text:
Redirect output of bpy.ops.render.render() to variable
I thought that the following code (which I found here) would save all the terminal output from the function bpy.ops.render.render() into the variable output:
import bpy, sys, io

old_stdout = sys.stdout
render_output = io.StringIO()
sys.stdout = render_output
bpy.ops.render.render( write_still=True )
sys.stdout = old_stdout

But I still get output to the terminal (Saved: /tmp/a.png Time: 00:00.99 (Saving: 00:00.01)) and render_output.getvalue() returns an empty string.  Why is that?
I also tested this method with bpy.ops.mesh.remove_doubles() and it successfully redirects the output.

Were you able to solve the issue? I am facing it also. Could you share?

It might have worked, if the bpy.ops.render.render() operator was outputting that information through Python. However, since that code is written in C (blender\source\blender\editors\render\render_internal.c), it doesn't care that you've reassigned sys.out in Python.

Could you please let me know if there is any solution to the problem?


text:
Redraw Texture Based Off Disfigured Mesh
I have a full mesh and texture of a dragon in blender, which both work fine.
I have to cut the dragon up into ~20 parts for what I need to do. I cut everything up correctly, but I can't figure out how to get a new texture based on the new object.
As you can see in the image, a small part of the texture is being used.

When the mesh is exported alone, it needs the same texture, but redrawn/created to fit.

Is there any way to do this?

I think you can use a bake process to do that.
Let's say we start with this dragon (anyway, it does not know at all it is not) :

And you for instance want to separate the horns from the head :

You here want to remap these UVs like that which does not match the initial texture :

Create a new material and a new texture for the head
Go to node editor and add a texture node to it (with the corresponding texture). Keep this node selected as below (this selected node indicates to Cycles where to bake to) :

Do the same for the horns part (new material, new texture and same node setup)
As we will bake and bake uses environment light, set it to full white (RGB = 1, 1, 1) and a strength of 1 : this will keep the same colors as the original

We begin with a bake for the head
Set the new head at the exact same place as the original
Select the original RMB
Then select both the new head Shift+RMB
Go to the bake section in the render panel
Click 'selected to active'
Adjust a little bit the 'ray distance' in order to avoid artefacts (this may be tuned depending of your mesh)
And click 'bake'

Do the same for the horns :

Instead of doing that piece by piece, you can also rejoin all your meshes once you have recreated each UV map and each material (eventually remove doubles after the join) and bake them all in one time.

(Warning: The process "to pull off this stunt" is not an easy task to begin with.)
The best shot on this would be using the same method that is used to bake textures from high poly to low poly models. Most tutorials about that focus on baking normal and ao maps but the same method can also be used for diffuse maps.

It's necessary to have both the original and your cut-up model in one file.
The original model should be textured correctly
having the pieces of your cut-up model as one joined object with submeshes instead of several objects makes things easier.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHmw783xreY
Use the original as "high poly" and your cut-up model as "low poly" model

I hope this points you into the right direction.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
barely any options being shown within blender
ive just started using blender, so be patient with me if this is a simple fix.
i recently got blender for 3d modelling, and in all tutorials ive seen, almost none of the options shown appear in my version of blender, my current issue is with the sidebar menu that is toggleable with the keybind "n" showing about a tenth of the amount of options that should be there.
is my blender in some sort of simplified mode?
another issue is that right click is supposed to allow you to add meshes, but this functionality is also removed
example of issue:
how my sidebar appears

how ive seen it appear

all help is appreciated

The user interface of Blender was updated in the 2.80 version. Many tutorials are using an older version of Blender which looks a bit different. However the features are still there in Blender 2.8x*, just in slightly different places or on a different shortcut. I'd recommend to watch the Blender Fundamentals 2.8 for an introduction to the new user interface and Blender in general.
* There are some exceptions, e.g. the Blender Internal render engine has been replaced with Eevee and the Blender Game Engine has been removed.
The options you're looking for in the sidebar are located in the View tab. There you'll find the properties for the Clip Start, End and 3D Cursor.

Meshes can be created either through the Add menu or by using Shift+A

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


text:
Displace Modifier on an object
i have to apply a dotted displacement map to a object that i created.
I tried to apply it but it breaks my mesh. I setted Texture Coordinates to UV but it doesn't work as intended. I managed to make it work with Node Texture, but the assignment is to do it with Displace Modifier.
Thank you

It could be possible that you don't have enough mesh faces to displace them with a fine enough resolution. In that case, try adding a subdivision modifier (e.g. set to 3 subdivisions) beforehand.

First you want to unwrap your pot, which you said you already have.
Next you want to make sure that you either have sufficient subdivisions or add a subd modifier at the top of the stack so the displacement modifier has enough geo to actually displace.
Add the displace modifier, go to the Texture Properties tab and select Image or Movie as the Type and load the image you posted.

Back on the modifier tab, set the Texture Coordinates to UV, the UV Map to the map you made above and adjust the strength as you see fit.

Thank you!! i was missing the understanding of the subdivision layer. Noi it works perfectly. thank you

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


text:
Why does cycles' volumetrics leave stepping artifacts?
When I render out my rather sharp volumetrics, I get the kinds of artifacts shown in the images and links below. They are obviously produced by step size, and samples stepping through the volume, and the easy answer is to decrease step size ad infinitum and increase volume bounces until your computer explodes. What I don't understand is the concept behind these artifacts are produced in the first place. If the dark bands are where light never gets to, why does more light get to the end/beginning of each step in the first place? it suggests cycles has some kind of bias near the step, and more samples/bounces don't help somehow. if someone knows a way to fundamentally limit or stop their occurrence, it would be grand, too.

Please can you clarify which artifacts you are refering to? Is it the banding along the sides of the cube? How have you generated your volumetrics - is it something you could share (upload to blend-exchange?)

http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=50404 here's the file. to get the volume you just need to play it past 217 or so frames. Note that this file was made specifically to expose the artifact as clearly as possible. The artifact has been noticed as "step size banding" by everyone and is rather well known... but why does no one question why is exists? I haven't seen this artifact from other render engines.

To future users- this has been fixed in versions of blender post-2019.
I'm back, because the issue was actually a bug for quite a long time (since the inclusion of path-traced volumes in Blender, from what I understand.) The patterns made were because stepping begins with a first step, and that first step was decided by the location of BVH volumes within the volume object. No amount of resolution or multiple lights, or thinner volumes would totally remove this limitation.
Because rays inside the volume object all began stepping along a flat plane, the energy was being lost in a band- each band you see there is the result of only the first step through a volume, or a step in which any reasonable light would lose its energy. You can see that happening, in that the band becomes opaque before the next one begins.
The artifact was fixed by increasing the distance volume stepping would begin, then scrambling the first step's location. while probably causing a tiny regression in performance, This prevented the bands from occurring, while also preventing light from penetrating more than the first step if it shouldn't.
if you are building your own path traced volume renderer, take note- scramble the initial step distance, or you may as well be using stacked sprite cards.

It's controversial if this really was a bug. Consider how a circle curve in Blender is really a regular polygon,  and you can see it    if the number of vertices is too small. It's not really a bug though,  even if at some point Blender changes circle implementation to rely on some new gpu primitive or to be adaptively subdivided based on zoom.

The banding in the smoke on the side of the cube is due to the volumetric Step Size and is an artifact due to the way in which rays that travel through a volume are calculated.
In the same way that your Render settings define the resolution of the resultant image (eg, 1920x1080) - and higher resolution results in more 'pixels' in the image and therefore considerably more "work" to render - the Step Size effectively defines the "resolution" of volumetrics. However, rather than define the resolution the setting controls how small or large the steps should be between samples of the volume. The smaller the Step Size, the higher the effective resolution.
For each ray that travels through the volume Blender will allow the ray to travel Step Size scene units through the volume before it samples the volume to determine the outcome (whether it scatters, is absorbed, results in additional emission, etc.). The smaller the step size, the more often samples of the volume will be taken and the more complicated the render (and subsequently longer render times) - so this setting is a trade-off between render speed and volumetric quality.
In your scene you have the Step Size set to 0.1. This is in Blender Units and the cube is only actually around 0.5 blender units in size - so any artifacts of the volume are quite considerable compared to the size of the cube.
Typically you should reduce the Step Size to something that would not be significantly noticeable for your scene. This depends on the size of the objects in your scene, the position of the camera, the "fluffiness" of your volumetrics (soft edges will hide any artifacts), etc. so there is no 'one size fits all' best value.
I'm sure all other render engines must use a similar setting - although it might be hidden/masked from the user and possibly even automatically determined. However, in Blender it is one of those settings you need to be aware of and tune based on the available render time and desired quality, scale, etc.
The banding you are seeing is effectively an interference pattern due to the range of factors that you have set up your scene to highlight this particular problem - in particular that your Smoke Domain resolution is only 32 (low for such a large domain viewed at close range), your Step Size is 0.1 (around 20% of the size of the cube that takes up most of the visible frame), your camera is purposefully positioned on the corner of the domain (which is forcing the largest angle between simulation cells and the camera rays). All of this together is creating a perfect storm of interference. As the rays pass trough the domain they either 'hit' a cell at a sample-point along their length (the 0.1 step size) or they don't. Due to how all the factors interact, the position along the ray where it interacts with a cell progresses along the ray based on all the other factors, resulting in some 'bands' hitting one set of cells (closer in so more likely to have denser smoke) whereas slight changes in angle or start point (due to camera ray angle or due to how the domain surface (the start of the volumetric ray) is a different distance at that angle.
Your domain resolution (32) is not a practical value for such a scene - increasing the resolution significantly reduces the banding due to higher resolution smoke simulation causing less interference.

I understand, but I wasn't asking what a step was, I was asking for what was causing these stepping artifacts, and "...an artifact due to the way in which rays that travel through a volume are calculated" isn't terribly useful. would you mind explaining how the rays through a volume are calculated, with reference to how it causes banding on the volume?

Apologies if this wasn't clear. I've updated my answer with additional information. The banding is effectively an interference pattern caused by your very low resolution smoke simulation, extreme viewing angle, and high step size.

that is not the cause. I still get the artifacts at a 240 resolution simulation with 3 divisions, and because I can pan and change angles, I would have noticed it it was only happening at one angle. I still would like to know, though, why some parts of the smoke (not the cube, unless it is linked) are brighter than others when they all receive the same light.

I've tried your example scene at 240 smoke resolution and 3 divisions. The higher resolution seems to mask the banding due to the softer smoke edges so I cannot see banding with the camera in that initial location. Adding a material fed from the Camera Info 'Distance' socket via a Modulo function to the Cube surface seems to indicate that the banding is indeed due to how the ray length is interacting with the Step Size (the banding on the cube closely matched the direction and spacing of the a banding of the smoke). I still maintain that the Step Size is simply too high for the desired detail.

I've submitted a request, it was confirmed by a dev and added to the blender todo list as a rather important fix/patch. So far as I know, Other engines don't seem to have this issue, and I wonder if just jittering the start points of the rays back and forth between samples would help. On the other hand, I'm a terrible coder, and it's most likely better to find the root cause, as an incorrect algorithm can have other effects than just this, down the line. I've confirmed a similar effect is also occurring in both EEVEE and the viewport, so I'm starting to doubt part of cycles that's causing it..


text:
Bevel only on edge, not vertices
I wish to apply a bevel modifier to one edge, and not its two vertices.
Here is an exemple :

The bevel is fine on the edge (blue), but it also smoothen the vertices (in red).
How can I avoid that ?
Thanks for any help.
EDIT :
Here is an approximation of what i want :

The goal is to have a quick and clean process for this.

with the bevel it is supposed to create several additional edges and I guess in your situation the triangulation is the only way it can do it, you should use the knife to create your additional edges

All right. That's too bad since the 'manual' way to do a bevel (knife, ...) is longer and hard to get a good result with... thx anyway

there's another way if you select the edges and subdivide, I'm going to answer with pictures

Really wondering why You need this? It makes NGONS which are pretty bad so Im just curious mate...

I agree ngons are bad. This can be solved with an aven amount of bevel sides ; or with the same amount of triangles as above, but aligned. For the why, i need a few of these to join perfectly when put against.

I don't think you can avoid this triangulation with the bevel tool. But you can add edges with knife, or, easier, with a simple subdivision: il will keep your edges parallel, you'll just have to guess the good distance between them when you'll slide them:


text:
How open file browser to save a new blender file
I'm trying to open a file browser (similar the browser in the image bellow) where the user can chose a folder and file name to save a new .blend file with the selected objects.
I want make a addon to easely save a new blender file e.g to select a collection and save a new blender file with the collection name and all objects inside there or select only two object and save a new file with that.
To do that I'm using the code bellow but all I get is some errors. Someone know a simple way to open that browser. I read some parts of the blender api documentation but I'm really confusing with some functions that I found in there.
The code I'm using:
class FileExporter(Operator):
    bl_idname = "export.file_exporter"
    bl_label = "Save"
    bl_options = {'REGISTER'}

    def export(self, context):
        self.file_path = bpy.path.relpath

        bpy.ops.wm.path_open(filepath=self.file_path)

    def execute(self, context):
        self.export(context)

        return {'FINISHED'}

Suggest looking at  Text Editor > Templates > Python >   Operator Import Export examples.

There is no need to use code to save stuff. It's quite simple, actually. Blender's file browser isn't like the one built-into your computer. You have to go through your drive's file system from the root to locate the destination folder that you would like to save your project to. First, select your main drive. While there, you will see a "users" folder. Double click on it, and then select the folder with the account name that you are using. Then you will find a long list of many folders. You'll also see folders such as documents, music, videos, and any other library. Click on the library that you wish to store your project in, and then select your folder, and name your file, then click "Save As" (or press enter) to save.
Hope that helps!

Hi :). I think he wants to do it using a script. Maybe he's making an addon...

Okay, then I can't help with that, since I don't know any programming language.

Hi 2Way, thank to reply. As Jachym mensioned above I want make a script to easely save a new blender file e.g to select a collection and save a new blender file with the collection name and all objects inside there or select only two object and save a new file with that.

That's a brilliant plugin idea! When it's done, please do share it!


text:
Sticky Selection Mode has no effect on random proportional editing in UV Editor
After UV mapping the default cube, I have

I keep the Sticky Selection Mode setting in the UV Editor header on Shared Location and enable proportional editing with Proportional Editing Falloff set to Random.
Then, if I move the selected vertex with G, all the other vertices come apart.

Is there any way to keep the vertices together?

I was thinking the edges have to be stitched together, but I've done that and it still doesn't work. Oddly enough, it works with all other falloff types.
Either this falloff has this particular effect because it is random, or there's a bug.

I don't think so. Sticky Selection mode is for, well, selections. What it does is make it so that when you select one vertex, it also selects the one the are on the *same* position.
So it doesn't, and furthermore shouldn't, make what you want.

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


text:
Set the default Blend Type
When I add any strip to Blender's Video Sequence Editor, the default Blend Type is Cross.
Is it possible to change the default to Alpha Over?

I think you'll have to replace the Add movie strip operator with one of your own, which sets the blend_type.

I guess I would have to also replace the sequencer.scene_strip_add, sequencer.image_strip_add, and  sequencer.effect_strip_add operators in addition to sequencer.movie_strip_add.

I have submitted a patch at https://developer.blender.org/D786 which changes the default blend type to Alpha Over.

@MutantBob Did that patch ever get merged?  This is still bugging the crap out of me two years later.

You could get a script writer to make a add strip effect option. The Transform Addon currently creates a transform strip upon key press. So it is possible.
Currently over at the BA forum, user "snu" is actively developing a VSE script that might add this function for you. http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?338598-Addon-WIP-VSE-Quick-functions-Snaps-Fades-Zoom-Parenting-Titling-Play-speed

No, there is no way to change the default type (without modifying the source code and making a custom build).

Do you not think there's any way to devise a workaround?  I was about to put a bounty on this question because I use the VSE a lot and I'm losing a few seconds here and there having to switch to Alpha Over for each strip.


text:
Possible to create new Application Handler?
Blender's application handlers are listed here, but is it possible to create a new one?
For example, I'd like an application handler which is a callback for every time I add a strip to the Video Sequence Editor.

The Blender/Python API can’t (yet)...
  ...
  - Define callbacks or listeners to be notified when data is changed.

Source: API docs
App handlers can't be created with Python, they need to the coded in C. The fact that registering arbitrary event callback isn't supported suggests that such an event driven design is not intended in Blender.


text:
Cancel a bake that freezes UI with black box percentage counter
Sometimes, when you bake, you see a small black box that counts up to 100 showing the progress of the bake.  For example, while baking a cloth simulation.

Is it possible to cancel the bake?

Just press the Esc key on the keyboard to cancel the bake.
Some bakes have a progress bar in the 'Info' header, these can be cancelled by pressing the small X next to the progress bar or by pressing Esc.


text:
Input image strip without stretching to fit output frame
When you add an image strip to the Video Sequence Editor, it stretches/shrinks your image to fit the full output frame.
How can I add an image at its original resolution?  For example, if I add a 60x60 pixel image, it should appear very small in the final 1080p render.

do you want it to scale uniformly? Not that in that case clipping would occur or you would still have some empty space.

@Vader, right, I want a small image to have empty space around it (it will be set to Alpha Over and placed on top of background image).  I want it to preserve the original aspect ratio of the image.

The default behaviour of an image strip added to the VSE is to scale to the render resolution set for the blend file. To change this behaviour in the way you have specified; enable "Image Offset" in the Strip Input panel on the properties bar for the selected image sequence, then use the X and Y value inputs to position the image within the output image space. You also want to set the blend type to "Alpha Over" so that the underlying strip is visible.

This works for the final render!  But in the composite preview window things still look wrong.  Let's hope they sort out this mess in a future version of blender.

It look like this issue @MutantBob is revering to is due to the "Proxy Render Size". This did work for me when I did not need the cache-proxy-trick and now with the cache it causes the problems. Now the answer of leon-cheung did work for me in the cache-situation.

This is fairly easy:

Select the imported image/strip, then Add > Effect Strip > Transform;
Select the newly added Transform strip, go to the N panel, set X/Y scale by following this rule: original_res/scene_res.

For example, you current scene dimension is 1280x720, want to add a 60x60 image, you can type in 60/1280 for X scale, then Blender will calculate the scale ratio for you. Then type 60/720 for Y scale. Voila.

@Garrett, ah, right. Thanks for fixing the silly typo for me. :)

Thanks a lot, I've just been fighting the same issue and hit my head on the desk as to why Blender would always auto-crop or square up the image when I'm rotating it by 90 deg (portrait footage for a panorama stitching) and this made it finally return to the proper ratio just rotated. I don't get why it's not doing this by default :<

For me the scene dimension was 1920x1080, and the mobile movie strip was 720x1280. For this, just applying the rule original_res / scene_res only for X was sufficient.
That is, 720 / 1920 was enough.
Applying to the Y cropped the top and bottom of the strip a bit.
Therefore, I did not do 1280/1080.

The easiest way is to use VSE Transform tool which does exactly what you need.
When you apply Trasnform to your strip (simply by pressing T) it automatically scales to keep aspect ratio of input image/video. So you don't have to do any manual calculations.
Then it gets even better, because you can rotate, scale and move simply by clicking in preview window so you get instant feedback on what you've changed.
See also my question about VSE proxy and offset+crop.

Thanks for sharing that very awesome addon, although it does not directly answer my question - it fixes the aspect ratio of my 60x60 pixel image, but it still appears huge in the final render.

@Garrett: You can simply click on the image in preview, press S and scale it as you like. Then press G and move it as you like. Though it won't help you if you want to get exactly 60x60px in the final render (you still have to do the math for that).

that is just WOW

Update for Blender 2.8: First: You need the newer release of the addon from doakey3. Next: ratio and scale adjustment no longer happens automatically - you have to press Alt-S first to reset the ratio and then use S to scale the strip to the desired size.

authors: Николай Чинаев


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Display all users of a datablock
How can I see all the "users" of a datablock?  Is it possible with the Blender's UI?  With Python?
For example, I'd like to know which 3 objects are the users of my material:

For that specific case you can select one object which you know has the material and press Shift L > Material.

For the material check this : http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/4817/how-to-know-which-object-is-using-a-material

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/2450/599

Without Python:
You can simply select one of the objects and use Shift+L > Material to select all the objects that share the same material. If the object has more than one material, it'll check for the one that's currently active.
With Python:
It's a bit of a workaround. Each material has the attribute users, but this is only the number of users and not actually a list of objects/data.
So in order to get a list of all the objects that use a certain material, we have to loop through the objects, then through each object's material slots:
import bpy

objects = bpy.context.selectable_objects
mat = bpy.context.object.active_material

for obj in objects:
    for slot in obj.material_slots:
        if slot.material == mat:
            obj.select = True

Another non-python way is to search with the outliner


text:
saved blender file doesn't play any audio or video
As the title says. I have rendered this file before and saved it. But now when I open the blender file, the strips are all in the same locations but when I try to render or play video in VSE it shows with nothing. What is weird is, if I import a new audio or video it will play.

SOLVED all I had to do is move my blender file back to where I saved it. I recently moved the file to another folder and just by moving it back to the original folder it worked.


text:
Why do I have no 'Shader' category when trying to add nodes?
I am a complete beginner. So, I might be dumb - sorry!
I made a 3D model. Now, I want to work on its surface - which lead me to materials and shaders. So, I added a material and then opened the Node Editor. I pressed Shift+A to add a shader and I got the following:

There is no Shader in the list. So, could you please tell me how to get it?
The Blender version I am using is 2.79b

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/50860/how-do-i-add-material-output-node-when-it-does-not-show-up-automatically/ and https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/6352/why-does-my-material-panel-look-different

Seems like you are attempting to follow a Cycles tutorial, but you are using Blender Render.
In the Info editor (the bar at the very top), choose Cycles Render instead of Blender Render.

Thank you for your answer. I was using the Blender Renderer.


text:
Cant find attribute node
Complete and utter noob to 3d traditional 3d modeling, let alone blender.
I was going to learn how to do lighting, but the imported colours are considered vertex colors, and cannot be rendered without fiddling with nodes. All the guides tell me to put in an "attribute node" but it's not there.

The space where it is, above Geometry is filled by Fresnel. So im extremely confused on how im suppose to do this if theres mno way to do it.

You are using Blender Render.
To be able to use Attribute node you will need to switch to Cycles Render.

Here are differences between them: How is Cycles different from Blender Internal?

In Blender Render, you can also use the vertex color as an input, but with the Geometry node (http://builder.openhmd.net/blender-hmd-viewport-temp/render/blender_render/materials/nodes/types/input/geometry.html)

@thibsert yep, that is correct, but question is about Attribute node. If OP is following Cycles tutorials, using Vertex Colors in Blender Render will be no help at a long stretch. I suppose ;)


text:
how to unwrap a wall to get a consistent texture?
Hello I am new to Blender, can someone please tell me how to unwrap correctly?
I want to texture a wall but it doesn't work as I desire. If I just unwrap the whole plane, the image just looks strange and stretched.

i want the pattern to be like this but without "the slice" looks

you don't need to divide your surface, if you keep a unique quad and unwrap it, you can duplicate your pattern as soon as you play with the size of the quad in the UV/Image Editor. Also, it looks like your picture is not correctly repeatable, the right side looks brighter than the left.

It's actually quite hard to read your imagination. Please use the edit link below your question to add a little more information about what you expect to see.

your texture its not seamless, though try this addon to make it seamless enough http://blenderaddonlist.blogspot.com/2015/05/addon-make-seamless-textures-image-edit.html also yeah you dont need to add more supporting edges with 4 vertices its enough.

thank you so much for the answers but i really don't understand about quad and the addon that i've installed doesn't wanna show up.


text:
how to remove the ugly shadow as shows in that photo?

I trying to put smooth shadow on my final render view like you you can see on the right.

Your scene needs more points of light. Add more area lights.


text:
how to fix normal of a shader after scaling with a factor of -1
I am making a door made of two sliding panels (I have simply made one panel, duplicated it and scaled it by -1 to make the second one)
As you can see, the flipped one get a weird color, I guess it is due to something happening with his normal when I scaled it by -1

Here is the same panels but without the normal map linked in the node editor and they look similar. I have also applied the scale of the object (the two panels have a scale of 1)
here is the simple node I use for the normal.

any idea how to fix it?

First set your normal map to be non-color, then apply scale on the copied door and recalculate it's normals (Alt+N in Edit Mode)


text:
blender python: evaluate extruded curve points
I need to find coordinates of points extruded from blender's bezier curve with python. All I know right now is how to evaluate each point on the curve(mathutils.geometry.interpolate_bezier) but I don't know how to find the perpendicular vector with Spline's tilt.

Basically, I need to find a perpendicular vector with the original vector and tilt in each curve vertex. How do I do that in python?
So far I've only gotten the spline points but not the extrusion, here:
import bpy
import mathutils
interp = mathutils.geometry.interpolate_bezier

class DummyOp(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "object.get_bezier"
    bl_label = "Extract Bezier Points"

    def execute(self, context):
        ob = context.object
        dat = ob.data
        bzp = dat.splines[0].bezier_points
        points=interp(bzp[0].co, bzp[0].handle_right, bzp[1].handle_left, bzp[1].co, dat.resolution_u+1)
        print(f"So far I can only extract this data:\n{dat.resolution_u},\nCurve points:")
        for p in points:
            print(p)
        return {'FINISHED'}

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(DummyOp)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(DummyOp)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

    bpy.ops.object.get_bezier()

I know this -> bpy.ops.object.convert(target='MESH', keep_original=False) method exists, but I was hoping for a cleaner solution without using bpy.ops. I will use this method for now

You can use object.to_mesh():
>>> curve_ob = bpy.context.scene.objects['MyCurve']
>>> me = curve_ob.to_mesh()
>>> me.vertices[0].co
Vector((0.0, -1.0, -0.6200000047683716))

This allocates a mesh object specifically for the prupose of being manipulated using Python. You can then free this extra memory with object.to_mesh_clear().


text:
Distorting a UV map for vacuum forming
For my graduation project in design university I'm working with the technique of vacuum forming.
My goal is to be able to physically print an image onto a sheet of plastics and then form this sheet of plastic over a mold (for instance a face). Like described in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKHb1hBS7bY&index=57&list=PLhQgkDdtdogQNrsdQWNkaNwtS8ROL_PdF&t=3s
The problem is that the plastic sheet does not equally deform everywhere so the image that im using needs to be pre-distorted according to the deformation of the plastic.
My plan to solve this problem is to first print a grid on a sheet of plastic and form this over the mold so I have an idea of how the plastic is deforming. I could then 3D scan this formed piece of plastic with the grid on top.
But then my question is: How do I figure out how to deform my original texture so it fits the face perfectly when I vacuum form it?
Thanks a lot in advance!
EDIT 2:
I made a more comprehensible overview of the steps I made to obtain the deformed image. See added picture.
Step 1:
I drew a grid on a piece of plastic.
I vacuum formed this plastic sheet over the clock so now I now the deformation of the sheet of plastic
Step 2:
I 3D scan the sheet with the grid
Step 3:
I remodel the geometry of the clock and overlap the faces with the deformed squares of the scan
Step 4:
I 3D scan the original clock
Step 5:
I bake the textures from the scan of the original clock on the model I made in step 3
Does anyone now have an idea how I can take the newly baked texture and deform it so it matches the undeformed grid I drew on the plastic sheet?

Please describe the approach yourself, instead of expecting people to watch a video.

Honestly I feel like I'd be doing your graduation project if I answered this.

It does feel like we are doing your project for you. Anyway. hard to follow all this without images to back it up, but sounds like you should trace a grid mesh over your image of the deformed grid so it follows this distortion. Then you can cleanly unwrap it over the image and texture it. If now you straighten your 3D mesh it will yield the distorted image

Thanks for your reaction Duarte, I realize that it is quite a complicated question I'm asking. I will work on what you have told me now and then try to formulate my question more clearly with pictures of what I have already done.


text:
HDRI light the mesh in viewport render (shift + z) but not in final render
I use the add on easy HDRI, it work when I use the viewport render with shift Z, they add light to my mesh but when I make the final render they don't have any effect on the mesh.
My scene only contain a camera, a shpere and a light on the right of that shpere.

The environnement passe is checked:

as you can see on the render layer node, i try to see only the influence of the HDRI on the mesh
but It seems There is no light coming from the environnement.

Here I join the blender file, I would appreciate if someone can help

The problem was that use Environement wasn't checked in the layer section of render layer.
Instead Environement was checked on the passes section, which is useless if Use environement is uncked.

The Environement passe is not responsible of the light on the mesh, it just show the environement (in my case the HDRI I use to light the scene.
Here is an environement passe:


text:
Why text object can't align to Y axis accurately?
i am new to Blender, i certainly set Text Object Alignment in Left Horizontal way
and set object's X location to 0

However , the Text Object looks like this ,The left side of "P" character doesn't align exactly to 0 X location , though with its axis align to 0 location

Here is what i want , i want the Text object 's left side 100% accurately align to 0 X location every time i input 0 X location rather than manually adjust it to 0 X location

Thanks if you have any ideas , and Python adjustment method can be also acceptable to me !

Hello :). This question keeps popping up as unanswered. Please mark one of the answers as accepted ✓, or post your own solution. Just to keep the site nice and tidy. Thanks :).

Your location is based upon you origin (little orange dot)

If this is offset from your geometry then you will have problems in setting the exact location through this method. Also with text the origin will be the same location, but per character/font/style you may need it to be in a different location. There are some other nuances for example, here the default Bfont drops the lower case characters under the origin.

So you can set it up (by adjusting your origin), but this will not be automatically applied to each new text object.
So in your specific example (where you have converted the text to a mesh) adjust the origin to the lower left of the P and it should just go to the world origin if you set the transform to X=0, Y=0. NB Moving Origins is easy now in object mode, press Options and select Origins and then you can simply move the origin of the object. I would recommend doing this by snapping to vertex.

This is a feature (not a bug) of the font.
It's usually desired for legibility and not very noticeable for regular-sized text.
You can adjust the alignment by changing the Offset X value

But it also means  manually adjustment, different character will have different offset in order to align Y axis , i want it to automatically align to Y axis for all characters..

Hello :). This cannot be done. The font itself has those gaps, you'll have to do it manually. You can convert it to mesh and just snap it, but still by hand.

well,i can check if it has intersection to specific mesh and then adjust it step by step..


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Automate the rotation of camera around an object with python
I have a 3D model of a liver and I wanted to get the rendered images of the model from various angles like the ones shown below.

The path the camera would traverse would be roughly circular/elliptical with a fixed height from the X-Y plane. The problem is in every iteration I'm also doing some other computations in python with a script. So I wanted to add the automation of rotation along with my script in Python rather than doing it one at a time but am not able to figure out how to do so.

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/130404/script-to-render-one-object-from-different-angles  and may find some handy tips here https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/176762/15543

Try using Python Scripting. The following script rotates the camera from initial position
X: 7m
Y: 1m
Z: 1m
Rotation_Z = 90 degrees (a.k.a cam.rotation_euler[2])

upto 90 degrees and captures num_steps frames. Change it to 360 for a complete view. R describes the distance from the target object (The Default Cube in my case). The radius_range contains all the radii to rotate in.
import bpy
import os
from math import *
from mathutils import *

#set your own target here
target = bpy.data.objects['Cube']
cam = bpy.data.objects['Camera']
t_loc_x = target.location.x
t_loc_y = target.location.y
cam_loc_x = cam.location.x
cam_loc_y = cam.location.y
# The different radii range
radius_range = range(3,9)

R = (target.location.xy-cam.location.xy).length # Radius

init_angle  = (1-2*bool((cam_loc_y-t_loc_y)<0))*acos((cam_loc_x-t_loc_x)/R)-2*pi*bool((cam_loc_y-t_loc_y)<0) # 8.13 degrees
target_angle = (pi/2 - init_angle) # Go 90-8 deg more
num_steps = 10 #how many rotation steps

for r in radius_range:
    for x in range(num_steps):
        alpha = init_angle + (x)*target_angle/num_steps
        cam.rotation_euler[2] = pi/2 + alpha #
        cam.location.x = t_loc_x+cos(alpha)*r
        cam.location.y = t_loc_y+sin(alpha)*r

        # Define SAVEPATH and output filename
        file = os.path.join('renders/', str(x)+'_'+ str(r)+'_'+str(round(alpha,2))+'_'+str(round(cam.location.x, 2))+'_'+str(round(cam.location.y, 2)))

        # Render
        bpy.context.scene.render.filepath = file
        bpy.ops.render.render(write_still=True)

In my, case, all cameras positions produced by this code look like

I hope it helps :)


text:
Create edge loop with C select
I have a lot of vertices forming lines.
From these vertices I want to create several edge loops.
I am now selecting them separately by clicking on them whilst holding shift and then pressing J to create the edge loop.
Because its faster I would like to be able to select the vertices by pressing C and then holding the mouse button and pan over them. But for some reason it does not create an edgeloop when I press J with this method.
Does somebody have a solution for this?

An "Edge Loop" is created by pressing CTRL + "R". I'm not sure that is what you are looking for though. Maybe "edit" your question with more information. Adding a screen grab would help too.

I'm not 100% positive I understood your question correctly, but here goes:
When you select vertices in a specific order by clicking each vertex individually, then Blender uses that order to join the vertices with edges.
When you use brush selection by pressing C then Blender does not get an order.
So now, when you try to join the vertices by pressing J, an error popup is displayed that says: "Invalid selection order"
To work around that you can simply press F instead of J to make a face of the selected verices and then you delete the face afterwards, so you end up with just the edges.
Here's a gif showing the whole thing:

This is a great tip. It's very frustrating that  verts selected with 'C' don't remember the order they were selected in.

This is indeed a good work around, thank you. The only problem is that my verticis are forming a line. So when I create a face a very weird shape shows up with not one coresponding line. Do you have a solution for this?

@janne looking at the screenshot you provided in your edit, I'd actually say do a retopo or look into using meshlab (http://www.meshlab.net/) for this kind of thing


text:
How to snap an object to another without moving origin?
Say I have two cubes. I want to move one entire cube so that one of it's vertices snaps to a vertex of the other cube, WITHOUT having to faff around moving the origin of one of the cubes. Is this possible?
Similarly, can I do this with the midpoint of one of the cubes' sides instead of a vertex? i.e. snapping a midpoint to a vertex or another midpoint?
EDIT: thought I should mention that I'm on Blender 2.8

Select the cube you want to move, go into Edit mode, turn on snapping to vertex, select all vertices and choose one as the active by clicking on it, change pivot point to active element. You can now snap the whole cube from this vertex to one from the other cube.
To snap the center of the cube to the other cube, change pivot point back to median pooint. Also snapping target to Center instead of Closest. Play around with it, you can do it all just by changing pivot point and target options.

I did say 'without moving the origin of one of the cubes', which seems to be what you're suggesting I do. Can't this be done quickly, like in Sketchup where you can just literally pick an object up by one of it's vertexes without faffing around in edit mode?
Also you'll notice I said the midpoint of an edge, not the centre of the cube.

Ok this can be done but in a couple of clics, click your cube in Object mode, pivot point median and snap to vertex. Hit G to move it, then you have to hover on one of the vertex you want to snap onto, hit A to add a snap point, hover the other vertex of the edge, hit A, now your cube should be exactly between the 2 vertex, therefore in the middle of your edge... But yeh, blender is not a CAD software so it's a bit more clics.

That kinda works for the midpoint thing. Still can't get a vertex to snap to a vertex though. It was useful to discover the A key though, that's half of the battle.

You need to have snapping set to vertex and closest, then the vertex that will snap depends on where you mouse was hovering before you start moving the cube with G. So you hover the vertex that you want to be snapping, hit G, then hover on the vertex you want to snap on. This is all very dependant on mouse placement, it's very fast and powerful once you get how it works.


text:
Metaballs and particles
I’m following a tutorial to create a paint splatter effect. I’ve got I’ve got a particle system and I’ve created a metaball to create a mesh from the particle system under parent in render. When I go to the particle system and try to make the metaball a mesh it just moves the particles on top of the metaball. It doesn’t create a mesh. Anyone know why?
Here is the tutorial I was watching: enter link description here
Here is an example of whats happening when I try to parent the particle system to the metaball in the render section of the particle system. IT won't create a mesh. It just moves the particles on top of the metaball.

"to the particle system and try to make the metaball a mesh" what are you trying to do? If converting metaball to mesh then this isn't done in particle system settings, rather than via Alt+C shortcut in the viewport. You could specify what tutorial are you following and include exact moment of time where you have problems with some screenshots

You don't need to parent the Particles to the Metaball.
You want the particles to become metaballs. you achieve this by changing the rendering object of the Particle system. In your screenshot the particles are set to "halo". Go to the Render-Section of your particle system and change that to "object" (yellow rectangle) and select your metaball. The particles themselves are now metaballs and can interact with each other.


text:
Textures rendering in grey
I got to the point on my first image (.obj) on Blender where I'm ready to render.
However while the correct colours are showing in the 3D window, it's only rendering in grey. I've been through a few forums but can't seem to find anything that fixes the issue.

Show a screenshot of material you are using on that scene. I have a feeling it might not have texture applied anywhere on the material.

Most likely it's the Material override on the Render Layer. This allows you to specify a material to use for everything within that render layer. Check the Render Layer properties Material setting and ensure it is unset. See https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/50317/29586

Thanks Rich, I've tried following that suggestion but unfortunately it hasn't done the trick.

Make sure the Output is not set to BW, next to the output file format in the Render tab. Just seen you are using Blender internal, not sure where that setting is outside of Cycles.

Try rendering in cycles.If not working please post your blender file.

Changing to another render engine will just break all materials. Blender render can render in color generally.

Blender file, hopefully the link works:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FaCnFxz1n_hDOYMw5FoboEweHum8yiDr

To expand on the first comment, you need to create textures for rendering. When you unwrap or texture paint, blender keeps that texture information and uses it in the viewport but it is not used in the render. See the answer to this question.


text:
How to apply a transparent texture
I have a transparent texture and I can't figure out how to apply that transparency to the object.

As you can see, the texture in the bottom right is transparent in places and solid in others.
But in render view the texture is just black.

You can see it better here.

Where Alpha = black = 0, the Transparent shader is used ; when alpha = white = 1, the Diffuse is used ; for intermediate value, they are mixed.


text:
Scaling and point of origin
I am following the blender tutorial on YouTube, where he creates an anvil. In part one he extruded a cube up, then did a loop cut and scaled it in. When I extrude, my axis moves up with the extrusion and when I go to scale it, it pivots from a corner rather than the center of the model.
How do I get my axis point with the green, blue, and red arrows to stay at the bottom where I started the plane?
Also how do I scale from the center rather than from a corner?
I am just getting started on blender,  and I am used to solid works.

You have it. 'Pivot Point'. Either by using the button in the header, or '.' (period) on the keyboard, bring up the menu which allows you to choose the pivot point for your transformations. Most of the names are self-explanatory, play with them for long enough to become very familiar with them, both in Object and Edit mode.

These commands should help:
"Set Origin"
  here you have several options in Objekt mode to place your origin
"Snap Cursor to Active" + "Median Point Menue": 3D Cursor
  here you can change your origin while beeing in Edit-Mode for
  scaling from percise points

Also you should look into the realation between Edit and Objekt mode:
Editmode transformation dont change the Objekt-Mode origin.


text:
How do I make my camera in my main scene move using buttons in an overlay UI scene?
My logic bricks for the camera in the main scene are set up as follows:

And the logic bricks for the buttons in the interface are:

I'm not sure what is wrong with these, but this wont move the camera at all in the main scene.

My blend file is here:

It's a mess but we're looking at "Scene", object is "Camera" and GUI the four diamond buttons in the corner.

GUI
Get rid of the "moving" logic (not needed with the below method)
Replace all property actuators with message actuators. Choose meaningful subject names, such as "move forward".
Enable True Level Triggering at the according sensors to send the messages as long as the operation is requested (-> the key is pressed).
Camera
Replace all property sensors with message sensors e.g. listening on "move forward".
Remarks:

Interobject connections are not needed.
You can have as many object serving as UI as you want
UI objects can reside in any active scene.

I hope it helps

It's still not working, I added keyboard sensors to the Camera but i specifically need it to work through a user interface. The screenshots are here https://www.dropbox.com/s/qgotfxlkgwoc1lc/Screenshot%20from%202016-04-13%2020%3A03%3A17.png?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=Screenshot+from+2016-04-13+20%3A02%3A01.png  . I tried it with having the level options on the sensor selected too but it didn't work either.

You do not need to add keyboard sensors to the camera. You add them to a separate "keyboard.UI" object which sends the same messages as your "virtual buttons" objects.


text:
How to make 2D stabilization in Movie Clip Editor only follow active tracks?
When using Blender and the Movie Clip Editor to stabilize a clip, I can select multiple tracking markers and have them follow the tracks for 2D stabilization, etc.
Now, I have a shot, where features come into shot one after another, and I'd like to have stabilization be based on them. Not all track markers are visible throughout the whole shot, so they become active for the section they're visible in, and are otherwise disabled.
When adding all these tracks to the 2D stabilization list, Blender creates the median of all the tracks, even the disabled ones. Is there a way to make it only follow the currently active tracks, and disregard tracks that are not active in the current frame?
And if so, how?

Related: Track, Match, Blend!

Related: Blender Guru Introduction to Camera Tracking

Instead of creating a new Marker, just offset the old one. It should retain its center of origin but rely on new image data.

You can continue to track past an obstruction in the frame, or track a new feature by using the Offset value of the active Marker. Go to the Properties panel and look for Marker > Offset:  simply change these values to position the Marker boundary over the new feature and continue to track.


text:
How to make an object fade out from one end?
I've been trying to make an object fade from one end in cycles, sort of like a gradient of transparency. I was wondering of anyone could help.
Here is an example of what I want to achieve in terms of transparency:

Please show what you have done so far in an attached image and words.

Can you clarify what you mean in terms of your end goal? Are you trying to animate something that goes from solid to transparent? Are you trying to make a still shot do this? This will affect the quality of the answer you get.

Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5113/how-to-make-one-object-gradually-disappear-as-it-passes-through-another-object

You can use an object as mapping coordinate for a coloramp, and by moving it around you can tune up the effect or transparency which is obtained by mixing a transparent and a diffuse shader in this case. Just an example.

You can also use the generated mapping coordinate depending on your geometry. In the last picture i had put the object used for mapping a little backward in the scene. Here the input is a texture coordinate node and the mapping is slided on x


text:
Rigging a flexible rod
I'm trying to rig a flexible rod using bones (for use in Unity). I've attempted to use 2 bones, one at the base and one at the tip of the rod

I have then used the weight paint mode to paint the weight so the end of the rod is more bendy:

In pose mode, the problem is the bend seems to be happening at a single point, rather than following the weight

I have added a deform->armature modifier to the rod:

And I think my armature/rod is parented correctly:

How can I make the rod curve smoothly? I've tried using multiple bones but the rod bends at very sharp angles, not smoothly. The following image is an idea of how I want the rod to curve (on the Z axis and X axis)

Try moving Susbsurf higher in stack. Probably the rod mesh doesn't have enough geometry.

@MrZak thanks, I've tried with the subsurf before and after the the armature modifier but with no luck. Here's what the geometry looks like

You would be looking for spline IK

@sambler unfortunately spline IK only works inside Blender, it can't be imported into Unity

I would start with one bone for the whole rod (the bendy part anyways), and weight all the geometry to that bone.  Then...

Get into bone edit mode, select the bone.
Invoke the Subdivide command on that bone, for that rod, I'd subdivide it about 6-8 times.  But use your judgement.
Get into Pose Mode, and select all the bones.
Select the rod mesh, and get into weight paint mode.
Hit the "W" key, and select "Assign Automatic from Bones" from the popup menu.

Automatic weights for stuff like this usually works out pretty good.  I'd recommend b-bones subdivision to you, but if your exporting to a Game Engine, I'm not sure those would be supported.

Thanks for the suggestion. Using too many bones causes some weird issues in Unitys physics engine, stuff like this, so ideally I'm trying to limit it to one or two bones. I've managed to get it bending a bit better using the method from my original post and painting each bones weight individually, but it still looks far from realistic, it still seems to bend at one single point instead of evenly (using the weight of course) along the entire length

Bummer!  Unfortunately I can't help you wrt to Unity.  Awesome that you have a workaround though.

I think I'll probably end up modifying the mesh programmatically in unity, my blender skills are lacking. Thanks for your help Mike, appreciate it!


text:
Geometry Nodes: Face Corner Colors
'Vertex' painting is actually face-corner painting. So per-face colors are possible, can be picked up by an Attribute input node in shader-trees.
Here are 2 color-attribute layers on a cube, both registered as Face Corner > Color in its 'Data' tab  > 'Color Attributes' panel.
pcol has been painted, per face. That's successfully interpreted by the shader:

col has been generated and captured, per face, in a GN tree:

The spreadsheet shows that face-corners have independent colors, per-face..
And yet this time, the colors are interpolated across vertices by the shader.

.. in the latest 3.2b, at posting time.
Have I just made a silly slip, or are we waiting for further development?

The silly slip is that the Viewer doesn't show the output of the group, remove the viewer and now you can look at the output - with the pcol being only on the point domain. :)

@MarkusvonBroady  That's 2 silly slips! Every now and then, it's good to be taken back to when I started using Blender, and tore what little remained of my hair out with frustration :)

You just need to change attribute domain to face corner:

Attribute saved in this domain, if you capture attribute from faces and put it into vertex - they will be converted from face to vertices, leading to unexpected result.
Face corner domain:

Face domain:

Hi Crantisz! Thanks! .. but I would expect per-face colors, as shown in the spreadsheet, just the same as you get with 'vertex' painting? The reason for capturing on the Face domain is to get the same random color in all corners of a face.

Yep, If you set faces as a domain

No, it's not here! It is in properties panel inside Geometry Nodes editor Group tab


text:
how complicated shapes uv mapping
I made two objects. I cant make uv mapping well.
My objects have many faces. This is problem maybe.
I try to put wood texture to them.
It looks very bad.
I added my objects pictures in render, solid and edit mode.
How uv mapping can fix on my objects well?
or
How can I create those objects smart way?
note; I have used array modification for object 1.
both in cycles render
Thank you for help :)

Your objects are mostly flat, so the best solution seems to unwrap it with "Project from view" with viewport looking strait perpendicular to the surface. It will give you nice square map, which will allow you to use your reference directly. Maybe with some UV expanding and texture painting (with texture in stencil mode) on the most protruding parts.


text:
My UV Islands Overlap

I Imported a Model I took from GMod, But the UV Islands Overlap. How do I separate?

It's unlikely that this overlap matters; assuming this model works okay in GMod, these are probably different materials that use different textures.
However.  A smart first step is to create a new UV map to work with, so that you can later bake any textures from this UV map to your new UV map.  Switch to properties view/data/UV Maps, select your UV map from the list with LMB, then hit the + button to the right of the list.  This copies that UV map to a new UV map.
Okay.  Now select your object, switch to edit mode, and select all vertices.  Open up a UV editing window; if it's set to a rendered image, change the image to something else so that you can see and edit your UV coords.  Select all verts in the UV editor ('a' once or twice or however you want.)  Hit ctrl-p to pack the islands.  This will translate and scale the UV islands in order to eliminate any overlap.  (There are other techniques you can use, but packing islands is the easiest and simplest.)
At this point, if you need to, you can bake your original textures from their original UV to your new, packed UV.


text:
How do you apply a texture to your World?
I'm trying to apply a sky texture to my World by using the Node Editor, but it makes the texture become black-and-white instead of my expected result. Is there another way to apply textures to Worlds, or am I doing something wrong?

^^ This is the texture I'm trying to apply to my World ^^

^^ This is the unintended result after using the Node Editor ^^

please show the node organisation or share your file

add environment image not just image


text:
Point Lamp cannot be rotated - Need confirmation
I am using R and trying to rotate the point lamp, but it does not. I came across this answer - Point Lamp Rotate Answer
I have a noob confusion - Doesn't a point lamp correspond to light TO A POINT, so ideally if I rotate it, it should have corresponding effect of the light source to THE point. So ideally we should be able to rotate the light source i.e Point Lamp?
Kindly help me understand.
Thanks

no, it's a lamp which emits around it. Maybe try a Spot if you want to light a particular point.

Point lamp is a lamp that emits from a point in all directions.

Point lamp in Blender is an object that emits light from a single point to all directions. It is impossible to rotate a single point - it remains the same. You can rotate it around some other pivot like for example around the 3d Cursor, however it will only effect the location of the point light. It makes sense for it to have rotation properties, because the type of Lamp can be changed so if another type of lamp is rotated and then changed to a Point lamp it would loose the rotation information otherwise, while right now the information is kept and it can be changed back to any of the directional types pointing at the same direction.

The Point Lamp retaining the properties to pass it on, if the lamp type is changed makes sense. Thanks for the input.


text:
See number of vertices you selected
I have a mesh and when I access edit mode I can select a vert, but how can I see what verts it is? Because the "Verts:1/2712" will always stay 1.
I don't want to see how many I have selected, but the number of the one I have selected.
So when I have a mesh with 2715 vertices, and when I select the last, then I want to see: '2715'.
A screen of when I want to see the vert:

Please use the built in uploader for images. See: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491/how-to-upload-an-image-to-a-post

I think you have it correct, in the photo you uploaded, you do have one vert selected. Shift select a second vert to see it change to 2

? Thats not my question. I don't want to see how many I have selected, but the number of the one I have selected. So when I have a mesh with 2715 vertices, and when I select the last, then I want to see: '2715'

Maybe this? https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/3249/show-mesh-vertices-id?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google_rich_qa&utm_campaign=google_rich_qa  or this: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/Index_Visualiser

@cegaton what do u mean?


text:
How to scale multiple faces without moving them towards each other?
I am making a hand on this model and for fingers, I want to scale individual faces of the fingers without moving those faces.
When I try to scale them I got the following results...

Instead of that effect, I want them to be scaled in place, without them moving closer.
So is there any shortcut key or other solution?

Set the pivot point to individual origins (you find that on the bottom bar, the 2nd one on right of the mode selection)

Set the pivot point to individual origins.
You find that on the bottom bar, the 2nd one on right of the mode selection.

(Turned this into an answer from a comment by lemon, with explicit permission.)
Note:
In order to turn the cube in the picture into something similar to the hand in yours, use "Extrude individual" on the two selected faces (or your fingers).
Then scaling them by individual pivot point has the effect I think you want to achieve.


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Rendering video from image sequence. The result is low res and with wrong colors
I render my animations as "png" at first and then I put them together with the sound. There is nothing wrong with that.
But I have been trying to figure this out for so long, and still can't do it.
When I render, the video comes out with less resolution. AND it literally ruins all the colors in it.
The Colors (Normal and after rendering):

Here is my settings for it as well:

I am so desperate for help at this point. I would be SO happy if anyone can help me with this.

https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491/how-to-upload-an-image-to-a-post

I have no idea what i did. Was extremely confused. Thought that it was a mistake i guess?

using cycles or blender internal? What color sampling for the PNG used (8bit/16bit)? Did you compare the PNG with FFMPEG encoding outside blender (Blender display of images is cannot be used seriously for color comparison)? Did you change the video processing of your video player? Did you try the video with different players? Also, can you attach one of the PNG rendering as well as a few seconds of the video encoded?

I just found out that its something about the video player that is wrong. When i posted the video on YouTube it looked totally fine. Pretty weird stuff. But still @Bruno thanks a lot for taking your time to try and help me!

Cool glad you found the issue. Can you add your own answer? That will help the next viewer.


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Array Modifier Problem
As you can see in the picture, I am trying to use Array modifier. All settings are applied as per a tutorial from youtube. But when I am rotating the empty object, it results in stairs as in the picture.
Thanks in advance.

Is the Z coordinate of the empty offset object 0 ? Change it to see what happens.

What did you expect to get? And how does it look in 'orthogonal' view (keypad-5)?


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Curve Modifier doesn't work at all in some curves Not even deformation of shapes
I've been working on a project that is basically just a lot of bezier curves that I have to put some complex shapes on, I use the common Array with Follow Curve and then the Curve Modifier, it works wonderfully but there are some curves that for some reason seem to not work at all.
They don't even deform the shape on any axis, it just sits there doing nothing. Why is this? I checked all the settings in the curve tab but everything looks the same as the ones that work!
Blend File
Example of 2 curves
Edit: Updated file, as you start up you can see 2 curves, one that works with the modifiers and one that doesn't.

Okay; Look at these pictures: http://imgur.com/a/TwuuH
1st) I moved to 2 curves from the main layer to make it easier, one is already covered with the model, other isnt.
2nd) Here's the curve that works, with the model selected, as you can see it has the 2 modifiers linked to the curve inside, and it is following it as intented
3rd) Here's the model for the other curve, as you can see even with all the modifiers it stays the same, not being affected at all by the curve. Changing axis doesn't work. The properties of the 2 curves are the same. This is the problem. I'll update the file.

I think curve called Problem Curve does really has problems. I couldn't reproduce this behaviour which is the fact that neither Fit Curve option of Array modifier doesn't work nor mesh can't be curved with it. Re-adding modifiers also won't change that.

The possible solutions are:

model another curve and use it instead of this one;
refresh several settings of Array modifier and clean existing curve.

If using the second solution, the steps are:

With Problem Curve_Model selected in settings of Array modifier set Fit Length, set some random value, then return option to Fit Curve.
In order to finish solution you should clean the curve; it has too many vertices which is overkill in this case (and for some reason it allows modifiers to work further on mesh object).
Select curve, in Edit mode select all, make any vertex active and in 3D View header choose Select > Checker Deselect operator. When vertices are selected one by one, delete them via X > Vertices. The mesh will become curved. Make sure to recalculate normals on the mesh (Ctrl+N in Edit mode with all selected).


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Axis of an object change direction with camera
I'm new to Blender and recently on my first creation. However, I encountered a  problem - the axis of an object flips (changes its direction) as I move the camera around the object. For example, whenever you start a new design, you will only be able to move the cube in six directions - up, down, left, right, back, forward. In my case, the directions of arrows will change. Is there any way to return the setting back to normal so that the axis won't flip?

Welcome to Blender.SE! First thing I would check is the transformation orientation of the gizmo. What is it set on? Probably a screenshot of your screen would help in understanding your situation.

I am not too sure but I think I know how to fix it. Change the objects  transformation orientation from view to local/global.
First you need to select the object and then there should be an option at the bottom toolbar

Choose global or local, I am not sure which one you want but global is probably what you are asking for. The difference between local and global is that if you rotate the object in local the arrows would also rotate, while in global the arrows would always point in the same direction. Hope this help
Note: I assumed that by camera you meant view as there is a camera object in blender.

@alexander aganfonov  No problem


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Compositor - ERROR : Mask 'Mask' not found when added via spacebar search
ERROR (in the Compositor):

Mask 'Mask' not found

CONTEXT: I get this error In any new project, when I try to add the Mask Node in the compositor, (EDITED2403) using the " spacebar " to find the " Add mask node "

When I open an older project(1) using the mask node, the node works.
If I copy and paste it from an older project(1)  in a new project(2) it works (in the same blender session)
In an older project(1) using the Mask Node, I can add another Mask Node without error.
In a new project(2), where I've past the Mask Node from an older project, I can't add the Mask Node (You can see it in the screen capture). But I can copy / paste the Mask Node, and it works.

(1) created with 2.76b
(2) tested with 2.76b, 2.77, 2.77RC2 portable version
What I've tried (without success):

I've deleted all folders and files in the Roaming/Blender Foundation/ folder.
I've un-installed/re-installed Blender (2.77 to 2.76b)
I've un-installed/re-installed Blender (2.76b to 2.77)
Same thing with a Blender 2.77RC2 portable version.
Reset to factory settings

Hi cegaton and ty for your interest. Well, i don't have a specific file with that problem. I get the problem with ANY new project :(

Here's something to test. You can add the node a different way. Set up a custom keyboard shortcut for it like this. Test it both with and without the "Use Transform" option on. I don't think it will make a difference, but it's one thing I would try if it were me.

Also, have you tried File > Load Factory Settings ? I know you've reinstalled but, just in case it's something with your startup file...

Hi Mentalist and ty for your interest :) Well i've just tried to reset to the factory settings but unfortunately, it doesn't solve the problem. I will try the custom keyboard shortcut and give you the feedback

Ok i've just realized that i've missed to say something i was thinking it wasn't important ... In all of my tries, i've NOT used the Add function but the spacebar to find the " Add Mask Node " as the result of the search.

I can confirm that it always return an error message (the one we can see in the picture). And effectively, when i use SHIFT A > INPUT > MASK ... it works ...

I'm really sorry and confused now. I've really appreciated your help guys :) But maybe it stays a real bug with that " spacebar " search method. i presume i should modify the initial post and to precise  how i've REALLY got the error. My bad, sorry again, and have a nice day :)


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Normal baking issue, some parts are low res
I keep running into an issue where I'll have portions of my normals look fine, but tiny bits will screw up. Despite making a hi res model and cage baking, I still end up with super low res objects on the normal map.
This is a halberd, and as you can see in the blue circles, I end up with these very defined edges on objects which are supposed to be smoothed out cylinders, and yet other parts of the model look fine such as the axe head. But then that has issues of it's own, where there's randomly a very deep/protruding portion of it right at the top.
I really don't know what is causing this. I'm making a low res model, then copying that and making a hi res model, making a cage and displacing it, then exporting all of those to xNormal and baking. My only guess is that some of the low res models' parts are larger since they're not super smoothed out, so I tried smoothing their faces, but once I combine all the pieces of the halberd together, the smooth faces get reset and won't smooth again.
Help is appreciated, I'm not absolutely brand new at this, I've made several models, but I'm still in the learning stages for sure.

Nothing I change seems to have an effect on this... I've changed the size of the cage's displacement, used auto smoothing on both the cage and the low res model. I can't tell what I'm doing wrong.

Make sure the faces have the correct flat/smooth shading applied. Also consider using textools and see if the normal map baking gives a different result. I usually just work with a lowres model, apply multires and directly bake the higher level onto lower level without cage.

i have same results (in blue circles) when "edge split" modifier is on. Try to switch off modifiers if they are.

This is a good video about baking good normal maps in Blender. Some similar issue resolving happening here: https://youtu.be/0r-cGjVKvGw?t=8m26s
Don't know if this helps for your problem, though. Edit, whoops, only now I noticed you used xNormal for baking instead of Blender. Oh well...
To sum it up, the issue in the video was this:

And the solution was to put value 0.05 instead of 0.1 to the 'Ray Distance' field and bake again.


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I need help improving my normal map baking for game assets
I started with Blender about 2 months ago. I use that and 3dcoat to make models. I've made a lot of models i'm really happy with, but when it comes to the normal map baking process it's pretty much been a "fake it til I make it" approach. So far I've only modeled weaponry. I honestly don't understand baking still despite modeling nearly 20 different weapons so far. Here's my work flow

Make low res model
Make hi res model
UV Unwrap low res model
Use Blender to bake Normals
Import everything into 3dcoat and texture it

This time I made a spiked mace/hammer. Pretty much I get weird stretching, shading and just plain weird jagged lines when I bake. I hate using xNormal so I bake within Blender. I followed BlenderGuru's normal baking process and maybe I am forgetting something crucial. I've just gotten to a point where I try to hide the imperfections as best as I can in the texturing process.
I've found that when I have really bright colors on the normal map, adding more edge loops to the low res model can help, but with this model it only helps marginally. There's a lot of curved parts with strange anomalies on the sides, as well as the texture being straight up stretched on the base of the shaft... When I UV unwrap, I check for stretching, and it had very little if any.
If someone could help me out, that would be great. I've got notifications on for my posts so I should respond pretty promptly.
Here's a post with a bunch of photos of what I'm talking about, including the normal maps. https://i.sstatic.net/O0u60.jpg
And here's a link to download my Blender project. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oQ...Z1cr2sKJltFJeg
Thanks.
Here's some images of the normal map without, and with added edge loops to the low res model. I can remedy some of the stretching but it's still very messy. I also included an image of the high res model of the object.
enter image description here

Hi. Please include any relevant pictures in the question body itself. See: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491/how-to-upload-an-image-to-a-post

The link to the file is not working. Could you zoom onto an area of the map that is interested by the issue and showing both the low and high poly portion of the mesh connected with that uv island?

I forgot a crucial step I learned early on, and it could have saved me so much time. There's an "Auto smoothing" option in the Data tab of blender.... it makes all the ugly shading and ugly normal stuff go away. I wish I had remembered that sooner.

Are you cage baking? I dont think Blender Guru teaches that.


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How to evenly space edges?
Related to: How to evenly space vertices?
However, I want to evenly space vertical or horizontal edges, and this tool does not work for the job.

Probably it could be possible by approximately even spacing vertices forming these edges - spacing one part of vertices and then another one, like so. This may be too long task though, serving as a workaround


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Small 2D image plane disappears at short distance?
I’m using 2d images with alpha (opacity) as a sort of “decal” on my model, but if the camera moves even 5ish meters away, the 2d image totally vanishes from view. My clip start and end are at 0.0001m and 1000m respectively.
These decals are used for the facial features of my character so it's important they stay rendered at distance.

When your clipping maximum and minimum are too far apart you can get some glitches (hence why we need clipping in the first place). Therefore when you lower your minimum from 0.1 (default value) to 0.0001 make sure you do the same with your maximum to keep things balanced (from 1000 to 10).

Good to know, but messing with the values didn't seem to help me, unfortunately. It still disappears when the camera moves away from the character.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBQCxYtewtpWpGcEBz-15fPP9OcdH24z/view?usp=sharing Here's my blend file.
Added pictures


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Select vertices based on other object (like boolean modifier)
I have a geometrically complex sheet and would like to make this sheet have the shape of a bowl by deleting vertices that do not lie within a volume defined by some secondary object the shape of a bowl. This is the sheet:
You can imagine the type of operation I want to be like a boolean modifier, which calculates the intersection of all vertices with my bowl. However, the boolean modifier does not work on "leaky" objects like mine.
Is there any way of selecting only the vertices that lie within some other object, so I can then invert the selection and delete all the other ones?
Thanks!
T
Edit (I don't have enough rep to post a comment, so I will address some of the comments here. + I rephrased my question, hoping to make it clearer)
@Atomicbezierslinger:

I know about proportional edit and circle select and don't see what my experience with modelling has to do with my question. Also I am not interested in recreating a new model. My question is about selecting a set of vertices that lie within the boundaries of some other object of my choosing.
A simple intersection does not do what I want. This is because the boolean operation looks for enclosed volumes and my model isn't a volume but a surface. This is what it looks like:

The model is in fact subject to very precise specifications as it is (pretty exactly) a Lidinoid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidinoid).

@m.ardito:
It is a sheet, because it is a 2d surface in 3d space. Its shape is that of a Lidinoid (see above).

See Blender Proportional Edit.  See Circle Select.  Take a few minutes to get a basic understanding of both.

You may want to state your experience level with 3D non organic modelling.  You may want to create a New model with the tools mentioned above. The model shown in the question is busy but not subject to much specification.  You can create some similar with practice.  I assume this is more art than some precise specification.

Using a simple intersection may or may not leave you with results that suit you.

..."sheet"? Was it "shape"?

Solved it myself now with a littles script I cobbled together based on zeffis answer to this: How to find if a point is inside a mesh?
import bpy, bmesh

def is_inside(p, max_dist, obj):
    # max_dist = 1.84467e+19
    point, normal, face = obj.closest_point_on_mesh(p, max_dist)
    p2 = point-p
    v = p2.dot(normal)
    return not(v < 0.0)

obj = bpy.context.active_object
bowl = bpy.data.objects['bowl']
bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action="DESELECT")

mesh=bmesh.from_edit_mesh(bpy.context.object.data)
for v in mesh.verts:
    p = obj.matrix_world * v.co
    if is_inside(p,1,bowl): v.select = True

This can be a little slow, but does the trick:


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How to make smooth curves and rough edges
I'm currently trying to make a plane, a Short SC.7 Skyvan.
And as you see here, on the tail, there is a smooth curved corner at the front and a sharp edge at the back. How could I do this?
]3
I've started with a cube but I've no idea how to make that shape. Any ideas?

Here's one approach:

6-sided circle
Fill (F), and Knife cut (K) using Ctrl to hit center of edges
Drag out back edges. (Scale thinner if you like)
Add loop cuts (CtrlR). Assuming you might want to bend the aerofoil.
Extrude (E) perimeter edges
Maybe pull out the middle edges of the side? and put in a holding edge-loop (CtrlR).
Add a Mirror modifier,
And a Subsurf modifier.

I had a brainf**t after along day.. this would have been much quicker starting solid, from a subdivided cube, which is what OP asked for.

Not sure why people downvoted this question. Try this:
Add a subsurf modifier (prob render and view 2)
Add a loop cut (Ctrl + R) and push it to the far edge of the cube making a face at the end. You can inset this face to get rid of the cup effect.
Add loop cuts to the left and right to make it so that there are three flat faces and one curved.
Scale the face you want to be a rough edge in the Z direction till it’s negligible.
Hope that helps :).

Get the plans.
The FIRST thing I would do is hit up google in image mode and download something like:

Then set up your model using one of the methods suggested in answers to  How to assign different background images for different 3d views?

Here I've added a view facing plane in right ortho and extruded left and right edges to somewhat match tail wing profile.  A mirror modifier is used on X axis, and the profile is extruded along along X to form the wing.
Other useful links
Do I need to even use blueprints?
Round corners of plane wing

You can model the sharp detail vs. smooth detail. Or, you can apply a subsurf modifier and add Creases for sharp edges.

Model something you're generally after, and apply the 'Smooth' shading option in the left-hand 'Tools' palette.
Apply a Subdivision Surface modifier. this will 'blunt/smooth' your mesh.
In Edit mode, select an edge.
In the right hand Transform palette of the 3D window, slide the Creases value up. The mesh will draw closer to the modeled edge.
By adjusting adjacent edges in the same way, you train the subsurf modifier to 'ignore' the smoothing/blunting effect it does to generate more geometry.

Footnote: Are you sure you want to add a wing as a separate object? You will probably find it easier going by extruding wings from the fuselage: keeps everything all one mesh.


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How to open the lid on the laptop
I am having issues with a laptop I converted from the sims 3 to the sims 4. The laptop in the sims 3 was animated, when a player clicks on the laptop, the lid opens when the sim goes to use the laptop.
The sims 4 does not have laptops, the game has desktops and pads. One other person was successful in getting the lid to open, but it stays open and never shuts. It is not animated.
I can either get the lid to open and stay open, or I can animate the lid.
I know nothing of animation and I do know it has to be outside of Blender.
So, I will need to open the lid and keep it open, but have neither "cut" through a mesh before. I am extremely new to Blender let alone to meshing and creating.
So, I would need detailed explanations; preferably with photos, I'm a visual learner.
Here is a photo of the laptop Here is the file

Thank you in advance for all of the help with this. It is greatly appreciated.

Never post you email out in the public, unless you want spam. Answers to questions posed at stack exchange stay at stack exchange where everyone can learn from them.

As long as you won the rights to the file you can always upload it here. Much better than having to email it.

Ok I am not sure exactly what you are trying to do.

In edit mode make sure you have the option to select faces.
Click random faces on the top and along the sides and corners, then Hold Ctrl and then hit the + on keypad about 15-20 times to make sure you got the entire top lid selected.
Hit P to seperate the object, Position the top lid how you would like it to be open, follow the link "how to create a hinged door" suggested in the above comments section.
Once the object is where you want it, select everything and hit CTRL+J to join it all back to one.

keep in mind nothing is modeled on the inside where the computer screen would be, so you would need to put something there

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it.


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Linked Object (proxy) does not play actions in Blender Game Engine
I have two identical characters, with a test Idle action set, in blender game engine. Both plays in viewport, but when I run the game only the appended one plays it action.
This is halting my development since I would preferable use external .blend files containing characters etcetera so I can keep on developing/animating on a specific character.
Check out this video to better understand.
http://instagram.com/p/k7XjakI79x/

can you upload the blend file? Than I would not have to create a dummy scene just to test this.

can't it's my game I am working on. Bug reported. Could do a quikc .blend with some base mesh rigged. And use same base mesh as appended, and linked in local proxy. Anyways, I bug reported. Will do that simple .blend scene and attach to my bug report. Can give you link later, when I am back infront of my computer.

Apparently, playing animations in separate files loaded via libload is not possible. Nobody here seems to know how to do it.


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How to get disconnected teeth and beard to move with rigged face?
So I'm trying to weight paint but can't seem to get my teeth and beard on the character to move with his head on two different bones, I have tried to move the head then weight paint it so that it gets moved into position as I paint but that doesn't work because it just stops getting closer to the head... so if someone could help using like team viewer or something that would help me a ton.

newest image:

Try to assign a jaw/teeth vertices with a weight value=1.000 to the head bone. It should follow the head then.

sorry im new haha so if i go into edit mode and highlight what i want to change the value too, then where would i go to find the vertex weights tab?

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/8227/some-vertices-dont-move-along-with-the-rig

I'll try to recreate the similiar issue as yours for you. As you can see below the jaw mesh doesn't follow the head's movement. It's because the jaw's vertices are not properly assigned to the head bone.

Select the head bone in Pose Mode, then select the mesh. In Edit Mode select all the vertices that belongs to jaw. Go to the Mesh Data header and in the Vertex Groups panel assign (press the Assign button) them with the weight of 1.000 to the head bone.

EDIT: I've weight painted the left side of your model. Unfortunatelly it wasn't symmetrical, so I couldn't mirror the weights to the right side of the rig. You'll have to do it manually.
Here's the .blend:

ok so that sort of works now whenever i move the head it moves the beard and mouth with it but it lags behind it, like for example i move the head and they follow its just a little bit behind and it clips through the head, and on the other joint that i move it does not move with it can i assign it too multiple joints?

It looks like some head vertices are assigned to other bones, like neck bone etc. You have to remove them from that bone (e.g. select the neck bone in Pose Mode, then select all the head vertices in Edit Mode and press Remove button in Vertex Grops panel). TIP: When parenting the mesh to the armature (Ctrl+P) use a With Automatic Weights option. It will assign automatically proper vertex groups to the proper bones. Then correct some weights using Assign and Remove buttons.

i already did that it didnt solve anything here is a new photos of my weight failing:  ok it looks like that in the second photo

is there a way that i can hide everything i select in edit mode so that i can see only a select few items that i want then switch to weight mode on a joint??? Maby

or a way to group everything i want in edit mode so that when i am in weight mode i can weight everything i grouped really easy

also when i move the neck bone it rotates the hole head but if i rotate one of the other head bones it flattens the head....

Could you please post your .blend file via http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ ? I'll try to look at your model and weight paint it for you, so the rig'll work as it should.

yup here it is:                                                             password is:  "IReallywantthistoowork"            and your going to need the source plugin: http://steamreview.org/BlenderSourceTools/

@Jaydon Thanks for uploading the file. I'll take a look at it ASAP. Meanwhile take a look at this answer: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21305/armature-moving-points-for-no-apparent-reason

so unfortunately that solution didn't work for both of the solutions he had :(

anything yet????

Sorry to keep you waiting. I don't used to work in Easter :). The holidays are over, so I've found some time to do it. Though, because the model isn't symmetrical I haven't managed to mirror the weights to the bones on the right. Though I hope you'll get the idea how it works and paint them manually. Please see my edit and download the .blend. Also, check out this answer: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/8227/some-vertices-dont-move-along-with-the-rig

oh haha so sorry i totally space that it was Easter... whoops


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Unrendered Pixels (Holes) in Blender Internal Render
Here is my problem and I have never seen this before in Blender:
I'm making a Minecraft Animation and on multiple frames there are unrendered transparent pixels scattered across the image (resulting in black spots). I have googled around and only found answers related to Cycles render which doesn't apply to my situation as I use Blender Internal.
I made a video explanation to show in detail what is happening:

(https://youtu.be/YbWy8n2figo)
UPDATE: Thank's all those who helped me out. It turned out to be a problem with "Auto Ray Bias." This thread answered my problem.
Cause of Alpha or Black Artefacts in Render

Hello new user, and welcome to Blender Stack Exchange. If you pack and post your .blend it will be 10 times more helpful for diagnosing your problem.

Check whether this isn't z-fighting, make sure to unhide all the objects in scene and see if there are any surprises, also check whether there's repeating geometry inside of one mesh. Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5441/cause-of-black-artifacts-in-render

Good call @MrZak it is Z-Fighting, If you post this as an answer, I have an animated GIF to prove it on this blend you can steal to put in your answer if you'd like - The Link to the GIF.

authors: Любомир Онищенко


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Can Cycles do a Gooch Shader?
Now that 2.68 has introduced a toon bdsf, is it possible to recreate the Gooch shader? Insight, links, or a nodes screenshot would be great.

http://www.yaldex.com/open-gl/ch18lev1sec2.html I found this resource with a shader written in GLSL. Converting the fragment shader to OSL wasn't too hard but I'm not sure how to do the vertex shader part. If I make more progress, I'll share it.

Update: Using a model similar to the one in the wikipedia article, I've come up with a complete solution. I also kept my previous attempt included in this post for the comments that refer to it. (Thanks Róbert and gandalf3!)

Follow the instructions below.
Gooch Matte

First, the surface normals from the geometry are combined with a Normal node that manually chooses the direction of the gradient. The dot product of these two vectors is normalized (0 through 1). When dot-product-multiplied against the camera's view vector, the gradient takes on the desired effect. I'm using emission to produce the color and then darkening it down to 10% strength by default (as is described in the paper). The two shaders are added together so that the blue lightens up areas that would otherwise be in complete shadow.

Gooch Glossy

To make a glossy Gooch shader, the Matte is simply added to a Glossy BSDF.

Why not add some gray in with another stop in the in color ramp node? (Ctrl + RMB on the gradient)

Oh, the gray is there. It's just in the wrong place because Cycles sees the center of the sphere as already "100% shadowed". To write it another way, instead of seeing [bbggyy] the preview sphere is [bbbbgy].

I have a cycles shader that behaves like matcaps. You simply plug in the matcap image to the correct slot. Is it possible that such node setup suits your needs? It renders perfectly smooth around 10 samples. The node setup is complex but I hope it is useful. You could combine it with the freestyle renderer by overlaying the outlines on the cycles render.
Here is a matcap example:
The Cam Down should be usually the real down vector.

The Matcap Coords node-tree:
The multiply nodes use 0.5 and the add nodes use one.

The Cam Normals node-tree:

The Cam Axis node-tree:

Not a bad solution. That would work even outside of Cycles, and since part of the Gooch look is the outlines, Freestyle could take care of them in the same pass.

Not sure how accurate this would be, but you could set up some color ramps based on normals and maybe this or these for the outlines?


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Tracking object using survey shot
I've downloaded some tutorial footage that includes a Survey shot, it is basically a person moving aroung a sword. I tracked the camera without a problem, but the object is having some problems. I am trying to use the survey shot but I have no idea how to do that in Blender. Does anybody knows how?
This is the link https://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/tracking-plates.html
just scroll down and will see the Virtual sword.

This is the survey shot

I do not know what a "survey shot" is.

@David I just edited my question. It is related to survey tracking using what is called a survey shot.

@David What I did for that particular shot was to track the survey shot, just put on some markers and export them to 3ds max to create a mesh that will work as proxy mesh, then track the main shot, add the proxy and made constraints to the correspondent vertex.
In this video is explained that last process.
https://vimeo.com/14352900