text:
Shortcut for setting origin to vertex
I find myself doing the following quite often:

go into edit mode
select a single vertex
press Space to enter the search menu
type cur
select Set cursor to active

leave edit mode
press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+C to get the set origin choices
Choose Set origin to 3D cursor

This seems like a very tedious process to me. I'm sure there's a shorter version of setting the origin to a vertex. Please tell me how to make this process more efficient.
I am open to installing an Addon if necessary.

OK, but I hope somebody will give a more complete answer, because i do this steps quite often too and a way to automate it would be handy.

I don't think there is any built-in way as of 2.79. There were talks it will be In 2.8. With addons it can be made faster, like with Dynamic Context menu (built-in one), see https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/71319/1245. There are also some 3-rd party addons as well though their workable state is to be checked

Related: https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2387/can-a-punishment-be-implemented-for-using-the-word-vertice-in-a-q-a

Steps 3/4/5 can be replaced by Shift+S (for Snapping) / O.
Step 8 can be replaced by T. In general, you can look for underlined letters in such menus.
I also wrote an add-on to automate the process: OriginToSelection.py.
Install the add-on via User Preferences / Add-ons / Install from file, don't forget to activate it (check the box before its name). Press Spacebar and search Origin, then select Origin To Selection.
Be careful, I'm new to publishing add-ons and I'm pretty sure it can cause crashes. Save your work before using!

The plugin is cool. Works fine so far.

It works but is insecure (ie, it drops an error if used in Object mode), and i can't guarantee it won't crash Blender. Using Dynamic Context as suggested by Mr Zak seems way better (and it's build-in).

I wonder why the bother with the context overriding in your addon. Consider having it poll only when in 3d view and edit mode.  As it is it will fail silently when run when no 3d views in screen.

I still don't understand that context thing really well. Before packing it as an addon I was running it trough the script window, so the overriding was necessary (I think?). You say it's safe to remove it ? Edit : it works well without it, thank you!

Can override going the other way when testing in the text editor, ie if __name__ == "__main__": bpy.ops.my_new.operator(ctx, 'INVOKE_DEFAULT')

Little bmesh helper script.
The process to move the origin involves making the new point the origin by subtracting it from all other verts, effectively making the point origin (0, 0, 0),
Finally translate the matrix world of the object, in the opposite direction,  such that the global location of vertices stays the same, ie move the object by the difference in global coordinate of the point to the former origin.
mw.translation += mw @ pt - mw @ Vector()

or since mw @ Vector() == mw.translation can set the translation to
mw.translation = mw @ pt

Run in edit mode. Moves origin to selected geo.
import bpy
import bmesh
from mathutils import Vector
context = bpy.context

ob = context.edit_object
mw = ob.matrix_world
me = ob.data
bm = bmesh.from_edit_mesh(me)

selverts = [v.co for v in bm.verts if v.select]
if len(selverts):
    pt = sum(selverts, Vector()) / len(selverts)
    #T = Matrix.Translation(-pt)
    bmesh.ops.translate(bm, vec=-pt, verts=bm.verts)
    mw.translation = mw @ pt # replace @ with * for 2.7x
bmesh.update_edit_mesh(me)

As an addon for 2.80

does it work for blender 2.78a,2.79?

Without testing (library upgrades for 2.80 have bombed my 2.79 build, too lazy to fix atm) Pretty sure the  required changes to make it work for 2.7x is replacing any @ with * and change the version accordingly in bl_info

well anyways the other addon works for me too

Yes this one is by no means better,  simply more
"mesh-centric". The other addon in theory  will also work for other types like curve and armature too. Script wise wanted to show how to do this without toggling edit mode, which can mean death to an edit bmesh.

bmesh means blender mesh isnt?

This one also works better with the Undo logic of Blender. As the Undo history is independent in Edit and Object mode, the other addon leads to a hard to predict behavior when using Undo.


text:
Why is my action modifier not being activated?
So, I basically have a few empty objects that are adding 1 to their 'Interval' properties every refresh of my game. The script I'm adding to the object that has an animation is connected with an always sensor on 1 positive skip and an action actuator with all the data prepared. The name of the actuator is right in the script. I'm sure. The animation is supposed to be activated as soon as the Interval property of "Empty.007" in my scene is higher than 60. But it isn't activating. Could anyone help me with this?
It would be greatly appreciated.
import bge

cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
own = cont.owner
act = cont.actuators["Action"]
scene = bge.logic.getCurrentScene()
Interval1 = scene.objects["Empty.007"].get['Interval']
Interval2 = scene.objects["Empty.008"].get['Interval']
Interval3 = scene.objects["Empty.009"].get['Interval']

acc = 60

if Interval1 > acc:
    cont.activate(act)

I forgot to skip 1 in the always actuator but it still work, i tested it

Your action actuator is not being activated because you have a sintax error in
Interval1 = scene.objects["Empty"].get['interval'] you have to use parenthesis in the .get('interval')

Cube logic:

from bge import logic

act = logic.getCurrentController().actuators['Game']
obj = logic.getCurrentScene().objects['Empty']
print(obj['interval'])

if obj['interval'] >= 60:
    logic.getCurrentController().activate(act)

Empty logic:

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Text in front of text transparency
When text is displayed in front of other text, the background text does not display correctly through the transparent parts of the letter. It looks like there is a surrounding box around each individual character of the text where no other text is displayed. See the b example in the screenshot, where I marked the surrounding box.
However, this behavior seems to apply to text/text relationships only. Where I have text in front of cubes, the cube color shines through correctly.
All objects are real text objects, no images, not textures. The text objects themselves are not transparent, they are opaque. But I expect them to be, well, transparent in the holes of the letters (sorry, I'm a non-native English speaker, if you understand what I mean, you can edit this sentence).
Is this a bug which should be reported or can I influence this behavior somewhere?
Version info: Blender 2.70, downloaded
Render Engine: Blender Game
Download SSCCE .blend file
Open the SSCCE in Blender 2.70. Hover your mouse over the 3D viewport. Press P to start game engine. Move your mouse so that the two text objects overlap.

@Polosson: are there several game render engines? All items are real text objects, not images or textures. I am working on a blend file, but at the moment it contains personal data.

See my comment in your resolution question. The problem is, that there are currently no alpha modes or depth sorting for text objects. It is better to use uv mapped planes. These are better integrated in the scene graph.

If only I could get more details as to what exactly you expect from the software, I might be able to answer your question right.
However, from you explanation, I replicated that, and I'm not seeing any problem.

What version of blender are you using? You built from source or downloaded from blender.org?
I just set my transparency to the desired value in the materials tab in the properties panel and all seem to go well.
By the way, I used the bge too.

I have uploaded a .blend file which reproduces the issue on my machine. Maybe you can have a look at that.

Okay. I think I've seen what you're referring to. Will converting the text into mesh (press Alt + C) do the trick? I also didn't see the transparency applied to the text.
Convert the text to mesh and work with it just like you wish. I think that'll be much more convenient since you're working in the BGE.

There is no trancparency in that sense. It's just transparent in the holes of the letters. I cannot convert it into a mesh, because the text will be updated dynamically by a Python script to display some information.

I"m on my tablet right now, so I can't look  at the blend. I used to have a ton of issues with texts, but here's the main fix. Just change the text into an actual mesh(Alt+C > Mesh), then put the material with transparency. Though this will not work if you want your text to change, there is a long process. This way, the text will have more quality, and you can out transparency, just as any other object.

The game engine seems to convert your text objects to planes with a character texture automatically. Note that new Text objects I added to the scene were converted to a mesh instead which worked fine since the text borders were not defined by transparency. I couldn't figure out which setting caused the text-to-texture conversion, otherwise I would advise you to turn it off.
The problem the transparent textures introduce is that the objects need to be rendered back to front for the transparency to show correctly (see also my answer here). For normal meshes you could just add a material and set the 'Alpha Blend' mode in the material's 'Game Settings' to 'Alpha Sort'. Unfortunatly this seems not to work for your text objects, since they seem to not react to any material settings at all.
The only easy solution I found to this problem is to convert the text objects to a mesh by pressing [Alt+C] and selecting 'Mesh from Curve/Meta/Surf/Text'. This will also remove the resolution problem. Note that this will make your text uneditable, so you probably want to keep a copy of your original text somewhere (on a different layer perhaps).

I'm not sure if this is a bug or a limitation of the way the text is generated in Blender. Converting to mesh is OK but very messy for those wanting the convenience of text editing.
A work around below I am using might be better for some.
Just animate the TEXT you want in clear view in a particular scene a little in front of the TEXT2 interfering with the TEXT that is visible. Then it doesn't matter that TEXT2 behind is not truly transparent.
Don't forget to move the TEXT back to the old position when you make it transparent again, otherwise the different text images creep forward when used multiple times. It may sound clumsy, but usually involves just animating a single axis to move TXT forward, inserting one animation key, or two keys to set it in place for a longer time, then duplicate the first key to move it back again later in the sequence.

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

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


text:
How do I let walls have a minimum width?
I am designing a 3D printable object. From a pure design perspective, many elements are extruded triangles. The problem is that the triangle will be very thin on the sharp edge.
For printing the object with a 3D printer, I need a minimum width, otherwise it will be interpreted as nothing and not become printed.
Basically, I need the following:

red: object as designed, not suitable for 3D printing
green: minimum wall thickness, suitable for 3D printing

For this example I went into edit mode, added vertices manually and moved them manually until it looked like a minimum width. The result needn't look exactly like this. Actually I don't exactly know an algorithm to do that.
Note that I need to ensure that wall thickness on the whole scene, not only on a primitive object.
I have tried:

the solidify modifier, but it still generates a sharp edge

Suggestion.  You may want to show your models in wireframe mode.  What tools in Blender have you used to help you with minimum thickness?

@atomicbezierslinger: for this example I went into edit mode, added vertices manually and moved them manually until it looked like a minimum width

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


text:
Finding the sources of files that are unable to pack
I was trying to pack all textures into my blend file.
When I do this, it says

Unable to pack file, source path '...' not found

However, in my opinion, I have fixed all the paths and I can't find any pink objects which would indicate a missing texture. I'm using Cycles materials.
How do I find out which objects still use textures in an unaccessible path?
I have tried:

opening the console to see whether it displays more information.
select every object in my scene (luckily not so many) - none of them seems to have a missing texture
Select File > External data > Report missing files - but it also displays the texture file names only, not the object names
How to find which materials use a missing texture - but the Addon fails with the error message
for node in bpy.data.materials[mat].node_tree.nodes:
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'nodes'

try also to see if this helps https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/3081/how-to-find-which-materials-use-a-missing-texture

@m.ardito: thanks. I think that's the correct answer - unfortunately the AddOn seems broken


text:
Actions/animations interference
I've created a simple mesh (a cube) and two simple animations for it.
First animation - cube going up and down (its location was adjusted and keyframed).
Second animation, an modified copy of the first one - cube rotating back and forth (location and rotation were keyframed).
Then I pausing the second animation in the middle, so that cube is rotated for an angle, and switch action to the first one. Cube rotation still applied. It moving up and down normally, but it also has rotation left from second animation, from particular frame where it was paused.
Is it expected behaviour? Because I expected, if there is no keyframes on particular transformation, then it must be set to some default value, not captured from another animation current state.
Also, this effect is additive - if several actions exists which using different transformations, then switching between them make the model to be a total irreversible mess.
What have I do wrong?

What keying set do you use, when keyframing the object for each actions? If it's LocRot, the rotation channel is keyframed, too, even if only the location is changed.

I used Location and Rotation keyframes. Well yes, LocRotScale will solve the problem, but is it ever normal behaviour?

Yes, that's the expected behavior. Un-keyframed channel doesn't revert to some default value.


text:
Is it possible to do a radius constraint in Blender?
Is it possible to do a radius constraint in Blender?
For example, consider 2 cubes, 1 unit apart, as the following;
[]--1 unit--[]

If we move the box on the right up or down, it will retain same distance as the following;
    []
    /
   1 unit
  /
[]

This is not for Blender Game Engine, I simply want to set up constraints, but can't see of how to get it done in Blender.

I think what you are looking for is the Limit Distance constraint.
From the wiki:

The Limit Distance constraint forces its owner to stay either further from, nearer to, or exactly at a given distance from its target. In other words, the owner’s location is constrained either outside, inside, or at the surface of a sphere centered on its target.

Argh! Suddenly it appears my Blender screen, including Clamp Region on Surface that I needed!


text:
Can I delete all materials of all objects in a scene quickly?
Is there a quick way to delete all materials in the scene? I have a scene containing 20+ materials and all linked to objects. I'd like to remove all the materials from my blender file.

Yes, you can. Easy way would be:

Select all objects, keep one active, remove all materials on it by pressing the "-" button on the right-hand side of material slot list;
Then, from the drop-down list (below it), choose Copy Material to Others. Save the file.

All unused material data will be removed after saving. You cannot see them anymore after reopening.

I never knew such a thing ever existed. Found the button, done and gone.

This answer just saved me Two thousand, nine hundred and sixty five mouseclicks. You sir, are a legend.

@JachymMichal Glad to help sir. It's 2.8 now, and we still have to do this kinda quick and dirty trick... T_T

I have no materials assigned, and reopening the file doesn't remove any of them

to delete all materials:
import bpy
for material in bpy.data.materials:
    material.user_clear()
    bpy.data.materials.remove(material)

You don't need ; in python tho

Would it be an easy update to make your script remove the material slots too?

There's an addon Material Utils, which ships with Blender.
Enable it in the User Preferences > Addons, select all objects A, hit Q over 3D View and chose Remove Material Slots:

It currently works on the active object only, despite the tooltip stating it would work for multiple objects. Here's a scripted solution for all selected, editable (non-linked) objects:
import bpy

for ob in bpy.context.selected_editable_objects:
    ob.active_material_index = 0
    for i in range(len(ob.material_slots)):
        bpy.ops.object.material_slot_remove({'object': ob})

According to the tooltip: "Remove all material slots from active objects", so a Copy Material to Others operation is still needed. Btw, you are supposed to suggest a coding way, I bet. :P

Interesting, it says objects, but seems to work on the active object only. I should either fix the tooltip or add an option to chose what to delete (slots of active object, selected objects, scene objects, all).

Yeah, This is the CoDEmanX I know of. XD

Added a scripted solution to really remove all slots of all selected objects :)

I'm working on the Material Utils addon and it looks like it currently fails for a lot of scenarios? I wonder how slot cleanup should behave, I could let it remove all empty slots (but they can actually be assigned without material!), or only slots with materials not used by the object, or a mix of both... Won't work for text objects however, they don't seem to expose the materials :(

this should be the right answer. I have over 100 materials in a generated object, using current best answer will be a nightmare...

Here is an updated version of reflog's answer. This removes all materials programatically.
for material in bpy.data.materials:
        bpy.data.materials.remove(material, do_unlink=True)

I was getting errors when using material.user_clear(), and read that it's something that shouldn't be done anymore. The above works flawlessly in the current version of Blender (3.0.0 at the time of writing).

just had to solve this problem too. The other answers here didnt work for me.
My solution:

Select all of the objects you want to remove materials from.
In Object Mode, Join them (menu: Object/Join or shortcut: ctrl + 'j').
Remove the material(s) in the materials panel by pressing the '-' button.
In Edit Mode, select all ('a'), press 'p' and separate (by loose parts in my case) to get your individual objects back.

I'd use this if and only if none  of the original objects had loose parts,  or shared the same origin, or had meaningful names (mesh or object).

This might not work as expected for mesh objects containing several meshes, like e.g. monkey. After your procedure there will be monkey and 2 eyes objects. Answers shown here still work for this situation

above critiques accepted :o)


text:
How do I colour a 3D terrain based on its height?
How do I colour a 3D terrain based on the height? Say, bottom green, and gradually to brown in the middle and white at the top.
When I use colour ramp node, I can see gradient colour across the 3d terrain along x-y plane, but I'd like to have the gradient upwards, in x-z, y-z plane.
Edit
Currently, my setup is using cycles and nodes like this:
Color ramp (c) -> (c) Diffuse BSDF (BSDF) -> (Surface) Material output

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/67142/cycles-material-with-color-based-on-height-and-backside-in-different-colors/67145#67145

Mapping node:
You can use the Mapping node to rotate the texture on the Y axis, making the gradient vertical.
Change the Location Z axis value so that one "end" of the gradient is at the tallest peak or valley of the mesh. Also ensure that the Mapping mode is set to Texture:

Result:

UV unwrapping:
You could also UV unwrap your mesh.

Enter edit mode (Tab) and select all A

Set the view to Orthographic (Numpad 5) and view your mesh from the front (Numpad 1)

Press U>Project from view:

Rotate (R) the resulting UV map in the UV/Image Editor so it is standing on end:

Ah! I knew it would be simple, I didn't know the existence of Mapping node.

@gandalf3 That's awesome! I just do not get why there is the need to rotate it?

I just had this issue myself, and I found that you don't need quite so many nodes. If you pass the "Texture Coordinate" node's generated output to an XYZ separator node, you can get values ranging from 0 to 1 for any of the primary axes. After that, you only need to pass the Z value output to the Fac input of the ColorRamp node. 0 will be the lowest point in the object, and 1 will be the highest point. Set the ColorRamp to the colors you desire, and pass its color output to whichever shader you want. This will also cut down on the processing required by avoiding the rotation action done in the Mapping Node.

The example above was used on a sky-dome. The higher up you look, the blue-er the sky gets. I should also note that you should be able to replace the "Separate XYZ" node with a "Separate RGB" node.

Also your technique and gandalf3's are different in that his uses the World space and yours the Object space. With his if you move your object along the Z axis the gradient does not move with it and you'll need to readjust the Mapping node's Z Location value, however this could be good if you want the gradient shared across multiple objects at a uniform altitude. With your method the gradient will move and scale with the object and is based on its Object Dimensions. It's nice to have two techniques to choose from. Just a matter of using Generated vs Object outputs, so we can mix and match too.

Normalize is helpful in the mix, too. It will condense the values so the full range of gradient colors shows up on the model.

can you share the node setup for this?

Could you specify what "the mix" is?


text:
How do I cite Blender builds/release correctly for Publications using Bibtex?
I am writing articles and would like to cite Blender correctly. How should I do this?
EDIT
If you run R, and type citation(), you would get the following instantly;
 @Manual{,
    title = {R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing},
    author = {{R Core Team}},
    organization = {R Foundation for Statistical Computing},
    address = {Vienna, Austria},
    year = {2013},
    url = {http://www.R-project.org/},
  }

And you can put this in Bibtex and cite R correctly. Is there an equivalent way of doing this in Blender to get an official/correct citation?

http://superuser.com/questions/8743/how-to-cite-software-in-latex

@stacker Thanks for the link. Do I need to use Edition entry for Blender as well? Where do I put Ton's name?

I had to follow rules when writing a thesis, but most of the work was done by a tool (https://www.zotero.org/). I would compare the citation style with a PhD thesis submitted at the institute.

So, how do I find citation style of a PhD thesis submitted at the institute? Is there a free copy I can download?

Sorry I overlooked that you're writing articles and not a thesis, with institute I meant the university (not the blender institute). In your case you could compare other articles published there (where you plan to publish).

I looked into ACM and the citation to Blender is somewhat inconsistent.

Blender has no functionality to do this, but you could use a Python script.
def citation():
    import bpy

    build_year = bpy.app.build_date.partition(b'-')[0].decode('ascii')

    return '''\
@Manual{,
   title = {Blender - a 3D modelling and rendering package},
   author = {{Blender Online Community}},
   organization = {Blender Foundation},
   address = {Blender Institute, Amsterdam},
   year = {%s},
   url = {http://www.blender.org},
 }''' % build_year

# test to see it works:
print(citation())

Thanks for providing the entries for author and address.

You can cite Blender as any other software. There are also some books about Blender that you can cite. Some possible citations are here http://www.citebay.com/how-to-cite/blender/


text:
How do I solve "Color management: using fallback mode for management"
When I do
import bpy

I get the following message in my console
Color management: using fallback mode for management

It happens everytime I start Python and import bpy, see the shot below

Prior compilation I disabled Cycles, OSL, OpenColorIO, and LLVM from makefile.
However, multiple import bpy statement does not show this error/warning message multiple times. See image below.

Is this normal? Is there a way to get rid of it?

@ikel I don't think this has anything to do with importing bpy then.

This is normal but you can make this message go away by building with OpenColorIO. Since it is the default now for color management in Blender, by not using it in your case here, Blender is falling back to an simpler set of color management rules, where float buffers are linearized sRGB buffers, and byte buffers are sRGB nonlinear buffers.
Note that imports after the first will use the cached module so they are not loading the entire Blender state every time. But this means you can't for eg, have 2+ blend files loaded from Python at once. each Python process can only operate on one blend file at a time.

Including OpenColorIO in makefile indeed removes the warning.


text:
Sync zoom level in quad view
How can I sync the zoom level in all 3 perspectives in a quad view?
Currently, when I zoom in one of them (top ortho for instance) the other two are not zooming with it, resulting in an inconsistent setup. I'm used to all perspectives being in sync from other tools.

In the view preferences (N), under Display, checking "Box" should do the trick:


text:
Animating a picture
I am new to Blender. I have a simple picture (png) which I would like to apply a texture to.
But the texture should be applied in a slow rate, and only to parts of the picture along a line or curve.
Then I want to capture that animation somehow as a video or something?
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question.
For example if I have a picture of the number 1 in green. I want to apply a red texture to that 1 from top to bottom along a line, slowly so that it's color changes from green to red. I want to capture this animation somehow. Hope it is clear now.

You could use a video as a texture, or if you use cycles you can use a mix node and keyframe the fac value (picture needed).


text:
Random color streaks in Object View
when in Object view random color lines and layers shows up. somtimes it vanishes suddenly sometimes it stays.
is this coz of any lag in processing?

This looks to me like some kind of glitch, possibly with hardware. Could you give us more details? What version of Blender are you using? I can see this is not a default startup scene as it contains an empty. Is anything attached to that empty? Does this happen in any Blender scene randomly or is it triggered by doing certain things? How can we recreate the steps you took to get this? If it's just one file, could you share the file?

He's using Blender 3.0.1.  (Bottom-right corner of window.) That looks as if it could be a graphics driver problem to me although I've never seen anything like it before.

I've seen something like this before - some users experiencing a similar phenomenon have had success by deleting the %appdata%\Blender Foundation\ folder. See here -  https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/251952/75504


text:
What is Generated Mapping and UV Mapping? And what is the difference?
Well, basically that's it. What are this texture mapping modes? Is there pros and cons of each one?

Shortly (and roughly), Generated Mapping is mapping generated by Blender, UV Mapping is one generated by you

Unwrapped texture coordinates explanation refers to UV Mapping mode?


text:
Can I make an animation in the blender game engine but still move the object how I want?
I'm making a go kart game and I need an opponent. I tried some things but they where all too difficult for me. Now I want to give the kart an animation so that it succesfully drives over the parcours. But I want to be able to push the kart around with mine so that it can be pushed of the road but that it tries to align itself again.

I haven't tried anything similar to answer this but I have an idea you might try. Animate an invisible cube and make your enemy AI racer always track to this cube as a dynamic object. Then you 'll be able to push it. But you need to make sure the cube slows down a bit when your player hits the AI else it might get so fast that the AI will start moving backwards. That's only an idea.

I wouldn't do this with animation, I would want the kart to have a steering brick that always goes toward an empty that represents where it should be driving on the track.


text:
Blender crashes when playing (P) a duplicate scene in BGE
I was making a game with objects that contain pretty complicated programming in the logic bricks. I want to make a new level with the same objects but just with a new venue. I just copy the items I need to the buffer and paste them in a new scene. When I click 'p' in that scene blender just closes directly. Same thing when making a new scene by linking the objects or object data and even with a full copy. Does anyone know what causes this problmem???

Probably a bug which should be reported to the tracker.

make sure all of your logic bricks are still linked correctly, if object names change things can break. Also check your camera.

How much logic bricks is there? I've heard they are cause more lag than python, perhaps too much lag in your case?

It is not a lag issue - it crashes. Crashes are bugs. SE is not for bug reports.


text:
Blender's Sound actuator 3D sound without pitch change
I want to use a certain sound in my game, but the object that is using it is moving quite fast. If it passes by the camera the pitch changes dramatically. I know that this is a natural effect, but it's pitch changes way too much. It's not realistic anymore.
Is there a way to either remove the effect or decrease it without changing any other 3D sound setting. I would still like to be able to hear where the object is coming from through my headphones.

I can't remember if it works in the game engine, but this is where you're meant to be able to adjust this (the Doppler box under scene settings)


text:
color management (& grease pencil) : possible to render as it is in the viewport?
I got a problem with the filmic color management & Grease Pencil objects - the colors do render poorly (right) - I prefer the viewport (left) look.

If I switch to the "default" color management; its a bit better but all my light setup should be reworked; which I cannot manage now.

Is there a way to render as it looks in the viewport ?
Thanks.

Viewport looks, unsurprisingly, strange. Provide more context.

Grease pencil isn't color managed in the viewport, so no, it's a pitty but there isn't a solution for that.
Unless this question about color management will attract more people and devs to really dive into it.
I've tried to push this specific question about grease pencil, but see by yourself how I didn't even had one response:

Perhaps it's not well formulated, and my knowledge is limited related to grease pencil, coding... but still the question remains.
To be a bit more specific related to your question, what you see in your 1st picture is, on the left part, a well color managed mesh and a grease pencil stroke not color managed at all. a mesh color managed with filmic and a GP stoke color managed in default (clamped sRGB)
Resulting in the right, in a render that not correspond to what you see because everything is color managed with Filmic.
In the second image, the solution to set color management to default (what a poor choice to name a clamped sRGB color space), isn't a solution at all, since light will behave incorectly.
You can choose to change all your grease pencil color values by guessing and hope, sorry, pray that one day all part of Blender will be correctly color managed (I don't speek only about GP).

Sorry, even with my little knowledge about color management and spaces, I still make mistakes, it's not that GP isn't color managed, but it's locked to defaut (clamped sRGB)


text:
Eevee: weird shadow artifacts
I got those strange shadow artifacts when rendering with Eevee.
Does anyone knows what might cause it ?

Thanks

Possible duplicate of Eevee shadow problem. So now it gets asked twice every day...

yes, due to contact shadows softness. thanks!


text:
Can Grease Pencil get light / shadows like a regular mesh?
I was wondering if a Grease Pencil layer can get (or generate) light and shadows like a regular mesh ?
Before Grease Pencil, I was achieving this by loading an image sequence as a texture on planes; and this was casting light.
Now that GP exists, it could improve my workflow a lot (no need to export / re-import the animation, setup a material, etc) - but I need to having it interacting with lights...
Thanks

from Blenderartists on August 2018 :

No. Grease Pencil objects don’t cast shadows or emit light. In fact,
  there is a need to restore conversion from GP object to curve or
  meshe.
Currently, a GP stroke or an annotation cannot be converted to a curve
  or mesh like it works in 2.79.

from developper Antonio Vazquez (antoniov) on 2018-01-10 :

This is feature in Todo list (integration with Eevee), but it's not a
  simple thing, so it will be done in future versions 2.8x

Since then, most remains unchanged but «a GP stroke or an annotation cannot be converted to a curve or mesh» should be just «a GP stroke or an annotation cannot be converted to a mesh». Conversion to curve seems to work (and casts the right shadows once Fill type is set to Full and Bevel depth to 0.01)

Upvote the idea on Blender's Right Click Select : http://blender.community/c/rightclickselect/Vdcbbc/

Realized as visual effects->shadow in current version 2.91.
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/grease_pencil/visual_effects/shadow.html

This FX is just a simple drop shadow, which do not react with the light setup of the scene.


text:
Cycles : how can I setup a glass material that doesn't become too dark when it is stacked?
I'm working on a picture where I need to stack layers of glass (the floors of a building).
The glass materials are tinted.  The goal is that you could read cleary and distinctly the color of each floor when viewing the picture.
I did some tests, but the thing is that the picture gets very dark when there is a lot of glass in the depth :

I also did some tweaks but cannot find something that works well.
Among others, I did try mixing an emitter node with my glass.
It reduces shadows but it doesn't look like glass anymore...
Could anyone explain me how I could do that ?  Here's the project file.
Thanks a lot !

Maybe increase the light bounces

I feel its only dark in that area because it is the shadow of the middle perpendicular column?

@icYou520 : yes, probably, but anyway I need to have it brighter :)


text:
is there a modifier to slightly shrink/grow mesh so it doesn't overlap?
I have build a building model in Blender.
You can see through it (semi-transparent) to view the floors of the building.
Those floors are simple planes that have a boolean modifier on it.
The object used as boolean is another instance of the house, so the 'cuts' of the floors are done dynamically.
But then the floors are overlapping with the mesh of the (first) mesh house and it creates artifacts.
Is there a way to add a modifier or something else dynamically that I would enable on the boolean object (house) so that the mesh is a slightly smaller/bigger than the original house mesh so it does not overlap ?
Thanks !

Maybe Displace modifier?

But how should I setup it ?

In couple words, use Dynamic paint for vertex weight and than feed it to Displace's vertex group.

Well, what I always do is select the model, tap the S key, or whatever you may have for scale, and then type in (actual numbers) on how much bigger you want to scale it.
I think it works best when you go to the Object Properties by hitting N and finding the model's scale, then choose either to scale it in the X, Y or Z axis. If all axis' are the same size, just click the highest box and drag down to select them all, find the number and increase it by 0.5 or if you wanna be really precise 0.05, just keep adding to it until you get the desired result.


text:
lighted rain behind a window
i'm fighting with an effect I would like to achieve using particles & Blender (if possible Eevee, for rendering time concerns).
I want to make rain INSIDE a box, and to light that rain.

The lighting is very important.  You should really understand were the light source is, by watching the rain.
But the light itself doesn't really show up.
I did a lot of tests with particles, materials, volumetrics, etc; but can't get close to it:

I also had tests with particles emitting light, the problem being that I really need water drops to be illuminated realisticly - and to react to my light setup as I update it.
Does anyone know how to do this (and if it is doable) ?
Here's my current blend file.
Thanks a lot.

perhaps you could use a glass material for the rain, with the IOR set for rain settings, and use a plane above them with an emission material.  There's a chance you've already tried this, but I'd thought I'd say it just in case

yes, already done the glass & the emission plane above it...

For the inner illumination of your drops remember to not make the drops 100% transparent. Look at the difference for value =1 and value=0.95

I don't think that there's any other option than doing this and adding a LOT of samples.. :(
You would have to modify the particles to be dynamic thought the flight, so their shape changes very slightly, so each moment they reflect light in a slightly other direction.
Also, cycles sucks at caustics. Your lightning setup would use refraction for the drops themselves to be lit "from inside", and reflective to get the shimmering effect on the video.


text:
Why is there a Black Disturbance in my intro video that covers the middle?
I downloaded a intro template for blender from YouTube and followed instructions to render this intro. It rendered and after it was converted it showed up with a black rectangle all over the middle of the screen. Can someone please show me how to fix this issue? Yes, I'm a noob first time using blender.
Unlisted Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRGPXxqSGuU

Welcome to Blender.SE!  Would it be possible to link to or upload the .blend file?  As it is it's practically impossible to tell what's wrong.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/yedl3405dc4r494/By+RiseFX.blend, here is the link that I used to make the intro. I realize that the same "thing" has been happening for everything. Thanks for replying.


text:
Cycles Volume: Dynamic Step Size?
I've been thinking about Cycles' Volume Scatter, and how AMAZINGLY SLOW rendering volumes are. Especially so if you have both a very large, very far away volume (like clouds)in your scene and a very detailed, very close volume (like ground fog)... and you're rendering an animation, so you can't do many separate renders for each frame and still patch it together in any reasonable amount of time.
Is there a way to make the heterogenous volume's STEP SIZE increase with distance from the camera/viewport?
How would this affect render times?
If there's no option to do this, then how easy would it be to implement, and how to people do things like this as of now?


text:
Beginner: Wrong workflow? 8x8x8 LED Cube to complex
Total beginner here - I hope you guys can help me :)
So I want to make a 3D representation of my LED Cube. It consists of 512 LEDs (8x8x8). I think it should be pretty simple... So I started reading a Tutorial and now I just created the 3D LED cube. But the performance seems pretty bad - thats why I think I am using Blender wrong :)

My Workflow:
I deleted the standard scene and then added a UV Sphere
I reduced the segments and Rings to 12 and reduced the size to 0.25.
I hoped that this would make the performance better (I want to export it to a .obj file and use it in a C# Program).
Then I duplicated the singe LED and created a row, changed the position of each new LED. When the row was done I created an 8x8 LED side by duplicating the row 7 times. Then I duplicated the first side 7 times to get my 8x8x8 cube.
My object looks like this:

I see that the verts/edges/faces count is pretty high - I assume this is bad for my performance. Is there a better workflow for my little project that results in a better performance? My exported Object is 4.91 MB big - seems a little big for a simple cube or is this ok?
Sorry but I would really appreciate any help I can get :)

I would have picked an icosphere, or even tetrahedron as the LED unit.  It mostly depends on how it will be used.  A lot of beginners put too much detail on things that never is noticable.

Thank you @MutantBob . Just created a new Cube using icospheres and the performance is a lot better. No more frame drops :) I'll test some things here and there but your comment gave me a noticeable improvement!

Both of the answers suggested reducing the number of faces.  A base icosahedron has 20 triangles which is a drastic reduction from 144.  A dodecahedron would have 12 faces but 36 triangles.  An octahedron has 8;  A cube has 12 triangles; and a tetrahedron 4.

I honestly see no problem with this, there is not much you can do except
for making the mesh at a lower resolution,
you do not mention what engine you are using this in, but one option might be to look in the engine you use, then see if it supports instancing of meshes which then can have separate materials assigned (I assume you are assigning materials to the different LED's during runtime.).
The you only export one LED, then create it all by code (instance,move the instance, assign materials and so on). That way the mesh memory is kept low, because it will only load 1 LED mesh.
But again - this scene is not big at all compared to other game content that typically exists in a scene.

Thanks for your valuable feedback, I really appreciate it. I wanted to use this 3D Object with WPF and C#. I am using the Helix-Toolkit to load the .obj file because I was not able to load the object without this toolkit in visual studio 2015. But I'm getting like 3 FPS when I'm rotating the camera right now :/. I might have to try your tip with instancing the LEDs seperatly - thanks again

12 segments and 12 rings sphere has 144 faces. 512 of those spheres sum up to 73728 faces. Is it possible that you export one sphere and do the instancing within your program?
And by the way 12 segments and 6 rings would yield better topology. Number of rings better be half of the number of segments.


text:
lack of geometry on the render, but not in the viewport
I've got a scene with paper sheets moving along paths (with a modifier).
But there is something weird : while everything looks fine on the viewport, it seems that there is a lack of geometry when rendering (we can see kind of horizontal lines on the paper).

I checked : I have soft shading enabled on the meshes, I have a subdivision modifier enabled (on render too), and I also checked the resolution of the curves (12 on preview, 0 on render)
So why this ?
Thanks !

Check that the number of subdivisions is equal or higher than the ones for the viewport.

already checked, it's not that...

Have you not answered your own question? if you have geometry with curves and you have the render view to 0? it wont be shown, but 12 in the viewport - try making both 12 and see if it solves the problem.

@Facity : 0 = use of previous resolution (12 in this case)

Can you add a screenshot of your modifier settings?

Seems that this is happening because I use 'Simple' subsurf, not 'Catmull-Clark' !
Anyway, seems there is a bug since it doesn't look the same in the viewport... ?


text:
physics : blow sheets of paper with wind?
I need to create an animated shot where sheets of paper would be blown away by some (directional) wind, like you would do with leaves :

I'm hesitating between animating it by hand (using curve modifiers on my sheets) or with physics.  It should be quite realistic.
Would you consider doing it with physics, or is it just too much work ?
If yes, how would you do it ?
Thanks !

Don't know if it is realistic enough, but https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/58582/animation-of-falling-paper-in-cycles/58606#58606

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/68549/how-to-animate-falling-feathers/68561#68561

It depends in how many sheets you'll have in your scene, and what type of animation you want to do.
If it's a realistic animation, then I'll prefer physics and work on my simulation enough to bake it (it wont be that heavy then)
If it's a cartoonish animation with few sheets, then the curve method could be fun, but it's not the fast option here.
Curious to see what others think about it !

Let's say about 30 sheets.  You think working with physics could be faster here ?  I'm afraid that it takes a lot of time to tweak.

Sir this is not an answer ...


text:
UVs looking weird when using the solidify modifier
I'm working on an animation of paper sheets.
I want to keep things very simple since I'll have to animate a lot of them and don't want to complexify things if I don't need to.
So my mesh is just a subdivised rectangle :

But when I use a solidify modifier (to give the sheet some thickness), the edges of my paper are getting weird :

which is not the case without the modifier:

Does anyone knows what causes this and how could I avoid it ?
Thanks a lot

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/26074/weird-shading-after-using-solidify-modifier

Your flat mesh likely has smooth shading enabled, which only becomes visible once you give it thickness. In object mode you can select your object and applied flat shading by using Object > Shade Flat.

Yes, I have used Smooth shading because I need to curve my paper.  Any chance of having the best of both worlds ?

@gordie Then you would need to add edge loops to all four sides that are close to the outer border. Or you use auto-smooth with an adjusted angle which may not be ideal for animation.

Ok, found the answer in the duplicates : just add a EdgeSplit modifier.  Thanks all !

@gordie yes, that works too.


text:
PBR material : how to use a RMA file in Blender?
I found this (free) nice brick PBR material :

I would like to use it in Blender. I had never heard of PBR before.
So when I unpack the zip, I get those files :

Brick_Wall.sbsar
Brick_Wall_D.tga
Brick_Wall_H.tga
Brick_Wall_N.tga
Brick_Wall_RMA.tga

I've understood that sbar is a property format and is not supported by Blender.  So I have to build my own material using those textures.

I've read this tutorial to learn how to setup it.
I added a principled BSDF node and linked it like that :

Brick_Wall_D.tga > base color
Brick_Wall_H.tga > metallic
Brick_Wall_N.tga > (normal map) > normal

Is that correct ?
But then, I miss the roughness map.
I read here that

RMA is a type of packed map which contains Roughness + Metallic +
  Ambient occlusion, which are used with PBR (Physically Based
  Rendering).

and here that you can extract channels in the node setup by using a "separate RGB" node.
Thus, what should I use and how should it setup that ?
Maybe I should use only the RMA file ?
Thanks a lot.

You don't need the height map for this.. the normal map will work fine (make sure to add the vector Normal Map and make the image texture non-color).
The RMA works like this.. add the RMA image texture and then add a "Separate RGB" node.  Each channel in the RMA is an input into your BSDF shader.  Most of the time it's this...

Red = Ambient Occlusion (you can add this with a multiply on your Base Color if you want)
Green = Roughness
Blue = Metalic

I know this is an old question but maybe this will help others as this comes up early on Google for RMA and Blender.

just a quick one, RMA indicates also the order so
R(R) => Roughness
B(M)=> Metalness , G(A)=> AO.

For the other maps : (D)iffuse (= "base color" or "albedo"), (H)eight (=displace), (N)ormal

I didn't know that about "RMA" as a term.  Everything that comes out of Substance is as I descried above.. I'm not sure why.  There really should be a standard for that... I guess that's the "RMA" thing.

This slide from the Unreal Learning portal is visually clear what's going on with RMA packing.
As far as the order of RGB and its RMA correlation -- this video states it's something each studio / team does differently for their own needs and would be established early on in a project's Master Material.
This link here shows you exactly what the Blender workflow is of this concept
https://blenderartists.org/t/guide-texture-optimisation-channel-packing/1227744
And this slide shows an exact node group within Blender indicating that a single texture is being split by the Separate RGB node into the PBSDF shader's appropriate outputs.

This tells the OP what RMA files consist of, but it doesn't really provide them with a way to use that knowledge.  Consider adding a node group showing using a SeparateRGB node and other necessary nodes to attach the image texture to a (principled) shader.

Please add further details to expand on your answer, such as working code or documentation citations.


text:
Read the filename from imported SVG via python
I try to import a SVG file into Blender, edit the imported curves dependent on the filename of the SVG and export it after that via Python script.
For example:
Importing the first file from a folder named "File_S10.svg" and scale curve by 10 (according to the part "S10" from the file name).
So the question: Is it possible to read the names of a couple of imported SVG files via script?
Any help would be appreciated.

The SVG importer does not name imported curve objects according to the files from which they were imported. It doesn't save the filename anywhere else as far as I know. So, if you imported using the blender UI, the answer would be no. You can, however, import directly from the script instead of the UI, then you will necessarily have the file path to do with as you please.

Using a python script you can specify the svg file to import. After the import you can identify the curves added and adjust their names and properties to match the filename used.
As importing an svg file can create multiple curve objects I would start by making a copy of the existing objects list, then import, then compare the current objects list to the starting list to find what was added during the import.
import bpy
import os

svg_files = [f for f in os.listdir('svgtest') if f.endswith('.svg')]

for f in svg_files:
    start_objs = bpy.data.objects[:]
    bpy.ops.import_curve.svg(filepath=os.path.join('svgtest',f))
    new_curves = [o for o in bpy.data.objects if o not in start_objs]

    n = f[:-8] # the start of the filename
    s = float(f[-6:-4]) # the scale factor as in the 99 from name_S99.svg
    for obj in new_curves:
        obj.name = n
        obj.scale = (s,s,s)


text:
Baked texture is way darker than render in cycles
I've been searching for quite a while for a solution but can't seem to find what I'm doing wrong or if it's even possible.
I have a scene with models which are all fitted with materials (just diffuse colors) just the way I like it. I've been rendering until I was satisfied with the way it looked. My plan was then to bake everything so that I had a texture that resembled the render so I could use it in a game engine.
Now the result is disappointing because the baked texture is way darker than the render itself. I think it maybe has to do with ambient occlusion settings? If I uncheck Ambient Occlusion, the result stays the same.
What am I doing wrong? (images attached)
Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Blender.se! If you are using the object in the BGE you should add  more information about how you are handling lighting in the scene and the kind of material you are using. To show up texture's real color in 3D view you should enable shadeless option.

You are viewing your texture probably in shaded view, so the texture get's darkened by the shading. You need to view it without shading.

The problem is (probably) that you are using a non-zero "Roughness" value on your diffuse material. The Roughness part of a diffuse material can't be baked because it's view-dependent. I.e. it changes depending on where you're viewing it from, which means you can't bake that information to a texture. Set your roughness values to zero, and things should work perfectly.
If not Roughness, think about other view-dependent features you might be using, and see if those are what's causing the difference.  Some examples are any glossy shader (even with a high roughness), Fresnel data, velvet shaders, and (obviously) reflections. Some of this information (like reflections) CAN be baked, but it has to be mapped a little differently than just a regular texture.
A screenshot of your node setup for your Cycles materials would help me be more specific with my recommendations, but not necessary.
Yvain makes a good point that if you're just doing a diffuse material, you might not have to bake that to a texture. You could just use a material in-game. You can, however, bake the AO and put it on top of an in-game material to make it look better.
Hope that helps!

What you want is setting up your scene for the game engine ? If you dont use any texture then the only thing you need to bake is the ambiant occlusion pass and shadows and use them for diffuse intensity. Also you can't use AO option in the game, it is only affecting the view port.

Thanks, I've tried baking just the ambient occlusion now. Getting closer to what I want to achieve. I was making it way too difficult for myself :)


text:
How to create an alias for an object's properties?
I'm curious if anyone knows how to rename an object's properties?  For example, can I rename head.rx to be head.nod?
In maya, there is an aliasAttr command that does this.
Would love to do it in blender, too. :)
cheers!
-jason

Perhaps an image would help explain your situation better.  This might be python text.  I wonder if using the (¡M!) word is beneficial.

You can't rename an object's properties, but you could extend it via its RNA, or add a custom ID.  IIRC, you can then add a driver to the original property, so head.nod ->> head.rx.  See here:
https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Py/Scripts/Cookbook/Code_snippets/Properties
That said, if animation channel usability is what you're after (judging by the names of your example) you might be better off just making a bone called 'nod' and then driving whichever axis is going to rotate that head downwards.
Not as extensible as Maya, for sure!

Thanks mike!  Not as extensible as I was hoping, but it'll work in this case. :)


text:
Why do I get a invalid syntax error on this statement?
The script was working fine, until I added the screech.volume property. I didn't edit the 'if' statement in any way, but somehow I get this error on the line of the 'if' statement:
File "D:\Users\Jens Hendriks\Documents\Blend-files\Bobsleigh car.blend\pitch n volume", line 17
    if radar.positive:
            ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

location: <unknown location>:-1

the code:
    import bge
import math

cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
own = cont.owner
sound = cont.actuators['Sound']
radar = cont.sensors['Radar']
wind = cont.actuators['wind']
screech = cont.actuators['screech']

speed = own.localLinearVelocity.y
xspeed = math.pwr((own.localLinearVelocity.x), 2)
sound.pitch = (math.sqrt(speed)) * .06 + .3
sound.volume = (math.sqrt(speed)) / 20
screech.volume = math.sqrt(math.pow((xspeed),2) / 400

if radar:
    cont.activate(sound)
    wind.volume = (math.sqrt(speed)) / 20
else:
    cont.deactivate(sound)
    wind.volume = .2 + (math.sqrt(speed)) / 20

cont.activate(wind)
cont.activate(screech)

What happened to my "beautiful" code!? :(

3 opening braces in screech.volume = math.sqrt(math.pow((xspeed),2) / 400 only two closing.

THANKS A LOT! That did the trick. I don't know why blender said the error was in line 17 while it was actually in line 15.

braces allow multi line code in python, making this kind of error msg common.

@batFINGER: it would be nice to publish that as answer that Hendriks3D can mark it as resolved - thanks


text:
How can I dissolve these remaining edges?
I can't dissolve these two edges because it's a looped surface, but is there a way?

AFAIK Blender currently (2.77a) doesn't support N-gons with a hole, so I think it's not possible. Related: Blender knife tool options

as above. But as you did on the base flat surface, you could "keep" two edges on each ring on the central zone, and dissolve each ring obtaining two ngons...

authors: Климентий Ранчуков


text:
Two similar codes: One's working, the other isn't
I have been messing around with the BGE and it's Python funcions. I modified two scripts in the same way, though one of them is not working somehow.
In this first script, which is working; look at the 'steering' section:
    #########################################
#
#   Powertrain.py  Blender 2.6
#
#   tutorial can be found at
#
#   www.tutorialsforblender3d.com
#
#   Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
#
#   If you use this code, please include this information header.
#
##########################################

#import bge
import bge
import math

# Main Program
def main():

    # get the current controller
    controller = bge.logic.getCurrentController()

    # get vehicle constraint ID
    vehicleID = ConstraintID(controller)

    # brakes
    brakes = Brakes(vehicleID, controller)

    # gas & reverse
    Power( vehicleID, controller, brakes)

    # steering
    Steering(vehicleID, controller)

########################################################  Vehicle ID

# get vehicle constraint ID
def ConstraintID(controller):

    # get car the controller is attached to
    car = controller.owner

    # get saved vehicle Constraint ID
    vehicleID = car["vehicleID"]

    return vehicleID

########################################################  Brakes

def Brakes(vehicleID, controller):

    # set braking amount
    brakeAmount = 40.0      # front and back brakes
    ebrakeAmount = 100.0    # back brakes only

    # get sensors
    reverse = controller.sensors["Reverse"]     # sensor named "Reverse"
    brake = controller.sensors["Brake"]         # sensor named "Brake
    emergency = controller.sensors["EBrake"]    # sensor named "EBrake"

    # emergency brakes
    if emergency.positive == True:

        front_Brake = 0.0
        back_Brake = ebrakeAmount
        brakes = True

    # brake
    elif brake.positive == True and reverse.positive == False:

        front_Brake = brakeAmount
        back_Brake = brakeAmount
        brakes = True

    # no brakes
    else:

        front_Brake = 0.0
        back_Brake = 0.0
        brakes = False

    # brakes
    vehicleID.applyBraking( front_Brake, 0)
    vehicleID.applyBraking( front_Brake, 1)
    vehicleID.applyBraking( back_Brake, 2)
    vehicleID.applyBraking( back_Brake, 3)

    return brakes

##########################################  Gas & Reverse

# gas and reverse
def Power( vehicleID, controller, brakes):

    # set power amounts
    reversePower = 200.0
    gasPower = 1350.0

    # get power sensors
    gas = controller.sensors["Gas"]             # sensor named "Gas"
    reverse = controller.sensors["Reverse"]     # sensor named "Reverse"

    # brakes
    if brakes == True:

        power = 0.0

    # reverse
    elif reverse.positive == True:

        power = reversePower

    # gas pedal
    elif gas.positive == True:

        power = -gasPower

    # no gas and no reverse
    else:

        power = 0.0

    # apply power
    vehicleID.applyEngineForce( power, 0)
    vehicleID.applyEngineForce( power, 1)
    vehicleID.applyEngineForce( power, 2)
    vehicleID.applyEngineForce( power, 3)

##################################################  Steering

def Steering( vehicleID, controller):

    # get speed
    car = controller.owner
    speed = (car.localLinearVelocity.y) * .77
    steer = 0.1299373 - (0.001902582 * speed) + (math.pow((0.00000512896 * speed), 2))

    if speed > 60:
        steer = 0.017

    else:
        steer = steer

    # set turn amount
    turn = 1 * steer

    # get steering sensors
    steerLeft = controller.sensors["Left"]      # sensor named "Left"
    steerRight = controller.sensors["Right"]    # sensor named "Right"

    # turn left
    if steerLeft.positive == True:

        turn = turn

    # turn right
    elif steerRight.positive == True:

        turn = -turn

    # go straight
    else:
        turn = 0.0

    # steer with front tires only
    vehicleID.setSteeringValue(turn,0)
    vehicleID.setSteeringValue(turn,1)

###############################################

# run main program
main()

The second one here is built up the same way. Look at the grip section. It isn't working. The script is not functioning at all because of this section:
    #########################################
#
#   Suspension.py  Blender 2.6
#
#   tutorial can be found at
#
#   www.tutorialsforblender3d.com
#
#   Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
#
#   If you use this code, please include this information header.
#
##########################################

import bge

def main():

    # get the current controller
    controller = bge.logic.getCurrentController()

    # get vehicle constraint ID
    vehicleID = ConstraintID(controller)

    # set tire grip
    Tire_Grip(vehicleID)

    # set suspension compression
    Suspension_Compression(vehicleID)

    # set suspension damping
    Suspension_Damping(vehicleID)

    # set suspension stiffness
    Suspension_Stiffness(vehicleID)

    # set roll influence
    Roll_Influence(vehicleID)

#########################################################

# get vehicle constraint ID
def ConstraintID(controller):

    # get car the controller is attached to
    carObj = controller.owner

    # get saved vehicle Constraint ID
    vehicleID = carObj["vehicleID"]

    return vehicleID

##########################################################

# set tire grip
def Tire_Grip(vehicleID, controller):

    carObj = controller.owner
    speed = carObj.localLinearVelocity.y

    grip = 22 + (-0.315 * speed)

    if EBrake == True:
        grip = 7

    else:
        grip = grip

    GripAmount = 1 * grip

    grip_0 = GripAmount
    grip_1 = GripAmount
    grip_2 = GripAmount
    grip_3 = GripAmount

    vehicleID.setTyreFriction(grip_0, 0)  # front driver's tire
    vehicleID.setTyreFriction(grip_1, 1)  # front passenger's tire
    vehicleID.setTyreFriction(grip_2, 2)  # rear driver's tire
    vehicleID.setTyreFriction(grip_3, 3)  # rear passenger's tire

##########################################################

# set suspendion compression
def Suspension_Compression(vehicleID):

    compression_0 = 8.0     # front driver's tire
    compression_1 = 8.0     # front passenger's tire
    compression_2 = 8.0     # rear driver's tire
    compression_3 = 8.0     # rear passenger's tire

    vehicleID.setSuspensionCompression(compression_0, 0)  # front driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionCompression(compression_1, 1)  # front passenger's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionCompression(compression_2, 2)  # rear driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionCompression(compression_3, 3)  # rear passenger's tire

##########################################################

# set suspension damping
def Suspension_Damping(vehicleID):

    damp_0 = 6.0     # front driver's tire
    damp_1 = 6.0     # front passenger's tire
    damp_2 = 6.0     # rear driver's tire
    damp_3 = 6.0     # rear passenger's tire

    vehicleID.setSuspensionDamping(damp_0, 0)  # front driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionDamping(damp_1, 1)  # front passenger's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionDamping(damp_2, 2)  # rear driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionDamping(damp_3, 3)  # rear passenger's tire

###########################################################

# set suspension stiffness
def Suspension_Stiffness(vehicleID):

    stiffness_0 = 112.5     # front driver's tire
    stiffness_1 = 112.5     # front passenger's tire
    stiffness_2 = 112.5     # rear driver's tire
    stiffness_3 = 112.5     # rear passenger's tire

    vehicleID.setSuspensionStiffness(stiffness_0, 0)  # front driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionStiffness(stiffness_1, 1)  # front passenger's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionStiffness(stiffness_2, 2)  # rear driver's tire
    vehicleID.setSuspensionStiffness(stiffness_3, 3)  # rear passenger's tire

############################################################

# set roll influence
def Roll_Influence(vehicleID):

    roll_0 = 0.06     # front driver's tire
    roll_1 = 0.06     # front passenger's tire
    roll_2 = 0.06     # rear driver's tire
    roll_3 = 0.06     # rear passenger's tire

    vehicleID.setRollInfluence( roll_0, 0)  # front driver's tire
    vehicleID.setRollInfluence( roll_1, 1)  # front passenger's tire
    vehicleID.setRollInfluence( roll_2, 2)  # rear driver's tire
    vehicleID.setRollInfluence( roll_3, 3)  # rear passenger's tire

###########################################################
# run main program
main()

Does anyone know why only the first script is working with this buildup?

Nevermind, I just found the answer. In the def (main): list. The section of the grip for the tires was set to: Tire_Grip(vehicleID)
In my modification of that section I had to use a controller, so in that section itself it already was: Tire_Grip(vehicleID, controller) while that line in the def (main) was still witout the controller.
Thanks anyways.

Get rid of
else:
    grip = grip

EDIT:  Anybody that has programmed for any length of time realizes that you don't need the statement grip = grip. It's redundant. You've already defined what grip is a couple lines above. There's no need to redefine itself as itself.  Leave it at a simple if-then statement; there's no need for the else.

Just as I have commented on your previous answes, please give an explanation of why what you're suggesting is the answer. Giving a more detailed explanation may help people understand the issue better and avoid it in future. At the minute they have solution (if this is the correct answer), but no reasoning.

I already stated "why."  Someone deleted that portion.  This should have been more of a comment than an answer, but they don't let you put code in comments.

Well, if it's been deleted then add the information to your answer. If you think it should have been a comment then I'm sure "Get rid of the else: grip = grip portion" would have been sufficient.


text:
Shadows follow?
How can I make shadows for my player in my game everywhere on the map. I had the idea of making the sun follow the player wherever it goes. Unfortunatly, I don't know how. I want the sun to follow the player but never change the way it's globally rotated.
HOW???
Could someone help me please?

So I figured it out myself:
The only (simple) thing I had to do is:

Select the lamp (which is set to the object in just the right way so if the object is not moving and the lamp is not moving, the shadow will work.
Shift-select the object that the lamp needs to follow.
Go into Edit Mode and select one vert.
Click Ctrl+P and choose (the only option) parent to vertex.
Go out of Edit Mode and done!

Most basic way would be to parent the sun light to the player object with Ctrl + P.
Maybe there are other methods using logic, maybe with a parent Actuator, I'm not very experienced with the game engine.

Maybe you didn't read my question. The lamp should follow it Without Rotating through the scene.

Sorry I misread, missed that part. I've also tried doing that in the past but never got it to work. Maybe try a copy location constraint?


text:
Blender in game volume control?
Is there a way to use python to control the master volume in game. I want that all sounds are controlled by one object so I can do any settings in game.

Globally change volume with this Python snippet.  Also affects sound actuators.
import aud

device = aud.device()
device.volume = 0.5  # Change this value to whatever

http://www.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_76_2/aud.html
Keep in mind that a new device isn't created until you re-start blender, so any changes made in-game will persist until you actually close blender.

This is the solution.

Check out Tutorials For Blender 3D for a solid reference on basically everything you'll ever need for scripting. Link here for the Sound Actuator Python reference.
Ended up sitting down finally, and got you this: Volume Control
I'll let you see the script and sort out how it works on your own. Not to be an ass, but because it'll make more sense and stick better if you do.
Reference for sound actuator python.
http://bgepython.tutorialsforblender3d.com/SoundActuator

Is there a different way. I don't want to set this up on every single object that uses sound. You see, I am making a big game and everyone knows that more logic bricks are more lag. so...

Ah. I was thinking in terms of music. But it's still easy. Unfortunately I'm again not at my computer so let me explain this as best I can.

Give me a bit, I'll be editing my answer.

Done. Untested. Let me know how it works. You can see any possible errors by going to Help and showing system terminal.

Updated one more time. Gave you a .blend to play with and see how it works.

This work for you?


text:
Shadow catcher problem?
This image that i'm working on in cycles render is almost done but I stuck at the part of the block behind the cubes. It has a shadow on the white plane. The only thing that's wrong is that I don't want the plane to show up. Only the shadow. In "film" I already set the Transparent to "true" and in the compositing I did the thing with using only that layer and than substract and invert and all of that. But I can't seem to find any solutions. It's a movie clip so the compositing is more than just that.


text:
Why don't I hear sound?
I made this code to control the sound of my car in a game very specifically:
    import bge

cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
own = cont.owner
sound = cont.actuators['Sound']
ray = cont.sensors['Radar'].positive
velocity = own.localLinearVelocity
speedY = velocity.Y

#control volume and pitch
if ray:
    sound.volume = (.2 * (math.sqrt(speedY)) ^ .6) + .2
    sound.pitch = (.00128 * (speedY)) -.125

    cont.activate(sound)

I used the bricks without the code and an and controller and it worked fine, so the sensor does activate correctly. So there's something wrong with the code. I'm not hearing anything so what's wrong?

If you look in the console you will see an error being reported

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for ^: 'float' and 'float'

In python ^ is a bitwise XOR operator while **, pow() or math.pow() is used for power.


text:
fluids simulation : do not fill domain?
I'm trying to generate a realistic rain using fluid simulation (I need realistic droplets).
I was wondering if it is possible to "emit" fluid from my inflow objects without having it filling its domain; like you can kill particles when it touch a surface.
I know I could make a bigger domain but this costs a lot in performance.
My idea is that if I could ignore the "filling", the performance could be better and the cache would be lighter.
Possible ?

I just found out that this is what outflows are for.


text:
Grease Pencil in Blender 2.9 - cannot select vertexes anymore?
I have just updated to Blender 2.9 and, when editing a Grease Pencil object, I cannot select individual vertexes like before anymore, only the whole stroke.
Is there a new option I have to enable ?
Thanks !

I found out, it was quite easy...


text:
viewport : rotation to 360° is ignored, how can I force it?
In the viewport, when i'm rotating my object to 360°, it does nothing.
I guess Blender considers this is a "null" rotation, well, but I need to animate one full rotation !
When using eulers rotation, it is easy to fix this in the Graph Editor. But not when using quaternions.
So my question is : is there a way to "force" Blender to really do this rotation directly in the viewport ?
Thanks


text:
Is there a non-blender API for producing blend files?
I have a python application which creates 3d models. It is already able to export these models as FBX, DAE, OBJ etc. In the vast majority of cases, the next step in the pipeline is touching up the model inside blender, which means I then have to import the models in blender from the said export formats.
However, some blender-specific features aren't possible to express in these file formats. The obvious idea to solve this would be exporting directly to a blend file instead of to a third-part unrelated file format.
Researching ways to do this, I've found http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User%3aIdeasman42/BlenderAsPyModule which seems like one approach. However, this seems to require a custom-built blender.
I have also found the binary specifications for the file format, notably http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Source/Data_Structures/DNAStructs and (some other links which I'm not allowed to include in the post atm).
... so obviously it'd be possible (albeit cumbersome) to write an export function with a bit of trial an error.
However, before I do this: Has this already been done? Is there an existing library/API out there for producing blend files outside blender?

Question, how fixed is the specifications?

If we're talking about the DNAStructs etc, it's my impression that this is not a formal file format specification, just an indication of how it usually looks. Blend files are more akin to memory dumps than structured data organizing. But I'm by no means an expert on it.

I don't know of how to export directly to Blender (seems overly complicated), but you could import PLY/STL/etc files, and then script all the additional features you want.
In my case, I was free to choose the original CAD program, so I chose to build directly in Blender via the PyModule. I work with Blender completely separate from the GUI, and rely only on an external python3 and the bpy module. The bpy module is easy to make.. and you can keep it largely separate from your existing blender install (I run from source folder).
Just run this command (make sure you don't have a $HOME/src):
git clone http://git.blender.org/blender.git && cd blender && git submodule update --init --recursive && git submodule foreach git checkout master && git submodule foreach git pull --rebase origin master && build_files/build_environment/install_deps.sh --with-all --skip-osl && sudo make bpy && cd .. && rm -rf blender && sudo rm -rf build_linux_bpy && rm -rf $HOME/src # this gets bpy python module

I also found this: https://code.google.com/p/pyblenderfile/
but, honestly, I don't see much benefit. Its not developed enough to allow importing everything, so I found a better way of doing the same thing using the bpy module.
What I do is this:
-- build stuff in blender (I do it via python, without ever starting the official application)
import bpy
#build stuff
bpy.ops.wm.save_as_mainfile(filepath="./objects8.blend")

-- import the model
import bpy
bpy.ops.wm.open_mainfile(filepath="./objects8.blend")

Works great for me. I have some issues recreating stuff you can do in the GUI, but its mostly because Blender has terrible documentation for code (imo). Still, you can do sweet stuff since you call all the equivalent commands directly in python and it executes using the bpy module.

Using blender api was an approach we used before but largely abandoned due to frequent API changes in blender, and the load of support requests from users who couldn't figure out how to install a plugin in blender.
But the pyblender file looks like a readable start for figuring out the basic structures of the blend file. Thanks!

BAM (Bam Asset Manager) is able to manipulate .blend files (it can extract/pack everything needed by a given .blend (libraries, images...) into a single file), you may want to have a look at its code.

There is no official API for writing blender files outside of blender. a few people have written ways of reading blender files though. the only one i have seen in python that is open is Blender Aid
https://code.google.com/p/blender-aid/
it reads the blender file and enters information into a database about links from one file to another.
It could be a good starting point for you to write your own script to create blend files if you choose to go this way.


text:
How do I texture paint with glow?
I found someone doing this and I wondered how you do it in blender 2.8. Preferably in cycles as I need to texture bake the final result.
I'm willing to add more details if needed.

It has nothing to do with the painting per se.
First, you need to paint the emission map of your shader :

Make sure to use black as blank color when creating the texture, so it doesn't emit light when nothing is painted.
I don't use the Principled BSDF's emission here because there's no strength input.
The glow itself comes from his viewport which is in rendered mode:

And using Eevee which has a bloom effect that can be seen in the viewport:

You can do the same with Cycles, except it doesn't have any SFX visible in the viewport, you would need to do it through compositing using a glare node in fog glow mode:


text:
How can I remove doubles without creating intersections?
I've got a mesh of a terrain. I'd like to create a simpler version that follows roughly the same shape. I've been using Remove Doubles to do this (which gives me a better result than the Decimate modifier), but have noticed that it can create intersections in the mesh, which causes me problems later on, particularly when using the Boolean modifier.
Original mesh:

When removing doubles (red areas are intersecting faces):

What's the best way to remove these intersections after removing the doubles (or preventing them from happening)? I'm scripting this process, so would love to hear of any solution that doesn't involve manually selecting visible/invisible faces. Thanks!
Edit: Here's the Blend file in case anyone is interested.

I don't think Remove Doubles is good option for simplifying a mesh (though it can sort of do that but you can't control the simplification); generally in order to do what you describe in first 2 sentences you'd use Shrinkwrap modifier to create a second, roughly the same but simpler mesh. Though I can't say that's a scriptable solution.

Did you try selecting similar > face angles?

@Mr Zak – thanks. I'd be happy to try an alternative method to Remove Doubles. I'll look into the Shrinkwrap (which I think should be scriptable, via bpy.ops), but haven't had much success with it so far.

The mesh cleanup tools can help with this, especially limited dissolve.

Select all mesh elements in edit mode, then go to the Mesh --> Cleanup --> Limited Dissolve tool. Then triangulate all faces with CtrlT.

The larger the angle, the stronger the effect.

One of the methods I use to simplify the mesh is Selecting Similar:

Go to Edit Mode.
Choose to work with edges (CtrlTab).
Select an edge.
Go to Select menu in 3D View > Select Similar > Face Angles.
Click X > Dissolve Edges.
Repeat this process with Edges with different angles until you get the result you want.

The success of this method depends on the nature of the mesh and the edge you select, Blender will select the edges that have similar angles in between the two neighboring faces, dissolving the Edges will remove the Edges non destructively, so it will not create holes.
Hope this works for you.

Thanks for this approach. However I don't think this is scriptable, given the need to select the right edge...

You are right it's not, I don't code, so I can't tell you how to right the script, only if you can set a range of angles "by coding" to select the edges, then selecting similar face angles, but I'm just conceptualizing here.


text:
Strange drawing of selections in edit mode
I am running Debian testing/unstable with LXDE as Desktop, and with the latest Blender update (2.71+dfsg1-1) selected vertices are drawn differently. See the following picture for a before/after view.. How can I make selections again appear like in the left part of the image (except downgrading to a really old version)? Or is that a bug with the Debian version of Blender?
UPDATE: I installed the latest Blender for Linux from blender.org, blender-2.72-linux-glibc211-i686.tar.bz2 -- the problem is present in this version as well. This makes me wonder if it could be a problem with the Linux desktop. Are there graphics settings that can be tweaked?
Additionally, if I enable the setting 'Show Weights', the vertex is rendered correctly (left image), just everything has a blue tint. If I enable Shading -> Multitexture -> Matcap the selection is rendered correctly as well. This leaves me to believe it is not a bug related to the graphics drivers but to some other (default) setting that has changed recently. Any ideas?
UPDATE 2: I checked all combinations of options and with some the rendering is ok, with some not. With some it depends on the selection mode -- for example, with matcap if I switch to face selection mode, the middle point is missing. The bad thing is that there is no combination where the behaviour is acceptable :/
Probably not important, but with Windows 7 it works flawlessly (so I figure it's not a HW bug at least).
Hardware: Intel i7 860, ATI 5750 (I know, this one is ancient). I'm using default Debian graphics drivers which should be the open source ones. I should stress that until and including 2.69 there were no problems; the fact that I can switch on `Show Weights' and the lines are drawn correctly leaves me to assume that the drivers shouldn't be a problem. Is there more information I can provide?

Would you provide the .blend file on the right?

You could try a different build from here: http://www.blender.org/download/

@LeonCheung: Not sure how to provide the '.blend' file, but I can reproduce the problem just by starting up Blender, creating a cube, use subdivision and voila (that's how I created the example images).

Make sure your graphics drivers are up to date

@GregZaal: I updated my question.

What are your hardware specs?

It may or may not be related to graphics drivers. The only way to find out is to update them to the latest (and preferably proprietary) version. Also, knowing what hardware you have could help.

I have added some information about the setup -- is there more I can provide (and if, how)?

When a selection looks like that it usually means that there is a double vertex there. Two vertices in the same spot, and you only selected one of them.
To select both vertices, change the Viewport Shading mode to Wireframe Z, then with either circle select C, border select B, or just right clicking twice, select both vertices. If you want only one vertex there, with both (or more) selected press Alt M > At Center.

I can't reproduce this without using duplicate edges which are separate from the rest of the model, and edge select and vertex select enabled simultaneously. In other words, IMO this would be pretty hard to do once by accident, let alone consistently..

I am certain that there are no double vertices, but I have just confirmed it just to be 105% sure :^) See my comment on the main post.

But double Vertices will not have both tips of the edge colored, as OP's image on the right shows.

Could it be a multi-type selection issue while it looks like you get a vertex selected on the left image and on the right one two edges more.


text:
With python, is there a more efficient way to duplicate a range of keyframes (all fcurves) than using keyframe_points.insert()
I have a combined animation (position of object, bone rotations...) with about 600 keyframes. Now I want to make a script that clones a selected range of these keyframes and pastes them after the initial range's end.
This works:
def duplicate_keyframe(armature_object, source_keyframe, target_keyframe):
    anim = armature_object.animation_data
    action = anim.action
    for fcurve in action.fcurves:
        if source_keyframe > len(fcurve.keyframe_points) - 1 or not fcurve.keyframe_points[source_keyframe]:
            continue
        old_keyframe = fcurve.keyframe_points[source_keyframe]
        new_keyframe = fcurve.keyframe_points.insert(target_keyframe, old_keyframe.co.y)
        new_keyframe.amplitude = old_keyframe.amplitude
        new_keyframe.interpolation = old_keyframe.interpolation
        new_keyframe.handle_left = old_keyframe.handle_left
        new_keyframe.handle_right = old_keyframe.handle_right
        new_keyframe.handle_left_type = old_keyframe.handle_left_type
        new_keyframe.handle_right_type = old_keyframe.handle_right_type
        new_keyframe.period = old_keyframe.period
        new_keyframe.easing = old_keyframe.easing
        new_keyframe.back = old_keyframe.back

def duplicate_keyframes(armature_object, start_duplicate_at, first_keyframe, last_keyframe):
    for i in range(first_keyframe, last_keyframe):
        duplicate_keyframe(armature_object, i, start_duplicate_at + i - first_keyframe)

... however, it is very slow. The culprit seems to be fcurve.keyframe_points.insert(), which takes a few milliseconds. Multiply that with the number of fcurves and the number of frames, and the whole operation takes several seconds.
So question: Is there a more efficient way to clone a set of keyframes for all fcurves?

For all range, you can
import bpy

source = bpy.data.objects["Cube"]
target = bpy.data.objects["Cube.001"]

if not target.animation_data:
    target.animation_data_create()

# if source.animation_data
# if source.animation_data.action
target.animation_data.action = source.animation_data.action.copy()

Can't seem to copy specific range or specific fcurve


text:
How to model this Pattern
I just want to know how to model this? I was tried but didn't find any way to make it x(.

I basically follow this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NhawJgrBKw to make the pattern up there. But that didn't work out.

Considering the video, do you want here to make it plane or spherical? Anyway, IMO, make it plane first, using a base modeled tile and use an array (with merge option) on it (don't use curves here)

You can model only one segment of a pattern then repeat it on x and y axis with array modifiers.
If you need a repeating pattern on complex object try tissue plugin
http://www.co-de-it.com/wordpress/code/blender-tissue
Here is fast preview of the workflow, you just create some planes make some loop cuts move edges up and down

add array modifiers to see the pattern, add more planes, then increase array count and add solidify modifier, you can always adjust or modify your main object later...

oh my god. i keep thinking too complicated, how stupid am I. thanks you so much :D.

Additionally, if you need to reshape it into a sphere or something similar, you can use the Deform modifier.


text:
Model the tied end of a nylon/plastic bag
I was searching over but can't find the topic similar. I wan't to make a plastic/nylon bag like this, anyone know the method ?

Please edit your question to be more specific, do you mean modelling the bag? If that's the case the best method is to start with a low poly with few extrusions, to make the broad shape, then sculpt with dyntopo for details and wrinkles.

sorry! I edit the question :D. Thanks for the answer, I never sculpt before. I will try it.

Please edit your question to talk about what you've tried and what you're having trouble with. Tutorial requests are outside the scope for this site. If this is NOT a tutorial request, please change your question to sound less like a tutorial request.

Modeling
Go to a new scene and delete the default cube. Shift + Add a Cylinder mesh. Tab into Edit Mode. Key Numpad 1 and then Numpad 5 to enter Front Orthographic View. Key Z to enter Wireframe View and Box deselect the top verticies (drag to create the box with the middle-mouse button). Key S then .2 to scale the bottom vertices. Your mesh should presently look like this:

Change into Edge Select Mode, key A once or twice to deselect everything, and Box select all lateral edges (the ones along the side going from top to bottom). At the bottom of the 3D Viewport, go to Select > Checker Deselect. Your mesh should have these edges selected:

Key S, then Shift + Z, then .9. Enter Face Select Mode. Select the top and bottom faces (bases) of the mesh. Key X and select Faces. Your mesh should now look like this:

Reenter Vertex Select Mode. Select two vertices opposite each other on the larger side of the mesh. Key O to turn on Proportional editing. Set the Falloff type to Random. Key S to Scale and move the mouse's scroll wheel one way or another until the white circle covers the whole mesh. Scale inwards.

Tab into Object Mode. Go to the Object modifiers tab in the Properties panel. Add a Subdivision Surface modifier. Set both the View: and Render: values to 2. In the 3D Viewport's Tools panel, select Shading: Smooth.
Texturing
Go to the Materials tab in the Properties panel. + New to add a new material. Select Add Shader from the shader drop down menu. In the top slot under the Add Shader, select Translucent BSDF. In the bottom slot under the Add Shader, select Refraction BSDF. If you go into the Node Editor, you may find something like this:

Finished .blend file:


text:
How do I sharpen video strips in Blender?
I see the Gaussian blur among others, but no sharpening filter.

Currently there is no sharpen strip effect in the VSE (although you might be able to build one with blur).
The only solution currently is to load the strip media as a node in another scene and apply the sharpen filter node there.
Then use that scene as a source replacement for your VSE strip.

That must be why I cannot find it. Thanks for the info. It's a strange  omission, but I'm not complaining - Blender is a wonderful video editor, and if I have to run a strip through ffmpeg to sharpen it first, then I'm okay with that.

You can use copies of your source footage to derive a sharpen effect.
I suggest making the source media into a meta strip so that you can replace the media as required. Duplicate the metastrip then select the top one. Add a blur to the metastrip, increase blur to 10, the more you increase the greater the sharpen effect. Add a Hue strip modifier and reduce saturation to 0.
Add another blur effect to the last and add a strip modifier Curve. Swap the curve slope so that it inverts the image. Add a Hue strip modifier and reduce saturation to 0. Set this strip's blend type to Subtract.

Select all 3 strips and use Ctrl G to meta strip them together.
Change this new metastrip to blend type Subtract.
As long as they all stay in sync the sharpen effect will work without ghosted edges.

For a more pronounced effect increase blur value or increase the top metastrip's Multiply value by more than 1.

This solution only works for Blender 2.79 and below.

OR...A noobs easy alternative to using Blender to Sharpen: Finish your video rendering in Blender and save.
Open the file in the latest version of VLC Media Player. Click on "View" and check "Advanced Controls".
Now Click on "Tools" and "Effects and Filters". Click on "Video Effects" and Check the "Image Adjust" Box and "Sharpen" box.
Adjust to your requirements and click on "Save".
Now click on the Play button and then very quickly on the Record button just above it.
When your clip concludes, the recording will stop and be stored in your Videos folder.
The original clip will remain in its folder as well.
Open a second session of VLC and Playback your new Sharpened video next to the original.
Evaluate your results.
If you want to adjust further, it is probably best to work with the original and make another copy, rather than rework the VLC recording a second time.
NOTE: This solution comes from someone with an astronomically large amount of experience with Blender (35  minutes) and with VLC (previously used only to play videos), so if this solution is full of holes, you might as well not explain it to me as I probably wouldn't understand you anyway. But for any application where some small degradation in resolution makes no difference, you can perform the above and will probably be happy. I was.


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GPU Render with opensource AMD Ubuntu 16.04 driver
Is there any way that I can make GPU renders now that is no more flgrx for Ubuntu !? I've already installed the mesa-opencl-icd and the clinfo appears to recognize my GPU: Platform Version OpenCL 1.1 MESA 11.2.0 and Device Name : AMD HAWAII (DRM 2.43.0, LLVM 3.8.0)
I'm using:

Ubuntu 16.04 x64
xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu
AMD Radeon 390
Blender 2.77a x64

Possible duplicate of Enabling GPU rendering for Cycles?

Unfortunately, the free software drivers are unlikely to provide the same level of fidelity, since they'd have to reverse engineer a pretty complex piece of hardware. If at all an option, it is best to use the proprietary drivers (I know...) or just stick with the CPU

@someonewithpc The open source amdgpu driver is the official AMD driver. AMD even recommends everybody use it in most cases. On the other hand, AMD recommends the closed source amdgpu-pro driver for softwares that require certified drivers. amdgpu has better performance anyway, so use it when you can.

While I am not sure, mesa-opencl-icd is just an icd loader, not an OpenCL implementation. So you need to install the implementation as well, probably libclc-amdgcn. If that didn't work, try using the new ROCm 2.0 implementation instead.


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Mesh has a snail shell distorsion around a Bezier Circle
I have issues trying to create some stairs with curve modifier.
Tried to work with a spiral curve but it doesn't really give me the result i expect. Also tried playing with the curve settings but I can't find what's wrong.
Blend file: http://madgoat-studio.com/test.blend

You haven't said what the issue is.  Can you elaborate further please?

Xtremity, If you're looking from top orthographic view you will see that the modifier deforms the mesh into a snail shell. https://gyazo.com/e473a5ac8661a3657aaf746cbec9e9a6

What is the result you are trying to achieve?  Its a bit unclear as to what the exact issue is.

Timaroberts, to make the issue more obvious, if you increase the count in the array modifier you get this: https://gyazo.com/33a04ebd969f5d7a828844263c6b8b64 I want it to not deform like that, those stairs will be inside a cilinder and not a cone.

It's probably because the angle of the stairs relative to the curve is a little odd.

Open your file, then

A to select all
Alt-R to clear rotations
Select stairs only
R, -90, Enter to rotate the stairs to their proper orientation

If you want to rotate the stair afterwards, remember to rotate the spline along with it.


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Use image texture from URL
look up a few addons to Blender, the only one that I´ve found make a copy of the image to the project:
https://github.com/rymdnisse/http-image-jpeg
The fact is I need to use the relative URL from the image, to share the same file between teams without having to worry about to update the texture if somehow someone from other team changed, do you think it´s possible?

Is your file not on a shared local network? Why not use a third party syncing solution akin to dropbox?

That´s the fact we will like to make the file extremelly small on size, by doing that everybody that need to modified the file, will have to download the whole folder of the project and later be uploading again.