text:
Sliding a point along an edge?
I have a line with a point in the center (2 edges with 3 points that forms a straight line). How do I slide the middle point along the straight line it resides on?

Using Vertex Slide:
Select the point and press ShiftV or GG. Then move it to the desired point on the line with the mouse and click to set it. Hold Alt to slide it past the end of the edge.
Alternatively, this can be reached through the Edit Mode toolbar menus: Vertex -> Slide Vertices:

Or through the right-click context menu:

You can also enable Vertex Slide by pressing G twice

@Haunt_House great tip! That seems to work with edges too for edge slide.

It's also accessible with Ctrl+V > Vertex slide

Just for the record, if you are using a very old version of blender that does not have vertex slide functionality:

Select one of the end vertices
Shift S --> Cursor To Selected
Select the middle vertex
. (period) Set cursor as pivot point
S Now you can move the middle vertex along the line
When you are done, reset the pivot point with , (comma)

Select the vertex and use Shift V or GG to move along the edge.
http://blenderbits.com/2013/09/02/blender-vertex-constraints-on-faces/


text:
Randomly place and scale objects?
I want to create an abstract rendering of lots of cubes floating in the sky. It would be good if they could also be clustered together. I'm thinking of something sort of like this:

Does Blender have any tools for placing clusters of objects, and randomly scaling them? What's the best process to do this?

You could easily create a simple Python script for this.

The best tool for this situation is the randomize transform tool. It's not a tool that has a shortcut key and it's buried in the object menu (Object > Transform > Randomize Transform), so the easiest way to access it is to simply search it using Space.
To create the wall from that image, do the following:

Create a plane for the wall.

Duplicate a few cubes around

Use the randomize transform tool and set it to affect the location of the objects (except the axis along the wall) and the scale of the object. Something like this:

You'll get something like this:

Create a big cube as a particle system and define an cubic (or any shaped object) as particle. Use volume as emitter and turn off "render emitter" and change the default halo to object, select your cube. Play around with the settings in physic for different particle behaviour...
The particle size can be randomized as well.

Can the X, Y, and Z scale be randomized independently?

@Keavon You could use Group instead of Object and set it to a group of randomly scaled cubes. (perhaps with a python script)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Separate selected UV map vertices from surrounding vertices
How do I break the selected UV map from its surrounding vertices?

You can do this by selecting the face and using Select > Select Split from the Image Editor header or the Y key, then drag to separate. This method doesn't require you changing the Sticky Selection Mode, but it does require that you separate at least one tri. This method does not work for separating a single point or edge.

Any idea how to do this in blender 2.8.x?

@PieterDeBie I couldn't find a menu entry for it but the same shortcut seems to work. Open the context menu with space and search for Select Split. After running the operation, press G and move the cursor.

"This method does not work for separating a single point or edge." Wait, so you can't cut a single UV edge in Blender? Is that what you're saying? Guess I'll just go back to importing/exporting between Maya for what should be a most basic and straightforward operation.

Change the Sticky Selection Mode to Disabled in the bottom settings bar, then drag to separate the selection.

This function behaves oddly, it seems you have to select it again even though it is already selected by default.

@iKlsR - this is working as intended, changing sticky mode wont change the existing selection, only new selection actions

@ideasman42 as it turns out, I was doing multiple tests with the same map, so it was on my end.

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

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


text:
Pin UVs for Pack Islands?
Pin allows me to keep parts of a mesh where it is while performing a subsequent unwrap operation. Is it possible to pin objects so they do not move when performing Pack Islands?

I think you needn't pin parts to do that. Pack Islands only affects on selections.

@LeonCheung But it will pack over the unselected parts.

Yes, it will. I don't think we got one-stop solution for it yet. But let's see if others can provide something fresh.

No, currently pack is based on the selection only. It could be handy to have a way to select only unpinned UV islands so you could use them as a way to lock islands for other tools.


text:
Fast way to move one vertex point to another in the UV/Image Editor?
Is there a fast way to move one selected vertex point to another point in the UV/Image Editor?
You can select the target point, ShiftS, Cursor to Selection, select the point to be moved, ShiftS, and Selection to Cursor, but this takes a long time. Is there a faster way?

You can toggle the Snap tool in the UV Editor's header by clicking the magnet icon or using the keyboard shortcut ShiftTab. Then click the popover dropdown beside it and enable the element snapping type of Vertex.

Instead of frequently toggling the Snap tool on and off by clicking the magnet icon, simply hold down Ctrl while manipulating the UVs to temporarily activate snapping. (You still have to make sure you are in Vertex snapping mode.)

@Keavon OK. I wonder if this is what you want? Or any other tricks?


text:
Exporting animation F-curve points from the Graph Editor
I have an animation consisting of translation in X and Y and rotation along the Z axis.

Each of these Bézier curves consist of points, such as the black points in the picture above. Each of these curves also have two control points that define the behavior of the curve, as seen in the orange circles around the selected points. There is one to the left and one to the right. If you select a point in the Graph Editor, the Properties panel displays the coordinates of the keyframe point and its left and right handles.

I am building an exteral game that has its own Bézier animation interpolation. I need to export an array of the values defining each keyframe for each axis of transformation including the Key, Left Handle, and Right Handle X and Y values. For example, the curves shown above look like this when exported by hand:
x: [
    [{x: -3.904, y: -65.564003}, {x: 0.0, y: -65.564003}, {x: 3.904, y: -65.564003}],
    [{x: 6.0959997, y: -65.5639954}, {x: 10.0, y: -52.0340004}, {x: 13.9040012, y: -38.5040054}],
    [{x: 16.0958843, y: -18.3652306}, {x: 20.0, y: 9.9868374}, {x: 23.9041157, y: 38.3389053}],
    [{x: 26.0958843, y: 68.4369736}, {x: 30.0, y: 93.2079773}, {x: 31.9520569, y: 105.5934753}],
    [{x: 33.0479431, y: 115.0458527}, {x: 35.0, y: 115.0458527}, {x: 36.9520569, y: 115.0458527}],
    [{x: 38.0479431, y: 76.4329605}, {x: 40.0, y: 62.4304733}, {x: 43.9041138, y: 34.4255066}],
    [{x: 46.0958862, y: 37.9866829}, {x: 50.0, y: 24.1973839}, {x: 53.9041138, y: 10.4080839}],
    [{x: 56.0958862, y: 5.8076649}, {x: 60.0, y: -8.2093506}, {x: 63.9041138, y: -22.226366}],
    [{x: 66.0958862, y: -36.7316742}, {x: 70.0, y: -47.6089821}, {x: 74.2945251, y: -59.5740204}],
    [{x: 76.7054749, y: -65.5638962}, {x: 81.0, y: -65.5638962}, {x: 85.2945251, y: -65.5638962}]
],
y: [
    [{x: -3.904115, y: 523.7230835}, {x: 0.0, y: 523.7230835}, {x: 3.904115, y: 523.7230835}],
    [{x: 6.0958853, y: 568.0751343}, {x: 10.0, y: 595.0602417}, {x: 13.9041147, y: 622.0453491}],
    [{x: 16.0958843, y: 661.9623413}, {x: 20.0, y: 661.9623413}, {x: 23.9041157, y: 661.9623413}],
    [{x: 26.0958843, y: 628.7947998}, {x: 30.0, y: 597.6083374}, {x: 31.9520569, y: 582.0151367}],
    [{x: 33.0479431, y: 549.9043579}, {x: 35.0, y: 549.9043579}, {x: 36.9520569, y: 549.9043579}],
    [{x: 38.0479431, y: 559.7282715}, {x: 40.0, y: 562.875}, {x: 43.9041138, y: 569.168457}],
    [{x: 46.0958862, y: 569.1739502}, {x: 50.0, y: 569.1739502}, {x: 53.9041138, y: 569.1739502}],
    [{x: 56.0958862, y: 559.8475952}, {x: 60.0, y: 557.9870605}, {x: 63.9041138, y: 556.1265259}],
    [{x: 66.0958862, y: 557.9870605}, {x: 70.0, y: 556.1265259}, {x: 74.2945251, y: 554.0799561}],
    [{x: 76.7054749, y: 523.7230835}, {x: 81.0, y: 523.7230835}, {x: 85.2945251, y: 523.7230835}]
],
r: [
    [{x: -3.904115, y: -69.0623513}, {x: 0.0, y: -69.0623513}, {x: 3.904115, y: -69.0623513}],
    [{x: 6.0958853, y: -53.1340769}, {x: 10.0, y: -40.8093182}, {x: 13.9041147, y: -28.4845594}],
    [{x: 16.0958843, y: -16.8711888}, {x: 20.0, y: -5.9250832}, {x: 23.9041157, y: 5.0210223}],
    [{x: 26.0958843, y: 15.2653908}, {x: 30.0, y: 15.2653908}, {x: 33.9041138, y: 15.2653908}],
    [{x: 36.0958862, y: 6.9039369}, {x: 40.0, y: 1.5133458}, {x: 43.9041138, y: -3.8772452}],
    [{x: 46.0958862, y: -6.205909}, {x: 50.0, y: -12.3495301}, {x: 53.9041138, y: -18.4931504}],
    [{x: 56.0958862, y: -22.0891887}, {x: 60.0, y: -29.9591973}, {x: 63.9041138, y: -37.8292076}],
    [{x: 66.0958862, y: -45.3238171}, {x: 70.0, y: -52.6660109}, {x: 74.2945251, y: -60.7424227}],
    [{x: 76.7054749, y: -69.0623513}, {x: 81.0, y: -69.0623513}, {x: 85.2945251, y: -69.0623513}]
]

I need a script that can export these values from each keyframe of each axis of translation/rotation in the selected object into a textual format, preferably in the same format as shown above.

The coordinate and handles (co, handle_left, handle_right) can be read / set from the KeyFrame keyframe point.
Test code, runs on action on active object. Prints the fcurve name and each co and handle.
import bpy

context = bpy.context
obj = context.object
action =  context.object.animation_data.action
#print("fcurve_dic = {")
for fcurve in action.fcurves:

    print("'%s[%d]' : [" % (fcurve.data_path, fcurve.array_index))
    for kfp in fcurve.keyframe_points:
        #print("\t{", end="")
        vals = []
        for prop in ["co", "handle_left", "handle_right"]:
            co = getattr(kfp, prop)
            vals.append("{'x':%.4f, 'y':%.4f}" %  co[:])
        print("\t[%s]" % ", ".join(vals))
    print("\t]")

#print("}")

authors: Александр Соколов


text:
Increase or decrease vertices in circle after working with it?
Is it possible to change the resolution of a circle after working with it so that it has a greater or fewer number of vertices? If this is not normally possible, but there is a workflow that keeps it editable, that also counts.

The goal of this question was more of asking if there exists either a feature or an add-on (or if someone wants to write one) that notices that a selection forms a circle and then allows the user to change the number of vertices in that circle. That question may be related but the intents are different and not duplicates.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/3259/599, http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/3487/599, http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/8157/599.

You could try the decimate modifier, it is not very controllable though.

In addition to what @david said, you can use this post to select every other edge loop.

For the creation of a primitive
Yes, and no
You can change the settings right after creating any of the primitives, by pressing f6.
After you do anything else, (besides moving around the view) the settings are gone with no way to get back to them.
Editing loop count in a circle
To reduce the number of edges.
In edit mode, select every other loop by Alt RMB  (use shift to add to the selection). Then press X or delete and choose Edge Loop. Do the same for the edges on the other axis.

To increase the number of edges.
Delete the bottom and top vertex (where all the loops meet). Select everything with A, then press W and choose Subdivide Smooth. The loops will get wavy, to fix that select them with Alt RMB  then press S Z 0. Which will flatten them along the Z axis.
To fix the holes in the top of the circle, select the top edge loop, and extrude it along the Z axis. Then scale to 0, and remove doubles. Do the same for the bottom of the circle.

For Mesh Circle:
While in the 3D View window, enter Edit Mode (Tab) and select all vertices (A) and click W and select "Subdivide Smooth", then open the Tool Shelf (T), and  change the "Number of cuts" field to match your needs.
For Curve Circle:
While in the 3D View window, select the Circle, enter Edit Mode (Tab) and select all vertices (A) and click W and select "Subdivide", then open the Tool Shelf (T), and  change the "Number of cuts" field to match your needs.

I edited my post to make it more clear, as I see you mistook "after creating it" to mean "directly after adding it to the scene."

Ok, I changed it; It should now work.

For the Mesh Circle section, mention that that is for adding vertices and that you should play with the smoothness slider.

It's already set to 1, by default, if you use subdive smooth

Ah, I missed that you said Subdivide Smooth. Feel free to clean up comments and I'll do the same.

Well, clicking W didn't seem to do anything except change the selection behavior... And now I seem to be unable to drag-select anything in edit mode.

Decrease the number of vertices
Select an edge loop
Menu: Select / Checker Deselect

X Dissolve vertices

After that you could remove the vertices which only subdivide edges by selecting one and Shift-G  Amount of connecting edges and dissolve again.

Checker Deselect will not give good results on a UV sphere, thus causing the Dissolve vertices to fail.

@David I added images of what one could expect by this method, dissolve works.

Rather [Del] -> Edge Loop, for a typical usage

@avvi removing an edge loop would keep the vertical edges.

really smart method.

You could use the Loop Tools add-on that comes with Blender. It got me better results than Subdivide Smooth.
1) Add LoopTools to Blender (Ctrl-Alt-U, Add-ons tab, search LoopTools, check the checkbox and save)
2) Select your Circle Loop
3) Subdivide by pressing W and clicking in Subdivide
4) Select the number of cuts of your choosing in the Operator Panel (F6)
5) While having the loop selected, Press Circle in the Loop Tools section in the Tools menu (T)

You should have a perfectly round circle now:

The process of deleting vertices from the circle should be even easier than that. Just delete the undesired vertices, select the loop, then click the Circle button again.


text:
Why is there noise in my output?
Ive only been introduced to Blender yesterday and have been trawling through the tutorials and loving it, definitely a new fan, albeit still taking very small steps.
I exported a VRML from a GIS application (ArcScene).  I have done little to the scene in Blender, apart from adding some material effects to the ground layer.
What I can't understand is why my final render has a lot of noise in it.
Can someone give me some pointers on how to get a better quality render?  Is it something to do with the render settings or have I missed something on the import/configuration of the scene?

Interesting image you rendered, by the way. I like it. As my answer suggested below, you should probably boost your sample count up a bunch and put a few hours into rendering it because Cycles looks like a much better choice for your project than BI (Blender Internal) because of its photo-realistic lighting.

Cycles is a raycast-based render engine. It shoots thousands of rays from the camera and bounces them off surfaces randomly to compute the lighting. In order to produce a less-noisy result, you may increase the samples of your render:

This boosts the number of times it shoots rays from the same camera pixels. Since a surface (unless it's a mirror) scatters light, each time a ray bounces off a surface it must go in a random direction. Additional samples help average out this result by bouncing it multiple times per pixel and blending the results.
However, in the end, your result will always be noisy to some degree. Boosting the samples is a good way to avoid this, though.
Another way to avoid noise is to change the rendering method to Blender Internal or a third party renderer:

This is not a raycast renderer, so it simulates lighting in a non-photo-realistic (NPR) way. However, please note that development for the Blender internal renderer has ceased and Blender is generally transitioning to Cycles.
If you are interested in learning more about how Cycles or raycast renderers work, please take a look at my question:
Why Can't Cycles Cast 1 Ray per Image Pixel, Instead Renders Progressively to Infinity?
If you would like to learn why some areas of an image are more noisy than others, which may help you avoid especially noisy areas, see my other question: What is the Reason Cycles Creates Incorrectly Colored/Firefly Artifact Pixels?

Blender Internal
If you're using Blender Internal with Raytracing as your Gather mode, the following will work. Raytracing is realistic, but it requires a certain number of samples, otherwise it will be grainy.
In the World settings in the Gather section, change the samples to something like 10 or 12:

Cycles
If you're using Cycles, you can turn up the render samples in the Render panel under sampling:

Definitely Cycles, otherwise the 'Feature Set' and OSL setting won't be visible.

@MikePan good catch. I expected to see a sampling panel and automatically assumed it was BI when I didn't. Edited the answer accordingly.


text:
How to turn off subsurf modifier on a lot of objects at the same time
I have a model containing about 30 objects, all together about 900,000 vertices. My computer can't handle this amount of verticies and it gets realy slow. Is there a way how to turn on/off subsurf to all these objects at the same time?

Simplify
Enable scene simplification in Properties > Scene > Simplify and set the subdivision level to 0:

Copy to selected

Select all the objects
Disable the subsurf modifier in the viewport, then  RMB> Copy to selected:


text:
BGE: Overlapping alignAxisToVect v/s applyRotation
I'm quite new at Blender (and Python) and I have had some problems with a project I'm doing. Right now I'm having a little problem with two methods:  aignAxisToVect and applyRotation.
I don't know why, but every time I swap between the Python controller's mode (module and script) one of the two methods works and the other doesn't.
Here I left a link with the blend file, I commented the part that generate the problem within PlanetaryGravity.py.
To further describe the situation: I have a planet with its own orbit (and the World's gravity set to 0) and an object (Cube) that is attracted by the artificial gravity force of the planet. The Cube has a Camera parented to it and I can rotate the camera up/down/left/right with the mouse. The keys W, S, A, D are used to move the Cube over the Planet.
Now, when I use a main() function to configure the Planet's gravity (within PlanetaryGravity.py ), I can rotate the Camera and the Cube with the mouse and move the Cube with the keys, but the Cube doesn't get align to the perpendicular vector to the Planet (so the local axis of the Cube don't change and it's not correctly positioned onto the Planet's surface).
On the other hand, when I delete the main() function and use the script mode for the Python controller, the Cube's axis does get aligned correctly, but I can't rotate the Cube with the mouse (not the camera).
At the end it looks like the method aignAxisToVect overwrites the changes made by the method applyRotation when trying to rotate the Cube with the mouse. So how can I get both the axis alignment and Cube rotation to work? Additionally, why doesn't aignAxisToVect work while Python controller mode is set to Module:PlanetaryGravity.main?

At the end it looks like the method aignAxisToVect overwrites the
  changes made by the method applyRotation

That should be correct, alignAxisToVect should be instantaneous and complete and can overwrite whatever rotation you have applied with the mouse. So you probably just want to change the order of execution.

#Importações
codefrom bge import logic
#Obter controlador, cena atual e objeto ao qual está executando o script
codecont = logic.getCurrentController()
codescene = logic.getCurrentScene()
codeown = cont.owner
#Obtém o objeto 'Planetary' da cena atual
codeplanetary = scene.objects['Planetary']
#Obtém o vetor da variável referente ao objeto 'Planetary'
codevetor = own.getVectTo(planetary)
#O objeto 'Cube' irá alinhar o eixo de visualização para o vetor[1] do planetary (y). 2=eixo, 1=fator
codeCube.alignAxisToVect(vetor[1], 2, 1)
#O objeto 'Cube' vai aplicar uma rotação Local no eixo Z+
codeCube.applyRotation([0, 0, 0.1], True)
#I don't speak english, i'm from brazil.

This answer doesn't have an explanation. Can you please edit your answer to explain your code?

While I doubt answering in a different language is disallowed, I would suggest using a translator or the like.  That way, the OP can at least get an idea of what you are saying (assuming they only speak English.)  Welcome to BSE! :D


text:
Sculpt brush isn't drawing much detail
I already subdivided a lot from the multiresolution modifier, and when I draw with the sculpt brush it doesn't sculpt details. What am I doing wrong?

You need to either enable Dynotopo or subdivide the mesh with the modifier again. Does that do what you want?

What exactly is happening? What happens when you try drawing with the brush? Do other brushes work? What do you mean by "detail"? Do you mean that it still looks like there's lots of faces like the ones visible in your screenshot, or do you mean that the geometry isn't moving much? What happens when you increase your subdivisions further with the multiresolution modifier?

As you can read on the upper right corner of your window, you,ve got 29.641 vertex, it's not enough for fine details. Try subdividing until you reach 1.000.000.
In object mode switch to "Smooth Shading".
If the computer gets slow, subdivide you model in different objects (P key in edit mode mode), and sculpt them one by one, using the multiresolution modifier to swithc between different levels of details.

authors: Олег Ладыженский


text:
How to focus on different windows across multi-monitors to hit a hotkey?
Every time I point my mouse over a frame, it gets focus for its specific actions and hotkeys. But, when using a multi-monitor setup which opens different windows, I can't get them focused unless I click anywhere in the interface or hit the window bar. This occurs on Windows and Mac OS X.
This is annoying because I have to click first and then do a PAN or ORBIT command, for example.

This would seem to be an OS level problem rather than one specific to Blender IMO. It varies for all of them.

This is an issue with the window managers in Windows and MacOS. There's a chance that this might be addressable in Blender's source, but my guess is that it's a non-trivial problem. A work-around would be to try to force Windows or MacOS to use a behavior common in Linux window managers called "focus follows mouse", or "sloppy focus".
Unfortunately, this is not default behavior in either of those systems. In Windows, you can do it manually by tweaking the UserPreferenceMask in the registry. In Mac OS, it's complicated by the fact that you have the persistent menu bar at the top... but you should be able to get focus follows mouse using a utility like Zooom/2.

I'm almost sure that Blender could handle it by itself. I have tested this issue in some other softwares, like Cinema 4D, for example. Even if the window is not focused (can see in the grayed top bar), the hotkeys works like a charm and the window remain unfocused :/

My mistake: for other softwares tested, the windows get focused (only) when a hotkey is pressed.

Although I believe in Windows, a frame cannot detect which app a mouse is in, there are still a few approaches to it. If the mouse is not in the active frame when a hotkey is received, it can notify all other frames to check. Alternately, it can centrally track the geometry of all Blender frames and interpolate if an owned frame contains the mouse. The latter is actually harder due to overlap. Either way, not painless to implement. Then is the issue that this is adding OS code, and doesn't fix Mac.

This workaround works for me quite well in Windows - there is a built-in option to activate a window by mouse hover.
It is placed in Ease of Access Center -> Make the mouse easier to use -> Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse.


text:
Normalize a spline
Is there a way to redefine a spline/bezier object into segments of even length or to tile the spline into a number of segments. (like the "normalize spline" function in 3dmax) example video
Or to be more general: I would like to model a terrain from a height map using contour lines. My approach was to import a .dxf, convert it to a mesh, then use the loft tool from the "loop tools" addon. But this doesn't work well because each segment has a different number of vertices (the result is often a "twisted" surface). Putting the "twist" option in a negative value didn't work; this only shifts the problem around the model.
So my questions are:
How do you model such a terrain (from the contour lines)?
OR
How do you redefine a spline in the way that I previously mentioned?

do you want the resulting polyline to have vertices spread equidistantly, and not spread according to their most accurate representation of the curve?

if you could provide a small height-map sample file perhaps a different more automated solution can be found.

you are right zeffi.vertices spread equidistantly is first solution. better one is that splines with different amount of vertices are redefined and got after normalization the same amount of vertices (regardeless of their lenght)

spread equidistantly is possible in loop tools - "space" command , this one helps sometimes - to change amount of vertices will help much more getting clean results. sample file: https://www.box.com/s/2a1358j0u4zhn0iguxby

i've been writing a script to redistribute points on a curve too, like the normalize modifier.. will post results soon. What i would really like to have is an excerpt of your original height map to see if the terrain generation can be automated.

also of interest (and coming soon) http://www.graphicall.org/ftp/ideasman42/bridge_subd.png  by ideasman42 (will ship with blender)

here you go: original height map:(golf course in salzburg):

"edit: i have to ask for permission to give this data." may last a day or two.

A mockup heightmap with the same specs will work just as good so long as it represents the general content of such files.

here it is: link problems you will face: open curves, up and downs in terrain, very different lenght of each curve, if you try to automate this - think about many single height points anywhere on map to add in more detail.

sweet. let me look at this for a while!

let us continue this discussion in chat

Using the Bsurfaces addon

To prevent twisting, Shift select a vertex form each contour that lines up nicely.
In the Tool Shelf, under Bsurfaces, click Set First Points.

Create a plane, select your bezier-curve and Shift select the plane.
Tab into edit mode, and delete the vertices (X,V) of the plane.
In the Tool Shelf, under Bsurfaces, click Add Surface and adjust setting to your liking.

Blender contains the tools to do what your asking, they're just not all in the same tool.
To create more segments, you simply need to use the curve subdivide tool (W > Subdivide). Blender will automatically scale the handles to keep the curve from before. You can also use W > Smooth to smooth the curve down (this won't add or remove handles).
To remove unnecessary handles, use the Simplify Curve addon. Enable the addon, then go to object mode, select your curve and search for the Simplify Curve tool (in the search bar). There aren't too many settings, but they should be enough to do what you want.
I don't think there are any tools to remove handles evenly (other than doing it manually).
To create the surface of the ground, I would recommend converting your curve into a mesh (ALTC). That way, you can model in faces with triangles (something you can't do with curves). If you wan't perfect quads afterwards, you could always use the Remesh Modifier.

I try subdivide/remove vertices per hand. - but think about a height map in the size of 600+ soccerfields - in 1m steps- i will last weeks to remove and subidive by hand - problem is: when you start at bottom and go up  it will not work at the end - than you go down and add some new points and at the end it will not work.  I try the simplify curve tool too - but the results are broken - even on very smal curves. the tip with the remesh modifier is new. i will try it


text:
Is there a way to export an object to Unity 3D while keeping any applied textures?
I exported a .fbx file to Unity 3D, but it retained none of the applied textures.
Is there a way to create a textured model in Blender and export it into Unity while retaining the textures, without having to export my UV layout and retexture it again within Unity?

normally the uv-layouts are exported in the file, when in unity, you can open the material editor and drag the texture to the model

http://www.edy.es/dev/docs/materials-and-textures-from-blender-to-unity-3d/ Goes into some explanation about how materials between blender and Unity work. (note, the link to some time to load for me)

Textures and diffuse colors are not assigned automatically. You have to manually assign them by dragging the texture onto the mesh in the Scene View in Unity
You don't have to export to .fbx, Unity supports .blend. To import a file into Unity,

Right-click in the Projects pane, choose 'Import new Asset', and navigate to the file
Move the .blend file into your project's Asset folder

You can read more here.

Not that I know of, but you can simply drop the texture on the object once it's in Unity. I did a tutorial on this if you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Bncm2KGMo
(basically put the blend in your Unity folder and drop the image on the object's material)

Do you mean materials or textures?
For materials->
This depends on the material type but the most compatible is Blender Internal and transfer of diffuse and normal maps is possible.
When exporting from Blender set to copy in fbx exporter and select pack. This should include all the textures in the fbx file
In Unity make sure the fbx import uses the by material name recursive up setting.


text:
Shadow Catcher missing in 3.2
I was trying to capture shadows on transparency and was following a Youtube video, and the very first step I could not do.
The video said to select the object to receive the shadow and go to the Object Properties panel under the Visibility sub-panel and check On under the Mask heading "Shadow Catcher".
That option does not even exist.  It shows Holdout as the only option to check.  Also, every other location the video says to check Shadow Catcher, that option doesn't exist anywhere.
What am I doing wrong?  Blender 3.2 on iMac.

Hello and welcome. Please don't write in all caps, it is the online equivalent of shouting, is harder to read and may be considered rude. You can use the [edit] button below to change you text into regular case.

You need to set the render engine to Cycles to see the Shadow Catcher checkbox. Eevee does not have this setting.

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos the link seems not to be correct. It leads to this question.

@Blunder Indeed, my mistake. Meant to link to this one instead https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/264135/shadow-catcher-option-missing-3-0

Are you on Cycles or eevee?, if you're on eevee change to cycles

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


text:
Blender 3.4-3.5 running up to 2x slower on Ubuntu 22.04 then on Windows 10
I have purchased a lenovo legion pro with this specs:

Intel i7 12700,
nVidia 3070,
RAM 16gb

I have Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 10 dual boot.
In Windows, Blender works great, BMW demo scene, on GPU rendering takes for about 11 seconds.
In Ubuntu, the same BMW scene renders in 20-22 seconds.
The same goes for other demo scenes too.

Classroom in Ubuntu renders in 48 seconds, Windows 29 seconds.
Barbershop - Ubuntu - 3:21 min, Win - 2:00 min.

Ubuntu has installed fresh proprietary drivers 525 for nVidia card.
I was wondering if any of you knows how to make Blender run faster on Ubuntu then on Windows?
As I know, Blender is supposed to run better on Linux then on any other OS, but maybe I am making a mistake.

3.5 is a recent release, you could make a report as a Bug with the demos using the Blender Help menu > Report Bug. Also, this looks like a discussion kind of topic than a Blender Question. You could try blenderartists or Blender on reddit

Thank you Emir for the fast reply. I will do that now.
But, just to mention that Blender 3.4 had the same issue before it got automatically updated to 3.5.


text:
Why 38000M peak when trying to render image
When I am trying to render an image with 32 samples the peak M gets to 38000 and the crashes with CUDA error for not enough GPU memory.
We just bought a new computer

Rtx 3070
32 ram
Cpu AMD ryzen 9 5950
Water cooled

The file takes 10 minutes just to open, thne crashes when trying to go into render view mode
Have 158 million tris
80 million verts and faces

You might need to reduce the verts in your file first. Blender is not mean to deal with that much of vertices.

At least with that amount of data you'd need to try to render on CPU first. GPU has less memory. Anyway though there's a lot of geometry and maybe 32GB won't be enough. Try Decimate modifier, also moving different collections to other view layers

It takes up that memory and crashes because 158 M faces is huge. That’s about it.
Try using decimate or some thing to reduce the number of faces, or even use different scenes so it’s broken up in pieces, and then video sequence them together.


text:
I want to render a few frames and all I get is a black screen
To escape Blender I tried to export the particle simulation to fbx by baking the animations and then bring it in and then I can render it very easily there.
I was unable to bake the animation of flocking birds, so I'm forced to render in Blender but I still cannot figure out how to render frames.
Can anyone just show me even by pictures where to click to render one frame the correct camera

I just found out that to render you hit F12 but where is the actual button?!

It's on the left side of the top tool bar under Render (next to File, Edit, etc...)

The 'active camera' is the one used for rendering. To make a camera the active camera, click on it and press Ctrl + NumPad 0.
To render a single frame you press  F12 or in the top left corner click Render > Render Image.


text:
Weight paint painting on both sides?
I’m doing the donut tutorial of Blender Guru and I’m on the sprinkles bit.
When I pull out the weight paint to make sure it doesn't show sprinkles on the bottom of the icing, the weight paint paints on both sides.

So i thought to add this because i did the above and was still getting the weight paint on both sides. I found that i hadn't applied the modifiers to the shape as a result the mesh was still having a single side.

If you want to make sure that you don't paint through, make sure that you've activated one of these brush options (I still don't understand how it works though):


text:
Sculpted object turns into a cube when I enter edit mode
I have just recently sculpted a Mesh Helmet model and I am needing it to export it for another program. When I switch the mesh into edit mode it turns into its original starting cube. Going into sculpt mode again returns it to my helmet. I didn't think it was an issue, but when I exported it into a .dae file it came out as the cube instead of the helmet. How do I make the helmet show up correctly in Edit mode and the .dae file instead of the cube?

Try applying any modifiers (Alt+C> Convert To Mesh)

@gandalf3 Wouldn't recommend converting the entire thing to a mesh, OP might have other modifiers.

You more than likely have a Multiresoultion modifier on your object. You can switch to the Modifiers tab and press Apply on the modifier to apply this and see how your object looks in edit mode but if you apply it now, you will lose the ability to adjust any settings on the modifier and you might be left with a really high poly object which is undesirable if you decide to tweak the sculpt later (reduce view levels etc to reduce the load on the viewport).
If you still decide to apply the modifier, I would recommend making a copy of the sculpt just in case.
To keep the modifier and export the sculpt, when using the Collada exporter, look in the properties to the left and tick Apply modifiers.

It sounds like you might have some modifiers on the object.
Try applying them to the mesh data. You can do this either by selecting the object in Object mode and pressing AltC> Mesh:

Or by pressing Apply on each modifier in Properties > Modifiers:


text:
How do I rotate and scale edges in Edit Mode?
This tutorial mentions that it's possible to rotate and scale a selection while in Edge Select mode in the Properties panel. However, I can only find the option to transform the selection's median. There is no rotation or scale option in the panel.

How can I rotate and scale by entering a value in the panel in Edit Mode?

There are also keyboard shortcuts to do this, G (grab/translate), R (rotate) and S (scale).

And you can type in a value on the numpad after hitting G, R, or S to enter that value.

The Transform panel in the Properties tab is only for moving mesh elements.
In Edit mode, you can transform the mesh using the Properties tab. In the top right of the Properties tab, you can see a Transform panel.

With mesh elements selected you can move them by Transform tab. Like you said, they only allow you to move them.

If you want to scale and rotate you use transform menu in the tool tab. Press T to open the tool tab. On the top left you will see the Transform panel.

You can click on this to interactively move mesh elements. After that, you can revise it in the Operator tab at the bottom of the tool tab.

The most popular method of doing these transforms is with the keyboard shortcuts. Using the keyboard shortcuts instead of the GUI is a lot faster and will speed up your workflow. With your cursor in the 3d view you can do:
G: grab, aka. move or translate
R: rotate
S: scale
You can also specify an axis for the transform by pressing X or Y or Z once you are in one of the transform modes. You can exclude an axis from the transform by pressing Shift+axis.
You can specify the exact amount of transform by pressing the numbers once in transform mode.
Some examples:
G, X, 2 move 2 units along x axis
R,Shift+Z,90 rotate 90 degrees along the x and y axis
S, 2 scale by a factor of 2


text:
How do I join two separate objects so I can edit them as one mesh?
I have created two meshes as separate objects and I want to create a face joining them. However, since they are two different objects, I can not edit them to add the face.
Is it possible to join them into one mesh?

This question is better than the one which it's a duplicate of. Any way to reverse the "Duplicate" process?

How to join two meshes with the Join command
It is very easy to join two meshes together using the Join (CTRLJ) command so that you can add a face between them.
Here is how you do it: Select both meshes at the same time, then press CTRLJ:

Now both meshes are one object and in Edit mode, you can add a face between them.


text:
Stretchable pipe (for export to Unity)
I'm trying to create a pipe that will bend and stretch, which I can then export to Unity. Bending I can do, but I have no idea how or if I could stretch. Is it possible? Thanks :)
What I'm aiming for is, in my Unity game, to be able to anchor one of the pipe to the ground, and then, as I drag the other end of the pipe away, it keeps stretching (increasing it's length).
So - Imaging holding a length of string with one end in each hand. In the dull reality we live in, the string wouldn't stretch, but in lovely virtual world, I'd like the string to extend in length as far as you pull it.
I think I have a handle on doing this in Unity, so if it's not simple for a Blender newb, I'll stick with what I know :)

Do you want it to be able to bend/stretch in Unity? or just in blender then export?

It needs to be able to strech in Unity, but I guess I could take care of the stretching in Unity by adjusting the scale on-the-fly, if that's easier

Have you tried scaling the bones in one axis?

I can make the object longer, but what I'm looking for is an object that I can attach stretch in game. Kind of like an accordion but without the concertina. Not explaining myself very well, but thanks anyway! I think I can accomplish this best in Unity itself.

I don't think that's something that Blender affects. I'm fairly sure most of it is done in Unity. Materials can tile in Unity and if you scale the pipe by 2 then tile the texture by 2 along that axis, that should work. An alternative, but rather messy way is to model a really long pipe that you push into the ground.

I'm not entirely sure what you want, but you can make a "stretchable pipe" in Blender by using Hooks:

Add a cylinder with a fill type of Nothing
Add hook to one end by pressing CtrlH> Hook to new object:

This will add an empty with a Hook modifier that you can control the hooked vertices with.
Add a hook to the other end.

Now you can manipulate the newly created empties to stretch the "pipe".

Another option would be Spline IK rig like shown here http://getblended.org/2013/03/385/
It bends and stretches quite nicely; no idea if that is transferable to Unity though.


text:
How to import an FBX file into Blender
I am trying to import an FBX file from Unity into Blender. Does anybody know how to do that?

File > Import > Autodesk FBX (.fbx)?

What do you mean by "from Unity?" How is Unity producing the FBX file?

This question is probably voted down because FBX is in the import menu, if you wanted to know more details about the format support relating to unity, you should ask them in your question. I think its expected that if you ask a question you already made some attempt to perform the task first.

Actually, even though this is a super obvious question, I've noticed that it's getting lots of views because this is probably a common search term. I changed my initial downvote into an upvote and I'd suggest one more person give an upvote to neutralize the question. It may be a basic question, but it's also a useful one.

@Keavon I removed my DV, however this does not deserve a positive score. An upvote is to be used when a question "shows research effort; is useful and clear"

@NoviceInDisguise I completely agree, but I feel it should have a neutral score (0).

@Keavon Exactly, I removed my DV for that express purpose. Someone else DV'd it.

File > Import > FBX (.fbx)
Then browse for the file on the next screen, select it, and click Import FBX. The model should then be loaded into the scene.

If you can't find the option to import FBX files in the file menu, you may need to activate the addon. Go to User Preferences > Add-ons then search for "fbx" and activate the relevant extension.

I import on v2.76b, but it doesnt import textures and bone weights? then I can open on v2.83.12. Wonder if there is a good importer somewhere.


text:
Problems generating a rig with Rigify
I used Rigify to create a rig for a character that I want to animate. I added in a human meta-rig and formed it to fit the human model. The problem occurs when I click generate under the Rigify buttons category. It does not create points for me to manipulate for the fingers, elbows or knees or a full skeleton for the character. Any ideas why?

I guess you are using rigify? Please attach some screenshots showing your right, your model and the resulting animation rig.

Make sure 'Auto Run Python Scripts' is ticked in the File -> User Preferences Menu. I had the same problem and that fixed it.

Umm... no. Where the heck is that tickbox?!

Under the File -> User Preferences -> File Tab, near the bottom

For anyone coming across this as of 2.80, it's now in the Edit -> Preferences -> Save & Load menu

Armatures have their own layering system - similar to the layers available in the 3dview - only bones on active layers will be visible. Rigify uses these layers to group various related bones together, eg the finger bones are all on one layer, arm.L(IK) bones are on another and so on.
Rigify also creates a panel that is shown in the properties sidebar of the 3dview (N) that has buttons to enable the various bone layers using more useful names. These buttons are just a convenience that relate to the bone layers available in the armature properties.

Last Box to Check Under File > Blender Preferences > "File Tab" then at the bottom where it says "Auto Execution" ..It fixed it for me.


text:
How can I make a plane's edges taper inwards?
How can I deform one edge or multiple edges of a plane or cube so they are tapered in and rounded equally?

Alternatively if you want it done with actual curves

Add a new plane object
Enter edit mode
Subdivide it with W > Subdivide only once
Convert it to a curve with Alt + C
Change the curve type to Bezier in the tool shelf
Change it to 2D type curve in the properties window
Select the central vertex in the middle of the sides only
Change their handle type to Auto
Now scale them  down towards the selection center and adjust as desired

Added image for clarity

While in Edit mode, select the plane and subdivide it, by pressing W>Subdivide. You can press F6 to adjust the number of cuts. Then, use the Proportional Editing tool, enabled by pressing O, or by going to the 3D View header, and set it's falloff to Sphere.

Now, select the center face/vertex and scroll the mouse so the circle doesn't contain the corner vertices and scale to taste.

it's what i want but it dose not give smooth rounded edge even when i increased the division points better results if i just subdivide olny the edge but still no smooth enough.

As an alternative to the answers above you may do it using subsurf modifier and edge crease tool.
Add a plane and subdivide it once with W-->Subdivide. Scale some vertices to create the desired shape. Give it a subsurf modifier with some subdivisions. In Edit Mode select all the edges around the plane and press Shift+E,1 to crease them.


text:
How can I create an orthographic render similar to the Portal 2 promotional videos?
Some of the Portal and Portal 2 promotional videos have a 2D/3Dish world in an orthographic/isometric view.
I know how to set the camera to orthographic in Blender, but how would I go about creating the 2D-style characters? Also, which render engine should I use? Any tips on how to create something similar would be appreciated.
Reference #1
Reference #2

I'm guessing you want Toon or Cel shading? Or would Freestyle work for you?

This question is open ended, and is several questions rolled into one. The best way to use this site is to focus on one thing. For example you could show a render and node setup of how you tried to approach this yourself, then people here can offer insight by suggestion their interpretations. As it stands no-one knows what you have tried already, or what level you are at currently.

It's not clear on what aspects your question is focussed. For this orthographic render I used BI since freestyle isn't available when using cycles. The caracters were made from a plane with a few extrusions and a circle.

Enable freestyle in the render tab :

To control which objects get outline,  create a group (here desk and sitting guy) after that go to the Render Layers Tab select the group in the highlighted box (red).

If you want to use cycles you might be interested in blender-cycles-toon-material-node-setup

OT: nice Theme! Is this a modified Elsyiun? Would you mind to share that?

@Germar It's the energy theme you can download here: http://studiollb.wordpress.com/download/

Cool theme. Thanks for the link. And, of course, the answer to the question. It looks pretty close to what I'm trying to achieve.


text:
Arm resets position when exported?
So in edit mode when I export my hand model into unity 3d, the hand resets its position, but when I go into edit mode the hand also goes back to its original position. I have a animation with it, so if I select the armature the hand doesn't animate. Hard to explain.

The mesh uses a modifier to deform based on the position of the armature. By default the deformation from the armature is not visible while in edit mode but can be turned on if you want to. The button highlighted in red will show a 'shadowy' version of where the mesh would be based on the armature. The blue highlighted button is only visible if the first one is enabled and when enable the mesh will be shown fully deformed while in edit mode.

As for Unity - check that you are exporting the action and that Unity is using the action and not just the default pose position.

How exactly do i export the position

The default pose position is the position of the bones when no animation data has altered it. If your hand goes back to this position in unity, it could indicate that you aren't exporting the animation data or you aren't enabling the animation in unity. This short video at unitycookie may help.

I'm not sure if I'm running into the same issue, but it's at least very similar. When I export my model to FBX for Unity, the pose changes in Blender. Then when the object loads into Unity, the default pose is different entirely. What I found in my case was the pose was generated by the selected action for the armature, so when the model was exported it updated the pose accordingly.
Before exporting the model to .fbx move the action to the rest keyframe.


text:
How to reduce the output video size?
How can I make video output smaller, or what would be a better codec to use? Currently 31 seconds of video is 127MB and at that rate, videos longer than a few minutes would be impractical because I'd have such large files. I used AVI JPEG because it seems to open in more video players, not sure if anything special is needed on client's PC to display videos made in the other formats.

This question appears to be off-topic because it should be on another SE:
Video Production

this question is about what options to select in Blender. video production in general may not accurately provide a response, particularly if the tips pertain to non-blender tools in which case the options would be of no use. (not that there aren't shared options, but explaining application specific parameters from another application may or may not necessarily work.)

@ZCoder It sounds like you are asking something like "what format should I use for a small compatible video file?", which isn't really specific to blender. If your question is something more like "how to export/render to format x?" that would be blender specific.

that's mostly what it's about, but if it's put in general I might be given an answer that is a smaller format but doesn't work in blender.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/48709/2843

AVI is both large and not the most common format. It is generally played natively only on Windows, although other software packages can also open it (such as VLC). As such, it is not a good choice.
The format you are looking for is MP4 with the H.264 codec. It is the most common format and codec that plays on almost everything. It also has a relatively small file size.

As an additional tip, you should watch this tutorial on the best practice for rendering animations (you should render the individual frames as PNG images first, then encode the frames into a video file).

tried h.264, but it does not open in WMP and I had an occasion where I needed to have the video available for a presentation, unfortunately the only computer available only had WMP which was incompatible.

Windows Media Player supports H.264/MP4.

being told it's an invalid file format whenever opened says otherwise.

It sounds like it's corrupted somehow, then. Please try rerendering it using the tip I provided at the bottom of my answer.

Can you explain this IN DETAIL? There are 3 places where I can choose between MP4 and H.264. And really, choosing mp4/h.264 from what I could interpret from your post, made my video 6 TIMES BIGGER.

Use Mpeg Output with Mpeg-4 encoding. It produces very small, but crisp video file.
After that, if you want, you can convert it into avi or anyother format, but the size will remain the same. (i use formatfactory to convert my videos, if required).
usually, a 6 sec video, with 25 fps @ 1280 * 720 takes up 3-4 mb space (without audio).
The sizes changes with audio (depends on the audio tracks etc, i guess) inclusion as well.
This is as far as i know and it works great for me.

I suggest using FFMPEG with FFE as your file converter.

I think you have to play around with the settings a bit yourself because I followed the other answers on this question using Encoding: MP4 + H.264 and it resulted in a file twice the size (20MB)
These are the settings I found that created the smallest file size useful for sending family and friends...
Resolution 512 x 288 @ 25 fps
Output: Xvid
Encoding: AVI + MPG4 Divx
File Size: 10MB

This is video taken with a Canon 7D


text:
Export to COLLADA with textures using Cycles renderer
I'm trying to export a Blender model which is created using the Cycles renderer in Blender. The problem is that it does not successfully export as a .dae file. The image references and images are missing. What is the correct way to export a Blender model to a COLLADA file?


text:
How to export a sprite sheet from animation?
I want to use an animation in some code as a sprite sheet - is it possible to export a sprite sheet?
Info: a sprite sheet/animation strips, is a list of images that you can load into most game engines:
https://www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker/tutorials/how-to-create-a-sprite-sheet

What is "animation in some code"? And how would you want to export a sprite sheet? Please edit your question and provide more context about what you want to achieve

Thanks, I have updated with a link and a description.

If you have an animation, just hit Animation button. Before doing this, in Render panel choose png extension to retain the transparency. All the png sprites will be saved in the chosen folder.

It is possible to do so by using a mapping node, the thing is that you may lack of precision since this job is done usually proceduraly without messing with normalized values (as UVs) but absolute instead (pixels).
So the idea is to create a plane (or as many as the poses you want to "extract") and with a mapping node pick and fit the proper sprites on them using the spread sheet as an image texture.
A more elegant and efficient way would be to do this automatically by using a python script but then it becomes a pain in the a#s since there is no any bundled / native lib for image processing.
In theory what you had to do would be to parse the JSON file (as is in your example) and get the directions from there for the pixel width/height and the position on the spread sheet of each pose or element.
you may take a closer look on this post : Crop image with Python script
where is the basic concept of cropping images in blender with python scripting.


text:
Blender - Plot viewport-independent 2D-Labels
I am creating program that translates lithological data to colored 3D-columns which can be imported into Blender. Because the amount of single objects would be huge and disastrous on the readability in in the "outliner" (list of all objects), I am planning to accumulate them in one Wavefront (.obj) object. However, I would like to have labels (stations ids) for each lithological column. Blender seemingly only allows to display the name of objects in Object- and Edit-mode.
Is there a way to at least label all lithological columns differently while keeping all columns in one single object? Maybe there exist an addon or a niche in the Blender Python API. As far as I know there would be the possibility to write a Python addon which scales and rotates 3D-text-objects according to the viewport movement of the user. Still, I am looking for plain 2D-text and the functionality is somewhere within Blender already, but not necessarily in the Blender Python API.
Thank you in advance!
EDIT:
I intented to do it without the Blender Game Engine. The text should be displayed somewhere over or adjacent the lithological columns (which depends on the current viewport). It would be good if the labels could be switched on and off, to not always interfere with the final results. Additionally, it would be beneficial to preserved the labels in rendered images as well but this is not a necessity. Distance dependent scalability is also optional. The main purpose is to identify the columns/locations while working with them.

Would the existing name display feature work if you still imported each column as a different object, but for outliner purpose create per rock or section an empty under which columns can be parented?

Drawing text is be done using the blf module.

So, this means It would only be possible with the Blender game engine. I tested it with the newest version of Blender and I didn't work. Seemingly, the Blender Game Engine does not keep up with the rest of the program because it is not in development focus (http://avatarsofsteel.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/why-it-just-refuses-die-blender-game-engine/). This way I just have to accept the massive amounts of objects, maybe write a plugin to manage them effectively.

As for jesterKings comment: The thing is, I am analysing the lithological columns to model the hydrogeological units accordingly, not the other way around. Your approach would reduce the number of objects but I would loose the reference to the seperate drillings which contain the paranted lithologies.

@Florian R. Klein, I'd like some more context with your question, can you explain how you intend to view the final result? Exactly how you generate text depends a lot on how you want to view the final result --- eg, is a static image ok? should it be interactive? is the game engine acceptable? Will this change over time? (animated graph)

@ideasman42, I intented to do it without the Blender Game Engine. The text should be displayed somewhere over or adjacent the lithological columns (which depends on the current viewport). It would be good if the labels could be switched on and off, to not always interfere with the final results. Additionally, it would be beneficial to preserved the labels in rendered images as well but this is not a necessity. Distance dependent scalability is also optional. The main purpose is to identify the columns/locations while working with them.

Bart Crouch wrote an add-on a while back called Index Visualizer, which overlays text values in the 3D View. I don't have a link to that add-on, but I used some of that code in my Show Vertex Groups/Weights addon (http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Modeling/Show_Vertex_Group_Weights). Maybe that's the direction you're looking?

You are not using the bge package which caused me some trouble with its import. That's good. I will have a look into your code and see what I can do. Thank you!

Link to index visualizer script

The features in blender for this task are not so advanced, so I would suggest one of two options...

Load in Empty objects and name them usefully, enabling the objects display -> name option in the object buttons.
(note, these names wont render)
Create 3d text objects for each name (reduce the curve resolution to ~4 or so, for faster display), these will render which is their main advantage.
(note, wont point towards the view though you could constrain them to face the camera).

You say that the amount of object would be huge and hard to view in the outliner. To workaround this you could...

Give them a parent, the outliner will nest them under the parent.
Put them on a second layer (probably a good idea anyway), then set the outliner to only view visible layers.

Other alternatives exist like using Python to draw text in the view-port or converting curve data to grease-pencil. But Im not sure these are worth the extra hassle of simply creating named empties or text objects.


text:
How can I inspect Scene Render settings in a .blend file from Python externally?
I'd like to be able to use an external instance of Python (ie. not Blender's internal python) to read a blend file and inspect it for Render Settings (ie. Start Frame, etc.).
Is this possible without firing up the Blender app itself? I don't want to have to depend on a Blender app, or to import the bpy module because the main project is in Python 2.7.
Also, I'd like to avoid any cli calls to blender to get this information.

I believe not, but from the source code of blender it is possible to compile a only a standalone bpy. IT can do the trick for you.

Looks like it is possible by inspecting the file on a byte level, and by knowing the byte address of the specific data value that you want. More info here: http://www.atmind.nl/blender/mystery_ot_blend.html. Once I figure out the specifics I'll post more.

Check out http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/3141/get-number-of-frames-in-scene-from-the-command-line

What settings do you need? - (ie. Start Frame, etc.). is too vague.

I'd be happy with Start Frame, End Frame, and output File Format to begin with.

Also, the calling Python needs to be a 2.7 version, and can't be Python 3, so I don't think I can import bpy as a module because of this correct?

I'll be experimenting with both blender-aid and the blender-file python package, my objective is to consistently get a parsed .blend file with some structured data format just using a blender addon.

I've found a solution that works the way I need for my project. A big thank you to sambler for pointing me in the right direction towards the blenderaid project which allowed me to get the results I needed.
Here's how I did it:

I downloaded the blender aid package, renamed the folder from "blenderaid-py-20110211-2" to just "blenderaid" and placed the folder in the /lib folder of my project
I added init.py files to the /lib and /lib/blenderaid folders
In my root folder I created a test.py file with the following code:

Update - I discovered that the block label for finding image type changed at Blender 2.61 - I updated code to add the if/then statement

import os
from lib.blenderaid.blendfile import *

TRANS=[
    "TGA", "IRIS", "HAMX", "FTYPE", "JPEG", "MOV", "UNKOWN", "IRIZ", "UNKOWN", "UNKOWN", "UNKOWN", "UNKOWN", "UNKOWN", "UNKOWN", "TGA", "AVI", "AVI", "PNG", "AVI", "MOV", "BMP", "HDR", "TIFF",
    "EXR", "FFMPEG", "FRAMESERVER", "CINEON", "DPX", "MULTILAYER", "DDS"
]

def formatImageType(value):
    if value<len(TRANS):
        return TRANS[value]
    else:
        return "UNKNOWN"

file = 'path/to/file.blend'

if file.endswith(".blend"):
    bf=openBlendFile(file)

    for block in bf.FindBlendFileBlocksWithCode("SC"):

        scStartFrame = block.Get("r.sfra");
        scEndFrame = block.Get("r.efra");
        scImageType = formatImageType(block.Get("r.imtype"))

        if bf.Header.Version>=261:
            scImageType = formatImageType(ord(block.Get("r.im_format.imtype")))
        else:
            scImageType = formatImageType(block.Get("r.imtype"))

    print scStartFrame, scEndFrame, scImageType

Hey @ToddMcIntosh do you still have a copy of blenderaid? If so, could you upload it somewhere? Thanks in advance.

Can you not just download it from the repo I linked above?

Weird! Wenn I was on that repository, it claimed an 404. Well, just went there again to double-check and there it was. . .  Anyways, thanks mate.

While it is possible, using blender will be much easier. A small script that you pass to blender when run from a cli is small and easy to maintain. From another python script you could automate it with -
from subprocess import call
call(['blender','-b','file.blend','-P','script.py'])

You can even have your script generate the small temporary script that gets passed to blender.
However if you really have a need to not require blender to be installed, you may want to look at an old project that appears to have died off called blender-aid, it provided a web interface to blend files and used a python script to access data in the blend file, it was intended to assist project management and allowed file links to be repaired and/or re-factored, so apart from reading a blend file it could also write changes to them. While the full info of reading a blend file is contained within blender's source code, you may be able to get a start with blender-aid's old script here - or at least it will give you an idea of how much code is needed.

The blendarid tip was great! I'm thinking that will help me find the solution. Thanks.

@sambler The old script link is dead, I've tried to find it... there is a trunk folder at google code, but I was not sure.

@poor My bad, I pasted the wrong link. Yes, the blender-aid svn repo is at google code.


text:
How can I select obects one by one on Array

Array I want to select one by one

You need to apply the modifier in order to tweak array instances individually. Click on the arrow next to the cross on the modifier header and choose Apply.

Hello and welcome. Please use a title that reflects the content of the question. It should be unique and identifying and summarize what the issue is, so that visitors can at a glance understand broadly what your post is about from the question list. Please use the [edit] link below your post and avoid any emojis salutations or extraneous text not essential to the question. Remember, your title is the first thing visitors will see, and weights on their decision to open your question or not, so the number of answers you might get depends heavily on it.


text:
Trying to color Text
So I created the text with the add text button - I'm using version 2.91 - then I went to the right tab with all the properties functions: world properties, materials properties, physics properties, etc., then I extruded the text a bit(stretched it).
Next, I went to the materials tab to color it, clicked on new , the sphere showed up, then I clicked on the color line(base color) and chose a color, but nothing happened to the text.

Does this answer your question? Changing color of objects not working

Related: Add different materials to different parts of a mesh?

You probably need to switch preview modes. Press Z in the 3D viewport and pick either "Material Preview" or "Rendered" from the pie menu.  The Preview Modes and Viewport Shading Options can also be accessed from the 4 circles and the little down arrow, respectively, at the top right of the viewport:

Make sure you are on Render preview or material preview tab


text:
I can't find "instance on point" node, just "point instance"
I'm following along with a "game-like" tutorial using version 2.93. There comes a point where the guy says use the Instance on Points node, but I can't find it, I can only find Point Instance node. Where is the Instance on Points?
This is what the tutorial looks like.

this is what i get in blender

The tutorial is using a newer version in which the node has been replaced.

thanks, i thought that i had the newest ver'

It's the latest stable version, 3.0 is in alpha (unstable)


text:
unable to have leafs following camera in geo node
I worked all day long on anim style trees, but I'm unable to have leafs planes following camera on the second levels of branch.
Do you have any idea how to do it?

I tried different type of setup without any results.

To clarify the question: do you want the leafs to be aligned in a plane parallel to the camera view (i.e. always facing the camera, the leafs normal being aligned with the camera looking vector) ? Because this vector is not related to the camera location, but to its rotation...

(Using Blender 4.2.3)
Setup for the demonstration
The "Leaf" object is made of a grid and a cylinder visualizing the normal, joined with the origin set at world origin. The instancing object to which the GeometryNodes modifier is attached is the default "Cube" object. In the following views of the GN graph, the frame labeled "Camera view axis" is attaching a light grey cylinder to the "Camera" as reference ; this cylinder is aligned with the camera view axis. A Switch node is used to toggle between the normal "aligned with the camera view axis" and "pointing towards the camera location".
Leaves normal aligned with the camera view axis

Using the "Camera" Rotation property, all instanced leaves are parallel to the view plane defined by the camera.
Leaves normal pointing towards the camera location

Aligning the leaves normal (i.e. their Z axis) with the vector connecting the instancing point Position to the "Camera" Location, instanced leaves are oriented towards the camera, ignoring its orientation.
Resources
(Blender 4.2.3+)


text:
Geometry Nodes and Exporting (Creating a mesh) in Blender 2.92
I'm trying to export Geometry Nodes geometry to an FBX.
When I import the file elsewhere, though , there don't seem to be any normals associated with the Geometry Nodes object.  Typically, I'm able to import modified geometry using traditional modifiers just fine, but nothing doing with Geometry Nodes, despite them living inside the "Modifiers" tab.
Even trying to apply the modifications is problematic.  If geometry nodes are applied to a Point Cloud, then Apply just gets me a Cannot Apply Modifier error message.  If they're tied to a mesh, then Apply causes the generated geometry to disappear altogether.
I'm very new to Blender, so it may be that I'm just butting up against my own ignorance, but I have been searching for some kind of answer for hours with no luck. Many thanks in advance.
Node Tree :

Download Blender File

Hi, please [edit] your question and share an image of the scene and geo node tree so that other users may see what you are working with...

Good call @Timaroberts - I've updated with the file itself.

Ok, after filing a bug report with Blender, I got a partial answer from HQ.

To get the instance geometry from the modifier, use the "Make Instances Real" operator. Applying modifiers on point clouds isn't supported yet.  For the other parts, we have this task: T85281.

This doesn't seem to directly address the export issue, but it's a start. For more info, head over to Task T85281 : Support piping legacy modifiers with the geometry nodes modifiers.

I don't know if this thing is related to your problem, but i just discovered a way to export grass as FBX which I was spreading using geometry nodes(point instance node, to be precise).
So I used "make instances real" on the object that had the geometry nodes modifier and it made all the grass planes as separate objects in my hierarchy, and then I Simply removed the Geometry Nodes modifier from the ground without applying it.
With this method, the instances don't even lose their UV mapping.
Then I selected all the grass objects and joined them (Ctrl +  J). And I was able to export the grass along with the ground.


text:
How to switch texts in Text Editor by script
Cannot find proper bpy.ops command to switch texts in Text Editor(normally you do that from area header by clicking and selecting text block).
bpy.context.space_data.text is read only.
Is there a way?
Edit: the property is writable, my mistake, everything is fine.

You can change it via bpy.types.SpaceTextEditor.text
So if you run an operator from the text editor you can change it in the execute method like this:
def execute(self, context):
    context.space_data.text = bpy.data.texts['your_text']

Otherwise you have to find the text area in screen.areas (given there is a text editor in the screen):
for area in context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == "TEXT_EDITOR":
        break
    else:
        raise RuntimeError("Nothing found")

area.spaces[0].text = bpy.data.texts['your_text']

My statement that bpy.context.space_data.text is read-only is false, thanks. It was greyed out in outliner datablocks and that confused me, it makes sense its greyed out.


text:
How to remove the seam?
I want to remove this seam around the mouth. I don't know why this happened and i can't fix it. I've tried to remake topology but, the seam just changes position.

It looks like you may have inverted normals in that section - try selecting the whole mesh in edit mode, then press Shift+N (recalculate normals outside).

Hi Please use a title that reflects the content of the question. It should be descriptive but succinct, unique and identifying, summarizing the issue so that users can at a glance understand what your post is about. Use the [edit] link below your post and avoid anything not strictly essential to the post. Remember, your title is the first thing potential visitors will see, and makes your question findable for future users. See "What is the problem with posting an image or link and asking “How do I do this?""

also make sure you don't have overlapping vertices, select all and press M > Merge by Distance


text:
How to Merge objects so that when you seperate them by loose parts
I created a building, and made a window separately, using Ctrl+J, I fused both, but when I pressed P and selected By loose parts and then the windows come off
I don't want that, how do I prevent that so that they are part of the building?

When you used Ctrl + J, you joined the objects together so that the separate meshes were now part of the same object. In order for them to be part of the same mesh they need to be part of the same object AND connected from at least one vertex on your window mesh to your building mesh.
You can do this with the F key while two or more vertices are selected.
If you hover over a mesh in your scene and hit L it will highlight all the vertices on that mesh, this also works with Ctrl + L when you have a vertex selected.
You'll know your windows are a part of the building if you have everything deselected and hit L while your mouse is over your building and the selection includes the windows.


text:
Screen flicker on mouse over using Blender on Mac Studio
There is a curious flicker to the screen happening when we mouse over the windows of some software using our Mac Studio. For example, the Blender window will go slightly darker when mousing over it, then go back to normal when the mouse pointer is not on the software window.
Mainly Adobe Lightroom and Blender at this point are affected in our workflow, however there could be others. Both software support M1 processors.

For Adobe, we researched and found that the hardware acceleration caused the issue. Turning that off solved the issue, but at the cost of no acceleration.
Apparently, Adobe has not fixed the issue with acceleration on.
However, when using Blender, we have no such luck finding a solution. Turning off hardware acceleration still shows the flicker issue on mouse over. Oddly, the glitch won't show up right away, we'll complete a render or do a preview and then the flicker will appear on mouse over. We are using the most up to date version of the software available as well.


text:
Screw shape with Curve
How can I get a curve on screw shape/line ? Is it possible in Blender ? I made the mesh above in the picture by screwing an hexagon (circle with 6 edges).
But this way, it is hard to work on its edges without deforming it.
So far result:

My aim is to make like metal part in picture below. So it would be easier with curve modifier.

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/65633/how-can-i-create-twisted-geometry also https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/80420/create-spiral-out-of-circle

Related: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/79520/modifying-one-end-of-a-spiral-curve

Try adding bevel and taper to the spiral curve like this (of course smooth shading and subsurf will help).
starting with a setup like this:

you can get something like that shape using bevel, bevel object and taper to the shown curve circle:

You may achieve it using Extra Objects (Curve) add on, then beveling a curve and edit it with a proportional editing.

Activate the add on in User Preferences (Ctrl+Alt+U).

Go to Add-->Curve-->Spirals.

Play with a spiral's settings in a Tool Shelf (T).

When you're done keep extruding the bottom segments of a curve to create vertical part of a corkscrew. Add a Bezier Circle and use it for beveling the curve.

Finally enable the proportional editing, select the very end segment of a spiral, then press Alt+S to adjust its bevel radius. Use Mouse Wheel to adjust the influence of proportional editing. To make the end of the spiral sharp select the last curve's segment and press Alt+S, 0.

Thank you very much for detailed explanation. I was just not so familiar with  spiral curves as i am new on Blender. Also i wanted curve go down with not decrasing radius and i figured it was logarithmic curve sprials. :)


text:
Text Render a bit noisy, even at 200 samples
I can't seem to figure out how to get a sharper text render that I am using for my animation.
Here are the Things that I have tried:
1: Increasing Samples to as high as 300
2: Turning font shadow off
3: Denoising
Whatever I do, the text still has that weird greyish black outline and in my animation on youtube, it plays blurry even at 720p HD.
I see other peoples text videos and theirs are always so sharp.
How can I improve my text render in the future?
I turned the world lighting all the way up and there is a weak lamp in the scene, albeit, far away from the text, but the world lighting should be enough i think.

Blender File

Your object is casting shadows on the plane. Not because of the font/text properties, but because of the way Cycles (path tracing) works. To avoid your text being seen as a shadow caster by Cycles, you can turn off the ray visibility of the text object:

In the outliner, select the object Text.thing
Go to "Object" context
Open the "Visibility" section
Open the "Ray Visibility" subsection
Uncheck the "Diffuse" and "Glossy" property

omg, that worked. Now I'm sad cause I wished I had asked the question before I posted the video to youtube. Can't think of rendering all that again. Thank you so much, now I know how to make clearer text vids in the future.


text:
Moving or zooming in Blender 2.8 on Mac
So I am doing a thumbnail for my team, and when I load my project, I can zoom and move around for about 20 seconds before it's not working, I can now do anything, but zoom in or out and movie my camera so I can't see the back, and it's really annoying. It's like my screen freeze, but I can look around. It does that to all of my project. I am on Macbook Air on Blender 2.8.
I found out it is when I am at like 2m from my 3D skin it starts to slow down and stop. Does any one know how to fix it?

This probably happens because your viewport is set to perspective view.
Therefore, the camera slows down when near it's limit.
Switch to orthographic mode, and all will work again.
View > Perspective/Orthographic
Shortcut: Numpad 5

thanks so much bro

Happy to help :). Orthographic view is perfect for precise modeling, perspective view is better for things like sculpting. You can now mark this question as solved, for others with the same problem.

@edouardriveron Please don't add thank you as a comment, upvote the answer instead. If you feel it completely solved your problem consider marking it accepted


text:
Texturing & labeling

I am graphic designer special in awards making 2D & 3D trophies. im my company we are using 3d mex for modeling and keyshot for rendering.
I want to switch to Blender, I have all modeling concepts just I want to rendering something like above picture as sample, material applying to some parts, coloring, texturing and label applying.

Hello and welcome :). If you're want to learn Blender basics and modeling start here with the Donut tutorial. If you just want to add a texture to your model, start here with Uwrapping tutorial

Hello and welcome. What is your question specifically?


text:
Is there a way to output two videos from rendering - one with compositing and one without?
I have a scene with a fluid simulation and I want to know if the result is better with or without the Vector Blur node.
Is there a way to render a video where Blender first renders the image and exports it to a file and then adds the compositing nodes and exports the image to a different file?
This way you will get two video's at the end, one with compositing and one without.
This would save a lot of render time because you only have to render it once.

Does this answer your question? How can I batch render multiple blendfiles consecutively?

Yes you can do that.
Use a file output node in the compositor.

How to output multiple images from Blender's compositor with Python?

I don't believe it's possible to do directly to a video format, but assuming you're following the practice of rendering out the video to individual frames before encoding them as a video you can create multiple image sequences.
In the Compositing workspace, add in a File Output node which takes in the raw output of the render layers node. Then, use another File Output node which takes in the processed output. For each File Output node you can set the output directory and all the format details you would normally specify from the output properties panel. Unfortunately, the file output node only supports image formats and no video formats hence the need to render out the animation as image sequence.


text:
How to bake softbody animation into keyframes?
I am trying to bake a softbody animation into keyframes but I can't, does anyone knows how to do it? Thanks!

Could you add some specifics like what version you are using, what you have tried already, etc?

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/1426/599

Hi there, I am using version 2.72 and I am trying to export a mesh with soft-body in .FBX format but can't achieve this.

You can't bake softbody into keyframes anymore, blender uses shape keys now. So you would need to generate a shape key for every frame of animation and also keyframe that shapekey to its frame. You do that with running this script:
import bpy

obj = bpy.context.active_object
start = bpy.context.scene.frame_start
end = bpy.context.scene.frame_end

def insert_keyframe(sk, f):
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f-1)
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f+1)
    sk.value = 1.0
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f)

meshes = []
for f in range(start, end+1):
    bpy.context.scene.frame_set(f)
    meshes.append(obj.to_mesh(scene=bpy.context.scene, apply_modifiers=True, settings='PREVIEW'))

obj.shape_key_add(name="Basis", from_mix=False)
for i in range(0, end-start+1):
    key = obj.shape_key_add(name=str(i+start), from_mix=False)
    insert_keyframe(key, i+start)
    for vert_id in range(len(obj.data.vertices)):
        key.data[vert_id].co = meshes[i].vertices[vert_id].co

for mesh in meshes:
    bpy.data.meshes.remove(mesh)

Don't forget to turn your modifier off or to delete it (or it will override the shape key animation)
Also you can export your softbody animation as an New Tek's .mdd mesh cache format (export addon will do this) and load this file into Mesh Cache modifier. This allows you to for example offset the animation and further manipulate it.

Thanks Jerryno for your response!, ok I achieved exporting in .mdd format and load it in the Mesh Cache modifier. Also y deleted the soft-body physics and it works perfectly. Now I would need to export it in .FBX, but apparently something is missing because in the fbx preview visor the effect doesn't appear, should I do something else to export it correctly?
Thank you!

Also how can I generate a shape key for every frame of animation and also keyframe that shapekey to its frame?

OK, I could manage to have my mesh with shape keys!, the problem is that i need to export it in .FBX (ASCII), do you know how can I solve this??

Look for export shapekey with .fbx and if you can't find it pls ask it as a new question. As that will draw in people who understand that. Also mark this one as correct if it worked, thx.) Also check if you cannot import your animation as that .mdd mesh cache or also .pc2 instead of .fbx

This is an incredibly awesome script. Thanks for posting it!
What would need to be done to make it so that it will only create the shape key for frames that actually have changes?

@Pete It would need to compare the previous mesh vertices if they differ agains the current frame mesh vertices. If some do differ, then create shapekey and keyframe it. But from the nature of softbody sims it's very likely every frame will differ.

@Jerryno, Thanks for the reply! In my case, I'm using the script to allow me to transition animation from Blender to Cinema4D via FBX. In my particular situation, my meshes freeze in place for frames at a time, so it would be super useful to optimize it so that it doesn't create any more shape keys/keyframes than necessary. Is there a simple way to do that comparison you just described? Or is it pretty complex?
Thanks so much for the information you've provided already, and no worries if that's a bigger question that you can answer on here.

@Pete Yep for such situation it would be better to design the script a bit differently. Maybe also some workflow already exist for your application. This would be a good new question on this site, better searchable for other users also. If no one beats me to it I'll post the altered script as an answer or a better solution if there is.

Thanks man! I've done so here: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/35547/how-can-i-bake-vertex-animation-into-keyframes-but-make-sure-that-there-arent

I need to chime in, just because I had the same question - but wound up with a different take on kind of the same answer as above:
I agree with the sentiment that "you can't bake them into key frames" anymore - but you can run the script above to do so - however, (at least in my case) what I wanted to do was to tweak and better control how/when/where the animation was played back.
So in my case, merely animating the shape keys themselves was ideal. This means, after you have your softbody/cloth or whatever simulation - go into the "modifier" and "save to shape key". Then, just animate that shape key in the graph editor/dopesheet - just as you would have done to your mesh.
This is actually much cleaner than editing animations recorder through the blender game engine (which is what I thought it would be like to "export" the physics mesh animation to keyframes) - where you would have one keyframe for every frame. (This is what the script above gives you - and you wouldnt' need that either). You just have keyframe points at any time you create a keyframe for your shape key changing.
Sorry for the longwinded explanation - but now I understand why they mad you do it with the shape keys - and am happier for it!

Updated version of the script, that works with Blender 3.3.1:
import bpy

obj = bpy.context.active_object
# note: you can just set start and end frame numbers manually
start = bpy.context.scene.frame_start
end = bpy.context.scene.frame_end
dg = bpy.context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()

def insert_keyframe(sk, f):
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f-1)
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f+1)
    sk.value = 1.0
    sk.keyframe_insert("value", frame=f)

obj.shape_key_add(name="Basis", from_mix=False)

for f in range(start, end+1):
    bpy.context.scene.frame_set(f)
    obj_evaluated = bpy.context.object.evaluated_get(dg)
    mesh = obj_evaluated.to_mesh(preserve_all_data_layers=True, depsgraph=dg)

    key = obj.shape_key_add(name=str(f), from_mix=False)
    insert_keyframe(key, f)
    for vert_id in range(len(obj.data.vertices)):
        key.data[vert_id].co = mesh.vertices[vert_id].co

    obj_evaluated.to_mesh_clear()

Note you still need to remove the modifier afterwards.

Hi @mik01aj, thanks for the updated script. Doesn't work for me in Blender 3.4.1 sadly. I get four "unexpected indent" errors and nothing happens :(


text:
Color differs from Cycles render in Video Sequence Editor
I've made a space scene, rendered it in cycles, and saved the animation frames as .png pictures. Than I used the Video Sequence Editor for making a video out of these pictures. But the result of the video isn't the same as the pictures are showing. It is more dark, the image texture of the spaceship looks also bad. And the light of the engines doesn't shine as bright as it was shown in the render view.
It does look like this, when I use the Video Sequence Editor just for making a video out of these photos.

Like this it does look with Alpha on 2200 (the glowing lights are looking very bad)

And I want that it does look like this. When I render it, it does look like this, but not in the VSE

cycles or internal?

Could you upload a screenshot of an example png frame next to the resulting video frame?

Welcome Jake :) This question is maybe related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/19206/blender-video-editing-output-differs-from-preview/19225#19225

You definitely have an issue in color management, specifically regarding transfer curves, but from the information you provided it is impossible to conclusively explain exactly why or how.
A PNG, if encoded correctly, should display as it was encoded in the VSE. If you somehow managed to mangle up the transfer curve when storing it in the PNG, via the "View as Render" awfully named checkbox for example, all bets are off.
So to properly diagnose this:
1. What were your render settings with regards to color management? Did you happen to check the "View as Render" toggle somewhere?
2. What file format did you save and how? For example, is it possible the file format was saved differently and merely labelled with the PNG extension?
3. What are the color space settings for both render and the VSE?

You definitively put me on the right track. In my case, I had to disable "Film" (I have it set as my default - for adding a more realistic feel) in the Color Management options. And that was it. Since now on, I can render my videos in full brightness!

If I use filmic render for blender might it has any impact on the difference between Cycles Render and Video sequence?

It will. The VSE, by default, uses a nonlinear reference space when set to sRGB. It would also be nonlinear if set to Filmic. This means blends / overs / etc. will not have the same result as using a linearised reference when using the compositor.


text:
Body won't follow rig properly
My rig breaks body geometry near the shoulder and I have no idea why. Maybe you know?

Probably weight painting isn't done correctly so it clipping throught. Maybe try less agressive approach - add 0.2 weights on some vertices around shoulder and see how it reacts.

as Radoon says, the weight painting must be wrong, you need to check if a wrong bone influence this part, maybe share your file: https://pasteall.org/blend/

You should check weight painting. Did you use automatic option that Blender provides?
It may be good for something but for such wide movement it will start to clip... try to open weight paint, select bone in vertex groups and try to clean it. If you are new it basically means red is too much so try to select subtract brush, use 0.2 weight (color should be yellow/orange but not red) and try to move it again.

I tried it out and this did not totally work for me but it helped to ameliorate the situation. Maybe I need to make more tests.
Anyway, thank you for suggesting.


text:
How to Inset + tweak Depth using numeric input

I used Inset Faces I, Ctrl to tweak but I cannot use the numlock key to make it 0.1. When I do that the thickness changes, not the tweak. Is there a different way to do it, or can I use a certain shortcut that I don't know about? I cannot find any other way to do this.

To change multiple parameters for an Operator numericaly, use the Tab key:

Press I to inset
(Optional) Enter numeric value for the Thickness
Press Tab to switch over to Depth
Enter numeric value for the Depth
Confirm operator with Enter

Another way of doing this is to simply inset with any values and then use the redo panel to the left to manipulate settings like depth:

The tweak value is a myth...

Yeah you right, just occurred to me there is no tweak and it is named Depth. I got carried by the original wording of the question:)


text:
6x gtx 1080ti rig rendering
I have a problem with a rig of six 1080ti.
If I render my scene with a server 1x 1080ti it takes 1h15min to complete the frame.
If I render the same scene with the rig (6x 1080ti) it takes 25min to complete the frame.
25min multiplied by the number of GPU = 25 x 6 = 150mins
1 GPU on server = 1h15min
1 GPU on rig = 2h30min
How do I have to set up the rig? I just need the same render speed(in %) between server and rig.

Sorry, what are you trying to do?

Im using a rig (1 computer with 6 GPU) to export instead of 6 single computers.
I just need the same render speed(in %) between server and rig

Looks like your rig is bottlenecked somewhere, maybe the CPU, system RAM or number of pci lanes is the problem. You might want to post your full system specs.

mobo: z370 prime A
ram:16gb
cpu: i8700k
HD: M.2 pro
I tried BIOS setups
Blender setups
Hardware setups
The 1070 rig (6x gpu) is working fine, each 1070 is rendering like a pc with 1080ti.

One gpu connected to the mobo needs the same time to render of one gpu connected with a riser cable.
The problem comes only when i add new gpu cards..
Is it possible that the CPU is not able to use correctly more than one 1080ti?
I will try overclocking the CPU

CPU overclock doesn't work


text:
Honey shader in Cycles
Trying to make honey material. I think there is some manipulation with nodes I need to do to get results but I have not enough experienced in that.
Can you please help me simulate honey consistency and color?

To(kind of):

The main difference between the images is due to the lighting (same thing for the preview). Try to work on both side: shaders&lighting.

Yea, for a shader to look real you need context. The shader is not just the sum of all nodes, lighting, reflections and environment have a big influence in its appearance. Make a bottle around it, get a background going, add something to reflect.

I'd suggest starting with an HDR. This does (at least) two things for you at the same time: gives you realistic lighting and something to reflect.

Hopefully this will get you started... As others have said lighting is very important. This example uses Cycles to render and incorporates an HDRi for the overall lighting. An emission plane for an additional reflection (Camera Left) and a point light to brighten up the "Honey".

If you need more control over the color of the honey and being able to adjust it with different colors and shades of color, you can use a color ramp. You can also replace the emission shader with a glossy and translucent shader by adding both to a mix shader before connecting to the Material Output.


text:
Understand color of Diffuse Direct/Indirect pass in Cycles render
The Blender manual page says about Diffuse direct and indirect as follows:
Diffuse Direct

Direct lighting from diffuse BSDFs. We define direct lighting as coming from lamps, emitting surfaces, the background, or ambient occlusion after a single reflection or transmission off a surface. BSDF color is not included in this pass.

Diffuse Indirect

Indirect lighting from diffuse BSDFs. We define indirect lighting as coming from lamps, emitting surfaces or the background after more than one reflection or transmission off a surface. BSDF color is not included in this pass.

What I expect from lighting passes is a gray-scale image, or RGB image with color reflects the light source's color. However, the Diffuse direct/indirect images made by Cycles gives weird colors and I cannot explain it.

I'll try to explain. Here is an example.
We have an orange ball on the gray plane, lit from the side.

What contains the Diffuse Direct pass? A reflection of light coming from the lamp on the side. As you can see, the layer does not contain information about that the ball is orange.

To get the orange color you need to multiply Diffuse Direct and Diffuse Color.
What contains the Diffuse Indirect pass? light reflected from the ball becomes orange and this light illuminates the plane. And the plane reflects light almost unchanged, so the ball looks white:

Finally, connect all layers together

You can see, gray plane have orange reflect from sphere. This reflection goes from indirect pass.
So if Diffuse Direct and Diffuse Indirect are just gray-scale images, where were no color reflexes in scene

Actually, if look closely at the Direct Image, I think I can see a tiny bit of orange on the top-right boundary of the ball (between the ball and the plane). Can you please check it, maybe it's the effect of my screen.

Hm, it's default meshlight 5500K light, and filmic color management, it can be a little worm.