text:
My Blender appears to be missing features
While following Blender Guru's rope tutorial, I found that my nodes are different than his.  Among other things, I don't have an input slot called "displacement".  In reading through what I could find in StackExchange, I got the impression that I needed to turn on the "experimental" stuff.  The methods suggested either didn't exist on my Blender (turning it on in the Render Properties -feature does not exist on my Blender) or has no effect (selecting "Testing" in the add-ons properties menu).
I confess that I am a relative novice and have basically only used it for some simple 3d modeling and am just learning how to use nodes but I have a project where I could really use this tutorial.  What do I need to do to get my nodes to have what I need?  I have tried various versions of Blender, including the 3.0 beta and it all looks the same.
Please remember that I am a novice and many of you seasoned veterans can easily talk over my head.

Can you post a screenshot of what your node editor looks like?

If you do not see render settings that you expect, you should check if the render engine you need is selected. If you need Cycles it should be selected in the header of the Info panel:


text:
is there a clever way to enlarge the driver expression field?
my formulas are sometimes a bit longer and i wonder how you guys enter or edit values there? are you all tapping ctrl-space to maximize the window and then enlarge the panel with mouse? Or is there somewhere a magic shortcut where i can e.g. edit the formula in a text editor?

The existing "magic shortcut" is probably copy paste? ctrl-C ctrl-V

Recently there has been a question, to which my answer had a long, unreadable driver, that is also hard to modify. (you don't have to go there and read it)
How to use driver for multiple objects
Working on that example, we have a driver with expression: max(pi / 2 + (abs(distance/15) < 0.8) * (pi * 3/4 - abs(distance / 5)), pi / 2 + (abs(distance2/15) < 0.8) * (pi * 3/4 - abs(distance2 / 5)))
We can go to the scripting tab, and create a new script:

Then in the area below, we can write Python code to assign a new expression to the driver:
import bpy
bpy.data.objects['Cylinder'].animation_data.drivers[0].driver.expression = """
max(
    pi / 2
    + (
        abs(distance / 15) < 0.8
    )
    * (
        pi * 3/4
        - abs(distance / 5)
    )

    ,

    pi / 2
    + (
        abs(distance2 / 15) < 0.8
    )
    * (
        pi * 3/4
        - abs(distance2 / 5)
    )
)
"""

Now clicking on the Play button will run the script:

On 2nd line ['Cylinder'] points to the object with a driver, by its name. drivers[0] points to the 1st driver (drivers[1] would point to the 2nd driver and so on). Keep this in mind, as when you add another driver before this one, this driver's index will increase, so the next time you modify it using this script, you will have to update its index (or you will modify another driver by accident). This could be fixed by creating a driver in code, assigning it to a variable and saving this variable for further access, but it's outside of the scope of this question.
You can also see that now the driver has weird rectangle characters:

Those are newline characters, which this input field doesn't support. The driver works, but its expression is ugly. We can fix it, and also remove excess whitespace (tabs, spaces), by changing our code to:
import bpy
expression = """
max(
    pi / 2
    + (
        abs(distance / 15) < 0.8
    )
    * (
        pi * 3/4
        - abs(distance / 5)
    )

    ,

    pi / 2
    + (
        abs(distance2 / 15) < 0.8
    )
    * (
        pi * 3/4
        - abs(distance2 / 5)
    )
)
"""
driver = bpy.data.objects['Cylinder'].animation_data.drivers[0].driver
driver.expression = ''.join(line.strip() for line in expression.splitlines())

splitlines() divides a multiline string into a list of single line strings. ''.join joins this list back to a single string, but uses an empty string as a separator, so effectively we replace newline characters with nothing. line.strip() removes whitespace on the beginning and end of every line (whitespace inside the line are kept).
End result:

And yes, you could just CTRL+C, CTRL+V. :D

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to perfect align rotation?
How can i align the rotation of two objects perfectly?
I have this cylinder between two blocks and i want to perfect align the piston end (orange) to the cylinder (rotation).

You first need to correctly realign the object's orientation.
To realign the object orientation with its face orientation, select a face of your object in Edit mode, create a custom orientation in the Transform Orientations panel:

In the Options panel (top right of 3D view) activate Transform > Affect Only > Origins:

In the header menu click on Object > Transform > Align To Transform Orientation:

Deactivate Only Origins, do an AltR, now your cylinder is aligned with the Global orientation again, it should be easy to align with the other cylinder.

maybe i am too dumb...but this aligns the position, right? i want to align the rotation....just for info: i have applied the "wrong" rotation already, so i want to correct that :(

i think this would have been my solution, if i hadn't applied my rotation :( but i have, so i tried and this didn't help me unfortunately....

it looks like this command just copies the values of the rotation....if i understood it right

you've applied the orientation of what object?

for the orange object, which has not "perfect" 0 degrees. But it shows of course 0 degrees in the properties, because i applied it.

i am not sure, maybe it works with snap - align rotation to target? this sounds good, but i don't know how to use it

even the snap tool just works, if the cube's rotation is not applied ...so if you apply a rotation, you are lost forever :(

I've edited, you can align back the orientation of your object with the global orientation, once done you're good I guess?

ok, with your text i  was too dumb, but with your pictures, i got it. Thank you very much!!!!! you saved me!!!

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


text:
my camera won't track my ball
i have a scene (scenefile link below) in which a ball (soft body) rolls down the stairs.
the camera is moving on a circle around the scene (which works) and i hoped that i could track the ball with the track to modifier, but the camera does not show the ball when it is moving.
Can somebody help me?
blend file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1u6g2w854imemn9/camera_track_to.png?dl=0

In a softbody simulation the mesh moves away from the origin (while the origin stays in the same place). And the Track To constraint tracks the origin.
But you can alternatively also track a vertex group.
Select the ball object, go into Edit Mode > Vertex Select. Select a central vertex (or simply all of them). Go to Properties > Object Data Properties > Vertex Groups and click Add Vertex Group (the little plus icon) and click Assign. Finaly for Vertex Group: in the Track To constraint select the newly made group. The camera should now track the group, and subsequently the ball.

Thanks!!! works!


text:
animation nodes with follow path object contraint not possible?
Is there a restriction with animation nodes and follow path constraints?
I have made a sphere which distance to the single plane controls the angles of the underlying plane grid. Works great. If i move around the sphere the planes turn accordingly.
Now i wanted to animate the sphere by a curve (because i am to lazy to keyframe it) and i added a curve and added the object constraint "follow path" to it. Now i keyframe the offset 0 to 100 at the beginning and the end of my animation.
Unfortunately now animation nodes does not react anymore to the movement of the sphere.
If i move the sphere manually in 3d view it works like a charm.
what am i missing?

Follow path animation can be done inside AN without any constraints.

great, thank you, works perfectly.


text:
why can't i offset edges?
i can offset faces like this:

i can offset points like this:

why can't i offset edges like this?

Note: the only difference in the node trees is the domain in the capture attribute node.

This phenomenon again has to do with the interpolation of values between domains.
For example, when you select a face or an edge, it always refers to multiple points.
But the node Set Position always moves only single points, so these values are evaluated starting from the point domain.
Take as an example:
If you capture the index of an edge in the edge domain with Capture Attribute, and interpolate these values to the point domain, you will get float values in it:

Likewise, if you capture the index in the face domain and interpolate to the point domain. By the way: It was a coincidence that the faces worked for you. This only came about because it was a matter of faces for which the interpolation led to a reasonably useful result.
So, in fact, they are never integer values. Only if you explicitly set the data type to Integer, the float value is then additionally converted into an integer value. But of course this leads to nonsensical data for such an application.
Consider:
A point can always belong to more than one face or edge, so the selection will fail in this way.
To solve the task, you would first have to perform a comparison, and capture the result as a boolean value.
This can then be used in the point domain without any problems:

You can also use the Interpolate Domain node in most cases, I think: https://i.imgur.com/0ufn2JX.png

@Kuboå: That's great!!! Thanks!


text:
find lowest z value per row
I can find the lowest value of a grid with this node tree (and delete that point) like this:

But how can i delete it for each column (so i want to delete the min z value for each (same) x value?
so there should be 10 points missing, one for each x value.

Oh, I love this question! I have the solution, give me a few minutes that I can summarize this solidly.

This could be a solution:

...at least partially, because with identical points this does not work reliably, of course, because it is not a real sorting and the next point is fetched with the node Transfer Attribute (you know the problem sufficiently, I think).
I do it like this:

First I separate the lines of the mesh along a certain direction (you can switch this if you want) and create a small offset with the node Random Value.

I convert this mesh to curves, because this gives the lines their own index (Spline Index).

I create a duplicate of this mesh and set the positions using the Spline Index for the X-Axis and the Z-Position for the Z-Axis.

If I now create a Mesh Line with the number of splines, and distribute its position also along the X-axis with the index, I can finally fetch the position and the index of the nearest point with the node Transfer Attribute.

As I said, unfortunately not a solution that works perfectly in all cases, but a quite useful solution.

Update:
Since Blender 3.4 a new node is available for this: Points of Curve.
This node returns a certain index of a point per spline. The selection of the point is done by an additional passed weighting.
If you use the Z-positions as weighting, this node returns the index of the lowest point per spline, which you then only have to filter out:

(Blender 3.4+)

@RayMairlot Please stop removing the formatting. In Geometry Nodes, this is the only way to clearly highlight the names of the nodes. Since no code is used here, this doesn't get in the way of code. Thanks!

It's standard procedure throughout the site to not use formatting for decoration, which means not using it for anything other than what it is intended for.

@RayMairlot Sorry, but this is not "decoration". Geometry Node are a piece of "code" if you like. And sorry if I violate any guidelines here, but it just helps others enormously to distinguish attributes, inputs, outputs and other variables from the nodes available in Blender. It is an essential help for a better understanding. Please make a better suggestion if there is one. But italic, bold is not a solution. Thanks for your understanding!

@quellenform: of course i will keep my right answer flag on your answer...thanks again for your beautiful solution and your great explanation. Needed some time to understand it ....

@quellenform: and i can totally understand that you don't want to have your formatting to be removed!!

Many thanks to quellenform i now understood the "z stacking" and how he found out the lowest point on z.
I now made my "own" solution without curves but just meshes and this is how it looks:

Well done, well interpreted!

thank you very much!!! i couldn't have figured that out without your help...!


text:
Right click context menu
I am using the latest 2.8 release. When no object is selected and I right click to add an item such as a mesh the menu doesn't appear.

You are in the wrong mode, go to edit mode and try right clicking their.

That's the intended behaviour. Right click menu is for special actions based on the type of object you have selected, not for adding new objects.
To add an object, ensure you are in Object Mode, then either

use ShiftA
or left click on the *Add" button at the top of the Viewport

But Nicola, why would he expect adding objects with right click, because their was no option in 2.79 too.

I don't know what OP was used to (maybe a custom keymap?) but he clearly mentions adding new objects in his question

Oh, this time I didn't read the question carefully, I just saw the heading and...anyways he is done at last.All the best @Umar.

In the preferences, if you choose LMB as select, then context menu is automatically assigned to RMB.
If default RMB as select, then you need to invoke the context menu with 'W'.

You must be in Edit Mode to bring context menu.


text:
parent rig deletes after save
I have a rigged model where the entire rig is fine except a piece of the face. When I animate the rig, the teeth are never parented. When I do parent the teeth to the rig it works fine, so I'll save it. But when I open the saved file its unparented, as if being unparented is some how set to default. Same with deleting empty collections. When I save the file and reopen it, the deleted collections are still there.

Try cleaning up your scene after you deleting collections and objects? File > Clean up > Unused Data-blocks

That didn't work. Thanks for responding though. i am still trying to figure it out. I downloaded a newer version of blender ( 3.6.7 to 4.1.1) and that didn't work either. But I discovered that if I upload the file to my work computer which uses Blender 3.6 as well, it works fine.  But it doesn't work on my home pc which is where i do the majority of my blender work.

If it works on the other PC, try loading the factory settings, this will help in most cases.
File > Defaults > Load Factory Defaults


text:
Animation doesn’t work in DAE when collada file is exported
Can anyone tell why am I getting a still image of an animation when I export dae file from blender. Although the animation works fine when I play it in blender.
I know that this question has been asked before but it hasn’t been answered satisfactorily.

I am using Blender 2.82 at the moment. It works for me for move animation. I mean if I move object and make animation of that movement and export object I can use that animation in other application. At the beginning because I forgot choosing  Include Animation option I could not see animation when import collada file. But I am having the same problem with you iif I make modifier animation.

In the export menu change the Transformation Type from Matrix to TransRotLoc.


text:
What are the Images in the UV editor for and how to prevent them affecting OBJ export?
I'm not sure I understand the UV image editor and its ability to hold images. I thought it was purely to get a visual comparison between your UVs and the image you use for texture mapping, but it seems that if you have an image in there, it affects OBJ material export. I would like to ask if this is an intended effect, and if not how to fix it, or just remove all UV editor images in a script.
More background:
I'm working with a mesh format for a game. I can already convert into this format from an OBJ file with some existing tools.
To export directly from blender, I have written an addon that first writes out an OBJ file and hands it on to the other conversion tool.
The OBJ files blender exports cannot fully support rich materials, but for my application all I really need is the filename of a single texture. My model uses the old blender renderer (no cycles), and has some number of objects/meshes, where each mesh has some number of material slots, and each material has just one shadeless texture and no other properties.
For the most part these are written out into a .mtl file and into usemtl directives in the OBJ.
However some of them are written correctly as
usemtl material_name

but are then using the wrong .png file in the .mtl file.
I dug into the builtin blender OBJ export addon and found that it writes a different image name by picking up something called the 'face image', which turned out to be Image data blocks that are linked to the UV editor. This only affected certain materials that I had manually loaded a UV Image for to manually align things.
So back in the python console I find the following:
>>> bpy.data.meshes[2].polygons[0].material_index
3
>>> bpy.data.meshes[2].materials[3].texture_slots[0].texture.image.name
'om_decals_02a.png'
>>> bpy.data.meshes[2].uv_textures.active.data[0].image
bpy.data.images['om_floor_03d.png']

This shows that it is possible to have one image in the texture, and a different one shown in the UV editor, and it is this latter one that is preferentially exported (but only if it's present).
I can fix all this up in my export by removing all the UV editor images, but my questions are:

why does the UV image preview affect the exported material when the actual material assigned to that poly disagrees?
How can I remove them all from python safely and what impact might that have beyond having to load the image again to align UV layouts.
Have I set this whole thing up wrong and should be building the model in a different way in the first place?

For removing the uv images I have this:
for mesh in bpy.data.meshes:
    for data in mesh.uv_textures.active.data:
        data.image = None

Will this do the job, or will it break things? Is there an API that will correctly handle removal of things like this instead? Is the python internal reference counter the same thing as blender's user counts, or does one track the other?

I think I've found a workable answer. My fragment of python for setting these images to None was almost there, there's a more in depth version in this answer:
How to unlink material from a mesh, with python script?
I keep my materials, but the answer also covers this UV tex_face property that is the problem.
The whole tex_face feature is going away in 2.8 (which is a good thing as it's old and really well hidden and rarely used):
https://developer.blender.org/T51382
However there is one more crucial step which is to drop out of edit mode, otherwise none of the changes to the uv_texture images take effect before the export goes out, see the gotchas here:
https://docs.blender.org/api/2.79/info_gotcha.html#modes-and-mesh-access
So my final code fragment is as follows:
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')

# Strip all the tex_face data, otherwise the obj export will use it
# We want it to use the material textures.
for mesh in bpy.data.meshes:
    if mesh.uv_textures.active is not None:
        for tf in mesh.uv_textures.active.data:
            tf.image = None

for mesh in bpy.data.meshes:
    for texlay in mesh.uv_textures:
        for tf in texlay.data:
            tf.image = None

Now my export seems to be behaving itself.


text:
Circle with straight lines
I'm attempting to make a circle with straight lines (in the picture) - I need it to remain whole.
Any advice on how to go about this? The bisector tool kept saying 'error: selected edges/faces required', but I've seen people cutting it by simply dragging across before?

Do you just want to extract that set of edges from a sphere, as shown?

You could try a UV Sphere with a Cast modifier set to Cuboid.

Moving the Subdivision Surface modifier before or after Cast will give different results, and the Factor affects how concave/convex the resulting mesh will be.


text:
Artifacts Problems when bake diffuse texture
I'm having problems baking a texture, I can't understand what these artifacts are due to, it only happens with the diffuse, can anyone tell me what it can be? I share a detail of the image.

Thanks in advance


text:
Setting the points of a nurbs curve to (XYZ) in worldspace
I`m trying to snap the ends of a curve, to two points in space.
However, I can't get past the fact that It requires worldspace input of a matrix instead of a vector.
I've tried to convert worldspace to local, and backwards but its not my strongpoint.
Any ideas are more then welcome. Thank you!
import bpy
from bpy import context, data, ops
from mathutils import Euler, Matrix, Quaternion, Vector

# Create bezier path.
ops.curve.primitive_nurbs_path_add(enter_editmode=True)
#ops.curve.subdivide(number_cuts=0)
ops.transform.resize(value=(2.0, 2.0, 3.5))
ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')
curve = context.active_object
curve.name = 'line'

# snap one end of curve to A other to B
location_a = (1,1,0) # (XYZ)
location_b = (2,2,0) # (XYZ)

curve.data.splines[0].points[0].co = Vector(location_a)
# error ->
# Line 20 -> ValueError: bpy_struct: item.attr = val: sequences of dimension 0 should contain 4 items, not 3
```

Have marked this as a dupe.. . IMO The issue here is the 4th dimension of the nurbs curve is twist or radius can't remember, anyway as with all data coordinates these are in local coordinates.  For most cases simply tack a 1 on as 4th coordinate.  If you feel they don't answer your question, please inform and will re-open  and answer or someone else using methods shown in dupe links above.

Or as @RayMairlot oft  links to, whats known as the XY Problem

Perfect answer, very helpful, thank you!
I hadn't realised the 4th dimension was something else.
I had misdiagnosed it as some sort of matrix, but it wasnt.
Thank you!


text:
Repeating an image texture
I am fairly new to Blender and I am wondering how you would go about filling a space with a texture, which is repeating over and over.
For example if you are modelling a kitchen and have a texture of a floor tile, but obviously the kitchen has more tiles than just one. How do you tell Blender to repeat image textures to be able to fill surfaces which are from the same material?

Note that repeating textures is usually not a good thing, because people will be able to see the patterns causing your render to be unrealistic.

Let say you have this tile picture:

You can either scale up the floor UV map in the UV Editor:

... or plug a Mapping node in the Image Texture node and play with the scale values:

In the latest versions of Blender you can plug an Input > Value into the Scale input of the Mapping node to make it easier to tweak:


text:
transparency issue
im trying to make this show up as it does on the texture, but it isnt working as intended
[
[
im just not entirely certain what to do to fix it, if any suggestions or help could be offered, that would be much appreciated

Plug the texture node's alpha output into the alpha input on the principled.  In properties/material/settings, change blend mode to alpha hashed.  If you don't see blend mode, change to Eevee render to see it.  (You're in material preview, which uses Eevee renderer.)

i didnt see any sort of change in it, its still the exact same as before

Just to correct the top comment - you appear to be in Solid Preview mode (not material preview). First thing I would suggest is switching to one of the "rendered"  (shaded) modes (either material preview or rendered preview). Press Z in the 3D viewport and select either one from the pie menu.

@ChristopherBennett once i do that, what do you suggest i do? or... would that fix the issue entirely?

I think that solid preview mode (the one you are in) uses a basic renderer that doesn't include transparency in its calculations - the other two modes use renderers that definitely do transparency (though you must enable it by changing the material's blend mode away from opaque if using material preview, or eevee for rendering).


text:
Rigify doesn't seem to allow me to shift the pole target
I've used rigify on a basic human armature, to try and set up IK, and for the most part everything works- except for the elbows. The knees work just fine, but I'm unsure which bone rigify is considering as the pole target.
I assumed it was the bone behind the elbow- to which the only thing I've done, is move from the front of the model, to the back- and rotate by 180degrees. Nothing else. Is this not the bone? Is there some additional procedure I should be following instead? Thanks.

By defualt the widget that looks like two arrows is used to rotate the elbow/knee. You can also select that widget then click Toggle Pole as indicated in the image. That will enable you to use the standard pole target.

Thanks for that, that's quite useful


text:
How do i make my character stretch?
I love the way metarig's, rig has this elasticity and I want to know how I can do this for my custom rigs to create that "squash and stretch" effect, how do I make it?

In every IK chain you can set the amount of stretch allowed for every bone of the chain, but - as the IK solver is calculated at the end, after all constraints stack - generally you have to use it as a basement for a real squash and stretch chain.

This is the "basic idea" of a stretchy chain:

A, B and C are control bones, while Def_01 and Def_02 are deforming bones.
Def_01 copies location of A and has a stretch to bone constraint pointing at B.
Def_02 copies location of B and has a stretch to bone constraint pointing at C.
In the final rig A,B and C will copy the location of the head of bones D, E and IK Target.
Take a look at the "Maintain Volume" constraint also, in order to achieve squashy and stretchy effects.

How do I make A, B and C copy the head locations of D, E and IK target? Also, my character's arm has a double-jointed elbow so basically, it's more like A, B, C and D to me instead.

Parenting or using copy loc constraint, depending on the rig architecture.


text:
How come the weight paint isn't symmetrical?
My character has mirror modifier turned on and I used automatic weight paint to properly rig my armature to the model and I thought it would be 50% to 50% on both sides but it feels like one side has more control which makes the mesh uneven causing some clipping deforms. How do I fix this?

Hello, maybe share your file?

share with https://blend-exchange.com/ or use a platform like workupload

It doesn't give the same result, see: https://zupimages.net/up/22/47/xvij.jpg

Interesting what did you do? did you change something or was everything the same?

no i didn't change anything


text:
How do I change the axis direction for the bones?
I was following Royal Skies pelvis weight paint drivers video when I notice that the Z axis for the thigh bone is pointing right, and the Y axis is pointing down, but my thigh bone's axis is pointing in different directions which I think is causing technical issues. Is there a way to change the directions of the bone's axis?

What you show is not the bone's axis, it's the global or local axis, the bone's axis are not the same, to see them go into Object Data > Viewport Display and enable the Axis option. or in the Transform Orientations panel choose Normal:

You can't change the bone's axis, Y will always be the bone's main axis, but you can make it rotate on itself with CtrlR + degrees.
If you want to change the local axis, meaning the armature's axis, you can enable the Transform Affect Only Origins option and rotate the origin as you want:

Select bone, press Ctrl A, apply rotation, profit.

I went into pose mode selected the bone I wanted, but when I pressed ctrl A I kept getting this small menu with four options.

You have to be in object mode for this.


text:
How do I make leg joints bend better?
I'm using the metarig for my model, but the legs bend uncomfortably around the crotch, knees, and foot heels. Is there a way to make them bend more natural? Preferably that doesn't involve drivers or shape keys because I don't know how to use them nor I'm good with.

Hello, to add to B.Pader, maybe share your file so that we can test some solutions

If you mean by "metarig" Rigify's metarig then please note that this is not meant to be used for animation. You must generate the animation rig from the metarig.

If you are used to rig, you can try to create a "double joints" system to have better deformation for your character's legs.
Here is a good source for creating this kind of behavior :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbQX8C3lrHE&list=PLZpDYt0cyiusytIPAOTPRzsa4GK6LgY3_&index=2
But I would still recommend to use shape keys and drivers. They can help a lot doing specific deformation at very small scales that can correct this kind of behavior automatically.
Here is another useful link on how to do this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zld2-Sq8M2w&list=PLZpDYt0cyiusytIPAOTPRzsa4GK6LgY3_&index=15
Hope this help


text:
How do I view animation without rendering?
Is there a way to preview the entire clip? The timeline does have another mode where it allows you to see in seconds, but it doesn't help much. It's kind of annoying to wait for it to render everything just to check if things are moving too fast or slow. I just want to know if the flow of movement is going smoothly because when you hit the play button everything moves so slow it's hard to tell.

You can choose the display mode you want, like Solid, then go into camera view and View > Viewport Render Animation:

It will export the movie or images into the folder and in the dimensions set in the Output panel. To watch the result go into Render > View Animation:

As pointed out by Gordon Brinkmann: Another advantage of this method is you can render any view you like from angles other than the camera view.

Oh man, be slower!!! Why do I even start answering?

If I'm awake don't even try!!

lol I was just about to finish my answer by adding, another advantage of this method is you can render any view you like from angles other than the camera view (you don't even need any camera for the viewport render) if this helps to see certain parts of the animation better.

Sure I'm going to add that, thanks

You two are funny, but I agree. It is always a race against time when moonboots is awake. :D

I leave you all the questions about GeoNodes (and Python things)   ^^

For this, I would usually change the render engine to Workbench, and then render the animation out. I think, you can output file format as  FFmpeg Video in MPEG-4 Container. This way, You have a video output to see all the movement without any lag.


text:
How do I properly make a shape key of a male jaw?
I used my own head as a reference and tried to model it as best as I could, but I just need to know the right form and rotation of the jaw so I can reshape and animate it along with the teeth to do a simple open mouth animation. Kind of like he's yelling, about to bite something, or go to the dentist. Also, I know the eyes are a bit big but that's just for technical purposes.

The Pivot point of jaw is just near the hole of the ear.
Image based on Kent Trammel's "Human Realistic" CG Cookie course.


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Why won't the origin stay with my object?
I want to make a face rig for my guy by saving the location, rotation, and scale of the lower jaw that way when I animate it to move it around, I can set it back to its original position in case I don't like it. However, when I was in "Object Mode" I went to "Set Origin" then selected "Origin to Center of Mass (Volume)" but when I clicked on "Apply" the origin is suddenly gone. Now every time I want to move my object I have to zoom out and find the pivot point which is annoying.

Hello ! This is perfectly expected since applying the transforms means resetting the origin at (0, 0, 0). Maybe you only meant to apply the rotation and scale ? (ie uncheck "Location" in the panel in the lower left)

I unchecked apply locations, but when I move the jaw and pressed cleared location it still went back to world origins

It seems you don't really understand what object location means, I suggest you read up a bit more about it. Or explain what exactly you want to happen ? Maybe you want to parent the object to the head or something so its local transforms are at the origin ?


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Blender animation constraint "Track to" not working for soft bodies
I have a super simple scene, a block, a plane, a camera with track to block.
The block falls on the floor as rigid body, collides with plane, camera tracks -> works.
if i change the block to soft body, the camera won't track it's location.
What am i missing?
Video here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wjurcce3cz7silv/softbody.mov?dl=0

It looks like it can't work as softbody doesn't make the origin of the object move.
So as you propose, you could give it a Rigid Body physics.
Another way around would be to parent an empty to one of the block's vertices (put the empty at the same location as the block's origin, shift select the block, go in Edit mode, select one of the vertices, CtrlP Make Vertex Parent), and choose the empty as the Target of your camera's Track To constraint:

i just found out -> if i make the block rigid body...it works too

oh ok good idea too

Assign a vertex group.
Further to @moonboots answer, Since the soft body modifier alters the mesh but not the origin can select all or any vertices of the soft body mesh and assign to a vertex group.
Soft body mesh in  edit mode, select verts, make a new vertex group, assign to group.
In the camera's track to constraint, choose the vertex group as sub-target.

Tracking to "Group" vertex group (All) of the icosphere
The same method can be used to track to any modified mesh.

oh ok I didn't even realize you could choose a vertex group in the Track To constraint


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Array modifier with empty: is there a way to get "constant" scaling?
I have a circle.
I add an array modifier with object offset to an empty.
I scale the empty and i get:

Is there a way to get constant distances of the circles? or adding a constant to the radius?
I am also open for a GN solution... ;)

You can achieve concentric circles this way for instance :
Begin with a simple new Mesh > Circle object.

Create a separate mesh object and add this as a new GN modifier :

Explanation :
Instance a line with an offset of exactly 1 in x direction, then use the x position as an index in order to change the point scale attribute accordingly. Then, move all points to the same place by setting position to (0, 0, 0).
Throw in a radius offset multiplier and the circle count as modifier inputs for flexibility.
You can get this result :

Note : You can get rid of the Attribute Separate node if you set the line offset to (1, 1, 1) and directly use the position attribute instead of the new x attribute but it's less readable imo :

Note : Even shorter, plug the offset directly into the Line node offset to get rid of the Attribute Math node.

great! what version are u using? because in my 3.0 alpha from today...i see the circles only in edit mode :(

ok, i think you took a beziercircle....that works ;)

@Chris Hmm, I used latest 2.93.1 version. I used a displace modifier with very low strength after the GN to turn the geometry "real" though

Eh? Why should displacement make the geometry 'real'? Is this logic, or a random workaround until GN matures?

@RobinBetts My guess is until you actually need to use a regular operation on GN geometry, it stays in this kind of "instanced" state where it's computationally more efficient to display

Hrrumph :). Been following GN Dev. I hope there's still room (it seems contested) to rethink the basic architecture.

You can use a single vertex + Array Modifier (constant offset) + Screw Modifier:

Number of vertices per circle is the number of steps of the Screw modifier.

that's genius too! unfortunately i cannot give two checkmarks. And because Gorgious was faster...he got it. But i LOVE your solution!!! +10 (although i can only give +1)

@Chris.. I'll throw one in for you.. :)


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rig with automatic weights to visible bones only
I have an object and a rig with many bones. Now i wanna use "parent with automatic weights", but just to some bones.
I hoped i could do that with selecting bones in pose mode, hide them and then press a to select the visible bones and that then the parenting would only be done to the visible bones. Unfortunately Blender parents it still to all bones.
Is there a way to tell Blender only to use the visible bones somehow? or what is the "normal" workflow for that? Or do i have to select "manually" my bones which i want to parent? (but i would love to use my excluding method...)

Select the armature, shift select the mesh, switch to Weight Paint mode, select the bones you want with ShiftLMB then header menu > Weights > Assign Automatic from Bones:

i made a small video about my "very first" problem before your solution :( ....i couldn't select any bones. You can check it here: https://youtu.be/36wO-yTFURs Also i want to say that i don't want to manually select the bones i want to parent to, but i wanna exclude bones by hiding (or something else). Is this possible?

You first need to parent: Ctrl P > Armature Deform. Yes if you make the bones invisible in Pose mode and use the method I told you, they won't create any weight

aaaah....you didn't write that. Always consider me as beginner ;)


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how to keep the original material after using simulation zone in GN?
After changing the geometry in a simulation zone, my whole material is "gone". Does anybody know how to get it "back"?

This is a limitation of 4.0... I think 4.1 will keep material IDs. Jacques Lucke explains it here https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/issues/108410

But you've material index that can be captured (never tested it)

You could use the fact the material index is preserved and reapply the materials this way:

A complete example:

I don't know if a visualization is needed here:

Do you know why reassigning the index is needed? Because material index is still there it seems after "join geometry".

@lemon for the same reason capturing it is needed - it changes upon joining geometry. Since the original geometry is first, I used the reassignment to set the materials of the old geometry.

ok, got it, for the same reason you could sample (after joining) instead of capturing at the condition the original is first when joined. Thanks

well... not so clear in fact, material index is available here, but lost by joining? https://i.sstatic.net/VDsXk.png however these indices are ok for both original and simulated before joining... strange, don't you think?

@MarkusvonBroady
I see this is the answer to half of my question here: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/312142/geo-nodes-delete-animated-instances-permanently
Now I'm wondering if you might have any clue as to the other half, on how I am supposed to maintain animation through a sim zone. I think my basic setup is wrong?

@lemon the materials are discarded in the simulation zones due to problem with retaining references. So simple "primitive" values are kept, like the material index, but references to other datablocks like materials, aren't. "Join geometry" node works similarly (see here ) to manual joining in the viewport: it adds faces to the first object from other objects, reads materials of those faces, and if a material didn't exist on the first object...

... , it adds it and assigns the next available material index. If the material did exist, it uses its mat index. Either way material indices are recalculated. This is why you need to capture it.

Though... material index is available for both, the original and the simulated one... but never mind, this will be ok for mat ID in 4.1...


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Visual keyframe in Blender 4.1
In earlier Blender versions, if you pressed I to insert a keyframe, you could choose between various keyframe types, especially you could choose visual keyframe.
Unfortunately i cannot find this option in Blender 4.1.
I know i can create my own keyset for visual keyframe (which takes some time to make), but i would prefer to have that already as it was before.
Is there a way to have it like before in older versions?

You know very well questions about Alpha versions are usually off-topic here ;) Why don't you just file a bug report and say, it's not working anymore? Maybe the developers will reconsider bringing it back in like it was. Or tell you how it works now. Because since it's not like it was before, I guess there is not simply a way to "have it like before", only workarounds which you mention yourself.

Yep, but add-on questions are also off-topic, but animation nodes questions will always be answered here and there are tons of AN questions here. And this is true for other add-ons as well like Sverchok etc. And also if it is about GN, there are tons of alpha questions about that...so...i just hope it won't be closed - but i expect it will be - but hopefully someone nice answers before that ;)

and tbh i have no idea whether it is a bug - the developers changed a lot and i thought they might think it is easier to just press i and have them inserted automatically instead of click another time in the menu what keys should be inserted

This has changed and some settings can be found in user prefs/animation, but this is still undocumented in 4.1 documentation

@lemon: thank you!

I've done a short research. The shortcut I seems to be automatically inserting a keyframe for all transform channels now. The new shortcut for the keyframe menu is now K.

k does nothing in my version....i have to check my shortcuts - i can see the command - but it does nothing

@Chris I downloaded 4.1 just now, and I found it out with Google in 30 seconds ;) There is a Youtube video that's just 5 hours old where this is explained. Seems to be a really fresh change.

did u try in 4.1 alpha?

It seems default keyframe are with I and no menu, based on the user preferences, except if a keying set is active. (and k works for me too)

@Chris Sure in Alpha, not in a separate branch... I usually found branches having certain features exclusively that they are testing, but therefore others missing that are already in alpha and beta versions, so I stick to them.

after downloading a new version from today, it worked....strange

I think many people will add a lot of unwanted keyframes with this new behavior : ))

@lemon Certainly :D The video I found says something about user preferences, didn't pay much attention to it. On my Blender the K worked by default, so... Chris: yeah, it must be really new.

some more information here, https://developer.blender.org/docs/release_notes/4.1/animation_rigging/#keying


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why is my project from view distorted?
Looks like a total beginner question and i apologize for being a shader beginner...
but i thought, if i do a project from view, i would get a non distorted result, but i didn't get it.
Why is that and how can i solve that?

i just took a simple cube, deleted one side face and expanded it in edit mode in x-direction.
Then i changed the view so that i can look inside and used "project from view" with this shader:

Hi,Chris, with no disrespect, I think we may call this a duplicate of https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/213542/35559, where @creativecoding gives a couple of excellent self-answers, including a method which does not require subdivision for better interpolation. The root of the problem is that barycentric interpolation used in texture look-up is not the same as Cartesian interpolation in the view, so with few fixed data-points, the interpolations differ significantly.

.. But since @Gordon has given an accepted answer, we'll let it go ...

@RobinBetts I have to admit, it is a duplicate... didn't come across the other question back then. However, a couple of excellent self-answers is a bit exaggerated ;) One is the same as mine - adding more vertices. The other which does not require more subdivisions is probably not applicable here, since the texture coordinate Window will not work in Chris' example, because the view he wants to project from is not looking through the camera.

@GordonBrinkmann  , Hehe... OK :D . I guess I was impressed because I'd never seen any  method to avoid subdivision, anywhere, and the second answer came across as an Aha! moment, for me. (Most workflows would want to map through a matched camera)

@RobinBetts: i have no problem if you call this a duplicate! just do it as you think. I am only interested in solving problems ;)

@RobinBetts I agree, most would want that and I actually don't know of what use is having a non-distorted UV projection only in the viewport which will not look correct through the camera... but that's none of my business :)

@GordonBrinkmann & Chris  .. Personally I see no problem leaving this Q&A up.. If nothing else, the title makes it easier to find. As Gordon says, the situation is a bit different , here.

The problem is, since you have simple quads with only four vertices at each corner, Blender has a hard time to figure out how to distribute the image on those faces. The solution (not ideal to keep a low polycount, admittedly) to this is subdividing the mesh and then unwrap it again with Project from View:

And the result looks like this. I've set the Scale in the Mapping node back to 1 and scaled the UV map up so that the lion fills the mesh mostly. You have to experiment for yourself how many subdivisions are necessary to get an acceptable result:

There is an older tutorial by Default Cube where he explains this: Realistic 3D? EASY

thanks for that additional link and of course for the answer!

+1 but worth noting: @creative coding shows here that you don't have to subdivide in the geometry to reduce the discrepancy between barycentric interpolation across triangles used by texture look-up, and the natural per-pixel interpolation in the view. Default Cube missed that one :)

@RobinBetts Right, but as mentioned in my comment above: the method without subdividing requires that you want to project the image on the UVs by looking through the camera, which is not the case in Chris' setup. Also it works probably best if the image you want to project onto the UVs has the same aspect ratio as the render size from the camera.


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When I paint in vertex paint, and after I switch back to object mode it does not show the paint
This is the situation here
https://i.gyazo.com/79225d6fd878431834b8b27ea54f59b0.mp4
As you can see when im in vertex paint I can see what I have painted, but once I go into object mode I can no longer see it.

To see the vertex paint in Object mode you must switch the display mode to Texture.
See the image below showing the vertex showing in Object mode with Texture active:


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Can't export an OBJ
I use blender a lot to make people profile pictures for all different types of game, but mainly popular ones like Roblox and such. I'm not an expert however and I stick to simple designs like my profile picture.
*Whenever I export an obj the bar on the top with the object name turns red, and I can't put in the object.***

Red colour of the bar means that the filename is already in use in the curent folder ie You have to rename the file or overwrite it, thats all (hit ENTER and save as usual). Eventually You could press "+" on the Numpad to add the number after the name and make that way a new (unused) name.

Hm. I tried that, but the thing is it happens with all of my files, and even the ones that I made like 3 weeks ago and worked then.

It would appear you clicked Chris.mtl which set the filename and the new export data can be found in Chris.mtl.obj


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Importing models from AutoCAD to Blender
I am looking for a method to import my 3D models made in AutoCAD to Blender.
I have tried .stl and .fbx import but both of these triangulate the mesh and also I have to do a lot of clean up work to get rid of doubled geometry.
Is there a way to import those models in quad dominant form (the way blender handles the meshes)?
Below is the example when I import something in .FBX format

Have you try bpy.ops.mesh.tris_convert_to_quads() by default Alt+J in Mesh edit mode?

TL,DR
There is no quick one-button way to do that.
Long Answer
CAD models generally have either native NURBs or ACIS Solid based geometry, which are mathematical models describing surfaces, rather than polygon based meshes common in subdivision based modelling. Blender can neither read nor import any of those, and only has very basic support for builtin NURBS geometry.
File formats Blender can read are always mesh centric, like FBX, OBJ, STL or 3Ds, and most don't even support holding NURBS or solid data, like say IGES or STEP.
At export those models are always converted into meshes by the very CAD application they were imported from, before they even reach Blender. There is no way to guarantee arbitrary CAD shapes can conform to a good quad based topology, let alone convert them cleanly. Even when there are, CAD applications meshing algorithms are often concerned with fidelity and performance rather than what we perceive as "good topology".
MoI is an example of a CAD application with a relatively decent meshing algorithm, that outputs good quad dominant meshes, but even it fails to produce proper quad exclusive geometry on every occasion.
Good quad based topologies are purposefully planed from scratch along with your shape, and your model has to be built around them from the ground up to guarantee good results. Your mesh is your topology, not an afterthought or something you tack at the end.
There is no one-button-press solution to turn a triangulated topology into an elegant quad dominant edge-flow, good topology is an art, and there is no easy way to fix your models. It often required so much time and effort that modeling from scratch is often quicker than trying to salvage anything.
Possible Solutions
You can try Retopology which is largely a manual process.
You can look into the Remesh Modifier which is semi automatic method, but has limitations and drawbacks. It can speed things up at the expense of quality or manual control, no automated solution will beat well thought out manual topology in terms of quality.
If quad based topologies are not required and you just want simpler geometry you can also try to simplify with a Decimate modifier, using the Planar option.
My experience is that dealing with model cleanups always ends up being more work than doing it cleanly from scratch.
You end up spending a lot of time doing menial tasks, micromanaging, dealing with corner cases and unforeseen consequences, for average end results at best. The same time would probably be best spent, learning good modeling techniques using proper topology and actually refining your work, rather that fixing issues after the fact.
See Any tips for simplifying CAD models?

It's always nice to hear from someone with experience :). I had no idea CAD models work this way, but it explains a lot.

I wish I could upvote this one 10 times! The sentence on topology should be at the top of the page on this site.


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How to use simple textures and normal maps on imported FBX files?
I have seen several basic tutorials on how to add texture and normal maps to an object using the nodes editor. This works fine when adding them to Blender objects like the cube, plane, etc
But in my case I have some 3D objects in FBX files, where there is no texture included. If I import these files and add texture and normal map, nothing can be seen. Google wasn't able to help me, I guess my search words wasn't good enough to find a solution
In my example below, I have two objects. The weird black object is my object imported from an FBX file and then there's a cylinder. Both of them has the same settings in the nodes editor, but only one of them is actually showing the texture
I know there is something called UV that can be used for advanced textures (which is something I prefer not to learn right now if it can be avoided), but I just want to be able to add simple textures and then export it into Unity
Am I doing something wrong here, or is it not possible?

If you plan on exporting to game engines you have to unwrap

With unwrap you mean like what is used for UV editing?

Yes, see https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57420/confused-about-unwrap-vs-modifier-unwrap/57422#57422

Thanks, that helped me a bit. Now I have got something that works


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problem with the ocean modifier, black reflection
I try to integrate  a terrain with an heightmap in a middle of the ocean. aside the  scale of the waves, I would like to fix this dark reflection, I don't know what it possibly could be,  again  follow a tutorial and it's not something I understand, that 's a  bit complex for me  with the nodes.  someone have an advice ? thanks

it seems to be better, start to see reflexion instead of black   increasing  the min light bounce

it is probably the light bounces... unfortunately this means you will trade more render time for increased accuracy

thank you that solved the problem


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Able to change dimensions, but not scale
I am new to scripting in Blender and I have a set of commands that work to create my object when pasted into the command line, but not when run as a script. The first major issue I've run into is that the dimensions and location change on a selected object, but the scale does not. How can I resolve this?
import bpy
import bmesh
from bpy_extras.object_utils import AddObjectHelper
from bpy import context

bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(size=16, enter_editmode=False, align='WORLD', location=(0, 0, 0))

bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = bpy.data.objects['6']

bpy.context.object.location[0] = 0
bpy.context.object.location[1] = 0
bpy.context.object.location[2] = 8.6
bpy.context.object.scale[0] = 1250
bpy.context.object.scale[1] = 1250
bpy.context.object.dimensions[2] = 2

The dimensions and location change when I run this, but the scale does not. I appreciate all your help and insights. Thanks very much!

You should apply dimensions first and then scale it.
Since set dimension kind of reset the scale to make it work in calculation.
import bpy
import bmesh
from bpy_extras.object_utils import AddObjectHelper
from bpy import context

bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(size=16, enter_editmode=False, align='WORLD', location=(0, 0, 0))
# select the last created object
bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = bpy.data.objects[-1]

bpy.context.object.location.xy = 0.0, 0.0
bpy.context.object.location.z = 8.6

bpy.context.object.dimensions.z = 2.0
bpy.context.object.scale.xy = 1250, 1250


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Animation Nodes Rotation Swing/Ticker
I am no programmer by any means but have managed to get a bunch of gears to run on AN(Animation Nodes) and I would like to add a ticker with a swing as per the GIFF attached.
Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
I thought of using a some math nodes that would rotate the object once the input object gets to a certain rotation.

For a simple setup you can do something like this:


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Problem with centering view with numpad . Blender 2.83
I'm new to Blender but currently learning and I have this problem that clicking on an object and then numpad . centers the view on this object but by selecting this object in the outliner without actually clicking on it, the numpad . key doesn't work. So do the other views with the numpad. Even the camera view numpad 0 is like locked and nothing happens unless I actually click on an object.
My preferences are the factory ones, I even tried to edit the key biding but it doesn't change.
In the formation I'm following it seems like it was working in Blender 2.81
If someone has a solution or has the same problem I'll take it gladly.

The numpad "." key works for different windows, so it depends over which window your mouse is hovering. You can try selecting something in the Outliner and move your mouse back to the 3D View before pressing numpad "." . (If this is indeed your problem you might also like to know it works in the opposite way: If you have a very long Outliner list or an object hidden deep in a hierarchy, you can select an object in the 3D View, move the mouse over the Outliner and press numpad " .")

Thank you very much and for the tips too! Yes it was an hovering problem. I was just leaving my mouse in the outliner then pressing numpad "." and that's why it wasn't working.


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problems with the Array tool using Fit curve
I know this question has probably been answered before but I am having some frustrating problems with the array tool. when I select array using the Fit curve tool, nothing happens. I have attached a screenshot of the problem. Both the object and the circle have the same origin point. I am trying to get the object to follow the curve.

A good place to start would be to make sure both the curve and the mesh have the same origin point.

Also make sure you applied the transforms with CTRL A > Apply Transforms and set the mean radius of the curve points to 1 in edit mode

thanks, i cant seem to quite get it right since im a beginner at it. But thanks anyways :)


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Why is mesh still merged to threshold even though mirror modifier is deleted?
I deleted the mirror modifier, but the vertical center still stays where it is even in edit mode. How do I make it stay on the body as I move it around?

make sure symmetry is turned off

how do i do that?

In Edit mode, look (1) either in the Tool Properties panel -or- (2) in the tool settings ("toolbar") in the header area. If you cannot see it you need to right-click the viewport header where the menu is and select Show Tool Settings. (The header can be at the top or the bottom. It depends on the settings.) Click the X to disable the mirror.  https://i.sstatic.net/E8ycy.jpg


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How can I rig the pelvis to deform properly?
Does anyone know a rigging setup for the pelvis? I've been looking through a "ton" of tutorials on YouTube but they're either out of date, don't provide enough info, or they just don't work etc. And I know you can just click on preserve volume, but I want to do it on certain body parts, for precise deformation. I also Tried Metarig, but the crotch on that rig still doesn't look good either.

Add two bones to mimic the pelvic bone and preserve the volume. if you have used Rigify's metarig then please note that this armature is only used to fit the bones of the animation rig to the mesh. It's not used for animation. The actual animation rig is created when you hit the "Generate Rig" button. Here is an example: https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/275168/107598


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How do I make the eyes symmetrical?
My model has two shaded separate object eyeballs inside the head. The one on the right is ok but how do I get the left one to match the opposite on the x axis?

Would Mirroring be possible? Are the eyes the same mesh?

Move it? What's wrong with placing an object where you want it?

Your title is a bit misleading - it sounds as if the eyes themselves were not symmetrical, but it seems they are just not placed symmetrical in the head. Unfortunately I can't see in the screenshot if the face is symmetrical on the scene's X axis. If so, since the eyes look like they are identical, you could simply go to the location values of the correct eye, copy the X value and paste it as X value on the incorrect eye. Then simply make it a negative or positive value (well, the opposite of what the original value was).

Your solution worked for me I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner. Also, I didn't realize my question was typed somewhat incorrectly I was a bit tired that time, so I probably didn't check it properly.


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Why won't my character's eyes fully close on one of the shape keys?
I was trying to make a shape key for my character's face rig by having the eyes close and open. They were shut in edit mode but in object mode they're slightly open as you can see. How do I shut them completely? And if it involves more shape-keys or drivers please make sure you type the python code and instructions.

In real world, eyes get closed by lowering top eyelids and raising bottom eyelids a bit.
Then the difference you see between edit mode and obj mode are probably due to the smooth and subdivision modifiers.
To get exact corrispondence between edit mode and obj mode you have to enable all 4 little buttons on the right of the names of the 2 modifiers, so that they will act in edit mode too.
In this way you can select the relevant shape key and model the shape as needed in edit mode.
Another simple method is to select the shape key - which by default is acting with values from 0.0 to 1.0 - and modify its boundaries values, so that it will act from (-0.5) to 1.5, so that it will extend its behaviour and reach the bottom eyelid.

I tried the bottom option, and it worked but the top one you suggested didn't work.


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How do I animate my guy jogging on a curve track?
I have animated running but only in a straight line I'm trying to make my character jog in an S curve to show off my rig but also figure out how to pose the body especially when the camera is at an awkward angle. My rig has a master bone allowing me to move the entire body but am I supposed to pose the limbs while he's moving how a simple jog becomes so hard? I just need some tips.

You can animate the whole armature too, if you don't have a root bone, but don't matter. Did you try the Follow Curve constraint?

I didn't try it what does it do?

You add a curve object and the desired object will follow it. Its name Follow Path, excuse me. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/animation/constraints/relationship/follow_path.html
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/curves/properties/path_animation.html

If you want to watch a quick tutorial this one by Blender Secrets is probably the quickest one but there are many others online.


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Why is IK hand bone in the wrong direction during follow path?
This is my first time but I'm trying to use the Follow path constraint but as soon as I assign all the bones of my character to the NurbsPath one of his arms bends backwards because the IK control bone is far away.

can u please elaborate what do you want to achieve by assigning all bones to a path? makes no sense for me...."normally" you would make 1 bone to follow path...and a hint: you will attract far more people to your question by providing blendf file, if you don't provide all important settings.

The simplest way to solve this kind of issues is to create an empty, make it follow the path and then set a "child of" bone constraint from the IK hand to the empty (you can even animate the influence slider of the bone constraint).


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In pose mode my armature is curving instead of moving in a line why?
I just want my armature to move in a straight direction but for some reason the root bone is moving in an arc formation to the right as it goes along the animation path in pose mode.

It is hard to judge from just a picture, but is your root bone parented to another object that moves?

Well, the armature is parented to the follow path constraint but even that object isn't moving.


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python driver must be manually updated
I have written a function for a driver in python. Works good.
But...if i start my blend file, i first have to run one time my python script and then update all drivers in order to make them work.
Is there a "hack" or workaround so that the drivers are "ready working" when starting the blend file?
my python script:
import bpy
from bpy import context

def getStepWidth():

    stepWidth = 5 * 5
    return stepWidth

bpy.app.driver_namespace["getStepWidth"] = getStepWidth

Have you tried loading your startup.blend, running the script and then saving the startup again?

It's easy. Click on Text → Register:

In older versions .py extension in block name were required, but it worked without it when I was testing it.

Make sure Auto Run python scripts and save preferences

Put the function to addon and install it (need save preferences)

bl_info = {
    "name": "My Addon",
    "author": "me",
    "version": (0, 1),
    "blender": (2, 80, 0),
    "location": "View3D",
    "description": "hello",
    "category": "Object",
}

import bpy

def getStepWidth(): return 5 * 5

def update_driver(obj):
    try:
        for fc in obj.animation_data.drivers:
            fc.driver.expression = fc.driver.expression
    except:
        pass

@ bpy.app.handlers.persistent
def run_when_load_file(dummy):
    print("run_when_load_file")
    bpy.app.driver_namespace["getStepWidth"] = getStepWidth

    for obj in bpy.data.objects:
        update_driver(obj)

def register():
    bpy.app.handlers.load_post.append(run_when_load_file)

def unregister():
    bpy.app.handlers.load_post.remove(run_when_load_file)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Open the blender file, it will update all driver for all object


text:
why does my particle animation react like that?
So i have made a simple ring, gave hair to it and an object.
And it simulates like this:

And i have no idea why?
Why isn't it just hanging down?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/24s22xyzrx058c4/particle_hair_physics_probl.blend?dl=0

The hair direction is Y-axis of your object direction,similar to the bone in pose mode.
in pic1, the object direction is (0,0,0) downwards,means -Z, and the face normal is out,they can't match.So we first rotate it to Y-axis,apply the rotation.And then,try to make the faces whose normal is the direction we want,so I make a circle,facing downwards,that's ok.

do you mean like so?  [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/f7Orf.png.  doesn't help. And the origin was at the end of the line.... and what do you mean with "turn direction to z"?

I can make it,I just editing my answer,but gif is alway over2M, that's waste many time.

i don't need a gif, but an understandable answer....and i don't understand what you mean.

https://pasteall.org/blend/354b9a7673984c60bd6e31ce428c3520  in your file,the origin is not at the end of the line, and the hair direction is related to the normal direction.

I really made it, and it's just the communication problem. You down vote it so quickly, it's a bad action, when facing something you don't agree or understand,try to think twice and judge later.

[1]: https://i.sstatic.net/PwRE7.gif. -> here is my origin of my original file. Yes i downvoted it because your first answer was really bad. I will upvote it if it helps me. And i don't know what you mean with the origin is not at the end of the line!? it is...i think

I don't know why the ball in my file is lied not vertical, and now I download again, it's ok.Any way ,it's the reason of the normal direction of your circle.

i didn't change my upload - it is exactly the same as i wrote my question. If it would that i have changed it (what you are assuming) then my link and my question would be edited - which it isn't. And that was what i didn't like at your answer: you claim something wrong. And even if i make my circle like this: [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/Veisa.png ...it still doesn't work. So no, your answer is still not solving my problem

but you are still claiming wrong things in your answer which everybody can approve who downloads my file - which wasn't ever changed of me.

I have upload my profile, you can have a try.

I never say you change it, I just say in the beginning, it shows different on my computer,I don't know why,that's the explaination why I want to change the origin.And no mater what, I can make it, I just tell you the way I do it.

thank you for updating the answer. But i am convinced you did something with my file which you didn't provide in the answer. because my result is still: [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/tlluX.png [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/4svvb.png

And maybe you should delete you bake and run the animation again.

i did. several times. it is pretty weird. if my circle is flat (0 degrees), nothing is happening at all. If i rotate it, it moves...but wrong. i have no idea why. but i wouldn't mind if you upload your blend file, if it is working....maybe i see a difference to mine

I reproduce it again,and I got why,I will update the answer.Let me try to reproduce it again,pls wait.

updated!!!!!!!!

thanks for your update. Ok, now they are hanging downwards. But if you try to animate it...it still is totally wrong. That's why i made that animated gif in my question. Try animating x rotation of the ring. you will get: [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/BA8RI.gif do you have an idea how to fix that?

https://imgur.com/a/PjL5Chh, the root direction of hair is alway the same as normal(in green), and the others will combine the influence of root and gravity,so you can't make it totally downwards, but if you raise the hair segement,it will look much more downwards. To fix it,give me some time ,I'll have a try.

This answer is for Chris's extra request shown in the comment.I tried many ways,but no one is both perfect and simple,I'll show my ways in brief,it all depends on what kind of result you want.

Simple and almost Perfect:
Just increase the segment of hair,cause you don't need thousands of ball,so add the segment to a big number(40 is almost looks good) will not cause too much exhaust.Only the direction of hair root is fixed,others will have much influence by gravity.
But,it's not perfect,cause if you watch close,the rope is not absolutely vertical,but I think it's OK for your purpose.
I have thought about changing the direction of normal,to fix the problem thoroughly,but I find something strange,it waste me much time.
I can only change the normal of line(edit mode-Alt+N),but the hair direction is only related to the normal of faces or vertices,as you can see in Particle System,which I can't change.Any one could help to tell me why?

I make a chain to control the ball,chain is made by cloth,but need a little more work.It can show the filament in detail, but I think you don't need that.The problem is,I don't know how to bind a heavy ball to the cloth which makes the whole system looks real.
.blend


text:
Joining my armatures makes my meshes "vanish"
Beginner rigger question:
I have 5 armatures, 4 Legs and 1 future parent armature.
So i select all legs, then shift-select the parent armature, press CTRL-J and....
parts of my meshes are gone.
So it looks like i am making a very trivial mistake here?

It is because inside armatures bones have equal names. Then you join armatures, blender renames bones because it should have unique names in one armature, so that links gets broken. Consider going through all of them and give a unique name instead "Bone", "Bone.001" and "Bone.002". You can do this by pressing F2 in edit mode

perfect, thank you!


text:
disable/enable lights/objects depending on render engine
Can i somehow enable/disable lights/objects depending on render engine?
e.g. sun should be disabled on cycles, a plane with emission should be enabled only on cycles.
On EEVEE the sun should be enabled and the plane with emission should be disabled.
The only idea i have i disabling it with driver and python. Is there an easier way?

that would be a great option, or create a light collection for each engine

@moonboots: good idea...but i have still have no idea how to automate this. I wish there would be a Blender handler for render engine change....

I agree with @moonboots, having two different collections holding your lights is the best option by far. Easy, robust, quick.
The only thing that I would add (optionally) are few lines of code in case I wanted to have more control over it (separate it to different scenarios maybe, keep track of different groups of lights etc).
Which I guess is an over-killer but here we go:
first things first, is always good to know which render engine are you on
and this one gives always the correct answer:
bpy.context.scene.render.engine
next you may want to enable and disable certain Collections or even objects if you like.
What I would do to anticipate this is to use a prefix for my objects/groups or collections. Something similar to EV_nameofmylight for my EEVEE light objects and on the other hand something like CY_nameofmylightobject for the CYCLES lights.
then a quite dirty but an effective way to toggle them would be to parse the whole collection of my objects (notice here that if you disabled a light in purpose its state will be ignored and it will be enabled again). So we have already a small bug to deal with.
The code should look something like this:

import bpy

scn = bpy.context.scene
render_engine = bpy.context.scene.render.engine

#exceptions is an optional list where you may put the names of the lightobjects that you want to remain unchanged
#is not that useful if you consider that you may always remove the suffix (CY or EV) by the object's name instead
exceptions = []

for obj in scn.objects:
    if render_engine == 'BLENDER_EEVEE':
        if 'CY_' in obj.name and obj.name not in exceptions:
            obj.hide_render = True
            #obj.hide_viewport = True
            obj.hide_set(True)
        if 'EV_' in obj.name and obj.name not in exceptions:
            obj.hide_render = False
            #obj.hide_viewport = False
            obj.hide_set(False)
    elif render_engine == 'CYCLES':
        if 'CY_' in obj.name and obj.name not in exceptions:
            obj.hide_render = False
            #obj.hide_viewport = False
            obj.hide_set(False)
        if 'EV_' in obj.name and obj.name not in exceptions:
            obj.hide_render = True
            #obj.hide_viewport = True
            obj.hide_set(True)

I would suggest iterating through a list of pairs of (render engine name, prefix) rather than the if statement for those people who use add-on render engines like renderman.

Sure, that would be also useful. Feel free to alter the code to your taste!


text:
change origin points of multiple objects to same z coordinate
How can i change just the origin points of multiple objects?
I know, how i can move them, but i want to set them all to the same z-coordinate.

If i choose this:

I can move them with G -> Z ...but i want them to have the same z-coordinate.

Select first and second option as well:

Press SZ0Enter to align them on Z axis at the same height; then use GZ to move them exactly where you wish.

Note: Choose active element as the pivot point:

Works, thank you! I just added a little note, because that's important too, hope you don't mind.

I don't mind, I didn't know that because I used median point and it worked as well so I didn't include it into an answer


text:
How to add weight to your textures
Soo i have started using texture in blender and i want my textures to look real like they have depth i have download textures and i know there are various type of textures like ambient, roughness etc. But i don't know how to connect each of the in shader node soo plz help me out with this

hello, your question is a bit too broad; maybe show what your texture is, show some screenshot or maybe pack the image and share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

Try looking here. This is a full guide to how blender handles materials. It's all good to know, but if you just want to know about how to set up your textures, skip to the part that's titled "PBR workflows and texture maps" (a little less than halfway down). The link is here - https://artisticrender.com/the-complete-beginners-guide-to-blender-nodes-eevee-cycles-and-pbr/

Your use bump node. And don't overdo it.

First, let me explain what the different texture images are:

Diffuse - A normal picture of the material
Albedo - The color of the material (diffuse minus shadows)
Ambient Occlusion (or just AO) - The shadows of the material
Displacement - A depth map of the material (white = high, dark = low)
Normal - Which way the each point on the surface is facing (next to diffuse/albedo, this is probably the most important)
Roughness - How rough each point on the surface is
Glossiness - How glossy each point on the surface is (this is literally just the inverse of roughness.  You only need one)

Here's how you can connect each of them to the Principled Shader:

In that example, I'm using the albedo texture for the base color.  Here's a comparison using the albedo texture, diffuse texture, and albedo along with the ambient occlusion.
Albedo:

Diffuse:

Albedo + Ambient Occlusion:

(Note, you can probably get the colors to match the previous two better if you use something like the color ramp node between the Ambient Occlusion texture and the mix color node)
For the normal texture, you need to use the Normal Map node.  For only the displacement texture, use just the Bump node.  For both textures, use both nodes as I showed in the example.


text:
Segmentation based on normal directions
I'd like to segment the object surface into K patches. In each patch, all vertices have their normal directions within e.g. 5% difference from the average. Is there any K-means or similar add-on? Thank you very much for your kind help.

Bmesh script

Result of running script on grid above, each separated object is represented with a different colour  Will notice some quad faces are "bent".  Suggest Triangulating first
Find the average normal.  Remember for objects like the cube this could be a zero vector.  Could also consider using an arbitrary vector eg z axis rather than average normal
Since want to separate into surfaces have used face normals.
Then run thru the script and look at the tangent (grade) of the face normal to the average face normal.
Test script.  Splits the current edit mesh into chunks with 0.05 grade intervals from the average normal.
When the script has run will still be in edit mode with a faceless mesh, all having been moved to separate objects.
import bpy
import bmesh
from mathutils import Vector
from math import tan
grade = 0.05

context = bpy.context
ob = context.object
me = ob.data
bm = bmesh.from_edit_mesh(me)

# use the average of all face normals
norm = sum((f.normal for f in bm.faces), Vector()) / len(bm.faces)

# use the local Z axis
#norm = (0, 0, 1)

# use the global z axis
#norm = ob.matrix_world.inverted() @ Vector((0, 0, 1))

# use the active element (will error if edge or none)
#norm = bm.select_history.active.normal

while bm.faces:
    for f in bm.faces:
        f.select = tan(f.normal.angle(norm)) < grade
    if any(f.select for f in bm.faces):
        bpy.ops.mesh.separate()
    grade += grade

# pop out of edit mode remove original

Thanks batFINGER. You are right that the average norm does not work very well. How can I change it to Z-axis or use the normal of a particular vertex?

Since it is an edit bmesh can use the select history. See edited comment in code. eg  In vert select mode make a vert active by selecting.


text:
Can't figure out why my materials render out grey in cycles?

Just started blender - This is what the glass material part is rendering out to.
They're made to be transparent (like glass) in shader which shows up in render view, but when I go to render image it's a blocky gray - sorry stupid question can't figure it out!!

What are you trying to create ?Share your node setup and a screenshot of your viewport to make it more clear.It is difficult to judge just by seeing that picture

@Nxdhin2005 Hi my bad and thanks for replying, I created a "gundam helmet" kind of thing using planes and I'm trying to put the 3d render over a photograph. Photo is on a plane using image texture, but helmet materials turn out grey when rendered. I also just realized that when I exit out of camera perspective, everything turns pink in the shading viewport and completely transparent in the render viewport. Not sure if I need to restart? Seems like a lot is going wrong, here are some screenshots of the helmet in the diff viewports if it helps..https://imgur.com/a/PJDe6dJ
Thank you!

Can't say what it happening for sure it appears that there is more than one problem going on...Have you enabled Transparent background option in film?Try going to the rendered view after disabling it.


text:
My hair doesn't flap in the wind
I have a logo consisting of two letters covered in fur that I am trying to get blowing in the wind for a client project. I have a wind force field on which is affecting the hair fine, but the hair doesn't flap, it just drifts in the wind direction and stays still.
I'm sure I'm relatively new to Blender so I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong. Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

You probably want to add a "turbulence" force field as well.

That worked! I'd of assumed that wind would have had its own turbulence. I'm sure there's some clever reason for it!
Much appreciated

Glad it worked. I think the difference is that a wind modifier on its own will blow smoke like it does off a smokestack - smooth and flowing - whereas adding a turbulence modifier gives smoke like off a camp fire - fluffy and chaotic.


text:
Derformities in mesh: This is what happens after I Shade Smooth + Subdivision Surface
I'm a beginner in Blender. I'm currently following a tutorial for a character mesh, and I'm following it very closely. I ran into an issue with the foot. To close the sides of it with a face, I was trying to use Grid Fill, but it wouldn't let me (I can't remember the error message). I had to fill it with triangles, and then have them changed to squares so that geometry was even with the rest of the mesh.
Everything looked fine, but then I applied Shade Smooth on the mesh and added a Subdivision Surface modifier, and this happened to the ankle (what's below the red line in the image):

Ok. I think I found the problem. There were additional Vertices at certain parts of the ankle, hidden like. I must have Extruded or something. I Merged these Vertices, then applied Shade Smooth and Subdivision Surface and the deformity is now gone.


text:
Several different multi user objects to single user
What is the most effective workflow for making several (20) different multi-user models each into single user?
My use case is: I have 3 different objects each distributed manually several times through Alt-D (what I would call an instance). I now need to join all the 20 models into one mesh.
To get you all to my level I understand that I can make a unique copy of an object through Shift-D and an instance of an object through Alt-D. And I know I can click the number besides the object name in the Object Data panel to make it single user. I have no idea how to do this as a batch operation.
To be honest I am having a hard time grasping the terminology used to describe blenders instantiation of 3D objects (multiuser, single user, data block). I come from a 3Ds max background where an object instance means that changes made to an object is in effect in all instances of that object.

if you want all your object to have the same mesh, select them all, select the one with the good mesh at the end (it's now the "active" object), press Ctrl L (Make Links) > Object Data (or through the bar menu > Object > ...). Is it what you want?

Not exactly, but you put me in the right direction. I apparently wanted to go to the bar menu: Object/Relations/Make Single User/Object and Data and then afterwards (still with all the objects selected) joining them. So thanks :)

oh ok perfect then  ;)

Through the bar menu i could make all the instances unique objects through: Object/Relations/Make Single User/Object and Data and then afterwards (still with all the objects selected) join them as I would normally through Ctrl-J.


text:
Difference between rig and armature ? (and a few other beginner questions)
I'm just getting my feet wet in Blender, but ran into a couple of things I can't get my head around. Following the tutorials and my own tryouts, it's possible to create a "skeleton" for the purpose of setting up poses. These skeletons have the appearance of long thin pyramids(-ish).
Because I don't have the skill to create a full model yet I downloaded a premade 'rigged' character. This guy's bones are represented just as lines. I can set him up in poses using that, is this different than armatures ?
I also am able to move him in crazy ways, if I move the leg bone away from the character the leg will stretch all the way across the world. Is it possible for Blender to "pull" the rest of the body along so the character stays the same height ? Does this have something to do with his rig being lines and not pyramids ?
Another question I have is that I created a plane with a video, the purpose is to use the video as backdrop to "rotoscope" the character's movements.
When the viewport is in render mode the video plays as intended.
I would like this to happen aswell when the viewport is set to "Solid".
For now I only see the image when the object is selected, and also the video doesn't move along according to the selected frame (only in Render mode)

The lines for bones is just a viewing option that you can change in the bone settings. Click on the armature icon to find those settings. As for your second question, this is to do with parenting. In the Overlay panel, if you click on the plus icon, it'll show you the hierarchy of your bones. You'll see the bones towards the left are parents and the bones on the right underneath them (again use the plus sign to view what's underneath that bone) are their children bones. Include a master parent bone at the top to move your whole rig around.

Please ask only one question by post, it's easier to answer that way.


text:
How to trim wall to roofline

How can I trim this wall to the roofline? Thanks in advance.

you could use the Knife Project tool

Check out the answers here .. ;)

Hi. For future screenshots, this may help: https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/

Turn on snapping to face. (In blender 2.79.6 the shortcut is shift+Tab).

In edit mode, grab your vertices on the corner of the wall sticking through the roof and press "G" and "Z" to move it along only the Z axis. When the vertices snap onto the the correct face, let it go and there you go!
Hope that helps!


text:
Where's "Copy from Active" in Blender 2.8
I'm new to the blender community. I'm using the latest 2.80 Beta release (2019-02-10) of Blender and am unable to find the "Copy from Active" option in the new interface. I'm not sure if it's in some context menu and I can't find it, or if it's missing altogether.
So the problem I'm facing right now is that say I create an array of cubes (not touching each other), apply the modifier and separate the cubes by loose parts. I then apply a physics attribute to one cube. But then I'm unable to copy those attributes to all other cubes because I cant find Copy from Active. I've found a work around of applying the physics to the object before before I separate it by loose parts. But that's just one instance of using Copy from Active option.
Can someone help me with finding the "Copy from Active" option or share some advice on a better workaround for the moment?

You can find something similar by pressing F3 and typing : "copy rigid body settings".

Is spacebar still the default search binding in 2.8 or has it moved F3?

I don't remeber, cause i changed the keymap... I'll edit my answer, F3 is safer, thx

I need to change the keymap too lol.  Its become space oops escape F3.  Btw <kbd>F3</kbd> for key markdown.

By default, F3 is search, Spacebar is Playback. However, the first time one starts Blender 2.80, three options are provided for Spacebar (Search, Playback, Tool), in addition to the option to choose left click or right click select keymaps (so there isn't a single default anymore). But yea, F3 should always be safe

You can access through the horizontal menu bar > Object > Rigid Body.


text:
In pose mode how do I turn bone to line up with Y axis if I can't type coordinates?
Using the Z axis how do I rotate the bone to match up with the Y axis line in pose mode, because according to transform tab the rotation section is all zeros so I can't just type it down since the bone thinks it's in the right positon.

Is the bone's default pose not aligned with XYZ?

Well, the bone has an Autopath constraint so right now you're seeing it following the direction of the path however I moved it off the path. Sorry I didn't mention it before I knew there was something I forgot.


text:
Does the armature disappear during movie rendering?
I'm just curious but does the armature show up during the final render when I activate render animation. Because I only want the model's physical appearance to appear not the bones. It would be nice not having to manually make them disappear.

Why don't you try to render 1 frame to find out? :)

Usually on this site we are asking people when they say "it doesn't work", what have you tried so far or what are you struggling with. So I have to ask: did you make any effort to find it out by yourself? Like the simplest thing, hitting the F12 button to render a single frame as Harry suggested?

Lol, no. Armatures are not visible during renders. Neither are empties, cameras, or annotations.

I'm curious though, is it possible to make them show up in the render?

@HarryMcKenzie No, it's not. You would have to model a placeholder object. And not mentioned in the question: the light sources (not the emitted light, I mean the objects themselves) can be made visible if you enable Visibility > Ray Visibility > Camera. However  Point and Area lights will be visible no matter which angle (unless the Area is not completely flat from the camera's point of view), while the Sun will only be visible if pointing towards the camera's field of view and the Spot only if the camera'S FOV lies within the cone of light emitted by the spot.

thanks for sharing Gordon!

@Harry McKenzie You can make it visible if you use View > Viewport Render Animation

@moonboots Although it's not really showing up in the render, it's just showing up as overlays in the viewport which you are using instead of the real render... so it depends on what you count in as "render"... and if you switch to rendered view and render the viewport it does not really work with Cycles, and if you want to fake it to make it look like a "real" Eevee rendering and switch off the Overlays then those objects are invisible as well.


text:
How do I apply multiple transparent leaf branch images to main branch model more naturally?
The branch model has transparent images of a 3D leafy branch that I modeled after a white pine tree branch which I rendered into an image then duplicated, and it feels to, organized that and all the images feel the same and I don't want them looking too flat when people see them at a certain angle. I tried following the examples of video games as well as IanHubert of how they would model trees in a lazy but vary detailed way. However, I just can't seem to get it right I looked for references online, but it didn't do much is there a way to make the branches look more natural?

do you want an animation or just a still image? for a still image you could simple use the track to constraint for your images and track them to your camera

Maybe you should work on the main branch itself, like twist it a bit and give it a bit of pines too?

 Forgot to add this so you all could see it.


text:
How do I expand the camera frame on the Y axis?
I was following this guy's tutorial on how to make a leaf shader and on one of the steps he changed the camera frame into a square. I'm trying to-do that, so it'll match the bounds reference of the empty square, but I don't know how to extend it along the Y axis even though I tried using the scale it didn't seem to work.

In Output Properties you can adjust the Resolution X & Y which will change your camera dimension. If you want sqaure change it to something like 1000x1000

Also consider changing the "Sensor Fit" setting in Camera settings to control which dimension is adjusted as you modify the output resolution.


text:
How do I make image texture with random pattern and not symmetrical?
On the X axis my world of warcraft style bark texture has a symmetrical effect. That and the base of the tree doesn't seem to be following the curvature of the roots and I don't know how to make the pattern look random is there a way to give it a naturally look?

You can use the free Anti-Seam addon, it is explained here, the addon is available here. You can also try this addon created by Blender Guru.
A trick would be to mix the texture with itself with a Noise Texture as factor, the second version being scaled up a bit. Let's say that it is your basic texture, we can see that it is repeated:

Create this node setup:

Now the repetition is much less noticeable as the pattern is mixed with a larger version of itself:

There were two files, I'm not sure which I'm supposed to download so I chose both I even kept them as a zip file but when I tried to install the addon and went to user I couldn't see it anywhere in addons.

I've only uploaded the 1.1 version and t works for me in 3.6.4 (I can see and activate it in the addons list but I don't know how it works though)

Ok I see the anti-seam add-on and I checked it, but I don't see texture tools in shader editer.

if it doesn't work, Blender Guru has made an addon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VgtSL5ZpYc

but I'm going to propose a trick

Thanks, but the addon is working I just logged out of blender, waited then all of a sudden it worked I guess the problem solved itself I don't know how, could've been an error.

OK, great then......  :)

Also is there a way for the textures to match the roots of the base?

Not sure what ypu mean

Sorry I mean how do I make the texture copy the shape and direction of the roots so that the bark pattern looks like it's moving to one end point per root.


text:
Why does the mesh have sharp edges even though it has shade smooth?
I was checking my model in viewport "Material Preview", and I noticed that the mesh has sharp edges which is odd since it has "Shade Smooth" on it. This also effects the textures that I apply to it creating a "Seam Effect" which tricks me into thinking where the shadow and lighting are placed or if the colors and patterns are incorrect.

Hello could you please share your file? https://blend-exchange.com/

Use the Set Shade Smooth Node
If the tree is generated with geometry nodes, you have to run the geometry through a Set Shade Smooth node even if the you have set the object to have smooth shading.

Disable the Render panel > Ambient Occlusion option:


text:
How can i make instances on faces real (single) objects?

I need every track element separated. How can i make this?

Ctrl A > Make Instances Real?

ha...that easy! Thank you!!! of course you can write an answer...i will accept + upvote

CtrlA > Make Instances Real.The objects are still linked, to unlink go into Object > Relations > Make Single User > Object & Data.


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problems understanding accumulate field with edges
I understand this node setup here with points:

result:

so i get each point offsetted by 0.01 from the accumulate field.
if i now change point to edge, i get this, which i don't understand:

maybe some GN pro can enlighten me...

Let me put it in your words: "pls provide blend file" ;-) (No, please don't, just kidding!)

I would say it is related to the fact that Accumulate Field creates the values in the Edge domain, but are queried by Set Position in the Point domain, and therefore are interpolated. Why do you set this to "Edge" at all, if you want to influence the positions of the points? What exactly is the goal?

no goal - just trying to understand things ;) - that makes sense! Thank you!

Quellenform is, of course, right: Accumulate Field node is noting down the values for edges, but Set Position is evaluating them in the Point domain, so there is an interpolation going on. Since vertices can be connected to more than one edge, they acquire more values the more connected they are. Here's a setup with edge and vertex indices exposed so we can check how that interpolation is executed exactly:

Big black numbers are the edge indices, small red numbers are vertex indices. Spreadsheet on the left is showing the final Z values, and the spreadsheet on the right is showing the values accumulating on the edge domain (connected to a Viewer). I'm using the Trailing socket so edge indices and the accumulating values are directly correlated: Index 0 gets a value of $0.00$, Index 6 gets $0.06$ and so on...
Contrasting the numbers for a while makes the method obvious: every vertex gets a final value of all their neighbor edge values combined, divided by the number of total connections. Let's take a look at a random vertex; say, vertex Index 12 in the middle. It has $4$ edges connected to it, with values (again, in this instance, correlated with their index numbers) $10, 30, 9,$ and $29$. Add them all up: $78$. Divide that by the number of connections: $78/4=19.5$ We look at the left spreadsheet and see that indeed, vertex Index 12 has a Z value of $0.195$.
So the seemingly random fluctuations of points in your example is simply the result of how indices are distributed when geometry is first created: on the left and top edges of the grid, edges with very low and very high indices happen to be neighbors so you get those "jump"s.

thank you very much for that great explanation!

You're welcome, Chris! "Because edges to points interpolation" was kinda obvious but I didn't know how it was exactly calculated. I'm glad you asked so I was forced to find out. I wonder if there are any cool tricks that take advantage of domain interpolations like this.

Beautifully explained!


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why is animated curve getting bigger and how to improve that?
I animated a simple curve. But unfortunately the curve changes it thickness during animation. How can i stop that? why is it doing that?

i animated this by just changing the factor start value here:

blend:

I tried changing spline type, twist method - didn't help.

In the Object Data panel > Shape, select 2D:

And also in Edit mode select all, right click, choose Set Curve Radius and type 1:

It works: