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What is causing this extrude issue in the Blender 4.0 Donut Tutorial?
I'm going through the Blender Guru tutorial series and I've run into an issue with the circle mesh. Any idea what causes this issue in the attached image?

That looks like you have some form of Snapping active (Magnet icon in the center top of the workspace). Or you are pressing Ctrl while you move them (which activates Snap even if it's not turned On)

YES! That was it! Well, at least ONE of the things I was screwing up there. Thank you so much!


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'Cinema4D-exported' OBJ issues - Weird normals recalc result
I'm fairly new to Blender - only started learning this year. So this could be something painfully obvious to a lot of you.
I'm trying to import a drawing I did a while back when I used Cinema4D for most things.
I exported an OBJ, after reading that it was probably the best format for going between the two.
First of all, the model came in gigantic (so I resized it and applied scale), and secondly on 'recalculating normals' after seeing the normals 'in red', I got a funny result, in that the shading looked a bit like it had been rotated slightly or something - maybe a UV thing?
Not sure exactly what it might be and was hoping someone might recognise the problem.
Thanks in advance.

Please add an image of the problem you're seeing and if it's not too large share your Blend file. You can share it via https://blend-exchange.com/ following the instructions there to copy the full link on that page. Then edit your question here and paste the link into it.

Normals could be done by faces you don't have to recalculate all at once. Cinema 4D uses a phong tag to calculate the angles between normals and it's probably not 100% compatible with blender.

Thanks guys. I'll follow up on these suggestions when I'm up and about again, tomorrow. Much appreciated

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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my texture gets messy
im very new to blender and i completely dont know what is going on
i am not sure if you can see the weird yellow deck texture on the conning tower. but i think its the problem with tthe texture being pixelated and it spills over the other uv faces
i dont really know how to fix the issue

If you would go to the UV Editor instead of the Image Editor, you could see where the UV of one face ends and another begins... edit the UVs so that they do not get colored where they are not supposed to. And if what we are seeing there is how the end result should be (i.e. plain colors limited to specific faces), you could simply have a grey material and a yellow material, then select the faces which should be yellow and assign the material to them. And if you have no idea how to do this I would highly recommend you watch some beginner tutorials on materials, UV mapping, texturing etc.

If you are texture painting the yellow into the image, try using Face Select Masking in the top bar right next to the Mode dropdown that says 'Texture Paint' - click the little square there and then you can use select tool to pick what faces to paint and then use Draw tool to paint them. Also, as mentioned your UV islands might be too close together or in fact your Bleed in Options might be set to something larger than 2 pixels.

thanks it really worked

btw island margin also work but it destroys my resolution

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


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Georeference 3D data generated using BlenderGIS
I generated a 3D model (terrain + extruded buildings) using BlenderGIS,and I was wondering if I could integrate them into an ifc project having the right georeferencing using BlenderBIM. The problem is, BlenderGIS does not georeference the model, but only stores the coordinates of the origin of the geoscene. So when I assign ifc classes to my 3d objects, they maintain their relative coordinates to the origin of the scene, and not the coordinates of the GIS data from where they originated.

This Q&A site can only help with problems using Blender and its built-in addons. BlenderBIM and BlenderGIS are not part of Blender and are authored by third-parties so questions about them are off-topic here. You'll have to ask on their web site or a forum discussing them elsewhere.

understood, have a nice day !


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Importing an external UV map from png? If not, how to replicate?
Complete blender noob here!
I'm a texture artist. I like to paint on 3D. So here's my situation:
I have a provided 3d mesh "dummy".
I have a provided UV map .png, for painting textures. (for additional detail, the UV map is HALF of the mesh, the painted textures are symmetrical, but the mesh is both sides/whole.)
Is there any way to assign the provided UV .png to the provided mesh?
I have tried the unwrap/smart unwrap, but the resulting UV map is nothing like the provided UV map.
How can I make them the same so that I can export the mesh as .obj and be able to use it for painting on in external software? It DOES have to match the provided UV.


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Adding a Mask modifier to any mesh is causing it to instantly disappear, no matter the settings

I tried this in Blender 4.0 and 3.4 and started new projects and the issue shows up in both. It didn't happen for a couple of spheres for some reason and it doesn't happen to duplicates when I duplicate the ones that didn't glitch out. I'm at a loss here and I haven't seen anyone posting about this exact issue. The sphere has multiple modifiers on it but the cube only has the mask modifier on it in my examples.

By default the Mask modifier will mask the whole mesh except the selected group. If you haven't selected any group it will mask the whole mesh. You can invert the masked vertices with the Invert button though, so in your case just click on this button:


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retarget_bvh addon actions working using GUI but not using script
I want to use the diffeomorphic BVH retargeter Blender addon to animate Makehuman Characters.
Using the buttons in the Blender GUI to perform the actions I want works perfectly fine, but using the according Blender scripting commands does not.
I specifically want to import and retarget the bvh:
bpy.ops.mcp.load_and_retarget(filepath=FILEPATH)

It executes without error but seems to do nothing (Does not add the animation to the character).
So I tried to just import the bvh and see if at least that is working:
bpy.ops.mcp.load_bvh(filepath=FILEPATH)

But here the rig/animation is not added as an object, but when using the "load BVH" button in GUI it is added.
So my question is: Am I doing something wrong here, do I maybe misunderstand how to use the commands?
I am using Blender version 2.93 and retarget_bvh version 2.0. Thank you for your help!

This Q&A web site can only help with problems using Blender and its built-in addons. That's a third-party addon so you should ask questions about it on the addon's website particularly as you're using an old version of blender.


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Random complex objects with children as particles
I want to randomly place animated characters on a mesh using Python. I currently have them in a collection called 'Pedestrians', where all characters have an empty as a parent object.
I tried using a particle system with the option 'Render as Collection' and 'Pick Random' but that is just picking some random objects without regards to the hierarchy.
There is of course the possibility of creating a particle system for each of the character objects, but that would make other parts of my program a bit messy.
I am looking for some ideas on how I can do this. I thought of maybe first creating a particle system with some emtpy objects (or something else) and then replacing them by random characters, but I am also not really sure how that could be done.
Manually placing the characters is not an option. Also, it doesn't necessarily have to be done using particles.
Thank you for your help!

I think the reply will depend on what kind of arrangement you want to use. (e.g. I want to rotate the object).
For example,
here is a script.
The way to do it is to apply weight paint to the part of the mesh you want to place.
Only the empties in the specified collection will move with the distribution of the weight paint on the mesh.

import bpy
import random
import numpy as np

# Set the names of the collection and mesh object
collection_name = "Pedestrians"
mesh_object_name = "YourMeshObjectName"
vertex_group_name = "YourVertexGroupName"  # Name of the vertex group with weight painting

# Get the collection and mesh object
collection = bpy.data.collections.get(collection_name)
mesh_object = bpy.data.objects.get(mesh_object_name)

# Check if the collection and mesh object exist
if collection is None or mesh_object is None:
    print("Collection or mesh object not found.")
else:
    # Get the weights from the weight painting
    vertex_group = mesh_object.vertex_groups.get(vertex_group_name)
    if vertex_group is None:
        print("Vertex group not found.")
    else:
        weights = []
        mesh = mesh_object.data

        for vertex in mesh.vertices:
            for group in vertex.groups:
                if group.group == vertex_group.index:
                    weights.append(group.weight)
                    break
            else:
                weights.append(0)

        weights = np.array(weights)
        weights /= weights.sum()  # Normalize to make the sum 1

        # Randomly place the empties in the collection
        for obj in collection.objects:
            if obj.type == 'EMPTY':
                # Randomly select a vertex based on the weights
                vertex_index = np.random.choice(len(mesh.vertices), p=weights)
                vertex = mesh.vertices[vertex_index]
                location = mesh_object.matrix_world @ vertex.co  # Convert to world coordinates

                # Move the object
                obj.location = location

        print("Placement of empties is complete.")

Supplementation
if the person is the same mesh, it is better to make an instance collection.
If the person is the same mesh, it would be more memory efficient to make instance collections
memory efficiency.


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Bevel Modifier is Not Showing in Object Mode
I've applied a bevel modifier, and set the edge data to "weight". As you can see in the upcoming image, the modifier is working; but only in edit mode:

When I go back into edit mode, it looks like this:

Does anyone know why this might be happening? I've made sure all of my faces were quads, and I also made sure I didn't have any double vertices.Thank you for any help in advance!

The reason this was not working was because my boolean was above the bevel in my modifier stack. As soon as I moved it down, it worked.

Thanks for the info. My bevel modifier isn't showing at all. It works if I make a new object but not on the one I am working on for some reason.


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I am having lots of trouble trying to get light to shine through a window
I cannot figure out why the light won't shine through the window in my .blend file (linked here).
I've made the glass transparent using the BDSF Transparent Shader. On top of this, all materials are allowing transparent shadows.
The only thing that works is if I uncheck "Cast Shadows" on the light material. Can anyone help me figure this out? Thank you in advance.

It looks like your problem is in your Glass material, if I make it simple and plug it into the Surface socket of the Output node, it works, so maybe plug this way and revise the node organization:

Ugh, I'm an idiot and didn't realize I left the plug on volume and not surface. Thank you so much!!
By the way, I noticed you simplified things, and it worked even better. The module set up you saw me using was from a Blender Guru tutorial, any reason why it might not have been working?

well to say the truth I didn't try to decrypt the node organization, there must be something that doesn't work into it, he must have some reasons to do it this way but anyway you can do glass with only these nodes


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How do I ungroup an ROBLOX characters limbs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uTBcDtstKo&feature=youtu.be
Video of my problemo
Thanks in advance for the help.

it looks like it's one unique object? Go in Edit mode (tab), select the part you want hovering over one vertex and pressing L, and press P (Separate) > Selection (or select all and press P (Separate) > By Loose Parts)

Thank you very much, I tested it and was able to ungroup all the parts, thanks!

Technically it's not a "group", it's an object, and an object can count several separate meshes.
To separate one or several meshes from the object into one or several new distinct objects:
Go in Edit mode (tab), select the part you want hovering over one vertex and pressing L, and press P (Separate) > Selection (or select all and press P (Separate) > By Loose Parts)


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Can i change the User an Action is associated with?
After appending an action into a blend file, is it possible to associate the appended action with a specific user?
If I append actioned geometry or nodes, typically the action moves with them; but if I just append the action, then I will get the action datablock appended but without being linked to any object. How can I link the appended action to the required object on the stage (or somewhere else)?
Sorry it is a bit of an awkward question; I hope it is understandable. Let me know if you require any further information.
Sept

Do you mean in Dope Sheet Editor, if you change its subtype to Action Editor, the dropdown menu for an action?

Yeah, but how can I associate the action to a given object?

Just select an action from the list while the object you want the action to be associated with is active.

You link an action to an object not the other way around. You do this by selecting the object then choosing the action in the action editor.
While an action can be used by any number of objects, you can only have one action linked to an object at one time. To have an object use more than one action for an animation you use the NLA editor to mix the actions together.

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


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How to combine two texture in geometry nodes after a Distribute point on faces node
My first objective is to have a point cloud from a 3D scan with some points glowing.
Everything is working; the color of the points comes from my texture. However, when I want to add a second material and join it to my nodes, it's not working. The 'Join Geometry' node only keeps the material I put on the top and erases the other one. I want to have both textures at the same time.
If anyone has a solution, I can't get over it.

Could it be that a point cloud is supporting only one material ? Not like a mesh where materials are attached to faces, so more than one is supported. In this case, you could try to attach a named attribute to the points, then to choose the color/material in the shader based on this attribute.

@StefLAncien I think you are correct : I'm unable to have 2 materials with points but with Instances on Points no problem.

When connecting the Selection socket of a Set Material node attached to a Point Cloud, a warning is displayed : "Point clouds only support a single material; selection input can not be a field".

(Using Blender 3.6.12)
Following is a proposal with a single material but storing directly a color as named attribute, used afterward in the Shader Editor.

Resources:

Oh yes it's working thanks!
(I just had to create another named attribute connected to emission in shader editor to make it glow)


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Blender sculpting Area vs View brush option
I'm trying to sculpt using an alpha but whenever a stroke is applied on a curved surface it stretches. I feel like the area and view option is not working properly.

Did you apply the scale of your model (Ctrl A > Scale)?


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Blender Select Faces Hollow

Hi! I am new to Blender and I'm trying to build my first object, a washing-machine. I am trying to hollow out just the drum of the washer, but when I removed the front face of the cylinder, the front face of the washer is still there. I added 2 photos for reference to my question, how can I do a face-select on just the blue part I have scribbled over so I can remove just that face? Thanks in advance!
I tried right-clicking and trying "subdivide", "split", "separate". I also tried watching multiple tutorials. I tried the knife feature to cut out the circle. I'm at a loss!

Hello and welcome. Making holes in a mesh has been asked before: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/15687/making-holes-in-a-mesh. Here are other methods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0wyTP_Doxw. Then please read Holes in Faces for more information

As far as I understand, you want to make a round hole for the drum in this place? You can add a new cylinder object, so that it is rotated in the direction you need, creating a round drum, and then select the cylinder and your washing machine, apply the boolean modifier (hotkey ctrl + numpad -). This way you get the hole you need and can make a frame around it

That key combination will only work if you have the built-in Bool Tool addon activated in Preferences > Addons.

Oh, Yes, thanks


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Using a texture for x/y inputs of Translate Node in Compositor, possible?
is there any way to use a textures value as the input for the x/y offset of a translate node in the compositor? It just won't work. I'd like to create some kind of rgb artifacts and maybe some strange distortions.

You should use the displace node instead.

indeed, that works. thank you. sorry i am to low of a member to upvote ;)


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direction perpendicular to screen
I want to create a script that squeezes a curve along the vertical direction of the screen. Currently, I am using
`def get_view_direction():
for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'VIEW_3D':
        region_3d = area.spaces.active.region_3d
        view_matrix = region_3d.view_matrix
        view_direction = view_matrix.to_3x3().inverted() @ mathutils.Vector((0.0, 0.0, -1.0))
        return view_direction
return None`

to get direction, but the effect is not very good,is there a better way?

What do you mean the effect is not very good? Can you actually show what the result is so we can get an idea of what might be the problem?

If it is extruded along the direction of the screen, the extruded part should not be visible in the view but should be a flat surface., my understanding is that. The above picture shows the effect of extrusion without rotating the view, it feels different from what I expected. Is there a better way?

You need to simply extrude in the direction of the camera, in geometry nodes it would look this way:

In Python the only tricky part is to calculate the position of the viewport camera:
from bpy import context as C, data as D
import bmesh

area = next(a for a in C.window.screen.areas if a.type=='VIEW_3D')
r3d = area.spaces[0].region_3d

cam_loc = r3d.view_matrix.inverted().translation
# you can test by spawning a UV sphere at cam_loc and scaling it

me = C.object.data
bm = bmesh.from_edit_mesh(me)
geo = bmesh.ops.extrude_edge_only(bm, edges=bm.edges)['geom']

for v in (i for i in geo if type(i) == bmesh.types.BMVert):
    v.co += (v.co - cam_loc).normalized()

bmesh.update_edit_mesh(me)


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Make the bridging part smoother

This is the initial bridging appearance, and it can be seen that the bridging part between the two blue lines is directly connected.
By adjusting the parameters, the bridged part can be made smoother.
50% smooth

100% smooth

Are there any tools or modifiers in Blender that can achieve similar effects？

Do you want the result to be just curved like in the answer by @joshsanfelici or should it bulge outwards or to the front like in your reference images?

thanks a lot, it looks like bulge outward and make it smooth @GordonBrinkmann

In my example I had two edge loops with the same amount of vertices.
I added a third edgeloop (same amount).

Used Ctrl E > Bridge edge loop to connect two selected edgeloops. Repeated for the third.

Used Ctrl R to add some more edgeloops, then select the three original loops (thoose which will have to be unaffected by the procedure).

Enable Built-In LoopTools AddOn, and press the Curve Button.

Why bother to create several loop cuts above and below the center loop? Just select it and use Ctrl+B to bevel the edge with the Width Type set to Percent.

Results are not the same, some curved surfaces are impossible to achieve with Bevel only, Curve tool adds lot more control.

No, of course they are not the same, never said that. But for one there was no specific shape given, it only says "smooth", and depending on how you create the central loop and probably using a custom profile you can modify the shape resulting from the Bevel tool a lot, too. And you could - instead of beveling in Edit Mode - use a Bevel modifier and tweak the settings until you are satisfied. Surely the Curve tool has it's advantages too and as you said, some curved surfaces may not be achievable with the Bevel tool.

Make sure you have the LoopTools addon enabled. You can do a simple smoothly curved transition like in the other answer also with the Bevel tool, and in addition to that you can modify it even more by doing the following if you have two edge loops with the same amount of vertices:

Select both edge loops and right-click for the context menu. Choose LoopTools > Bridge.

After bridging the loops, use the Loop Cut and Slide tool with Ctrl+R to create a loop cut in the center.

Now with the new loop selected make adjustments of how you want the result to look like "bulge-wise". Scale it up or down, move or rotate it - whatever.

Then press Ctrl+B to enable the Bevel tool. By default it uses the Width Type > Offset which will not look very good, so it does not really matter how many segments you create or how far you bevel it. Just confirm the bevel by left-clicking.

Open up the tool options at the bottom left of the viewport. Switch the Width Type to Percent and enter a Width Percent value to your liking. You can also change the Segments now if you want something else than what you did in the previous step.

By default the Bevel tool's Profile Type is set to Superellipse, which should give you a simple smooth transition. But if you want you can change it to Custom and create your own profile:

By the way, using Bevel you do not have to do it destructively. Give the central loop under Edges Data a Mean Bevel Weight of 1 in Edit Mode, then add a Bevel modifier to the object and set it to Limit Method > Weight and as described above the Width Type > Percent.
Now you can tweak the settings, give it a custom profile and play along with it until you like the result. Or in Edit Mode change the location, rotation and size of the central loop to change the overall shape.

$$\Downarrow$$


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Utilizing (or faking) AO in Cycles
I've ported over a game character to Blender and I'm interested in rendering an animation with Cycles. However, I've read (and found while using) Blender that it doesn't seem to utilize AO while using Cycles since it's using a more realistic form of light?
Basically, I'm wondering if there's a way to still use the AO map in this render mode. And if not, is there any way I can compensate for it? The AO map essentially just adds shadowed crevices to a face, like around the inner corners of the eyes.
I saw some threads on others with similar issues but they're for older forms of Blender and I can't seem to figure out how to follow them.

I think you could probably just get away with multiplying your AO map with your Basecolor (or basecolor image texture) before connecting it to the Basecolor socket (assuming you're using a Principled BSDF - use "color" for any other shader)


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How to clean up a model after rotating it from the pivot point in object mode?
When I rotate my model from the pivot point and then try to align the split normal's to any of the axis, it keeps the rotation for the split normal's even after setting transforms to deltas.
The Left is the one I'm rotating in object mode, but wanting the split normals to be like the right one.
This is for grass I'm creating, so I was trying to figure out what was going wrong, it seems whenever I rotate it in object mode it then wont align properly.

Normals will rotate with the vertices. I don't think there is an option to keep them from rotating. I've updated my script in the answer to your other question for aligning the normals with the Z-axis in world space, but you would have to run this every time you change the rotation.

You're amazing thank you so much for your help.


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Objects appear as black in material preview mode and when rendering
I have been rendering this file for a while now and no problems occurred so I decided to work on other things while the file was rendering. However, when I went to check up on it, it appears black. I'm new to blender so I don't fully understand it yet.
This problem suddenly happened and only happens in material preview mode and the preview when rendering.
Material Preview

Render Preview

In Material Preview, what are the settings of the Viewport Shading panel (top right of the 3D view, next to the 4 preview modes)? If you've enabled the Scene World option and disable the Scene Lights option, you won't have any light...

Neither Scene World or Scene Lights options were enabled

could you please share your file (just several objects) so that we can test? https://pasteall.org/blend/

I've uploaded it to the link you sent me
Here's the link incase you need it: link

it seems to work here (except you haven't packed your images but I don't think it counts), so I'm not sure what's happening: https://zupimages.net/up/22/16/gs6z.jpg

Sorry I'm being stupid, I reloaded Blender and it works now. Thanks

oh, great then  ;)  .......


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Improving Blender Selection Time
New to Blender. I am editing a large .obj file to mass delete unneeded portions to decrease file size for a navigation mesh. Selecting a portion of the map takes a long time, up to two minutes sometimes. My memory and CPU are not maxing out on my computer. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what could be going on here and possibly what I can do to improve the time it takes for a selection to complete?

The select tool operating speed mainly depends on the CPU performance. Is it too much Boolean modifier(exact solver) in your scene? You are select in object mode or edit mode? amount of vertices?

I am in edit mode and the amount of vertices is 1,187,874 (a huge reason why I am editing this file to drastically reduce this number). I have friends that can load this file into their blender and no real wait on selection time.

I assume it may be my CPU but its only sitting at 40% utilization when I'm waiting for a selection to complete.

In my case, 12,582,912 vertics for a single object it takes around 4 second on every large select. May be it just the hardware problem. Try to use different computer to test.


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When I press F12 my render looks distorted
https://i.sstatic.net/MH3JY.jpg
this is what it looks like. I have no clue why :D this is my second ever creation.

Do you have any objects hidden in your viewport? Hidden objects will still appear in renders.

@ChristopherBennett there isn't anything hidden.


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edges bridging tool in Blender
I try to create a face between two or more edges, there are different situations, is there a filling method in Blender that can achieve this effect. The fill parts are between red lines.
One situation: two edges, they are close in size

another situation: two edges, they are not close in size

another situation: three edges

For the 2 first situations you have right click > LoopTools > Bridge, or Ctrl E >Bridge Edge Loops, the third situation is more complicated...

thank you have much, I wonder if there have addons to solve the problem


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Shrink a grid shape according to the shape of a curve
Assuming there is a grid shape with its lower half shrinking according to the shape of the curve, is there a tool in Blender that can achieve a similar function.

The outside transparent object is the origin object, it seems that the shrinking part will not exceed the range of the original object.


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Pin Constraints
I'm slowly learning how to use blender after years of Inventor and Solidworks. We generally use blender for promotional material. Currently I am trying to get a simple animation to work. The main yellow circular section is lowered over the grey bit. The hook a pinnerd/bolted at the top. I want to constrain the hook to have rotation only around that pin hole at the top. Is this possible? or am I stuck in a CAD modelling mindset?

The easiest way is to align an empty or a bone to the arm, put it in the location of the desired pivot point, lock all transform parameters except the desired rotation an set the arm child of the empty, so that rotating the empty will rotate the arm with constrained axis and pivot.
Use the snapping functions to align the empty (i.e. face project and align rotation to target).


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My Undo History broke
I can't use undo or redo
Undo History only contains "Original

Hello and welcome. Do you have a question we can answer? This is Q&A site run by volunteers, we are not programmers nor in any way associated with the Blender Foundation, decision making nor development process of the software. For bug reports please see Where to Report a Bug. If the issue is in or caused by a third party addon, please report it to the addon author instead.

I guess this has to do with the Global Undo setting in the Preferences: CTRL+Z in Object Mode takes me to last change in Edit Mode. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem.

Is this upon opening the file, or have you done anything since opening?


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Floating additional hair curve issue!
I've rigged this character and everything is working perfectly but the body hair/fur has this hanging extra clump of fur hanging on the viewport and renders! I'm using vertex group to mask the fur out of areas but the issue persists. I've redone the hair nodes many times and the result is the same! Also there's no extra curves on the faulty fur clump so i cannot delete it on edit/sculpt mode! Any assist would be grateful!
enter image description here
enter image description here


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Hide the letters randomly inside a collection
I'm learning Geo Nodes and wanted to make objects inside a collection randomly apear and disapear as they are (no loc, rot,or scale changes) using scene time node along my timeline so the letters come and go randomly as my timeline duration lasts!

I could come up with this setup using a single solid object but as is, random faces are hidden making the text not readabl which is not what i need!

I've searched for tutorials but found none as specific as what i need to accomplished here!
Thank you so much in advance for any help you guys can give me! Appreciated!

You could split the individual letters into instances using the Split to Instances node and then select and remove them as a whole.
Something like this:


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Transform UV map when running python script in background
I'm trying to rotate, resize and translate an UV map using a python script that runs in the background (without UI). I got it working when running the script directly in blender (with UI) but cannot get it to run in the background. The main issue is that I am trying to access the 'UV' area, but that is not possible since I am not using the UI. So my question is, how can i access the UV editor when running the python script in the background and apply the transforms?
Below I've attached a code snippet of what I want to run in the background.
# Enter UV mode
bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()
bpy.ops.mesh.select_all(action='SELECT')
last_area = bpy.context.area.type
bpy.context.area.ui_type = 'UV'
bpy.ops.uv.select_all(action='SELECT')
# Apply transformations
bpy.ops.transform.rotate(value=math.radians(90), orient_axis='Z')
bpy.ops.transform.resize(value=(2.0, 2.0, 1.0))
bpy.ops.transform.translate(value=(100.0, 100.0, 0.0))
# Exit UV mode
bpy.context.area.type = last_area
bpy.ops.object.editmode_toggle()

If you're in the background there is, as you point out, no UI; so you can't access the UV Editor, just as you couldn't use a context to override it if you didn't have a UV editor window open in the interface. But you don't enter the UV editor by toggling edit mode, anyway. That just changes the mode of the 3D Viewport.  I think you need to look into image manipulation operations to accomplish what you want.


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Some textures missing after rendering and saving as PNG

As you can see the pink glowing textures (forming the bow at the back) are gone once I save it as PNG but in the render preview it looks perfectly fine, any clue why?

What version of blender you use? Possibly related https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/164940/2214

Hi :). PNG doesn't support both emissive and transparent pixels. It's a limitation of the format. For compositing use EXR.

@JachymMichal Oh I had no idea about that, is EXR widely accepted when it comes to editing software like Photoshop and such?

Hi :). EXR is a gold standard in vfx, not so much with Photoshop afaik. Search this site, for similar posts, it's a quite common problem. One solution is to save the alpha as a separate BW mask. Good luck ;)


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Renders turning black before certain frame
I'm new to Blender and already tried everything Google threw at me, so I don't know what else to do.
I'm using Eevee, there are lights in my scene, but the renders appear fine for a little moment and then turn black and save as black.

But after a certain frame (1727, in particular), the renders go back to normal.

I'm not using the compositor, but need the sequencer for audio.

And nothing is blocking the camera before frame 1727.
Another detail is that, before frame 1727, the viewport shading looks completely black too.

are you sure there's not an object moving in front of your camera?

Completely sure. The viewport shading even looks black outside the camera view

could you please only keep one object and share your file? https://pasteall.org/blend/

Also double check that you didn't hide objects in the viewport, but not in the render. Are there keyframe on the lights (location or power)?


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Shadows different in viewport and render
When I use eevee to render this simple hand model, the shadows look different in the viewport versus the render, as shown in the attached image. There is no difference in subdivision levels, viewport vs render visibility settings or render settings as far as I can tell. I've also looked through other people's questions and found no answers. Anyone have any idea why this is happening?

I could simply do a render viewport image render, but I'm also trying to use freestyle with this and that isn't something that can be rendered in the viewport.

Your image shows your viewport is in "Material Preview" mode which usually has its own lighting setup which is different from the "Rendered" mode lighting

As Ron said, the Material Preview by default uses it's own lighting. If you'd like it to use the lights in your scene you can check Scene Lights and Scene World in the Viewport Shading dropdown, then the material preview should look the same as the rendered view (if you are rendering with Eevee)


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How to apply displacement maps in shader editor to a specific vertex group
I'm experimenting with displacement maps in the Shader Editor using this guide: https://3dmodels.org/blog/displacement-maps-in-blender-tutorial/
What is the best way to apply it to only a part of the object or a specific vertex group?

What you can use instead of vertex groups is a Color Attribute, which you can reference directly in the Shader editor via the Color Attribute node.

Add a color attribute
Enter Vertex Paint mode
Paint the areas you want affected. You can use white for the areas you want affected and black for areas you want unaffected.
In your shader, add a Color Attribute node and select the Color attribute you created in step 1
Use a Vector Math node to multiply its color with the texture you're using to displace.

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed answer! It works great :) I'm experimenting with placing the displacement node between the noise texture and the vector math node to prevent the displacement node from affecting the rest of the object.

@Ocon Ocon if the answer is correct, mark it as such


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Best way to make a soft body object return to its original shape after a collision
I have an object with a soft body that collides with a plane with a collider, and I want the object to return to its original shape after the collision. What's the best way to achieve this? I've been searching a lot for a solution but haven't found one yet.
Thanks in advance!

Try to tweak the Plasticity, if it doesn't work, please share your file: https://blend-exchange.com/


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Soft body behaving like a magnet near collision plane
I'm using a soft body simulation on an animated sphere and a collision modifier on the plane. When the sphere gets close to the plane, it behaves like a magnet. Does anyone know why this is happening? The sphere is also animated to move up and away from the plane, but it gets stuck and won't move.
I haven't changed any of the default soft body settings, except for setting gravity to 0. The issue still occurs when gravity is set to 1.
Thanks in advance!

I suppose ground plane or sphere has inverted normals. Can you check this?

When I enable face orientation everything is blue. But when I make the plane thicker, the problem disappears.


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Rigid body object falling into the plane

My objects fall and some of them go half into the plane.
Although my ojects are tilted in different angles at keyframe - 0 , at keyframe 2, they all turn flat and then fall. Can someone help me with this please?

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


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How can I run code whenever any object is added?
When I add an object, I want to run some initialisation code on it first.
How can I do that?


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Making a basic n panel template with working properties
I'm trying to display some different property types on a n-panel. I would like to level up from using operator buttons, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to make a panel with some properties.
import bpy

class MyProps(bpy.types.PropertyGroup):
    bpy.types.Scene.my_int = bpy.props.IntProperty(
        name="int",
        description="integer",
        default=1,
        min=0,
        max=1024,
        step=1)

    bpy.types.Scene.my_float = bpy.props.FloatProperty(
        name="float",
        description="float",
        default=1.0,
        min=0.0625,
        max=1024.0,
        step=0.25,
        precision=2)

    bpy.types.Scene.my_enum = bpy.props.EnumProperty(
        name="enum",
        description="enumerator",
        items=[
            ("1", "first_option", "description")
            ("2", "second_option", "description")
            ("3", "third_option", "description")
               ]
        default="1")

    bpy.types.Scene.my_string = bpy.props.StringProperty(
        name="string",
        description="words and stuff",
        default="type here..")

    bpy.types.Scene.my_collection = bpy.props.CollectionProperty(
        name = "collection",
        description= "idk wht this does yet"
    )

class TestPanel(bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_label = "Test Panel"
    bl_idname = "VIEW3D_PT_test_panel"
    bl_space_type = 'VIEW_3D'
    bl_region_type = 'UI'
    bl_category = 'Test'

    def draw(self, context):
            layout = self.layout
            scene = context.scene
            row = layout.row()
            row.prop(scene, "my_int")
            row = layout.row()
            row.prop(scene, "my_float")
            row = layout.row()
            row.prop(scene, "my_enum")
            row = layout.row()
            row.prop(scene, "my_string")
            row = layout.row()
            row.prop(scene, "my_collection")

## note: my non-proprety classes (panels, operators) are loaded by __init__.py

## register properties!
def register():
    pass # ??

def unregister():
    pass

I'm already using an autoloader to load panels and operators somewhere else, so I want to know how to load register the property group correctly and what the syntax looks like. I haven't been able to find any examples of this anywhere.

I fon't know python, but isn't there an example in the list if you go to Blender's Scripting layout tab then look at the list under Templates > Python in the Text Editor?

none of the templates show this.

Ok. Worth a try!

tldr:  replace = with :, also, don't use bpy.types.Scene  in the property group annotations. in register you should register the property group then bpy.types.Scene.my_property_group = bpy.props.PointerProperty(type=MyProps)

@JohnEason Interestingly there really is no template for a simple N-panel lol. I would have expected this to be part of the templates. IMHO UI Simple Panel template should have given such a template for the N-Panel since that is the most common panel for addons.

@HarryMcKenzie Maybe time for someone who uses python to suggest that Blender add it to the templates! :^)


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Subdiv on odd numbers instead of even numbers?
Is there an add-on or a way to incorporate the subdivision surface modifier to not split on base-2 (A quad is split into 4 quads on Level 1, 16 quads on Level 2, 64 quads on Level 3, etc.) and instead split on a variable base, like base-3 (so level 1 would split on quads into 9 quads) or base-5 (level 1 split into 25 quads)? It feels like it's something doable by the program, I just not sure how to do it.

Hello and welcome to BSE. If you are talking about making a modifier for that you would need to look into Geometry Nodes.  Unfortunately, replicating the Catmull-Clark subdivision algorithm purely with Geometry Nodes would be quite complex and likely not feasible due to the intricacies of the algorithm. Or do you mean just plain subdivision without catmull-clark? Or are you open to a python solution?

Maybe more like a subdivision without catmull-clark? Looking into C-C, it seems the reason it's base-2 is because it edge point equation divides by 4.  And I would be open to a python solution.

Why not directly use Right click > Subdivide in Edit Mode where you can set any number of cuts and even smoothness like catmull clark? Here's example using default cube https://snipboard.io/VgvNa8.jpg You can easily use it in your python workflows bpy.ops.mesh.subdivide(number_cuts=2, smoothness=0.58)


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Why do I get points when I import an mmd file into blender?
I imported an mmd file into blender but I don't get the texture, I only get dots. I don't know what the reason is. If anyone knows, please help me.

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

It would be really, really helpful if you uploaded your file to blend-exchange.com so we can take a look at it.

Blender version problem. Try to use it in 3.6


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Blender built-in PDT Tangent feature not working
I have been experimenting ways to use Blender as a CAD program and I find Blender built-in PDT add-on to be best suited for me.
Following some tutorials i found on Youtube went well, and I start to try model something myself. The models turned out great, until I try to model this drawing:
This model requires some tangent between two curves. However, I haven't been able to find any tutorials or guides online about this, so I tried to experiment it myself and trial and error through it, but it kept popping up a message saying that I have to work in Vertex mode (which I am):

or this message, which says the distance between the points were too close:

I tried to fix the problem, but once I correct the error, the other message appears.
Does anyone know how to fix this?

I would create those two tangents like this:
First I open the PDT Tangents menu. I have set the Tangent Mode to Outer and selected the first circle. Then I click on the Set From Arc button under Centre 1. As you can see, this sets the XYZ values of the circle center and the radius to 0.66 m:

Then I select the arc to the right (only the vertices that belong to the arc itself) and click on Set From Arc under Centre 2 this time, it sets the XYZ values of the arc's center and a radius of 1.5 m:

If I now click on the button Tangents From Inputs, two edges are generated. One tangent from the upper part of the circle to the top of the arc, another one from the lower part of the circle to where the lower part of the arc would have been (of course I only need the upper tangent and delete the lower):

To get the tangent from the corner vertex on the left to the circle, I switch the Tangent Mode to From Point, select the corner vertex and click on from Vertex under Tangent Point. This sets the XYZ coordinates of the corner vertex:

Then I select the circle and click on Tangents from Selection:

This results in two tangents, one upper from the circle to the corner and a lower one as well. Other than the two separate ones earlier, these are two connected edges sharing a vertex where the corner is:

After selecting the lower edge and deleting it, the only thing left to do is a little cleanup and connecting the tangents with the arcs, because they are not always exactly hitting the edges/vertices of the arcs (I guess because mesh circles are only approximations to a real circle, limited by their amount of segments).


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3D Cursor not showing up when using preset viewpoint
I was working in Blender like normal, I mostly use the preset orthographic viewport, when all of a sudden, the 3D cursor just disappear. When goes back to he 3D view, it appears again, checking the viewport overlays shows that the 3D cursor is still enabled. There's no option in setting (at least as far as I know) to enable or disable it. Does anyone have a fix for this?

Did you try closing Blender and reopening it ? Indeed it's strange, 3D Cursor is enabled. Consider uploading your file with https://blend-exchange.com/.


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Troubles with simulation nodes. (Shaders not preserved, attributes not working)

I'm trying to make a simple smoke effect using geometry nodes I have a set up where I have a loop that creates 5 instances of smoke particles. I try to attach two attributes (ParticleAge) and (ParticleVelocity) to the instances. I have it attached to a simulation so 5 instances of smoke particle is created every frame. Each frame the age of each instance is incremented and its position and velocity is changed to go in an upward motion with some random added velocity to sell the illusion but instead each frame the ball of smoke particles don't end up moving and then overlap in a ball of new instances of smoke particle. I think this has something to do with the attributes not working because if I disconnect the velocity attribute and manually input an upwards movement the stream of smoke moves up but not with the velocity. And before I had the 5 instance generator, I could generate a singular instance and the physics would work properly. The second issue I'm having is that shaders that are applied before the simulation node seems to be erased while node groups applied after the simulation don't end up getting applied. The node groups for me only work before the simulation and the shaders only work after and I don't know why.

Side Note: Beware that the provided picture is unreadable...

I was able to fix the instance part myself, I had to create a point each iteration of the repeat and convert that point into an instance, just plugging in an object geometry alone does not work.
I also figured out that instances have trouble applying added modifiers after the simulation, so use the Realize Instance node to convert the instance into "usable" geometry.


text:
Does Blender have the equivalent of Photoshop Smart Guides?
I'm doing my first blender tutorial. I want to extrude a face to create an upper lip but I don't want it to be larger than the lower lip as I extrude. In photoshop this is easy because the smart guides automatically create a pink line when and object you're dragging or extruding aligns with another edge/object.
Example:

I tried the solution found here: Object alignment/Pattern Object/Smart Guides in Blender but that did not actually apply to my use case at all.
I tried the different snap options but none of them seem to do it. If not, what's a simple way to guarantee that an extrusion does not go beyond a certain point?

"Snap" is what you're looking for, but the way to use it isn't really intuitive if you come from Photoshop. Please let me detail the procedure step by step.
Starting with the default config :

Set the "Snap element" to Vertex
Start to extrude with E. If needed, specify an axis (X in your case)
Keep Ctrl pressed, and move your mouse cursor to either A or B. When the face snaps, press left mouse button to validate.

Whe you use the Extrude tool, you will get a small menu with the size of the new face that you extrude, you can copy that number and paste that inside a new extruded face size.

Hope that helps
Good luck


text:
How do I reconnect with cache files
I have made a scene with smoke in it. The smoke is baked and the cache-files are in a folder next to the blender-file. I work on a Mac and when bringing the project to another Mac the cache is recognised as long as I do not change the name of the Blender-file.
When I bring the project to a Windows PC, the scene does not include the smoke. Cache folder and Blender-file is still side by side (Dropbox).
How do I reconnect to the baked cache-files on the new Windows-PC?


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Friction with balls rolling down a funnel
I have made a funnel with some balls that are set to move sideways to begin with. Once they hit the funnel, they immediately stop and roll towards the centre. They seem unwilling to roll in the funnel itself. All is rigid. no bouncing. friction is set to almost zero.
How can I make them roll more willingly?

What have you set the collision 'Shape' for in your Rigid Body properties for the balls? Are you using 'Mesh' or 'Convex Hull' perhaps? Try changing that to 'Sphere' and see if that helps. I've managed to get a simulation working where it's rolling but had to use 'Sphere', otherwise the edges/corners seem to cause collisions and it loses momentum.

I  don't know ... in theory right curvature (what is right?), enough weight and initial speed should work, but didn't for me either. It is loosing speed too quickly. Some low Friction helped a bit, so its not such slippery.

add Vortex force field, Strenght 20, Inflow -2 and
lower Gravity to -4

to make it work. Even this is not going in spiral, but in oval. I'm not happy about that, but probably better something than nothing.

Also there seems to be some collision margin, but I checked sphere and collider, there is almost notnihg.

Notes: Initial ball velocity is given by animation (first 10 frames). To make it work for riggid body you have to ad two keyframes to two animate checkbox frame zero on/ frame 10 off (Physics Properties > Riggid Body > Settings > Animated)

Thank you very much for your input. It brought me a lot closer. I also remodelled the funnel and it worked much better.

Consider to accept the answer @JohnEHals How this site works: https://blender.stackexchange.com/tour

I believe your problem is due to the collision 'Shape' of the ball - the uneven surface is preventing it from rolling correctly and is causing additional friction.
I created a scene to mimic your setup and ran the simulation. Here is the result with the collision set to 'Mesh' :

This produces results very similar to your - the ball starts to roll around but quickly loses speed and then drops towards the centre.
Next I tried with the default of 'Convex Hull'. I was expecting this to produce the same result as for Mesh, since a UV Sphere is effectively the same shape as it's already completely convex. However, it produced very erratic movement (presumably the generation of the convex hull for collision produces a more irregular surface than 'Mesh') :

Next I tried with collision set to Sphere. This should produce much more accurate results since collision is considered a perfect sphere rather than that approximated by the mesh :

This produced much more effective rolling.
In short, any inaccuracies in the interaction between the surfaces will produce friction and affect the simulation. Choose the collision shape most appropriate to the mesh for more accurate simulations.


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Object is transparent against background
This scene was nice to work with for a while, but somehow I managed to push a button that makes the objects transparent against the background. How can I get this back to normal?

Is there some reason you're not connecting the image through the background node?

Connect the image texture to the background node and the background node to the World output, but that is not the issue. Please [edit] your question and add an image of the nodes for the material of the plane. And also show the nodes used in the compositor. It looks to me that you are adding render layers on the background instead of using alpha over.

Maybe related: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/49049/my-objects-are-semi-transparent-and-not-one-behind-the-other-in-the-compositor/49137#49137

The background node is the one I used first. Then the image became very blue. Then I added the environment-node with the HDRI. Then the transparency became obvious. I was recommended to uncheck camera in the ray visibility section. That turned the world black but the contrast on the plane good.

Again, [edit] your question and add detailed information and images that might help others help you.

I gave up. Imported the plane to a new scene and the problem was gone. Most of the work was left to do and I had to get on with it. I thank you for your engagement.


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How to remove weird glitching effect in viewport
I've been working on a game modelling a rail. I've came to a problem with my viewport.  How do i remove this weird glitching effect?

Maybe you have overlapping geom or something around that. This is not a viewport issue.

I have only one cube there. I don't know what would be overlapping, how do i fix it?

Could you upload your file using https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ ? So that we can try to understand what is happening?

Ok for press n go to view and set the min clip distance to .1 or larger


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Weird see through geometry in orthographic view
I'm importing an object into blender and for some reason it looks fine when in perspective view but as soon as I switch to orthographic view some of the faces disappear/are rendered weird. I thought it might be a normal issue but recalculating them didn't yield anything.
Here is the object in perspective and here is the object in orhto

yes, weird, could you please share the file? https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/

@moonboots it is shared here:

On the 3D View N panel > View > View > decrease the Clipping End, it was a bit too high (don't know why it has this effect though).

That worked! Thanks!


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Is it possible to render an object as it appears in the Material Preview tab, while keeping the rest of the scene shaded?
I have this scene where I want the text to be noticeably metallic (this is the Rendered View):

The problem is, since the scene is so dark, it makes it very hard to see the text.
Ideally, I would want to be able to render the scene with the text appearing how it does in the Material Preview tab, while the rest of the scene looks as it does in the Rendered View.

Is this possible?
P.S. I am using Eevee.

why don't you use compositing? so in one view layer you render the text with more lights (like an HDRI) and in the other the rest with less light.

Probably this can help too https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/200071/2214

If you want to use the exact same HDRI as in Material preview you can find it in Windows C > Program Files > Blender Foundation > Blender 3 > 3 > Datafiles > Studiolights > World.
Now choose this setup for your World material: Mix 2 Backgound nodes into a Shader > Mix Shader. Plug a Texture > Environment Texture (with your HDRI loaded) into one of the 2 Backgound. Plug an Input > Light Path into the factor of this Mix Shader, use its Glossy Depth output so that the HDRI will only be seen as reflection:

This is a really good answer. I'm guessing that it would affect all the materials with glossiness tho.

Yes but in his scene it will mainly affect the letters. Another solution would be to render the letters as a separate layer, then mix in the VSE.

Yeah, since the letters are the only glossy ones, I guess. i was thinking about a fake reflection solution but this one is better, I guess.

Thank you so much! I'll try this later and see how it goes :)

Create 2 viewlayer and use compositing like this:

to keep things simple i often name the collections as the viewlayers so it's easy to seperate them:

for simplicity i used film > transparent and alpha over. But of course you can use whatever combining node you want there.

Thank you!! Hopefully this works


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vertices - edges - faces icon left upper corner in edit mode is gone! Blender 2,93.4
hope one can help me here. The 3 vertices, edges and faces icons on the left upper corner disappeared. I m working on a Mac Laptop so I do not know how to use 1,2,3 without changing the perspective.
New to this, maybe someone knows how to bring the icons back.
Many thanks!

Are the icons along the bottom? A new feature made it so that the UI element containing those buttons (and more) can be flipped to the bottom of the screen if the user prefers.

It is because you are editing a curve, not a mesh.
A curve is made of points, not vertices / edges / faces, that's why you can't see the buttons in this case.

pfff haha...yes thanks! Took me 1h to figure this out.

please accept the answer then :)


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Bottle label with multiple texture layers
I'm creating a paper label on a gin bottle with multiple texture layers and need some advice on how to go about it. The layers are:

Paper stock with procedural bump texture using noise.
Black ink, can be combined with the above as the reflectivity is the same.
Copper foil, much more metallic and reflective so can't run through the same Principled BSDF.
High build varnish. Very glossy and completely transparent. A little bit of thickness.

I've had some success on the totally flat stopper label. I was able to do the ink/paper as a PNG texture then import SVG elements and stack them on top of one another as curves with different textures for the foil and high build varnish:

Very happy with that. Now I'm trying to get it to work on the front label. It's a rectangular label wrapping around three faces of the bottle. I've tried shrink wrapping but it doesn't seem to work on 2D curves. They crash into the corners and the linework seems to break up. I could bring them in as separate elements for this one but some of the other bottles have art wrapping around the corners. Furthermore, manually positioning each layer for each label on each bottle seems very inefficient.
Here's a failure:

Converting curves to meshes results in meshes full of skinny triangles very close together. I seem to recall I'll need a nice quad grid to shrink wrap nicely. I tried solidify then re-mesh modifiers but it always comes out with blocky edges.
Next I tried stacking PNG textures and setting the alpha of the copper foil to the alpha from the PNG. Each of the black ink/paper and foil textures looks great by itself but when I merge them with a Mix Shader, it seems to cross fade between them rather than stacking them like layers in Photoshop. It also feels like it's struggling to do it. I'm also not sure how I'd make the high build varnish would work using this approach:

Yes, the UV mapping is misaligned. This was a quick test.
Ultimately I like the idea of sticking with curves like the stopper label. Most of the label artwork is vector (Illustrator) and if I can get it working I'll have quite a few versions to import.
Question in short: do I keep trying to mix raster textures using multiple shaders or go back and try to figure out how to wrap curves around a 3D surface? Or is there some way I could apply curves like a UV texture? Or some other method that would be much more appropriate?
All of the other examples I've found so far aren't quite the solution.

On the top of the bottle, that label should be converted into an actual texture (i.e. creating roughness maps, alpha maps, and normal maps.) Perhaps this will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GItohAbyzCM

Thanks for that, I might try it in the future on another project. Too bad that's a Windows-only tool. I'm happy with the existing procedural approach for the label's paper texture. It's real enough and let's me zoom in as much as I like.

Shoot. Sorry! I didn't know you had a mac!


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Distant objects in rendering are not rendering correctly
I'm making an animation in blender and I have a seen where a stick figure is shown high up in the air and I have placed a large mesh to show distant mountains so you wouldn't see the bottom of the sky box. When I rendered the animation the mountains have lost all of its detail and now a solid wavy shape.

is your "large mesh to show distant mountains" a 4-vertex plane with a image of mountains, or actually a complex mesh with "peaks and valleys"?  If the latter, then perhaps you need to adjust or add lighting to graze along the surface area.

it is a 4-vertex plane that is subdivided and then has a bumpy geometry group attached.

Some modifiers like subdivision have a different setting for render and viewport. Make sure all the settings are synced and that you didn't accidentally disable the modifier for the render.   Lastly, are you using the scene level 'simplify' option? That could also affect some modifiers like subdiv.

I applied the simple subdivide modifer and it got the mountains to render properly in the render. I solved my problem but possibly exposes a bug in blender. (How I set modifiers: Subdivide (simple) -> Bumpy Surface (geometry nodes) -> Subdivide (smooth) -> Depth Corrected Outlines (geometry nodes)

I'm pretty sure this is not a bug, but to be sure I would need to understand how your "bumpy surface (geometry nodes)" and "depth corrected outlines (geometry nodes)" works. Still you did not really answered if you had different resolutions for "Viewport" and Render. Because if so, it renders with the Render resolution, but when you apply the modifier it applies the Viewport resolution, so after applying it is of course the same for rendering, too. That's not a bug, that's a problem of the settings and probably a misunderstanding of how the modifier works.

I applied the simple subdision modifier and the works in the render but I'm pretty sure my issue is a bug.

I'm pretty sure it is not, it is an incorrect Render setting in the Subdivision Surface modifier.


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Inverse kinematics not working as expected with a chain length greater than two with pole target
I'm trying to make animations featuring a stick figure, I got the idea to have its limbs in the rubber hose style like those seen in old cartoons where the limbs of characters bend in unnatural ways. So I replaced one of the two segmented arms with a singular segment with many subdivisions (Both for the mesh and skeleton.) And I found the arm wouldn't bend if I gave it a pole target. But I want it's "elbow" to point towards the target but instead the hole arm points towards and past the hand bone but if I take off the pole it bends the way i expect it too but does not have the direction for its "elbow" to point.
With pole target:

Without pole target:

Hello, I'm not sure to understand, for such an arm, maybe use only 2 bones but segment them (in the Bone panel > Bendy Bones > Segment)

@moonboots Thanks it works, you could post it as the answer

For such an arm, use only 2 bones but segment them (in Edit mode, go into the Bone panel > Bendy Bones > Segment):


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How do I get geometry instances to inherit vertex groups from found vertex groups
I have a model in blender that has the following geometry modifier heirarchy:
Armature -> GeometryNodes (AssembleStickFrame)
How it works is that I have a wireframe mesh (no faces). The armature deforms the mesh the way I want. And I made a custome geometryNode the replaces the wireframe with spheres at each vertex and cylinders on each edge. It works fine until I move the geometryNode above the armature which I need to do to properly import the model with its wire thickness into godot but the armature no longer deformes because the cylinders and spheres aren't assigned to any vertex group. I have no idea how to get vertex groups from vertexes in geometry nodes nor do I know how to assign geometry to vertex groups in geometry nodes. So I'm stuck with no other alternative.

Maybe this will work? https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/274922/60486

And since you're exporting this, you could use a python solution to change an attribute into a vertex group before export.

I might just have to export the mesh without the geometry nodes and figure out how to code it into godot.


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Where is the Overlay dropdown in Blender 2.9? it appears to be gone from the viewport
Does anyone know where the Overlays drop down is in the newer blender updates? or if I somehow deleted it, and how to recover it?
both my Blender 2.83 and Blender 2.9 don't seem to have the drop down I see in a tutorial I am trying to follow. Google has been no help

you need to click on the down arrow on the right of the Overlay icon (double sphere, blue when enabled), doesn't it work for you?

Thank you very much I saw that there was no normal editing when I first clicked that so thought it was a different menu until I realized I was not in editing mode hurdur lol.
Thank you very much again.

The text "Overlays" has been removed but the button is still there. There is just a small down pointing arrow.

Thank you very much I saw that there was no normal editing when I first clicked that so thought it was a different menu until I realized I was not in editing mode hurdur lol.
Thank you very much again.

feels like the 2.8 -> 2.9 changes mostly served just to make things hard to find again


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Right click won't bring up the Object Context Menu
I just started using blender and am doing the new version of the famous donut tutorial. One problem, when I right click the donut in object mode, the object context menu doesn't appear, anyone know what's up?

In Preferences>Keymap you have to select simple "Blender" preset and Left Click for "Select With".

I had the same issue. I had to go on my mac settings for the mouse under preferences and activate: Secondary click -> click on the right side.

If you are using the right click select, then you can hit the w key, for the object context menu. Or if you'd like to use Left Click select, you can click on edit, and then click on Preferences. Then under Keymap, change the, Select with mouse button, to Left. Then save the user preferences.

Just watch out if you're in Edit Mode or not (Tab). If you are in the Edit Mode, just go back to the view object and now select your object and right click outside the object.

Hit Tab to Edit Mode and you can right click the armature context menu

Click on the Object then hit Right Click


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Howcan I apply the material changes I did for a cube?
The material on the right is golden but the cube is not.

I pressed on TAB to change to edit mode then I clicked on the right in the material on select and then on assign but then when changing back to object mode I see that no changes have been made. The cube still gray and not golden like in the preview.

The material only takes effect in rendered mode. Try rendering your cube to see the material

change view mode from solid to material to see shaders in viewport


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How can I make a hollow cylinder faces to be smooth but not rounded just smooth?

When I click on the left menu on Faces > Smooth it's making smooth but kind of rounded:

I want to keep it sharp as it was in the first screenshot but smooth.

Your question is not optimally worded. I guess your want to top thickness surface to have a sharp transition to the shell surface. For that you want to split the edge in top edges and side edge. You could achieve this, by adding an edge split modifier.

It seems that you want the same principles as here https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/6425/keep-sharp-edges-when-using-subdivision-surface. You don't use Subsurf but still applies

Smooth shading works by averaging the angle between two faces/edes/vertecies. This allows for smooth looks while keeping geometry low.
There are multiple ways to retain sharpness in a model:

Adding an edge split modifier. This will add additional geometry to mark edges sharp that are above a certain angle
Clicking on the "Vertex" tab on the right hand menu (it looks like a little updside-down triangle) You'll find an option to hit "Auto Smooth". This doesn't add any additional geometry and is my recommended way of going about this.
If you don't want to go with either of the two previous options then you can add a bevel modifier set to 0 width. This doesn't make a lot of sense and performs the same function as the edge split modifier.
You can mark individual geometry as "Sharp" by hitting CTRL + E and selecting "Mark Sharp"

I think what you mean is to make the top sharp, so to do that you need to create an edge loop (Ctrl R) Then orient the purple line so that it is horizontal. Left click, then move the line towards the top, it should smooth it out. If not you can reply

This would work a subsurf modifier screwing up the geometry, smooth shading will still look the same.


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How can I fill the circle when pressing on F in blender 2.83?
The tutorial is using blender 2.82
I added a circle and when I change it to edit mode and press on the F key instead filling the circle it's giving me this error :
This is the circle in object mode :

Then changing to edit mode and pressing F :

Following a tutorial when he press on F the result is :

I didn't see in the tutorial that he selected any points or how to do it.

pressing F makes a face in a mesh but your circle is a curve, so you need to convert it to a mesh first

I think you added a Bezier circle instead of a mesh circle.

Just go back to the beginning of the video "tutorial" and see what kind of object was created. Mesh and Curves are two different kind of objects

In my case, I converted the mesh into a curve and in the curve tap(opposite to what people suggested), there's a Shape options where you can choose the Fill Mode, select "both" and then update the material in the material tap and it should fill.


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Why the new text I added rotation seems not the same as the first text color and direction when typing?

Text 001 the color values are the same as the first Text but the colors are not the same and the Text 001 when I'm typing something it's adding the letters up direction instead to the right. The rotation is 0,0,0 like the first text I didn't change anything just did : Add > Text

What I did is manual changed in the transform the new text rotation values to the first text rotation values. Strange because at the first both rotation was 0,0,0 only when I selected the transform and rotation I saw the real rotation values. I also wonder why it's no possible to automatic get the first text rotations values to the new text rotation values. I don't want to duplicate because the first text is with other font but it could be nice to be able to copy the transform position,rotation,scale to the new text. Or to duplicate the text but not the font.

You can copy transforms: use "align selected to active" from the "object/transform" menu. But what is your question, in fact?

@lemon The question is why when add a new text and then when typing text it didn't add the letters from left to right and add them to top up ? I thought the default is from left to right but the text was written up direction. I mean if I didn't change anything in the transform rotation why the text is written up and not to the right ?

This would not be from bottom to top. What is the text orientation when you just add it?


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How can I animate a scaling of the character mouth to simulate talking?
I think scaling on the Y will be good simulation for talking but I'm not sure if only the Y and if only scaling or maybe also rotating and position ? The idea is to create some talking animation so I can use it later with unity3d.

do you mean you want to create a shape key and scale the mesh or do you have a bone for the mouth?

@moonboots The mesh. The object is not my own. I bought it from the assets store of unity : There are some details there : https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/characters/humanoids/sci-fi/kid-from-space-66611

So if you don't want to use bones you need to use shapekeys, check some tutorials if you don't already know


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How can I set the options in blender in the bottom?
I'm trying to do this tutorial : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZjgSKbx-Y&feature=youtu.be
At the second 0:18 he changed so the object have holes around and also he got a menu on the bottom but I don't have it.

And this is my blender. Not sure how to make this holes and not sure how to get the menu he got on the bottom. Now it's setting to Timeline in my blender but I'm not sure to what to change it to :

The "holes" are dots marking the center of faces, meaning he is in face select mode (Shortcut key - 3 ). You can also get there by pressing the farthest right of the three quare buttons in the top left between where it says "edit mode", and "view". Squares (from left to right) are Vertex select, Edge Select, and Face select.

In blender 2.8 I think it also means that its in xray transparency mode, because in solid mode the dots don't appear

@Nascent Space. I think you may be correct. It's weird, in my mind, they're always there when I picture face select mode - I had to go check to see that they're not. I guess I spend more time in X-ray than I thought.


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How can I make the animation to be loop without starting from the first frame but from the last frame?
When the animation start the point light is at the bottom in the middle on frame 1 :

Then when it's getting to frame 120 the point light is on the left side but when it's starting over from frame 1 it's like jumping backward to frame 1 and start from there and I want it to continue nonstop and not to move backward but to continue from frame 120. Like endless animation loop.

I'm quite confused from your Q. Do you want to avoid jump of object in animation loop or do you want to start from another loop from last frame 120 so second loop will ends on frame 240?

Loop - keyframe location
Location of object has to be the same on the first and last frame.
Blender doesn't play backwards, so you have to animate this backward motion.
For this simple anim ad first keyframe on start location, second on end location, third keyframe you can duplicate Shift+D from first one in timeline and just move forward in time.

Loop - Follow Path Constraint
In Properties Editor go to Constraints and add Follow Path to your Light object. Than you can animate Offset parametr - set timeline on frame 1 ad keyframe Offset with zero (hit I when cursor hovering above Offset field). Go to end frame 120 and slide Offset value until light is at start location and hit I again.

Note:
To be precise - offset end-keyframe (light location that match with start light location) should be on +1 frame of animation end-frame.
It means that light will be on next frame on location of first-frame.

Found it: https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/a/391/31447

@brockmann Thanks :) Since I'm for a "historical" reason stacked with Safari  I will have to test it, I saw some issues in comments :)

@vklidu I downloaded your test file and tried to understand how to do it in my project. for some reason when I'm moving the point light in time line it's not changing the position in the transform of the point light I don't see any of the position x,y,z values change like in your example.  and I also see that you two keys for each frame 1,60,120 what are this keys ? Why two ? I tried to add first key frame at frame 1 offset 0 then second key at frame 60 and offset 120 the third key on frame 120 offset 0 but when playing it's making some rounds and then go the other way.  not like in your examp

@vklidu I tried to follow this tutorial so I guess this where I did the mix between the two animation modes yours and the one in the tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLqD2_cVdQM&t=9s

I think tut in link is quite straight forward, anyway I added key points into answer.

Your question is not clear, do you want the object to come back to the center or do you want it to continue further to the left after frame 120 ?
For the first case, see Vklidu's answer.
If you want the object to continue further and indefinitely to the left, go in the Dopesheet press ShiftE > Linear Extrapolation (or Channel menu > Extrapolation mode > Linear Extrapolation)

oh ok perfect  ;)


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Why selecting nodes in shading mode is not working?
I clicked on B then with the mouse left button hold down dragging it top cover the nodes. I want to select the 4 nodes but when I'm leaving the mouse left button the selection is gone.

I want to duplicate this 4 nodes so they will keep be connected only between them self. Like this :

You don't need B, just hold down left mouse button. The nodes that have been selected will have an orange outline. Click and drag the top bar of one of the selected nodes to move the whole group. You can duplicate selected nodes or node groups with shift+D.

@ChristopherBennett You do have to press 'B' if you have changed the active tool in the node editor from 'Select Box' to something else, otherwise left click and drag will activate the current tool.


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How can I extract the rendering as images on the hard disk instead a video file?
Now I'm using ffmpeg in the Output properties and it's making one video file format.
How can I make that it will also create 120 images of all the frames on the hard disk type png ?
When I'm doing CTRL + F12 it's rendering one video file on the hard disk but I want also that it will create 120 images of the frames.

change the file format to whatever image format you wanna use. Then when you're done with that you can convert the images into a video using the built in video editor

In the compositor you can add a file output node, that way on top of rendering the video, you blender will save each frame as a single image file in the format you want.


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How can I create two eyes holes?
I want to take for example a cylinder or other object and cut in it two holes but with eyes shape and make the object then flat. The idea is later to take the flat object with the two eye holes and use it with a camera from behind the eyes so in the end it will look like first person eyes.
Later I will want to animate the eyes and to control the eyes scaling. But first how can I make first person view eyes holes ? Can't find tutorials.
Here is a image example of first person eye. This is example of the idea of what I want to create. But two eyes and make it to be looks like more realistic eyes.
There are many tutorials how to make eyes in blender but not first person view.

Maybe a technique similar to this could help https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/65877/how-do-you-make-a-torus-telescope-open

You can always use a cutout shape or other abstract, but since

There are many tutorials how to make eyes in blender

let's take advantage of that. I would simply take a head model which is closed at the bottom, so no light will enter from anywhere but the eyes. The blinking eyelids can be rigged in a standard fashion.

The camera may be place behind the object to get less distorsion. Therefore the near clipping distance has to be adjusted.

make it to be looks like more realistic eyes

Then let's give it a fleshlike material with subsurface scattering. To create a more conving fadeout, you can remove the subsurface scattering of the outer edge loop inside the eye socket by painting it in dark vertex colors and using them to control the mix of the SSS BSDF.

I have highly exaggerated the effect, you can make the material much darker or control the edge with the vertex colors making the inside darker than the ledge of the eyelid.

low samples, defocus and denoising should be improved. Very creepy though.


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MPFB2 Rig Helpers Transform Differently for Left and Right Side of Armature
I try to translate an animated armature and found in Graph Editor that right side rig helpers translate correctly but left side's do inversely.
What I do is, everything with default properties:

In Blender (4.1) add a MPFB2 (v2.0-a4) human "from scratch".
Add a standard rig "Default (no toes)".
Then add rig helpers.
In Pose Mode select bones "root", and the rig helpers for knees and feet.
Insert keyframe for location at frame 1. Then go to frame 2 and move the selected bones a bit forward in walking direction and insert keyframe.

Now if I look into Graph Editor I see that
right foot and knee: move in negative direction (that's correct), but
left foot and knee: move in positive direction.
When trying to translate the whole animation in Graph Editor by selecting all location graphs and moving up and down, of course, the animation is not translated, but the feets and knees move in opposite directions (forward and backward, not both forward or both backward).
What's wrong? Is it a problem with the armature, or do I expect this to work in another way than it's intended?

"MPFB2" appears to be an external application and nothing to do with Blender so you'll have to ask the addon author(s) Also what do you mean by 'standard rig "Default (no toes)"' and adding 'rig helpers'? Images and sharing your Blend file may help us see what you mean!

Thanks. MPFB2 is MakeHuman's Blender plugin. Meanwhile I found the problem. The IK bones in blender had "Inherit Rotation" and "Local Location" set.


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"No compatible GPU's found for cycles" Linux
I'm new to blender (started in 4.1) and when 4.2 releases, I noticed an HUGE perfomance drop in rendered and material preview view. I saw on reddit that I just had to go to Preferencies, System, Cycle Render Devices and change "none" to CUDA/Optix, but when I try to select them, this message show up:
Can Anyone help please (I'm on linux)
Thanks :)

So, Blender 4.1 was okay, no error message? But now in Blender 4.2 you get this error message?

Uh no I don't remember this happening in 4.1

What are your computer specs, do you have a CUDA compatible GPU? CUDA settings only affect rendering with Cycles if you experience slowdowns in material preview, this may well be caused by the new EEVEE next real time ray tracing, and has nothing to do with CUDA.

What GPU do you have? where did you get Blender (steam, official site, snap, flatpak)

Are you running Wayland or X11? I've found X11 to still be working better. Also, have you got the official Nvidia drivers installed?

Try closing Blender and running the following command on your terminal:
sudo rmmod nvidia_uvm && sudo modprobe nvidia_uvm
your Graphics card should now be selectable under CUDA/Optix. That did the trick for me.


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How to make a cone with an ellipsoidal side
Does anyone know how to make a cone (or cylinder) where one face is spherical and the other is elliptical? The aim is to kind of "enlarge" the spherical projection over 1 axis.
Thanks,
E

Why not just scale one face on X or Y?

In this cause I don't have a face on the edge, it is empty. Is it possible anyway?

yes just select the edge loop if there is no face then scale S on the X or Y or Z if it is lying down.

add a cylinder -> go to edit mode, select the bottom face -> press E

then S (scale) X


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Sun light not showing in render
so I am totally new to Blender and I have a little problem with the sunlight. I modeled a enclosed room and the sunlight is outside of it, Shining through openings. I sed my sunlight as desired in the viewport but when i start rendering the sunlight isn't visible. And when i close the render and go back to the viewport I see that the sun moved away from its original spot where i have installed it.
Can someone please help me?
Desired position of the sun before rendering:

Rendered image and the sunlight isn't visible

After closing the render image the sun has moved away

Could you provide your Blender file, using https://blend-exchange.com/, substituting a plain cube to the whole building, but keeping the whole "lightning" system ?


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Rotate object particles in a fluid
Is it possible to randomly rotate object particles in a fluid (liquid)?
I'm trying to simulate the effect of a glittery snow globe via a fairly low density fluid. The problem I'm having is that all particles are staying in one orientation with no natural rotation.

This tutorial is what I was using as a basis for my particle setup: https://youtu.be/ZNb8I4v53-A?t=52
I note though that the fluid particles in the example are so small, numerous and spherical that rotation doesn't appear to matter. As such, the tutorial doesn't mention it.
For my needs, I want each particle to slowly rotate in random directions. I have rotation enabled on my turbulence effector (only on for a few frames to kick things off). I also tried adding a very strong turbulence effector that only effected rotation, but that seemed to have no effect at all.
Starting to wonder if I'm using the wrong kind of particle physics or if I should just try it with object nodes instead.

Your last sentence is correct: you are using the wrong kind of particle physics. The one you use is simulating the fluid and uses particles for its behaviour - for simulating the fluid itself it is irrelevant what their rotation is, only the interaction between them to form the liquid is simulated. And if you think about it - you don't want to simulate fluid, but particles moving inside a fluid. The problem with the fluid simulation is, you can influence it's behaviour with effectors (which particles in fluid would be theoretically), but the effectors will not be influenced by the fluid.

Thanks for confirming that @GordonBrinkmann. I'll looking into the other particle simulation types, or maybe object nodes. Any suggestions about which route would be most suited?
Seems like I can't accept your comment as a solution, or even up-vote it. Much appreciated though!
Yes, sorry for not providing a .blend file. I'm used to Stack Overflow where people yell at you if you DO provide a file.


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Scaling a specific face or face group in geometry nodes
Im trying to make a circular wood flooring but i just cant figure out a way to only scale a part of the mesh

Set Position is able to read and modify the specific face that i want but i has no scaling option.

Can you give an idea of the result you're aiming for? Do you want wedge-shaped tiles? Best-fit rectangular tiles?

wedge-shaped. i want to scale either the inner or outer area

Maybe not a direct answer to your question, but rather than go to the trouble of scaling the inside of a tile to a calculated different degree than the outside, you might just convert a circle to a mesh, with a line-profile, which creates wedge-shaped faces naturally.
Then you can split the edges. Once split, you can offset the vertices towards their face-centers, thus:

The distribution of tiles on rings is similar to this method. Concentric rings are instanced:

.. and  given a curve-line profile to create radially divided rings...

.. whose faces are split before being inset, as shown in the cluster in the top illustration, with this sort of result, after extrusion:

This solution doesn't allow me to instance a mesh, with uv, textures, etc. i have been able to kind of achieve what i want by setting the faces to smooth and then making the selection on "Scale elements" "shade_smooth". Very limiting but it gets the job done i guess. I cant seam to find a way to add a attribute to a face

Hi @Fall! at first sight, these are not instances, if you want them to fit.. the shape has to change according to ring-radius. How much irregularity would you be happy with? Is there more than one shape of tile?

@Robin Betts
I realised that scaling a face or multiple faces would not work for a more complex geometry since the rest of the faces would not scale accordingly to have that wedge shaped that i wanted. I decided to pretty much do a array and a curve modifier in geometry nodes.
The curve node is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYXeqwqauzE&t=1s&ab_channel=BlenderBash
I think the node is really bloated for what i need it to do but i don't have the expertise to remove the unnecessary parts without braking the whole thing.
The ideal solution would be to transform each of the objects in the collection and then distribute them around a curve so you dont have to realize them but i can not get it to work in reverse.


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Create multiple walls each made out of random boards
I can randomize the wall from a collection made out of different boards but then that wall is instanced on all points. I want each instance to be randomly generated again.

either provide your blend file or tell us exactly what you want to randomize? the material? the position/rotation? for me it looks like that you just randomize the color of each plane....

The color is just to display that those are different objects. The wall is made by instancing boards from a collection on a line. I want to then place multiple copies of that wall on a circle and have them each be made out of a different combination of boards. I can randomize how the wall is made with a random value in the instance index. Is there a way to make it so that each wall has a different seed ?

Do you explicitly need different objects, or would it be enough to have different materials?

You can solve this by inverting the sequence of instantiation, so that you first create all your points. After doing this, you create all instances of boards at once.


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How to not select vertices on other side of 3d model
I'm new to blender and doing the donut tutorial. When I try to select vertices to move on one side of an object, sometimes it grabs the vertices on only the face that is visible, sometimes it grabs vertices from other faces as well. After testing this and trying many solutions, I've noticed that it seems to be dependent on whether my selection extends beyond the boundary of the visible mesh.
For example, when my selection box is between vertices on the visible face it functions as desired:

however, when my selection box extends beyond the vertices on the side of the mesh i intend to select on, vertices from other faces are also selected and moved:

I added a lot of pictures because I'm not certain I'd be able to properly explain without them. Also, in case it's important, besides the camera and light the only objects are the donut and the icing (which is what i'm trying to edit). The 'icing' is just the top half of the donut, duplicated and separated into another object, which was shrink-wrapped and snapped to the surface of the donut.
My question is: is there a way to be able to move only the vertices on the face I'm looking at without having to be so cautious about how I select vertices?
I've tried enabling and disabling proportional editing and snap, removing and adding modifiers, having selection on tweak or selection box, closing and re-opening the program, toggling x-ray on and off, adjusting transformation orientation... none of them worked.

This is just how selections work in Blender. When you enter an object's edit mode, only the object itself can obstruct its other parts to be selected. I don't know of any options to prevent that but you can select both the doughnut and the icing before going to edit mode and the doughnut will block the other vertices to be selected and then you just unselect the parts of the doughnut with SHIFT+L.

If you have something like this:

it is pretty clear that you don't see all vertices which exist.
But you can select "unseen" vertices and i think this is what makes it difficult for you:

So I selected here 8 vertices, but when selecting them i only saw 4 selected.
You can improve the visibility by just clicking here: on Cage

Note: One more remark: with x-ray toggled off Blender only selects the vertices which are nearest to the viewer and directly visible. With x-ray toggled on, Blender selects all vertices until infinity in view direction in the range of your selection:

If you only want to select parts of your mesh, e.g. the icing is on top (but separated from the donut - i hope it is that way), then you could select the icing, press L H, and then change your donut as you want:

L -> select linked vertices
H -> hide vertices


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Why when I'm inserting a key frame it's adding only 1 but in the tutorial it's adding 4 ? How can I make it to insert 4 keys like in the tutorial?
My blender version is : 2.83.1
This is a screenshot from the tutorial on youtube he his doing right click on the offset and insert a keyframe. Like in frame 1 it's adding 4 keys same when he is doing in the frame 120.

This is a screenshot of my blender and it's adding only 1 keyframe on the first frame on frame 120.

You are inserting a key-frame into a single field, the Offset value of a Follow Path constraint, and therefore you see one diamond icon in the Timeline window. I think that is all you need, and you do not need to mach the tutorial video in this to get the desired result. Maybe the tutorial maker inserted keyframes in other fields as well, unseen to the viewer of the video. (If you provide a link to the tutorial i could probably determine this with a little more certainty.)

@Fjoersteller This is the link for the tutorial the keyframs part start at 2:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLqD2_cVdQM

That is really weird. I would expect there to only be one keyframe, and when i do it myself i also only get one keyframe. It's a bit of a mystery to me. However i don't think it's really a problem though. Like i said, you only need the one keyframe to do this. If you do experience any kind of problem, let me know.

@Fjoersteller I tried with one diamond the next problem is that the point light has no effect on the text like in the tutorial. Not sure if it's a bug in my blender version or something else is missing in the tutorial. I tried to add a material to the text I tried to change the light point radius size strength but nothing helped.  The point light is animating around also if one key frame at frame 1 offset 0.000 if I'm adding another key frame at frame 100 then the light is not moving around but moving only in a very small area of the track.  Not sure what is going on here.

The light moving on a small area of the track is strange. If I create the animation i have no problems so it is hard for me to to figure out what went wrong from your description alone. If you are willing to share your .blend file i'd be happy to take a look. (you can share it here https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ ) As for the the light having no effect, that is a whole other question entirely and it would be best to ask a separate new question for that. (and in that case it's also hard to determine the problem form description alone so i advise to then also share your file.)

@Fjoersteller Here is my blender file share link https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/1ZqgQG71

I wrote an answer; hope it helps. : )

So the answer is: You only need the one key frame to achieve the desired result. : )
But I looked at your file and here are some tips to help make this work:

After you insert a keyframe on the Offset value 0 of the Follow Path constraint, you might also want to insert a keyframe on the Offset value 100 at another frame in the Timeline.  Here it means 100% of the path is traveled, so The difference between the Timeline frames will determine the length of one cycle ( how long it takes for the light to go around the curve once)

Press Numpad 7 before you change the shape of the curve, otherwise you might also move its vertices in the z axis (and change their height), which could change things in an unwanted way.

Before you add the light (and also the curve actually) to the scene, press Shift + C to move the 3D Cursor to the center of the scene. Then the light will be in the will be better aligned with the curve and the "moving in a very small area" will be reduced

Alternatively you can move the light close tho the curve and check the box next to Follow Curve in the Follow Path constraint. This will allow the light move either around or inside the curve depending on the distance between the light and the curve. (If you have the box checked next to Relationship Lines in the Viewport Overlays menu, you can see a dotted line between the light and the curve indicating this distance.)

Hope that helps : )
Edit:
I also realized the answer to the actual initial question : ) Why does it sometimes look like more keyframes are added? If you extent the panel on the left in the Timeline window (by clicking the tiny ">" icon) it will show a Summary of used keyframes. If you extend this summary, more diamond icons will be shown but they are the same key frames by a different name or UI location. If the summary is extended and the panel is hidden, it can give the illusion more keyframes are added.