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Editing and automatically updating linked objects
I'm currently attempting to link several .blend files into a main project file. The steps I have taken are as follows:

In main project file: File > Link (Ctrl + Alt + O)
Select .blend file to link
Select the scene data, so that all objects and material data are brought in
Data is now in separate scene within project. Select all, Ctrl + L to Make links > Objects to Scene > Original scene of main project
Select the objects that are now in the original scene and make proxy

There is one complication, however. If I wanted to edit the external file and save it, then close and reopen the main project file, I would not see any changes. For example, I tried scaling the external file, but there was no change in the main file. Short of getting external files right the first time around and not needing to ever edit them, is there some way these objects can remain editable from their original external files, while still retaining the ability to translate, rotate and scale?

One (not too simple) way - at least for transforms - could be this: add a new object (eg: en empty) and make it copy your proxy transforms (select first the empty, then add the proxy: go to object panel, right click on transforms, use "copy to selected" just once for transform type copies all axes). Then delete the proxy, and rebuild it. Lastly, do the opposite of before: copy the empty transforms to the new proxy.

Is 'rebuild' some sort of function, or are you referring to making edits to the external file? I'll assume the former, as my attempt to edit the external file did not work.

no, for rebuild, I meant: after you modify the external file object, apply transforms, and save. Then open the linking file: the proxy is still the same. Now delete the proxy, thus the linked object (from which you made the proxy) will get the source edits, instantly. Then you make again a new proxy from it. Having "stored" transforms in the empty before allows you to reapply them to the new proxy.

Okay, I think I've got it working. You're right in that it isn't exactly simple. This will definitely be a pain to do if I have a large number of duplicates and I need to edit the original file. I'm going to keep this question open for a bit, in case there might be other methods, but for now, I'll stick to your method.


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Tiny Parts of my Character are not moving when i move my whole armature. there are not even a vertices there either
This is my first post here so tell me if I'm doing something wrong
My character When I move the central bone

I would reposition the character, selected the character and remove doubles. I know you said that there are no vertices there but something has to be there I would think.

sorry, that didn't work

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to constrain an image to the viewport camera?
In Blender 3.2 I need an image to be the fixed / locked image in the viewport camera (not the render camera).
The reason is that I want to place my scene quick & dirty inside an image, so pan, orient, zoom to find the right match between the background image and the viewport-camera.
All a dozen videos and tutorials I checked would exactly not answer this question.

Just for clarification, since the viewport is only for working on a scene and can be different from the rendered view, why does it have to be the viewport camera instead of the render camera?

If you really want a fixed background image visible in the 3D Viewport (no matter what it looks like in the rendered image, you can go to the World Properties and - instead of using an Environment Texture in the Color like you would when using an HDRI to lighten the scene for example - choose Image Texture.
The advantage of Image Texture is that the default projection method is Flat, which doesn't exist in the Environment Texture (there's only Equirectangular and Mirror Ball), and so you can set the Vector to Window. This will show the image always filling up the window, either the viewport window or the camera's view window. This works in Material Preview and Rendered View, in Cycles and Eevee.

The only problem is, there is no good way to keep the aspect ratio of the image because it is always stretched to fit the viewport dimensions. IF you however want to change its size and placement in the viewport window, you can plug a Mapping node between Texture Coordinate and Image Texture.

With Location you can move the image: -X/+X is right/left, -Y/+Y is up/down
With Scale you can change the size, values < 1 to make it bigger than full screen, values > 1 smaller than full screen.

If you scale the image smaller than full screen, you can set the Image Texture instead of Repeat to either Extend, to stretch the image borders to the viewport borders, or Clip to leave the empty space black.

thx for info Gordon. I've setup so but the img is not cmg yet ... ive looked around a while but didnt see a switch or something to make it visible in the viewport.

[img]https://files.2he.com/uploads003/IMG__2022-08-05__18-58-23__1659718703.jpg

As I state in my answer, this works in Material Preview and Rendered View. Your screenshot is from Wireframe mode.

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


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Python commands listed in the info area do not exist
I'm a Blender beginner just trying to find my way around, with the end goal of fully automating a number of rather pedestrian 3D manipulation tasks. While experimenting with various Python commands I encountered the following situation:

I use the UI to change the scene unit system from the default Blender units to Metric/millimeters (I can also do this in Python). But now the grid units in the 3D view are too small, so they need to be adjusted as well.
I go to the Display section of the Properties screen (window?) and I set the Scale to 0.01, which would give me a decently visible grid.
The Python code shown in the Info area once I execute this command is:
bpy.context.space_data.grid_scale = 0.01
But when trying to run this same command in the Python console I find out that
the SpaceConsole object (.space_data) does not have any attribute named grid_scale. That is also confirmed by the auto-completion feature, and by the Python API documentation that comes with version 2.79 of Blender, which is what I'm running.

A couple of questions related to this case, and the general exercise of trying to familiarize myself with the Blender environment, which so far presents a unexpectedly steep learning curve when it comes to "getting both feet off the ground" (in this case maneuvering around the UI):

How far can I trust the Python commands shown in the Info area while I manipulate objects manually in the 3D view? (This particular one obviously can't be trusted, since it doesn't exist or it's been deprecated.)
Is there any other way to use Python to set the grid scale after I change the scene units (or any time I want to)?
If there is no other way (anymore), then what workarounds exist to achieve this modest goal? (Saving a file with all the correct scene and grid units and loading that instead, etc.)

I apologize in advance for wasting someone's time with newbie questions, but in this case this discrepancy seems to point to a shortcoming in the product, which I would like to confirm (and I am actually reading the _ manual :))

One reason context.space_data in the console isn't working is because of, well, the context. space_data is of the type Space(see here). When you're adjusting the grid scale, the space_data for the screen area 'VIEW_3D'. When you're typing in the console, the screen area is 'CONSOLE', so the 3D view properties aren't available because the context is wrong. Not to mention, getting the space_data that way is read-only.
One way to change the grid scale is this:
for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
        area.spaces.active.grid_scale = 0.01

Resources: Space, Area
It's also helpful to look at the tooltips when hovering over the button/property, as they provide information as well.

Thanks for explaining the issue with the active area, now I understand better what I'm doing (or what I should be doing).

As far as the code sample is concerned, the "area" object (or the bpy.types.Area class) does not have a member named "active". Even if it did, when running the code from the Python console the active area seems to be CONSOLE, so it won't work either way. It almost looks like I should make the VIEW_3D area active first and then try to find a way to set the grid scale. If I figure out how to do it without going overboard I'll post the code back here, in case someone else might need to do this in the future. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

No, sorry, I forgot to add 'spaces' when I copied it from my editor. Fixed now.

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


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Only half the unwrap of a character's head happens. How to fix?
The image shows the results of trying to unwrap this character's head. Only half of the unwrap is displayed. The seams are in the right place according to the tutorial. How do I solve this problem?

You have to apply the mirror modifier first.

Thank you very much, FFeller!


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How do I get this character to follow its walking path?
The character walks in place. There is a path in front of it, but the character does not walk along it. How do I resolve this? I am using version 2.79 currently but will switch as soon as the semester is over. Thanks in advance.

have you clicked on the Follow Path Animate Path button? Maybe share your file (only armature + curve): https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Thank you very much, moon boots!

Ok. I tried what you've suggested. The character still walks in place. Do you have any other suggestions @moonboots ?

please share your file (only armature + curve), use https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

@moonboots I uploaded the file. Thank you in advance for your help.

you need to give the link  ;)

I thought I did when I uploaded the file and copied the link. I must be missing a piece of information. I will try again. Thank you, @moonboots

This is the URL I entered: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/178213/how-do-i-get-this-character-to-follow-its-walking-path?noredirect=1#comment299084_178213 at the giantcow website.

Must be this link:

You've confused Object Constraints with Bone Constraints.
If you want your armature to follow a path you need to give your armature a Follow Path constraint. If I check the Properties panel > Object Constraints tab, I don't see any Follow Path. Actually you've assigned a Follow Path to one of your bones, Ankle.L, you will see it if you switch to Pose mode, select this bone and click on the Bone Constraints tab.
So delete the bone's Follow Path constraint and give a Follow Path constraint to your armature. After that press AltG to make your armature stick to the beginning of the path.

Thank you so very much! I did not spot that at all. I wish I could buy you an adult beverage of your choice. Cheers!

orange juice then! you're welcome  ;)


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How do I fix the arms and legs on this model?
My student used Rigify to build the rig for his model. When he tries to pose the arms, the gauntlets do not move with the rig/arms. He says that he has joined the gauntlets to the rig. Also, when he moves the legs, the legs of the model move in the opposite direction of the rig. I have attached two screenshots illustrating the problems. How would my student resolve these issues? I can attach the blend file as well.
[

Hello, please share your file: https://pasteall.org/blend/

Hello, moonboots! I have uploaded the file via the link you provided.

you need to copy paste the URL it has created  ;)

My apologies. First time using pasteall.

https://pasteall.org/blend/39f0a6549403428e8cc200f3b1045355

Thank you very much, moonboots!

There are several things to do:
Apply the scale of both the armature and the mesh:

Recalculate the normals of the mesh (ShiftN):

Parent again With Automatic Weights. For the gauntlets, as they are not supposed to bend as the rest of the body, select them, on the right of the vertex groups list click on Remove from All Groups then assign to the good bone (like for example forearm.R):

Put the Armature modifier above the Subdivision Surface modifier:

Thank you so much for the very detailed answer, moonboots! I appreciate you greatly.


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Problems posing a kitbash cable run along a path/bezier curve using curve modifier
I've attached my blend file below
https://we.tl/t-2aNH8RbZKT

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.

Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload images or gifs, along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.

Apply the rotation of your object (CtrlA), put it at the same location as the curve's location (select the curve, ShiftS > Cursor to Selected, then select the object and ShiftS > Selection to Cursor). Select your object and in Edit mode rotate it so that it aligns with the X axis:

In the modifier choose Deform Axis > -X. Now it should work if you move it in Object mode:

thankk uu!!! rly appreciate your help here


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Warp multiple meshes into sphere
I imported curves from svg file, converted them to meshes and filled them.
Now i would like to warp them into a sphere, but whenever i try Mesh > Transform > Warp, it only affects one object.

However when i try ⇧ Shift +  W,180 it affects all objects, just what i would like to achieve with warp.

Anyone know how to make Mesh > Transform > Warp affects all objects? Or alternatively a better way to bend this into a sphere since that is my end goal.

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/52904/wrap-curve-around-sphere/52905#52905

you could also try this method with Simple Deform: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/24043/how-to-animate-morphing-a-rectangular-plane-into-a-sphere


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Animation data override?
I'm relatively new to Blender, and I'm creating an animation. I'm using some MoCap software to create animated rigs to then add to models for the animation.
My issue is I don't know how to add animation data after the previous animation is over.
In the gif I added, I want the model to finish the animation from one rig and continue with the other. Is there a way where I don't have override the previous animation data?
Gif of that I'm trying to achieve

do you need to use 2 different armatures? couldn't you use the NLA so that the second animation arrives after the first one?

they are the same armatures, how would I use the NLA? im not quite sure what that is im still pretty new to blender lol. Thanks for the help!

ill do some research into NLA. do you have any other suggestions as to how I can fix this issue? thanks again

Yep NLA was the right way to go! thanks so much for all the help!

What you need to do is push down your actions in the NLA windows and make the second action follow the first one. Maybe follow some tutorials on NLA because you may be a bit lost at the beginning, for example keep in mind that if you have an action playing in the Dope Sheet it will override the NLA actions.


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Reuse same UV map for duplicate objects
I have following object:

All 4 hand of windmill are duplicates of each other, only rotated. I already UV mapped 1 hand and now I'd like to use same UV map and textures on other hands. When I try to unwrap other hands, I don't get the same UV map and I can't reuse same texture. The result of trying can be seen on 2nd hand. Is it possible to reuse textures and UV maps?

if you did not modify the objects in edit mode, you can try this method : https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/24457/11431

Make instanced dplicate copies of the object instead, UV data should be kept in sync automatically.

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos, please post that as answer and possibly add this link: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/editors/3dview/object/editing/duplication.html#linked-duplicates. Thanks, that helped me.

Blender supports linked duplicates where new linked object has all data linked to the original object. More info in Blender Manual.

Even if you edited the objects(same vertex count with different mesh data), you can still use ctrl+L to copy UV map.

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


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How do I mirror a object without the mirror modifier?

My cat-human hybrid I'm making needs a right ear and it needs to be mirrored.

What's the reason for not being able to use a mirror modifier?

I'm new to this and in other programs, I use you need to install mods so I thought it would be like that with blender.

There isn't need to install anything to use Mirror modifier or any modifier, just open Modifiers tab in Properties editor

Well, if you don't want to use a Mirror Modifier, you could nevertheless use it and apply it afterwards by pressing "Apply" after you're done modeling.

Or you go into Edit Mode, delete half of your mesh (depends on which axis you want to mirror, in this case I guess it's the X-Axis), then press W and select "Symetrice". There are different options when you open up the toolbar (T), so play around with the axis mirror type.
Attention: Be sure that the origin of your model is located at the cutting edge, otherwise it will cut it where the origin is located at. To move the origin, select the cutting edge in Edit Mode, press Shift + S, select "Cursor to Selection", the go into Object mode, select your mesh and press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + C and select "Origin to 3D Cursor". And make sure to apply any rotation or scale changes before doing so.

TYSM ~! [^w^]/

This works both in Object and in Edit mode.

Place the 3D cursor where the mirror axis origin would be (Shift+C will place it at the origin (position $0,0,0$)
Change Pivot center for rotation or scaling to be 3D cursor (or press . (dot) on the keyboard)
Duplicate the object or part of mesh you want to mirror (Shift+D)
Press Ctrl+M (or find command Object > Mirror Mesh > Mirror) and then select the axis you want to mirror the duplicated object along (in interactive mode press X, Y or Z on the keyboard). Click left mouse button to confirm.

In order mirroring to work correctly in Object Mode you have to Apply Scale and Rotation on the object first.

Note that Ctrl+M mirrors by scaling selection to -1 which leads to inverted normals so it's best to recalculate them after executing Mirror


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How to combine object hierarchy meshes as a single one
I'm trying to export my model to Unity as a single object.
However I'm having a big trouble combining all gameobject children meshes as one. This is the hierarchy I get in Unity:

What I want to achieve
Within Unity, the hierarchy is completely useless to me. I want to have a single model, without any children meshes. In sum, all combined into one, just "object":

I already tried

I tried using a Combine Meshes script within Unity, however unsuccessful.
I tried to change the export settings in Blender, but I'm unable to get it as a single object!
I tried joining all the meshes (CTRL J) but I can never get a single object.

How can I achieve this?
Best Regards.

Welcome to Blender.SE. I think it would be helpful if you describe better what you did with ctrl+j command. What exactly failed? Are all the objects mesh type or other (curves, text,..)?

I'm unable to use the Join (CTRL+J) because it's blocked, probably something related with the mesh type. When I join one of the child instances, I get "No mesh data to join".

"When I join one of the child instances, I get "No mesh data to join"" that has to be in the question body as this is important part. This means that either you have no active object of mesh type (selected last) or one of the objects you're trying to join isn't of the mesh type at all (lamp, curve etc)

I suspected that was the problem. I'm not sure how I did it, I was probably over selecting, but I managed to get it fixed. I selected all groups using 'A' (instead of SHIFT+LMB) and converted everything into a single unit using Join option (Object -> Join). Thank you Carlo and Mr Zak.

The only difference right now is the file-size (from 2MB to 14MB).


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Someone can confirm if Quadro P5000 works fine with EEVEE?
I didn't find if Quadro P5000 works fine, at least more or less as a GTX1080 or even as a GTX1070, rendering with EEVEE. I'm afraid of more incompabilities, bugs or crashing or things like that than a GTX10xx series... Have I nothing to be afraid of ? could anyone confirm me if EEVEE works fine with this graphic card ?
One of my costumers can only get a P5000 in time for a presentation with EEVEE.
THANKS A LOT ! Happy blending to all !


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Blender: Rendering volumetric stroke dots of the Grease Pencil?
In Blender: is there any way to turn the dots of a volumetric stroke (when using the grease pencil) into renderable dots? So to actually see the dots when rendering the image?

Blender Cycles or Blender Internal?

Possible duplicate of Rendering Grease Pencil animation?


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Is there a way to make the grid bigger in the U.V. screen?
Is there a way to make the grid bigger in the U.V. screen? I know scaling the object in U.V scales the texture but what if I need two textures and they overlap? is there layer screens in U.V. editor? Sorry for asking a different question now.

Like is there a way to scale it up to make the texture show then make the the unwrap smaller to be able to organize it. Or am I going at this the wrong way haha?

Possible duplicate of Add different materials to different parts of a mesh?

I'd say you are going about it the wrong way, it'd be better to do some reading on uv packing.

You can have any number of UVs for a single mesh. In the object data tab of the Properties panel you'll find the UV Maps section. Select the verts of your model where you want texture1 to go and hit U-->Unwrap. That will create the first UV Map. Now hit the "+" button next to the window and select the verts where you want texture2 to go and hit U-->Unwrap. That will create UVMap.001. By control/clicking on the names you can change them (for example, "UVMap.001" to "Texture2" so it's easy to find later). You can do this many times but there is a limit (not sure what it is but high enough for most needs). Finally in the node editor Add-->Input-->UVMap, select map and plug into vector slot on your texture node. Repeat for all textures.

Thanks! This helps a lot! I'm big on organizing when it comes to technology. Saves a lot of time this way. Hierarchys are my best friend :D.


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crease in model when subdividing
When subdividing I get a giant crease down the middle of my models face. I'm relatively new to 3D modeling and would appreciate any help that is given.
I have a mirror modifier and subdivision modifier on. I'm not sure what other information I would need to give. If more information is needed please let me know. Thank you for anyone that helps.
This is when the model isn't subdivided.

this is when it's subdivided

hello, maybe you have inner faces or overlapping vertices? Have you tried a Merge by Distance? Please share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Hello :). My bet is on flipped faces: Inaccurate Shading on Object

Sorry about the late response. I also go to school full-time and work. How do I share my blender file? unless, I upload to google drive then you download from there. I have tried merge by distance...It didn't work sadly.
And hello ^_^
The normals needed to be recalculated! Thank you for your help! Now I just have to clean this mess....

Credit goes to Jachym Michal
"Hello :). My bet is on flipped faces: Inaccurate Shading on Object – Jachym Michal 22 hours ago"
It's in the comments, just recalculate normals to face outside, a (selects all) -> Shift-N


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removing intersecting geometry in blender 2.9
In blender 2.79 we could use the boolean carve solver to just keep the meshes on the outer surface, eg:
this:

could be maintained to this:

but, the carve solver was dropped since 2.8. Does anyone have any workaround or technique to achieve this in blender > 2.8?(except for  the remeshing in blender sculpt mode, which is destructive as well as requires too much density to cover the details)

You could use a boolean modifier, with "difference" or "union" to join them

it also worked in 2.9

this works only if the two meshes are separate, if the two meshes have some vertices merged, then this doesn't work. E.g. try joining the two spheres > Ctrl+J , and merge at least one vertex, then removing the intersecting geometry like this(Union or difference) doesn't work, but it used to work with boolean modifier's carve solver, back in 2.79 days. :-(

@juztcode Hmm.. I'm not sure there's a proper way to do that besides remesh, using remesh will surely destroy the mesh

yeah, the algorithm is not doing a good job at that, the carve was however acceptable

Yes, Cikitta Tjok is right. You can use the Boolean Modifier and select Union.

If you like, in the viewport you can go to Object -> Apply -> Visual Geometry to Mesh.

This way you can apply the modifier on the mesh and "bake" it. This step makes both sides of the mesh editable for weight painting, for example.

This "visual geometry to mesh" only applies the modifier stack it seems. And the union operator of the bool. mod. only works if the two meshes are separate, if the two meshes have some vertices merged, then this doesn't work. E.g. try joining the two spheres > Ctrl+J , and merge at least one vertex, then removing the intersecting geometry like this(Union or difference) doesn't work, but it used to work with boolean modifier's carve solver, back in 2.79 days. :-(


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information about the data parameter in layout.prop
According to the documentation, the bpy.types.Panel.layout.prop(...) is defined as:

, the data parameter is of type AnyType, and if we head to the This AnyType documentation page:
It says that the class is an:
RNA type used for pointers to any possible data

I am confused what this line really means.
Because, I'm really just experimenting around with the api, since not much concrete resources are available. And, I passed the type: bpy.types.PoseBone to make a rig control UI with:
bpy.types.Panel.layout.prop(bpy.context.active_object.pose.bones['head'],...)

Is AnyType more like a generic type, and what are the possible 'types' that could be passed as the data parameter?

For example sake for the AnyType object being the active  PoseBone type instance bpy.context.active_pose_bone which has a "scale" property use layout.prop(context.active_pose_bone, "scale")   ... pretty much any blender object that has properties can be used as "data".

@batFINGER, is this data equal to bpy.data?

No It can be any blender object eg layout.prop(bpy.context.object.modifiers["Array"], "count") if you have an array modifier named array on context object.  Or layout.prop(bpy.data, "is_dirty") or.... Turn on developer extras in Prefs > Interface > display right click on any UI element and "view source" .. will give countless examples of the "any type" nature here.


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Geo Nodes Branching, forking, splitting
I can instance a mesh onto a curve to make a cable with a plug at the end. I've placed an object at the other end of the cable to act as a junction where two cables would split off, forming a 'Y'.
Question; How would I place multiple curves to start out of the junction mesh at Surface (1)?
THanks

Some of the nodes you're using, Point Instance for example, are deprecated in newer versions of Blender. I'm using 3.2, so my setup will look very different from your current one, but the logic is largely the same so hopefully it won't be too hard to follow. Since you have two empties already placed where you want the new curves to go, I used a similar scene. The two empties are parented to the main socket body:

Here, I created two Curve Lines (Shift+A > Curve Primitives > Curve Line) inside the Geometry Nodes itself and gave them a simple circular profile to mimic plug pins, but of course, you could use objects from outside via an Object Info node. In this second example I'm bringing in an outside spiral object and instancing them on a Curve Line I created between the two empties. The Resample count then determines how many copies are placed on that line:

thank you, this is perfect, especially the extra step of more the 2.

@OthoapProto You're welcome. You might wanna accept it as a solution then.


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Add Modifier options to a line of py
What is the syntax to add option/types to a modifier line of py.

thanks

Operators don't return the object they act upon. For creating a modifier you might as well use mod = bpy.context.active_object.modifiers.new(type="SCREW", name="Your modifier name") and then mod.axis or mod.angle

The syntax of Python allows you to add no more than one dot operator to a function return, so you can't add a second one.  Further, if you do add one dot operator, you can't access the return value from the function anymore, and so can't use the dot operator on it again.
Thus,
bpy.context.active_object.modifiers.new(type="SCREW", name="Your modifier name").axis = 'X'

is legal because bpy.context.active_object.modifiers.new returns a Modifier and you can immediately use the modifier.  You will see this form in a few sample programs but it's generally not a good idea.
It is equivalent to mod = bpy.context.active_object.modifiers.new(type="SCREW", name="Your modifier name") ; mod.axis = 'X' ; del mod
But once you've done the equivalent of deleting mod, you can't access it again.
So the typical solution would be to do the assignment to retrieve the result of the function call, and then use that object to set the values, as in the answer mention in a comment on the question.
mod = bpy.context.active_object.modifiers.new(type="SCREW", name="Your modifier name")
mod.axis = 'X'
mod.angle = 6.28310
etc

Marty, It worked great! Thanks for the education and the example. It will be nice to work through the many modifiers I use and customize them to a more specific first-time assignment.


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Editor Keyboard Maps not specific
Why is the blender editor menu keyboard map not specific
Image Editor and UV Editor are both Shift f10
and trying to change the keymap failed.
I don't understand why each editor doesn't have its own keymap.

It's the same, because it's the same editor; only presenting a different interface.  If you hit F10 multiple times, it will cycle between the two interfaces.
The same thing happens with F3, the node editor and several others.  Many of Blender's editors are instances of a shared editor that just presents different interfaces depending on what it is used to edit.

Thanks, Marty, you come to the rescue again. Sad to hear that multiple click will not work with in PME (Pie Menu Editor)


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Grow selection inward?
Can you grow a selection inward. CTRL (+)&(-) will grow a selection but its outward

it doesn't seem to exist

Maybe an add-on can do that…or you wrote your own add-on ♂

Does something like this work for you? It doesn't "step" the selection area, unfortunately - it just gets everything within the loop.

Yes! that is the tool I needed, Don't know why it didn't work for me before. Glad you suggested trying it.


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install confusion
Running Win8.1 64 - I've uninstalled blender via Programs and Features. As well hunted down and deleted any left over files and folders. Then reboot PC, downloaded the blender MSI installer for win64. Ran the installer from J: drive. Blender install onto C: It put an icon on the desktop, I lunches and runs. BUT
I don't have a "Blender Foundation" folder under C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming. There is a "Blender Foundation" folder Program Files. With my old install there was a "Blender Foundation" folder under C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\ with all the support folders.
Any idea why this install is different? thanks for even reading this let alone helping

Look under some of the other Appdata subfolders, it may be there. Be sure of the user of course.

Thanks, there are many application sub folders under AppData, all are to things like Adobe, apple Logitech, on and on. AppData is the root of were the Blender Foundation folder would reside just like all the other installed programs.

Have you actually run Blender after install? Said folder is only created after first run

Thanks for reply, Yes I did run blender. I've had some success. After a register cleaning and a reinstall of the latest blender MSI I got the C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming "Blender Foundation" folder back. But now any Ctrl+U after customizing my UI or installing addons will corrupt the startup.blend file. So something is still screwed up

Now any old .blend file will not open blender, blender just quits if I open any old file, OH BOY

are you double clicking old .blend files or opening them through the blender file>open menu? double click action could be screwed up for .blend files, maybe some registry leftover from previous install try...

Yes I did both double click .blend and open from blender. Both close the program. What is I reinstall and RUN as Admin?

Ok to recap. I had problems installing an addon (I will not mention the addon because it was my fault not the addon). So my main issue was blender would not open if I saved Ctrl+U a second screen to multiple monitors. I have 3 monitors and I would Shift Click on the blender slide out new screen to get a new independent blender window and drag that over to a monitor. Then I would Ctrl+U to save that window to that screen. That act would write to the C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.79\config\startup.blend file and the next time I opened blender BAM blender would not open. I would have to delete the startup.blend file to open blender.
So the fix came down to. I update video drivers before install said addon. So I rolled back the video drivers and BAM I can now save (Ctrl+U) multiple screens and open blender. OH THAT WAS FUN.
Thanks all for your input


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collection instants don't render PNG alpha as transparent
Collection instants don't render PNG alpha as transparent

Sorry, just figured it out. I had a Mask Modifier on the object. Deleted it and all is fine.


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viewport "Solid" mode object mirroring culling issue
In 2.90.0 the 3d viewport "Solid" mode some mirrored objects aren't culled. No issue in "Texture" mode. I've checked normals with no change to the problem. Other objects that are mirrored don't have an issue.
thanks for any help

Did you check Object Properties > Viewport Display > In Front?

@HISEROD, Yes Object Properties > Viewport Display > In Front was the problem, thanks. However when I first view "In Front" it was NOT checked. So I checked it then unchecked it and BAM fixed it. Again thanks for the help.


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Delete a scipt that autoloads that was run
I ran a script that made a panel tab in N tools and I want to delete it from autoloading. Where are they stored? BTW I've blender Zip installs
thanks

If you simply ran the script and did not import it as an add-on, Blender should automatically remove the code on exit.

Try right clicking on the UI of the panel and "Edit Source"  if successful report back the path of that file.  It could be an enabled addon, registered script in startup file,  or in startup folder.

I’m noticing the context of the question. It sounds like you installed an add-on. How and where exactly did you get and run this script? Can you share the script with us?

Afaik you cannot delete the script from the outside, but you CAN disable its execution temporarily so you can get instide the blend file. Run blender from the system command line with the disable autoexec flag, like this:
blender —disable-autoexec

…and then open your file with that instance of Blender.
PS: note that if blender has not been added to PATH on Windows, this will not work directly. First, either navigate with Windows Explorer to blender’s program files and open the command line there, or just open the command line and navigate to the directory first:
cd C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender

.\blender —disable-autoexec

The .\ on the blender line is necessary in PowerShell.
Of course, you can also just add blender to PATH, but that’s an OS-specific question.

Thanks, Where to I run that line? In Blender Text Editor? The added tab to the N Panel is not specific to a .blend file. Its now part of my blender UI even with New files.

@OthoapProto Its not in blender. This task is running blender anew via your operating system’s command line, and giving it special arguments. The command line is available in Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell on Windows, LXTerminal in most Linux distributions.

Thanks All, I had forgotten the tab I wanted to delete I made with an Addon Called PME (Pie Menu Editor). DUMP of me. thanks again to all.


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2.92 f12 Cycles HDRI renders Black
No matter what I do no light from World HDRI in Cycles render. Just renders BLACK. Please view the attached pic to set up. So frustrating World and Viewport hdri are not synced

Got it, IN Properties > Render Layer > Filter > Include - the Environment was not checked, OMG is there not a way to build a UI that doesn't hide and spend stuff all over the place?

If you found a solution, please write it on the answers section so
that other users with a similar question can learn from your
experience. Read:
Can I answer my own question?, read: https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer

You say in your photo that the node is an Environment Map, yet you are using an Image Texture Node - you must use an Environment Texture Node. There is no such option as "Flat" on an Environment Texture Node:


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can't see objects in 3d viewport
can't see objects in 3d viewport regardless of clipping. There seems to be inconsistencies in the 3d viewports. Often when importing an object they appear in the outline but not in the viewport. Sometimes if I open a second 3d viewport, the object shows, but not others. Please see the attached screen grab.

try this https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/271224/142292

Is everything here in the default positions? Is this the default blender cube and camera?

I guess just a mystery


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no cycles f12 render or viewport with RTX 4090
Just built 1/27/23 a Win 11, AMD 7059x, 128gb RAM, RTX 4090 PC all software is up to date. Will not f12 render or viewport render in Cycles. Object/sceen not there. Tried to many things to list.
Question: Can you use 4090 with benders cycles?
thanks

Sure you can use an RTX 4090 with Cycles. It's the fastest GPU at the moment. opendata.blender.org has over 1200 benchmarks for it. Your question is hard to answer because there are many reasons why an F12 render doesn't work. Can you render the default cube? Does the scene look ok in the viewport? What does the render output look like? Black screen? Which render settings do you use?

I may have found a solution (or error). I had set OptiX as my Cycles Render device selection in preferences/system. Today I was installing and testing the latest version of BoxCutter/HardOps -- Switching to Cycles left Blender hanging. After some time the white screen went back into an active Blender window, but no lights being rendered in the preview. I noticed a small message at the top left of the blender GUI:

Requested OSL group data size (2112) is greater than the maximum
supported with Optix (2048)

This prompted me to go into the preferences and switch the Cycles Render device from OptiX to CUDA. And now everything is working smooth as butter.


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What is Clamp Direct/Indirect?
What does the "Clamp Direct" and Indirect values mean? I may seem silly but i'm really new to blender. Could you please tell me what are they useful for? Thanks!

Here is the plasmasolution's video about the feature: https://youtu.be/EfB9zj78wW4?t=31s. You can find a brief explanation also in the manual: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/render/cycles/settings/scene/render/integrator.html

Clamp puts a limit to the intensity of light bounced directly and indirectly by surfaces.
It can be used to prevent the annoyoing "fireflies" (random intense pixels in your render) but it is advised to avoid using this feature as it harms the realism of the rendered scene.
It is a good advice to never ever use clamping on direct, and if you're going to use indirect, keep the value rather high (close to the clipping value of the view transform you use) so you don't lose too much energy in your render and bounces and reflections stay realistic.
Using such conservative values for clamping will reduce its efficiency at preventing fireflies, but keep in mind that if you're aiming to photorealism clamping should be your last resort.


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What does the Render and Preview of the Samples section do?
Yesterday, i put my animation to render, it went fine. But one thing that bothers me is: What is the Render and Preview? I actually discovered that the Render is something like the quality, so i keep it on 128 because it is fast and the quality is great for me. But what is Preview? And what should i keep it on? Any help would be appreciated.
I use the CUDA with GPU Compute rendering (cycles). I'm new to Blender so i may seem silly.

The preview setting determines the quality of the rendering in your viewport, when you hit Shift+Z. Since it's always refreshing and recalculating the image whenever you change the view or a material setting or else, you will probably want it to have far lower settings than your render settings.

The Render samples is for your final render when you hit the render button
The Preview is when you switch your 3D view to be rendered. Its a quick view.

And what happens when i change it to 0? And does decreasing it make my Blender performance generally better?

If you set the preview samples to 0 (zero) it will render samples into infinity or until something in the scene has changed, in which case the preview render will restart. You cannot set the render samples to 0.
Yes, when the preview samples has been completely rendered it will stop rendering and thus, the resources used while rendering will be freed up to do other things.


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Out of VRAM while it's not
I just ran into a problem where Blender would crash during a cycles render with Windows saying it had to be closed since I don't have enough VRAM. I have a 1080ti which has 11gb VRAM. My scene peaks at 7gb~ and just closes mid render. I've monitored it with GPU-Z and MSI Afterburner at the same time, both say 6.9gb VRAM used.
My idle VRAM usage (everything closed for the render) is around 500mb~

I couldn't use the blenchmark since a error message pops up and it says that I use different GPU's while I just have one installed, otherwise I would've included that.
My GPU drivers are up to date aswell as Blender itself.
Sure I could just try to minimize the RAM usage overall, but it's clearly not using the full capabilities of my GPU, and CPU rendering takes 7x as long so that's not acceptable either.

just guessing but maybe that "different GPU" is detected as having less VRAM or something?

Might be that Windows has a timeout recovery (TDR) system that detects if a GPU can't be accessed by system in a given amount of time - the default  is two seconds. It then “reinitializes” the WDDM driver and resets the GPU. If you are computing difficult stuff, Cycles might cause the gpu not reporting to system for longer than that. This will stop the rendering process. The solution is to set registry key TdrDelay at address HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/GraphicsDrivers to value 0 (disabling the timeout). If that solves it I'll write it as answer.

Did you mean I have to create a Key at the said location? I'm a bit confused.


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Code advice for blender
New to coding, Where to start, Where do I look to understand blender tool tips?
TO change blender tools tips is that a kernel thing or could a python script over ride tool tip?
Thanks

HI. Can you expand on what you mean by "understand" tooltips? What is it about the tooltips you don't understand? Also, if understanding tooltips and editing tooltips are two separate questions, then please ask them separately.

I've learned one thing here at stack exchange over the last few months. I'm clearly not skilled enough to even ask the right question's. I applaud your standards and would not want to muddy the waters. I withdraw my question and membership. I hope someday to meet BSE's standards and be able to contribute someday.

No one is asking you to remove your question or trying to suggest that you are no 'worthy' to ask. There is an [edit] link under your question which allows you to add more information. I'm sure you can expand on your details a bit.

Before you go, you may find this post of some use.

He wants to change tooltips in blender. And he wants to understand how they are stored. What exactly is hard to understand about this question?

@Haunt_House I was unsure if it was 2 separate questions: One on understanding tooltips (e.g. interpreting the python displayed in the tooltip) and one about changing the source code. That's why I asked for some clarification.

@OthoapProto Yes we can seem a bit strict on what questions we allow. But every new user have a lot to learn, blender BSE its no small task. However you deleting your account is not going to help. You've been here for 4 months (and quite frankly you are writing better posts then many new users.) and you've already been a help to some folks. Please don't leave. I'd rather have users that do "not want to muddy the waters" then the ones that just spam out bad questions. (which you are not one).


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Node group input not colored
When I add an Input to the Node Editor Group interface how does it know what type of function it is? The Plug icons are all gray not blue, yellow, green.  Screen shot of blender node editor group interface.


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change asset browser material thumbnail
Under Properties>Materials>Preview you can change the thumbnail example type
Is there a way to change the asset browser's material thumbnail type to your own model?

You can load a custom preview but you have to render it to a file on your system and load it manually for each material though.

Thanks, what folder does the image go into ?

It can be any image you have on your system

Yes, I understand an image can replace the AB standard thumbnail. My question is Where does that image go within the Blender folder? thanks

I'm not 100% sure but I think it doesnt. The only thing that's stored is the path link to the image file, which is dynamically fetched whenever you open this particular asset library to display it


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Fixed DPI when UV unwrapping
Cheers everyone! I'm planning to UV-unwrap models and create textures elsewhere (mainly Photoshop). However, I'd want to add sprites and geometric shapes that must keep a specific size in the texture and in the final piece.
Is there a way to fix a 300 DPI resolution in the UV map, using the absolute size of the 3D object for scale?
Of course i would need to build a rather small object to prevent enormous UV maps.
Thank you in advance for all the answers!


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Python Math Functions Fail In Blender
My problem is this: I try and run the script in Blender's text editor and the script fails to math functions, cos() does not work.

When I run the same code in Blender's Python console my pasting it directly, there is no problem

What is the reason / how to get it work from the Text Editor?

You need to either use the math namespace because you've imported it eg math.cos(angle) or to use directly, from math import cos.  For convenience sake the math and mathutils methods have been imported for you in the console. from math import * (See banner message).

Always check the system console for errors. NameError: name 'cos' is not defined

Answered by @batFINGER in a comment: You need to either use the math namespace because you've imported it eg math.cos(angle) or to use directly, from math import cos. For convenience sake the math and mathutils methods have been imported for you in the console. from math import * (See banner message).

The information in the answers turned out to be useful. I could deduce the syntax at least for the math functions I needed. Now the script works technically. Only thing left is to make it work logically :)

Then at least upvote it and accept it as answer.

Sorry for my ignorance. Answer accepted with pleasure.


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How to unwrap multiple planes and have them exactly overlap?
I'm currently modeling a stadium for a game and am trying to find a quick way to get all the rows of seating to share a UV image. Each plane is the same height but differs in length, but I can just have the UV image repeat itself for longer planes.

Here you can see how I'd like each plane to land on the UV map, obviously differing in length.

I've just did a smart unwrap, but it lays them all out without overlapping. Is there a way to have them all overlap in the UV without having to painstakingly move each one by hand into the correct area? Even if they were all along the same X plane, not overlapping, that would work fine. Just now, they're stacked with spacing in between them which throws off most of the rows of seats, making them cut in half or floating and other issues.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

You can do this by using magic UV addon.
After enable addon go to edit mode, select one plane, unwrap it how you need, than press U -> copy/paste UV -> Copy UV
Next select all planes with same size and U -> copy/paste UV -> Paste UV
In this case you need to repeat this operation as many times as you have variations in length.
UPD Found this addon: Textools that can easily achieve your task:

Thanks for the reply, but unfortunately 90% of them are all different lengths due to the tapered design of stadium seating.

I found a work around. If I unwrapped in as a Smart UV Project, it placed all the unwrapped planes tightly together, as in no space between them. So, if I aligned one of the planes to the corresponding UV image, the rest of them repeated correctly.


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Action Editor keyframes only showing when I have bone selected
In the action editor, my keyframes only show when I have the corresponding bone selected. Before, they were showing regardless if I had the bone selected or not. So how can I switch it back so the keyframes show at all times? Any help is appreciated.

Could you please provide the blend file or at least a screenshot?

In the Dopesheet you may have the Only Show Selected option (former Only Include Channels Relating To Selected Objects) enabled, just disable it.


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How can I make 2 separate meshes blend seamlessly while keeping them as separate meshes?
I'm trying to make a player model for a video game that can have changeable clothing. So I would have a mesh for the head, torso, legs, feet, and hands. The problem I'm having tho, is that the meshes do not blend seamlessly. There is a very apparent cut where the meshes connect:  How can I make this cut seamless for all the different meshes? Any help is appreciated.

Position all mesh joins under the clothing.
In fact you shouldn't need to "join" the meshes, you position a head and shirt so that the shirt is over the top of the neck vertices.
Another option is to have all clothing and head details in textures, so you always use one solid mesh. Maybe a collection of different complete character meshes with different texture options.

I think this can be done nicely with a shrinkwrap modifier on a vertex group (the neckline of the head mesh) and then using a data transfer modifier to blend the normals so it looks like a smooth connection.
This video explains that in detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFz5gzvM9s&t=289s


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How to build a material for an alligator watch strap?
I'm trying to learn how to build more complex materials for cycles. For a watch model I've made I would like to have leather alligator-style straps, like these:

Not sure how I would attack this. Have a pattern for the bigger patches, and use as a bump/displacement map, plus as a mask for smaller streaks/scratches?

Main problem/challenge here is that it's really hard to create such irregular pattern in Cycles. Google a bit for 'cycles irregular bricks' or something similar and you will see many threads started but not solved. This is better example of what you need, I think: https://previews.123rf.com/images/soesoe/soesoe0607/soesoe060700084/465906-Croco-Leather-Texture-Stock-Photo.jpg


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Workflow for multi-subject, multi-angle compositions
I've been tasked to render six different products, from six different angles. The products are similar in shape, but has some variations in textures and meshes. The setup requires that each angle has its own lighting, plus certain parts of the product require indivdual lighting. So each angle of a product will end up with three+ images/parts, with slightly different light that needs to be composed together.
Today I go angle-by-able for a product, render out the parts by toggling lights on and off. Then I compose the things in photoshop. Takes a lot of time. And if I change some small thing in a material I have to do it all again.
Can someone recommend a workflow and/or file setup where this can be a bit more streamlined? My dream setup would be to just press a button (ie., run a script) and have it be composed directly. But even if that's not doable, I would just love to automate the generation of the different parts somehow.
Would you have one file per angle, with different render layers for different lights, and then link the products in there?
Or would you have one file per product somehow, linking in the lighting and use render layers somehow?

Why not setup several scenes in the same file, each with its own lighting and sharing the main subject object. You can then render from another scene and automatically import the results from all scenes into the compositor layets to assemble the final image.


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Fog in Blender: Through World node or Object Node?
I recently started to work with the volume shader in Blender 2.83.
I've got two questions:

What is the difference between connecting Volume Scatter to WORLD NODE and OBJECT NODE?
Which shader is better for fog? Volume Scatter or Principle Volume.

There are many ways to do fog in blender, and each one has different outcomes, the question is not what is better, but which one works for the desired outcome and or the computing power you have access to.

Using volumetrics (volume scattering) will yield the most realistic looking fog.
There are two ways to do it:
1- Adding volume scatter to the world  volume will mean that the whole scene is surrounded by suspended particles (like smoke or haze).
2- Creating a mesh that is used as a Volumetric Domain, instead of surrounding the scene but just the areas that you need the volume scattering. Again, this is done by adding a volume scatter node to the volume of the mesh.

The main difference is that when you add volume scattering to the world you will never see the end of the fog (well, the end will be the clipping distance of the camera), whereas using a volumetric domain the fog is contained within a certain shape and sometimes the end is noticeable and unrealistic.
The problems with of using the world are that you cannot combine volumes and textures. Once you add volume to the world it occludes any color or sky or HDR imagery. Also it requires more computing time and resources. Another limitation is that it won't work when using a "sun" lamp, but will work wiht point, spot or area lights.
Having a volumetric domain requires less resources, since the area to calculate can be smaller, and will allow you to use textures in the world. If you want to use HDR or sky textures, this is the only way to do volumetrics. WIth a volumetric domain you can use a "sun" lamp.
It is important to understand that whenever you add volume scatter in any form, there will be more noise in the scene, a clean image will require more samples to render. Using volume scatter will also result in more "fireflies" (bright pixels), to minimize that please read through the many posts on the subject that exist in this site.
The lights in the scene, will also seem darker, so the energy values will need to increase. Another thing to keep in mind, is that every light on the scene will show in the atmosphere affecting the overall contrast of the image. Hiding light sources will require extra effort.

A different way to do fog is by faking it with a Mist pass. A mist pass doesn't require much computing power and can be combined over the rendered image in the compositor.

The mist pass works by making objects in the distance seem brighter and less defined. The mist pass has control for start, end and density.
The mist pass is useful to create more realistic scenes without much effort by recreating the atmospheric haze that we experience in the real world, where objects far away seem to have less contrast.
The downside of the mist pass is that there is no interaction with the mist and the lights, so it will not create volumetric shadows or "god rays".

Thank You so much! One last question I have is: When applying fog using Volume Scatter shader, Why does the volume within the object go away when changing the world background color to black? When the WORLD background color is in default, the volume appears to be there but changing it to dark removes volume from the object.

You can't combine volume scatter and a  world texture or color, to do that you need a volume scatter domain (a mesh that surrounds the scene with volume scatter)


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Paticles dont get rendered, only the emitter
I want to render a scene from a simulation that involves a particle system + quick explode. My particles get emitted by an object and everything looks correct in the viewport render.
But in the final render (Render Image), it only displays the emitter object and not the particles.

I played around and tried all combinations of Show Emitter, Visibility in Render etc., but it doesn't work. Also, I applied bake in particle settings > cache.
See blend file for details: https://pasteall.org/blend/c2afb5f482464b229715ca50ef0b9e3b

Disable under Properties window > Physics > Rigid Body for your particle object.
RB is not used in calculation of this sim anyway.
This can be the conflict – blender tries to sim RB and Particles at the same time.

NOTE: It is weird ... when RB is disabled for this object, object disappears from your Collection. You can find it in Outliner when you switch from current View Layer (outliner type) to Blend File (outliner type) ... inside Collections > RigidBodyWorld ... move it back to your collection. I would expect an oposit behaviour.


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Use Solidify modifier

As you can see while using Solidify some faces appeared outside the mesh. I want them to be inside as here

Here's a drawing to illustrate what I want.

In green this is what I want. In the second color red is the original and the dark-red is effect of Solidify. I marked also with blue and green from which faces Solidify created others.
What I want to do is clamp these walls in mesh, so they cant go outside the mesh. In this case it's deleting those 2 triangles on the right. Can somebody share with me their solution?
If it isn't clear I'm soldifying inside mesh, not outside.

Have you checked for flipped normals?

yes I have chekced

You can use the Complex mode of the Solidify modifier which specifically states "This is a solidify algorithm which can handle every geometric situation to guarantee a manifold output geometry."   The simple mode is just adding a specified thickness to all surfaces, regardless of whether it then protrudes out another face.

I could have used this just the other day.

for me also worked setting thickness clamp, thx for answer it helped a lot :)


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Blender rigid body ignoring the curve modifier
I'm trying to set up a conveyor belt system in Blender. I have something I think should be working, using an animation bound to a path with the curve modifier.
However, the when the sim starts it's as if Blender ignores the fact the curve modifier is there. I've got the deform box checked in the rigid body properties for the geo and it does nothing. I've also tried it with it set to final and no luck.
I've also tried the file in three separate versions of blender with no luck. Anyone know whats up?
Blend File

Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload images or gifs, along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.

Welcome to the hair pulling exercises of arcane 3d animation, Billy!
While your "Cube.003" was increasing in X direction during animation, and it was Curved to wrap around the BeltCurve, the Active Cube was not seeing it as wrapped, so it just kept riding along.
I noticed that you did not have Curve Path Animated....

As the conveyor was also moving in the opposite direction, I deduced that the Curve was formed in the wrong direction, so I rotated it 180 Deg around the X axis.
But I'm not sure what the root cause of the problem was.  Perhaps you can compare my recreated solution.
Here is my example:


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how can i fix Unable to generate valid Navmesh error
i have two files and when i am running the file in which i created navmesh that time it is running fine without any error but when same file is running from another file it shows error as
unable to initialize image(0) in MAMaterial, image will not be available
Converting navmesh: Error! There are no vertices!
Converting navmesh: Error! Can't get raw vertices and indices from mesh
Navmesh: Unable to generate valid Navmesh
please help me
#
file in which i created navmesh

#
file from which i am opening file of navmesh

Please provide more information like the navmesh related configurations, how you made the navmesh?, where and how you set up the object which use the navmesh?. I dont understand why you are getting and image error, I just made a simple test with 2 blends, 1st) Cube click and load 2nd) one navmesh and a objects seeking other objects, Everything worked no errors.

can i send files to you

Yes please use https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/, to upload put the url of this question then edit and post the link.

i don't know what was the  error but i did some changes and know it is working.thanks for support


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Getting a second GPU to speed up rendering times in Cycles
I don’t know much about hardware so, please, be gentle!
I’m thinking of getting a second GPU to cut (Blender Cycles) rendering times in half.
After some research I found out that:

each GPU renders an assigned tile in Blender (hence the reduced half time)
the new GPU has to be of the same type (Nvidia, in my case)
Two GPUs can generate more heat
‘I need to check the power’ (not sure what that means)

I own a
‘GA-X99P-SLI LGA2011-3 ATX’ Motherboard, with a
‘Palit Geforce GTX 1070 Super JetStream 8GB GDDR5’ Graphics Card, and a
‘NH-D9DX i4 3U 92mm Intel Xeon’ CPU Cooler
Here are my questions:
A. Should i get the same GTX 1070 or should I go for a faster one (e.g. the 1080?)
I was thinking of buying the same GTX 1070.
B. In terms of heat, will the PC be ok or should I do something about it?
C. In terms of power, what should i do?
D. For rendering in Blender, do i have to physically connect the cards via SLI, or they don’t need to be connected?
Many thanks for any comments and help
George

do some more research: this site requires one question per post, question not too broad and based on personal opinions, and questions about hardware are off topic... (https://blender.stackexchange.com/help)

Hi, many thanks for the helpful reply. I have an 800w power supply and I had a second opinion confirming that it would support two GPUs. Therefore, i think I’ll go for another identical 1070. Many thanks again.


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In VSE, how to change strip from movie to image (sequence) ?
I have edited a movie, however I decided to start using image sequences.
I can easily change a movie to a different movie source, while preserving the edits.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a way to change it to image source.
Is there a way to do this? If not, how could I work around while keeping my edits?

it could be impossible, but you could use markers, at least, to track your "edits" (I guess mostly cuts?), so to rebuild them at the original positions...

you're right - cuts. I guess I'll have to stick to using movie clips with these. thank you


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In VSE, is it possible to have keyframes adapt to clip length? (relative position)
I have added transform keyframes to the beginning and the end of a movie clip. When I decide to change the length of the clip, the keyframes keep their position. Is there any way they would keep position relative to the clip? So if let's say it is located at the end, when I shorten or stretch the clip, it is still at the end of the it? Basically what I want is a relative keyframe position. I haven't been successful in finding a solution.

Nope sorry. I don't think that you can apply a driver to a keyframe position.

is it possible to snap the keyframe?

You can snap individual key frames but not a group in a relative way. They all jump to the same location. You can offset them by using G key and typing the frame offset e.g. G (key) +(key) 30 will move the selected keyframes 30 frames to the right.

and how would i snap one key frame? i tried with ctrl and other but didnt work

Select keyframe, then move playhead to new location, then press the Shift-S key, select Snap type "Current frame"

Awesome! It works. It's not perfect as the driver would be, but it's just one step further. Way more efficient than manual move. Thank you. You should make that an answer so I can accept it.

Park the play head at the end of the strip. Open the dope sheet view and select the last keyframe, then press the Shift-S key, select Snap type "Current frame".
To move all keyframes by the same amount, select all keyframes then press G key and type the offset value in frames and press enter.


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Centralized Addon Library
I teach high school students using Blender and was wondering if there is a way to point Blender on client computers to look at a centralized addon library on the local network.

Possible similar solution from this post https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/34137/shared-preferences-addons-across-different-machines-e-g-dropbox

The blender sync feature of the blender cloud add-on could be useful maybe. While subscription to the cloud is not free, the add-on and using the sync feature is.


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Why do symmetrically identical edges bevel differently?

I have a symmetrical object, the base of a column, and when I attempt to bevel the four corners of this object, each corner bevels by a different amount.

When I rotate the mesh about the z axis, the same edges continue to be beveled by the same inconsistent amount, so this difference has to be coming from the mesh somehow.
I can to some degree ameliorate the problem by deleting all but one of these edges and recreating the mesh by extruding and rotating by 90 degrees about the origin a few times. This greatly reduces the unevenness of the bevel, but not entirely.
Is the mesh just imperceptibly inaccurate, and if that's the case, why does such a small inaccuracy lead to such a large disparity in the bevel size?

The object was never scaled in Object mode. Applying the scale has no effect on this beveling behavior.

If you go to the options for he bevel operation (the toolbar or press f6) then you can change how the width is determined. In your case since the edges are equal length all around percent would work. I've noticed the bevel tool behaving weirdly as well (specifically when offset is used). Maybe it's a bug in the latest version of Blender.

Changing from 'Offset' to 'Width' seemed to solve the problem, so this is certainly enough of a workaround for now, though unfortunate because offset is usually what I care about in terms of how much I'm bevelling. Hopefully it is a bug, because if it isn't I sure don't understand the reasoning.


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How do I give the 2D cursor specific coordinates in 2.8?
In the UV Editing Workspace in Blender 2.8, many of the features present in Blender 2.79's Image Editing Panel no longer seem present.
How do I type in specific coordinates I want the 2D cursor to be? How do I return the 2D cursor to the origin? How do I snap the 2D cursor to a specific vertex?

2D cursor to coordinates : you will find in the display drop down menu

The Snap to options you will find in the UV Context menu (right click) :

This helps a lot. I don't know why Shift + S lacks the same options that the context menu has. For those of us still using the superior right-click select paradigm, W opens the context menu.


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How do I set up a control bone for a mechanism that follows an arc?
The easiest way to visualize this is an elevator that moves up and down on a track that's built into the side of a cylinder. At this point I have three bones.

The arc bone describes the track that the lift follows along the wall. It's head is in the center of the cylinder, and it's length is the radius of the cylinder.
The train bone is parented to the arc bone, but points in the opposite direction. It will be a little train that drives up and down the track and holds the lift. It will always be pointed toward the center of the cylinder.
The platform bone is attached to the end of the train bone. It needs to remain at the same angle like a platform would.

I have a copy rotation constraint on the platform bone that copies and inverts the rotation of the arc bone. This compensates for the rotation of its parent bone, and keeps it flat.

What I want is some way to create a control bone that I can move up and down along the z axis such that the platform is always at the level of the control bone. Is it possible to set up something like this? Would I have to rig the platform in a different way in order to make this possible?

You could achieve that using an action constraint on the arc bone.
First create an animation of the lift going from the lowest position to the highest position (or vice versa) and then set the z axis location of the control bone to be what drives the action. you'll need to adjust the settings of the action constraint to fit the length of your animation and define the range as well.
If your goal is to have the platform move along the z-axis at a constant rate (which is what you would need for it to always be at the level of the control) you could use a circular interpolation for your animation so the change in height would be linear.
However, doing this would result in rapid rotation of the arc bone at the top and bottom of the lift, which may or may not be a desired result.


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Can the Properties Shelf be re-merged in 2.8?
In Blender 2.8 the Properties Shelf seems to have been split into four different shelves by default, called Item, Tool, Edit, and View.
Is there any way to merge these back together so that you can just hit N to access them? Currently N only opens the most recent shelf you've used, and you have to physically click open a different one if you want it.

I don't think so (but...). Maybe, consider 2.79 brings its habits, and few hours (minutes ?) working in 2.8 will break them.

It's not really a matter of habit. I already have the new habit. I just think it's much less efficient, especially with a large monitor. I could have all of the tabs I needed expanded on the old properties shelf, and I still didn't need to scroll to use it. Much quicker than having to click different shelves open, constantly going back and forth.

I've encountered the same issue, in fact. But ok, you choose the tab, and its ok. But surely, I understand what you are saying. Maybe you should ask to Blender developers?

I was planning on posting on DevTalk about it, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that the option didn't currently exist first.

Although it is a little bit annoying, but those element group by a proper tab now. Which should be more correct, I guess. And most of the time, when they are all in one tab, some elements will need to scroll down to reach it, especially in a small viewing area. And also considering add-on to utilize these tabs name, it will make those add-on more easier to choose a default tab rather create a new tab

Someone pointed out to me on devtalk that you can shift + left click on the individual elements to pin them in place, so that is at least something. That might actually be the answer for now.

Each panel is placed in a tab named after its bl_category property. In theory, you could remove all these and end up with one tab.

The properties shelves can't be re-merged in Blender 2.8, but you can retain specific elements from each shelf by Shift + Left-Clicking on them and pinning them. The pinned elements will be retained through toggling the whole Properties Shelf with N.


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Most efficient way to create this bevel profile?
I don't know what this specific kind of bevel is called. If someone does, please edit it in.
Essentially, I am trying to figure out how to create a bevel with a cusp on only one side.

In the case below, I am creating two such bevels, each with a cusp on one side, and such that the offset closes the entire distant between the two. In other words, the bevel offset = the width of the 'plank'.

I am also not necessarily looking for a method that arrives exclusively at 45° sections of a circle. 60° or 30° arcs before coming to a cusp would ideally also be nice.


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How do I duplicate bones 90° and copy rotation?
I have a set of bones with an Inverse Kinematic constraint. I need to be able to duplicate this set up so that I have four sets in total, each rotated 90° about the center.
I'm not sure if this is the problem, but when I do this, the bones don't rotate on their local y-axes.

This means that when I try to use a Copy Rotation constraint, Local to Local, it doesn't work properly, because each individual bone hasn't been rotated 90° when the whole set did.

Here is the file in case it helps:


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How to space verts along an edge loop without moving specific vert?
I am trying to space a series of vertices in a continuous edge loop so that they are evenly spaced. I would like to avoid moving a specific vertex for reasons of symmetry. The problem I'm having is that when using LoopTools > Space, there doesn't seem to be a way to fix a specific point:
In the following example, I am trying to preserve symmetry about the y-axis. I first try LoopTools > Space on the whole loop, but while it spaces the verts, it doesn't preserve symmetry. I then select each half of the loop and perform the LoopTools > Space operation on each in turn. This works, but is tedious.

But what about cases with an odd number of vertices? Or what if only one point is on the symmetry line, not two? Spacing by halves doesn't work in these cases.
Is there any way to fix a particular vertex in place, so that all other vertices are spaced relative to that one vertex? I would have hoped that LoopTools would simply automatically fix the active element, but that isn't the case.
And while my example above is a simplified case, frequently I am working with edge loops that aren't planar, so running LoopTools Space and then rotating the edge loop isn't a viable solution for these cases.

How would I evenly space the above vertices, for example, without moving the active element?


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How to control orientation/twist of Skin Modifier?
Is there any way to control the twist (for lack of a better term) of a skin modifier?
Here are three different versions of the same initial mesh with Skin Modifiers applied. The only difference in each of these is where the Root of the modifier is located.

As you can see, each version has a different orientation for the square profile of the resulting mesh. And when the root is placed in the middle, the beam appears to twist halfway through.
In short, is there any way to achieve an orientation like that highlighted green such that it doesn't twist halfway through?
Is there an entirely better approach to procedurally generating beams from isolated edge loops? I know you can do something with curves, but wouldn't you have the same 'twist' problem there?

Hello, you should mention that your beams are tilted along the XZ plane, which changes the vertex normals thus changing the intial rotation of the root vertex. Try scaling everything 0 along Z and applying a simple deform set to bend along the Y axis


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How to make wireframe bones not semi-opaque in 2.9?
How can I restore the 2.79 look of wireframe bones while in Pose and Edit mode? I want these bones to actually show as wireframes, and not semi-transparent/semi-opaque.
Here is a comparison of some random bones in 2.79b and in 2.9. All views are taken in Wireframe Mode.

While I prefer the older visuals, my primary concern is that the new 'wireframe' bones obstruct the eyedropper tool. In 2.79b I can select objects through/behind a wireframe bone, but I can't select anything through the 2.9 opaque wireframe bones.

I haven't found a way to revert that behavior, but would it work for you to change the armature's Display Settings from Octahedral to either Wire or Stick?

I guess you need to suggest that to Right Click Select

You can find it in Object > Viewport Display > Display As Wire.


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Constraint to move objects along Local z-axis while following bone?
I am trying to rig a series of valves which are pushed down by a lever:

Currently, I have a Copy Location object constraint on the valves which copies the z-location of the bones at the end of their respective levers. I know this is technically an approximation, but it's close enough for my purposes.

The problem is, I can't figure out how to set this up so that it works when the valves aren't aligned with the global z-axis. I need to be able to replicate this behavior for the other valves, which are at arbitrary rotations relative to the global axes. I also need the rigging to remain intact when the entire armature is moved or rotated.
What do I need to change the Target/Owner settings of the constraint to in order for this to work?
Do my valves need to be parented to anything specific within the armature?
Is there a better way entirely to rig this kind of set-up?

You need to change the Target and Owner spaces from World to Object

The best I've been able to do so far is to set the Target to "Local with Parent," and the Owner to "Local".  I also think that part of the problem initially was that my target bone needs to have the same orientation as the object for it to work. Still, when I set it to Local with Parent, my object gets moved all over the place, so I don't really understand what's happening.

can you provide your blend file?

I've mostly got this working. I ended up just giving the valve a bone, putting a copy location bone constraint on that bone. The bone constraint works because it's within the same armature, so I don't have to parent the bone to anything.

This was done without bones and only 1 (track-to) constraint for each rocker-arm push-rod.  (Blend file below)

It's only necessary to build and animate one rocker assembly to begin with and that's described below...
The method used to move the valve and only on contact with the rocker-arm is firstly to set the valve's origin point to it's very top center vertice.  An Empty is added at that location to give us a reference point to return the valve to after the parenting process, described immediately below.
The rocker's animation (rotation) is manually keyframed.
It's then stepped a frame at a time until it comes into contact with the top of the valve rod.
The valve is parented to the rocker at that frame (CTL-P) so it's locked to the rocker contact point.
(Child = valve)
Once played the valve's derived action can be then be baked from the frame of first contact up to the frame where it's rising again and parting from the rocker, inclusive.  (in the bake panel tick all option boxes).
The bake leaves us with no parent constraint and a set of keyframes at our disposal.  The X & Y axis' channels can be removed, along with all the rotation and scaling channels.
The only animation channel remaining is Z axis LOC and with the frame range already limited to those of physical contact, the valve will only move straight up and down when in contact with the rocker-arm.
Note -
Blender can introduce extraneous interpolation curves when keyframes are close to each other and these can cause the valve rod to penetrate the rocker's surface slightly. If that's happening noticeably, simply remove the intermediate keyframes between peaks in the Graph editor. That will smooth things out and should leave you with a clean, U shaped curve.  There's only a few KF's to worry about.
Now to the rod that pushes the rocker-arm -
Actually it doesn't do that.  The yellow rocker is keyframed to rotate back and forth and the push-rod is parented to the rocker at the hinge pin.  The push-rod's origin point is set to the hinge-pin's center.
To keep it's other end pointing at a stationary target, it's given a 'Track-to' constraint.  The target is an empty which is sitting directly below but slightly offset along the X axis to prevent it wanting to spin 180 degrees with each half cycle.

To hold it all together so the whole thing can be moved/rotated and even scaled without ill-effect, a
'Nav(igation) Empty'  (the large circle)  acts as a Master parent for the rocker, valve, and 'track-to' empty, along with the main shaft that will support all the rocker-arms.
It's the Nav-Empty that's pulled around the scene, rotated etc. not the components.

Once the first assembly is working, it's duplicated and their timing and locations offset to suit.  Make sure you DON'T include the Nav-empty or main shaft when duplicating

If the approximation isn't a problem, you can make your valve bone copy the loc of the target in world space (both), and THEN limit it's local location on X and Z local axis, so it will move only on its Y axis and it will work in any situation and rotation.
In my example all three little bones are child of the main bigger bone and the target bone has a copy rot constraint targeting the third little bone.


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Crossbow rig doesn't bend properly
I am trying to create a rig for the limbs of a crossbow in blender. Here is what I have so far:

Each of the limbs is controlled by an an IK constraint. The targets of the IK constrain have a limit distance constraint, which moves them as the string is pulled.
The problem is that the limbs aren't actually bending in a realistic way. Specifically, the part when the middle of the limb bends "up", as pictured above.
Here is a rough animation of the behavior I am trying to achieve:

Instead of bowing up, the limb of the crossbow bends as if it is describing the arc of a circle with an increasingly smaller radius. What is the best way to achieve this in Blender? Is there some way I can get the IK constraint to behave this way, or do I need to use curves, or something else entirely?

Here is a straightforward way to accomplish your goal.  I've described the approach but you'll have to tweak the constraints and driver to match your desired movement:

In this example, the 4 bones in the Z chain represent the object you want to curve.  They are chained and connected: Bone is the parent of Bone.001 is the parent of Bone.002 is the parent of Bone.003.  There's nothing special about it being 4 bones, that's just a convenient number.
All of the bones have a Copy Rotation constraint to copy the rotation of their parent, except Bone.  The idea is that rotating Bone will cause each of the other bones to rotate as well, creating the arc:

This is the constraint applied to Bone.001.  It has the default settings, except that both Target and Owner are set to Local Space. Since we are rotating the bones on their local Z axis, we could lock out the X and Y axis in the Axis setting, but I didn't bother.
The technique for getting the bow right is to set the Influence of each bone so as to achieve the result you want.
Bone.004 is meant to move along the world X axis (its local Y axis.)  Its Y location is used in a driver that controls the Z rotation of Bone:

This is a crude version of the setup.  Bone.004 is not reasonably positioned and should be placed where you want your control bone.  The expression I used in the driver, $-location$, is not scaled properly or properly converted into radians to use for the rotation value.
But the above is the basic setup.  Modify it by tweaking the constraint influence on each of the constrained bones and modify the expression appropriately and you can produce your desired curves.

i think it is quite easy with this:
first do a "normal" rig like this:

then add a nurbspath like this:

select this endpoint in edit mode, press CTRL-H -> hook to new object

same to this:

select your last bone of your armature in pose mode:

add bone constraint:

as target choose your nurbspath
increase chain length to the number of your bones, choose y scale mode: none

now you can move your two empties as you want to get the result you want:

to get your armature to the other side, select everything, press SHIFT-D, then press F3 -> search for object mirror x local

and move along x axis after mirroring that it fits.
To simplify your animation, i would recommend to lock the z-axis of the empties, so you can easy move them correct with G and mouse movement.

It's tempting to suggest a Simple Deform  > Bend modifier:

(Origin at geometry: object currently aligned to World: about Z)


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In Pose Mode Bones stoped rotate command
In my animation project everything was going smoothly but I dont know what but I think I did something and bones stoped responding rotate commands like (R Y).
I am frustrated because I can not find the reason.

hello could you please share your file?

This could be partial answer for who had similar problem.
I did "A" Copy.
"File" new "General"
"A" "X" Confirm
Paste
In this new file everything started to work as they should be working.


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Cloth simulation not working because of a missing step
I am trying to simulate some clothes in 2.8, I fixed a suit in marvelous designer on my character in T-pose, then did a retopology for the suit.
In Blender I:

imported the character with an armature and the suit
transferred weight from the body to the suit
parented suit to the armature with empty groups
added collision to the body and cloth physics to the suit and tried with this pinning group

but I got a destructive result

I tried different pinning group

to get this result but not good for an animation

please use the edit button on the bottom of your post and please don't connect your question only to a downloaded link, add reference images and a more understandable explanation of the problem, that way it will be easier to solve your problem. thank you.


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How to properly export Cryptomattes for Photoshop?
How to properly export Cryptomattes for Photoshop?
Seems I cant find the right thing on the internet so far.
In Modo, was just one click to get the " Color ID Pass"
I've tried EXR multi layer and it doesn't work, I just want a clean ID pass on material/object.

It's working using exr multilayer. You have to install exr.io and setup your passes in the compositor though.

@brockmann This should be a full answer. Since exr.io adds support for Cryptomatte you wouldn't have to resort to hacky solutions.

I was looking for a solution to this problem from the very first day since I have switched to Blender 4 years ago. I understand the benefits of Cryptomatte and different ways of usage. But I wanted just one easy pass with material ID with every render, which I can save to PNG and use in Photoshop. In the end, I have made my own addon. If it could help anybody, please enjoy it. https://blendermarket.com/products/cid

It's working fine using OpenEXR multilayer. You just have to install exr.io for the photoshop side of things and setup your passes in the compositor using the cryptomatte node and a file output node before rendering.

warning: do not use any codec when exporting exr multilayer with cryptomatte, even DWAA.
Just set to "none"


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Animation Nodes - Replicate an object on an already replicated object
In the following example, I do have a spline replicated. Now I want to place an icosphere on all of the splines. Can't find a way of doing this.

In short I have a mesh replicated on a spline, then I want to replicate this entire system on a new instancer/replicator. In this case, a circular replicator spline.

Use a "Get Length" node to create the same amount of icosphereinstances as there are splines.
Create a Loop subprogram to loop through the spline list.
we can now use a replicate spline node to get info for each of the splines and position the icospheres accordingly.
Use the spline and object lists as iterator inputs and connect them to the evaluate spline and an object transform output node.
invoke the subprogram.
You can use the parameter of the evaluate spline node to offset the icosphere along the splines.

thanks for your response. It was very helpfull to understand a little more. However, that wasn't the exactly problem I had in mind, sorry for not be clearer. Indeed, I do need icospheres in each replicated splines, but I want each spline to have lots of icospheres, not only one. What are your thoughts?
Thanks a lot!

Thats basically just another loop width offsets. I'll have a look tomorrow.

Thanks for your time! :)

In short: I have a mesh replicated on a spline, then I want to replicate this entire system on a new instancer/replicator. In this case, a circular replicator spline. Thank for your help!


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How to make this hair not pass through the arms/shoulder on rigging character
I want to animated this character and i'm using wiggle plugin to make hair auto animated but the hair is passing through the arm, and i want to make the hair not to pass trough the arm.

what is wiggle plugin? it sounds really useful.

u can read this https://blenderartists.org/t/wiggle-bones-a-jiggle-bone-implementation-for-2-8/1154726 @Millard


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Multiple animations and rotations on a grouped object
Still trying to learn Blender here so be gentle. I need to do an animation of a propeller aircraft where the plane travels down the runway, the tail lifts up and the plane takes off.
The propellers must, of course, turn the whole time. I have the propeller set up with a looping animation. My issue is that as soon as I put a rotation keyframe on the group for the tail to lift up, my propeller rotation stops.
I am using a model that I got from CG Trader or someplace like that. I tried using an empty and parenting the group to that, but when I do that the model explodes.
I did a similar animation for a nose wheel aircraft and had no issues with the rotation or the parenting. Different model of course.
I am using Blender 2.77. This animation is being done in Cycles, the other one was done in Blender Render.
Is there a way to make a permanent group? In 3ds (I know they are not the same), when you make a group it stays grouped until you un-group it.
Thanks in advance for the help.

Please keep only one question per post so we can focus on a answer at a time. See my answer here about creating groups and related workflow in Blender

Please edit your question and post more information about your scene and how you are animating it. Show some screenshots and settings, and possibly post a link to your Blend file. It's impossible to help with this little info


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How to shift frames on time line for one of objects on curve animation
I have two objects on a curve animation. One is duplicated of other.
When I change timeline both of them move along the curve on top of each other.
But I want to shift frames for one of them so one of them should be 5 frames ahead other one for example.

so your object have a Follow Path constraint? You can use the Offset value of the constraint to shift the object

yes you are right but I can not find where to change offset property :(

what solution have you found? Did you click on the Animate Path button?

Might pay to clarify how you have set up "curve animations" .  Changing the offset as suggested or answered below will keep a constant distance offset between the dupes, whereas to time (frame) offset the same animation would consider using the NLA or drivers.

as Moonboots (Superman) said, you can do it like this:

add a cube, duplicate it, add a bezierpath circle

add follow path as object constraint and keyframe the offset value:

-> of course different for each cube
result:

Blender is such a B.


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View Selected (Numpad .) and zooming out with a single shortcut
Every time I use View Selected (Numpad .), the view zooms in too much in the object I want to center in my view, so I always need to zoom out to have a proper sight of it.
This can be tested easily with the cube in the default scene of blender.
I wonder if it is possible to write a script that handles this (Numpad . + Zoom Out with just one shorcut).

I do not know python, but I think I could get by with a little help. Any suggestions or leads about the API commands that will be needed, would be appreciated.

While not an answer you can try to use Shift+B instead and draw a rectangle of the area you'd like to be as new center.


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Is there any way to rotate a vertex so that it snaps/aligns to a non-radial edge?
I am trying to figure out if there's a good way to rotate a vertex so that it lines up with an edge that crosses the path of its rotation. It's not a radial edge, so I can't just snap to one of the vertices.

Setting the Snap to edge obviously doesn't do anything useful, because it snaps to anywhere on that edge, not the point at which the rotation brings the vertex closest.
Is there any better way to do this other than zooming in real close and tediously doing it by hand?

The ruler tool  is another way to visualize and try and keep constant radius value.


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How to add supporting edges for subdiv to this shape?
How do I add supporting edge loops for the purposes of subdiv on this shape?

In most places it was fairly easy to add supporting edges of a consistent width (0.002 units). The only place I am really struggling is here, where that large n-gon gets pinched to a sliver where it intersects the cylinder.
Is this problem better solved with more or fewer segments on the cylinder?

Delete big n-gon face
Select cylinder loop with Shift+Alt (it will select just needed half)
Extrude and Scale a bit
on side add loop with Ctrl+R and slide (for each of three)
Merge vertices on edge

(from other side just Merge one vertex)

Probably would be better to merge the smallest triangle face, if possible ... But seems to be serving well as it is.
Note: As you can see there is one vertex in curvature that didnt moved ... I can't figure out why and how it can be locked on X axis :) Hm
You can also select big ngon face and use Inset (I) technique, but you would have to clean up a mess in corners anyway :) With Inset I didnt get the single vertex issue, way more strange ... Hm

This topology seems to work fine:

There are several options here: you could fix up the geometry (maybe try the grid fill tool) to achieve proper edge flow, or inset the big n-gon, or even crease it.


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How to create a gradient material across an object's local z-axis?
I can't figure out how to get this to work exactly, but I'm guessing I'll need Texture Coordinate and Mapping nodes.
I am trying to create a material that creates a gradient relative to an object's local z-axis. The idea would be that I could put this material on an object of arbitrary size, and the very bottom of the object might be red, and the very top might be green, with a gradient in between.
This is what I have so far, but the problem is that the material isn't relative to the mesh. If I put it on a smaller object, the whole thing might end up some yellow in the middle of the gradient, and if I put it on a larger object, I get a whole lot of red, a whole lot of green, and a tiny gradient in between.

Depending on what you’re looking for, you could get away with using Generated coordinates, which are normalized relative to the object’s bounding box:


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How to get driver for z location by name (without looping)
I wish to be able to reference the driver for Location Z by name. Whenever I try using somethings like
object.animation_data.drivers[object.location.z]

or
object.animation_data.drivers[object.location[2]]

I get
TypeError:bpy_prop_collection[key]: invalid key, must be a string or an int, not Float

Any object I will call this function on will have a driver for Z location. Instead of iterating through the collection I was hoping I can call it by name (like properties).

I was able to find in the API documentation that there is a built in function for this collection.
Calling
object.animation_data.drivers.find('location',2)

did the trick.

If this "did the trick", accept your answer to avoid  community bot bump.

My apologies. I have accepted the answer. Thanks