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How to create a smooth surface onto a rectangle frame?
Ok, so I am modelling a surface for a mac book pro, and I realized that it looks kind of "unrealistic". It seems to me, that apple used some trick to achieve that surface. It seems like a smooth rounded surface inside a rectangle form...
I tried to achieve this with extruding and model according to a background pic but that didn't do the trick.

What I felt like would be the closest to the original was to go into proportional editing and just pull a certain amount of vertices out. But that looked like as seen in the pictures.

Maybe someone can give me a hint if I am doing something wrong. I want to have the "frame" sticked to the grid and then just have the rest of the vertices to move and form the smooth surface...
U can see in the pictures what I did and what I want to have but smoother... Maybe u get an idea
Thanks for your help.
Greetz

What you need is the bevel tool (Ctrl + B). Have a look at this answer for an example on how to use it: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/13919/what-is-the-easiest-way-to-smooth-the-intersection-of-two-planes/13922#13922

If I understand correct, this may be a reference, and it means you should smoothen that sharp edge you have between top and middle part of the mesh. You can use several tricks for that, Bevel as said TLousky is one of them.

Hmm, no its not quiet what I mean... Because I already have it that way. I used the bevel option on the frame to get the round edges for the outer shape. The problem is, that I need round edges on the frame AND on the top. That picture is a good reference.

You could use the bevel modifier to create the rounded edges on the unscaled standard cube.

Add an edge loop Alt-R in the upper part and delete the bottom vertices.

Select the beveled part and scale it along the z-axis S,Z
Note that you shouldn't scale the object to align it to the original model because this would distort the edges. Use select and grab instead.

Thank you, but you see the problem is that the basic shape is a rectangle not a cube or a square. So when I create a rectangle the bevel mod uses the rectangle shape (of course it dies) and therefore the corners have a higher X than Y. The exact dimensions are : 35,89cm and 24,71 cm. Now to achieve square edges I already had to use a plane and add loop cuts 1 cm from each corner vertex on the x and y axis. And the bevel doesn't even work on a rectangle with ctrl + B rounded edges...

@SebastianJaeger You would need to have the bevel with 2 independend radius values (which is not supported), what I described was a work around. This requires to start with something square and manipulate by scaling, align the model later to the required dimensions.

Another way would be to start with a circle remove all vertices but the ones required for a corner.

Add a mirror modifier and tick the highlighted options:

Place the 3D cursor Shift-S Cursor to center
In object mode set the objects center to the 3D cursor.
In vertex select mode extrude E the vertices to that the mirrored pieces connect.
In front view select all and extrude along z-axis E,Z. and scale constrained to x,y: S, Shift-Z. repeat this.

Add a subsurf modifier:

Select the sharp corner Alt-RMB and increase edge crease Shift-E.
Result after closing the top:


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Blender + Slic3r: scaling bug?
I create some models for 3D-printing, and as are several cm large I use scaling 0.01 (1 cm). Then I convert the result to .stl and pass it to Slic3r to create .gcode. What I expect is scaling back by *100 will give me the correct result. However, in that case I get models 10 times smaller, and scaling by *1000 does the job. I wonder if I don't understand smth or it's a bug of either Blender or Slic3r. So, it this a bug? How to check if it's because of Blender of Slic3r?

This question should give you answer: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/7503/scale-settings-for-exporting-to-stl-for-3d-printing

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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find bone vertices relation?
I've weight-painted my modell, but have problems with some vertices. I don't find the bones, which do the deformation of some vertices.
Is there a way to find and select vertices and see the weight, and with which bones it is linked?
Thanks
Michael

I don't think so but maybe someone knows, but I guess you know you can weight paint it with a Substract brush, or select the vertice in Edit mode and click Remove From All in the menu available on the right of the Vertex Groups list

Hi @moonboots, thank you for your tip. My problem is, that these vertices are attached to one bone, which I can't find. I have tested all bones, but non of all my bones changes these vertices. Hm?

perhaps share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/    if you Remove From All you won't find which bone but at least you will release the vertice from any influence

Hi all, my problem is solved with this weight paint tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_qUehBf6x0

can you please tell a little bit more? thank you

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


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Blender 2.8 Beta: Release confirms off?
where to switch off "Transform Release Confirms"?
Thanks
Mike

It's fixed, I found it in the current 2.8 beta.

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


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Blender 2.8: mirror leg and arm bones?
I have named my leg and arm bones with *.R. How to mirror them to the left side (with naming *.L)?

Just select all your bones in Edit Mode then Right Click > Symetrize.


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Rigify Button missing (v 2.77)
Used Rigify to rig my model and like it a lot.  However, the Rigify Button/Generate does not appear in any mode, including Object mode so that's not the issue.

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


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Can't select any vertex in an object!
I started using blender a few days ago, and decided to make a dog, so I'll learn how to use blender properly.
One night I saved the file and got off the computer. A few hours later I opened the file, but couldn't select any vertex, it's like they're not there (although it shows me the grid). I am in vertex and edit mode.

Are you sure you are in vertex selection mode. In edit mode you have three distinct selection modes, Vertex, Edge and Face. Try hitting Ctrl + Tab while in edit mode to switch between them

You may have another object selected. Make sure your dog mesh is selected in the outliner. If it's not, then vertex select won't respond.

Tnx for the help. The dog wasnt selected it the outliner. Tnx again.

K_Horeman's answer helped me fix it:
https://blenderartists.org/t/noob-weird-selection-issues-cant-select-vertices-of-a-mesh-in-edit-mode/622979/2
"If it’s selected in orange with no vertices when you’re in edit mode, it is a separate object. You’ll have to go to edit mode on that object. You can only be in edit mode on one object at a time."
I didn't have the correct mesh selected in the Viewer (top-right) before entering Edit mode. So I highlighted all 4 objects you see in the picture, and I can select their vertices.

You can only be in edit mode on one object at a time.

You need to click on Show Overlays next to Show Gizmos and Toggle X-Ray


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how to extrude an edge that stays connected with the face?
I'm trying to extrude the face to create another wall. It works out well but the vertex and edge are not connected to the floor even though it's level. Anyone know how to extrude so it stays connected with the face? If it's even possible.
Thx
Screenshots:

Read about vertex snapping. This is but one link. https://www.blender.org/manual/editors/3dview/transform/transform_control/snap.html

I assume that your wall is orthogonal to the x-y-plane. Then there are several options to extrude the floor without loosing "connection" e.g. lifting your wall up.
If your plane is level you can easily lock the extrude to a plane by Extruding and then (while the extrude is active) press shiftz this will lock the movement to the x-y-plane. In case you want the extrude to be rectangular you can press y during the extrude to lock it to the Y-Axis. (This can be a powerful technique if you are comfortable with the different coordinate system orientations in blender) Blender_Manual
The other method is, as pointed out in the comment, using vertex snapping with the target being a plane. https://www.blender.org/manual/editors/3dview/transform/transform_control/snap.html%3E

That's the technique I use but it still won't stay connected. Same for duplication, I duplicate along X axis to place it further away from the 1st selection and it stays separate.
Even tried separating from the object and connecting it back on and the vertexes still were loose from the plane. So for example; to make another pillar I have to use the knife tool which is not as accurate as duplicating(Would take long to get exact same size at least)
Knife tool works well, but when I try to extrude/duplicate it just doesn't stay connected to the actual object.

Could you upload your blendfile?


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Mesh Bisect Algorithm: How does it actually work?
So Ive been writing some C# algorithms for bisecting a mesh in Unity but I had a hard time finding any information on the best way to do this.  I love blender's mesh bisect tool and this is basically exactly what I want to implement in C#.  Im wondering if anyone knows how blenders algorithm works in terms of performing the cut (projecting the vertices, reconnecting edges and rectifying the new triangle normals), filling in the created holes with new faces and preserving the UVs as well as mapping the newly created UVs.  Not sure if blender's script for this is available but if anyone can even outline the process in pseudocode id really really appreciate it!  Im particularly interested in how it handles concave meshes and how it deals with filling multiple holes (such as bisecting a torus) as my current algorithm can handle convex meshes only.
Thanks guys!

As you might have heard, blender is open source software, which means the full source code is public. You can download the source code for example from blender's official download page. (Link on the same page above source download leads to info about setting up dev environment and such, if you have more interest on project)
For particular file inside the project, bisect tool is found under source / blender / bmesh / tools / bmesh_bisect_plane.c/h.

You can also browse the code online at developer.blender.org


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Trying to export Ocean Modifier animation as collada file
I'm relatively new to Blender and thus don't have much experience.
I'm attempting to make an ocean animation in Blender, which I have figured out via keyframing.  However, when I attempt to export it to Collada to use in Max/MSP I merely get a single frame, and upon importing it reverts back to the default shape.  I've been told you need to bake it and I've done so via the bake ocean button but it merely caches them rather than bake the animation itself.  I'm completely new and completely lost here, and would appreciate any help.
I'm not attempting to get too deep into blender , I just want to create simple planes with ocean modifiers that I can export as animations in collada.

Can't you use FBX ? Collada integrations aren't the best. Or you could export an OBJ with MDD if MSP takes it. Provide us the import options you have in MaxMSP so we can help ;)

I could not export modifier animation. But I can export move animation with collada. I just does not work with modifier animations. I was using collada because the software I am using needs collada format to import.


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Animate change layer
In 2.4 It was possible to move an objet to another layer with keyframe.
" Changing Object Layer
Many times you want an object or actor to wait off stage until it is their time to come on and do their thing. In Blender, you commonly render only a few of the twenty available layers. So by animating an object’s layer “membership”, you can animate its visibility in the 3D views (avoiding it to clutter your workspace) and at render time. Furthermore, as you can set some lamps to illuminate only objects on their layer, changing an object’s layer can also be a way to change radically its lighting…
Changing from layer 4 to 10 and 14 at frame 10.
To animate an object’s layer membership, go to the frame when you want the object to appear. Ensure the object is on a visible layer (M to see and move it between layers). Insert (I) an Ipo key, and choose Layer in the menu that pops-up. In your Ipo Curve Editor window, you will see that the Layer channel now has a value corresponding to the current layer. Back up one frame, move the object to an unselected (invisible) layer. Now, here’s a slight glitch: you cannot add a Layer key because the object is on an unselected layer. So, temporarily enable that layer by ⇧ Shift-selecting it from the layers buttons, insert another Layer key, and then de-select the undesired layer. "
How to do that on 2.77 ????
Dji

This method is what I use to do this.
https://cgi.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-rig-a-2d-character-in-blender-for-cutout-animation-or-explainer-videos-part-2--cms-26182

If your only concern is animating the visibility of the object, you can do this easily by keyframing the Restrict Viewport Visibility toggle for the object in the Outliner.

Ok, but how to do this with bezier interpolation (to do a fade disapear)

Easy, just switch to the Graph Editor with the object selected then convert the keyframes to Bezier interpolation in there.

Mmh I'm sorry, but Bezier isn't available for visibility keyframes into 2.77a.

No, you're right, probably due to the fact that you're keyframing a value that only has an On or Off state. If you need smoother transitions, you might want to add a Transparent shader to the material and animate a Mix shader in your material.

Yes, with the material its ok. Its less simple Thanks Todd


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how to copy one gpencil layer from one scene to another scene in the same blender file?
how to copy one gpencil layer from one scene to another scene in the same nlender file ?

Try this:
In 3d-view change mode to Edit Strokes:

Then select strokes (for example using A, C or B), then Ctrl+C.
Then move to different scene  create a new layer, set mode to  Edit Strokes and press Ctrl+V.

yes, that's what I did. But I wanted to copy a complete layer from one scene to another as a layer photoshop.


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Black Flickering in Scene

So I recently started using bleder and decided to make a Lightsaber, However after a bit of time modeling i found that the end had a slightly black flicker effect, can any fix this please.
Thanks -Jake.

The screen shot is not enough to go on. We need to see your material setup and/or compositing tree. Depends on how you are creating the light effect.


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How would I unwrap this?
So I'm new to Blender and have created an old tv. Its looking pretty good but I'm having trouble turning it into a net so I can texture it. I'm not sure which parts I need to mark as seams. I've attached some images so if you guys could help me, that' d be great.

https://i.sstatic.net/oLsXQ.jpg

It looks like you have some overlapping geometry and duplicate faces in your model. It might be good to consider cleaning them um a bit before unwraping

Tutorials are outside the scope of this site. There are lots of good tutorials on YouTube. Just search for "Blender UV Mapping" or "UV unwrap" or "Blender mark seams" and you'll find lots of good information.
To avoid being pedantic, I'll try to give you some kind of answer.
Think of it like a papercraft TV or like you're unfolding a cardboard box. The things you should mark as seams are those places where you'd have two different edges coming together, instead of a fold. You could theoretically mark everything as a seam, and have lots of individual components to texture, but it's typically better to have as few separate pieces as you can manage. Or at least to separate it into pieces that make sense (glass, plastic, etc.).
I hope that at least gets you started.

This is super helpful! I'll check some of the tutorials out.


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VSE Audio and Video Sync is off by 2 Frames Every Time
I'm using Blender 2.77.  When I import footage into the VSE with the correct frame rate (23.98fps) every single audio strip is 2 frames longer than the corresponding video clip.  I think the problem is that my recordings are actually 23.97fps.  The issue with that is that when using the custom fps setting there are not enough decimal places to input a value that will result in a frame rate of 23.97 (i.e. 1.0015).  I'm not positive this will fix it but I think it should.  Does anyone else have any ideas or experience with this issue?

First off many others have had this problem.
Now you actually can set the Framerate Base with precision out to 6 places. (Go ahead and right now enter 1.00125 as the framerate base.)
Notice in this screen shot that blender knows that my custom frame rate is 23.97; yet it is still displaying that the framerate base is just 1.001.

Copy the line below into the Python Console then press Enter you will see what the value really is.
D.scenes['Scene'].render.fps_base

Awesome, now all of the work I put in setting up Blender to be a usable editor is not for nothing.  Although I'd still like to figure out how to export using h264 with variable bit rate.

@coffeeaddict let me know if the frame rate did fix your audio out of length issue.

I think I have fixed it by changing the FPS denominator value to 1.001001 which results in a frame rate of 23.976 fps (the fps of my camera).  I have four clips in the sequencer (all shot with same camera).  3 of the 4 clips are now perfectly in sync, but oddly one of them did not change.  I will do some further testing but it seems to be an anomaly since there is another clip of almost the same length that is now in sync as well as the 2 others that are both longer clips.

Something is amiss. NTSC frame rates are 24000/1001, not that whackjob rate you have input. Codecs frequently encode a differing number of frames to audio length, so it is possible this might be what you are facing. Bottom line is that nutjob frame rates aren't the solution.


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Odd Vertices When Using The Knife Tool
When I use the knife tool on my mesh, any face connected to the cut becomes "incorrect". (I don't know the true term)

The underside of my mesh was smooth before I cut the mesh. Now, there are odd triangles that even appear in the render.

Important addition to your question will be screenshots of mesh in Edit mode and stack of modifiers (also a blend file can be useful). Generally there's too much distortion which causes bad shading and artifacts on triangles, most likely topology in that part should be redone.

We will need before and after pictures of the model in edit mode in order to do more than speculate.

I'm guessing you created an n-gon in the process of cutting, and now the tris that the n-gon consists of are prevalent in the shading. Try to reshape your topology to quads. Other than that, without seeing the .blend I'm guessing in the dark.

Have you tried the J "join" tool instead?
Here is a link to the Blender Reference Manual on Vertex tools
https://www.blender.org/manual/modeling/meshes/editing/vertices.html


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How Do You Select Edge Loops In Weight Paint Mode
I want to paint an edge loop in weight paint mode. Is there a way to do this?


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Model Deforms When I move A Bone
When I parented my rig to my model with automatic weights. The model deforms when I try to pose it. The arm bone attaches to the leg and pulls with it.
EXAMPLE: https://i.sstatic.net/M4I49.png
(please note: Im rather new to rigging in BLENDER)

The automatic weights aren't perfect, you can manually decide what part of the mesh gets to be controlled by what bone.
It's called weight painting.
Here is a tutorial for beginners.


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How To Have The Mirror Modifier Work Correctly?
When working on my character model, I wish to mirror half of the character. When I mirror the half of the character, the mirror does not go over symmetrically.

What are the settings to have the mesh mirror symmetrically?

Could you upload your .blend file? Preferably through http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/22987/mirror-modifier-mirrors-on-different-axis-axes-from-the-selected-ones/22989

 Thank you for taking a look at it. I only need the body mirrored. If you don't mind telling me how to fix my normal view. (not sure its name) If you hit 5 on the numpad, the view is very "screwy". I was messing with the camera settings without knowing what I was doing and don't know how to fix it.


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BGE logic editor won't play action
In blender game engine i have a main menu scene with 2 buttons and the main menu board,with surroundings.
I have set up an action for the main menu to slide (rotation)(Main menu slide) and saved as an action.
I have a:
sensor: Mouse over and mouse click - controller: and - actuator: Action(cube action) and Action(main menu slide)
when i click on the button it applies Action(main menu slide) on the button instead of the main menu.
So the question is... how do i apply this action by clicking the button without the action affecting the button instead of the original saved action?
(i would add blender file but idk how to add a file to this specific online help page)

Actuators always operate on the object they belong to.
That means you need to activate the actuator at the main menu rather than the one at the button.
In your situation it might be worth to send a message (when the button gets clicked). The main menu should listen to that message to play the action. Use a unique subject to allow other messages with other purposes.
I hope it helps


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Diffuse & transparency image import
when I import image as plane, in the setting panel for diffuse and emission, there are not other options. Many tutorials mention a diffuse & transparency option but I don't seem to have it. Blender 2.77
thanks
Alister from NZ

Are you using cycles? If you use cycles, enable Use Alpha to get automatic nodes setup

These settings are render engine dependent, that means the options available depend on which rendering engine you are currently using, like Cycles or Blender Internal (Also called Blender Render).
On the info window you can change the render engine:

Transparency and emission options are material properties and the addon must be able to create a material with those properties for rendering system currently in use, so some options are only available for Blender Internal materials others for Cycles, since they use completely different and independent material definitions.
To see the options for each render engine read this post:
Long story short, decide which render engine you are going to use, then if the desired options aren't immediately available from the importer adjust you material manually afterwards.


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What FOSS way(s) are out there to convert cdr/dwg/dxf to Blender formats and back?
While already using Blender, I'm considering to use it to create models for a milling (machining) and have read on a site of one of the companies that mill stuff that they accept cdr, dwg and dxf file formats. I'm not sure if every other accepts all 3, so I'm better to be prepared to change file format. So I'd like at least to be able to export to these formats (ideally import as well) with minimal time consumption and without use of heavy tools (like CAD systems) and preferably free and open source software and only one piece of software (for 3 formats). Any known tools for this?
I'm on Windows 10 currently, but mentioning Unix solutions are also encouraged as I'll install some Unix in the nearest future.

I wonder why there's no "milling" tag out there yet..

Blender 2.49b supports DXF and DWG import and export to a fuller extent than the current Blender does. There was an effort to port this functionality, but it was not seen through to completion. So if you're able and willing to use an intermediary format (.obj?) to get models made in the current Blender back into 2.49b then you might have a usable (albeit inelegant) workflow. Or maybe as long as your model has all modifiers applied and no constraints on it 2.49b will be able to Append it from a newer version's .blend? It's something to try.

I'm not sure that you will get an open source tool for these, as all of these formats belong to Software producers (Corel / Autodesk).
I'm not certain about the "cdr" format (and I come from the CAD/CAM world of things).
"dwg" is fairly locked down, although there has been reasonable success at converting them from those other than Autodesk (The kicker here, is that "dwg" is not human readable as a file, and as Autodesk updates the features of this file format every year, and completely changes its version about every three years - it's a little hard to rely on outside of the Autodesk product suites).
"dxf" is still an Autodesk file format, however it is human readable, and it is fairly common for CNC controllers to use them. Blender even has some Add-Ons for it, however the one that comes with is Experimental.

I have personally tested it and it is lacking some enforcement features that would really allow this to be "trusted" for milling operations - I've also included links at the end of this page to reference that standard.
As for other common 3D model file formats in the milling industry:

STL (although you will get triangulated faces - and might not produce the desired resolution) - For Blender there is an import only utility that ships with Blender.
STP, STEP
IGES

Another alternative for you as an open source tool & workflow, would be to use Meshlab in cooperation with Blender, as they both have some DXF & STL output options.
As far as other Add-On resources, you may actually find some things on the web that support this process a little better, you may want to try searching for them, and/or ask about their possible existence on BlenderArtists.org. I hope this answer has pointed you in the right direction.
PDF Link
Web Page Link

Thanks for a very detailed answer and sorry for delayed accepting. I think that's a good start to look into. In fact what I'm looking for is to mill second glass table for Prusa i3, make it more rough with a sandpaper and try if this improves adhesion of PLA to the table; so may be I don't need advanced features for that (it's just a square with cut off corners and rounded edges).

As far as that goes, you may want to just do some basic gcode yourself. You would have to study it a little, but it really is just coordinates, bit diameter considerations, and feed speeds, so not all that difficult to pull off. I will try to append my answer with anything relevant for getting this done in Blender, check back here and there.

In the mean time you may want to check this out as it works with svg. And check this related post and experiment with the add-on. I also know that there is some other utils you could find to convert between alot of the 2D vector formats.

I have to admit, I don't quite understand what the first tool you've mentioned in the latest comment actually is.. I only got the idea that it can be reasonable to consider different 2D formats liks SVG.


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Is it possible/how to separate several "objects" imported from an stl file?
I've imported some a model from an stl file. There are several "objects" (spatially separated), but Blender considers them as one object (due to the algorith of importing, I guess). Is there a simple way to separate those "objects" so that they become actually multiple Blender objects?

Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/6184/splitting-pieces-of-a-mesh-into-a-new-object

Select the object, enter edit mode with Tab key, select all with A and press P to separate, then choose whatever option suits your needs best. I am guessing you will probably want the loose parts one.


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Is there a way to switch selection via hotkeys?
Say, I've created just a cube and a cylinder and now the cube is selected. Is there a hotkey that switches selection to the cylinder?
I guess, the order of switching (if there's more than 2 objects) may be different like switching between tabs in a browser: "by usage" and "by creation order", the former being more helpful. Switching between objects would decrease mouse/touchpad usage tremendously. I guess, there's either some "history of selection" object in the Blender core and this is implemented or this is not implementable without changing the core.. but I may be wrong.
The same question may be asked about switching between faces/edges/vertices of one object, but let's start from the switching between objects.

Usage of Blender like many other 3d programs without mouse may be quite limited..You can use Outliner to select objects clicking on their names, but that won't allow you avoid using mouse. And I don't think there's a "history of selection" - selection like any other action is recorded in the stack of undo options and thus can be accessed from there (and overwritten with newer events too).

CtrlI inverts your selection.
That is, anything currently selected becomes unselected; anything unselected becomes selected.
That will include any cameras and lights you have on the current layer.

authors: Варя Феоктистова


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How to connect 2 vertices with edges?
This sounds as a very basic question, I guess I just don't know proper terms to find the answer at once..
I'd like to create a complex polyhedron, so I'd like to create a tetrahedron first. Starting from a cube, I can get a figure like the one below (by deleting some faces and edges), but how do I connect those vertices with 3 missing edges?
Although the main question is the one in the title, other advices about creating a tetrahedron are welcome, too.

Try selecting the two vertices you want to connect and press F of the keyboard.  The same tool can be used to connect two edges with faces.

related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/10729/19287

The answer is simple. Just press F between two vertices.
And your tetrahedron problem can be solved as follows:

Start with a Plane.
Delete one vertex and join all vertices with F to make a triangle.
Subdivide the triangle.
Go to the outer vertices and scale them on the xy axis to 0.
In the last step you only have to move the selected vertices on the Z axis by one.

That's it.
(Of course, don't forget to swap normals.)

it is not completly a tetrahedron =( the edges are not all equally long.... bad answer

Right, so it's the F button. But what's the name of the operation?

the name is [Make Edge/Face] press space and write the function name.... =)

F is to form a face, if you want to join 2 vertices to make an edge, better to press J

@EricBrochu No, F is "New Edge/Face from Vertices" and can be used to create an edge between two unconnected vertices. Whereas pressing J like you suggest will result in an error: "Could not connect vertices"

There is already a tetrahedron hiding inside the Blender default cube:

Note: With two vertices selected, hitting the F key will create an edge between them. With more than two vertices selected hitting the F key will create a face. F = Fill (fills in the space between selected).
Revealing the tetrahedron:

Select the three vertices that make up the blue triangle and hit the F key.
Repeat for the yellow, pink and the fourth triangle.
Delete the four vertices of the cube that are not being used.

Nice, I should have thought about this one :) An unfortunate thing is that we still have to use approximate values of a rotation angle to put this one on its face and use 2 rotations for that..

@yakovl You can come pretty close by locking one axis instead of two. In object mode, you can do r45 (or r-45) and then cycle through X, Y, Z until you get the shape normal to the ground. I haven't figured out how to express that final 90 degree rotation to make it parallel to the ground, because it needs to rotate along multiple axis there. If you could somehow rotate 45 degrees along one axis and -45 along another simultaneously, you could do it.

I switched my Blender hot keys to the maya version and everything is different. I found that selecting the two vertices and then just pressing G instead of F did what F is supposed to do.

This is no answer to the question, since their is no hint that the OP has switched to "maya version" so pressing G will most probably not work. And although F does the trick, this solution was already given.

authors: Саид Мейралиев


text:
rotation driven by vertex z value - ocean modifier
I would like to be able to drive the rotation of a boat by the z value of a surface vertex of a plane with ocean modifier on it.
Is there a way to access to this data without Python?

You can add an empty, select it and then Shift select your plane. Enter edit mode and hit CtrlP. This will parent you empty to the vertex, so the empties location will match that of the vertex.

To make this work with the ocean modifier. Make a new object, set it to shrink wrap the plane with your ocean modifier, and then make it a single vertex. Use the above parenting technique to attach you empty to the vertex.

Thank you, I've tried this solution, and also a shrinkwrap constraint, but the empty is not affected by the ocean modifier, so it isn't useful for my purpose.

Ah you should have specified that....

@joshsanfelici Updated, now works


text:
Bones and armature render
How can I make a simple animation render of an armature (to show all bones movements)?
This is an OpenGL render, but if i try the OpenGL animation render, the bones disappear.

I've just tested, mine opengl animation works. So be sure you don't have the option "Only Render" under Display in properties panel. Maybe you are pressing the animation button in a window where it's enabled? I can't think of other reasons

"Only render" was unchecked. Anyway, now it works, I didn't change anything. Mistery. Thank you, anyway.


text:
Which is the range of values coming out from a hdr environment texture node?
Which is the range of values coming out from a hdr environment texture node?
Is it normalized 0.0 - 1.0 or something else?

Yes, thank you, I knew that, but when I choose a real HDR photo in the Environment texture node, his value output is normalized to 0-1 range or will it go above 1?


text:
control curves with bones
Is there a way to control curves with bones? I already know the AnimAll addon and the Hook modifier, but I'd like to have IK-FK control on some 2D curves objects.

Please include an image to help your explanation.  IK-FK terminology is used for bones, so how does it apply to curves?.  What is lacking with the Hook Modifier using an armature bone?

For each curve control point create a bone (separate not parented) and hook those vertexes to bones.
Now you can totally control the curve with armature.
Next you want to connect the bones with Child_Ofs constraints to link them into a chain.
When the Child_Ofs influences are at 1.0 you have FK control, when they are at 0.0 you have IK control (this setup is called FIK - forward inverse kinematic).
You can drive the influences with custom properties so it is accessible from the Properties panel.

I think it's more practical to hook selected curve points to empties using hook modifiers, then parent the empties to bones in a single armature (rather than multiple armatures) this way you will have better organized actions under a single armature umbrella.

@AhmedAli there is no need to have multiple armatures. Hooking different vertices to different bones inside single armature works. The empties are over-complication.

you're totally right, I guess I had misinterpreted your answer :)

How do I do the actual hooking to the bone? When I am in edit mode and I hit Ctrl + H for the Hook Menu, I can select the entry "Hook to selected Object: Bone" but whenever I do, I get the error "Cannot add Hook with no other selected Objects"

Ok, I found one way to do it: with the Outliner Panel:

You click on the Icon of the Bone you want to hook your curve point to,
Shift-Click the Icon of your Bezier Curve Mesh Data Block. This will put you into Edit Mode on the Curve, the Bone will still be selected. You will be able to tell by the coloring of the Selection Border. Hook to Bone will now work.

I tried this by manually adding Hook Modifiers to selected Curve points. That did NOT work. I don't know why, the modifiers look identical.


text:
View a picture as IU in the viewport
I want to display an image in the viewport. the image must always remain facing the In User (as a UI).
I thought to paste the image on a plane, but I know how to keep the plane facing the screen (the track "camera viewport" is possible?)

You can draw a 2D texture into all viewport windows with open-gl using python and the bgl module: https://www.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_77_0/bgl.html.

It seems that you want to see this image purely as reference when working on your scene. For that purpose, it would be enough to use a small area of your blender screen layout as UV/Image Editor. You can force the UV/Image Editor to always display your image by using the pin icon in the UV/Image editor.

This is for an addon, I need to display the image in the viewport

Under the properties panel, enable background images, then click the arrow to open its tap.  Click the open button and select the background image and mess with its settings to fit your needs.

To my knowledge the background images are visible only in predefined ortho views (Top ortho, Left ortho ...)

You could try and parent it to a Camera object, adjust it's positioning and then use the option Lock Camera to View under the 3D view N Properties Panel > View > Lock Camera to View.
You'll have to always use the camera view though, if you exit to any other view the image won't be visible, but with the above option it will behave very similarly.

I need other views. I can not stay in that camera view

With that option "Lock Camera to View" active you can get all other views (Top, Bottom, Left Right, Ortho etc) while in camera view as if it was a regular viewport view.

When I'm camera view I can not have all the usual functionality eg "View All"...


text:
return the original materials with python
I have an object with three materials (mat 1 mat2, mat3). with python I want to apply another material (mat4) to my object and return to the initial state (mat1, mat2, mat3). is it possible ? I have to save the list of starting materials to apply them or there are more simple?

I would write a function that retrieves each face and sets proper material, another function will select all faces and apply the other material. Then you call your functions (fist, second, first). You need to create one object (as python object) per material 'mat1 = bpy.data.meshes['MeshName'].materials['MaterialName']' so that you can apply it to the mesh: bpy.data.meshes[MeshName].vertices[index] = mat1

You can keep the original material index in a mesh.polygon_layers_int layer. Or save the material name in a polygon_layers_string As shown in sample code below.
import bpy
context = bpy.context
scene = context.scene

obj = context.object
mesh = obj.data

save_mat_layer = mesh.polygon_layers_int.get('material_index')
if save_mat_layer is None:
    save_mat_layer = mesh.polygon_layers_int.new(name='material_index')

save_matname_layer = mesh.polygon_layers_string.get('material_name')
if save_matname_layer is not None:
    save_matname_layer = mesh.polygon_layers_string.new(name='material_name')

for f in mesh.polygons:
    save_mat_layer.data[f.index].value = f.material_index
    save_matname_layer.data[f.index].value = mesh.materials[f.material_index].name.encode()

PS: not sure if obtaining desired result for the string layer.


text:
Storing many instances efficiently
Theres a few aspects to what I am looking for in terms of solution.
We deal with extremely large scenes, and take huge advantage of instancing, dupligroups and particle systems
However, when you have thousands of objects (not particle systems) in a scene... blender starts to go slow.
Our initial idea was to convert the instances / dupligroups over to particle systems... that way its one object which has many instances, instead of many objects.
We have looked into trying to convert dupligroups / instances into a particle system, however... we cannot seem to alter it via the python api (https://developer.blender.org/T48022). Is there a efficient way of storing thousands of objects with locations / rotations without actually having the slowdown that normal objects would have? Is there a way of being able to create non-object instances via python?

Being that you say "We" i presume this is a team, and that probably means a game?

Yes, we as in team. We work in archviz mainly.

So you find a very big difference in performance between using a particle system and the same system converted to instances?

Particle systems give better viewport performance over the same system converted to instances hands down. that is why i am trying to make a particle system out of instances ;)
This shouldnt have any performance hit in terms of rendering speed.. just how responsive the viewport is and how commands are.

Dupli-group is about as efficient as you can go. A dupli-group is effectively just an empty. I think you can have thousands of empties in a scene without any slowdown. Are you sure you know what is causing the bottleneck? Check the Camera culling option under Scene Simplification in 2.77. Also it would be best to provide some testing scene for profiling.

Camera culling is a render option... what i am after is trying to optimize viewport performance.
Thousands of empties.... that would be nice... sometimes we end up with 10-20 thousand objects in a scene. for every object...that includes empties... it slows down the undo operator, the add mesh operator, the copy operator.. pretty much all additions of new meshes / objects into the scene. This is why i am looking at converting to a particle system.

I also work in archviz and would love to hear a solution for this,in my experience having particles does speed up the viewport a little at the expense of slower selection for objects with many particles.
Only alternative I can think of would be using perhaps duplifaces, though you would probably be limited to distributing single objects as opposed to say group instances.
There would have to be a special dummy mesh object where each face would store the location and rotation of each instance, though I am not sure it will bring any viewport performance advantage. You would also probably need a script to create said mesh from existing instances, although creating from scratch would be a little bit easier.

We explored the dupliface option... The problem we had with duplifaces is that you cannot control the rotation of the normal vector. as in they will all be facing the same way instead of the rotation you are after.

Well I was making a quick test now and they do rotate with the face, I guess it has to do with vertex index order or something, although results are quite hard to control manually being, kind of a trial and error thing.

I believe its not only based off the vertex index but also the vertex order as to how the face was created... I think also it has problems with rotations if multiple objects are involved.


text:
Make object follow a path from a specific frame (not frame 0)
I created a path (Shift + A: Curve -> Path) for an object to follow, and paired them together by selecting the path, the object, hitting Ctrl + P: Follow path). The object now follows the path, however, I would like this to happen from frame 50 and not from frame 0. I tried adjusting the evaluation time of the path, but blender won't let me add any keyframes to it - what's the usual approach to doing this?

Edit: Ok, actually you should rather unparent and give your object a Follow Path constraint with the curve as Target.
Then, when you press Animate Path, it moves your object.
You can ether play with the constraint Offset value to move it the way you want. In your case keep it at 0 at Frame 50.

Or you can select the curve, go in the Graph Editor, unfold the Bezier Curve track on the left, select the Evaluation Time, display the N panel, select the Modifiers tab, close the Generator.

Now keep the curve selected, go in the Properties editor > Data > Path Animation, play with the Evaluation Time value and create some keyframes to make the object move along the curve. In your case, keep the Evaluation Time at 0 until frame 50.

Just what I needed :-) Thank you!


text:
Duplicating object along curve
I have an object that i would like to duplicate along a curve. To do that, I have added a Array modifier that duplicates the object and a Curve modifier and selected the appropriate curve object to guide placement of the duplicates. However, selecting none of the axes produces the correct result, which should be the obejcts placed along the curve. What am I doing wrong or missing?
This is an asteroid next to a sun object. Ultimately, I would like to create a bunch of asteroids around the sun. My plan is to duplicate the asteroids many times along the curve and then to randomize their placement, rotation and scale a bit so that the lot looks natural.
For the reference, here's my scene .blend file: Scene .blend

Why not just parent the asteroid to an empty at the center point of the orbit? Duplicate, resize and reorient to taste, and then they all will rotate with the empty. If you don't want them to, duplicate the empty and create new parenting relationships. When it comes to planetary orbits, my view is that curves are overkill, since they are capable of making objects change course in all three dimensions, and you don't need that functionality here.

Select your asteroid and:

Apply its rotation and scale (CtrlA).
Move it at the same point as the bezier's origin (as it is the center of the scene you can press AltG).
In its Curve modifier choose Deformation Axis > X.
If you apply the curve's scale, bring back the vertices radius to one in the N panel.

It should work.

Thank you! Setting it on the same point as the bezier's origin and applying the rotation and scale was what I was missing.

In Blender 2.7x there was a function called Dupliframe which puts an object where it is and then an instance where it would be in the next frame and so on. If it's a one-time thing I would suggest to go back to 2.79 for this 1 step. If you need to replicate it, or want to stay in 2.8, the animation nodes have a fairly simple setup for that, but they can seem intimidating at first.


text:
Liquid metal node setup
I'm trying to create a node setup for a liquid metal like material similar to this, but even after hours of trying, I'm nowhere near. Can anyone give me any advice on how to do this?

Just a fancy normal map, I'd say. What you've tried so far exactly? Please read: https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask

This looks like fun.

Plug a Musgrave texture into another Musgrave texture :).
Conect it as a Displacement
Lighting is rather important, I used this free HDRI
(optional)(Add a Dreamstime watermark)

Absolutely fantastic - just what I needed! Many thanks, Jachym!

Glad to be of help :). Good luck with your project.

It's going to be on a book cover. Soon in a bookstore near you :D The title is Star Trek Voyager: Nehodni.

Oh, that's so cool! :). If you get stuck somewhere, I can send over the .blend. Bye.

Loved that add dreamstime watermark :P

@PrakharLondhe Thanks. God is in the details :)


text:
Blend file huge, but everything is pink
I have a starship model that I have got from a well respected modeller. The file is over 1GB, so I assume it contains textures. However, everything is pink. What could I do to try to find out if the textures are included in the .blend file or not?

You could try File > External Data >Report Missing Files in Blender then Window > Toggle System Console should show any missing files.

If I'm correct you can check the textures in the image editor, you can click there:
There should be the list of every textures in the file like this:
if it's empty, then the textures are missing and the file size is due to a lot of geometry in the mesh I guess, but if the textures are there, maybe blender cannot find them due to a change of path or you might need to reassign them to the mesh.
Hopefully that helps!

That's not completely correct. If there are Image Texture nodes in materials that have the name of the missing textures stored, then these texture names will show up in the image list of the Image Editor (or the UV Editor as well), but most likely it will show an empty thumbnail (although in the material slot the preview sometimes is still there) and if you click on it to see it, the image editor window will stay empty. But seeing the names in the list is no indicator is the textures are missing.

I have checked that, of course. The texture previews show as empty, as they do when I open them in blender's image editor. I suppose the textures are in there somewhere though, because there's absolutely not 1GB worth of geometry in the file.


text:
Fluid animation with varying speed
How can I animate the fluid so it starts with a normal speed and then changes to slow motion?
I have one 1/4 second fluid simulation played over 24 frames (one second):

Now I'd like it to slow down and play second quarter of simulation over the next, say, 72 frames.
I tried changing the timeline Start and End frames to 25 and 96 respectively, setting the simulation time Start to 0.25 and End to 0.5, and setting cache offset to 25 and bake again, but it seems to overwrite the previous bake i.e. the normal speed simulation in frames 1-24 is substituted with the slow simulation. Obviously it's not the way to go.

(I'd post more screenshots but don't have rep for that yet ;))
How would I go about it? Do I need two domains for different animation speeds or is there some way to keyframe the liquid?
Note that I'm quite new to Blender so there are some basics I still need to learn, but I find it easier to learn them when I have specific goal in mind. Thanks for understanding ;).

I know it's a late reply, but I think I can help, if I understand correctly.
You can use keyframes on fluid simulations.  The best way to slow down the simulation is to set keyframes in the "Speed" field.

You will have to set the keyframes and then rebake the fluid simulation so they can be applied, this can be annoying if you are using a large domain and/or high resolution to the simulation as it can take a long time to bake and rebake till its right, so it's better to bake it with a small domain and low resolution so that you can quickly check to see if the fluid is behaving the way you want, then crank-up the domain size/resolution for your final render.


text:
Rotate object or move object to certain position by clicking custom UI button
I'm hoping to 3D print a simple robot controlled by an Arduino microcontroller, but first I am prototyping the design in Blender — I'm experimenting with controls, movements, actions etc. How do I move/rotate part of the robot in Blender — let's say "Robot_Arm_Lower" — to a predefined position? It only needs to be a simple button somewhere that just executes a basic command along the lines of "on button press move 'Robot_Arm_Lower' by rotating xyz and moving to location xyz". I'm guessing I need a simple Python script but I'm not sure where to start.
Hope that makes sense? Thank you.

For the UI part of it, have a look into How to create a custom UI? and for the Arduino part, read: Custom arduino controller in blender?.

I put together a small addon for you:
bl_info = {
    "name": "Move & rotate",
    "blender": (2, 80, 0),
    "location": "VIEW_3D > Tools > Move and rotate"
    }

import bpy
from bpy.types import (Panel,Operator,AddonPreferences,PropertyGroup)

xyz_rot = (0,0,0)
xyz_loc = (1,1,1)

class MYADDON_OT_rotate_obj(bpy.types.Operator):
    """rotate the obj"""
    bl_idname = "myops.rotate_obj"
    bl_label = "rotate_obj"

    def execute(self, context):
        #convert degrees to radians
        x = xyz_rot[0]*pi/180
        y = xyz_rot[1]*pi/180
        z = xyz_rot[2]*pi/180
        xyz_rot = (x,y,z)

        #Rotates all the selected objects: if you know the name of the obj you want to rotate use
        #bpy.data.objects["Robot_Arm_Lower"].rotation_euler = xyz_rot
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            obj.rotation_euler = xyz_rot
        return {'FINISHED'}

class MYADDON_OT_move_obj(bpy.types.Operator):
    """move the obj"""
    bl_idname = "myops.move_obj"
    bl_label = "move_obj"

    def execute(self, context):
        #moves all the selected objects: if you know the name of the obj you want to move use
        #bpy.data.objects["Robot_Arm_Lower"].location = xyz_loc
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            obj.location = xyz_loc
        return {'FINISHED'}
#-------------------UI-----------------------------------------------------

class MYOPS_PT_move_obj(bpy.types.Panel):
    """Creates a Panel in the Tool tab"""
    bl_label = "Rotate & Move"
    bl_idname = "MYOPS_PT_move_obj_ui"
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'
    bl_category = "Rotate & move"
    bl_context = "objectmode"

    @classmethod
    def poll(self,context):
        return True

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        scene = context.scene

        #Label
        layout.operator("myops.rotate_obj", text = "Rotate")
        layout.operator("myops.move_obj", text = "Move")

#-------------REGISTRATION--------------------
classes = (
    MYADDON_OT_rotate_obj,
    MYADDON_OT_move_obj,
    ROTATE_MOVE_PT_tool,
)

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

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()
    #Sometimes i get some registration errors when debugging an addon. If you get the same error try uncommenting the following lines
    #unregister()
    #register()

you may want to modify it to fit your needs: for example you may want to create 2 sliders to control the xyz_rot and xyz_loc from the UI without having to re-run the addon (btw, you don't need to install it from the user preferences like normal addons, you can just use it like a script if you want).
the addon/script creates a panel in the tool tab, but feel free to move it where you want

EDIT
As you mention in the comment you are running Blender 2.79b and you don't know how to use python, so you could try to use the following script:
import bpy
from math import pi

#change your parameters here
move = True          #If "True" the objects move: write "False" to disable it
rotate = True        #If "True" the objects rotate: write "False" to disable it
xyz_rot = (0,0,0)    #What rotation you want your objects to have (in degrees)
xyz_loc = (1,1,1)    #What position you want your objects to have
objName = ""         #The name of the object you want to move/rotate, if you need to move one object only.
#                     If you leave it as "" the script will move/rotate all the selected objects. (Recommended)

# ------------- CODE ----------------
#Rotates all the selected objects (or the desired object if objName is not "")
if rotate:
    #convert degrees to radians
    x = xyz_rot[0]*pi/180
    y = xyz_rot[1]*pi/180
    z = xyz_rot[2]*pi/180
    xyz_rot = (x,y,z)

    if objName == "":
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            obj.rotation_euler = xyz_rot
    else:
        bpy.data.objects[objName].rotation_euler = xyz_rot

#Moves all the selected objects (or the desired object if objName is not "")
if move:
    if objName == "":
        for obj in bpy.context.selected_objects:
            obj.location = xyz_loc
    else:
        bpy.data.objects[objName].location = xyz_loc

To run it, just paste it in the text editor, play with the parameters at the top and hit the "run script" button.
Every time you run it the selected objects (or the object you put in objName) will rotate and/or move based on the two flags ("move" and "rotate") and the two "xyz_loc" and "xyz_rot".
This should work both in 2.79 and 2.80, but you don't get the fancy panel and buttons of the precedent code

Please try to  adhere to blender's class naming convention https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release_Notes/2.80/Python_API/Addons

Oh sorry, I'm still new to that convenction ahah

Wow, thank you @Tareyes for taking the time to write that code. Unfortunately I should've mentioned that I'm a complete noob to Python and Blender scripting so I'm not sure where to start. Do I just copy and paste that code into the Python script console? I tried that and nothing happened. I should point out that I'm using Blender 2.79b if that makes any difference? Maybe I'm trying to run before I can walk? I just assumed I could write some simple code and it would work — I'm fairly experienced with JavaScript coding so I suppose I naively thought it would be very similar. Thanks again

@BenClarke I edited my answer with a second script that should work in your case. To run it you need to paste it in the text editor (not the python console: that allows you to insert only one line of code at the time) and press "run script"

Thank you again @Tareyes. With the help of your code I managed to achieve what I was aiming for. See answer below. Couldn't have got there without your help! :)

Okay, so thanks to the answers above I managed to do what I was aiming for (kind of). I've now got a custom panel in the Blender UI that performs specific movements/rotations when certain buttons are pressed. It is currently VERY basic but I am brand new to Python and Blender scripting so hopefully I will build upon this code during this project.
The current working version of the code is below (Blender 2.79b). Thanks for everyone's help that enabled me to get to this stage :)
bl_info = {
"name": "Robot Controls",
"blender": (2, 79, 0)
}

import bpy
from bpy.types import (Panel,Operator,PropertyGroup)

# Import math to convert radians to degrees
from math import pi

# This is just a simple object to hold some location/rotation variables
class ROBOT_ARM_L:
    Rx = 90*(pi/180)
    Ry = 0
    Rz = 0
    rotateTo = (Rx,Ry,Rz)
    moveTo = (0.053666,-2.17661,0.706597)

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------
#    Rotate - This performs the rotation
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------

class ROBOT_ARM_L_OT_rotate_obj(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "myops.rotate_obj"
    bl_label = "rotate_obj"

    def execute(self, context):
        obj = bpy.data.objects["Robot_Arm_Lower"]
        obj.rotation_euler = ROBOT_ARM_L.rotateTo
        return {'FINISHED'}

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------
#    Move - This performs the movement (location)
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------

class ROBOT_ARM_L_OT_move_obj(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "myops.move_obj"
    bl_label = "move_obj"

    def execute(self, context):
        obj = bpy.data.objects["Robot_Arm_Lower"]
        obj.location = ROBOT_ARM_L.moveTo
        return {'FINISHED'}

# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#    Panel - This creates the custom panel/buttons in the UI
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

class OBJECT_PT_CustomPanel(Panel):
    bl_idname = "object.custom_panel"
    bl_label = "Robot Controls"
    bl_space_type = "VIEW_3D"
    bl_region_type = "TOOLS"
    bl_category = "Tools"
    bl_context = "objectmode"

    @classmethod
    def poll(self,context):
        return True

    def draw(self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        scene = context.scene

        #Label
        layout.operator("myops.rotate_obj", text = "Left Arm Rotate")
        layout.operator("myops.move_obj", text = "Left Arm Move")

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------
#    Registration
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_module(__name__)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_module(__name__)
    del bpy.types.Scene.my_tool

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

The above code results in this custom panel:

Glad to help, and if I were you I would try Blender 2.8

Just to let you know, it's your decision... If you are accepting your own answer, you don't get any extra reputation. In case you accept the other answer (which isn't really different in comparison) Tareyes will gain a little bit of extra rep (15) for all the effort.

Sure, no problem. I'm not trying to increase my rep — I'm just here for knowledge! :)

lol, thanks you guys ahah

@Tareyes Can you help me please to modify your script so that I can translate a bone in a rig when you press a button 1 moves bone 'abc' x=1 LOCAL and the other button 2 x=0 LOCAL?

@EricHuelin I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understood what you mean, I think you should probably create a new question, maybe with a link to this one, so that you have the space to explain a bit better, and maybe provide some examples

@Tareyes I will pose a question so you can merit the well deserved rewards, the question was just how to make: press a button = bone translates = keyframes that event. The bone is in an armature.

@EricHuelin You can use the code I wrote, you just need to change how you access your object: I  don't know what is your knowledge of Python, but you can just select the armature and access its bones like any other object (for help ust google how to access an armature's bones or look at it in the Python console). as for the keyframes, you don't need scripting, since you can activate the auto keyframes (every time you move an objects, it places a keyframe there).

@Tareyes I posted my question because I only know how to use Python scripts with already written and I either change or copy/paste code but I never found anything that controls a bone or I would have not end up here, here is my last resort.

@EricHuelin Actually it's just copy paste: https://blenderartists.org/t/using-bone-translate-to-move-a-bone/511333/7
There are pleanty of resources on bones and other primitive functionality in Python, a Google search will show you them. In particular in the execute() function of the classes you need to select the bones instead of the object and change the location of both the tail and the head of the bone (something like bpy.data.objects["Armature"].data.edit_bones["Bone"].translate(new_position).
It's really simple actually, just take a look on google, you might learn a lot ;)


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How can I 'stamp' a fingerprint onto an object's geometry for 3D printing
I need to make a pendant (jewelry) with a fingerprint pressed into it — this will then be 3D printed (see image attached for an example of what I'm looking for).
Am I correct in thinking that a displacement modifier is the way to go? I have the image of the fingerprint which I was then going to use as the displacement modifier on the object. I have tested this out and it works to a certain extent but I was just wondering if there was a better method for doing this?
Many thanks in advance for any help or advice on this.

I would think displacement is the way to go. An alternative would be to try making a textured sculpt brush with the texture set to stencil and use Dyntopo.

Hi @Brenticus, thanks for the alternative suggestion. I'm not incredibly familiar with the textured sculpt brush — would it allow me to replicate my fingerprint image or would it just give a close approximation? Reason I ask is because basically the fingerprint image I'm using is the fingerprint of the actual person I'm creating it for, hence it needs to closely resemble it. Hope that makes sense? Many thanks.

I'm assuming you have an image of the fingerprint of the person. If the image is high contrast, as in ridges are light, valleys are dark, then you can use it as a texture for a sculpt brush. If you change the brush mapping from tiled to Stencil, the image will be an overlay over your object. you can then position the image over the object where you want the point to be, then sculpt over it. The light areas will be affected more than the dark areas, giving the pattern. Using dyntop will only add more geometry where it is needed and can give more precise results.

Excellent info — thank you. I'm going to try this right now...

Just tried it, albeit very quickly, but it produced very good results. Thank you for the suggestion. Here's some quick renders --> (https://ibb.co/bEi5VG)


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how to make a image bigger
I have looked at tutorials and they said to open the blender "render tab?"
I can't find how to do that. Im sure this is a easy fix. I appreciate anything. my desktop is the same as when you open " video editing". I have used video overlay but it is so small.

Go to Properties panel > Render tab > Dimensions and increase the percentage slider.

i'm sorry, wear is properties panel?

On the default Blender layout it's the window to the right of the interface with the several settings tabs

ok i am at the properties tab and have selected render.... now what?

Under the Dimensions drop down, increase the percentage slider. It's probably at 50%. It can go beyond 100% to keep increasing the resolution, but 100 should be good.

how do i find the drop down? wow i feel dumb lol

See the image above.


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Using freestyle and normal textures in one scene
How to combine Freestyle with normal textures?
I have a townscape scene In bender 2.79. All objects have a simple freestyle outline. I want to have the bottom most object (a landscape) to be a normal texture, (not freestyle) so can add an image to it, does any one know how I can do this? Thank you.

You can set freestyle visibility per-collection. Add your landscape in another collection and set it to EXCLUSIVE in the bottom of the line set properties :


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Cannot link group to a scene
My scene file is a group of buildings, all linked in from separate files, no problem. but on the new building I am working on, I have selected all objects and grouped them,as before, but when I go to link the group into the main scene, I have no group option. (In the building file the group is shown in outliner). Can anybody help please?

Not enough information to be able to help you. Could you post your blend file so we can have a look?

Use this link to post a blend file and pass the link edit in your original post http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

I think I have cracked it! The file I was trying to link in to had some existing objects selected, so I pressed A to deselect, and my grouped file showed up. Magic.


text:
viewing frames of animation
I have a simple query, (I hope). I have a few frames of a walking figure which I can animate, but I need to access the frames so I can print and trace them for hand drawn work. Problem is, after I animate them, where do they go???

With the default key bindings, F12 will render a frame, and F11 will toggle the render view on and off.  The rendered result is shown in the "UV Image Editor" panel.  In that view, select from the menus Image -> Save As Image to save the one frame.
If you have more than just one or two frames, this will quickly get tedious.  Go into Scene settings, set up an output folder, and you can render a stack of separate frame images in one go.


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How to remap tangent vector for remapped UV coordinates?
I've been using highly scaled detail normal maps through Cycles nodes and eventually realized I had a problem with my tangents.  This creates sometimes subtle artifacts, most obviously when using mapping nodes to rotate my UV coordinates, but also when using mapping nodes to scale my UV coordinates.  I'm scaling by factors of 50 or more so rescaling my UV mapping itself is out of the question even if it wasn't undesirable for other reasons-- Blender just won't let me use coordinates that far out of bounds.
It looks like I can remap the tangent vector using a mapping node, but I don't know how I should do this.  There are a lot of potential things to try and since the artifacts are easily missed, I don't want to rely on trial and error.
Let's say I run my UV coordinates through a 90 degree rotation in Z in texture mode in a cycles mapping node.  How should I transform my tangent vector?  What about if I do a 0.002, 0.010 X,Y scale in texture mode in a cycles mapping node?


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Can I save the inverse of a pose?
For a number of reasons, I sometimes like to lock my model into an armature modified pose (for editing, visualization, etc).  Most recently, I wanted to do this to fit clothes in a different pose from my body base, followed by a weight transfer.  (I apply my armature modifier, apply my pose as resting pose to the armature, and then recreate my armature modifier, to "write" the pose to the model and armature.)
However, it can be difficult to recreate my original pose to restore the model (and my newly fitted, weighted clothes) to its original pose.  Is there a way to save an inverse of an existing pose, that I can apply to an armature to undo a pose that I've written into the mesh+armature?

You can save the original armature duplicate in the original pose and then use it as a guide to snap to for your new armature with new base pose.

Thanks jerryno, that's what I've done so far, but it's not as perfect or painless as I'd prefer.

Well you can also script this into an operator with python. You have access to the bone's matrices in original pose and in the new rest-pose. The only issue is bone scaling, but you have head tail distances to rectify that.


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Simple Fluid Simulation won't work
Just tried Blender out for the first time. I wanted to animate a fluid but when I bake it nothing happens. I would really appreciate if someone could have a quick view over my File to see what I did wrong.
Here is the File: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zphmslbdgaebrm3/winewassserthick.blend%40?dl=0

In your case you can't use the Volume initialization type volume for your obstacle. Blender will see the fluid as inside a closed object. You need to use "shell" or "both".

Thank you, with "both" it wouldn't work but after this I tried shell and it finally worked. Thanks a lot.


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Why is GPU rendering is so slow compared to the CPU?
I recently bought a new configuration to increase rendering performance with Cycles. It's  an Intel Xeon E5-2620V3 6 core 2.40 GHz with 32GB of DDR4 ram. Video card is Nvidia Quadro M4000 8GB GDDR5. I assumed that GPU rendering should be faster than CPU rendering on this machine, but the opposite is true. For a rather simple scene (1000 samples), CPU rendering took about 18 minutes whereas rendering it with GPU took one hour and 23 minutes ... (which is even way slower than when rendering it with GPU on a lower performance computer). Blender does recognise the card (it shows up in the system settings) but does not really seems to use it, I guess. Anyone any idea what I might be doing wrong here or why the GPU rendering is so slow?
thanks,
Dominique Adriaens

Though Blender isn't optimized to use the extra features of the Quadro cards, something does seem off here.  (I have a Quadro M4000 and I can't imagine a processor, even a Zeon being that much faster.)

Your M4000 should render in approx 10% less time as GTX 970. Look up some render times of BMW scene and compare. If your's are off I would check and suspect drivers first.

Thanks for the suggestions! Changing tile size to 256x256 and switching off auto-size add-on did the trick.

Quadros are not optimized for rendering and number crunching, they are often a lot slower than GTX or RTX type cards. Quadros shine in displaying large and complex (AudioCAD) scenes in OpenGL, they also have a lot of RAM for that purpose. It is a common misconception that they are faster than GTX / RTX consumer type gaming cards (because they are so super expensive). Check on the card how much cooling fins are on there: A powerful card has a lot of metal for that, a weak card almost nothing. I have noticed that Quadros often have little cooling, they are not made for heavy number crunching.

Both your CPU and your GPU are quite good. Have a look at blenchmark. Your CPU is right up there and comparable to good GPUs. So it's not to be expected that the difference in render times will be huge. However, to optimise render times for CPU/GPU you should use the auto-tile add-on from user preferences. Just activate this addon and render times will be optimised.

we usually set the tile size to 256x256 pixels for gpu. this is really an important thing to consider. (yes you can also use an add-on but if you quickly want to check if this will improve your performance...)
render tab > performance > tile size
are you setting the device to GPU compute?

Thanks for the suggestions! Currently, tile size is set to 250x250, but it does not accept changes if I try to set it to 256x256 on that computer. On another computer, tile size is set to 256x240, and also there I cannot change that. Is there another setting I need to change first?

OK, found that I had the auto-tile add-on selected, which explains why I could not change the tile size. So, switched off the auto-tile add-on and changed size to 256x256 and bam ... render time reduced to 4 mins and 148/ seconds for that model! Thanks a thousand for the suggestion!

83 minutes down to 4 minutes by changing the tile size from 250x250 to 256x256? That seems crazy.


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GPU rendering causes glass to become extreamly reflective
Does anyone know how to get glass to be transparent. I'm using GPU render to render a bowl and cloth but the GPU and CPU final render have different results on the glass bowl
The top image is using the CPU to render

the bottom one is the GPU.
Does anyone know why this happens and how i can fix it or work around it?
thanks for any help :)

@cegaton yeah, im using an AMD card :/ thanks for the help. any suggestions on making glass without using the glass shader?

@cegaton :( I guess till there is an update to fix it i'll have to. thanks for the help

If you have this issue and you are using an AMD graphics card, you can either use CPU rendering or try and fake a glass texture.
I've found that using glossy shader and transparent shader lookes pretty good:
It takes a little longer to render but i think it looks better than the glass shader.

i know but its better than just using CPU rendering for me at least

authors: Семен Королев


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Strange lighting line when rendering in Cycles
This is a frame from a quick rigid body physics animation test in Cycles. For some reason, there's a line separating light from darkness in the background. I can't seem to figure out why.

Welcome to BSE, can you add screen shots of your world settings and node editor?

Are you using an HDR for lighting?

Since the tower is casting a shadow on the darker part of the background I assume that the darker part of the background is your ground plane and the brighter part of your background is your sky from world settings.


text:
Creating or Altering a Modifier, specifically Boolean
So, this whole idea of mine started when I got sick of using knife tool, and I can't get a handle on knife project.
I started getting the results I'm looking for by using the Boolean modifier using a plane with a thin solidify to cut into shapes but leave the remaining mesh that wasn't cut, but what bugs me a lot is how it "fills in" the cut area with some crazy faces.
What I would like is modifier similar to Boolean, that uses another object to "slice" into a mesh, but not create the extra faces.
So, I'm not relatively skilled at scripting in blender, but I do have some C experience.
What I was hoping someone could help me with is understanding from a programming standpoint how the Boolean modifier works, because I would like to make a custom one.
I've reviewed some online videos that show people making custom menus, but I haven't seen a custom modifier.

What is the result you want ... that the  knife tool does [not] provide?


text:
Track stereo footage
I have 2 footages. One for the left eye, and one for the right eye.
Is there any way to track the cameras from these footages and get the stereo camera from it? Or get 2 separate cameras from it, but at the same position if it was stereo camera?
I can track cameras separately, but I get separate solutions.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/49464/2843

I think you should track for one eye and then parent another camera to the first and adjust the distances between the two and also the rotation until it looks right.


text:
Link objects, but be able to change materials
Is there any way to link an object from another scene, but be able to work with its materials?
For example, I have a model of an airplane which our modeler made.
I want to link the model to a new scene where I will setup lighting and shaders and then render. But if we want to make some modifications in geometry, we could go to the original scene and do it.

Is your question about linked files or color data on a multi-user mesh?

What is multi-user mesh?
I have an object (model of an airplane) in model.blend.
I want to link this object to the lighting.blend and be able to modify or create new materials for that object.

I want to have geometry in file A, materials and lighting in file B. If I want to change geometry, I go to A and change it. In B all changes will be relinked.
Thats what I want

Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/3073/multiple-linked-objects-with-unique-materials-group-materials-override. However I could use that only after pressing L > Selected objects. The object still will remain linked, but you'll be able to change material


text:
Make particles go to the target object and stick to it
Is there any way to make particles move from one object(emitter) to another object and stick to it?

You can use keyed particle system to do that. This is often used to morph an object shape (as particles) to another object shape.

The principle is to set up a particle system (PS) on a first object, then define a second one using the same PS (and eventually a third one, etc.).
For these PS you may set there physics to "No" (as if not, they will fall or move or other).
Now create another object, with a PS (a new one) and having the same amount of particles.
Go to the key section below. And set the (keyed steps you want for it). These steps are based on the previous PS, as they are defined.

The key objects PS definition :

1- Start and end set to 1 (we want them all now)
2- Lifetime depending on what you want
3- Set to faces or volume (you choose)
4- No physics (if physics, that will work too, but theses PS will move)
You can use the same PS for the 3 (or 2 if you want 2) transition objects where particles are transiting above.

The keyed PS

1- Define start, end and lifetime as you need
2- Set physics to 'Key'
3- Add 3 (or 2...) steps in the key using the '+' button
4- For each step assign the wanted key object

You can tune the time (check 'use timing') so that the PS leaves or stays (stuck) more or less a long time from an object to another :

Аs I understand when it comes to Keyed Physics, than normal force fields stop working? For example if I want to add some turbulence to the movement of the particles?

@IvanLebedev, you can enable physics on the key fields and that will have impact on the directed field

Big thanks for your help!!!
Another question
I have object A and object B.
Particles are have spiral movement in the direction from A to B by wind and vortex forces.
I need these particles to born another particles in some frame range. These second particles need to attack object B and stick to it.

@IvanLebedev, you may ask another question about that. It is better for BSE and that will allow you to ask your question more clearly than in the comments. Thanks


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Something black in Glass render in Cycles
I'm trying to figure out the solution for this problem.
This is a screenshot of the render of toruses with default glass shader in absolutely whire environment.

As you can see there are some black artifacts (looks like reflections) on the glass.
Also notice that the number of the transmission bounces, global bounces, and translucent bounces are pretty high. There is also no clamping.
What is the problem? And how to solve it? Any ideas?
Blender 3.1
For this experiment I used CPU render.

I would suggest you increase the Max Bounces for Glossy.

@moonboots The screenshot shows the Light Paths settings... this is Cycles.

oops ok sorry....

Hi :). There are many possible reasons. Search this site, it could be anything from glossy bounces, to HDRI ;)

You can also share part of the file https://pasteall.org/blend/ ;)

It was glossy bounces. Thanks!


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Black spots on the model
At the modeling step, I've taken an issue with my model. Around the deleted parts of UV sphere appeared a lot of black spots, which I also have taken with imported model in Unreal Engine 4.
Its looks like this:

And with enabled "Mesh analysis" (Distortion, with angles between 1 and 0 degrees)

How can I fix this issue? Or maybe it's a trouble of Blender?

I've seen this affect when using "smooth" shading on the model. Changing from Smooth to flat will probably fix this, but then your model also look - well - flat. You might want to subdivide your faces around the area a bit more, which should allow for a smoother shading (toggle back & forth between smooth & flat in Object mode to refresh the shading).

After few hours working with this model I can said, that subdivision solve this issue partly. But using "Bevel tool" at the edges for my model (around the entrance) helps me to make smoothed model more beautiful and refined.


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How can I bake camera occlusion?
I'm perfectly willing to entertain answers like, "You shouldn't, do it like this instead," so I'll explain my ultimate goal.
I've been working on a model in Blender, including materials, and I'd like to prepare textures for use in a different, much more primitive engine.  Because I've been building for Blender appearance, I would like to use renders from orthographic cameras (starting with 6, but we'll see) to build a texture up on an unwrapped UV.
My problem is concavity.  Some areas of the model will be occluded from any given camera-- from all cameras.  I can manage that by separating these faces out, but I'll need to know which ones.  The ideal way for me to know would be to have a texture on my unwrapped UV that represented whether a given pixel was visible to the camera (or any proxy for it), in a black-or-white fashion, no grayscale, so that I could feed that into a nodes setup to integrate all of my renders into a final image.
Is there some way that I can create a material that returns white if and only if it is visible from a given position with an orthographic perspective?  Obviously, I can do this just fine for the render-- everything that renders is visible and everything that doesn't, isn't-- but I need it mapped to my model's unwrapped UV coordinates, like a bake.

How about removing all lights, then replace all camera positions with extremely strong point lights and (if in cycles) disable multiple bounces by setting them to 1. Bake only diffuse in sRGB colorspace and you should get completely black areas, where the lights don't reach. Then you'd have that information on a texture (which was the goal, right?

@Leander That is an option, although not ideal.  The point lights will give me occlusion from perspective, when I need occlusion from ortho.  (Although maybe I don't need to do ortho, not sure, haven't considered that.)  And using a plane light would light areas that were occluded from the ortho render.

Use a sun light.

@ Leander Duh.  That might just do it :)

From what I gather, you want a pure black and white mask for face visibility.
If this is purely a geometric issue then a face (triangle) will either be visible or not. You could probably get away with a fairly accurate representation without needing any rendering.
With that in mind then you could just place the 3D viewport at the correct view angle with an orthographic camera.
With the border selection tool select all object faces. If you have the Limit Selection to Visible option enabled, occluded geometry wont be included.
You may have to triangulate your mesh beforehand if partial visibility is an issue, like if you have many NGons or highly distorted quads.
From then on, with the selection at hand you can do whatever you want with it.
Either give them a different material and OpenGL render the viewport, texture paint it, export its UV map and paint it in an external editing application, etc.

Alternatively if you require partial per-face visibility you could try texture painting it from a certain viewpoint.

Thanks, I've tried this before, but didn't consider triangulation.  However, for whatever reason, a box select from a distance does not select all the appropriate faces-- I need to zoom in on the object past where I can select it in one big box, which leaves me vulnerable to making a mistake and distrustful of the technique even when zoomed in.


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Please help me understand the various ways that textures need to be linked to images
I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how Blender handles textures.  It seems to require linking them in multiple places.  Look at the following screenshot:

So here I have a mesh with a cloud texture (texture.002) and a texture in the UV window (untitled.png, saved to disk, which my fumbling suggests matters).  Neither is displaying on my model.  Untitled is not showing up in the texture list.  And texture paint is giving me a warning that there is no texture.  (FWIW, textured display in object mode gives me yet another appearance, which appears to be white.)
I have specific issues-- visualizing my UV mapping, getting a blank texture assigned for AO baking so I stop getting the no object or image error-- but I'm hoping for a more general understanding of these issues.

I think you need to understand first some important basics. There are tons of good and comprehensible videos out there. Just try to follow them and you learn much more than people can teach you in a few lines on stack exchange.

I do need to understand some important basics.  The tutorials I've seen all focus on practical issues, and as I follow them, it works out, but when I try to put it together, I don't understand what's going on.  Maybe I'm not looking at the right tutorials.  Can you suggest any that would help me understand the various ways in which Blender treats textures?

Is your model unwrapped already? If not that's the starting point.

It is-- you should be able to see the faint silhouette of the UV map on that screenshot.

There are several different concepts shown in your screenshot.

"Untitled" in the UV / Image Editor is not a texture; it is image loaded into editor (in this case, it's image generated by Blender, but it could be any image). It won't be shown in the texture list as long as it is not assigned to any texture slot.
Texture Paint mode shows "Missing Data" error because you have only procedural texture applied to your mesh in texture settings (of type Clouds); procedural textures can't be paint on.  Hence Blender suggests you to create new image paint slot, which will be used for painting on.
If it's inconvinient to create new image to paint on (e.g. you have already one and would like to paint on that), you can use it instead.
In order to do that, create (or choose from list) texture slot in texture settings of Image or Movie type and link desired image to it (i.e. if it's desired to paint on "Untitled" image you'll select it on this step).
If Texture Paint for some reason still haven't found accessible paint slot, you can refresh settings of Texture Paint panel. This can be done by opening Slots tab, and choosing appropriate material from list once more (or changing any texture options, like selecting image linked to texture once more).

Assigning a texture in manual.
This is for Blender Internal and it's a bit different in Cycles engine.

In order to paint on a texture, the texture must be of type "Image or Movie":

That's good to know, but there must be other issues as well.    After using + to create a new texture and assigning it that type, texture paint is still showing warnings and pink.

@Nathan You also must select or generate an image on which to paint. Click the New button visible in your screenshot to generate a blank image

Thank you.  I was failing to see the distinction between an image and a texture.  I should now be able to get a little further in my experimentation and googling.


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Can I render a normal map into a diffuse texture?
I'm still very new to Blender, learning what I can while I try to edit models for an outside application (Miku Miku Dance).  My textures are poor and I'm looking for ways to improve them.
Is there some way that I can use tiling normal maps created by a third party and burn them into a diffuse texture?  I'm talking about using the normal map to generate shadows onto an image that I can then edit into an existing diffuse texture.  Keep in mind that these are not normal maps that I generated from the model, but instead represent a deeper level of detail than I could with my simple mesh.  It seems like the sort of thing Blender could do.
As a newb, any details (keystrokes etc) are appreciated, but I can of course use Google as well as anybody else can.

I'm interested in generating a texture to be used in a third-party application that, for most users, does not support normal mapping.  I'm not trying to render any full images directly in Blender.  I'm looking for a simulation of lighting applied to a 2d image mapped to the object's UV coordinates.  As an example, maybe imagine that you were trying to create an image to be used as a texture in a very old video game, something like Quake.

This info should've been mentioned in the question. Thus you export model where no normal maps are supported; in this case you could try to light your scene roughly the same from all the points (in BI there was Hemi lamp for that), mute all color materials (however leave the normal maps affecting the end result!) and bake combined pass into an image. It'll be black and white which can be multiplied into the resulting image.

First solution (more complex)
The tiled aspect of the normal map needs a specific UV map (I'll call it "tiled"). And your diffuse texture needs its own UV map (I'll call it "UVmap").
Making "tiled" is the first point : if your model is complex or if its "natural" UVmap is very curvy, it will be hard to handle how to tile it correctly without unwanted deformations.
As an exemple :

The base model (here a plane), and its UVmap :

Add a second UV map (1) and eventually rename it "tiled" (2), then scale it (3) in order to give the tiled aspect

For the example I used this normal map :

Setup your material nodes (here I have put a noise texture but that can be what you want ; there is a lamp in the scene but it is not mandatory)

Add a "UV map" input node and set it to the "tiled" UV map (1)
Connect it to your normal map image texture (2)
Set it as a normal map (3) and connect to the normal input of the shader
Add an image texture for the bake (4) (I presume you have create an image for that) and remember this node needs to be selected when you will bake (the selection defines it as the bake target)

The bake itself :

Make sure your "standard" UVMap is selected for rendering :

Go to the rendering tab and bake section. Click the bake button.

Second solution (simplier)
Make a tiled texture from your normal map texture (using for instance the "small tiles" filter in Gimp).
The principle is the same as above but you'll need only one UVMap as the normal map is already tiled.
Third solution (simplier too)
With one normal map, simply configurate your material like this, using a vector mapping the defining the values (here 10) for the scale :

I suppose by "render a normal map into a diffuse texture" you mean converting diffuse maps into normal maps.
Creating normal maps from diffuse maps in Blender is not an easy one-button task. You also need to have at least some basic knowledge about using nodes and the cycles render engine instead of Blender's internal renderer.
If you want to convert random tileable diffuse textures into tileable normal maps the easy way before using them in Blender I suggest the use of third party software like CrazyBump (it's not free, though) or AwesomeBump (free and opensource).
Another possibility to create normal maps for a finished model with an already baked diffuse map would be xnormal. It's free but not opensource. And it's also the "somewhat more correct" way to create normal maps for a model.
Be aware that AwesomeBump is still in its early development stage. The UI isn't very user-friendly but the results are quite good. And don't use the current 4.0 beta if you have an AMD GPU. It won't work with the newer drivers.

No, to clarify, I have a normal map, and I want to use it to add some detail to a diffuse texture.

Normal maps contain render-wise of so-called non-color data. This data is used to calculate the lightning on a surface. Maybe you could upload your diffuse and normal map so it would be easier to understand what you mean by "detail"? Screenshots might be useful, too.

Char limit.  Diffuse, normal map, screenshot wouldn't help you understand, trust me. I hope Blender might render lighting from a certain perspective, taking a normal map into account, and return that to an image-- mapping the render of an object onto that object's UV coordinates-- so that I could simulate that same render (when at the same perspective) in an engine that didn't use normal maps.


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BGE double tap to run
i'm beginner in python. I have follow Goran Milovanovic's tutorial about "key combo", in his tutorial he is using a text object which is just changing the text. I want to make a combo like double tap to make the object move. it's a been a while I'm playing on it, but still the code ain't working.
here's the code:
from bge import logic, events
import mathutils
import time

class Combo:

def __init__(self, delta, lst_keys):
    self.delta = delta
    self.keys = lst_keys

    self.cidx = 0
    self.time_last = 0

    self.complate = False

def main(self, hit_key):

    self.complate = False

    time_now = time.time()
    delta = time_now - self.time_last
    self.time_last = time_now
    print(time_now)

    if hit_key == self.keys[self.cidx] and delta < self.delta:
        self.cidx += 1
        if self.cidx == len(self.keys):
            self.complate = True
            self.cidx = 0
    elif hit_key == self.keys[0]:
        self.cidx == 1
    else:
        self.cidx == 0

def main():

cont = logic.getCurrentController()
own = cont.owner

keyboard = logic.keyboard.events
hold = logic.KX_INPUT_ACTIVE
click = logic.KX_INPUT_JUST_ACTIVATED
w = events.WKEY

moveW = own.worldOrientation.to_quaternion() * mathutils.Vector((0,1,0)) * 0.2

up = Combo(1, keyboard[w]*2)
moveUp = own.localPosition = own.localPosition + moveW
combo_label = [(up, moveUp)]

for c, l in combo_label:
    c.main(hold)
    if c.complate:
            own = moveUp

Think about the design of such a system.
Requirements

key pressed once -> start timer AND wait for second key press
key pressed a second time AND wait for second key press -> do operation AND stop timer
timer exceeds -> stop timer

(I guess this is what you want to achieve. If you want something else let me know).
Design
This can be easily achieved via logic bricks. There is no point where you need Python.
Lets break down the requirements.
Sensing a key press
is simple: keyboard sensor
Running a timer
there are several options such as

delay sensor
timer property with property sensor
property with property actuator and property sensor

The timer property gives the time in seconds while the other options use number of frames.
Wait for second key press
There are several options too.

as long as the timer is running, you are waiting ... otherwise not. This could be sensed with a property change sensor
remember the wait state (either use build in state system or use a property to remember the state)

Do operation
This is up to you
Timer exceeds
either the delay sensor pops up or you measure this with a property sensor (greater than mode).
Example
I choose a delay sensor and the build-in state machine.
State "idle" (waiting for first key press)

State "waiting" (waiting for second key press)

Be aware when you have other "breaking" events beside timeout you need to add them too (e.g. pressing another key might break the combo).
Remarks
Yes, you can implement the same architecture with Python. There are no additional benefits.

thanks for your answer, but I want to make it in python. I'll try using delay sensors since I just know about it. I'll also learn state in python.

it is the exact same design. If you implement it in Python or not does not matter. See section Remarks