worked, realize now I  just cant see it in solid mode.

Thanks, this does the trick!

Select Boundary Loop.

First, A Select All
Then in 2 Edge select mode,
Select > Select Loops > Select Boundary Loop
At this stage an option is to PS Separate Selected, to make the boundary edge a new object... or

dissolve (or delete) internal verts to end up with one big ngon state
1 Vert select mode,
CtrlI Select > Invert
Then XD Dissolve Vertices.

I tried that option (Boundary Loop) first and it didn't work.... However, I've just re-tried and it appears to work on the current selection - so you have to make sure the whole mesh is selected first.

Cheers will add that.

Thanks, this one works same as the previous answer, wish I could accept both!

@AnuragSrivastava cheers. The elephant in the room is the comment by Duarte, can simply Select > Select by Trait > Non Manifold  Out of curiosity which state is it?

I guess that would be shortest, might try it out. The state is Maharashtra, India

I usually select one of the edges, and use ShiftG,  Select Similar > Amount of Faces Around an Edge.

It's the same as @Rich Sedman's, but using edges, and the other way round.
(Just hit Keyboard 1 to convert the selection to vertices)

Thanks, this does the trick as well


text:
How to add bump
I have model and I want to add the them a bump in cycles and I have this picture

any one know how to add this kind of bump in cycles?

This is normal map. To add it to model you add this as image texture node and output 'color' of image texture plug into 'color' input of Normal Map node and then plug Normal map 'Normal' output into shader 'Normal' input. However your model has to be properly UV unwraped If you are trying to put normal map from different model onto yours, in that case you are going to have hard time.

That's not a Bump map but a Normal map. The goal is similar (adding depth), but they work different.
A Bump map is a grayscale picture, where the black pixels mean "hollow" and the white pixels mean "bump".
A Normal map is a color picture, where each color channel (Red, Green, Blue) mean that the normal of the face is oriented along an axis (X, Y, Z).
In Cycles, you can use it like that :

What if we don't use texture coordinate node?

I think the Texture Coordinate node is only necessary if you haven't unwrapped your object


text:
Animation Problem: Baking an Action creates a bad scaling animation
I have a character that will be animated and then imported into Unity. My method will involve using Rigify and a separate game rig which will copy the Rigify’s Pose. After animating I will only export the character model and the game Armature but not the Rigify rig. The problem is that whenever it bakes the animation it would badly scale the head. To summarize:
Character Model --skinned to–> game rig --copy transformed constrained to deform bones–> Rigify rig
I’ve experimented baking the actions manually (with visual keying of course) before exporting and it's the exact same problem. The only way I could make the game rig get a proper baked animation is when I remove all parenting relations which is a problem because I need the parenting when I import it in Unity.
I experimented again but this time I baked the animation from a rig where all the bones that has no Parent relations (which was baked accurately) instead of the Rigify rig and now it’s still the same problem as the start.

Here the yellow armature that has proper parenting is where I want the action to be bake but it’s head is strangely stretching. The orange armature is how the baked animation should look like which is the armature that has no parenting whatsoever. The legs and arms are a bit off but it’s not that much of a problem.
blendfile
I've already tried a lot of things. At this point I suspect that this is a limitation of Blender where it can't bake animations properly when constraints and scaling of the parents are involved which is often the case with Rigify.

You need to delete all the scale keyframes of the bone called DEF-spine.006.
Also, you've keyframed the scale of several bones that are its parents (neck bones called DEF-spine.005 and DEF-spine.004), so you either need to disable the DEF-spine.006 Inherit Scale option, or you need to delete the scale keyframes of these other bones.
Also, make sure they are all at a scale of 1 (AltS).


text:
Is it possible to loop sound in the speaker?
I'm rendering a scene and using speakers and I want one sound to loop the entire time. Is it possible?

there is no loop. you have to duplicate it over and over.

Open up NLA editor:

Then duplicate sound strip as many times as you want:

You can also render the sound separately and add it later in the video editor, where you can loop it. Just copy the sound strip along your rendered animation.


text:
How to select the farthest point on the x-axis?
I have a lot of these curves in different shapes. Finding the most convex points along the axes by eye is not an option, you need absolute precision.
Maybe someone can suggest a script that would select the most distant point on any axis. Or maybe there is already a built-in command in Blender to do the same thing.
If it would be easier to do the task with Mesh rather than Grease Pencil - you could convert curves to Mesh as well, no problem.

In Edit Mode deselect everything and press ⬆ ShiftF4 to switch to Python Console, then paste the below oneliner:
axis=0; C.area.type = 'VIEW_3D'; max((p for s in C.editable_gpencil_strokes for p in s.points), key=lambda p:abs(p.co[axis])).select = True;
(using inline formatting on purpose because it's a long line)
After pasting and pressing ↩ Enter the view should switch back to Viewport 3D and the furthest point on chosen axis (axis=0 for $x$, axis=1 for $y$, axis=2 for $z$) should be selected:

Argh I'll never understand nested for loops syntax

@Gorgious it seems like it should be reversed to resemble the ordering in a human language, but it's simple when you think in terms of normal loops: for s in C.editable_gpencil_strokes: for p in s.points: - this is how you would normally loop, and you put it in the same order to the comprehension/generator, just without the colons, and at the very start you add the evaluated result for each step (here just p).

Hehe thanks for the explanation. Every time I think I understand but when I stumble upon having to do it from scratch a few months later I always get it wrong. Maybe with this method it'll stick :p

+1 ... but .. is this compression over clarity? Not my area.  I defer to your greater experience. Is there a more readable way of expressing this, though? (A bit rich, from me, I used to script Perl quite a lot)

@RobinBetts it is "compression over clarity", just because it's a shift+f4 technique, could write an operator, or if OP wants to select in all gpencil objects, layers, frames, could loop through them, but for now OP hasn't commented.


text:
Why can't I copy and paste the grease pencil keyframe?
It is in Grease Pencil mode that DopeSheet does not allow you to copy and paste keyframes.
I reset the Keymap settings to factory defaults. I still can't copy and paste. Why?
Blender 3.0.0

Try, instead of copying the frame itself, copying the grease pencil object in edit mode. You should be able to paste it on to the frame you want it.
I am not 100% sure why you can't copy and paste frames, but I suspect it has something to do with the way grease pencil objects are handled by blender.

To paste a keyframe, you need to select a channel to paste it into.
If no channel is selected, there is no place to paste the keyframe:

If one channel is selected, paste the keyframe into that channel:

If two or more channels are selected, paste the keyframe into every selected channel:

I may be missing something here, but to Copy/Paste a grease pencil keyframe in Blender, follow these steps:

Select the layer you are copying/pasting a frame from/onto.
Select the keyframe
Copy (ctrlC) and paste (ctrlP)

Needing to select the layer first is what trips people up. When dealing with multiple layers, Blender needs to know which layer you want to work with.
Hope that helps!


text:
How do I add a shader controller to extend the normal zone?
I set up the shader to render Z normal. I need to somehow add a controller to extend the coverage of Z normals - so that the gradient can be dropped below the border or above the border of zero.

In your current setup, the Z component will vary over the sphere from 1 at the top to -1 at the bottom, so the simplest way will be to simply use a Map Range to vary the output over the desired range :

Simply vary the 'From Min' input from 1 to -1 to vary the extent of the gradient.


text:
How to toggle Keyframe after by hot key? ( Grease Pencil )
I want to quickly switch between the values 1 and 0 in a Keyframe after by hot key. How to assign a hot key to these actions? Just write a script?

Set your custom keyboard shortcut like this:

Key points

When setting toggle shortcuts use wm.context_toggle

When it pertains to the active object use active_object. Then you want to edit the data of the object, which is data and the attribute can be copied from onion skinning tab, which is ghost_after_range
The result is active_object.data.ghost_after_range you need to enter in Context attribute field

If you add it under 3D View (Global) the keyboard shortcut will trigger it in all 3D View modes.


text:
What is the name of vertex with five edges?
I am interested in professional terminology for this kind of vertex - from which the five edges come.

They are called Poles. Any vertex that is connected to 3, 5 or more edges is called a Pole.


text:
Is this all lips position for creating shape keys for lips rigging?
I'm wondering how many shape keys you need to create for lip rigging. So far it seemed to me that shape keys are enough for all positions of the lips indicated in the picture. Are there any other lip poses in which to create shape keys?

P.S. - I want to get a face rig that is not inferior in quality to Rain with Blender Cloud. ( video preview of rig )

This one is missing :-/ And will the shapekeys work with an open mouth like :D? Or the opposite?

I guess it completely depends on your storyboard. Also maybe it would be better to use bones, but again it depends on several criterias

No, it's not.  For pronouncing letters, you need many different positions.  You can find a sample chart for simplified English here, for example.
In addition, people don't always move their lips in a symmetric fashion.  Harrison Ford's famous grin from Indiana Jones involves one side of his mouth being higher than the other.  This sort of asymmetry helps gives each character a unique personality.

Yes, "Contempt is what you feel when someone fails to meet your standards". It's the only facial expression that is one-sided.

@Blunder there are a lot of one sided facial expressions. "lop sided grin" isn't always an expression of contempt, either.  Ford used it in four or five different ways, coupled with his eye expressions to give different readings.

Sorry, I meant contempt is the only asymmetrical of the 7 basic emotions and their facial expressions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). Of course, not every facial expression is symmetrical ;-)


text:
Are there people who are able to understand the architecture of a rig of cartoon characters form Sprite Fright?
Are there people who are able to understand the architecture of a rig of cartoon characters form Sprite Fright blender movie which are available at Blender Studio?
Except for those who created this rig

Of course there are.  They fall into (at least) three categories:

The people at Blender Studio who created the rigs.
The people in or out of Blender Studio who are Blender Cloud (now Blender Studio) subscribers and have taken the time to watch the excellent videos and read the excellent blog posts by the Blender Studio Team, especially the "Learn to rig like the Blender Studio" blog post -- which I believe is only available to subscribers.
People who like to reverse engineer rigging and have done so with these rigs.


text:
How Vertex Weight Angle modifier actually work?
At first I hoped that this modifier would allow me to easily and dynamically change the weight group data of Grease Pencil, but I still did not understand how this modifier works, and the description in the manual did not help me at all. Also, I did not find any tutorials or other descriptions about this modifier on the Internet.
Help me understand how this modifier works. Better with an example.

I also asked this question, but it seems I found a solution and therefore I will share it.

Make Vertex Group in GP object and assign points into it.
To GP object add Vertex Weight Angle Modifier and Thickness Modifier for example.
In the Vertex Weight Angle Modifier choose your vertex group in Vertex Group field.
In the Thickness Modifier enhance Thickness Factor to 3 or above.
Open section Influence and choose your vertex group.
Change or animate Angle in the Vertex Weight Angle Modifier.


text:
How to quickly add an arrow to the end of Grease Pencil Stroke?
I'm creating an infographic project in Blender and need to quickly create Grease pencil pointer lines. I'm mainly concerned with the arrows at the end of lines, for now I just have to draw them.
But maybe there is some modifier or advanced way to draw some elements at the end of Grease pencil line?


text:
How to make an object move along a Grease Pencil curved line?
I need an object that will move along a Grease Pencil curve to use it for procedural weight generation.

why don't you use an ordinary (not visible) curve?

If you already have a grease pencil object, you can duplicate it, convert to curve and then add a constraint Follow Path to the object.


text:
INT prefix denotes bones which are used as Source in Copy Transform Constraint for DEF bones?
I understand that every rig and every studio is free to come up with and use prefixes as they please. But there are still common prefixes that most use the same.
If the INT prefix is widespread and is used in most cases the same - do I understand its meaning correctly?
INT prefix denotes bones which are used as Source in Copy Transform Constraint for DEF bones?

You are probably aware of this answer  -- it contains a list of the most common prefixes and their meaning and uses.  But in this case I have to ask if you have a typo in your question.  JNT is a common prefix but I've not seen INT used.  Did you definitely mean the I and not a J?

@MartyFouts I definitely mean "I"


text:
How can I quickly and accurately find out if a bone is being used in any driver?
I am studying different rigs and I would like to somehow quickly check whether the selected bone is used in some driver about which I do not yet know.

The quickest way might be the Drivers Editor. Open sidebar (N-Panel) and select tab Drivers. Deactivate 'Show Only Selected' in header and expand all channels.
When a driver is clicked the targetbone is displayed in Sidebar > Driver > Bone. This must be done for each driver to see all bones. Not really sexy, I think.

Let's do it with python.
In posemode the script shows all drivers for the active bone:
Armature:Bone.001
used by: Cube (scale)
used by: Sphere (location)
In object and editmode all bones used by drivers are displayed for selected and not hidden objects:
Armature:Bone (LOC_X,WORLD_SPACE) used by 'Cube' (scale)
Armature:Bone.001 (LOC_X,WORLD_SPACE) used by 'Sphere' (location)
Armature:Bone.001 (ROT_X,LOCAL_SPACE) used by 'Armature.001' (pose.bones["Bone"].location)
import bpy

def find_drivers(sel):
    objs = []
    for obj in sel:
        try:
            obj.animation_data.drivers
        except:
            pass
        else:
            objs.append(obj)
    return objs

if not bpy.context.mode == 'POSE':
    sel = bpy.context.selected_objects      # selected + not hidden objects
    objs = find_drivers(sel)
    driver_list =[]
    for obj in objs:
        for drv in obj.animation_data.drivers:
            if drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0].id.type == 'ARMATURE':
                obj_transform = drv.data_path
                armature = drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0].id.name
                bone = drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0].bone_target
                transform = drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0].transform_type
                space = drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0].transform_space
                driver_list.append("%s:%s (%s,%s) used by '%s' (%s)" % (armature, bone, transform, space, obj.name, obj_transform))

else:
    arm = bpy.context.active_object
    bone = bpy.context.active_pose_bone
    driver_list = ["%s:%s" % (arm.name, bone.name)]
    sel = bpy.data.objects
    objs = find_drivers(sel)
    for obj in objs:
        for drv in obj.animation_data.drivers:
            var = drv.driver.variables[0].targets[0]
            if var.id.name == arm.name and var.bone_target == bone.name:
                driver_list.append(" used by: %s (%s)" % (obj.name,drv.data_path))

# print list
print("+++ searching drivers +++")
for item in driver_list:
    print(item)


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understanding prefixes for bone name
STL, STR, ORG, Tan etc. - What do all these prefixes mean? Is there a complete list of them with a decoding and description of their meaning?

Hello and welcome. Please don't post the same question more than once. If have further details please add them to your previous post by editing it, rather than post a new one, otherwise see What should I do if no one answers my question?

There is no set of rules prefixes follow. It's up to the rigger. You will need to ask the guy who created the names.


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What does a black and white texture look like after converting it to vectors?
Is my guess that I showed in the picture below correct?
If not, what's the best way to represent a group of vectors emerging from a black and white texture?

I just want to point out that Color doesn't give you black and white... Fac will give you black and white, Color will give you random colors (in shaders, not sure if in gn as well)

what's the best way to represent a group of vectors emerging from a black and white texture?

Shader

Geo

Result

as you can see in this simple setup, your assumption is wrong.
Color is RGB -> so if you plug this in a vector it gets xyz.
Noise give us a value from 0 to 1 (and looks like that it is a different for each rgb/xyz). And as this test shows:

And here the same test, but just setting absolute positions:

With this node setup you can see, from which position in grid the position will be change to the noise position.

Now I see vectors from Texture like this - https://ibb.co/FbdL3vk
Am I closer to the truth?)

Almost. x, y and z have all different values for each point.

It seems that in my drawing I wanted to show this - that each point has RGB info that converted into XYZ info ( i.e. vector ) when translated into a vector.
It's just that the black and white texture has points with vector where X=Y=Z. Is it so?

This is true, if you take the fac value (which is just a float). But if you take the color value, it is different for x, y and z. And in your provided image in the question, you took the color value. so...it is different as i wrote in my answer.


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What should rotation vectors look like?
I instantiate cones along Grid mesh and add offset by noise texture.
I'm wondering what these rotation vectors look like. I can't figure out what they look like.

It is not a vector, it is regular Euler rotation angles. I believe that you are familiar with them:

Only difference, that they in radians, not in degrees. You can use them, for example, to rotate instances
For example, this setup rotates cones according to the face normals, and Align Euler to Vector is used to convert normal vector to rotation triple.

What does it mean to have Rotation socket unconnected in the Align Euler to Vector node? What is the default value which is being rotated by the node according to the face normal vector? What can you connect here except the output of another Align Euler to Vector node (which looks like cyclic)?


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What can be used instead Attribute Sample Texture node in Geometry Nodes?
I wanted to go through this tutorial, but at the very beginning it turns out that I simply do not have an Attribute Sample Texture node.
I use Blender 3.0.
Maybe this node was replaced with some new one, or is there an alternative way to reproduce the effect of this node?

I understand exactly what you mean, and it's actually not easy to keep track of. But this overview here can at least help you understand how the nodes have changed over the versions and what replacements there are for a particular node: Can't find the node! Which node is available in which Blender version?

Since that tutorial was made, the  Geometry Nodes system has radically changed. It now uses 'Fields', which are evaluated and interpolated at every requested coordinate of a given space, rather like shader nodes.
Given a vector-space, a texture node is now implicitly sampled at the relevant points , when an evaluation is asked of it:

Here, the Wave Texture node is evaluated at the 'Positions' (Equivalent to 'Object' Texture Coordinates in shader nodes) of the subdivided input Geometry, automatically interpolated between its vertices. (The Position input node is actually optional, here, it is the default.)
If you prefer learning from videos, I would suggest, at least to start with, you seek out the ones made after 'Fields' were introduced.

Hey @robinbetts what is a better way to learn GN if not from videos?  I would love to find a "Geonodes for Idiots" kind of resource if there is one that you can recommend.

Hi @glen_candle ! I have to confess I've learned a lot of mine by reverse-engineering. I've started off with a general knowledge of transformations, coordinate-spaces, and an assumption of what Blender means by a 'field'. (A set of scalar or vector values  calculated at every point in space, sometimes linearly interpolated between samples) 3D procedural shader textures help with imagining those. Then I read the manual. Then, a node doesn't do what I expect :). Then I make the simplest possible trees I can, to find out what it does do.

ha that's basically what I do as well, but geonodes is making me feel very dumb lately because just as soon as I think I get it, I can't seem to get anything done without another tutorial nudging me along ;)

@glen_candle. I believe (hope)  GN still has a long way to go? So I wouldn't get too tangled up in the details, yet, unless it's for a problem you need to solve for yourself. Erindale, Entagma, good video sources, IMO. And of course.. Get stuck, and ask here.

I've stumbled on the same thing. The pace of Geometry Nodes breaking changes since their inception has made a lot of training resources obsolete.
I've not found a clear and up to date introduction material, so after trial and errors, I think I've come up with the correct modern way of doing a simple displacement map like in the mentioned tutorial. Tested on Blender version 3.3 (current LTS) and 3.4.
Robin Betts' proposed answer is a good pointer to the Fields feature, but I wanted to provide an updated way of doing the same effect as in the tutorial, maybe it can be useful to others.
The simplest solution I came up with:

Explanation:

Now that the Attribute Sample Texture node is gone, you have to use the Noise Texture node (a specialized texture sampling with embedded noise controls).

No need to create a new attribute like in the video (noise), just pass along the Factor (Fac) float value.
No need to assign a source vector, default texture coordinates are used
The Scale parameter directly controls the strength of the displacement

Create a new Vector with only the Z component with the Combine XYZ node
Add this vector to the Position node

The Position node means the geometry attribute that is named position
Which geometry's attribute is evaluated in context of the current geometry flow (i.e. the grid mesh)

Use the Set position node to update the source geometry's (i.e. the grid mesh) position

I can't provide a full updated tutorial, but if you want the same kind of animation as he does, you probably want something like that:


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How to use External option in Texture painting?
How to use this part in texture painting? I pressed "quick edit", I was transferred to a separate graphics editor - Photoshop - where I painted the texture. What's next? How to project what is drawn?

1- Choosing the resolution of the projected image - "Screen Grab image"
2- Select the desired angle in the viewport
3- Click "Quick Edit"
4- it throws us into the program for 2D editing (important - check that the path to "Image Editor". Path - Preferences > File Paths > Applications > Image Editor). We draw and edit the image any way we want, then (importantly) we merge everything into one layer and save it.
5- Then in Blender press the "Apply" button.


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Volume object create artifacts in Eevee render
Volume for some reason turns white on the render. And also this white artifact on the left, as if I forgot to hide some object, but there is nothing there.
Volume Shader

I don't have a background in the form of an object, only the world shader.

floor with a mask so that it disappears around the edges

Viewport Eevee

Render Eevee


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How to get solid shadows cast from obstacles?
I need clear shadows from the blinds on my character. There are some shadows, but they are very scattered, which, of course, do not seem to exist.

What I've already tried:
1 - Move the blinds point-blank to the character so that the light does not have time to scatter along the way
2 - dripped in the light source settings
3 - Set up different types of light (Sun, point, area, etc.)
4 - Work with the blinds material and drip into its settings
5 - Climbed in render settings
6 - Climbed in object settings

You don't talk about your light settings, it should work if you decrease the light Radius value (or Angle value for the sun), if it still doesn't work maybe share your file? (put a simple cube instead of your character) https://pasteall.org/blend/

I already figured out the problem, thanks) decrease the light Radius value -  it helped me)

this parameter should have been set to 0


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How snap PlayHead to start or end of strip in NLA Editor?
How snap PlayHead to start or end of strip in NLA Editor?

Using PgUp and PgDn will cycle through the beginning and end of strips.

This not working. I have unchanged hotkeys, I looked in the settings what is assigned to "page up" and "page down". There are only two commands that have nothing to do with working with the timeline.

Sorry, I was thinking of the video editor. I don't think there's a way to snap the playhead, but if you select the strip and press the Numpad . , it will focus on the current strip and you can click the start of the clip


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How to move greated texture?
How to move created gradient without customizing Texture Gradients from which created gradient created?

Find the texture coordinate node within your tree (it may be helpful to expand out the node groups) and attach a Mapping node.  This allows you to translate and rotate your coordinate space.

Attach the same mapping node to both locations of textures from which you created your Final Texture.

I merged my answer into yours


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How to make a shader that shows the direction of the normals relative to another object?
We need a shader so that normals that look towards a third-party object color the mesh in white or its gradation.

subtract from empty position your current position (Texture Coordinate: Object). Normalize if you want the normal normalized. That's it.

Not sure it would be 100% correct,
but looks like the layer weight node would be what you need.
If you need an object's normals other than the camera to "track point" to another object, you should use an attribute node and that formula to match it.
Hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for the post. This site is not a regular forum, answers should be substantial, stand on their own, and thoroughly explain the solution and required steps. One liners and short tips rarely make for a good answer. If you can, [edit] your post and provide some more details about the procedure and how it works, perhaps add a few images illustrating some steps and final result. See How to write a good answer?, otherwise it may be converted to a comment.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
How to collect the normal vectors and the vector of another object at one point to evaluate Dot product?
It is necessary to collect the normal vectors and the position vector of the third-party object at one point and perform the operation Dot product.
How can I do that?

What do you mean with "collect at one point"? This makes no sense for direction vectors like normals. What is the white vector? Please be more precise.

I do not know if I understand your question correctly, but maybe this is what you want: You want the dot product of the face normals of an object and the position of a different object like an empty for example, and this inside the Shader Editor?
In this example I have a material on Suzanne where I calculate the dot product of the face normals to the position of an empty:

Depending on what you want to achieve it might be necessary to Normalize the vectors:


text:
How to create a fake light of this type when the normals that are directed to the light object?
I'm looking for roughly the same result.
( in the example I'm spinning the big sphere along with the small sphere ( which represents the fake light ) around the big sphere's origin. )

I think the algorithm below might work, but I don't understand how to implement it in Shader Graph.
The point is to take the Light source pos vector in the Vertex space of each vertex of the mesh and normalize it. Then calculate Dot product.

You can do this by using two texture corrdinates and using the object coordinates of the light for one of them. Then simply Vector Math: Dot Product.

Note: There is a  small problem with this setup which I haven't been able to identify the solution to. The gradient isn't perfect. It reaches 1 too early. So like if you use a color ramp after this. it probably won't work.

Here you can see that the approach and distance of the "light source" changes the gradient. It is necessary that the gradient does not change.
https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNGFxMHJseW1nYTBheWRxMXRkeHdzN3h1d3V5M2N3ZGlxM2UwMjF5MCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/mRBKPZjYvSLLQ0YPZF/giphy.gif
Here I showed one of the options that should work, but I don't know how to implement it. Might be worth thinking along those lines.
https://i.sstatic.net/kRSby.png

There is also an option to take the texture coordinates of the object, isolate one of the axes through XYZ Separate and simply twist the texture coordinates of the objects somehow so that the isolated axis always looks towards the "Light source", turning in its direction when it is moved.


text:
how to rotate the normal map so that it always looks at one of the axes on the controller object?
Like this. It should work like this in the end.

You can align Euler to Vector in geonodes:

And then use it in the shader to rotate normals:

It may look confusing with Suzanne, so here's the same setup with a sphere:


text:
How to make a semicircle in place of the face?
How to make a semicircle in place of the face? This operation must be performed on an existing meshes while in edit mode.
Preferably without addons, but if you can't do it without them, suggest an addon that will help

You can bevel the 2 opposite edges with Ctrl+B. If it needs to be taller you can first extrude the face with E

I need a clear semi-circle, not an uneven semi-circle

ok but why do you need to begin with a cube? can't you cut off half o a cylinder and extrude down? please tell a bit more about your purpose

The cube is just an example of a hopeless situation. In practice, for example, I make a robot or some mechanism. I need to do a given operation. And to do it with mathematical precision, not so that I can do everything by eye with a bevel.

The option is that I create a semicircle separately, cutting off half of the cylinder, and then merge what I get into the main mesh, in which I want to replace one fez with a semicircle. Then I still have to substitute this semicircle by eye.
This is just crazy, there must be a better, faster, more convenient way

Blender is not a CAD, so it has another logic. I would work the other way around, begin with a cylinder. If you already have a cuboid and don't want to restart from scratch, create a cylinder, scale it to the good size and join. But maybe I miss a smarter way to do it.

You can use B bevel, on edges, as @moonboots has described, for an exact semicircle.
If 'Clamp Overlap' is set, and 'Shape' is 0.5, and you deliberately overdo it, the result is a semicircle. (You'll need an M > Merge > By Distance to remove the vertices which meet at the middle)

Here 'Snap' is set to 'Vertex' and 'Active'. If your extrusion is not on a convenient axis, you'll have to create a Custom Orientation from the top face, and with that orientation active, work in its Z. ( EZ for the extrusion, GZ to slide back to base)

We can use Edge > Extrude ( Spin option ) command.
YouTube vide for illustration of this method - https://youtu.be/2GoIiLlatkQ

nice, please describe the steps in your answer  ;)


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How to create this kind of rig system? When Ctrl bone bend column of DEF bones
The Ctrl bone should bend the column of the DEF bones.
Are there any ready-made solutions on how to make such a rig?

AFAIK - no - you have to rig it manually - maybe you wanna change your question to...how can i rig...?

Since your prerequisite isn't exact, i assumed that only the upper and lower bones should bend, not the middle ones. Because your middle bones have all equal length in your sketch.
So create 5 bones likes this:

Bone.R2 has a stretch to constraint to Bone.R1:

Bone.R1 has a copy location of Controller like this:

Controller is locked like this, so it just moves on y

No bone has any parent.
The lower bones have the same constraints as the upper bones, just with different targets.
result:


text:
How to keep mixamo animation only in some parts like hands, feet or another parts?
When I imported mixamo animation, how to keep mixamo animation only in some parts like hands, feet or another parts? And remove all the other parts animation.

You can delete specific keyframes for a bone in the Timeline to stop a part of your model moving but that's going to cause problems because its overall location is going to change as the rest of the model moves. So to answer your question the answer has to be "No"!

Thank you for the help!


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Copy and pasted items won’t show up in the scene
I have a nature Scene in one blend file and an animation and a couple other meshes in another blend file. When I try to copy and paste this over into the main scene the items pasted pop up appears however non of the items appear. What can I do to fix this? Thank you!

Hi. Do the pasted objects show up in the outliner? Are the origin points of the pasted items compatible with where you want them in the scene? Or, are the pasted objects at a location that you need to move around in the viewport to find them? If the latter, just move the objects to where you want them in the scene.

The pasted object do not show up in the outliner. I’ve been copy and pasting the items back and forth to work on the animation without lag, and sadly on the final time it would no longer paste. and they’re not in the viewport.

Is the Copy Attribute addon enabled? Or use the File > Append operation instead?

Hey I finally got it because of you thank you so much


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I want to attach 2 handed Sword to my rig in blender
I want to attach 2 handed Sword to my Rig
so I was looking for a Tutorials and I found this article Here
it works but the issue that I face that I want the hands static to the sword while moving
the IK controller on both Hands the left and the right and when I curve the sword it will curve both hands I am kind of new to blender I was messing with the IK and the parent but
I didn't achieve my goal
like this example

My issue

I want to mine to be like the example that I provide
(Sorry for my English if you don't understand me)

To me, it looks like the hands-to-sword bones system works as intended, but the hands are moving additively. I suspect the issue comes from your IK setup, it looks like the hands bones still inherits rotations from the arm. Please share your file so that we can check your setup and provide an adapted answer.


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Duplicate the results of fallen objects
I'm working on creating a randomizing process to make different sculptural compositions.  I have created a few abstract shaped (they are the shaped selected). Then I have created a box with some walls inside, the box will not be part of the sculpture it is just there to hold the abstract shapes. I have added gravity to the abstract shapes and place the objects above the box, then I press play to have the objects fall into the box, the box is stationary. I would like to then duplicate the results of the shapes without the box to create many different sculpture ideas or different ways the abstract shapes could fit together. When I select the abstract pieces after they have fallen into the box and try to duplicate them, they duplicate into their original position before they fell. Is there a way to duplicate the results of the fallen abstract pieces. Thanks for your help. Hopefully this wasn’t too confusing.
The photo is of the abstract shapes floating above the box before they fall into in.

there is no photo...

Before duplicating your object, select the object, choose object->rigid body->apply transformation, then delete the rigid body and then copy it.


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When subdividing holes appeared, how do you prevent this/ is there a way to fill them all at once?
Holes in Mesh, when using Subdivision Surface Modifier
tried options in this but they haven't worked, could this be because we have polygons not quads

Select all in Edit mode and press M > Merge by Distance before subdividing

Merging the vertices or using the weld modifier should fix the issue.
If that doesn't work, recalculate the normals.

Please consider that beginners come to this site for help. It would improve the answer if you would explain how to merge vertices or recalculate the normals.


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Cylces is casting shadows on the doughnut but not on the plane
Shadows are being cast on a plane in the Eevee, but not in Cylces.

That's starnge - when i open up your .blend file, i can see shadows on the plane both in EEVEE and in cycles. SO it seems not to be an issue with your scene but with your graphics card?

Your plane has overlapping faces, it creates Z Fighting, you need to select all in Edit mode and merge by distance


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Using imported model created by photogrammetry as a reference to create other model
Would it be possible to have a transparent textured model created by using photogrammetry in the "background" to use as a reference while making a regular 3D model? What would be the best way to go about it?

That's actually a common technique called Retopology: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/36525/how-to-easily-make-mesh-retopology

@brockmann The photogrammetry mesh is not very good, it had reflective surface and there is a lot of distortion, I mostly want it only as a reference for dimensions, not so much the shape.

You could just move the object behind your actual object, a duplicate to the side and a duplicate to the top or bottom and just use it like a normal picture reference in isometric view.
If what you want it to build another object overlapping the reference but not have it getting in the way then you can activate the selection filter on the ouliner:

If you turn off the arrow on an object it will no longer be selectable in the viewport and it makes it easier to work around it.

You can also play around with the display setting to make the object transparent while you work around it.

The Backface Culling option also removes the view of the Interior faces making it cleaner :

Depending on the object you are using it might just be easier to not touch any of these setting and just build stuff around it anyways


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Rigged 2D characters not animated when rendering the scene
I have made those 2D puppets with grease pencil objects, and animated them. It works perfectly fine in 3D view. But when I start rendering the scene, some of the puppets appear in there T pose without any movement... while others are animated as they should be. I really don't know what I did wrong here, so I'd be so grateful if anyone can help me with this !
This is in 3D view

And this is when I try to render the animation... the guys on the left stay frozen in T pose while the one on the right moves correctly

Did you accidentally hide their Armature modifiers in render? The camera button over the modifier would be dark in that case.

Thank you for your awnser. No I checked that already, The camera buttons are all active !

Ho no in fact you were right sorry ! I just didn't know how to reach the armature modifier in the hierarchy ! Thank you so much !

Answered via comment: Did you accidentally hide their Armature modifiers in render? The camera button over the modifier would be dark in that case.


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Arrays: Different image texture
I've been looking around a little but could not find a definitive answer for this:
Can I setup my nodes in a way that allows for randomly selecting one out of multiple image textures using an array?
I am modeling a race track and would like to randomly choose different ads for the hoardings.

You can set the Pass Index in Object Properties -> Relations to a different number for each Mesh and then use the Object Info -> Object Index node and then use a collection Mix Shaders using the that as the Factor. This will end up a big mess the more Image Textures you want to include. The Object Index can be Math->Multiplied with Object Info -> Random to get more randomness. Python for setting the Pass Index https://blenderartists.org/t/object-index-not-working/637448/4

Even better example using random Pass Index http://blog.gregzaal.com/2013/07/28/cif-3-object-index/

Thanks! Have to look into this, looks very interesting..

You can use an array as a particle emitter, as shown here, which lets you treat a particle system as if it was an array (of the emitting objects) The your 'array' could all be different shapes and sizes, if you wanted.

Thank you, great idea!

You cant set a different texture for array's duplicates.
However, you can shift their UVs:

As you can see here, I have a texture of 1/3 ratio. Each third has a different pattern.
My array is set to make three different duplicates, and to shift their UVs of a third (1/3= 0,333...) on the V axis.
The result is quite usable.
All you have to do is a texture file containing your different textures aligned on one axis, adapt your UV to one area of the picture, and set your array's number of duplicates and U/V offset accordingly.

I thought about what others had done with the Pass Index and then threw it all out the window and tried with plain Random.
Cleaner version of Nodes further down.
I created it as Node Group so I could experiment. Here there are 5 different Image Texture nodes connected to Diffuse BSDF Shaders and each Shader is attached to a Mix Shader.

The Random value coming in has a value between 0.0 - 1.0. The framed logic picks out five ranges and uses them to determine the Image Texture shown (0.0 - 0.2 is explicit).
The Mix Shaders are controlled by Boolean logic. The Greater Than and Less Than Math Nodes output 1 for True and 0 for False. The Minimum Math Nodes act as And gate and only let 1 through when both inputs are 1.
Outside the Node Group I am simply pumping in the Object -> Random

And the Result.

It is a bit over the top and to extend it will require tweaking the values to match the number of images required.
Cleaner version of Nodes.
And an even cleaner way or structuring those Nodes, reducing unnecessary Nodes. Uses Colours, but an Shader can be used.

Truth table

Small blog post I did on it.
random blender textures through the magic of logic gates

Awesome, thank you!


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How Bpy.ops.mesh differs from bmesh ops
I know that Bmesh is a standalone module and bpy is an application module. But still why we have mesh related operations under bpy i.e bpy.ops.mesh , if we have bmesh? I need deep insight.
Thanks

Operators are for users, BMesh is for scripts
Pretty much all Blender's functions that you use in the UI must have their operators. This is just how Blender works. The UI is defined with Python and there must be a way to edit meshes from the UI so bpy operators exist. Mesh operators are better designed to be used by a human user. For example, they often require interactive user input. They are not designed with usage from scripts as the main goal.
BMesh is a tool for programmatically accessing Blender's internal modelling functionality. It is created for coding, flexibility, efficiency and speed of scripts manipulating meshes. When scripting and programing you usually want to do more with geometry than it would make sense for a UI user. BMesh is supposed to be for that. It is designed to access Blender's modelling functionality programmatically from a script as opposed to by a user.

Makes sense, Thank you!

In addition to what @Martin Z said, bpy.ops.mesh predates the introduction of BMesh in Blender. Most of the operators were already in blender, and continued to function in much the same way, even though internally in the C code they have been updated to take advantage of the BMesh data structures. Thus for reasons of script compatibility it makes sense to keep them where they were in the API.


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Change nodes position through scripts
I'm Creating some nodes through python script. The problem is that all the nodes are overlapping each over. I just wanna programatically re position those nodes. How to do this?
 imgtx1 = nodes.new('ShaderNodeTexImage')
 imgtx2 = nodes.new('ShaderNodeTexImage')

Just consider these 2 nodes as of now. Thanks in advance!

Every node has it's own size/location properties that are accessible in the node itself.
import bpy
from mathutils import Vector

imgtx1 = nodes.new('ShaderNodeTexImage')
imgtx2 = nodes.new('ShaderNodeTexImage')

#location
imgtx1.location = Vector((200.0, 400.0))

#or
imgtx2.location.x = 100
imgtx2.location.y = 200

#size
# only width changes are allowed within the values of
# node.bl_width_min and node.bl_width_max
imgtx2.width = 200
imgtx2.width_hidden = 100

This is really helpful! Thanks a lot! @Secrop

If I use newmat.location = Vector(500,100) I get NameError: name 'Vector' is not defined. newmat.location.x = -200 works though.

@edna, you need to import mathutils... I'll correct the answer.

Thanks for updating. In 2.80 I found that I don't need it actually. imgtx2.location = -300, 150 works fine.


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Rendered Animation only 2 seconds even though i set it to last 10 seconds

The animation always stops 2 seconds in, even though I had set it so that the walk cycle would last 10 seconds via the nla editor. I'm very new and noobish to blender so I am not sure what is going on or if there's something I am missing or why it's not showing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You need to set your inpoint and outpoint in the timeline to match your nla editor clip. Your outpoint is currently 24 frames, which, unless you changed the settings, should be one second. If your animation needs to be ten seconds, your outpoint should be at 240 frames.

Thank you so much. This worked. Pretty simple now that I think about it ahah.

Belleif is right. and totally on your right you can read "framerate" 24 so 1 second is 24 frames. and even if you put a 10 second animation in the NLA editor, what is rendered now is 24 frames= 1s because of these render settings


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Knife Angle constraint wrong cuts
I cut with Knife tool > angle constraint(relative) with 30 degrees increments and it works kind of weird. Should it work like that?! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vYADXDsQBJI0dZi1TonoY_x0G7jqcG4f/view?usp=drive_link

@moonboots, what the difference betven "screen" and "relative" then. In orthographic i can do it with screen option.

Oops sorry I didn't read correctly

I'm not sure how the Relative option works actually

@moonboots, https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/issues/113685


text:
How to include composite effects in animation video from Python?
I am unable to include the composite node effects when rendering an animation as video file from Python/ Blender CLI.
I have a Python Script that dynamically build my Blender 3.6 scene with meshes, textures, camera animation etc. I use it to render these animations as short video files calling a headless Blender instance through the CLI (blender --background --python myScript.py). This works as intended.
Recently I added a Compositing node setup through the script to render a watermark image on top of the scene / video. When I call the script and manually check/render the Blender file everything works as intended. But (!) calling the script from the CLI "background" Blender it will not include compositing effects in the output video file. Maybe I need to call bpy.ops.renderer.render(animation=True, write_still=False) with different arguments to include compositing?
What am I doing wrong? Thanks for the help.

My render function:
def render_animation(output_path: Path, resolution: Tuple[int, int]):
    renderer = bpy.context.scene.render

    renderer.render.use_compositing = True
    bpy.context.scene.use_nodes = True

    # Configure rendering settings
    renderer.use_file_extension = False
    renderer.filepath = str(output_path)
    renderer.engine = "BLENDER_EEVEE"
    renderer.resolution_x = resolution[0]
    renderer.resolution_y = resolution[1]

    # Render animation as video through ffmpeg (built-in)
    renderer.image_settings.file_format = "FFMPEG"
    renderer.ffmpeg.format = "MPEG4"
    renderer.ffmpeg.codec = "H264"

    # Start rendering
    bpy.ops.renderer.render(animation=True, write_still=False)

My code for setting up the composite nodes (manually confirmed to work in Blender):
def add_watermark(texture_image_file: Path):
    bpy.context.scene.use_nodes = True

    node_tree = bpy.context.scene.node_tree
    composite_node = node_tree.nodes[0]
    render_scene_node = node_tree.nodes[1]

    # Load WK logo as input
    logo_input_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type="CompositorNodeImage")
    webknossos_logo_image = bpy.data.images.load(str(texture_image_file), check_existing=True)
    logo_input_node.image = webknossos_logo_image

    # Scale WK logo
    logo_scale_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type="CompositorNodeScale")
    logo_scale_node.inputs["X"].default_value = 0.3
    logo_scale_node.inputs["Y"].default_value = 0.3

    # Translate WK logo to lower right corner of the scene
    logo_translate_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type="CompositorNodeTranslate")
    logo_translate_node.inputs["X"].default_value = 600
    logo_translate_node.inputs["Y"].default_value = -450

    # Use an AlphaOver node to combine the rendered scene with watermark image
    alpha_over_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type="CompositorNodeAlphaOver")

    # Add a View node for debugging within Blender
    viewer_node = node_tree.nodes.new(type="CompositorNodeViewer")

    # Connect all nodes
    links = node_tree.links
    links.new(logo_input_node.outputs["Image"], logo_scale_node.inputs["Image"])
    links.new(logo_scale_node.outputs["Image"], logo_translate_node.inputs["Image"])
    links.new(render_scene_node.outputs["Image"], alpha_over_node.inputs["Image"])
    links.new(logo_translate_node.outputs["Image"], alpha_over_node.inputs[2])
    links.new(alpha_over_node.outputs["Image"], composite_node.inputs["Image"])
    links.new(alpha_over_node.outputs["Image"], viewer_node.inputs["Image"])

Composite nodes setup as produced by the Python script for reference:

After lots of trial and error I realized that my Python code was indeed correct and produced a valid video file including all the composition effects.
It turns out that my Blendre composition pipeline was faulty after all. A Translate node would move the overlaid image out of the frame / outside the rendered area if the scene resolution was too small. For regular FullHD everything was fine, but it did not scale for smaller resolutions.
The fix was to first scale the watermark image to the render size using another Scale node with the argument "Render Size" and to do "relative" offsets in the Translate node as shown below.


text:
Orthographic View is Curving the Textured Image When It Should be Flat
I am currently working on a 3d product rendering for a flat, e-commerce style image.
I tried to move the camera close and far from the subject and set the Lens Type to Orthographic, but the image still keeps curving to the sides.

How do I make the render less Perspective and Flatter like this image.

It an orthograohic view but your object is a cylinder, not a flat object, if you want the text to look flat you could unwrap with the Project From View option, have you tried?

It's an orthograohic view but your object is a cylinder, not a flat object, so it's normal to have a flattened text on the sides:

If you want the text to look flat you could unwrap with the Project From View option, here is what it would give:

But of course it will look stretched on the sides if you change the view:

I just tried what you suggested. Thank you very much, this helped a lot.

EDIT. I came across another issue. When I Projected to View, I got over lapping images. Note: I marked seams for both the Front and Back with the Top and Bottom.

EDIT: I came across another problem After I 'Project from View.' The two images overlap with one another. NOTE: I marked seams for both the Front and Back View. It's not like I can create separate Materials for each knowing I will include a brushed metal texture. I tried to 'Deselect' the excess faces, but that did not seem to work.

in orthographic view, choose the front view, select the front faces only, unwrap, put the UV faces over the part of the image you want, then do the same for the back faces, if it still doesn't work, please pack your image and share your object https://blend-exchange.com/


text:
Problem with Sculpting Remesh
I am trying to increase the resolution of the mesh to make it smoother using the 'R' feature. Why does the mesh look blocky every time I apply it? Even when I 'Shade Smooth' I have also tried using the 'Remesh Modifier' and the 'Object Properties' to change this with no success. I am using Blender 3.6.2

It looks like you are using the Subdivision Surface modifier on your model and when you remesh, the remesh is applied first, causing the mesh to look blocky.
To fix this, apply subdivision and then remesh.

I figured it out after much trial and error. Thank you.


text:
Weird rigging deformity
I have just completed my model and I am trying to rig it but having some issues.
Most of the times I would just allow Blender to auto rig it which is what I did and it usually works but for some reason this time I am having issues with some parts of the body looking odd when moving its rig.
I've tried many times to mess with the weight paint tool but it seems like that is not working well either.
Hyperlink of a video on how it looks when moving its rig.

Anyone know how to fix this?

Hello, make sure that the Subdivision Surface modifier is under the Armature modifier, maybe also recalculate the normals in Edit mode. If it still doesn't work, please share your file: https://blend-exchange.com/

To me that's typically what happens when you have multiple bones fighting for influence over the same mesh parts.  I bet the red part in your arm is also painted in other neighboring bones, like the shoulders.  In weight paint, use the menu weights > Normalize All to quickly salve all fighting weights. Then enable auto normalize in your brush settings, test deformations everywhere and paint the groups that need more influence.

@L0Lock Thank you for telling me about the Normalize option. It fixed my issue!


text:
Scale Tool Not Scaling Inwards - Only Scales Face Size
I've been trying to scale some faces inwards while working on the accessory rail for an M4 rifle model. However, every time I try to scale the corner faces inwards, they scale individually instead of all of them moving to the center of the object. My pivot point is correctly centered as well as the origin point. I have a feeling this is easy to correct but I'm new to Blender and have been working on Maya so I'm still inexperienced.
Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it.

It scales faces individually because Individual Origins is selected in the Transform Pivot Point panel, instead of Median Point for example:


text:
How I can collapse all collections except non excluded ones?
I got this script working which will collapse all collections in the View Layer
def toggle_collection_collapse():
    area = next(a for a in bpy.context.screen.areas if a.type == 'OUTLINER')
    with bpy.context.temp_override(**bpy.context.copy()):
        bpy.ops.outliner.show_hierarchy({'area': area}, 'INVOKE_DEFAULT')
        bpy.ops.outliner.expanded_toggle({'area': area})
        bpy.ops.outliner.expanded_toggle({'area': area})
    area.tag_redraw()

Now what I will like is to collapse collections that are not excluded with the checkbox

So for example the collection trees should be collapsed but the flowers collection not
I looked at the blender API and I can't find how to just collapse a single collection, only all of them at the same time.
I am missing something?

As far as I know there is no way to specify which collection to collapse or expand.


text:
How I get the real dimensions of an object that is using a particle system?
I'm rendering some grass using a particle system
And this is the dimensions of my plane with grass

If I disable the particle system the dimensions stay the same though the grass is no longer overflowing the edge

I'm making a script that needs to know the actual size of the object, including when the grass is present.
So far the only way I found how to get the dimensions of an object
for obj in bpy.context.view_layer.objects:
    obj.dimenstions.x # here I can get x,y,z

But this just gives me the same values I get in the normal UI view
Is it possible in blender to get the actual size when using a particle system?

You can save your file first to store your progress then press Convert to Mesh in the Modifiers panel to see the dimensions of the newly generated mesh object. Or you can export the particle system as alembic file and reimport it again. If you can explain more what is the purpose of the script there may be other solutions to your final goal?

In the end I just hardcoded a padding

For a particle system I would have had no idea apart from converting to mesh, if you made this with Geometry Nodes you could use a Realize Instances node and plug it into a Bounding Box node. Even if you do not want to show the bounding box and do not use the realized instances on the output, you can use a Vector Math node and subtract Max - Min and store the result as an attribute.


text:
How I can get the pixel data of a render from a script?
I have the following blender script to get the pixel data of a render
project_path = os.path.dirname(bpy.data.filepath)
render_path = project_path + "/textures/" + collection.name
bpy.context.scene.render.filepath = render_path + ".png"
bpy.ops.render.render(write_still=True)
image = bpy.data.images.load(bpy.context.scene.render.filepath)
pixels = [int(value * 255) for value in image.pixels]
os.remove(bpy.context.scene.render.filepath)

You can see I'm saving the render into a png file which later I load again so I can get the pixel data.
This is not efficient, could be possible to just get the pixel data without saving it into a file?

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/269494/how-to-access-render-result-image-layers-python or https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/how-to-access-render-result-pixels-from-python-script

@lemon all those solutions require to render the result into a file, I just want to render without writing a file, I just need the pixel data in my script. Saving to a file and then parsing a png again is quite slow

sorry the first link is an error. The second one may work: https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/23309/19156

this looks a bit hacky, there is no official way?

'Render result' is still empty, afaik...

you could try this one also https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/248543/19156


text:
Could be possible to transfer the normal of a geometry node primitive?
I'm using the DataTransfer modifier to replace the normals of this tree with the normals of a sphere

I will like to be able to do the same thing in a geometry node by transfering to the geometry the normals of a primitive

I have a UV Sphere here and I only see the Normal node, but I don't see anything like Set Normal
Is this thing that I'm trying to do possible?

https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/244428/19156


text:
How I can select the faces that are enclosed inside the volume of another object?
I have this two objects, the left one is the main one, and the right one is the volume I want to use to intersect the faces I want to extrude.

To do that I'm using a geometry node like this to place the object where I need to select the faces

Now I'm trying to use the "Intersecting Edges" field of the boolean node as a selection for the extrude node, but it seems to not work

What it will be the proper way of doing this?


text:
Could be possible to change the visibility of some geometry in geometry nodes?
There is this option that allows some geometry to be hidden in the viewport

And I will like to do this to some geometry in a geometry node, but I can't find a node for this. So far the best thing I found I could do is to set it to a transparent material, but I still can see the geometry in Solid mode.
Is this possible?

you could have a master geo nodes setup, use a store attribute node and assign a value to the objects you want displayed differently.
On a second geonodes object, you can read the master node, separate geometry based on the stored attribute, then display that however you like with the settings you posted. you can use a second geo node object to display the other half and use different diaply settings. hope that makes since, if not i can post photos.

thank you, that is a good idea. but in my case I need the geometry to stay there, just not visible


text:
How I can find non excluded collections from a blender script?
I want to find non excluded collections on a script, this are the collections who have this box checked (the one to the left of the eye)

So far I found that I can list all collections like this
for collection in bpy.data.collections:
        print(collection.name)

But then I don't know how to tell if the collection is excluded or not, I checked the methods of the collection but I couldn't find this checkbox state there.
Is this the right way to read this data?
In the blender console when I toggle that checkbox I get this log bpy.data.scenes["Scene"].(null) = False but this (null) member is not present when I print the methods on the script

Similar to https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/267486/86891
LayerCollection is a construct that ties a Collection with a ViewLayer. The reason is because a single view layer can contain as many layer collections pointing to the same collection as you want.
import bpy

def all_layer_collections(view_layer):
    stack = [view_layer.layer_collection]
    while stack:
        lc = stack.pop()
        yield lc
        stack.extend(lc.children)

def get_excluded_collections(view_layer):
    for lc in all_layer_collections(view_layer):
        if lc.exclude:
            yield lc.collection

def get_included_collections(view_layer):
    for lc in all_layer_collections(view_layer):
        if not lc.exclude:
            yield lc.collection

excluded_collections = get_excluded_collections(bpy.context.view_layer)
print([c.name for c in excluded_collections])
included_collections = get_included_collections(bpy.context.view_layer)
print([c.name for c in included_collections])

Thank you very much! It worked fine

Was searching for this for a long time! Thanks a lot


text:
How I can remove the right half of a geometry using a geometry node?
I have the following geometry, and I only need the left half

To remove the right part I'm trying to use the Mesh Boolean node with a bounding box scaled by half to do a difference between them, but I get his result

What I'm doing wrong? I would have expect from this node setup to cut the Mesh 1 in half

I see you've got a solution, just a few thoughts on your initial setup: the left and right part are one object although the meshes are not connected, so there is one bounding box surrounding them both together. Scaling down on X by 50% will just make this box "thinner" in X direction towards its center, not just on one side, so the Mesh Boolean would cut out the middle of the object by half of its overall width. Even if the obejcts were separate and you had separate bounding boxes, scaling them on X would also just make them thinner towards there center and make them move towards each other.

Now, I said this would usually make the Mesh Boolean cut out the center of the object - however, it does not even do that. But if you look closely, there is this small "speech bubble" with the letter i in it, indicating there is some information about a problem. Hover your mouse over it so it can tell you what is wrong with your setup and why it is not cutting out the center (which is not what you want , but what I would expect from this setup). I would guess the object you plug in there is an instance and not a mesh object, then the Mesh Boolean remains only showing the bounding box.

Assuming the Plane X=0 divides your mesh into two halves, you can delete all points with X coordinate greater than 0. Here's an example with a mesh that consists of two cubes.

thank you, your solution is way faster than mine since with this you don't need to realize the instance. Could be also possible to move the origin to the center? After deleting the geometry the origin goes from the center to the right side

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/247900/how-to-set-the-origin-of-a-procedurally-created-mesh-in-geometry-nodes

Not even as a nitpick, just to spread the unintuitive conversion rule of scalars (floats) to booleans: The "Math: Greater Than" node is redundant there - that's exactly how the implied conversion works.

@MarkusvonBroady Oh neat. I assumed it was "non-zero".

In the end I found this solution, but I wonder if there is still a better/simpler way of doing this
I basically used the bounding box of the geometry to create a selection that will clip the part that I don't want when used with the Intersect option of the Mesh boolean.
The bounding box was scaled in half and then moved to right so it's placed in the place I want not to be seen.


text:
How I can smooth the border that is left after applying "Difference" with a "Mesh Boolean" node?
I have the following model where I want to carve a shape into the geometry. I'm trying to use a geometry node so far because I need to create many shapes like this but procedurally.

My problem now is that I don't know how I could make the border where the intersection happens to be smooth. I found this photo where is possible to see the effect I want

Do you mean you're carving many different shapes?  A procedural  ellipse with good topology would be achievable entirely in GN..

It's possible to use  Bevel modifier limiting by weight if you store the Intersecting Edges output of the Mesh Boolean node as an edge attribute called "bevel_weight_edge" like this:

However with the current setup this produces overlapping geometry with any adequate bevel size for the situation as you can see, so you would need to address that. Maybe you don't need such a dense geometry to create this and could smooth everything with Subdivision surface modifier only as the last step:

This does not produce very smooth forms, because of the "messy" geometry left after Boolean operation, so maybe it should be modelled some other way if a cleaner result is required. You could try making it from very dense geometry and then smoothing everything:

But that might get quite intense on computing and memory required.
A more complex node setup somehow generating cleaner topology is needed for a really good solution.

Yes, I think you are right, I will rethink this then


text:
What is the difference between checking X/Y/Z under Mirror in the side property panel's Tool's Options vs Creating a Mirror Modifier?
it seems that there are two mirroring functions. One is from the Tool side property panel's Options and the other is under Modifier's Mirror. What is the difference between the two?

I'm not sure that it would make a big difference if you chose to work with the option rather than with the modifier. The X mirror option will symmetrize the editing, as long as your object is symmetrical (meaning you need to make sure that you won't disable the option at one moment). But generally the Mirror modifier is used when you model a symmetrical object because you're sure that your object stays symmetrical. I guess if you've applied the Mirror modifier and you need to make a small change, instead of using a Mirror modifier again you can simply temporarily enable the X mirror option.


text:
Why using DELETE key followed by selection of vertices from the mirrored side sometimes also deleted some horizontal edges of the original side?
at the initial stage when there was only the default cube, I went to the Tool icon on the right of the screen and clicked Y in Options's Mirror. I then made things for the left hand side using E and CTRL-R. Automatically, Blender created the vertices, edges and a silhouette on the right hand side for me. Here is the problem. When I highlighted the entire right hand side with the mouse and pressed DELETE and chose Vertices, some of the horizontal edges on the left hand side also got deleted. If I highlighted fewer individual vertices (say 1-3) and the connected edges on the right, sometimes only those vertices and edges joining them got deleted but sometimes corresponding edge(s) on the left also got deleted. What is wrong here? How can I prevent horizontal edges on the left got automatically deleted?

You need to uncheck the Y in the Option Mirror setting if you don't want both sides to be deleted. Also, you may only be selecting the front vertices for deleting if you aren't in x-ray mode (Alt-Z). To be honest I never normally use the options mirror, preferring to use a mirror modifier.

Thanks. What is the difference between options mirror and mirror modifier?

These are the Blender manual descriptions for Options Mirror and Mirror Modifier.  See the Note section for the Mirror option!  Quick tip: To easily look up the Blender manual entry of a particular option, right-click on it and choose "Online Manual" from the popup menu.


text:
trouble rendering cloth modifier
I made a cloth simulation with colissions that looks great on the viewport but when rendering it becomes weird . The animation its about a girl who opens her closet and a bunch of clothes fall. I´ve tried baking all dinamics before rendering but no changes. I used an empty and used it with the hook modifier to take the clothes out of the closet.

without seeing all of your settings - we can only guess around or give "random" tipps. So please provide blend file so we can check it out. Thx.

Sorry, "it becomes weird" without any further explanation of what is happening does not really give any hints for us on how to solve whatever the problem is.

Look for any settings in the modifiers which differ between viewport and render

I would change the order of the last three modifiers (Solidify, Collision, Cloth) to (Cloth, Collision, Solidify) because they work top-down. The Cloth modifier deforms the mesh and you want to have the collision detection on the deformed mesh, I guess. The Solidify modifier is just cosmetic (thickness) and can go last. This way the Cloth modifier does not need to deal with the extra geometry that the Solidify modifier creates.

Speaking of modifiers, make sure the Subdivision Surface modifier has the same number of level for View and Render mode! The default setting (1 and 2) differs and this will mess up your Cloth simulation for sure when you render it.... yeah, basically, what Robin Betts meant


text:
Updating an object's location via the python API (3.1+)
I have been playing around with Blender's python API, this is a function I wrote to update an object's location:
def apply_translation_point(object: bpy.types.Object, location: Vector, modifier_log: ModifierLog, log=True, return_vector=False):
    """
    Translate a given object's origin to a specified location, provided point
    must be in world coordinates
    """
    origin = object.location.copy()
    translation_vector = location - origin
    object.location += translation_vector
    print('Updated location: ', object.location) # this prints the correct object location

    if log: # ignore this this is a custom class object I use to log operations to reconstruct my scenes outside blender
        modifier_log.log_translation(translation_vector)

    bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')
    object.select_set(True)
    bpy.ops.object.transform_apply(location=True, rotation=False, scale=False)
    print('Location After applying transform: ', object.location) # this prints (0,0,0)

    if return_vector:
        return translation_vector

This is the output on the blender console:

Can someone please break down what is happening here in the context of how the Blender Python API is structured? The object does get translated to the correct position but when I try to fetch the object.location attribute it is returned as the default value (as specified in the documentation), do I need to update anything else here (I did try calling the bpy.context.view_layer.update() as suggested here after updating the object location, but that didn't work)?

With bpy.ops.object.transform_apply(location=True), you are Applying the location transfomation which basically is, quoting from documentation "Applying transform values essentially resets the values of object’s location (or rotation or scale), while visually keeping the object data in-place. The object origin point is moved to the global origin, (or the rotation is cleared or scale values are set to 1).".

Thanks! I see... so the bpy.ops.object.transform_apply() essentially changes the default state of an object, i.e. resets all values to default but it still preserves the object "state" reached after applying all the modifiers to the object. I was learning Blender through blogs/tutorials and it was common practice and was recommended to "apply" the transforms after using modifiers on the objects.

well it depends what you are trying to accomplish. i don't usually need to apply transforms. just sometimes when i scale the object in object mode. then i apply the scale. or something the rotation.

Ususally applying translation doesn't change much because the tutorials don't tell you to move the object, ie when you mirror model a character or a car you want it to always stay at the origin point for ease of use. Applying the translation effectively moves the vertices in edit mode and zeroes out the translation component of the transform. You should almost always want the scale component to be applied (1,1,1) though, unless you specifically want your model to not be with a uniform scale


text:
how to get a points sphere?
I would like to ask how to create a sphere composed of uniformly distributed points in edit mode. As shown in the picture, I made it using the points of a cube and an array modifier, but it’s not round enough when I manually adjust it. Is there any good method or idea?

Why do you want to have single vertices, a mesh without faces? And what do you mean by "it's not round enough"? -- I would use Geometry Nodes: UV Sphere -> Mesh To Volume -> Distribute Points In Volume (Grid option). This will create a point cloud. It can be rendered in Cycles. If you want a mesh that has only vertices you need to put a single vert on each point and realize the instances with the Instance on Points and Realize Instances nodes.

thanks!i'll try it!


text:
Most effective way to fade in/fade out objects in Cycles. Version 3.6
I have seen a couple of similar posts, but one dated back to 2018 and the next was 2017.
I am on version 3.6 and I was wondering what the most effective way is to fade in and/or fade out an object in cycles, so that there is not a black smokey material left over.  The smokey material appears when trying to use the alpha layer in the BDSF and decreasing the amount.  I read in one of the posts that increasing the transparency in the light paths would help, but they hasn't made an effect on the render.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.  I'm so used to AE and the system's layers, which makes it easy to manipulate the transparency of an object or layer.  I would really appreciate on how to do this the compositor, if it is the most effective way.

I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean with "black smokey material leftover", would you mind posting a screenshot of how it looks like and how you've set it up? This is how it looks when I animate the Alpha channel in the Principled BSDF shader (sorry for bad GIF quality): alpha transparency

If possible please attach an image showing the issue and show how you set up the blending nodes.

I figured out that the smokey cloud went away if I increased the light paths in transparency.  My apologies for the response.  Been a crazy busy few weeks.  I appreciate you for responding!


text:
strange shadows
They often appear after using rotation
what i need to do to fix that?

Welcome. Please use a title that matches the content of the question. It should be descriptive but succinct, unique and identifying, summarizing the issue in such way that anyone searching for a similar problem may easily find it. Use the [edit] link above, remove anything superfluous, avoid words like "this","issue with" or "question about". Remember, your title is the first thing potential visitors will see, answers you get depend heavily on how inviting it is. See "What is the problem of asking “How do I do this?""

Hello could you please share the object itself, also explain what you mean by rotation (how was your object before rotation)?

As mentioned above please use appropriate title that matches your question.
On a first sight it seems that you have elongated or twisted polygons in that area, which doesn't work well with smooth shading. Showing the model wireframe could help.


text:
geometry node - instance instead of geometry
i have a question...so when i drag a collection into the geometry node editor it appears as instance instead of geometry
like this
i really need help...am i doing something wrong?
im trying to follow a YT tutorial but no matter how many times i redoit it still appears like the first image insted of

Hi. It looks like Blender changed the node to the one you get between versions 3.4 and 3.5.

It is helpful to know which version you are using vs. the tutorial's version. Especially Geometry Nodes has gone through many, sometimes drastical changes in the beginning. And like @curious_1 said, this node has been changed. I guess the reason is because it was a bit confusing before: the Object Info node provides an object as Geometry (but you can check As Instance if you need it) whereas objects brought in with the Collection Info node were instances (even in earlier versions before the node output was changed to show that) that had to be realized if you needed the geometry.


text:
Subdivision surfaces
I am working with subdivision surfaces.
I removed some faces from object.
Then it created weird vertices like this image.
How can i fix that.

This is my blender file.

You have an ngon, it triangulates badly, you can fix that with the following topology:

Can you explain how to do it.
I am new in blender.

You can either select 2 opposite vertices and press J, or remove the whole face, select the top edge, press F several times until it fills the hole

Thank you. It worked.

By the way, the Subdivision Surface modifier level is pretty high, you don't need such a high level, unless you plan to 3D print?


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#frame driver is not uniform/linear
I am using #frame to drive the Y-coordinate of my Voronoi texture in Blender.
However, the resulting animation is not linear, but seems to ease-in (I can't add a gif, since the size is too large).
This it the material

I did not change anything in the driver editor, and #frame or frame sound to me as if they should do linear interpolation by default? This is what I get when I rightclick on frame and select Open Drivers Editor: (the driver is not even shown)

Any hints appreciated!

I think I debugged something similar in the past… Try removing the driver, going to frame 1 and adding the driver there. If that doesn't work, upload your file to https://blend-exchange.com/ and I'll figure this out.

the driver is not even shown

By default, the graph and driver editors show only what's selected. If you need to see a keyframe or a driver from a node, you need to select that node:

the resulting animation is not linear, but seems to ease-in

It seems to, but how can you tell for sure?
With a Voronoi on the default plane, adding just 1 to the Y Location moves the texture so much that you don't even see what was there at zero:

Using the #frame is basically doing that for each frame. It just outputs the current scene's frame number.
Unless you divide it to slow it down, or dezoom the texture enough to see the whole thing moving, you only see big jumps of textures that can easily "seem" different from what they are, much like a car's tire can seem to roll backwards when it rolls forwards fast enough.
Divided using #frame/10:

Dezoomed using scale at 20:


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How to organize models of a project?
Is it possible to copy a model from one file to another and all changes made to the object in either of the two files are inserted and saved in all files that have this object with the intention of organizing the production?

I've only heard about linked object but only the original object can be changed

Hello and welcome. English is mandatory language for the site. If you are not comfortable writing in English feel free to use any online translation service.

The general industry term for this is "external referencing" or, simply, "references".
I am new to Blender, but look forward to seeing what options there might be for doing it.