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when adding custom-data layers to bmesh object, where does the data get stored once bpy mesh object is updated?
I am trying to add custom-data layers to mesh vertices so that I may use the values to generate a colorramp on the surface during rendering.
Currently, I first map the data to RGBA values and then add vertex color groups...see code below assuming I have a mesh called surface with 100 vertices:
mesh = surface.data
bm = bmesh.new()  # Create new bmesh object
bm.from_mesh(mesh)  # Init the bmesh with the current mesh
#random colors atm, but would be mapped to RGBA from the values
scalars = {
    'Velocity':  # vertex color layer name 2
        [(random(), random(), random(), 1) for _ in bm.verts],
    'Salinity':  # vertex color layer name 3
        [(random(), random(), random(), 1) for _ in bm.verts],
    }
layers = {}
for key in scalars:
    layers[key] = bm.loops.layers.color.new(key)
for key, val in layers.items():
    for vert in bm.verts:
        for loop in vert.link_loops:
            loop[val] = scalars[key][vert.index]
bm.to_mesh(mesh)

This allows me to color the surface via the vertex colors using this node setup:

What I would like to do is just assign custom-data layers using the actual float values, so instead of mapping to RGBA then coloring the surface, I could pass the data into a colorramp node to generate the colors for me, something like this:

I tried to achieve this by generating some random data to use:
scalars = {'v':np.random.rand(100),
           's':np.random.rand(100)}

and modifying the above line from:
layers[key] = bm.loops.layers.color.new(key)

to:
layers[key] = bm.loops.layers.float.new(key)

which ran without error, but I do not see anything listed in my object data properties nor can I access this data from the attribute node or any other that I can see.
Do these custom-data layers get updated to the bpy mesh? If so, how can I use them in shading nodes?
Honestly a bit lost trying to follow the API docs for this one.
Thanks, Derek

See the update to my answer to your previous question for mor information about that. For your information, any color value can be converted to a float value with a "RGB to BW" node. If the RGB channels of the color are the same, the resulting float value will be the same as this value.
So your best bet is to initialize n arrays of size 4 for the 4 channels of each color, then convert it. I don't know of another way to transfer this kind of data to each vertex in the shader editor.

thanks..question about this, which I tried. In your example, the RGBA vals are all 0-1 so its fine to take any of the 4 channels and putt them into a colorramp, main shader, etc. In reality my data could be anything, +/- thousands, millions. I tried adding the data into the 1st channel and left the rest 1. I then tried getting 1st channel using sep rgb/xyz node, throwing it into a map range node to normalize it, then putting that into a colorramp node. But it didn't turn out, perhaps I did it wrong but does Blender automatically normalize/edit any values you pass into a vertex color layer?

guess I could probably just normalize my data, do what I just mentioned ^, separate out the data and use it for a colorramp node? might just be confusing myself and doing things wrong in the node editor, but await your advice

The caveat of using vertex colors is that you can only use values between 0 and 1 for each channel, so you will have to normalize the data before mapping to the vertex colors. Values outside of this range will get clamped. I would recommend doing that in the script anyway, and since you seem to know numpy already, you can write very efficient code, at least more efficient than what you would get using map range or color ramp nodes in the node editor

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/161664/using-float-property-layers-value-in-node-editor-similar-to-vertex-color.  Not aware if any range limitations are placed on stored values of u, v.

thanks all, will try everything you said


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Some objects not rendering
I'm trying to render a group of cylinders with volume materials however some of them are not showing up. What's causing this?

Here is the blend file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bp0fha9gyalf0g/renderhelp.blend?dl=0
Thanks for helping!

There is a issue with the materiel Change the materiel ...

The issue is that your objects are too thin.  To fix this, you could scale your object up along the Z axis, or increase the Density Scale, or change the material type to Surface.  I would recommend changing the material type.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Transform a solid to a specific porous structure
I have a 3D stl file, which is solid. I would like to be able to create a porous structure of 300 nanometers size pores.
Any help?

See related for creating porous material - http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/43596/how-to-create-porous-material. Their size won't be that accurate, of course and I'm not sure if there's a automate way to create them of the same size other than scripting.

Are you trying to model the pores, or texture the pores?

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


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how to register objects or collections for importing using python script
i have a template for a add on, that includes the code for importing assets. my question is how do i link my objects or collection to the code so they will import. i'm a beginner to this so any helps is greatly appreciated.

Hello, could you share a bit of your code or explain more in depth your end goal ?

hi so basically i am creating a asset pack, and i would like to create a add on that imports or appends the models into the scene. I've found a template that includes the import code, but i need to somehow connect the assets so the code knows what to import

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


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hair particles are not scaling correctly with object

i have tried applying scale, scaling object in edit mode, deleting particle system and creating new. the scale always come out too large

Why look the particles like this? Are they particles rendered as object or are there object with a Particle Instance modifier?

@Blunder I think it’s because it is short, tremendously fat hair. They are triangular and flat, but they look rounded.

ya its just hair that is very off scale

Wow, they look like under a microscope. Have you tried to lower the values for Hair Shape > Diameter Root and Tip?

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


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material request for this soft body object

I am having some trouble getting the material just right for the look of this object.
appreciate any help, thank you

What do you have so far?

so far it is just a basic translucency shader with some subsurf. but i'm not getting that blue hue on the inside

Have you added a blue object to the inside of it?

i did not. i assumed there was a way to achieve the look without it

It's probably the easiest way to do it, since it looks the blue is actually inside of it, so putting something blue inside of yours would be the most realistic.

Here is a try, basically it's a mix between a basic color with a Wave texture plugged into it (perturbated by a Musgrave), a Subsurface Scattering in order to give it this kind of translucency, a Layer Weight to give it emission on the circumference and a bit of Emission to keep the translucency even in the dark areas:


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How to make game custom icon
If I have a game in blender converted into an application,how can I change the icon of an application?

The same way you change the icon of any application in whatever operating system you are using.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is about system application icons, not Blender.

i have use resource hacker,but it does not work

Try to change blenderplayer.exe icon on Blender directory with Resource Hacker, then release your game. Changing icon after releasing the game (that is, blend file already embedded in blenderplayer.exe) might break the executable.


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compositing problem
I am new to the compositor.I was trying to composite an image.But the image was not fully in there.
this is my render.
and I want to mix it with this

After I composite it,the image was not fully in there

Use alpha over, not add.

it still the same

Ah your image is clipped and that is what you mean. Change your rendering dimension percentages and sizes to match the background plate.


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Drifting a car in bge
I want to make a rally game.How to make a python or logic bricks (if it is possible) that can make a car drift when I turn left and right.

(blend example file)
   ==>https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yny39dZCLL8pv886YI0fmaarocPItcwh<==
in this example you can drift(go sideways) get drift score(depending on drift speed) very simple actually. Feel free to use this example .


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How blender got its name?
Like the title,how blender got its name.I just want to know why Ton Roosendaal call it Blender.Is it from the blender machine or something like that?
Any help was very appreciated.

Maybe ask him? This is opinions otherwise.

Since we are on the subject of it being a name - names are capitalized. It is not blender that we use to make 3d, it is Blender. I am really surprised to see so many people making mistakes like that. It looks very unprofessional and always makes me think that if a person makes mistakes like this I should probably expect them to make other mistakes in general as well so I tend not to trust and question what they say and do. I fail to see why anyone would want to be perceived like that.

While not opinion based (there actually is a written history about it) I still don't think it is a suitable question for this site since it is not about using the software

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is not about using Blender.

Blender got its name from a song used in NeoGeo's showreel, the company that started developing Blender.
The song's name is Blender by Yello, a Swiss electronic music band, as stated at the Wikipedia Page.


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Changing colors for BGE
I want my games that have function that can changes the character colors.I have try this a few times.I can make it changes colors in the menu but the colors doesnt change when I click start button. Can any body help me please.

what does your game do "when I click start button" Sounds like you are probably changing scenes, and you did not change the color of the car in that scene.

There's two ways to change object colors in real time: through Object Color material's option, or through material node's Hue/Saturation (available in realtime only in UPBGE).
Object Color
This one is pretty simple:

Enable the Object Color checkbox on the desired material.
Change the Object Color in realtime by animating it.

Example file:
Hue/Saturation Node
This one is a bit more complex, but a lot more powerful and with better results. Remember this one ONLY is possible in realtime on UPBGE.

Go to Node Editor and enable the node compositing for the desired material.
Add an Hue/Saturation node between the Material node and the Output node.
Separate the RGB colors of the object and set the hue value to the red value.
Animate the red color on Object Color to change the hue in realtime.

Example file:

It works but only at the menu.After I change the color,when I click start button,It still the same


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Animation Frames
I'm a bit confused with the frames when it comes to animation and how many there are in a second etc. Could someone break it down and explain it? I've read something about it needing to be divided by 10 or something. Why is this? All I know is that the default 250 frames equals 10 seconds of video/animation, but I don't understand how/why.
Thanks.

default: 24 fps
By default there are 24 animation frames in a second, therefore the default 250 frames equal to 10.42 seconds (250 divided by 24). There are proposals to make the length of the default blender file equal to 240, in order to have an exact duration of 10 seconds.
To know how many frames you need to create an animation of a given length, just multiply the duration (in seconds) by 24, and change "Frame End" accordingly.
e.g. 1 minute = 60 seconds → frames = 60 x 24 = 1440
       4 seconds → frames = 4 x 24 = 96.
other frame rates
24 frames per second (24fps) has been the standard for films since the 1930s. With modern technology, it's now more and more common to see video shot at 30fps or 60fps.
The frame rate can be changed from the Render panel in Blender up to 2.79 (in the Output panel in Blender 2.8), under "Frame Rate":

Since blender animations are frame-based, changing the frame rate will change the time length of the animation, while the keyframes will remain bound to their original frame. The frame rate should be chosen before starting an animation project.

Yeah, that I'm all familiar with. :) I'm just trying to get my head around how it's all worked out so I know how many frames to set my project to in order to get the right amount of seconds or minutes of animation/video. For my current project, I just need a 4 second idle animation.

Just multiply the duration (in seconds) by 24. I've updated my answer.

Okay, I think I'm starting to get it. Thanks. Much appreciated. :D

Also, in the timeline, you can go to View → Sow Seconds (or hit Ctrl T). This way the timeline will display the time in second, as well as the frames between seconds. Be also aware that you can write simple maths in blender. If you want an animation of 32.5 seconds, you can write the maths according to your framerate in the end frame field : 32.5*24


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How to Fix a Broken BGE Animation
I made an animation in the Blender Internal renderer with a robotic arm and a bone rig. the animation looks like this:  However, when I try to play that animation in the BGE, the red cube (palm) is thrown off to the side, out of the arm. Does anyone happen to know why this happens or how to fix it?

We need more information: How does it look like (a screenshot should be sufficient), What objects/bones are involved? What relationship does they have? How do you play the animation?

Nevermind. I started the animation over from Scratch (remodeled the hand and everything) and it works fine in both now. Must've been something wrong with that specific cube.


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Pause an animation loop cycle
I have a cow that needs to pause between two gates for a couple of seconds. I created her walk cycle and used "Make cyclic (F-modifier)" in the graph editor. With this set up I can't figure out how to pause her walk cycle while she briefly stands still while still being able to resume the animation cycle where it left off...

The bone animation is cycled like so...

In the graph editor press spacebar and search for "Bake action", set the time interval and bake.
In the dopesheet erase all the keyframes where you want the cow to stop.
Another way is using NLA editor to cycle; another way is manually copying the cycle in the dopesheet (this latter is very fast and allows maximum control, in my opinion).

Copying the dope sheet was the only way I could make it work. The only issue is that any later changes I make to the animation will not propagate to the previously copied key frames. Wish there was a way to simply ignore the animation for a set number of frames in order to keep a true cycle in tact.

The NLA editor lets you combine different pieces of animation and copy, repeat, sum, multiply ease their actions, so if you edit an action your edit will propagate in all the copies. The cycle modifier has some frames limits that you can set, put it seems difficult to set two different cycles in the same action (you would need one from start to stop, and one from restart to end).

When I "push action down" in NLA, I can then use Action Editor mode inside the Dopesheet. Then I click a down arrow which switches to editing action. I guess this essentially unpacks the animation from the NLA for editing. Problem is, the up arrow to repack to NLA only works sometimes and seems to fail after particular animation edits. Without repacking, every copy made in the NLA is dead. Am I doing this right? thx


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Particular nodes are missing from node editor
I am looking for the Mapping Node but it is not available under the Vector nodes menu or any other menu. I have Blender 2.77 which cooresponds with the manual version in the above link.

I also cannot find the Texture Coordinate or Gradient Texture.
Likely I am doing something wrong.

Wrong node tree type
Blender has three built-in different node tree types: Material, Composite and Textures. They have some nodes in common, and some not. The ones you are looking for belong to the second group.

All the nodes you mentioned belong to the Material node editor, you can see that from the path of the page in the manual you linked:

Just switch from the Composite type editor to Material type editor and you should be able to find them.

Brilliant. I have much to learn.


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Blender 2.80 Cycles light wont render
Download Project - BlenderScene100.blend - Blender 2.80
I was playing around with blender 2.80 when I made the scene above, whenever I render lights just disappear, I can't show you what its supposed to look like as whenever I take a screenshot the lights disappear -

I have no idea why this is happening, any help?

For future reference, we prefer if .blends are uploaded here. Thanks!

I don't see any problem in your file, except that the light sources are really dim. If you look closely in your screenshot, you can even see a faint reflection. Note that you have volumetric scattering on, which will make things dimmer than they would be otherwise.
Things you can try:

Increase the emission strength of the spot lamp (a lot, for some reason spot lamps tend to be dimmer).
Increase the emission strength of the emission shader on Cylinder.001.
Increase the emission size of the spot lamp. This won't make it brighter, but it will help it converge faster.
Increase the exposure in Properties > Render > Color Management.

Huh, that's odd, when I took the screenshot 5 days ago, everything was pitch black, now I can see it. I revoke my question.

In my case it was the fact, that my light had an animation on it. When I have deleted this animation, everything was fine!


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Shape keys deforming mesh during image render
I have an issue where I edit my mesh, insert key frames,and save the file, but whenever I close Blender and reopen the file or try to render a still image the armature gets completely distorted even though it has been saved. I think the shape keys are the problem, even though they are set to zero. What do I do?

Does the problem persist, if you save your file as a new file and remove the shapekeys? What do you mean with the armature gets distorted? Armatures usually don't render, only geometry does.

attach file? http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/


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How to add fog in the compositor in blender 2.79
I want to add mist/fog in the compositor for my scene but i dont understand how to add it.
I have looked up and nothing seems to tell me exactly how to do it because in my version of blender (2.79) because there is no mist output connection in the renderlayer node (image attached). I tried using volumetrics bt it also just made everything go dark- maybe because my scene is very large but i dont know.
Also preferably i would like to know the compositor way because my computer is too slow to keep up with volumetrics.
Thanks in advance

The cheapest way to do it is just using the Z-depth like the old games in the 90s to 2000s did it.
For that you just scale the z-depth into the desired range and use it as a factor to mix in a fog-color.
Additionally you can add an early cutoff to not have that much fog closer to the camera.
You can play around with all the factors and the mixing types to get the fog you like.

You can also add a power-to math node to make the falloff non-linear.
If you want something more advanced you can add some ground-fog by rendering
world-coordinate as an additional layer and using world-Z in addition to camera-Z as a factor.
To make it look more realistic you can also add in differently scaled noise-textures based on bands of z-depth (using masks generated with less-than and greater-than nodes).


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How to add another noise node to this existing node configuration
I have this node set up, trying to make this Frisbee texture, The material looks to clean. The reference of the Frisbee has a little bit of noise added to it, but I cant get the configuration correct with the send noise node I'm trying to add.

Alternatively to Jag JB's answer, you might want to consider applying a noise on the INPUT of the noise texture, to bend (distort) the noise rather than mix two noises, as the "Distortion" input doesn't give you that much of a control:

The Scale above should be probably at most 10% of what it is currently, but I wanted to make the effect clearly visible:

And of course you can mix it together with another noise (as in Jag JB's answer)…

You can Color Mix > Mix (or Overlay) the two noises before your first color ramp.
Just use different scales of noise to create a visible effect.

can you please do the configuration of the nodes, thank you.

Done. And frisbee added also.


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Particle system is not rendering
Blender is not rending (EEVEE) the particles although its in the viewport. All the settings are enabled for the render.

pls provide blend file, thx

Here's the link, its 15Mb compressed ZIP file:
https://easyupload.io/vaeyu7

i am not totally sure what is the reason, but if i decrease your very high amount of hair from 300000 (with 10x children) to 30000, it will be rendered.

Yes, unfortunately my system doesn't have enough processing power for particle system. The viewport did look nice, but couldn't render it. If you don't mind me asking, what GPU do you have?

M1 Mac, but mine didn't render your original settings as well


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How to model one section of the mesh and affect other selected parts on the same mesh
How is it possible to model one section of the mesh, for example the one I have selected in the Red rectangle, and to be able to affect other selected parts on the mesh (Blue).

You could do actions recording. Without using any addons, you could temporarily separate the areas you want to have modeled the same way by selecting each area in Edit Mode and pressing P > Selection to separate as new object. Then set the origin using RMB > Set Origin > Origin to Geometry. Then in Object Mode select all separated objects and press Ctrl+L > Link Object Data. Now you can model any of these meshes and it will get reflected to all the objects. Once you are done, select all objects and join with Ctrl+J then tab into Edit Mode and press A to select all faces then M > Merge By Distance to join all vertices together again.

Thank you for your help.

you're welcome! :)


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How to set up a radial Gradient node
I'm trying to set up a gradient node where I can control the middle colour to expand or contract.
This is what I have set up so far.

Example what Im trying to achieve:

Is that a sphere or a plane you want it on?

Just for your information, this circular effect is achieved by using the Spherical mode of the Gradient Texture. The Radial gradient results in something looking more like a "radar scan".

You should feed the Gradient Texture output to Color Ramp node's factor input, if you want to remap the texture's tones to Color Ramp's colors, but it might be easier to control with Math node since you can animate it more easily:

Hello Martynas. Its a flat circle shape.

That's also a plane in my answer.

If it's a circle just plug the Color output form the Gradient node into the color ramp factor.(Remember to use object coordinates and set the mode to Spherical)

If it's a sphere you will have to use the Layer weight or Fresnel node.

You can experiment around the values using the Map Range node and also by changing the interpolation modes in the Color Ramps in order to get different kinds of spherical gradients.

Circle is a curve, disk is part of a plane limited by that curve.

@MartynasŽiemys But be careful by mixing Blender terminology with maths/geometry terminology to not confuse beginners. A Curve object in Blender is something different than a Mesh object, however you can have a curve circle and a mesh circle, so saying a circle is a curve is true in maths, but might be misunderstandable in Blender  ;)

You got me there. :D Still, a circle is not filled in math and it's not filled in Blender.

A circle can be filled with a triangle fan, or an n-gon, or just left empty while you are adding it to the scene. Although by default it's not filled.


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How to apply Alpha to a collection with all the objects within the collection
I have multiple objects with various textures and materials, in different collections. Is it possible to apply an Alpha to the collection itself with the objects inside it? So I can control how much of the collection is visible in the viewport?
As an example, I'm posting a screenshot from Photoshop, which has a group with 4 different layers, and I can control the opacity of the group from 0 to 100.

And here's a Blender screenshot:

It seems impossible at the moment. Even on the design/idea level, collections are not like layer folders in Photoshop, an object can belong to multiple collections, so it's not clear what the behavior should be in such a case:

If you added a custom property alpha to each collection, and a custom property 1st_col_alpha to each object, you could then add a driver to the latter:
self.original.users_collection[0]['alpha']

Which would use the insecure Python (need to enable script autoexecution, read about the security considerations here) to copy the first collection's alpha to self alpha, which then can be accessed in the shader this way:

Unfortunately this has a problem with refreshing, changing the collection property doesn't automatically refresh the driver. There are various ways to fix it, one would be to simply force a refresh each frame by modifying the driver this way:
self.original.users_collection[0]['alpha'] + 0*frame

Seems impressive technique, very much out of my league this type of method, I have no experience in this field in Blender with code, or drivers, too complicated for me to know even where to start. Maybe in the future a Blender release could include something like Photoshop to target the collections Alpha. Thank you for your reply.


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where are BlenderKit materials stored
I downloaded Blenderkit, and I can see in the shading nodes the materials I have applied to my object. But are the materials stored somewhere on my PC? Where can I find them

In the addons settings (menu Edit > Preferences > Addons > Blenderkit) you have lots of options including where the libraries will be downloaded:

Thank you for that!


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How to copy keyframes from graph editor to another object
Is it possible to copy the keyframes from one object to another, in the graph editor? The only way I found was the link animation data. But I would like to know if its possible using the objects keyframes to be transferred like copy-paste, but nothing is happening. I'm trying to copy the keyframes, then select the other object and paste, but its greyed out.

What exactly is greyed out? Copy-paste should work but maybe share your file so that we try?

Here's the file @moonboots. the timeline has 2 frames of the cube object. I try to copy those frames, then select the cylinder, and paste into the cylinders timeline, and get the message alert: No selected F curves to paste into.

Gordon's answer is correct  ;)

You can copy keyframes with Ctrl+C in the Graph Editor, but to paste them on a different object with Ctrl+V, there has to be a channel to paste them to. And an object only gets a channel if it has a keyframe somewhere.
So for example, if you want to copy your rotation keyframes from one object to the other, just select the second object, go to frame #1 and hit I > Insert Keyframe > Rotation. Now you can select the first one, copy the keyframes, select the second object and paste the keyframes there.
The thing is, other than linking animation data from one object to another which will result in the same animations on the second object, with copy+paste you can do something else: for example, copy Rotation keyframes and paste them into Location channels (in this case, the values will be converted from degree into radians) or Scale channels.
And instead of placing them on the original frames, if you copy keyframes that animate an object say in a range of frames 1 to 20, if you go to frame 11 and paste them there, they will now animate the object from 11 to 30.
If the channel you are pasting the keyframes to already has a keyframe where a new one gets pasted, the original one will be replaced.
Or if you copy rotation keyframes, and the object you want to paste to has location and rotation keyframes and you select them all, the keyframes will only be pasted into the rotation channels, i.e. whenever one or more rotation channels are selected, nothing will be pasted into the location channels.
But if you select only location channels, the rotation keyframes will be pasted there, usually X to X values, Y to Y and Z to Z.
This is just a quick overview, I guess there is more to know about copying keyframes.


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How to copy keyframes in the timeline from start to end without copy pasting
I have an object which animates up and down, from frame 0 to 20. In order to replicate this motion, until frame 250, I select the first 2 frames copy, then move the scroll bar, to the next frames then past, and I repeat this process. Is there a shortcut how to copy paste more swiftly?

Using a Cycles modifier like @Chris shows in his answer is the better, more elegant solution. If you want to do it manually, select the keyframes you want to repeat and do not copy them, but duplicate them with Shift+D and move them to the frame where you want them. This way duplicating and moving is a single action and you can repeat it afterwards by pressing Shift+R as many times as you want to duplicate the keyframes.

Copy your keyframe one more time to 40, then use the cycles modifier:


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How to avoid Jagged edges using custom brush in sculpt mode
I have made a custom brush. I have divided my mesh and has almost 1 million vertices. When I'm in sculpt mode, the custom brush pattern looks more smooth, when I exit sculpt mode the edges become jagged. The + Options gives a different result to the smooth edges of the pattern I have noticed, although its from the same mesh surface.
So is it possible to get a smoother edges on the brush pattern?

I'm not sure that you can without a higher resolution or a Subdivision Surface modifier, of course you need to Shade Smooth, and maybe you could try the Smooth modifier but it will tend to dissolve the shape, but what do you mean by " The + Options gives a different result"?

Yes, you're correct, I also need to ad further more subdivision modifier, and smoothing, but my PC is not coping very well, with such a high polycount. Also when I get closer to the cube I can still see bad geometry, regardless so much subdivisions.
https://ibb.co/CvWQrGk
The + and - , I was referring to the direction next to the strength.

You can't avoid that, as I said maybe try the Smooth modifier and see if it gives a good result, also, if the relief is not deep and you want to avoid high-poly, use a bump or normal map to fake it?

Ill try that too, thank you!

First thing, of course you need to shade smooth. The result will depend on the resolution, the higher it will be the more you'll avoid this jagged effect. If you can't afford a high resolution and your relief is not too high you could fake your shape with a bump or a normal map, what you show is typically what you could do with bump or normal map. Another solution would be to use a Smooth or Smooth Corrective modifier, but the drawback is that it will tend to dissolve the shape:


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How to change rotation of the color ramp on the cylinder
I'm using the mapping rotation to change orientation of the black and white streaks, but nothing is happening. I need them to go the way the arrow is pointing.

Your setup clearly does work:

All 3 axes work, so it's not about applying the rotation:

Your problem comes down to 2 things:

You multiply the $z$ coordinates by $0$. This means you flatten your coordinate space to 2D. Imagine that you have a rotating square, but you flatten it to 0 on Z axis - no longer resembles something rotating, does it?

You're multiplying your coordinate space twice, first inside the Mapping node (by a lot) and then again considerably in Noise Texture (Scale input does just that, multiplies all coordinates coming in). This means neighboring points are far from each-other on the perlin noise texture, and the further you are from another point on perlin noise, the less likely you are to be similar. So effectively you're creating a white noise. Now if you take the white noise and rotate it, you're unlikely to see it actually rotates:

To do that you need to change the scale along the X axis (if the rotation is applied, otherwise the Z axis), not rotate the texture.


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Is it possible for objects not to be affected during render process
I have a scene with 3 cubes, Blue, White, Red. In the middle the white is covering up a section of the red cube. When I toggle on off the white cube, the shadow gets affected on the red cube side. I need to export from Blender each individual object the way it appears in the render, but when I turn off the objects, the shadow and lights also disappear from the rendered image. So is there a way to hide objects without losing the the way its influencing other objects in the scene?

Hello are you in Eevee or Cycles?

EEVEE render, thank you.

Maybe you can get away with this: create a material using Transparent BSDF set its color's alpha to zero leave the RGB values full white (thx @GordonBrinkmann) and enable alpha blending under Material Properties > Settings > Blend Mode. Leave the Shadow Mode as Opaque. This gives a completely invisible object which still throws shadows.

It is not necessary to set the color's alpha to zero. In fact, the Alpha value of an RGB color has no effect in the Shader Editor and many other parts of Blender at all. It can only be used in the Compositor. Especially in the Transparent BSDF, the RGB values are what creates the transparency - a value of 1 means full transparency, a value of 0 full opacity, so it is the opposite of the alpha values, which is basically an opacity value.

@GordonBrinkmann oh wow, i didn't know. Thanks for sharing, i edit my answer.

I was editing my comment but somehow the changes got sent before I finished and now time is up to correct my slightly misunderstandable addition. What I wanted to say is, the Transparent BSDF creates RGB coded colored transparency, where each channel can have a different percentage of transparency. But the alpha channel is a greyscale value of opacity percentage. Alpha can only say, how opaque a material is in all colors whereas the Transparent BSDF can tint the transparency.

By the way, the part which is relevant in Eevee for the shadow to be visible although the object is invisible is the Shadow Mode setting directly below the Blend Mode. If you keep the shadow to be Opaque, it will be visible on a transparent object.

Got it. The takeaway for this case is still that changing the alpha value doesn't do anything for the render outcome, right? And yes, the shadow setting must be opaque of course. I didn't mentioned it because it's set as default when creating a new material but this may be overlooked.

Hello Forum. Thank you for the replies, but this wouldn't work for my current set up. I have multiple objects with various textures and materials, in different collections. So it would be a tedious task to apply alpha to each individual object. So is it possible to apply the Alpha to the collection itself with the objects inside it? That would work for what I'm after.
https://ibb.co/GFgc9nh

@blenderbreath tbh this sounds like a new question as i believe you need scripting then.

Ill post a new question. thank you.

Just to draw this to a conclusion since this thread is already too long: Yes, the color's alpha does not do anything for the render. Not even for mixing, see the following examples, I've used a separate RGB node here: a reddish color, alpha is 0.5 (note that the output is called Color) but the object is opaque: red cube. A black/white factor mix between blue with alpha 1.0 and orange at alpha 0.5 shows the full orange: blue/orange cube. Even in the Compositor, the alpha channel is not used for the Mix node.

(run out of space) Only when you are using the Alpha Over node in the Compositor, the alpha channel of an RGB node is taken into account (note that the output in this case is called RGBA): blue color with apha 0.5 over rendered image. In the Compositor the Separate Color node also has 4 outputs, Red, Green, Blue and Alpha while in the Shader Editor there are only 3 for the color channels, the alpha is missing.

Great additions, much appreciated!


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How to insert keyframes in Graph's noise modifier to stop animation
I'm following along this tutorial here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl9mHgaP2X0
How evert the instructor doesn't specify, about the influence of the animation, how to to stop it. There's only one frame he has added. I have tried with the influence option, keyframe at 0=1.000 and at keyframe 100:1.000 but its not working.
So what I'm after is, a keyframe 0, the animation starts to vibrate/wobble motion, and at the 100th frame the animation comes slowly to a stop.

You can do it by enabling the Restrict Frame Range option, choose the end frame and the Blend Out value:

That looked like a hidden feature, but all good now. Thank you!


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How can Blender in 3.0 add in between frames automatically
Is there a way Blender can add frames in between other frames, so I don't have it do it manually?

i am not sure what you mean. Do you want all keyframes be "filled up" between 1 and thirty? if yes, i don't think this is possible. But of course you could do it with python.

In object mode go to Object menu > Animation > Bake action.


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Procedural Noise Texture with Image
I saw a tutorial about Procedural Noise texture, but I want to add an image on the surface of the texture.
I set up the Nodes but cant figure the correct order to get my image showing.
Thank you.

you need to plug the Bump in the Normal socket of the Principled, I guess that's what you want to do...

Thanks heaps for that, it was exactly what I was after.I needed to manipulate the settings of the bump strength to get the image to show trough, because the higher the strength the image was getting buried into the mesh.
https://ibb.co/pwSn7kK
Kind regards.

You need to plug the Bump node in the Normal socket of the Principled BSDF.


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image wont show through transparent sphere
I have imported image as plane, and set the blend mode to opaque (using EEVEE). I have a transparent sphere, but it wont show through the image.
Ps: Just to make sure my sphere is transparent I inserted an icosphere.

hello, could you please pack your image and share your file? https://pasteall.org/blend/

https://pasteall.org/blend/a844f58f0c704d09afe5e9f9fab3806d

could you please say what doesn't show exactly? I can see the image through the sphere, it's just that it deforms a lot, but if you give your material a IOR of 1 you'll see it flat

Ok, you're correct, I set up, a glass & transparent material, and lowered the IOR and I can see through it. The previous material of the sphere was a basic material with 100% transmission. I'll keep in mind this node set up for more control on transparent objects.
https://ibb.co/D97ZkHr

You can see the image through the sphere, it's just that it deforms a lot, but if you give your material a IOR of 1 you'll see it flat.


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bad Shading around the border of a mesh with shrinkwrap modifier
I have a mesh shrinkwrapped onto another mesh, but where I have the arrows, I'm seeing a little bit of shading.

You could use this topology, it works not too bad:

Can you please do a small GIF Animation how you made that topology?

I'm bevelling the corners and getting an incorrect result: https://ibb.co/ZmfDLqn

ok, I've edited my answer, I hope it helps

Thanks 1000 times!!!


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How to transfer selected Mesh onto another area on the same Mesh
I'm trying to to transfer the selected mesh into the designated area its a curved surface and its making it hard for me to get it in place. What method would be best to get it in place?

Your topology is probably not the best but you can have a good result nevertheless:

Just duplicate the part you want to copy, mirror it, rotate it a bit so that it can fit the hole correctly, join the vertices with the Snapping and Auto Merge options:

Also don't forget to recalculate the normals. It still won't look perfect but you can duplicate the vertices all around the (former) hole, separate this mesh as a new object, grid fill to create a plane:

Now you can use this plane as the target of a Shrinkwrap with these selected vertices as group so that only them stick to the target:

Then apply the Shrinkwrap, activate the Subdivision Surface.


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Object following path not on the same axis
I have an object which follows a Bezier curve, I've made enough segments so it can follow the curve. on the top samples, I've set the axis to X and the object follows the curve on the same Axis and same location axis, but the object doesn't seem as the Bezier shape spiral curve, its incomplete and just goes off direction and intersects with parts of the object.
On the bottom I set the axis on -X the object follows the curve perfectly making the spiral shape, but its not on the same level axis. If I try move it up or down, the whole object deforms. I've tried applying all transforms, but that didn't help. So what am I doing wrong so I can fix this?

Hello :). It'll be one of those many many things that can go wrong with curve modifier (origin points, orientation, radius...). Would be best to share the file: https://pasteall.org/blend/

Hi Jachym, here's the file. Its weird why its doing this so I'd like to know the theory behind it.:  https://pasteall.org/blend/63243eeb00334c859900304ef99635e7

The "problem" with curve modifier is, that you should have

all scale/rotations applied
your origins should be the same

so
1.) select your curve, press CTRL-A and apply scale

2.) change the y-value to 0
3.) select your cube -> press tab for edit mode, press A to select all

4.) now move the whole mesh so that is centers the origin point like this:

5.) press tab again

6.) now change the x-value as much as you need it


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Subdivision modifier is making artefact when applied with array modifier
Subdivision modifier is making artefact when applied with array modifier:

Maybe don't use "merge" in the array modifier. If not that this is du to individual element toplogoy.

This is due to the merge option in the array modifier:

So don't use it.
Or if you want to merge, merge at the end, adding a weld modifier:

An other possibility, is to invert the modifier: subdivision then array.

Note that you have the same issue at many places, lukily, you can fix it by adding a subdivision:

OK thanks, for the information, fixed my issue.


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How to animate Mechanical gears clogs to be in sync with their teeth rotation
I saw a video of unusual mechanisms, and I'm trying to replicate a section of the animation.
In the animation video from 00:15sec it has 2 mechanical gears with the teeth perfectly inter combined when they rotate. By my animating gears(teeth) collide when they rotate. I'd like some information, which method to get it correctly animated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s91uk2CEkZE

My ones start off good, but as it rotates its obvious the teeth collide.

I have included the Blender file with the animation.

delete all animations except the animation of the circle.
delete the copy rotation constraint
on frame 1 move the gears like this

then i -> rotation (add rotation keyframe)

then move to frame 2 and adapt the rotation of that right gear manually
add rotation keyframe again
in timeline  a (select all) -> shift-E -> linear extrapolation
change to graph editor

and now carefully check the next frames if it still fits, if not just move that one keyframe on frame 1 up or down so that it fits

--- update
wrong:

right:

here you see the effect difference between starting at 0 or negative:

Hi there Chris, thanks for the help. I've misunderstood one of your steps, the animation is almost correct, but somewhere I have made a mistake. I followed your instructions, can you please check out the file and tell me what I have done wrong.

gear1 should start for z-rotation negative to positive, if the z-rotation starts at 0, it doesn't rotate relative to gear2.

i updated my answer

Appreciate you help, thanks!

you are welcome


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Running Windows Blender on a Mac
I plug in I need to use (an MDB importer) does not work on the Mac version of Blender
So i need to run a Windows version on my Mac - ive tried Crossover and Winebottler but not been able to get a Windows version working
Has anybody managed to do this for whatever reason?

Bootcamp works fine for that ; but it's kinda heavy solution. Maybe VirtualBox ?

Have checked out this page on the Blender website?


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How to apply Mix Shader to a mesh via the Weight Paint tool?
I was just wondering if the Weight Paint tool can be used to guide a Mix Shader through a mesh pretty much like how a ColorRamp does. So say I have BLack on Shader 1 and White on Shader 2, is there a way for the for the colors of the weight paint tool be assigned to the shaders?
I would imagine that this would be very useful in using other textures like transparency, etc.
Bright Red (Weight = 1.000) to be Shader 1 (black)
Dark Blue (Weight = 0.000) to be Shader 2 (white)

Here I have a Plane subdivided via the W key and it has a subsurf modifier applied. Weight Painted the middle four vertices with a weight of 1.000

I don't think shader trees have access to vertex weight information, as far as I know. You should probably be using Vertex Colors Instead

oh wow. i didn't even know that there's such a thing as vertex colors :) Thank you!


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can i use cloth simulation to create clothing
I have a character with a plane over its head as cloth.  I ran the cloth simulation and once the cloth has finished draping over my character, i'd like to save the newly fallen cloth as clothing.  Is this possible?

You can Apply the Cloth modifier.


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How complete is Blender?
I am really a new guy to blender.My question is how much complete I am with Blender software alone (of course after getting necessary skills).I understand it depends upon what art I want to produce. However, on an average, if completeness is measured 100 %,what would be the contribution of blender in it? (based on your expeience) Also, I look forward for any suggestion to have must have companion with Blender if there are any (like Photoshop, illustrator etc.)
Purpose: Academic illustration (not movie/animation).

Blender is a perpetually evolving program so the completeness is a bit irrelevant. There is always room for improvement, implementing new features, making it more robust and so on. There are a lot of plugins as well to solve many tasks that people face. Try to get something like blender for free. Are you looking for 3D academic illustration or just 2D?

Thank you for your comments.I am looking for 3D such as illustrating biological and chemical molecules.My concern is not about the capacity of the blender. Blender is great.I am trying to figure if I need to illustrate those, whether blender would be sufficient enough or not.

Also if anyone know some appropriate tags for this question please suggest me. I couldn't find more appropriate one's than those which I have used.

It can depend on your capability that how faster you grab learning new things, also software like photoshop, lightroom and illustrator are not easy but are not that difficult if you really wish to built career in any field. Blender is something like a cake, you just have to eat it and you will love it!

@Yash Thanks for your answer. First sentence of your comment has already stated in my explaination. Preferably I would like to use Blender alone if possible. This question intend in that way.

You may want to look it this link, if this is the kind of stuff what you want to visualise, https://lesterbanks.com/2011/06/bioblender-biological-visualization-built-upon-blender-open-source/. As I mentioned before, blender has many free and paid plugin to solve many issues. If you are good at coding then you may even be able to write your own solution for repetitive or specific tasks. If you want to use something like Photosop and Illustrator then I suggest a cheaper but capable alternative from Affinity, https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/. Photo and Designer the ones for you.

Blender is comprehensive enough to me. On my PC, I have over 25 FREE open alternatives and AFFORDABLES, none of your overpriced.
Avoid Adobe, if you wish to avoid auto-renewal subscription trap.
If you want softwares to use alongside Blender, see the list below.
MyPaint — free lightweight painting software. Great realistic pencils & gritty charcoals there. You will love MyPaint. Great for planning artworks.
Krita — for digital painting. Has vector and raster formats. Free alternative to Photoshop.
GIMP — free alternative to Photoshop.
Note: you can use universal format ORA for working back and forth in all three softwares above. ORA keeps all your layers intact.
Inkscape — wonderful free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Affinity Designer — affordable alternative to Adobe Illustrator. Has AI format, very useful for opening Illrustrator files or for converting SVG to AI and vice reverse.
Artrage — affordable software for digital painting. This has highly realistic oil brushes with textured bristle marks on paint. Makes realistic dirt, smudges, smears, etc.
Rebelle — affordable and unrivalled Software for highly reaslistic watercolour paints that bleed and drip.
Storyboarder — free open source software for storyboarding.
Moreover, you can actually upload Photoshop brushes into Krita, Gimp, and Artrage. You can obstain your PS brushes at DeviantArt and Brusheezy.
Add - I recently created this directory containing thumbnails of scrapbooks, some on open source softwares, if they are of any interest to you.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TyUpu4zylhDkEAKpepI9P6HkvtmonJG7zEBLsHgWCjI/

For what purpose you meant 'comprehensive enough'?I meant to say what you usually use Blender for?

I use Blender mostly for modelling, sculpting, video editing, motion graphics, etc. If I want to do 2D digital painting, it is definitely not Blender. For 2D painting, it is definitely always MyPaint and Krita. With ORA format, I go back and back between two softwares for favourite brushes and filters. Gimp and Inkscape have great filters for FXs as too Krita.

I keep scrapbooks on 2D & 3D softwares. I use them like a notebooks & directories. Whenever I want to remember great tricks inside softwares, I take screenshots of videos and webpages and store them inside scrapbooks. I have many scraps on cheat sheets, FXs, textures, etc.   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MO11ucFLnwKzxjPKmLy4dfqMlQjJR1S9wHt1yB61Eqg/

@Science123, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TyUpu4zylhDkEAKpepI9P6HkvtmonJG7zEBLsHgWCjI/


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How can I make manipulator/gizmo stay visible when doing a transformation?
I have googled a bit and searched on here, as well as looked at settings and preferences, but have yet to find an answer. Currently working in 2.8 Beta.
When I am moving a mesh in object mode, I have my gizmo/manipulator of course, but when I select, let's say, the X axis and grab the red vector- while I'm moving my object, the gizmo is no longer visible. Of course, it's visible again when I stop the desired movement and release the mouse button, but I was hoping there was a way I could toggle the gizmo/manipulator to ALWAYS be visible, even when transforming an object or moving it.
Any tips? Settings I'm missing? Much appreciated. Thank you!

This is most likely a bug and will be fixed in the final version. The official bug tracker has listed quite a lot of viewport issues at the moment and the temporary fix for a viewport update problem was to remove any overlays due to slowdown. In any case, once you get used to the shortcuts, you are probably going to use the "G" Key and then "X", "Y" and "Z" for the direction you want to move your object.

The gizmo also disappeared when moving an object in 2.78 and 2.79. I don't like this behavior at all but given that this is how it worked in previous versions I'm not sure they plan to change it. I think having it disappear during operation feels pretty wonky.

When you turn off overlays, gizmo gets turned off. Check the overlays area for the gizmo toggle on/off.

Please read more carefully. This doesn't answer OP's question at all.


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Pierce a hole on the edge of a cylinder
I want to pierce a hole through a cylinder :

I've tried knife project and boolean/difference with this cylinder and it doesn't work. Any idea ?

Edit: I've edited my post as, at first, I didn't understand your question
The easiest way would be this one:

Create 2 circles
Merge them
Delete some vertices
Fulfill the shape with F
Extrude with E and press Z to constraint on the Z axis

but it also depends on what you want to do with this shape later on

i was just thinking .. one lazy option here, to reduce the distortion of the inner circle as much as possible, would be to create it with way too many vertices, so the Alt-M would move the chosen ones as little as possible, then checker-deselect (invert selection > delete) the excess vertices?

of course, I was just exposing a simple way to do it, it can be improved a lot, also, I don't know if this shape will have to be changed later on (will it need an extrusion for example?), in that case it could not be the best way to do it

Both your answers were really useful to me, so I chose this one but this other one is what I should have done from the beginning. Thanks ;)

Knife Project works fine.
Shift+A Add -> Mesh -> Circle 32 verts Add another cicle with 16 verts.
Scale down the 16 verts circle.
Press F to fill the faces in edit mode for both circles.
Adjust the smaller circle at the corner of the big circle.
Now select the smaller circle and press Shift select the larger circle and press Tab
Press spacebar and type knife project
A cut selection is made press delete select faces
Now delete the smaller circle.


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Is it possible to cause an object in Blender v. 2.79b to produce a sound whenever it is struck?
While creating a 3d model of a guitar, I have been trying to figure out how to make the strings vibrate and produce a sound when struck.  I am not sure what to do to get it to work.  I have looked online several times for tutorials on how I might get this to work, but without success.  Can you help me?  NOTE: I know how you can add audio through the Movie Clip Editor.  This is not what I am looking for.
P.S. I request that the community tag this item with any other relevant tags.

Yes, you can use a cylinder as a string and shape keys to move it up and down:

Create a new Shape Key to move up and down the string:

Then move the string up with Proportional Editing turned on:

Allow the shape key to get a minimum value of -1 to let the string move down:

Then animate the scale of the object:

Bake the sound file to the onto the scale animation curve:

Next bake the animation curve:

Copy the keyframes from the scale animation to the shape key animation:

Delete the scale, location and rotation keyframes (don't forget to set the scale back to 1.0 in all axes after this):

Finally, add some noise modifier to the animation curve to move the string up and down:


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Trying to learn how to render a character in blender that can have facial rigging
I wanted to learn a little bit more about some resources I could look at when trying to create a human character model that has the capability for facial expressions/rigging.  It seems like every decent tutorial I watch on modeling lands me in a place where I can't even properly rig it without completely messing up everything.
I've been trying to figure out where to start for a long time, or what tutorials to watch but I can never seem to piece out what I need and end up frustrated and back where I started.

Asking for resources is considered off topic here, see this post. Please reformulate your question to focus on the specific part of the workflow your are stuck with and why you can't advance past that point

I don't know the best way to explain @DuarteFarrajotaRamos I feel like this has been something I have been struggling to learn for some time and is really blocking my progress.  I build a model that's somewhat decent up until I get to the face (usually following a tutorial).  When I go to try to rig it following another tutorial I find that it's impossible.  Usually I can get the eyes to move.  The mouth/jaw area will get displaced.  I think most tutorials I've followed have been for still images.  But I can't find any info on how to model a decent character and rig it for animation.

Essentially @DuarteFarrajotaRamos I feel like I'm constantly hitting a roadblock and I don't understand what exactly it is that I'm even doing wrong in the first place.

Have you tried looking into actual production assets? Blender official demo files at the Blender Cloud are high quality production files made by proven professionals, you'll also get access to tutorials and libraries plus you'd be helping the foundation with a small subscription.

@DuarteFarrajotaRamos This might actually help a lot.  Would you recommend this over other subscriptions then?  I've been nervous about looking into them, in case they do not have the materials or answer the questions I have.

Don't take my word for it, I don't do character animation nor have I ever actually seen the materials available at the cloud; but given the "official" nature I'd expect a relatively decent degree of quality

Possible duplicate of Resources for Blender

You could make a screenshot of your current specific problem, or even share your file, for example you say that when you rig your eyes the mouth get displaced, it must be because you haven't parented the eyes correctly. There are a lot of tutorials about rigging on youtube, but of course everyone has his own way to rig, it really depends on what you need and what is your character topology, etc...


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Please help me fix geometry
I got this mesh,which was exported out of some engineering program like solidworks for example with STL FORMAT.
Please help me understand how to fix this. Is there a way to fix such crazy ugly triangles?
I will link blend file with mesh:
https://yadi.sk/d/GQ7gB_vdDy6jyw

Hello :). This mesh looks well suited for Limited Dissolve operator in Mesh > Delete > Limited Dissolve

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/63196/how-to-make-this-cylinder-model-with-holes https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5856/cutting-a-circular-hole-in-a-hollow-cylinder-without-distorting-the-cylinder https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/79650/regularly-spaced-holes-in-a-cylinder


text:
How to model spiral
Is this possible to model this spiral kinda thing? How can I do this?
Thank you

Here is a way to do it, maybe there is a simpler way?

Create your shape profile, keep the origin where the pivot point needs to be.
Add a Screw modifier to your object, with a 360° Angle, play with the Screw factor, add some Steps to make the mesh smoother, choose the amount of Iterations you need.
Apply your modifier in Object mode
Go in Edit mode and W > Remove Doubles so that the mesh vertices join themselves and leave no gaps between the iterations, play with Merge Distance factor on the bottom of the T menu.
Cut the top of the mesh
Merge some vertices on the top edge loop to simplify it.
Flatten it in the Z axis with S+Z+0
With the top edge loop still selected, enable the LoopTools addon, if it is not already, and make a W > LoopTools > Circle.
Extrude this top edge loop.
Do the same thing for the bottom (clean the mesh, make a circle, extrude...)
Give your object a Subdivision Surface modifier to smooth it, and click Shading > Smooth in the T menu.


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How to connect multiple faces quickly?
I was given a model that has most of its faces separate from each other. The model will be 3D printed, so I need to make it into a solid object with wall thickness. Is there a way to connect the edges of the faces quickly?

Am not so sure, but under the edit mode, goto>Mesh>Faces and check if there is such option in the options

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/60375/why-am-i-getting-rounded-faces-when-combining-edge-split-and-subsurf

Select every verts then hit "W" then "R" (remove doubles).

I know this is a late answer, but the solution posted in this comment doesn't exist anymore in the newer Blender versions (or at least I couldn't find it), and the linked answer doesn't address this specific issue.
So to solve the problem and join all the faces together, select all the faces you want merged. Then merge the vertices by distance. To do this you can either

hit M, then B, or
(in vertex-select mode) right-click, select "Merge Vertices" and select "By Distance."

This should join all the corresponding vertices of your faces, so that they're all connected.


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Particle System Problem on Blender 2.79
I want to make grass field with particle system but when i try that i get black shading  where the grasses close to each other. If i set emission number to low (for example 25) there is no problem but when i up i get this result. What should i do?
Thank you very much.

Please show two screen captures and label them as successful/good and unsucessful/bad or something equivalent so we can easily understand what your problem is.

It is transparent plane but i fixed my problem by set to transparency to high number on render tab light path section.


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Normal Map Baking Random Artifacts On Substance Painter
I modeled high poly gas lamp,unwrapped uv map on blender then export to substance painter to bake a normal map. But when i do that i get random artifacts on mesh. I tried up to antialiasing x8,resolution to 2k and tweaked with max frontal and rear distance but these couldn't solve this problem. I have been trying to figure out what cause this for 2 days. Anyone can help me i'll be so glad.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about Substance Painter

Its bake related. I also get this artifacts on blender.

Do you get these artifacts when you bake in blender? If so, please edit it to show use of blender.


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Must bevel be used in every situation?
My question is simple: Should I use bevel on everything to make it look more realistic?
On what circumstances should bevel be used?
I have been experiencing artifact problems when I bake normals from beveled high mesh to low mesh.
I guess bevel affects normal map baking. Does it?
Thanks for answers.

Yes. No. It depends.
Objects with bevel are indeed more realistically looking and as probably you know by now, there is not a single known object perfectly sharp. Even sharpest knife in some tremendous magnification will show some "bevel" on its edge.
Question is, when do you need to show it. Firstly lets get trough most commonly used bevel cases.
Bevel High Poly

Most natural one from the bunch. I've used on this example 3 segmented Bevel and 2nd level of Subdivision Surface modifier. It goes to whopping 3,072 tris on a simple cube.
It looks the best out of every other case but it is heavy as hell.

When to use it? If you are rendering extremely realistic object in a
  closeup or try to keep realism overall at high level.

Bevel Baked

This one is/was mostly used in game industry. It gives you considerably good looking bevel from the distance. This object has only 12 tris! Problem is - you will loose object silhouette and it is kinda not user friendly in Blender.

When to use it? In game engines for non significant distant objects.

How to: How does normal baking work?
Bevel Shader

This is one of the newest additions to Cycles. It's very similar to the baked one but you have nice control over it. You don't need to create normal maps images, high poly meshes etc. Cons - you can't export it that way, so baking still will be needed for external software and still you will lose object silhouette

When to use it? Non significant distant objects in Cycles rendering.
  EEVEE doesn't support it (yet?).

How to: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/cycles/nodes/types/input/bevel.html
Bevel Weighted (Hardened Normals)

Also one of the newest things in Blender and by far my favourite. You can achieve it by Bevel modifier in 2.80 (Hardened Normals) or with Weighted Normal Modifier.
This option gives you light mesh (44 tris with 1 segment bevel, 108 tris with 2 segments - example is 2), silhouette and smooth looking edges.
It was highly used in a game Star Citizen, you can read more about it here.
Overall it's not a perfect solution. I don't know how compatible it is with main game engines besides UE4 (which support it) but I know for sure LuxCoreRender can't handle Custom Normals Data.

When to use it? Games, non significant objects in middle range (with 1
  segment), close non significant objects with more then 1 segment.

Summary
As you can see there is no single answer to your question. You need to choose accordingly to your needs.
I've presented only selected methods easily achievable in Blender. There are more of course.
Or maybe you don't need bevel at all for small details in background - it's your call.
Side note: There are of course more pros/cons and also use cases for every method. I've pointed most relevant from my point of view. If you think that something else should be written in this answer, let me know in comments section.

Quick tip for the first example: Use more bevel segments and less subdivisions. That way there's  much less wasted geometry on the flat surfaces. This goes for all objects except where subdivision is already used/necessary.

@Brenticus yes I'm aware of this but on the other hand with less subdivision there are some shading issues in one way or the other. Still it needs a massive geometry to produce good result. It's just an example.

Probably worth mentioning the bevel shader has significantly more render overhead due to performing a raytrace during shader evaluation. It might not make a big difference in render times in the end, depending on the scene, but something to be aware of. On the flip side, it doesn't care about topology and can even bevel intersecting meshes that do not have a joined edge. One of these properties of the bevel shader will usually end up dictating if it's a better choice than weighted-normals or not.


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uv unwraps to a weird shape
Does anyone know why the top face unwraps weird? Thanks!

Hi, to know why, it would help to have details about which UV unwrapping method was used

first remove doubles just in case, and then mark a seam in that face and in where should have it as well, and then re-unwrap again


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If I scale this part, I can see some empty space there

If I scale it more, this empty space is more bigger. this other mirror part
'-'..help me.. how can I make no space there

Check "clipping" and "merging" in your mirror modifier settings.

From the looks of it you appear to be using a mirror modifier. To fix this tearing caused by scaling; enable "clipping" in the mirror modifier window.
Use the GIF below for an example:
https://i.sstatic.net/3749X.jpg


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how can I make more sharp line?

I tried to make more sharp.. but it looks like that picture.
I put some subdivision surface.

My memory is rustic on this one. You select vertex and hit either Ctrl + E or Shift + E or Alt + E. I can't remember which one. Click on one and drag cursor out.

You have to set the crease not only on the outer edges but on one additional edge at the vertice with the kink. It doesnt matter if it is this one or the other edge.

also you can imagine that there can be situations that would produce unwanted effects setting the crease of this additional edge to 1. In those cases a change of topology can help or has to be done. But this are just hypothetical cases, in this example its straightforeward

@cegaton is the edit sufficient?

Really thank you!


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Have letters slide along pane then fall into a bucket
I'd like to create an animation where several words moves along an edge (hard surface).  When the letters get to the end of the edge, each letter then falls into a containers.  The container then shakes and outputs a new word.
I can make the individual letters move along the edge, but when I apply gravity "Active" in the Physics section, it behaves not as expected.
Any samples out there I can review?
Thank you,

please explain "not as expected". I recommend downloading "GifCam" to record short footage of Blender.

Hello Hatinacat2000, I want the letters to slide (x1 -> x2) along an axis.  If I enable "active" in physics the letters fall down (flat on the surface).  If I set mass to 0.01 the letters float away.  I tried two different letters: one to move them with the location setting and the other with gravity.  However, when I try to place the letter with the gravity to its starting point in frame 60, it ignores its position.  I need zero gravity until frame 60 for the first letter, then frame 65 for the second, etc.  I am unable to get it to work correctly.

Hi, Mike. I think you should upload your .blend file with the animation frames that aren't working out. Google "Blend Exchange" and update your question with the link it generates for you.


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Bounce Objects Inside other Object
I want to make objects bounce around a constraint.  My first thought was to place the objects inside a sphere and have them bounce around; however, the objects just fall through.  Even though I use the Physics to make the Sphere Rigid.
The effect I am trying to do is like Bingo Balls bouncing inside the globe before being extracted.  Can someone point me in the right direction?
Thank you,

You have to FLIP NORMALS to keep the objects inside that sphere ... checked now and working buddy so try.

You also could look at this .blend mate: (https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/5317/)

Jan,  Thank you for your input.  Unfortunately, i am unable to get it to work.  The objects just fall through the sphere.  I downloaded your example and appended the IcoSphere into my project and its a "no-go".  When I add Rigid Body the objects fly out of the sphere.  With Collision the objects just drop through.  I'm probably missing something simple.  Thanks again!

I just opened up a new Blender session, added an Ico sphere (5 subdivisions) and scaled it by 6. Then switched to edit mode and Flipped normals. The I added another ico sphere and added a rigid body as Active from the tool bar and selected the initial large inverted sphere and set it as rigid body Passive. Ran the animation and the light sphere falls down and rolls around in the big sphere with falling out. Note: I am using the quick physics from the tool bar, so it might have some differences from the defaults if you use the actual physics tab.

Probably also possible, I made that sphere with flipped normals a Collision object which also works well as could be seen using my .blend file. So Mike, You could append my sphere, than add your balls into it and make them RigidBody (with Edges Bending = 10+! and Goal turnded OFF) and also Collision, No they will interact with each other and also NOT drop thru the "normals-flipped sphere" ... thats all I done in my scene.

If you are working with rigid body objects, you could try and set the container object Collisions > Shape to Mesh, inside the RigidBody properties.


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Morph Text from Horizontal to Curve above
How is the best way to morph text from a Horizontal to an Arc above it?  When I add the Curve Modifier to my Text it instantly get transformed.  Thus, I am unable to lock (keyframe) the start.  Can someone please guide me in the right direction?
Thank you

Shape Keys!
I discovered the Shape Keys for the Curve and used them to animate my Curve.
Here is a more complete answer: How to animate A curve segment?


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Scatter Particles after the have been created
How do I move Particles in random directions (explosion) after they have been created?  I trace letters with a particle system without any movement.  Once I have particles all around my edges I want them to disperse.
In other other words, create non moving particles between frames 1 and 150.
 On Frame 151, put the particles in motion.
Thank you,

Add an appropriate force field, or maybe fields if you want the "centers" of the explosion to be on each individual letter.  Keyframe the strength of the force field to be zero on frame 150, then something higher (say, 10) on frame 151.  Set the force of gravity of the particle system to zero (or zero until frame 151 if you want your explosion to include gravity effects).
Here I have keyframed the explosion to start on frame 101.  So on frame 100 the strength of the field is zero and the particles have not moved:

A few frames later, they have exploded outward:


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Eevee ignores alpha in depth pass
I beg pardon for this question, but I can't really wrap my head around this matter, as it works flawlessly in all other apps by default but doesn't seem to work in Blender.
Here's the issue

As you can see, there's a couple of cubes and plants which are simple planes with alpha channel.
When I try to render the depth pass or a mist pass, these plants get absolutely ignored

The geometry with a simple material is there but the objects with alpha get omitted. I suspect that it is just my stupidity but  can't find a way to add the objects with alpha to the depth pass.
Anyone can explain this? Thanks in advance.

Fortunately I stumbled upon the material setting
For some reason, if you set your blend mode to "Alpha blend" - Eevee does not render the objects with this material at all. It sort of treats them as transparent for the Depth pass.


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Can a curve with a bevel profile have 2 materials
Dear friends and fellow Blenderheads, could you give me a hand with that profile? I have curve with a bevel profile - basically a lofted cornice. And it should have a cover on top. Is there a possibility to still have it as a curve without converting to mesh and have 2 materials assigned to it. E.g. material 1 - white stucco and material 2 - metal plate? Thanks.

There is currently no way to have multiple materials using a single curve and a profile object.
You could have a single material containing 2 different shaders, but you would need a way to separate what material is for what part of the object. One way to do that would be to use a bevel object curve composed of two separate splines inside. You could flip the direction of one of the splines (w -> Switch Direction with the spline selected in edit mode) in order for the result to have one part of it with inverted normals.

You could then use Backfacing output of the Geometry node to mix your different shaders. Note that you will have the normals inverted so you will also have to take that into account in one of your shaders: for example you would have to invert the IOR value of the Fresnel node if you used one in the shader:

Pretty clever solution, I have encountered this issue often before and never thought of that. Nice one!

Thanks, man. This is amazing. That saved me a lot of time


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Ctrl Z works separately in edit mode and text window. In object mode it affects both. Anyway to fix this?
I'm programming a script that requires blender to be in object mode to see the results. I like to undo the results, modify the script and try again. When I CTRL Z to undo the results, it also undoes my script changes!
If I'm scripting something for edit mode, CTrL Z allows me to undo my mesh changes, but does not affect the script file. Any way I can change this behavior? What am I missing?

This is the intended behavior.

@someonewithpc, could you explain the reasons, please (I feel this very annoying too)?

Related https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/35975/why-cant-i-get-my-undo-history-back

If you press Ctrl + Z in object mode it undoes all of the changes you did when you were in edit mode at once(so be careful with that) AND all of the changes you did in object mode individually. When in edit mode it undoes all of the changes in edit mode individually but none of the changes in object mode. You can't change change it in the preferences. Dunno about console since I'm not a expert in Python.


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How to symmetrize shape keys?
Basically I done all the facial animations on the +x axis but I want to make some shape keys symmetrical like when the character opens the mouth.
I tried using the mirror shape key and the new shape from mix like I'm doing with the eyes to make them blink at the same time but since the mouth has movement exactly in the middle vertices the mix ends up with the middle vertices in a different place.
I could do the mirror, reset the position on the middle vertices back to basic shape and do the mix, but is there a faster way?

I dont think there is any other way without it affecting the middle vertices. Since you have the middle vertices affected by the shape keys, they will be affected by the mirrored one aswell.

If you want to mirror some shape keys without doubling the quantity of movement for the center line of vertices, you need to use at least one weightgroup with all vertex at 1 except for the middle ones which will be at 0.5.

Individual shape will have their movement on center line halved, but it's a common practice. Here I show one weightgroup (1-0.5-1) but you will often see two weightgroups (1-0.5-0) and (0-0.5-1).
You can watch this video tutorial from Angela Guenette for this process, and I highly invite you to watch the whole series.


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Copy vertex shape key information to a different object
I have a face and an empty space behind the eyes (to render it in anime style), the connection between the eyes and the empty space has the same number of vertices and in the same positions, I made a shape key in the face to blink an eye, is there a way to copy the vertex information of the shape key to the empty space object?
I tried with transfer shape key but since they don't have the same number of vertex it doesn't work

I would go like this: create a copy of the mesh with shape keys, delete all the vertices not interested by shape changes, delete the corrispondent vertices in the empty space mesh, connect the copied vertices (with the same shape keys) to the empty space mesh: ctrl J to join the two meshes, then delete double to connect the two separate parts.


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Color not showing up on object?
I'm new to blender, and I'm working on a project. I texture painted my character, and it shows up fine, but once I switch to object mode, it disappears.

I also need to import this character into JME, so if anyone could help me with that too, that'd be fantastic.
Thanks!

You probably need to save the texture painting as an image and add that image to your material(s).

I already did that; it still doesn't appear in object mode.

If you'd like to preview your painted texture in 3D Viewport, then see http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5283/how-to-show-textures-in-the-3d-view-editor

How would I make my painted texture a permanent, visible part of the object (esp. when I import files)?

Any number of things could have caused the problem. Could you upload your file (with images packed)?


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Problem with exporting a proxy object (to collada .dae) including texture, material and animation
i spent a lot of time on this topic and cannot find any solution.
I linked my already rigged and textured character (as proxy) to a new blender file and created the animation for the proxy armature.
Here my current setup in the outliner

Now i want to export this scene to a collada file. (The "Include Material Textures" Checkbox is enabled.) but:

No textures / materials will be copied to the destination.
The animation doesn't work, because it seems like the "Body" object is not connected to the proxy armature.

Side note: The animation works fine in blender. It breaks only after exporting. I tried to include the "Body" object also as proxy but then i have to reassign the mesh to the armature and my weight-painting breaks.
So my questions are:

How can i export my proxy object to a collada file including textures / materials?
How can i export my proxy object to a collada file including a working animation?

Hopefully anybody has a solution for that... :(
Thanks and regards
Steffen

Ok i solved it by myself. The texture problem can be solved, by copying all necessary files (*Specular.png, *Opacity.png, *Diffuse.png ...) by hand to the same destination like the *.dae will be stored and disable the "Copy"  and enable "Include Material Textures" checkbox in the collada export settings.
The animation only works, if i set the body object to local (so its assignable to the proxy armature). The mesh, materials and textures are still linked, so i'm still able to change them in my origin blend file.


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Cycles OpenCL GPU Render Gray Overlay/Mist?
Dear Blender Community,
Several weeks ago I suddenly experienced difficulty when rendering on my GPU.
Whereas before the renders looked just like the CPU renders as they are supposed to, my GPU renders now had a gray overlay or mist, if you will, in them.
This happens in every scenes, but I will illustrate the difference with pictures from the following test scene:

A rendered image using CPU rendering (looking normal)

The same scene rendered by GPU
For the GPU render I used OpenCL rendering, thus using an AMD graphics card.
The odd thing is that when I used GPU rendering in the viewport rendering the preview looked perfectly fine without any gray overlay.
I've already tried tweaking many settings, though nothing made any difference.
Except rendering with a very low sampling amount, like 5, made it so you have a very ugly grainy image though with very little of the gray overlay.
I really hope someone might have a solution for this problem so I will again be able to render scenes with shorter render time.
If any more information is required feel free to asked and thank you very much in advance.

Welcome to BSE, uploading your .blend file might help you get the right answer, you can upload your file here: http://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Thank you, I don't think uploading the .blend file, will be of any use because the problem occurs in every blend file I use.
I've through the related linked problem though (Thanks a lot for the link) and I'm going to try downgrade my driver. If this remains with no result, I will upload my .blend file anyway.

i have the same problem ! i fixed it by selecting "progressive refine" under "performance" but it slows down the progress by x10 aprox... any sugestions ?

I had the same problem with amd 7870. Possible solution 1- luxrender. 2 -"Cycles" AMD Catalyst drivers "CRIMSON" change of version.
In any case I would be interested to know that CPU and GPU uses, in order to assist you better.

Cycles OpenCL support is still rather experimental.. Does this behavior persist in 2.78?

Hey Everyone, thanks for all the help you've offered. My problem has been solved. The latest update for my gpu fixed the problem.


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How do you create a 3D Model to be uploaded and viewed by HTC Vive
Needing to create some 3D models, how can they be uploaded to the HTC Vive to be viewed on VR. DO i need to use another program such as, Unity, and or Unreal, or Steam. How would i create the model VR ready.
Thanks

VR ready = game ready. Make a game model (there are plenty of tutorials). As far as viewing on the HTC Vive, I believe unity supports that. You can use the obj or fbx formats to export from blender to unity. Blender  doesn't have direct internal support afaik.

There is an plugin but it does not seem to have been updated in the last 4 months.
That said the video is amazing, though it is only head tracking in room-space no controllers. You can always get the source code.
https://github.com/cedeon/virtual_reality_viewport/tree/vivetest
http://uploadvr.com/blenders-open-source-software-just-got-makeshift-vr-support/


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Can you access blender from a third party application?
I was wondering if it was possible to use some of the blender addons, such as the virtual reality addon, through another party. Meaning, can I run blender Virtual reality through another application, created by me. Also if there are any tutorials on this what are they?


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VR visualizaitons
So there is the VR room scale thing, for blender. Is it possible to do this for a game created with blender? I would prefer not to use an outside program such as unity or unreal. So basically can you use the HMD to control the camera movement? And, Can you use the Vive's controllers as controllers? any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

I think you 'can' but not natively or directly from a user point of view, as far as I know. You can theoretically do it through BGE python API using scripting. I am not much into programming so I can't confirm these facts, but I believe it has been done before.

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57781/blender-for-virtual-reality/57797#57797

https://blendervr.limsi.fr/doku.php


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How do i access the methods for the Virtual Reality addon?
I want to access the methods for the add-on of virtual reality viewpoint. How would i do this. I have previously did the hover over the ui, and take the code from there but it did not work. are there an suggestions on what i should do?

Oh, by the way, when you said it did not work, what did it do?  Did it give you an error?

yeah it gives me a error

What is the error?

the error says: "RuntimeError: Operator bpy.ops.view3d.virtual_reality_display.poll() failed context is incorrect"

It sounds like you need to do something before you can run this.

Can you post your complete code?

what code are you talking about?

Are you just running this: bpy.ops.view3d.virtual_reality_display.poll()?

Ok, I found out what the problem is.  I looked at the code for the virtual reality addon, and it wants a context argument for bpy.ops.view3d.virtual_reality_display.poll() Now unfortunately, I don't know what it wants for that argument, so you'll have to figure that out.
Hope this helps!
UPDATE:
context MIGHT be bpy.context, but I can't test it so I'm not sure.


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Part of the mesh is flat and the other is smooth
I have a mesh which there is a section which is not smooth, but in edited mode I can see it is smooth. (although I have chosen the shade smooth option). I have used used a modifier data transfer, don't know if this is the reason which causes this.

Hello please share your file

Here it is thanks:

You need to redo the topology, first remove this part, then select the opposite edges:

And CtrlF > Grid Fill:

Extend the bar into the big one

CtrlF > Intersect (Boolean) and in the Operator box choose the Union mode:

Here is the result:

You'll have to correct the topology, enable the Auto Merge option and the Snap (to Vertex) in order to merge vertices, also dissolve some edges:

Result with the Subdivision Surface modifier:


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How to get even thickness on a curving mesh when rotated on a different direction
I'm trying to rotate the mesh to get it looking even thickness. But around the curve it looks a little bit thinner then the rest of the extruded mesh. When its time to round it off, like in the last image, it seems to distort when I attempt to extrude.

I bet you are looking for the Spin tool then Extrude to preserve the area of the section. Here is a tutorial : https://youtu.be/OcESDOixsj0?t=138

Maybe cut off this part, keep only the 2 tips of the pipe and select them:

Then use CtrlE > Bridge Edge Loops, tweak the values in the Operator box, it will keep the thickness all along the pipe:

Excellent method!


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How to display scene statistics on start up
Is there a way to have the scene statistic always appear in my viewport? I have tried to click on save preference to always show when I insert a new mesh into my viewport. When I close Blender and then reopen, I have to check it on again for it to appear.

What does it give if you go into File > Defaults > Save Startup File?

OK this worked. Never knew that feature.
Merci!

Go into File > Defaults > Save Startup File, it will save your current settings as the default settings when you'll create a new file.


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How to duplicate parented objects as one object
I have parented the smaller cube to the larger cube, to make child parent link. I want to be able to duplicate both objects, by selecting them as an entity, and not selecting both of them to duplicate them. Is there a way once I have made a child parent object, just by selecting it, I can make multiple duplicates? In the example I have posted, the second image Im trying to make the object a group so I can duplicate it as one object, rather than selecting the small and large cube.
I thought that by parenting objects they could be also duplicated as one, but I keep on selecting both objects to duplicate.

It has a children options in the select operator.

Im trying to do that, select both cubes and then choose children, but again I need to click on both of them to duplicate them, if I choose one cube, only one will duplicate.

AFAIK this is not possible. Parenting doesn't mean that they are "one" object. They are still 2 objects. Maybe an add-on can do this. But of course you could write a python snippet which does what you want: select all objects which are parented or child objects. May i ask why you want such a functionality?

Addon: select and select children
bl_info = {
    "name": "My Addon",
    "author": "X Y",
    "version": (0, 1),
    "blender": (2, 80, 0),
    "location": "View3D",
    "description": "select and select children",
    "category": "Object",
}

import bpy

class MY_OP(bpy.types.Operator):
    bl_idname = "view3d.select_and_grouped"
    bl_label = "Operator select and grouped"

    def invoke(self, context, event):
        bpy.ops.view3d.select('INVOKE_DEFAULT')
        bpy.ops.object.select_grouped(extend = True)
        return {'FINISHED'}

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

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

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

1) Save to .py file and install

2) Check keymap is conflict

3) Add keymap in 3D view(Global)
view3d.select_and_grouped

4) Save Perferences
0) If you want to duplicate and Join the object
Add this between line 19 and 20
bpy.ops.object.duplicate_move(OBJECT_OT_duplicate={"linked":False, "mode":'TRANSLATION'}, TRANSFORM_OT_translate={"value":(0, 0, 0), "orient_type":'GLOBAL', "orient_matrix":((0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 0)), "orient_matrix_type":'GLOBAL', "constraint_axis":(False, False, False), "mirror":False, "use_proportional_edit":False, "proportional_edit_falloff":'SMOOTH', "proportional_size":1, "use_proportional_connected":False, "use_proportional_projected":False, "snap":False, "snap_target":'CLOSEST', "snap_point":(0, 0, 0), "snap_align":False, "snap_normal":(0, 0, 0), "gpencil_strokes":False, "cursor_transform":False, "texture_space":False, "remove_on_cancel":False, "release_confirm":False, "use_accurate":False, "use_automerge_and_split":False})
bpy.ops.object.join()

nice one! +1 !!


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How to make this Ngon into a quad
How can I make this Ngon into a quad? I if its possible I don't want to cut in-between the other faces because its making a very pointy  corner on the peak of the curve. I'm aware its a flat surface, but is it possible for theory sake to eliminate this Ngon?

it looks like you don't care about tris so you could make tris. But it's probably the whole topology that you should change

Add a Loopcut (Ctrl R) in front of the 5th vertex, then join with J.


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How to UV map this image onto chrome material
I have already a chrome material applied to my object. And then I make the same material for the front of the object, and I want to UV this PNG image, but I don't know how to set up the NODE for it to display with the chrome material, I'm getting a black texture displayed, instead of the chrome material.

You need to use the alpha channel of your image as mask in order to put the smiley over the chrome material: Plug your Image Texture into a Principled BSDF, mix this Principled with the one with your chrome material into a Mix Shader, use the Alpha of the Image Texture as the factor of the Mix Shader. The settings of your first Principled BSDF can be different from the second, for example if you want something non-reflective for your smiley, etc:


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How is it possible to have a add-on run immediately after you open blender?
What I am needing to do is that when I open blender it toggles the add-on. The add-on that I am using is the Virtual Reality ViewPoint. What I want is for that addon to activate right when I open Blender.How is this possible?

Somewhat related http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/1689/15543

Which one? Please provide a link to the addon.

https://github.com/dfelinto/virtual_reality_viewport

Sounds more like a bug. Make sure you saved your user prefs. Otherwise might be better reporting this behavior as issue on github.

I haven't tested this with the addon you mention but two things that may help.

Enable the addon, adjust the options and Save User Settings. This will keep the addon enabled every time you start blender.
Setup the viewport, then File->Save Startup File. The startup file defines the scene contents and screen layouts when blender is started. This might allow the addons viewport settings to be set the way you want when starting blender.

If the startup file doesn't keep the addons viewport settings then you could use a python script to set the options the way you want and save it into the startup file so it can be run on startup.

If you launch blender from the command line, you can designate a startup .py file which could either be the addon itself or trigger the loading of the addon.
Sample cli command:
blender --background --python startup_script.py

Depending on your OS, there are different ways to make the command line call clickable as an executable app for convenience.


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Blender for Virtual Reality
How would you create a game with Blender that can be used by the HTC Vive? Is it even Possible? What are all of the steps for this to be possible?

Yes, here you go: Blender Room Scale VR Viewport on the HTC Vive
Source can be found here:
https://github.com/cedeon/hmd_sdk_bridge/tree/cedeon-vive
https://github.com/cedeon/virtual_reality_viewport/tree/vivetest
For a real project you should consider using Unity3D and creating assets with Blender.
See also:
Blender VR
- https://blendervr.limsi.fr/doku.php


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How to Run blender from a python program?
I was wondering how is it possible to have a blender program run exclusively from a python program? I am wanting to create an application that calls a python code to run blender. But is it even possible? If you know any tutorials on this, let me know.

Is this different from your other question? http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/58124/can-you-access-blender-from-a-third-party-application

well in my other question Im asking if i can use just eh addons, this one im asking if you can call a python script to run the blender, without having to use the interface

You could run blender from python like this:
import subprocess
subprocess.Popen(["blender", "myScene.blend"])

Or, if you want, could run your python script from blender like this:
blender myscene.blend --background --python myscript.py

Okay, so where would i run the code

if you are running  your python script from blender, you would enter the code into the command line.  If you are running blender from python, just put the code in your python script.  If you have any problems or questions, just comment again.

so do you by chance know how to run a blender python script by command prompt

To run a python script from the command line, type python absolutePathToScript.py

how could i use addons through scripting mode

I think you would have to find out how the addon works, and import it into your script

I you have any more problems, let me know.  I'm moving this to chat

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


text:
How can I run a add-on from a python script
I know how to enable the add-on through the script but I was wondering how to run the add-on. Meaning how do i use it through a script.

Imagine there is an addon installed called "my addon". It has a couple properties to control in the toolshelf, and an operator.
The properties are all in bpy.context.scene.
In your script/addon, you can access all these properties.
You can set properties by
bpy.context.scene.my_addon_string = "hey"

And call operators
bpy.ops.object.my_addon_op()

So with a combination of editing properties and running operators, you should be able to run the addon from another addon or script.

how can i see what the already properties are, and how do i call them from the _op()

@AlexanderPagan if you hover over elements in the addon UI you can find source code paths and property names. Also you can read the source code of the addon.


text:
Is there any way to mirror or symmetrize a Muscle Tool?
The Blender Muscle Tools creator no longer seems to be responding to queries for help. I would also like to know if there are any alternative methods for muscle rigging, as the 'stretch constraint' and cage deformer functions are in a primitive state at this point.
Thanks in advance.

I know it is not solution to your question but you may like to try this one. It does X-Mirror with single click and has more advanced options.
https://blendermarket.com/products/x-muscle-system