text:
How can I select edge loops with Magic Mouse on a Mac?
I’m on an iMac with a Magic Mouse (no scroll wheel or RMB). I use RMB selection, via ⌘ command LMB. I have enabled Emulate 3 Button Mouse.
I'm trying to figure out how to select edge loops. The usual method is Alt LMB, so for me that would be Alt ⌘ Command LMB, but that does nothing.
I tried adding this preference (and tried all the mouse action types: Any, Press, etc.), but still nothing.

How can I select edge loops with Alt ⌘ Command LMB?

here are some little helpers for the magic mouse, but totally agree with @cegaton

@cegaton I tried using a 3-button mouse, but it's hard to use with my physical disability. Would be much easier from an a11y perspective if I could figure out how to compensate using Alt Command LMB.

Figured it out! Whoo hoo. Turns out this is what I had to do:

Select an edge (using CommandLMB)
Open the Select menu.
ControlLMB (right-click) "Edge Loops".
Select "Add Shortcut".
Press Alt Command LMB, which Blender interprets as Cmd Middle Mouse.

It seems that Alt LMB emulates the Middle Mouse Button. Not only that, mesh.loop_multi_select was the input I wanted, not mesh.loop_select, as I'd originally thought.
After I added that shortcut, this new input setting appeared in my user preferences:

All is not lost for Magic Mouse users.

can you tell me how did you configure your User Settings to have (Command LMB) instead of RMB. Just in case if you also know how to exchange MMB with something else would be a great Tip as well. I am starting with Blender and have a MacBook which I find super practical aside from the fact that I am starting to miss the middle and right button.

I was facing the same problem following this tutorial Model & Rig Pistons fast in Blender 2.8+. To select the edge loop it's said to use 'Shift alt click' but it doesn't work on my Mac.
I made somme research on the internet and I arrived here but it doesn't help me.
After some tries, I figured that With Blender 2.8 when you have enabled Emulate 3 Button Mouse(Preferences > Input > activate Emulate 3 Button Mouse) you just have to double click on the edge to select the loop.
Hope this will help someone facing the same problem.

Hi, welcome. The question (4 years old) stated: "I have enabled Emulate 3 Button Mouse."...how is your late answer solving the issue or adding something useful? If it does, you could detail it a bit more...

@m.ardito clearly, the part in bold is the important part: once 3 button emulation is enabled, the short cut is not alt-click but just double-click. Who knows whether this was the answer 4 years ago, but it is now. It helped me.

OMG thank you so much I was so confused why control click stopped working. This help a lot

This answer worked great for me :)  Adding this comment since m.ardito's comment casts doubt on whether this answer works or not. (The other answers didn't work for me)


text:
How to Join parts of an imported .3ds model
When I imported the file the model was separated

I tried to join the different parts with Ctrl J but it doesn't do the trick.

There isn't any active object of mesh type on your screenshot. Select more than one and try joining once more.

You can join this with Ctl+P> Object. Just parent your clothes to body with this so whenever you move your character body your clothes, hair etc move with body.

source: Stack Exchange

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

authors: Бодя Огороднік

sort: votes


text:
How to keep shape of geometry when adjusting mesh?
Using insets changes surrounding geometry.
The issue is that whenever insetting I or Extrude + Scale (E+S) the surrounding geometry changes.
Is there a way to accomplish this task without effecting the look of the surrounding mesh (or at least make it seem that the surrounding geometry belongs with the rest of the geometry).
I've attached some pictures:
click to enlarge

In the pictures notice how everything is smooth in image 1 but by image 4 the surrounding areas after the inset seem like something was modified. Now if I want to extrude that little section in image 4 inside the mesh and create a cave, the surrounding mesh will just look weird.

Whenever you have an object you want to smooth by adding geometry you should always try to work solely with quads (which you are doing right). However, vertexes which have more than 4 edges connected will result in an uneven smooth.
Topology like the image below is better but still not perfect. It really depends on what your end use is.
You, can add more or less sharpness by inserting 'edge loops' closer or further from the borders (which only works with good topology).

A better way going about modeling this would be something like the following image: (not perfect but should help you get on the right path)

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


text:
Fixing uv map of mesh
I've got a mesh in blender that has a pretty bad uv issue.
As you can see in the image, the uv seems to have shifted to the top while some parts of it kept dragging along the way. The mesh is stupidly high poly, so I tried to unsubdivide it, but that just breaks the uv even more, even parts that weren't broken before...
I'd just like to know if there's any way to salvage this ? I did try unwrapping and "pin to cursor" but to no avail.
I didn't make that mesh, nor did I make the blender file that contains it, so I'm shooting in the dark currently.
Thank you for any response and have a nice day!!

In UV editor mode and within the 3D view you can select faces and the relevant UVs will be selected in the editor, you can then scale and move them to fit the texture map. As the UVs are in panels you should also be able to see the seams in the model making it easier to select the right areas, you can then remap if needed. When doing 3D always save often in progressive files so you can revert back to a previous revision.

I was afraid that was the solution. Gonna take a long time to fix, thanks for the help!!

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


text:
I would like to make the rendered image an image with an alpha channel
When I open the rendered image in Photoshop, I would like it to be an image with a mask (alpha channel).
For example, you can put a mask on a glass window in interior perspective and replace that part with Photoshop.
Does a blender have such a function?

Maybe you're talking about the Holdout option (in the Object panel > Visibility), also available as node in the Shader Editor?

ありがとう御座います　マスクを作ることが出来ました

Thank you very much. I was able to make a mask.

Select the object that you want to make alpha transparent and in the Object panel > Visibility, enable the Holdout option:

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


text:
How to change the colour of a particle system
I have a particle system moving around creating abstract shapes in Blender. I need the material to slowly change over time. For example:

frame 30, all particles are red
frame 31, 95% of particles are red, 5% are green
frame 32, 90% of particles are red, 10% are green
and so on until frame 40 where 100% are green

Alternatively if the new colour could start from the emitter and move out (instead of changing on a random particle) that would also be helpful. Currently I have the particles able to change colour but all the particles change at once.
I tried using a collection with different colours and animating the 'use count' feature when instancing a collection but that doesnt seem to work either.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated I have tried everything and can't seem to get it to work.

So what you mean with "alternatively" is, at frame 31 it should be 5% of the particles being born on that frame that are green...? Not altogether with the ones being born on frame 30 (or before if you start the emission earlier)? So at frame 40 it should be 100% of the new particles, not all existing particles? I just ask to make sure I understood correctly.

Yes thats correct so at frame 40 all new particles will be green, whatever particles that were emitted before remain red. If you have a solution I'd LOVE to hear it :).

Plug an Input > Object Info node into a ColorRamp, move and keyframe the Position value of each color needle so that they go from right to left (or opposite):

Result:

I had a different approach but with a similar result... however I cannot find a way for the "alternative" method he is asking for. Or at least not without Geometry Nodes.

oh yes i skipped the "new colour could start from the emitter"

This is absolutely amazing though and a huge step in the right direction. Thank you soo much for this i really appreciate the time spent on this! :)
(I'm frustrated with myself it was that simple though haha)

Another possible solution for just switching the color of all particles is the following:
Take the Object Info node's Random output just like @moonboots does, use the frame number as driver in the Value input of a Map Range node. The From Min value is the frame number where all particles should be red, i.e. 30, and the From Max is the frame where 100% should be green, i.e. 40.
This range can now be mapped To Min = 0 and To Max = 1, which makes each frame a step of 10% (your example says 5%, but I'm not sure if this is what you want because then only 50% will be green on frame 40).
If you leave Clamp enabled, you make sure the value will always be 0 for frames < 30 and stay 1 for frames > 40.
By the way, if you do not know how to enter the frame number as driver: just enter #frame into the Value field. Alternatively you could insert keyframes, but then you would not need all this remapping of course.
Now you can compare the Random value with an increasing value from 0 to 1 in a Greater Than node, and the higher the number, the more particles will get 0 as result, and this value is the factor for a Mix Color node.

The result looks like that (made it a bit slower than 30 to 40, these are 50 frames, particle emission starts at 5, they are red until 10, become 100% green on frame 40 and then stay green).

Unreal thanks heaps for this I really appreciate it! I'll experiment with yours and moonboots and see how I go. Thanks again!


text:
Reflect follow camera blender 3.4
I try to make the glass sphere reflect in the same direction as I move the camera

I tried Noise Texture but it didn't work.

I hope to get better method. I thank you very much.

do you mean that you want to keep the reflections at the same position?

I mean when I rotate view the reflections will be in the same position


text:
Render problem with lighting
it's my first time using Blender, and I'm having an issue. The red-highlighted light streak in the picture doesn't appear and disappears during rendering. Is there any way to make the rendered file look like it does in the preview? The light spot is projecting the image at the same time, but I really want to keep the light flare that appeared. What am I doing wrong?

Hello maybe check in your Outliner if the object is enabled for render?

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


text:
Shade Smooth in Sverchok?
When I try to animate or tweak my nodes, the mesh automatically switches back to flat shading despite I have set it to smooth previously.

Q: How can I set the shading to Smooth when using Sverchok?

You have to enable smooth shade on the Mesh Viewer properties (in the N-panel)

Thank you so much!


text:
How to change alpha for background image (camera) with python?
I'm trying to figure out how to change the Alpha (image opacity) for a background image in the Camera settings "Background Images", but can't quite figure it out, any ideas?
The tooltip says CameraBackgroundImage.alpha and bpy.data.cameras['Camera name'] ... alpha

Q: How to change alpha for background image (camera) with python?

Python console
Given the tooltip, and the property being in 'DATA' panel can see that the property belongs to the data part of the camera.
I find autocomplete in the console handy for working these things out.
The data part of the scene camera (it's also the active object C.object.  In console C is a shortcut for bpy.context (see startup message).
>>> C.scene.camera
bpy.data.objects['Camera']

>>> cam = C.scene.camera.data
>>> cam
bpy.data.cameras['Camera']

Ok, if you autocomplete on cam.<TAB> will notice that it has a background_images property...  Ok it's a collection
Here I've looped over the collection and displayed the alpha and its attached image.
>>> for img in cam.background_images:
...     img.alpha, img.image
...
(0.5, bpy.data.images['1b.jpg'])

Set first in list to alpha 1
>>> cam.background_images[0].alpha = 1

Yes! Thank you for the clear answer, it works very well. How do I iterate over all and set them all to alpha 1?
I can set them by
cam.data.background_images[0].alpha = 1
cam.data.background_images[1].alpha = 1
cam.data.background_images[2].alpha = 1
cam.data.background_images[3].alpha = 1
But I'm sure there is a more efficient way of doing it.
I tried a few different things, but they didn't work. This is one of the things I tried, but bi has no attribute of alpha.
bi = cam.data.background_images
for x in bi:
    bi.alpha = 1


text:
How to disable multiple keymaps with the same name?
I figured out how to disable a keymap by a unique name, but in this case, there are five different keymaps all named wm.call_menu_pie. Is there a way to iterate over it to disable all of them? or if I needed to just disable a specific one, is that possible?
This is the code that works:
bpy.context.window_manager.keyconfigs.active.keymaps['3D View'].keymap_items['wm.call_menu_pie'].active = False

Call pie menu operator
Firstly the name is the id (bl_idname) of the call pie menu operator.  The idname of the registered pie menu is passed as name property to the operator.
To call snap pie menu
bpy.ops.wm.call_menu_pie(name="VIEW3D_MT_snap_pie")

Distinguish by the operator's name property

To distinguish between them look at properties passed to the operator.
Test script to make a list of all pie menu short cuts in 3D view (from question).  Look for all the keymap items using this operator "wm.call_pie_menu" and populate  list with the name of the menu.
import bpy

context = bpy.context

wm = context.window_manager
active = wm.keyconfigs.active
view3d = active.keymaps["3D View"]

# using call menu

pies = [km.properties['name'] for name, km in view3d.keymap_items.items() if name == "wm.call_menu_pie"]

print(pies)

output
['VIEW3D_MT_view_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_snap_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_pivot_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_orientations_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_shading_pie']

List Comprehension
The list pies is created with list comprehension.  Recommend getting head around list comprehension.
To disable all, Note pies is different here, it is being populated with the keymapitems, not the value of the operator name property

pies = [km for name, km in view3d.keymap_items.items() if name == "wm.call_menu_pie"]

for pie in pies:
    pie.active = False

To disable all but snap

for pie in pies:
    pie.active = pie.properties['name'].endswith("snap_pie")

Toggle

for pie in pies:
    pie.active = not pie.active

All call pie menu keymap items in all active keymaps
Create a dictionary of all all the call pie menu operates in each keymap.
all_pies = {
        km.name : [
            kmi for name, kmi in km.keymap_items.items()
            if name == "wm.call_menu_pie"
            #and kmi.properties['name'].endswith("foo"
        ]
        for km in active.keymaps
        }

for name, pies in all_pies.items():
    if pies:
        print(name, [pie.properties['name'] for pie in pies])

Result
Grease Pencil Stroke Edit Mode ['GPENCIL_MT_snap_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Weight Paint ['VIEW3D_MT_wpaint_vgroup_lock_pie']
Object Mode ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Curve ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Sculpt ['VIEW3D_MT_sculpt_mask_edit_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_sculpt_face_sets_edit_pie']
Mesh ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Metaball ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Lattice ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Particle ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
3D View ['VIEW3D_MT_view_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_snap_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_pivot_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_orientations_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_shading_pie']
UV Editor ['IMAGE_MT_uvs_snap_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Mask Editing ['VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie']
Graph Editor ['GRAPH_MT_snap_pie', 'VIEW3D_MT_proportional_editing_falloff_pie', 'GRAPH_MT_pivot_pie']
Image ['IMAGE_MT_pivot_pie']
NLA Editor ['NLA_MT_snap_pie']
Clip ['CLIP_MT_tracking_pie', 'CLIP_MT_solving_pie', 'CLIP_MT_marker_pie', 'CLIP_MT_reconstruction_pie']
Clip Editor ['CLIP_MT_pivot_pie']

Wow thanks for the quick response! I don't fully comprehend everything here, but will continue to study and learn.
I tried the script and it ran with no errors but didn't quite work.
This is what I tried:
import bpy

context = bpy.context

wm = context.window_manager
active = wm.keyconfigs.active
view3d = active.keymaps["3D View"]

pies = [km for name, km in view3d.keymap_items.items() if name == "wm.call_menu_pie"]

for pie in pies:
    pie.active = False

Have added images re the result of same code. Make sure to mouse over the UI to show updated results.  Add print statements to debug, or test in python console.

Hmm .. how come I knew this was a batFiNGER answer when I was only 1/5 of the way down it? As usual, much more than a solution :)

@batFINGER you are awesome man. I will try again tomorrow, I am very grateful!


text:
Where can I find RGBA, color depth or compression settings?
I'd like t get the usual Output panel back. I used Blender for some motion tracking and regular modeling stuff and here is how my Output area looks like now - no RGBA, compression slider, or color depth picker:

How should look like:

Q: How to get back to the default Output panel?

The output options depend on the output format.
For FFmpeg video, just open the Encoding options to change the settings.


text:
Why the glare node has no effect on the final rendering?
I'm trying to add a glare node to my render result via compositing nodes:

However, when I render animation using CtrlF12, the glare does not show up.
I know that I have to change to viewer node for the render if I want to save a single frame. How can I apply those node results to the animation as well?

Plug the glare into the Composite node.

Even better: Glare shows in compositing window, not in final render

Thanks, it worked :)

Link up the Glare node to your Composite node. The render will only take into account, what the Composite node is connected to. From the manual:

The Composite node is where the actual output from the Compositor is connected to the renderer. This node is updated after each render, but also reflects changes in the node tree (provided at least one finished input node is connected).

The Viewer node is just a convenient way to preview the results of a node in the node tree.

@brockmann: thank you

Thank you all! :D


text:
Hard surface modeling - How to model engraved lines?
I'm trying to model a sci-fi helmet, in particular those hollow lines that I marked in red color:

So far I have tried:

Boolean difference using super thin cubes
Modeling each part separately

Both methods are time consuming and I imagine there are better options. What kind of tools or methods you would recommend to do this sort of modeling?

This is a quite flexible option.

Method 1 - Split Vertices
Such engraved lines can be created by splitting vertices and using the Solidify and Bevel modifier. The vertices of edges can be split manually in Edit mode (V + Enter) or mark them as Sharp and use the Split Edge modifier.

The vertices around the circle are split manually, the others are marked as sharp.

Modifier stack is:

Subdivision Surface: level: 2
EdgeSplit: [_] Edge Angle (unchecked), [X] Sharp Edges
Solidify: default values
Bevel: Segments: 2, Limited Method: Angle, Angle: 30° (default)

Video: Modeling Techniques Hardsurface in Blender combined - Pedro Augusto (The part about panels comes towards the end of the video.)
Method 2 - Boolean Modifier
Alternatively, you can copy the model parts, use the Boolean modifier (operation: Difference) to cut it out, and another Boolean modifier (operation: Intersection) on the copy to get the cut-out part. This way you have a deep cut between the parts. Finally, add a Bevel modifier to each part. And tick the Shading → [X] Harden Normals option in the Bevel modifier to fix the shading. Note: This requires in the Object Data Properties the Normals → [X] Auto Smooth setting to be activated.
The Bool Cutter object on the screenshot is 2 cubes join together. One cuts the sphere at the top, the other one cuts it at the bottom. The sphere is actually 2 spheres (one is the middle part, the other one is the top and bottom parts).

Video: Blender Hard Surface Modeling | Slice Operation
Method 3 - Mask Modifier
A flexible method that uses the existing edge loops of the mesh and Bevel and Mask modifiers to create the support loops and the gap. It's described here by Robin Betts:
What is the best way to model the intersection of multiple hard-surface pieces?

Amazing, exactly what I was looking for

Thank you so much for a detailed answer!


text:
Why can't I scale or rotate objects in the viewport?
While it was working a while ago, scale and rotate is not working in the 3d View anymore, grab is working though. I'm allowed to scale the objects manually using the N-key but the shortcuts are not working, no matter how much I press S and R:

Did I press a key or something?

make sure that Scale and Rotate are not locked in the N panel > Item > Transform?

or 3d view options with "affect only locations"?

I checked but still not working

do you have any modifiers or contraints on the meshes?

Have you checked this https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/160576/19156 ?

@Alexbries,  no, i didnt added yet

@lemon, yes thanks, but still nothing...

@Liz, so upload your file here. http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ and paste the obtained link in your post.

As said in comments, uncheck "Affect only locations" option:

Oh!, I thought I unchecked that already, hehe...

Wow!!!! Thank you so verrryyyy much @lemon!!!!!!!!! You saved me!!!!!

Hi @Liz! If lemon saved you, consider to accept his answer. How this site works: https://blender.stackexchange.com/tour


text:
How to interactively add vertices based on custom input fields?
I want to make UI with input fields and a button which add verts with coords based on values in this fields.
I kinda almost understand what I need to do but it slips away because I am not a programmer. Looks like I need a class which creates a point when executed, UI part and reg ofc. Like this:
class addPoint (bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = 'something.point'
    bl_label = 'Point'

    def execute (self, context):
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_vert_add()

class Panel (bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_idname = 'panel'
    bl_label = 'Panel'
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'
    bl_category = 'Panel'

    def draw (self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        row = layout.row()
        row.label(text = 'Add point')

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(addPoint)
    bpy.utils.register_class(Panel)
def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(addPoint)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(Panel)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    register()

As far as I know there is no built in way to setup creation coords? I feel like I can add bpy.ops.transform.translate to execute part but how to show inputs for it in UI?
Anyway I guess it will not work because those fields only active if the object is already selected, and it can't be selected before it's created. So I feel like I need to add properties to addPoint class(?), show them in UI, then input data there and use this data for translation. But how to write all this and connect all together?
Or maybe I am totally wrong?

Hi and welcome. Recommended way is use low level functions, have a look into the Operator Mesh Add template that comes with blender. For the UI part, I'd suggest start here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57306/how-to-create-a-custom-ui BTW: Please take the [tour] to learn about how this site works, thanks.

This link about UI is huge, with my English and programming knowledge I'll look for an answer for a month and most likely I wont find it. I already spent almost a week. "Operator Mesh Add" template, I saw it before. I will be able to define coordinates before mesh is created. I guess it's 'correct" but does not matter because it's not my problem. My problem with showing inputs where I can set xyz values and click a button to create a point. I can't understand logic behind this, all guides move me to some another direction or most likely I just can't see what I need.

Takes a bit experience, that's for sure. Just to clearify, you want a button on a panel along with XYZ inputs and when the user clicks the button, a new vertex should be created on this XYZ position?

Yes exactly this.

I was able to do what I want with PropertyGroup and PointerProperty.
Here is my rough "project" for reference, there is a bit more than my question but I guess it's ok.
Script creates Panel in Sidebar, bottom part of this panel has input-fields for location and button to create a vertex. Also if one vertex is already exist, next vertex will be connected to previous one with edge.
import bpy
import bmesh

class Variables(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):
    loc: bpy.props.FloatVectorProperty(name='Add element')
    nam: bpy.props.StringProperty(name='Name', default = 'test')
    lpx: bpy.props.FloatProperty(name='X', default = 396.0)
    lpy: bpy.props.FloatProperty(name='Y', default = 296.0)
    lpz: bpy.props.FloatProperty(name='Z', default = 19.0)

class MESH_OT_addPieceBoundary(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = 'mesh.primitive_piece_boundary_add'
    bl_label = 'Add piece boundary'

    def structure(self, context):
        props = context.scene.var
        self.lpx = props.lpx/1000
        self.lpy = props.lpy/1000
        self.lpz = props.lpz/1000

    def execute(self, context):
        self.structure(context)
        bm = bmesh.new()
        if 'Boundary' in bpy.data.meshes:
            pass
        else:
            boundary_verts = [[0,0, self.lpz], [0, self.lpy, self.lpz], [self.lpx, self.lpy, self.lpz], [self.lpx, 0, self.lpz]]
            mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new('Boundary')
            for vert in boundary_verts:
                bm.verts.new(vert)
            bm.verts.ensure_lookup_table()
            v1, v2, v3, v4 = bm.verts[0], bm.verts[1], bm.verts[2], bm.verts[3]
            bm.edges.new((v1, v2))
            bm.edges.new((v2, v3))
            bm.edges.new((v3, v4))
            bm.edges.new((v4, v1))

            bm.to_mesh(mesh)
            obj = bpy.data.objects.new('PieceBoundary', mesh)
            context.collection.objects.link(obj)

        return {'FINISHED'}

class MESH_OT_addVertex(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Add a simple vertex object"""
    bl_idname = "mesh.primitive_vertex_add"
    bl_label = "Add vert, edge between verts"

    def structure(self, context):
        props = context.scene.var
        self.location = [x / 1000 for x in props.loc]
        self.nam = props.nam

    def execute(self, context):

        self.structure(context)

        bm = bmesh.new()

        if self.nam in bpy.data.meshes:
            mesh = bpy.data.meshes[self.nam]
            bm.from_mesh(mesh)
        else:
            mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new(self.nam)

        bm.verts.new(self.location)
        if len(bm.verts) > 1:
            bm.verts.ensure_lookup_table()
            v1 = bm.verts[-1]
            v2 = bm.verts[-2]
            bm.edges.new((v1, v2))
        bm.to_mesh(mesh)
        mesh.update()

        if self.nam in bpy.data.objects:
            pass
        else:
            obj = bpy.data.objects.new(self.nam, mesh)
            context.collection.objects.link(obj)

            context.view_layer.objects.active = bpy.data.objects.get(self.nam)
            obj.select_set(True)

        return {'FINISHED'}

class PROPERTIES_PT_panel(bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_idname = 'PROPERTIES_PT_panel'
    bl_label = 'Panel'
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'
    bl_category = 'Panel'

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

        row = layout.row()
        row.label(text='Piece size:')

        col = layout.column(align=True)
        col.prop(props, 'lpx')
        col.prop(props, 'lpy')
        col.prop(props, 'lpz')
        row = layout.row()
        row.operator('mesh.primitive_piece_boundary_add')
        row = layout.row()
        row = layout.row()
        row = layout.row()
        row.prop(props, 'nam')
        col = layout.column()
        col.prop(props, 'loc')

        row = layout.row()
        row.operator('mesh.primitive_vertex_add')

#        return {'FINISHED'}

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(Variables)
    bpy.utils.register_class(MESH_OT_addPieceBoundary)
    bpy.utils.register_class(MESH_OT_addVertex)
    bpy.utils.register_class(PROPERTIES_PT_panel)
    bpy.types.Scene.var = bpy.props.PointerProperty(type = Variables)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(Variables)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(MESH_OT_addPieceBoundary)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(MESH_OT_addVertex)
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(PROPERTIES_PT_panel)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Have a look into the Operator Mesh Add template that comes with Blender.

First of all, you would have to figure out how to create a mesh which is nicely explained in create mesh then add vertices to it in python, then declare an Operator ideally along with a FloatVectorProperty for the actual location and add that code from before to its execute method.
The following code is based on Operator Mesh Add template, adds a menu entry to the Mesh menu (ShiftA) as this is the prefered way of adding a new object to the scene. If bl_options are set to 'UNDO' the properties of the operator will be displayed in the bottom left of the 3d Viewport (location in this case) which allows the user to set the parameter interactively while adding the vertex:

import bpy
import bmesh

class MESH_OT_addVertex(bpy.types.Operator):
    """Add a simple vertex object"""
    bl_idname = "mesh.primitive_vertex_add"
    bl_label = "Add Vertex"
    bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

    location: bpy.props.FloatVectorProperty(
        name="Location",
        default = (0,0,1))

    def execute(self, context):

        # Create a new mesh based on the given location
        # https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/61893/
        # https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/23088/
        mesh = bpy.data.meshes.new("Vertex")
        bm = bmesh.new()
        bm.verts.new(self.location)
        bm.to_mesh(mesh)
        mesh.update()

        # Create new object and link object to the active collection
        # https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/145715/
        obj = bpy.data.objects.new("MyVetexObject", mesh)
        context.collection.objects.link(obj)

        # Make the object the active one and select it
        # https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/126581/
        context.view_layer.objects.active = obj
        obj.select_set(True)

        return {'FINISHED'}

def menu_func(self, context):
    self.layout.separator()
    self.layout.operator(MESH_OT_addVertex.bl_idname, icon='DOT')

def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(MESH_OT_addVertex)
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_mesh_add.append(menu_func)

def unregister():
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(MESH_OT_addVertex)
    bpy.types.VIEW3D_MT_mesh_add.remove(menu_func)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

    # test call
    #bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_vertex_add()

If you would like to place the operator onto a panel, register your panel, add the Layout.operator() call to the draw() method of the panel class and pass its bl_idname:

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

    row = layout.row()
    row.operator(MESH_OT_addVertex.bl_idname)
    ...

In case there is a serious reason to display the coords on your panel as well, I'd suggest register a new FloatVectorProperty property per scene (bpy.types.Scene) and pass the values to the Operator within the draw method of the panel class:
def register():
    bpy.utils.register_class(MESH_OT_addVertex)
    ...

    bpy.types.Scene.mytool_location = bpy.props.FloatVectorProperty(
        name="Location",
        default = (0,0,0)
        )

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

    del bpy.types.Scene.mytool_location

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

    layout.prop(scene, "mytool_location")
    op = layout.operator(MESH_OT_addVertex.bl_idname)
    op.location = scene.mytool_location
    ...

Further reading

How to create a custom UI?
How to pass multiple operator properties via UI layout?

Took a while but I was able to reproduce it. But still there are no input fields on the panel. I assume I need to show 'location' property from addVertex class on a panel somehow? Something like 'row.prop('mesh.primitive_vertex_add')'. But from examples I saw it's wrong, because this method need some object and it's attribute. But before I hit a button to create an object I do not have object to have input fields. Really confusing.

The input fields are part of the 3d viewport because "this is the prefered way of adding a new object to the scene", I disagree, this isn't confusing because this is what the Blender user is used to. But yeah, we can add that to the panel as well if there is a serios reason having them on the panel and in the viewport...? @gor.

I do not really need that part in left bottom corner, just on panel. Serious reasons?  I used to have that UI in other software as a result for me it's more comfortable also I want to understand how to do it.

Serious reasons, because it always will be there anyway, that's how blender is designed so I'd use it, no matter what you like. Anyway, I'm going to add how to do it... @gor In the meantime, your can also read that up here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57306/how-to-create-a-custom-ui/57332

Using the add vert operator from add mesh extras.
In addition to @brockmann's excellent answer, can use the existing add vert operator that comes with Add Mesh Extras.

The new vert is added at the scene cursor location.
Putting three things together,

Enable Add Mesh Extras addon if it is not already. Disable if enabled by addon (possibly requires better logic, eg flag if enabled by this addon to disable on unreg.)
Add a button to add vert to panel
Add the cursor location (it's in global coordinates) to the panel.

Test script, using question code.
import bpy

class AddVertPanel (bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_idname = 'VIEW3D_PT_add_vert'
    bl_label = 'Panel'
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'
    bl_category = 'Panel'

    def draw (self, context):
        layout = self.layout
        scene = context.scene
        col = layout.column()
        col.label(text = 'Add point')
        col.prop(scene.cursor, "location")
        col.operator("mesh.primitive_vert_add")

def register():
    from addon_utils import check, enable
    loaded_default, loaded_state = check("add_mesh_extra_objects")
    if not loaded_state:
        enable("add_mesh_extra_objects")
    bpy.utils.register_class(AddVertPanel)

def unregister():
    from addon_utils import check, disable
    loaded_default, loaded_state = check("add_mesh_extra_objects")
    if not loaded_default:
        disable("add_mesh_extra_objects")
    bpy.utils.unregister_class(AddVertPanel)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    register()

Please also take note of the naming of classes and bl_idname of the panel using the naming convention. "Panel" is possibly the worst name for a panel.

Thank you but it's not what I need. P.S. I know about naming convention but I just trying to not hurt my brain too much in this spaghetti.

That's fine. Other's may find it useful. (IMO totally fulfills remit of question)  Btw please pay heed to the naming convention of panels, as noted "Panel" is possibly the worst name possible.

Thread name was changed by mod I guess because it was just tags in fact :D. Actual question is in first sentence - ui with input fields and a button to create a vertex in location from input fields.

Indeed useful, thanks for posting @batFINGER

Yes, that is exactly what above does.  Thanks @brockers.


text:
Copy a node-based material to another object, and then freely edit the second one?
I have a scene with two mountains, one is blue, and I would like the other one the small one) to be pink.

In edit mode, objects have been separated (P).
When I click on the second object and add a new material with the "+" sign of the material tab, it creates a new material.
Then I SHIFT + RMB the materials, to be able to "Copy Material to Others"

I then go in the new instance of the material (by clicking on the small mountain), and change the color with a green (I know I said pink... forgive me)...

... and all the colors change! But I was just in another color, I just wanted the small mountain to change.
Even the other instances of materials I created with the "+" button have all changed to green suddenly. Every one of them. On both meshes.

So, are node-based materials like physics simulations, in that "there can be only one"?
Obviously it's possible to recreate materials from scratch every time, but... there's gotta be a way to "unlink" these material settings, so that I can make a new object, apply this material and then change the color or texture, based on the existing tree?
Here is another example of trying to duplicate a material and all the materials changing together when I only edit one of them:

You have either 2 objects that use the same datablock (this can happen e.g. if linked duplicating via Alt+D) or one material for 2 objects. Related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/23386/how-to-put-a-unique-material-on-duplicated-objects-separately or http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2852/how-to-unlink-a-material-only-from-a-linked-object

In your last gif it is affected by the same problem - you use the same material for both slots. This is covered in both added here and linked answers. The main thing to look at is number of users to the right from material's name.

First you don't need to separate your mountains into different objects to assign different materials to different parts, you can have multiple materials on the same object using several material slots per object for that.
Just go to the Properties Window > Materials and In the List press the + button to create a new slot and assign a new material to it. In edit mode you can then select which part of the mesh you want associated with that material by selecting the corresponding faces, selecting the desired material slot and then pressing the Assign button.
As for the materials themselves, you can create a new one from scratch or you can base a new material of an existing one.
You should first start by naming your materials properly so as to avoid an endless list of Material.### that doesn't give you a clue of what you are doing. Then if you want to base a material from an existing one, you can choose it from that list (a descriptive name will help a lot here) and after selecting it there should appear a small number next to it. That number indicates how many objects are using this material you just assigned.

By clicking on that number you will make a Single User of that material, which means it will now become a new unique and independent material not used by any object but maintaining the same settings and node setup of the original.
If this workflow doesn't suit you you can always add a new material from scratch, go to the original one you want to copy from and copy-paste with Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V to copy the nodes from one to the other.

I accepted your comment, but I am still finding the problem in some cases... I added an animated screen grab at the end of the question to show the two materials changing together even after duplication.

You did not press the number button as described in my answer, you didn't make it single user, so what you are doing in that screen grab is using the same material in two different slots in the same object. You are simply renaming the material, so you see the name changing in both places. You have to press the + button first to make it a unique material.

Just to make clear i mean the +button in front of the name box, to add a new material, as opposed to the one on the side that will add a new Material Slot

Hi, I've edited my original question with a last gif where I follow thoroughly your advice (renaming, clicking on the "2"), and where all the materials change again when I think I'm only editing one. Thanks for your help and patience!

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos  I have thousands of objects for which I need to update their materials' nodes/links using Blender's Python API. I am pretty new to nodes stuff in Cycles and I haven't been able to wrap my head around how I can do that. I wonder, do you know how one can do that? If so, could you please take a look at my question here and see if you can offer a solution?

This probably has already been solved by the OP, but I came across this problem myself and searching for an answer I stumbled upon this post.
And for the sake of those eventually looking to solve the same problem, I'd like to add an important detail:
The answer given by Duarte Farrajota Ramos is correct, yet the OP said he was still having trouble, and in fact so did I after following his instructions (in fact I was already doing all that he said even before seeing his answer, and it wasn't working), the problem here is the nested/grouped nodes inside the material, they have defined users as well, and if you just make the main material (in the material tab) single-user, the alterations you make on the first level of nodes in fact won't be passed on to the original materials, but if you alter the inner layers, I mean, alter things inside the groups that compose the material, it WILL change the original material you used as a base. Note, this will happen even if you create a material from scratch and copy/paste the nodes from another material, cause the data of the inner groups is still being shared between materials, only the outer layer is in "single user mode".
To solve this, you must simply create the new material, make it single user on the material tab by clicking it's users number (if there is any), this will make the outer node layer single user. Then go in node edit mode, look for the grouped nodes and do the same, you'll see they have their own users number, click on that, and now you can alter whatever you want, and nothing will get out of that material.
Material tab, you can see there are no users, yet I was still getting my base material changed:

Node editor, and here I found the problem, the inner node group was being shared with other 8 materials:

This is indeed some really basic stuff, but for newcomers it might prove to be a challenge, cause it may just pass unnoticed that you must clear the users from all layers. Hope I can help someone. Cheers!


text:
Linking cell fractured fragments together with Rigid Body Constraints set as 'breakable'
I am learning Cell Fracturing following this video.
But just like Mr Jee in the comments section, my model breaks as soon as I play the animation in Games Engine.

The author of the video talks in his answer about linking the fragments together with Rigid Body Constraints set as "breakable", but I am having a hard time understanding how to constrain objects together, I tried selecting one then the rest and looked for "copy from active" but didn't find it, or joining the blocks, that didn't work either.
Here's the setup in Game engine:

I know I could also just trick and use the shape that's on the right until the object touches the ground, but I'd like to do it in physics as much as I can.
I installed "Bullet Constraints Tool" and played around with it, but it didn't change anything.

The idea is to know what steps to follow to make an object shatter when it hits another object, ideally with Cell Fracture (comments about other ways to do this are also welcome).
.blend file

Why is it exploding?
The model explodes, because the game engine (BGE) detects an impulse from all objects against other and so every body is repelled. The impulses are calculated by BGE because the intersection of of all parts' collision bounds at the start point (here: frame 40) is interpreted as an impact. Read more about collision detection
What's the solution?
Use a larger margin at the cell fracture options
Additionally choosing the right collision shape might also help. In most cases Convex hull is just fine.

the breaking constraint is only availible in upbge fork of blender
https://upbge.org/


text:
How to set mesh center in Edit Mode?
I know how to set the center to the 3D Cursor in Object Mode with Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C, but when I go into Edit Mode and select all, the center is in a different place and therefore it rotates around the wrong point.
How do I change the Pivot Point in Edit Mode to be the same as in Object Mode?
Thanks

You can set the cursor to the center of the object and change the pivot point to the cursor.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5519/setting-the-pivot-point-of-an-object

thanks, i see that menu now, 2 to the right of the mode options


text:
How do I fix the Problem With Half my Object disappearing?
I am having a slight problem with a moon rover I am creating for a game. When I try to render it (in Blender Game) half the object disappears, or becomes hollow.
Here is a picture from camera perspective of the Object in editor:

Here is a picture when I press P to start the Engine:

I am currently using Blender Version 2.74
How can I fix this Error?

Most likely the face normals are facing the wrong way. Select the object that produces error, go into edit mode, select all with A and recalculate normals with CTRL+N.

Go into Edit Mode of your Object. Press N to open the Properties panel in 3D View. Go to the heading named "Mesh Display" and activate the "Face Normals" Button. Now you can see the Faces and their orientation.
Faces in the Game Engine that point into your Mesh (away from the camera) are rendered invisible.
The length of the blue Face normal indicator can be changed. If it is too short you may not see the Face normal. If it is too long you may think the Face is pointing outwards but instead its the Face of the opposite side and its Normal is so long that it goes through other Faces.
The length of the Normal indicator doesn't have an influence on Graphics. Its only for you to see its direction. Just choose a length you can work with.
Sometimes its just a few of them pointing inwards and sometimes the Option "Recalculate Normals" (CtrlN) doesn't work properly. Then you just select the Faces you want to flip and press CtrlF and then F again. Your selected Faces are flipped and the Problem should be solved.

How is this any different from what I said in my answer?

Good answer! I just didn't notice it at the time i was answering. ;)

authors: Андрей Айтжанов


text:
How do I undo a pan?
I use mac and if I hit Shift + Two-Finger swipe, I pan, then after I'm done doing what I wanted to do the view is still 'panned'.
I can't do anything with the right angle.
How to undo a pan?
Even if I pan and get really close to where it was originally, it is still not perfect, so my animals faces are sideways.

I don't think this is possible. There's a paid addon for saving viewport position which is the only one I'm aware of. You should elaborate what does it mean "after I'm done doing... the view is still 'panned'" - probably the problem could be solved in another way.

Blender has many options for viewing the 3D scene.
One of them is probably close to or equivalent or superior to the notion of undo, for some readers, not all readers.
I have focused on Menu Choices below.
I would probably advise you that Blender can provide many good views for you as opposed to a single special view.

Use the numeric keypad with Numlock on to select view orientations such as
Numpad 1,3,7,9.
You can do this the control key as well. This will achieve front right top bottom views. Numeric Keypad
2,4,6,8
rotate the view in known increments.

You can align the view to active, which respects the local axis. You could view the [front] of a model rotated at some unthinkable rotation of 33.5 degrees. Thus you could put a non renderable or renderable object in your scene to recall your perfect view orientation.
Quad View menu choice is quite useful.
Pressing Numpad . (Numpad Period .) will center the view on the current selection.  If you select 2 or more or all objects with A and then press Numpad . you will get more items in view.
Items can also be selected in the Outliner Window which is sometimes easier.
There are probably 20 similar items I have not mentioned here.


text:
Why my mesh isn't moving with my armature?

so, I am creating a cel-shaded RPG, and I created this low poly character for now so I can get the base animations and stuff done in unity.
I rigged the character following a tutorial by Royal skies LLC on youtube, and the armature does not move with the mesh. can someone please tell me how to fix this? also it is worth mentioning that I am new to blender but pretty comfortable with unity.

Not sure if you only confused it, just saying: The armature controls the mesh, and the mesh moves with the armature, not vice versa. Can you add more info on how you bound the armature to the mesh? (Ctrl+P, With Automatic Weights?) and have you check the deformation in Pose mode? (select the armature and switch to Pose mode)

sorry, I accidentally switched them around in the desc. lol.
so all of the bones are in deformation mode, and I dont know about the weights. how do I check that?
edit: NVM. Character mesh is parented to the armature and set to automatic weight now. lol

Got it figured out thanks!

I was an idiot and didn't make the mesh a parent of the armature

great that you were able to figure it out!

Please don't write solved as part of the title. If you found a
solution for your problem please write it on the
answers section and mark it as accepted there. Read:
what does it mean when an answer is accepted?


text:
Grease Pencil - Keyframes disappear in Object Mode?
I'm learning 2D animation in Blender. Keyframing works normal in all modes except Object Mode. Every time, when I switch back to Object Mode, and click any blank place, all keyframes disappear but the animation is still moving.

Q: Why does my keyframes disappear in Object Mode?

This is normal, by default you can only see keyframes of the selected objects. That means that if I draw the line and click outside of that line in object mode, keyframes will disappear because you have no object selected.

Right here at the left, you see what is selected:

With this setting, you can only see what you have selected (orange outline) This may be helpful to see what you are working with. However, if you want all the keyframes to be visible, you can uncheck this option:

With this option unchecked, you will always see all the keyframes of all the objects in your animation... If you will want to separate keyframes of only one object again, just check this option again.


text:
GTA - How can I add a prop to a character?
I'm just texturing and adding a helmet on to a skin of GTA San Andreas. In Blender everything looks fine and my problem actually occurs in game. So I basically I just Shift +LMB both objects (helmet and the skin) and merged them:

But for whatever reason my helmet is located far away from the character and I have no idea what I did wrong. Should work right?

Hello and welcome. Please use a title that reflects the content of the question. It should be succinct, unique and identifying, and summarize what the issue is so that users can at a glance broadly understand what your post is about before opening it. 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 potential visitors will see, and will weight heavily on their decision to open your question, which will directly affect the number of answers you might get.

Instead of having users go through links and external sites please use the builtin tools to embed images in your post. See How to upload an image to a post? or GIFs


text:
How do I encode an .exr image sequence?
I have an animation that I want to render. I read up on the internet and saw an addon called SID that works great for denoising animations. My problem is that the add-on renders all the files into .OpenEXR format and I have no idea how to compile the image sequence into a video clip.
What program do I need to use to make these files a video? When I open the images they are all black. Do I have to re-render everything?

You can either use Blender's VSE, Blender's Compositor, Davinci Resolve, Fusion, Natron, Nuke... or even ffmpg can handle exrs.

@brockmann I'm really new to this and when I opened it into blender video sequencer they went all black. Any idea where I can watch a tutorial or have someone explain to me because i really can't orientate myself in these programs.

They probably didn't "go all black", they were already black before. How did you make those EXR files? Where did they come from? Have you seen their content correctly elsewhere? What is is SID addon you mentioned? This question is very lacking in detail and it is had to help you.

Don't have the time for a complete answer right now. Just load the image sequence in Blender's compositor and see whether it's still black or there are any other passes to work with. In general a more advanced topic, if you're new to this, here is a pretty nice overview: Save all render passes to EXR image?


text:
Edge crease not working with subdivision surface
I'm getting holes and rounded corners on a straight bumpout on the inner surface of a cylinder. I've creased all the sharp angles but something isn't working correctly.

I suppose you have subdivision modifier after edge split, reorder them.

If it is not, merge double vertices, M -> by distance

I'm guessing that's an STL you downloaded form somewhere, it's a mess! Check for edges that are very close to the edges you are having trouble with. Also, if you used Select Sharp Edge, a messy mesh like that might have selected edges you don't really want. Please attach your .blend file to your question and we can take a look at it for you, without that we would just be guessing... https://blend-exchange.com/

@Psyonic I did get it from someone else and it is definitely a mess. I used select sharp edges but had to go in and select some individually. I’ll play around with that.

@Crantisz I’ll try that but won’t it move the vertices? I need some precision there.

If they share same location - nope


text:
Render Freestyle Edge as Alpha layer
Simple animation that has edge layers on one object, but I want to render the Freestyle edge as a separate alpha layer so I can control the transparency. Is there an easy way to accomplish this?

You could achieve that with View Layers : render another layer only with the edges and composite as you want. Did you try that ? Your question lacks context to give an exact answer.

Im not sure how else to explain. I have freestyle edge visible in the full render, but I want to have it as a separate render with only the edge visible, but it needs to be an alpha layer so when I make my video i can control the layer transparency.

Then use layers and convert your edge layer to an alpha layer in your editing software.


text:
Bevel isnt making a edge
so its my 2nd day of using blender and im following a tutorial where i need to bevel a edge to make a infinity drop as background. now  when i hit ctrl b bevel is showing up but its not making a edge at all. scale is applied too before trying to add the bevel but its still not making the curve its supposed to do. idk if i need to turn some kind of setting on to make it work but its driving me crazy rn. im using latest blender 4.0.1

Hello, maybe you need to select all and press M > Merge by Distance, if it doesn't work please show some screenshots or even share your file.

tysm u just fixed it works fine now

You have disconnected faces, to connect them back select all in Edit mode and press M > Merge by Distance.


text:
Module use of Python311.dll conflicts with this version of Python

Trying to use an add-on which everyone else has working fine but I keep getting this error, seems to be saying that the expat.py module which is packaged as part of the Blender installation is looking for a more recent version of Python than what is bundled with Blender - but this module is included with the Blender installation so I can't understand what's happening here... Any suggestions? I'm not experienced with Python I'm afraid.

Blender 3.2 is bundled with Python 3.10 so I suggest you use an older version of the addon or upgrade your Blender version. Latest is 4.0. You can also upgrade the built version of your current Blender installation but at this rate you might as well do one of the two others unless you absolutely have to stick with 3.2 and can't downgrade the addon

thanks for your suggestions. The add-on is working fine for other people with the standard blender installation and from what I can see it’s the expat.py which is included in the blender installation that is looking for python311.dll I’ve scoured my computer and removed any trace of any other python installation that may be affecting but there’s nothing showing anywhere… Any other ideas? I’ve tried last 10 versions of the add-on as well as multiple versions of blender from 3.2.0 to 4.0


text:
Ant colony network in Geometry Nodes
I want to make a 3D network similar to the inside from an ant colony by using Geometry Nodes. I am a bit clueless on how to start, maybe someone could give some pointers.

This is an example of how I imagine the shape to be, it is an ant home filled with aluminium

In here might be some fundamentals that can be used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61mpAo1I3FQ&t=1947s&ab_channel=fartsimpson


text:
Scaling SVG Strokes
I have imported a SVG File. I have generated a 3D object out of it and printed it on a 3D printer. But the Lines are too small (see gray area in the provided image). I have a lot of these line and I'm looking for a simple method to scale them (make them thicker). Any ideas?

If they were a single stroke there are a few methods to adjust thickness in Blender, since they already have a double stroke it is probably less work to adjust them in whatever application you designed them with

is there maybe a way to convert them to a single stroke? I created this in Incscape (via pathtracing) but I found no solution there either

Inkscape now has a line drawing trace method


text:
Model a 5-Bar Manipulator with Armatures
I'd like to model a 5-bar manipulator with armatures which should work like this:

For my understanding this would imply two bone tails which are connected to each others (at the connection to the red bar).
As far as I know this is not possible.
Do you have any idea how to assemble this mechanism?


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Cannot Export Shape Key Animations with FBX in Blender
Hello Blender Community,
I am encountering an issue where I am unable to export shape key animations along with my FBX file from Blender. Although I initially had both a walking animation and facial expressions for my character "Lois Body.001", I have since simplified the project to focus solely on the shape key animations for the facial expressions.
Despite the shape keys being properly keyframed within Blender, these animations are not being included in the exported FBX file. Here's what I'm observing:
The character mesh has several shape keys intended for facial expressions.
The Dope Sheet confirms the presence of keyframes for these shape keys, indicating they are animated.
The Blender outliner shows these shape keys under the mesh data for "Lois Body.001".
No specific 'Shape Animations' option is visible in the FBX export dialogue to ensure these are included.
After exporting, the FBX file lacks the shape key animations when I attempt to import it into other software or back into Blender.
Steps I've taken:
I've ensured the 'Mesh' is selected under 'Object Types' during export.
I've checked 'Bake Animation' in the FBX export dialogue.
I've looked for any explicit 'Shape Key' export settings but found none.
Here is a brief outline of the current setup in Blender:

Can anyone provide guidance on the proper export settings or procedures to ensure that my shape key animations are exported within the FBX file?
My Blender version: 3.6
Target Software for FBX Import: unreal engine 5.3
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

i think there is something wrong with blender or my computer because when i make a new file in blender 4.1 with just a cube and used shape keys make a basic animation and it still wont export

I have the same problem on version 4.0. I struggled with this problem for two days. In the end, I just overcame it. I baked the animations in 4.0. Then I opened this file in 3.6 and exported both bones and geometry from it. Happened. Unfortunately, something is wrong with version 4.0. My frame rate selection has stopped switching. When opening a file, 24 frames per second. I need 30. But switching doesn't work. You have to make a blank blank file in 3.6 and start working from it. I hope this will be fixed in future versions. I need version 4.0 because of the advanced capabilities of rigify.

As this is one of the forums I viewed when having this problem myself, I'm leaving the answer I discovered here:
Unable to export baked shape keys with animation as .fbx blender 4.0 and 4.2.1
in short, if your export is doing ANYTHING to your mesh, it will erase your shape key keyframes.
turn off all geometry tab export options. If you need to triangulate like I needed to, just triangulate in edit mode before exporting.


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Texture Stretching at Gluteal Cleft on Character Model in Blender 4.1
I've encountered an issue with my character model in Blender 4.1, where the texture appears to be stretching improperly around the gluteal cleft area. Despite having checked the UV map for overlaps and ensuring it's laid out correctly, the problem persists. I have also verified that the texture resolution is sufficient and the UVs are properly unwrapped. The issue is not with the image's resolution, as it appears to be adequate for other parts of the model.
I'm considering utilizing shaders to correct or mitigate the stretching appearance. Could anyone suggest shader adjustments or techniques in Blender that might help refine the texture appearance specifically in this challenging area? Any advice on how to employ bump or normal mapping effectively to address this issue would be highly appreciated. Here's a visual reference to the problem area

It is unclear to me what the problem is. Where is the texture stretched? What does the UV map look like? Why do you want to use a bump or a normal map? I can see that the mesh is way more dense at the back/waist area than at the butt area. However, this should not necessarily be a problem for texturing. You still can remove a few edge loops at the back or add more edge loops at the butt to obtain a more uniform density. Or just adjust the UV map to lower the stretching.

The mesh topology is not ideal in the selected area. There are several 6-star and 7-star-poles and unnecessary triangulated faces (tris). The poles can cause bad deformations and the tris makes it harder to work with the model in Blender because you cannot select edge loops properly. It also can result in shading issues. I think that is what you mean by "texture stretching", the bright triangles, right? I would add 3 more horizontal edge loops to smooth it. But fix the topology first.


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Why can I not select vertices located behind others?
When I use B only the front vertex is selected and not the one behind as well. I have tried turning on and off the Limit Selection to Visible and there is no change at all. I have tried all the tricks people have suggested and its still not working.
I appreciate any help.

"I have tried all the tricks people have suggested and its still not working" - Can you list these so we don't simply re-suggest them? Also, have you tried using wireframe view, toggled with the Z key?

Instead of moving the vertices or just changing the view you can change to Wireframe view with the Z button (by default). Then you can select all vertices hidden by faces, edges or other vertices. I use the Z key a lot since sometimes two vertices are in the exact same position.

how about moving the front vertex on an axis a set distance, manipulate the back vertex and move the front vertex back again.
select front vertex -> GX1 -> select back vertex and move it -> select front vertex again -> GX-1
instead of x you can of course also use y or z and instead of 1 and -1 you can use 0.1 -0.1 or any other value

You can simply hide vertices in the foreground either with H, or Mask modifier or Alt+B (Clipping Border).

When one vertex obscures another in the current viewport, there are two techniques I have found useful for selecting the one behind. One is to modify the view slightly, for example, shifing the viewport a bit to one side, so that both vertices are visible. Then I can select the one I want, and after making the selection return the viewport to the original orientation, if desired. Another technique that sometimes works is to select a second time. Often the first selection event selects one of the vertices, and a second selection at the same place toggles to select the other.

I just figured out why this happens!  "B" bound select does select the behind vertices as well just like you expect.  After you have selected them DO NOT LEFT CLICK to start the grab/move operation!  This will DESELECT some of the vertices and you will experience your problem.  Instead, select your vertices, then press G to activate grab/move, and move your mouse to move the points.  This will work every time.  Blender is a harsh mistress.

I've found a solution. I did not realize you couldn't click RMB and drag. The solution ended up being to just press G instead. Thanks for the help though!

It's possible to grab selection with RMB, adjust Tweak event for that in User Prefs. See http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/40150/how-can-i-make-it-so-that-objects-only-move-with-widget-text-entry.


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How to get Camera view like Top-view?
I have been trying to make my own logo. The problem I have been facing is finding out how to make the camera face the top ortho view like shown here:

I want it to be facing right on Top Ortho view and want the X, Y, and Z angle to be flawless in order to make the logo stand straight.
All help is appreciated.

Select the camera, press AltG, AltR (Reset camera position and rotation), then press GZ (move up along Z axis) until you reach the desired height. You can consider to set the camera to Orthographic (in the properties window, with the camera selected, the little camera icon) to have your logo with no prospective distortions; in this case change the "ortographic scale" to set the "distance" of the camera, as moving it will have no influence.
Another method is, in the 3D window, press N to open the properties tab, select the camera, modify the values in the transform tab to position the camera exactly where you want.

Got this answer on reddit.Select the camera and open the properties shelf (N in the 3D view). Set the rotation to 0.
http://imgur.com/1BdukZa

ty though :), have a good day.

Its pretty simple just select top perspective move your camera to center of the view which should be changing value of position on z-axis. Now all you have to play with x-axis Rotation and Y-axis  Position. set x-axis Rotation to 90.. and Y-axis according to your need to maintain distance form the view.


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Can't see camera outline in camera view and Lock to View not working
I'm using Blender 2.77 on Linux. Today I must have pressed something - I don't know what - and the camera started to behave strange.
When I press NUM 0, the view goes to Camera Persp, but I don't get the usual layout (darkened border when just looking from camera perspective and red border when using Lock to View), like this:

This is certainly something local to the file I'm working on, because when I started Blender again and went to the starting scene, the camera works correctly (as you can see in the screenshot above). This does not happen with my other work file.
Also, when I select Lock to View in the N panel, I still can't change the view and every test render appears the same because of it.
I searched through all the camera options, probably clicked everything, but I still didn't fix it. I searched here and generally on Google, but there was no answer. I don't even know the name of the option responsible for this behavior, so I can't search efficiently for it.
How to revert my camera to the default behavior?

maybe related http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/6341/19287 , http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/2014/19287

@Dan I'm not sure it's the same thing, but solution from http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/26211/23110 did solve the problem.

@MrZak I didn't provide a screenshot because the situation looked just like any other view - there was nothing special that appeared or changed. The only difference was that it said Camera Persp in the top left corner of the 3D view.

If you meant that red outline in Camera View like on your screenshot, then that one isn't there by default, it's Render Border used which is drawn by Ctrl+B. Camera Persp will be in the top left corner by default if you enter Camera view.

Couldn't you just zoom in camera view, so the borders are outside the 3D view window, and then turn on the Lock to view?


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Fill Mesh Components with Random Vertex Color
I find myself spending a tremendous amount of time preparing my models for export into substance painter. It seems like a macro and or script would be able to do this no problem. Unfortunately my Python skills are non existent, but I would love to learn. My process is fairly straight forward.

I select an object / mesh that has multiple components in Object
Mode. Then switch to Edit Mode.
Select a pieces verts using L.
Switch to Vertex Paint Mode making sure Face selection masking for painting
is on.
Select a random color and hit Shift + K to fill selection with color.

I usually end up with something like this..

This allows me to generate an ID map within substance painter. It is the quickest way I've found to generate these maps for texturing.
My searches have brought up random vert colorization, but nothing like what I'm describing. Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

If those which you'd like to color differently are different objects then you could randomly color connected vertices of those objects. See related - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/28398/is-there-a-way-to-create-a-color-id-map-in-blender

Thank you @Mr Zak, you got me pointed in the right direction. Going through the first links github, I found this... https://github.com/varkenvarken/blenderaddons/blob/master/connectedvertexcolors%20.py   It add an option to fill each piece of the object with a random color while in vertex paint mode. Thanks!

Thank you @Mr Zak, you got me pointed in the right direction. Going through the first links github, I found this... https://github.com/varkenvarken/blenderaddons/blob/master/connectedvertexcolors%20.py … It adds an option to fill each piece of the object with a random color while in vertex paint mode. Thanks!


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How to easily make mesh retopology?
After creating some hi-poly model, i'm always creating low-poly model by approximating that hi-poly mesh with triangle-by-triangle LP mesh - with snap to face mode turned on.
So the process looks like CTRL + RMB (x times), and hitting F on keyboard, so the new face was made.
Then I'm using this low poly model to texture baking, mainly for gamedev purposes.
This method is very time consuming, so how to make retopology process easier and quicker?

To reduce the number of tris, there is the "decimation modifier", is it suitable for your workflow?

Not fully, in my common scenario, I'm using many hipoly meshes / objects (spheres, beveled boxes, some complex ones like i.e. boolean like meshes) that in composition forms a base, for "gluing" or wrapping them with one, low poly mesh.

Here are some wonderful tools for speeding up the retopology process:

polystrips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN1aC7DsS6A)
contours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RR06wjt2rs)

These are paid, but worth every penny as they're really time-saving tools.
If you don't want to buy them you may do a fast retopology using a Bsurfaces addon. Go to User Preferences (Ctrl+Alt+U-->Add-ons) and enable it.

Add an object you want to retopologize, then add a Plane (or any other object you like), enter the Edit Mode and delete it (x). In the Properties Panel (N) add a new Grease Pencil layer, then go to the Tool Shelf (T)-->Grease Pencil and change a stroke placement to Surface.

Now go to the Tool bookmark in a Tool Shelf. Draw some strokes on an object (hold D, then press LMB [ How to draw grease pencil on a surface (blender 2,75)? ]). When finished, click on Add Surface in Bsurface panel. Change the settings below as you like.

I dunno about polystrips and contours. They are not that time saving and the tool is unusable with high poly-counts. I get much more done with just F2 and BSurfaces. Also Topogun is $100 which makes Retopoflow actually really overpriced for it's toolset.

Yeah, https://cgcookie.com/course/introduction-to-retopoflow/

According to the Blender Institute, all addons, if they use the Blender API calls, have to be made available compliant to the GNU GPL.  https://www.blender.org/support/faq/  This means that whilst its legal for addons to be sold, its also legal to distribute copies for free.  Retopoflow can be downloaded from https://github.com/CGCookie/retopoflow

You might want to try Instant Meshes. It's free and depending on your model it might deliver decent results.
It's not like you will get good results with a single click on a button and it also might be unsuitable if you want to have a real low poly count.
Here's a link to the author's github:
Instant Meshes

Was just looking myself for this answer...
This might also be useful
Speed retopo a plugin using bsurfaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfqePn8nKI
The authors link - Available on Gumroad.
https://gumroad.com/l/speedretopo
Needs blender 2.78
Activate Bsurface, Looptools and Automirror
you must also install retopo MT & AutoMirror : https://www.dropbox.com/s/cserm65c058yc6h/Retopo_MT.py?dl=0
AutoMirror:
https://framagit.org/Lapineige/Blender_add-ons/tree/master/AutoMirror

click on the quad where you want to start to draw you can add divisions or delete by pressing X or W and they form to the mesh, Gridfill and other options are available

why down votes? when this system works way better than standard b-surfaces grease pencil? happy to fix to make it a better answer (since the plugin is great it deserves to be known about)- but just voting down is unhelpful.


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Knife project not working when using imported .svg curve
I am trying to import a .SVG curve and use it to cut shapes into a robot's mesh that I am modeling.
After importing the curve and following Thom Blair III's advice from this question, the result when I click is that nothing happens. It worked with the same curve on the same mesh a little above than where I'm trying, but not on the lover part.

What can cause knife project not to work in some cases? Is it because I imported the curve? If so, why did the curve work on other parts of the same object?
Here's the blend file:

Well up until now I didn't even know you could knife project from a curve, which is quite awesome, thanks for that! Other than that, the knife project operation is view based, so it depends on your current viewing direction. You should probably be aligning your view orthographically with the mesh if you ever want any sort of geometric accuracy. Also check if you face normals are are pointing outwards and try checking the option Cut Through to see if it helps. Otherwise try separating the desired part of the mesh temporarily into another object, cutting and the rejoining.

Hi Duarte, did you try to knife project from a curve since this question was posted? I can't see the shadow of an answer yet, but would love to share experiences with other users where this works or doesn't... and why heheh...

I just downloaded your blend file and I have been knife projecting like crazy to see where it fails and have come empty handed. Even at grazing angles, inverted normals, from inside or outside the object, even through other objects in the way, cutting never failed. I have no clue what it might be. Are you sure the command is registering? From closer inspection to your screenshot I see no "Knife Project" panel pop up in the tool shelf after you press the button, there should always be an operator panel with tool options there after executing an operator.

Yes, the screen grab is rather crappy, I will try to redo it. Was the .svg shape imported inside the blend file or did you try from one of your svg curves? (I'm not near my 3d computer right now). Thanks

Yes, U used that same exact rounded square in your screenshot and it worked well every time, not sure why it's failing for you. What version of Blender are you using? Have you tried restarting Blender when it fails? It may well be a bug causing trouble.


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Creating beautiful caustics in Cycles
After seeing the results obtained with LuxRender on this page, I was curious to try and reproduce beautiful caustics in Cycles such as these:

I created a scene and added some lights, following the advice given in this video to create the materials, and also trying out other materials.
I find it hard to find much documentation on caustics within Cycles; some people advise to use Sun Lamps, some other recommend emitter planes. Sometimes large emitter planes seem to work, sometimes people recommend smaller emitter planes.
Besides from this confusion, in my various tests, the light that goes through the objects and hits the ground plane is usually very diffuse, of an evenly brightness, and doesn't have many sharp areas.
Here's an example of what I get the closest I get being the shape on the left):

Moreover, in the example given above, caustics appear on two sides of the object, probably due to the light bouncing inside the object and being projected out on both sides.
How should I set up materials and lights for sharp and realistic caustics, in Cycles?
File:

Cycles is not a bidirectional renderer and can only fake caustics. You won't get nice caustics out of it.

Related: http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/49010/2843

For great caustics apart from already mentioned Lux it is worth to mention Yafaray (in PM or SPPM) and Mitsuba (in Energy Redistribution PT mode).


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Installing LuxRender engine changes the appearance of the Cycles render engine
Is it possible that since I installed LuxRender 1.5 on Blender 2.76 yesterday, Cycles has stopped to display its GUI as it used to?
Here is the behavior I am used to:
*-create new scene
-switch to Cycles Render
-in the Materials Panel, enable Nodes for the selected object (default cube)
-Nodes appear in the Node Editor for said object (Shader Nodes is the Default Node view displayed) *
Here is the behavior since today:
-create new scene
-switch to Cycles Render
-in the Materials Panel, enable Nodes for the selected object (default cube)
-Shader Nodes don't appear in the Node Editor for said object, as Compositor Nodes are the Default selection
It does seem like default settings for the display have been corrupted or changed inside Cycles since I installed LuxRender.
Screenshot of the issue (taken right after enabling Nodes for the object):

(this is with the blender version where LuxRender is installed)
Expected behavior (taken after following identical steps):

(this was produced on a brand new version of blender 2.77 installed on the same machine, and with the same result on another machine with a "clean" version of 2.76)
Blend file (requires LuxRender 1.5 and Blender 2.76b to reproduce the bug):

You're in the compositing nodes, click on the materials tab( two to the right). Does that take care of it?

Ok, good point. Still, the thing that happened is that installing LuxRender has corrupted the GUI/display of Cycles in the way that the order of the Node Tree types buttons is displayed in the Node Editor. Compositing / Texture / Shader in my corrupt version, Shader / Compositing / Texture in fresh installs. This is still worrisome, as I have no idea what else has changed (that is visible or not), and since I rely on muscle memory a lot...

I have edited the question to reflect @Timaroberts ' comment.

I've noticed that those node tree type buttons seem to get switched around a lot.. Between different blender versions, addons which add node tree types, etc. Hopefully that part of the interface will get a re-examination with the 2.8 nodify-everything project

@gandalf3 this is the closest thing to an answer, turn it into an answer if you can. Kind of afraid of what "nodify everything" could mean for the next big release, but we'll see I guess !

@Timaroberts can you make it an answer to allow me to accept and close it?


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Ocean modifier with Displace Geometry makes the mesh move up and down
In this question, I am trying to find how to make a simple sphere display small wavelets and ripples to make it look like it's made out of water and subject to tides / wind effect.
One of the effects that the Ocean modifier with Geometry set to "Displace" has on a mesh, is that the object will move up and down, like this:

I understand why it makes the mesh move up and down when the settings are set to "Generate" since it tries to recreate waves and tides (sorta) but here I'm trying to use this modifier to modify a mesh's surface, not to make it move.
Can I use the Ocean modifier this way and have the mesh it's applied to stay "still" or at least not move up and down so much on the Z axis?
Here's the .blend:

Would a wave modifier be suitable with the z axis disabled in place of the ocean modifier? I believe the ocean modifier will always move along the z axis, then again it's not one I use often myself.

Duarte's answer on this question is a better way to do it.


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Particles fall through collision object
I am trying to make leaves fall on the ground but the leaves are intersecting the ground.
This is the collision floor seen from under:

The object has collision enabled and Particle Damping to the max. I've played around with different settings but couldn't find one that worked.
I haven't been able to find a similar question here where the particles are falling onto the object...

Have you applied (Ctrl+A) the collision object's scale? I've had that cause physics collisions issues recently.

To avoid particles to intersect with the ground, check Size Deflect checkbox in particle system Physics settings. This is not a perfect solution either, cause the particles will hover over the ground plane a little, so what you can do is to use this plane as collision box, which won't be rendered and it's duplicate without collision added, which you move closer/furhter away to the particles and which will be rendered. If you need even more physically accurate interactions between leaves and a plane, you would need to use separate objects (which can be created from particles by Shift+CTRL+A) and make them rigid bodies.

Do you mean to make the particles rigid bodies? Or after they have been emitted?

After they've been emitted.

To avoid particles getting through, make sure you have thickness on your floor or object. That's all.


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Snap to face doesn't work
I've been trying for a good 30 minutes now to simply snap a little object to a neighboring face, by following this simple explanation. Instead of going nuts I just thought I'd ask.
The result is never accurate, whatever I try: the smaller object always goes "through" the other mesh at an angle, rotates in every direction except the right one, etc.

I want the little piece to point outwards, with its largest flat face against one of the flat faces of the large shape - as in:

I've tried flipping normals, applying loc/rot/scale on and off, moving the origin of the object to the middle of the face I want it to snap to, tried every setting in the snap tools, but nothing helped.
What are the things to check when trying to snap an object to another, what am I missing?
Blend file:

Answer provided with screenshots and updated .blend file. Please accept and upvote the answer if it solved your problem.

Can you explain what you mean with "adjust the rotation of the small object with the correct angle"?

I've updated my answer. The small object is not rotated properly to fit on a flat surface, so it need to be rotated so that its base is parallel to the face of the big object to fit on smoothly.

Wait, isn't the point of snapping to avoid having to do it by hand? I don't think your answer allows me to position the object on a complex surface as seen in the video I gave in the original question. I edited the .blend file for you to understand, please look at it

First you need to adjust the rotation of the small object to be fitted on the surface with the correct angle as shown below:

After that, switch to edit mode of the big object and switch to Face selection and select the face as shown below:

Then hit Shift+S and select Cursor to Selected as shown below:

After that select the small object and hit again Shift+S and select Selected to Cursor this time and it will work as shown below:

Updated .blend file can be found here:

To avoid these situations you should rotate your original mesh in Object Mode, not Edit Mode. Rotation in Object Mode preserves the local co-ordinates. You have change the object orientation and that is what Blender is now reading when it snaps = it is doing it's job correctly.
There is a way to correct the rotate in Edit Mode but does require an add-on which can be found here https://github.com/egtwobits/mesh-align-plus/releases/tag/v0.3.0. CG Masters also have some explanations / solutions here.
...but all of this could have been avoided by not rotating your original mesh in Edit Mode.

I cannot get snapping to work, even in Object mode. It just makes the small object explode/deform. If you think you succeeded (from the blend file of the original post), please write detailed steps or even screenshots to help me reproduce it.

G to grab and drag it towards the surface - it's not more complicated than that. The only issue is the rotation orientation. I am getting no explode / deform from your original file.

You're telling me that blender is unable to not only fetch the normal of the snapping face, but to rotate the other object to match that normal if the base mesh was rotated and manipulated? Do I need to completely destroy and re-build my Armature just because i wanted to snap a new decal quad to the face of the submesh?!?! that's insane.

First of all, your Screw object has to have correct coordinates. If you rotated it in Edit Mode and it's base is not correct you have to rotate it back so it has nice X, Y, Z axes with Z pointing up in the direction that the screw. Like this:

Then you turn snap to face on, set it to active (so the object's center is used for snapping, not it's closest vertex) and also the "align rotation with the snapping target" right next to it so that it rotates automatically based on the face it snaps to.

After that you just move your screw around at it snaps to whichever surface correctly.


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Trouble connecting bones and finding the right orientation for a spine
So, I'm trying to rig this little guy:

From my understanding the bones need to point outwards, with the thin end of the bone on the outside of the limb.
So it would make sense to me that there's a "knot" somewhere in the body, that everything kind of branches out from, on one end the head and arms, and on the other end the legs.
But how can I make the two ends of this "knot" connect, the top part of the body and the lower part of the body?
I looked at this question, which helped a bit, and also at this but couldn't find an answer.
When I try to parent then connect the two vertical bones of the spine, one of them disappears, and this happens which deconnects some bones:

I don't want that to happen, I want to be able to parent all the bones together.
If I try to re-connect the shoulder bones to this big spine bone, this happens:

Here's the .blend file:

You should activate the 'rigify' addon, add an armature from it (add, armature, human meta rig) and have a look at the way it is done.

See this tutorial on rigging: https://cgi.tutsplus.com/tutorials/building-a-basic-low-poly-character-rig-in-blender--cg-16955
There you can learn some of the fundamentals of a biped character rig. Unlike a human body, all the bones of a rigged character may not connect directly. There you will see how to use Make Parent > Keep Offset to connect your bones in a proper armature.
EDIT: I've constructed a basic rig for your little guy based off the article I linked to. I recommend that you rig him yourself for education's sake, however I am providing the Blend file for your reference.
The Blend exchange site isn't working for me right now, so here's a PasteAll link: http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=46291


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What are the most optimal ways to utilize reference images?
I find the standard Background Images too restricted and I would like to know what are the best ways to use and fine-tune the Image Empties, Import Image as Plane and others.

Hi. Please only ask one question at a time. You are welcome to ask as many questions as you need, but as separate posts.

Having played around with image empties in the past, I've found that (for me) background images really work just as well, and with less clutter in the viewport. Perhaps if you can't find convenient blueprint-style references, image empties could have more utility, but really, imo going solely off perspective references is a last resort.

authors: Салават Хафизов


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Recreating the logitech ghub sphere in shader nodes
I've been trying to come up with a way to recreate the effect used in the image shown below:

An animated version can be found here or on the logitech ghub download page.

As far as I can tell the effect consists of two layers, both covering the sphere in little dots effected by a flow map, which is also used for the plasma effect.
I'm having some problems with projecting the little dots in combination with a flow map without smearing out the effect. Is this even possible with shaders or should I fallback to geometry nodes and render out a zillion physical elements to create this effect?

Definitely. The point instance of  Geometry nodes is super fast. Cycles is not meant for stuff like this and even in Eevee you'd most likely have to write your own shader.

@FrederikSteinmetz You cannot answer an X or Y question with Definitely or yes ;-)

Since Blender 3.1 Cycles can render a point cloud with millions of points really fast at a low sample count (https://youtu.be/kwpj7ZUtnac) The challenge will be how to colorize the points dynamically.


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Blender in 3D printing
I am starting a business in 3D printing and I would like to ask you about Blender as a software for creating models of houses. Is Blender a good choice for this business?
For example: I would get a contract from architect to create a model from 2D plan. And now: Is Blender a good choice for this type of business? Can I easily create a 3D model of that plan and print it or are there any problems like wall thickness and so on?

This question is too subjective. I wouldn't say Blender is so good for business because it's freeware and they are not responsible for any problems that happen. Go look for autodesk's software.

I do not agree with most of the comment above. and, blender is not freeware. t's more. and, it allows you to make good 3d models, even houses. but yes, choosing any software to use is subjective.

@Bradman175 You think Autodesk will reply to your emails or hotfixes the bugs you find because you paid for a licence? We have 15 licences at the office and I can tell you they don't give a flying anything about your case. You run into a dead end with your problem with Maya and guess what, closed software, can't do anything about it. Blender has a much better community and it is a very popular choice for 3D printing as well as the startups. Plus you can easily tinker your way around the software with python as much as you like or even compile your own custom version of Blender.

@Bradman175 - The first sentence is correct. The rest... well, as kheetor already said, paying for a license does not mean that you have better support from the Manufacturer. In every single case within the last 25+ years I used any kind of Software, my problems got solved faster with free software than with proprietary software. And please - look up the term freeware.

Yes, you can use Blender for 3D print modeling. Look for these addons:

"3DPrint Toolbox"
"Measureit"

These addons are not a must, but I highly recommend them, and I'm sure they will help you a lot.
Also I recommend these series:
https://store.blender.org/product/blender-for-3d-printing/
Is not free, but you save you a lot of time. You learn the correct workflow quick and with explanation, no like many people on YouTube who use Blender for two weeks (so they know almost nothing), and they think they can teach others :D


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UV unwrap and Baking two Image Textures
I am very new to blender. I have two image textures. I want to blend both image over a surface and baked it so that I can Import it in Gazebo with all the details. I have attached the output I want and the nodes I have used to get that output. When I baked only one of the texture comes out. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how can I add roughness to the surface so that it won't lose the texture I want.

Hello could you please show more details, like show sceenshots, maybe share the object?

With a screen-grab, please show your shader-tree in the state it's in, when you attempt a bake, and the Bake settings.  A share of a  representative .blend on https://blend-exchange.com/ pasting the link into your post, would be ideal.


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Why i can't use random value node as input for rotation in Transform Geometry in Geometry nodes?
Why is this not possible? I am trying to use random value as random rotation, i even tried align euler to vector node, it also shows red line

What are you trying to randomize, what is your goal here? There's a single sphere connected to the geometry, you can't randomize a single element.

You need to plug a single value node in the ID input to make the Random Value node a scalar (round socket) instead of a field (diamond socket). @DuarteFarrajotaRamos I think it makes sense when you plug the Seed into a group input socket to be able to change from the modifier panel. However rotating a UV Sphere is likely to not be very noticeable :) https://i.sstatic.net/0wKiX.png

Hey guys, i understood the red line concept, thank you very much, what i was trying is to have some random rotation on my object, but i got it now!


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I can see through my low poly character's clothes

I make the suit by duplicate some faces of the body and add the solidify modifier to it. Somehow, I can see through it. How can I fix that?
link to my blender file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aMWmrTZRnbyViD0U6taTERGoQycJf67q/view?usp=sharing

Maybe remove the mesh that is inside the pants, choose a negative Solidify value, use the Data Transfer to transfer the wieght from the legs?

Moonboots was correct, I changed the solidify value to a negative thickness and there don't seem to be any issues now!

yeah, it works but can I ask why?

because you have two meshes that are almost overlapping in the pants, remove the inner one


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Can you get the current active area in Blender Python?
I would like to somehow get the current active area/editor in Blender,so the editor that has the slighly active outline and is under the mouse, since I would like to execute a bpy.app.handlers.depsgraph_update_post diffrently depending on if the active area is the 3d viewport or the outliner.
So far no succes, is it even possible?

It's bpy.context.area usually, but it doesn't seem to be possible to consistently access it from depsgraph_update_post handler. Handlers sometimes have issues accessing context. Maybe whatever you are trying to do could be done some other way?

Thanks! Yeah, its just seems broken when I try it.
It unforently needs to be a handler.

Why do you need this? What's the context? Why does it need to be a handler?

I whant to do a operation every time the dependacy grapth updates if the selection of the current objects has changde. It should then focus on the newly selected objects in the outliner so they are visiable, but not when you click on the objects in the outliner, since then it creates distracting jumps.

Outliner's functions are not well exposed in the API, that would also present a lot of issues. Timers also don't seem to work. It's probably what this is all about.

Oh! Yeah, most likely, thanks anyway! I will see if I can find another workaround somehow.

Doing a new keymap iteam for the outliner, that sets a global variable seems to work as workaround. In the handler its alwayse set to false in the end of the script.
class OutlinerClick(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "outliner_click"
    bl_label = "Outliner Click"
    bl_description = ""
    bl_options = {"INTERNAL"}

    def invoke(self, context,event):
        global clicked_in_outliner
        clicked_in_outliner = True
        return {'PASS_THROUGH'}