texts:
I have created some geometry and want to make a 3d decals like the Decal Machine Addon. Is there anyway to make without addon a 3D decal.

I have created 1 decal but its flat not a 3d.

I want to create this type of 3d decal from the decal machine addon how to achieve without addon.
3d Decal


texts: How do I save a blend in the 2.79 format in 2.8?

texts:
Files written in the 2.79 format are openable by Blender 2.8, but backwards isn't possible.

Is it possible to save a file in 2.8 in the 2.79 format so that it is openable by both versions?

I know one such workaround is simply to save in an exported format (ie. FBX or DAE) and then re-import it into the older version, but I was wondering if there was a way to keep it as the .blend file format?


texts:
how to control frame start and end value using driver and custom properties in blender 2.8
or using script

'm trying to make multiple animations render with different frame rate .all this to make spacifc frame rate fo each render ..  withe start and end frame change according to some value of my rigg ..


texts: When I go to the Node Editor to look at my object's material I can't find any nodes

texts: Whenever I open up Blender the material of the cube is already added and when I go to node editor I can't find any nodes. How can I make it so that my objects don't automatically get a material when I open Blender and I can see the nodes?


texts: how do i turn a shape for example this monkey, into a template like this. (ps im not making a monkey)


texts: Animation doesn't update when switching action strip in 2.91

texts: I'm not sure if this is a bug in newer blender versions, or some option that needs to be enabled. In the past when I would move up or down in animation layer, the rig/animation would change immediately. Now I have to either select bones or move the action strip to force it to change to the new animation. The issue affects any scenes I've been making since 2.91.


texts: Using the solidify modifier with no deformed geometry

texts:
I made a scaffolding out of planes. I'm trying to solidify it but it appears deformed. Here are my settings...

10/10

How should I approach fixing this issue?


texts: How to dynamically show/hide panel elements using python?

texts:
Say I have a property set on a scene, like so:

bpy.types.Scene.is_enabled = bpy.props.BoolProperty(default=False)

Then I've got a panel like the following:

class SomePanel(bpy.types.Panel):
    bl_idname      = "the_panel"
    bl_label       = "Panel with some controls"
    bl_space_type  = 'PROPERTIES'
    bl_region_type = 'WINDOW'
    bl_context     = "object"

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

        layout.prop(scene, "is_enabled")

Now what I would like to do is to render an operator or some other control in the panel only if the property of scene is_enabled is set to true?

How can I do that?


texts:
I am trying to bake my AO map and every time I click bake, I get the error: "No objects or images to bake".

Could someone explain why this is happening?


texts: a way to randomly cleave and break an object

texts: Just looking for some hints on how to create the effect as shown in the attached image.


texts: Which mirror should I pick when downloading Blender?

texts: I'm just getting into 3-D artwork and more specifically, Blender. I am currently just trying to download the program, and on the download page it gives me the option to download from "Mirror" links. Do these separate links carry the same files and if not, which should I use?


texts: Can't see weight paint heatmap in blender 2.8 release candidate. What should I do to toggle it?

texts:
I am trying to weight paint a terrain to adjust the amount of stones in some spots, but when I go in weight paint mode the heatmap is not showing, even if there are changes on the stones distribution when I paint.

Is there an option to toggle or another way to show it?

Thank you


texts: When in edit mode, the texture becomes pink/purple on the model (not inverted faces) why is this?

texts:
I'm working on my model and noticed lately that when I go into edit mode to tweak the vertices or assign new textures, that model's texture changes from light purple to a deep saturated pinkish/purple colour. This doesn't happen when I click on another separate model and go into edit mode, just the face.

I'm making adjustments, so I've cut the model's head in half and applied the mirror  modifier, but I don't think the modifier is causing this effect. All the textures are still in the same folder, they're all assigned properly and in object mode, the texture appears normally. This isn't a lighting issue, it's literally the model's entire head turning this bright saturated pinkish purple colour ONLY when I go into edit mode.

Also due to copyright reasons, I can't show the model, so to help show this problem, I have edited a screenshot of a completely different model as an example of what I'm experiencing.

In edit mode:

In object mode:

(all the settings and details are the same, I just took screenshots of different models and changed their saturation and edited in effects to help show what I'm seeing)

I'm not sure what is causing this, would anyone have any ideas or advice for how to fix this?


texts: why car is not falling after joining mesh using rigibody in blender?

texts: I have problem animation. Why is the car not falling like the cube is falling? After I joined all parts of the car and using rigibody the car is not falling. The car is falling but its not like cube.


texts: i need help with CGmatters facial motion capture tutorial

texts:
I have a 3d model with the face capture working for the face mesh, however I don't know how to add back the mouth (roof of mouth, floor of mouth, teeth,and tounge) to work with it.
The tutorial im following https://youtu.be/uNK8S19OSmA


texts: Is there a specific way to unwrap a character model?

texts:
Like let's say you either unwrap the whole character itself or separate the head and the rest of the body so you have two different texture to work on for better details? Or is it more of a self preference?

And another question is how do you unwrap the head and the rest of the body separately (the character is one mesh) without the uv layout overlaying with each other on the uv layout?


texts: My background image won't show up in blender 2.79

texts: as you can see there is nothing there even though I am in top view


texts:
I am currently learning to texture a model and I encountered a problem after unwrapping: the UV grid (checkerboard pattern) is only showing up on certain parts of my model and not in the others.

Do you know how to fix it, please?

Thank you very much!


texts: How to make rope animations without physics

texts: Hey guys, I have a animation from mixamo and want to combine it rope which I created but I have no clue how to do it. I made all rope animations tutorialbased physic but I think collision problem appears with hands always tried with many different settings and its really hard to simulate. Thanks for your help guys


texts: Why doesn't Shift + R work in Blender 2.81?

texts: The repeat last works on Blender 2.81 while printing command repeat last works. But it won't repeat while pressing Shift + R. Is it a bug?


texts:
I hate to compare programs, but I am looking for a specific feature in Blender that is used in Maya. When in Maya, you can go to the render menu and use the "3D paint tool" to give color and texture to your objects. You can view those in real time, while editing, without having to render every single time that you move your object. Is there anything like this in Blender? Thank you in advance!!

Ethan


texts: PNG Image Texture Is Not Transparent Using Bump and Noise

texts:
I've set up Nodes with Noise and Bump on my main cube shape, and within the same cube shape (new material) I added the same nodes but this time with I added an Image texture so the material can look the same.
I saw a tutorial with a MIX shader and diffuse BSDF, but I'm confused how to set it up, or if it's the right shader to use.


texts:
I am trying to create a plane that will stop shadows that hit it, but will not cast a shadow itself. I am using Blender Internal and have tried a combination of "Receive", "Cast", "Shadows Only" and "Cast Only" to no avail.

Keeping "Receive" on but turning "Cast" off just allows shadows to pass through it.

In this image I'm trying to get 00 Caster to cast a shadow on 01 Blocker, and to have neither of them cast a shadow on 02 Receiver (which can receive shadows from other objects). Would Light Groups be a way of doing this?

Here's a link to the blend.


texts: Color Mixing with textures and different objects?

texts:
I was wondering if there is a way to make mesh appear a different color when you put another mesh over it.

Kinda like the picture shown above on how the circles are mixing to create a new color or even make a glowing object appear dark when another object is hovering over. Thank you.


texts: material control issue on large objects (solved)

texts:
I recently prepared a car model and made its platform. I made the color between black and gray when I was making the platform, but unfortunately I cannot change that right now. actually I am changing it, but this is not quite right.

how can i solve this problem? thanks.


texts: How to Extrude Edges separately along different axis

texts: How can i Extrude a Plain like this in Blender, I just transitioned from maya to blender and I never had to deal with this problem till now, I couldn't get the extrude individually tool to work for me


texts: make blender faster while working. not concerned about render speeds

texts:
So, to start off. I'm a member of cgcookie.com. they offered some pretty good tips, like turning of VBO and stuff. Still, I just feel like for having an home built i5 and an GTX970 card and 16GB of ram, I should get better performance while working.
I'm totally happy if the answer is upgrade my machine, I get it. We all know rendering is math intensive. It just feels like I must have some setting wrong. Here are the stats on the scene in an example I set up where I wouldn't expect only 70k vertices to bring copy past to it's knees.


texts: Appended objects in a collection have different dimensions compared to the original (2.81)

texts:
Appending a collection from a different file works fine but unfortunately the dimensions of the result are different.

Original:

Appended version:


texts: Non-manifold edges even after cleaning up (doubles, internal faces, etc.)

texts:
I hope all is well. I have a fairly simply 3D design that's been bugging me for the last 3 hours or so (I've attached a hopefully informative picture to this post).

The highlighted edges in the picture are non manifold, and I can't tell why. There are no internal faces, no double vertices, no "zero-volum" spaces.

Any help is much appreciated.


texts:
I have already unwrapped my character and painted it.
Could I have just painted the polygons if I wasn't using textures?


texts: Dynamic paint effect disappears after first frame in rendered animation (waves lapping on a beach)

texts:
I'm using the beach (modified plain w/ textures applied) as the canvas and another plain with an Ocean modifier as the brush. All is visible and seems to work in Solid View when scrubbing the Time Simulator of the Ocean modifier.

And, I can successfully render a single image (Dynamic Paint shows up) at any random time.

The problem is with key framing the Time Simulator on the Ocean modifier. Although the Dynamic Paint animation seems to work in Solid View, it disappears after the first frame upon rendering the animation.

I'm stumped and have no idea how to fix this. It leaves me wondering if I've missed something fundamental.
I'd greatly appreciate some help.
Thanks.


texts: When making a curve with a "Toggle cyclic" setting and setting object with modifiers curve an array, object overlaps with himself like on the picture. You would usually solve this with Start Cap and End Cap, but I seem to get an error each time wherever I place them. The error message is:Failed to set value


texts: BGE: Turn Physics off globally while keeping sensors

texts:
I'm working on a Jump'n'Run kind of game and came to the conclusion that I'm better of doing physics myself. (I'm using python for movement/logic anyway.)

So I'd like to turn the physics engine off completely, that is no collisions, no gravity, no friction (!) and so on.

I tried disabling the physics engine switching from "Bullet" to "None" but this kind of removes my sensors which are parented to the player.

So what do I have to do to tell Bullet to leave me alone?


texts: How to make swimming pool in blender that has a dense volume of water?

texts:
I am making a project in which an object dives in a swimming pool in order to find out water depth and density. I need guidance that **

  how to make swimming pool in blender that has a dense volume of
  water?

**
Any guidance in this would be so appreciating.


texts: blender 2.8 shader editor normal map missing

texts: When I go to the shader editor and search for "normal map" there are no results. Where would I add a normal map to the editor?


texts:
I am having an issue while working on a custom node tree. When I create a variable in self on a custom node it is not available in other functions of that class, for example:
from .base_node import  Base_Node
from bpy.types import Node

class Test_Node(Node, Base_Node):
    bl_label = "Test Node"

    def init(self, context):
        self.outputs.new("tree_mesh_socket_type", "Tree")
        self.inputs.new("tree_socket_type", "Tree In")
        self.Test_Bool = False

    def On_Execute(self):
        print(self.Test_Bool)

I get the error:
line 14, in On_Execute
print(self.Test_Bool)
AttributeError: 'Test_Node' object has no attribute 'Test_Bool'

This happens where ever I define the variable, it is only accessible from the function it is created in.
Am I just misunderstanding how the node classes work or is this a bug? Should I be using a different method to store the data?
Thanks for any help.


texts: Get Blender X,Y,Z and Bounding Box with script

texts:
I need to get the x,y,z values of an object as well as the bounding box through a script. So far I have the area and volume with the following code:

bm = bmesh.new()
bm.from_object(bpy.context.object, bpy.context.scene)
area = str(sum(f.calc_area() for f in bm.faces))
volume = str(bm.calc_volume())

I tried something like this for the bounding box:

bb = str(bm.dimensions())

or

bb = bpy.data.objects["test2-2"].dimensions

but neither have worked. As far as the x,y,z values go I'm stumped. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks!


texts: Rigging. Should bones be connected to one big mesh or to many meshes?

texts: I'm making a Golem animation of the rocks swirling together to form the Golem, but should I connect the bones to one big mesh or to many meshes, one for each rock?


texts:
Trying to export uncompressed quicktime movies in 2.79 and I could really use some help.  I can seem to figure out the new export options to do this as I've always done in versions below 2.79.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

thanks


texts: How to make newtonian particles to not go through each other?

texts: Right now it just looks more like fluid, and the objects are going trough each other a little bit like this:


texts: How do I import an fbx file into unity with the texture included

texts: I have a file in blender and want to insert it into unity. I have managed to export it as an FBX and put in into Unity but when I do, the object is completely white. Please keep in mind I have zero experience with blender and have to use version 2.7 only.


texts:
How do I add a loop to this script?

 import bge
    cont = bge.logic.getCurrentController()
    owner = cont.owner
    scene = bge.logic.getCurrentScene()

    cube = scene.objects["Cube2"]
    cone = scene.objects["Cone"]
    sphere = scene.objects["Sphere"]

    prop = owner.get("prop")
    if prop == 1:
        target = cube
    if prop == 2:
        target = cone
    if prop == 3:
        target = sphere

    sensor = cont.sensors["near"]
    sensedObjects = sensor.hitObjectList

    #objectToTrack = sensedObjects[0] #from original code
    objectToTrack = target

    track = cont.actuators[0]
    track.target = objectToTrack
    cont.activate(track)

    if cont.sensors["Ray"].positive:
        prop = "prop"
        owner[prop] = 2
        print("Ray sensor positive", owner[prop])
    if cont.sensors["Ray1"].positive:
        prop = "prop"
        owner[prop] = 3
        print("Ray1 sensor positive", owner[prop])


texts: Blender: Believeable, animated hose/cable etc

texts:
I want to creat a hose/cable etc., which I can animate.
On the net I found quite a view tutorials, but I didn't found one,
which does it believeable.
With "believeable" I mean:
* The hose/cable does not stretch when one end is moved and the other is not.
* The hose/cable moves equally: If one end moves and the other does not, the hose/cable should not bend strongly in the first view centimeters/inches at the moveing end and keep "frozen in place" for the rest of the 3meters... ;)

And not to forget: I don't want to make a diploma in animation arts for this...:)
Some setups I found were way too complicate and need to be created at 0:0:0.

Is there any way to accomplish that?
Is there an tutorial (which I did'nt found yet). which fits all my needs?


texts: Struggling with particles intersecting each other

texts:
I'm sprinkling Smarties on ice-cream.
The Smarties are in a collection and I use a particle system linked to a disk that is above the ice-cream.
The Smarties nicely fall from the disk onto the ice-cream.
The ice-cream is set with Collision so the Smarties stick to it.
All good so far.
The only problem I have is that some of the Smarties intersect each other, does not look good.
There are quite a lot of threads about this problem
I want to use the solution described on this page:
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/physics/particle_instance.html#examples
They explain how to use a Particle Instance Modifier and use the Offset property:
"A relative offset in the range of particles used for instantiation. Allows you to avoid overlapping of the used particles, when the same particle system is used in multiple modifier instances."
I'm not 100% sure on which object to add the Particle Instance.
If I add it to my disk, then the disk does not appear in the Object list.
If I add it to the ice-cream, I can then select the disk as the object, but then Blender freezes for a while then crashes.
Not sure where to go from here. I cannot place the particles manually, I have many different scenes in which I need this method of sprinkling particles.


texts: how can I make a 3D object appear behind an object in a video

texts:
I'm considering making a VFX video with Blender and I want a 3D mesh in Blender to render partly behind a wall in the 2D video footage.

How can I do this?


texts: Changing image texture as height increases and using colorRamp with image texture

texts:
I am trying to make a landscape scene. I want the landscape to have 4 different images as textures. The images should change as the height increases. I was able to do this with 2 images but when I increase the images it goes wrong. Also I found examples on stack which were using color ramp. Also when I use a mapping node for my images, the result is having only one Image. I use cycles engine.

I want something like this but instead of colors i want to use images


texts:
I want to make something like a config file for my scenes. This would be a list of different driven properties that could all be changed from one central location, with the ability to load different versions of the text file. For example, if I had a driver controlling a thickness value on a freestyle line set, or a specific material node, I'd want to be able to control it from the text file.

The point of this would be to set global values, and then have lots of different driven values be affected. For example, if I had lots of Distance from Camera modifiers in Freestyle that were all some base value, then modified by the value from my text file, so that I could alter them all globally.

Is this possible?


texts: Applying modifiers after armature modifier

texts:
I want to port a model I've made that has the armature modifier before the subdivision as it makes the weight painting process much easier. I've never had an issue with this hierarchy in blender, but I've never been able to make it work when porting.

Is there potentially a way to preserve the hierarchy when porting or another way of doing this that doesnt include applying the subdivision before the armature?


texts:
I want to animate the falling sheet, i.e. swinging oneself and falling with zigzag. Is there some modifier which would let me get the more realistic effect than normal appointing the motion path manually?

Similar effect was described in this topic: How to simulate a sheet of paper in Blender Game Engine? but I want to use Cycles redner and I cannot fit appropriate settings.


texts: Transfer Python code from Blender Render to Blender Game Engine

texts:
I have a script that randomly spawns objects in blender render.
Now is there an easy way to transfer that code so that it works as a "game" in blender game engine? Or do I need to start from scratch anyway?

(In the end I want to have a "game that plays itself and has a different outcome each time it runs through" but looks like its just an animation. So I figure I need to have the script working in blender game engine.)

Here's the code in case it may help:

import bpy

# this is for the random position, imports the random() function from random library
from random import random

# this holds how many cubes were created and what the cap is
spawned_cubes = 0
max_cubes = 20

def spawn_object(scene):
    """This function will be run everytime before frame changes because it is added in the callback list"""

    global spawned_cubes
    global max_cubes

    # read the current frame number
    # if it is 10 and number of spawned cubes is less than max_cubes place a cube
    # if the frame number is not 10 just end and do nothing
    if scene.frame_current == 100 and spawned_cubes < max_cubes:
        loc = (20-40*random(), 18-0*random(), 20-20*random())
        bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(enter_editmode=False, location=loc)
        spawned_cubes += 1
    return

# add spawn_object function if there isnt one in bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_pre callback list
# the function needs to be added there only once
# everything thats in that list will be executed before any frame change
if spawn_object not in bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_pre:
    bpy.app.handlers.frame_change_pre.append(spawn_object)

Thanks,
Sputi


texts:
I tried to follow a tutorial , which showed to remove double vertices in blender by pressing F3 and typing "Remove double vertices" but I just can't find that option to remove those extra vertices.

Also i tried with the Merge By Distance option but i still see 13 vertices where it should be 9 vertices.

I want to remove double vertices between the triangle plane and the top of the cube

Please help  Sir,


texts:
So i made a cartoon squid and i want to add some suction cups, so i hit CNTRL+7 and aligned them to one of the tentacles, but now i need it to stick to the bottom, so i add a shrinkwrap modifier and it makes it flat which i need it to be thick, how can i fix this?

Here is a picture:

.blend file:

I have tried other ways but the suction cups hang over the tentacle and it wont "stick" to the tentacle..i have tried answers that are a duplicate of my question but i get the same results. I have tried latice, and shrinkwrap but to no avail.

I still have this problem.


texts:
I use wind as a force but as after baking i saw
The wind just blew  away my hair particles from the mesh
How to solve the issue


texts: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max Q Unsupported Graphics Card or Driver?

texts: I recently got a new laptop to use for motion graphics and illustration, and I wanted to run Blender on it as well. I've checked, and to my knowledge the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max Q driver has native support for OpenGL 4.6 and 4GB of Vram, so it should be able to run Blender right? I keep getting the "unsupported graphics card or driver OpenGL 3.3" error whenever I try to run it. Are there any other reasons why this might be occurring, or is my graphics card just not powerful enough? Thank you!


texts: What does the compression setting do to a PNG?

texts:
I was most surprised to find that the compression setting in the render settings, made a huge difference in the file size of a png. Is there any image quality degradation with the compression on?

What does blender do to the png if the compression is at 100%, as apposed to 0%?


texts: Why does the paintbrush keep freezing while texture painting?

texts:
I'm new to blender, and I'm working on a project where I'm making a character. I already UV mapped it and added texture, etc. But, once I tried texture painting, the paintbrush kept freezing, and the cursor wouldn't unfreeze. I'm currently in Blender Render mode, and I have a Mac. I have version 2.77. Please let me know what I'm doing wrong, and how I can fix this.
Thanks!


texts: I want to update to 2.8, and it looks like I just have to download that version. Will i have to delete my old version or will it automatically replace it?


texts: I can't see a point in which to connect my nodes (Solved, wrong node)

texts:
So I don't know if I'm being an idiot or what, but I can't seem to link my value nodes together in the same way as the tutorial.

I'm assuming I don't have the correct node?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

My Nodes:

Tutorial Nodes:


texts: I can't go into sculpt mode if i don't have the original cube

texts: I made a model, and was gonna finish it off in sculpt mode, but for some reason, even if I select the thing before going to the sculpt tab, the sculpting options don't go on the left and I can't sculpt. What do I do?


texts: Border Select. How to disable the selection of closest vertex to the frame?

texts:
Working with tool "Border Select" Blender automatically activates the closest to the Frame Vertex/Edge/Polygon.

Is it possible to disable this feature?


texts:
today I was wondering why every sculpting app has the circle widget sticking to the surface normal and Blender does not, I find it to be a quite important visual aid

Retopoflow addon's widget does it already but, as far as I know, there is no sculpting plugin with a similar widget, and don't know if this functionality can be extracted from it being working modal.
Is this sort of widget feature be even tackled by an addon (if it doesn't exist already)?

Blender it's already a really powerful tool for sculpting and 2.77 improvement are great, maybe it's just me feeling this need?


texts: How can I improve my render of a Minecraft map?

texts:
I am trying to render an image of a Minecraft map I have imported into Blender.
The quality is hideous, please help me fix it.

Render:

Map:


texts: How to stop colours of overlapping spheres from mixing?

texts:
I have plotted a series of blue and red spheres to replicate an atomic structure.
I would like the blue and red spheres to remain distinct; such that when I rotate the model, and the spheres overlap, the colours stay blue and red.
The problem I am facing is that the colours mix where the spheres overlap.
E.g) Plotting Blue and Red spheres. I want the spheres to remain blue of red, however when I move the camera, the overlapping spheres appear pink at the intersection.

How do I stop the colours from mixing into this purple-ish tone and keep my spheres red and blue?
See my source code below for more information:

import bpy
import numpy as np

sizes = { 'In' : 0.7, 'Ga' : 0.7 }
colors = { 'In' : (0.0, 0.0, 255.0, 0.3), 'Ga' : (255.0, 0.4, 0.4, 0.7), 'bond': (0.05, 0.05, 0.05 , 0.1) }

for key in colors.keys():
    bpy.data.materials.new(name=key)
    bpy.data.materials[key].diffuse_color = colors[key]
    bpy.data.materials[key].specular_intensity = 0.1

def distance(a, b):
    return np.sqrt(np.dot(a - b, a - b))

def normalize(a):
    return np.array(a) / np.sqrt(np.dot(a, a))

class Structure:
    def __init__(self, filename):
        with open(filename, 'r') as f:
            data = f.readlines()

        self.n_atoms = int(data[0].split()[0])

        self.atom_list = [line.split()[0] for line in data[2:]]

        coordinates = []

        for i, line in enumerate(data[2:]):
            coordinates.append([float(value) for value in line.split()[1:4]])

        self.coordinates = np.array(coordinates)
        self.bonds = set()

    def add_bonds(self, atom_types, cutoff):
        for i in range(self.n_atoms - 1):
            position_1 = self.coordinates[i]
            element_1 = self.atom_list[i]

            if not element_1 in atom_types:
                continue

            for j in range(i + 1, self.n_atoms):
                position_2 = self.coordinates[j]
                element_2 = self.atom_list[j]

                if not element_2 in atom_types:
                    continue

                dist = distance(position_1, position_2)
                if dist <= cutoff:
                    self.bonds.add((i, j))

    def draw_bonds(self):
        for atom_1, atom_2 in self.bonds:
            pos_1 = self.coordinates[atom_1]
            pos_2 = self.coordinates[atom_2]

            difference = pos_2 - pos_1
            center = (pos_2 + pos_1) / 2.0
            magnitude = distance(pos_1, pos_2)

            bond_direction = normalize(difference)
            vertical = np.array((0.0, 0.0, 1.0))
            rotation_axis = np.cross(bond_direction, vertical)
            angle = -np.arccos(np.dot(bond_direction, vertical))

            bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cylinder_add(radius=0.1,
                                                depth=magnitude,
                                                location=center)
            bpy.context.active_object.data.materials.append(bpy.data.materials['bond'])
            bpy.ops.object.shade_smooth()
            bpy.ops.transform.rotate(value=angle, axis=rotation_axis)

    def draw_atoms(self):
        for element, position in zip(self.atom_list, self.coordinates):
            bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_uv_sphere_add(radius=sizes[element], location=position)
            bpy.context.active_object.data.materials.append(bpy.data.materials[element])
            bpy.ops.object.shade_smooth()

    def draw_structure(self):
        self.draw_atoms()
#        self.draw_bonds()

InGaN = Structure(r'\8x8x5-xIn=0.5.xyz')
InGaN.draw_structure()


texts: I turned off Reflective Caustics and Refractive Caustics but my image is still full of fireflies how can i fully remove them?


texts:
When I add a displacement node, regardless of whether the input is noise / image, every time I subdivide the surface to get more geometry (whether through direct subdivide or the subdivide surface modifier), unwanted spikes appear.
Here is the sphere without subdividing and an example noise displacement setup.

Here is the same sphere and node setup but with a subdivide surface modifier.


texts:
I'm using Blender Cycles to bake the rendering result into the texture. Yet, I've observed that many parts of the texture is over-saturated, but I could only save the resulting texture image into a png file. Note that my texture image is a 32 bit float, and my rendering setting is set for an EXR output. Yet, I still cannot save the resulting texture as an EXR file instead of PNG.

Thank you!


texts: Objects in front and back view look reversed?

texts:
Am reposting this because I wasn't clear in my previous post.

Check the image to understand my headache.


texts:
Is there any way to change an object that is moving forward change its rotation and continue to move in the direction it is facing in, as if it was moved according to local coordinates? like a vehicle turning.
basically, i want the results of a follow path constraint with follow curve enabled but without the path. there should be a rotation value that can be changed in real time. is there any way to achieve this? maybe with animation nodes?


texts: How to select and separate same vertices as current selection on copied, very similar geometry

texts:
My main goal is to separate multiple geometries the same way by vertice selection. All the objects differ only a little bit in their vertice position, because they only are deformed by already applied shape keys originating from the same origin object (amount and distribution of vertices are the same).
My current strategy (corresponding to the bpy script below): Starting with a selection of vertices on the initial geometry, I would like to additionally import multiple very similar ones. By saving the vertice selection, the separation should be applied one object after another. (edited)

Please see my code below. Since it did not work to directly compare vertice objects, that initially have been stored to a list (previous version), I now try to compare list indexes.

Unfortunately, my example code only separates one object in the two geometrical parts:

import bpy
import os, glob

# script to separate same edit mode selection on multiple imported .fbx files in directory

class Import(object):
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    @staticmethod
    def import_fbxfiles_from_dir(path = "C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\test_parts\\"):
        os.chdir(path)
        for fbx in [f for f in os.listdir(path) if f.endswith(".fbx")]:
            print ("imported file: " + fbx)
            bpy.ops.import_scene.fbx(filepath=fbx, filter_glob=".fbx;", axis_forward="-Z", axis_up="Y")

class Separate_test(object):
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    def separate_initially_selected_verts(self):
        obj = bpy.context.scene.objects.active  # active object
        mesh = obj.data
        self.selected_vert_list_IDs = [key for key,v in enumerate(mesh.vertices) if v.select]
        print("selected verts:", self.selected_vert_list_IDs)

        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')  # exit edit mode

        obNr = 0
        for ob in bpy.context.scene.objects:
            if ob.type == 'MESH':
                print("-- Object:", obNr, "/", len(bpy.context.scene.objects))
                bpy.context.scene.objects.active = ob

                # set to edit mode
                bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='EDIT')

                # select verts from list
                count_select = 1
                for key_ob,v in enumerate(bpy.context.scene.objects.active.data.vertices):
                    if key_ob in self.selected_vert_list_IDs:
                        count_select += 1
                        # print("vertices separated in obj: {0} of {1}".format(count_select, len(self.selected_vert_list_IDs)))
                        v.select = True

                bpy.ops.mesh.separate(type='SELECTED')
                bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='OBJECT')  # exit edit mode
            obNr += 1

if __name__ == "__main__":
    Import.import_fbxfiles_from_dir()
    separate_obj = Separate_test()

    separate_obj.separate_initially_selected_verts()
    input("press return to quit.")


texts: I'm trying to set my lamp as camera, but every time I press Ctrl +0 it says: Modifier cannot be added to the object area.


texts:
I am trying to render a scene but as you can see in the image, the lower part of the shield (the line between red and white) is blurry. I've tried changing dof and tweaking materials but the problem still persists. What should I do?
Blend file


texts: Can elements of a collection be moved up or down?

texts: Let’s say I want the NM.Top.Soil layer to be above Far.Mountain. I don’t see the way


texts: combining photogrammetry and a model in blender

texts: Where to start, i've run out of googling for the answers. I Scanned a dolls house, with the intention of recreating it perfectly. However, the scan has a few holes in the mesh, and has about 3 million points. So, i decided to build the house from scratch using the photogrammetry model as my template. The original scan gives me the image textures, all placed perfectly in blender. Will i be able to use the "reshaper" PNG texture on my model? ( or is the texture info specifically built in to the original scan info? and wont work on a new build?). I have searched to see if anyone has combined a photogrammetry model with a built model, but i cant find what i need. There are some parts of the model that are beautiful , the detailed tiles on the roof ( as an example) but its made from a mess of polygons. I think i am perhaps asking for something that's not possible - to join a messy mesh and my model together to make something perfect, without holes. Before i loose the will to live, i downloaded Zbrush and decimated the model , but, although that worked well, i am unsure how that will benefit me, but still at least it worked, which is more than can be said for my efforts of combining the two models. I've been blending for about a month and made a doughnut.. a small victory.  Also, if anyone has any pointers to the best way of cutting arches into walls ( without using Boolean that i fear will rip up my walls) i'd appreciate a point to any tutorials. ( i've watched a few , but as yet i am am unwilling to accept that its as faffy as it ever was when i tried Blender 10 years ago )


texts: Vertex count at the top of the screen is inaccurate

texts:
I have one mesh and the object mode count is around 20,000 and the edit mode count on the mesh is 5,000. But when I export and import to unity it says it has more than the limit of vertices, so it splits it into 3 pieces. This is a big mistake... Unitys single mesh limit is 65,000 and it splits into 3... Help? It affects runtime and import/export time. I have a subsurf modifier but I know that's not the issue because when I take it off its around 1,000...

Blend file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2ZiQtohl3tmRUhvbW5YMERjM0U/view?usp=sharing


texts:
I want to create a tiled floor look.
I'm hoping there is a way I can do that by making an square shaped loop of vertices inside each of these squares.

But then again that would mean I'd have to do that for every single square...

Is there an easier way to do this? please let me know.

I want something to the effect of this


texts: Trouble importing Architectural Interiors as fbx models from online sites into Blender

texts:
I am trying to import architectural interiors from online 3d model marketplaces like CGTrader or Turbosquid. My workflow is that I download the fbx file, corresponding textures file and put it in a folder called textures at same level as fbx file. Then goto Blender and import the fbx. What I get after import is always a mesh with no textures applied and totally unlit. No matter whether I choose rendering engine as Eevee or Cycles, the textures never get rendered. In the Shading preview (in lookdev portion), the interior is always dark, even then there are lights included in the downloaded fbx.
For example, consider the free 3d model available here: https://www.cgtrader.com/items/1883142/download-page
I download the bathroom.fbx and texture.rar. Then created a folder and placed the fbx inside the folder and also put the texture folder extracted from texture.rar here, at same leves as .fbx (see in the screenshot, my folder structure  ) and here is what I see in Blender
As you can see that in the Viewport Shading using Cycles, the whole interior is dark and with spots like its still rendering (even though Blender completed by saying "Rendering Done").
Here is how it should look like:
What am I missing?
If it helps, I am using Blender 2.91.


texts: Accessing mesh vertex positions in baked physics

texts:
I have a scene with a cloth and I wrote a script to bake physics for X frames. However, when I access the vertex positions for different frames, they remain unchanged. I searched online and realized that it might have something to do with the point cache in Blender. I am fairly new to Blender so I am wondering if anyone could help me with the script to access the actual vertex positions of cloth in each frame.
Here is the script that I used for baking physics and accessing vertex buffer:
# Bake physics
for scene in bpy.data.scenes:
    for object in scene.objects:
        for modifier in object.modifiers:
            if modifier.type == 'CLOTH':
                override = {'scene': scene, 'active_object': object, 'point_cache': modifier.point_cache}
                modifier.point_cache.frame_end = total_frame
                bpy.ops.ptcache.free_bake(override)
                bpy.ops.ptcache.bake(override, bake=True)
                break

for frame in range(0, total_frame):
        bpy.context.scene.frame_set(frame)
        cur_vertices = cloth.data.vertices


texts:
A lot of people recommend to use the maximum node for glass setup, but I can't find that node. Nothing comes up when I search for it.

Where do I find it?


texts: Let's say you have a glass mesh with thickness. But when you bake outer surface, you know it also bakes the inner surface and others behind it too. So it is possible to ignore inner surface while baking outer surface ? Or how can you achieve that ?


texts: I try to make an animated graph like the one below (the value changes according to the post's lenght). I need about ten poles to be animated. I suppose that using drivers may be a good solution, but I don't know how to achieve it. Thanks in advance.


texts: I import too big OBJ. Now program is not responding

texts: I work on my project. Then I added OBJ file. Blender barely imported it, after a long time of waiting. I was happy that file imported successfully, and I saved it. Next day I open blender it almost doesn't open. I click on anything in blender is not responding for a couple of seconds. I wanted to delete the damn OBJ object that caused all of this, but despite having the whole object selected. I could not delete the object. Blender would not respond. Is there a way how to delete the object outside of blender?


texts: I'm doing a video game-type project and there are explosions and destruction. Until now, I had to create two meshes for the destruction : One that is entire and one that is destroyed/shattered/destroyed. Is there a way to automatically shatter objects in blender. For exemple, if I make a building, I would like to find an addon or a feature that can divide this building into 50 pieces that look like debris and when I make an explosion, the debris would fly, like in real life.


texts: i think this first happened when i opened up a large file in blender 2.8. i started getting these weird glitchy colored lines and they followed the viewport when it navigated and it didnt look like a seperate mesh was tied to it. i opened up fresh clean files and it still had this glitch on the viewport. i even reinstalled blender 2.8 and it didnt fix it. i opened up a rig today and the rig was glitchy and didnt look normal to fix like when opening up a rig and turning the mesh from a black color to the normal mesh colors by opaque to alpha. this is really frustrating me also because i couldnt find anything on the glitch on the internet. this i feel is my last resort. here's a screenshot of the glitch in action:


texts:
I am trying to cache a heavy hair simulation (picture and blend file below). I have two problems:

I tried to cache "in file" by disabling the "disk cache" box. The file seems to be getting bigger and bigger. It's been cached and uncached a couple of times. Is there a way to reset the whole caching process without recreating it from scratch?
Very often the simulation just wont work. When I append it from another scene it works, But if I change it's settings it stops working.

This is the blender file. A bit large (125mb) I know :( hence the first question.


texts: Speaker sound does not play when set with Python

texts:
I am trying to import and set the sound of a freshly created speaker using Python. Strangely the sound plays normally when I import it manually, but when I use Python to do the same thing it does not. Even when imported via script, the sound still shows up normally in the speaker-menu.
This is my code:

bpy.ops.object.speaker_add()
bpy.ops.sound.open_mono(filepath=my_file_path)
bpy.data.speakers["Speaker"].sound = bpy.data.sounds[os.path.basename(path)]

I have made sure my file path is correct.


texts: I am making this smoking pod. My particle emmiter is placed underneath the balls inside the pod but no smoke comes out. A whole load of smoke came out for a second or so I have no idea why it did or why it isn't now. Also when the smoke did come out it went right through the pod and the balls whereas if possible I would like it to drify up around the balls and out like it is a smoking caldron. i also want the smoke to be white


texts: Addons failing in 2.79 daily builds, here is the error

texts:
Some addons like Cubesurfer and Animation Nodes are failing to initialize in latest Daily Builds of 2.79, can someone tell me how to solve this?

Here is the error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\3D\BlenderBB\blender-2.79.0_10_12_2017\2.79\scripts\modules\addon_utils.py", line 331, in enable
    mod = import(module_name)
  File "C:\Users\jgea\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.79\scripts\addons\cubesurfer__init__.py", line 39, in
    from cubesurfer import mciso
ImportError: Module use of python35.dll conflicts with this version of Python.

Cheers


texts: get normal vector at a specific point in a curve in animation nodes

texts: Is it posible to get the exact normal vector from a control point inside a curve? I know the evaluate node gives you the normal vector at a certain range of the curve length, but what if I want the normal vector at the precise location of the  control point?


texts:
I was messing around a bit with Blender 2.79, and what i found was when i was doing smoke simulations, the renders turned out really grainy with a lot of noise (kind of like scattered pixels around the smoke) in the simulation its self. I never really came across this problem till now, maybe there's something that I'm missing? I attached an image below, I hope you know what I'm talking about. :)

Thanks


texts: I have done every setting i could, and started to retopology. but i get those holes on my mesh! problem seems to solved only when i increase the number of subsurf modifier like the pictures . Anyone can help me solved this?i also increase the offset value to 0.02 but i still get some holes...


texts:
There is a strange shadow around some edges of a model I am working with:

This shadows only visible when scene rendered with Eevee/Cycles. I am not an expert in 3D modelling, but topology seems fine:

I checked for duplicated faces and verteces, recalculated normals, tried to smooth surface in Sculpt mode, but nothing really helped.

What causes this problem and how can I fix it? Link to the .blend file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3n9b5vdbfah88z3/shadow_artifact.blend?dl=0

Thanks in advance


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


texts:
I'm totally new to Blender and I was wondering if there is a way to set up the viewport so I navigate like in Maya: Alt+mouse buttons.

I found the keymap in the preferences, deactivated the defaults for View3D Rotate, Move and Zoom, created new ones, Alt+LMB, MMB, RMB. Sadly they don't work.


texts: Animated Fur can't use texture, like the rest of the body

texts: If you llok at the UV image editor you see the white area top right. This is supposed to be the snout's color. But in the 3D-view it is black. I found out, that blender uses only the pixels from the edge of the texture to colour the whole Vertex group, that defines the shorter hair of the face. These are animated as theRender panel shows. They grow. Also the Hair dynamics are baked as you can see in the timeline. The image texture works, as you can see from the body, so i assume that this is a bug. Or does anyone have an idea?


texts:
I have a script whose goal is to find all the visible vertices from the camera view. The simplest solution should work as follows:

Go Into Camera View
Update the view with bpy.ops.wm.redraw_timer(type='DRAW_WIN_SWAP', iterations=1)
Get the coordinates of the borders of the camera and use bpy.ops.view3d.select_border()

However, the redraw_timer() function is giving me the following error

WM: failed to allocate texture for triple buffer drawing (glGenTextures).
wmSubWindowScissorSet 0: doesn't exist
Error: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION

Now, I'm not surprised. The Gotchas mentions that this could be expected.

How should I then replace redraw_timer()?

I have tried bpy.context.scene.update(), bpy.context.area.tag_redraw() and a modal operator with no success. How should I then proceed?

IMPORTANT UPDATE (02.11.2015)

Both answers (zeffii and batFINGER) select all vertices in the camera frustrum. This means that vertices behind others are selected. This is not what I'm looking for. I need the unobstructed and visible vertices. That's why I thought of using bpy.ops.view3d.select_border() in camera perspective. Here is an example.

If Suzanne is seen by the camera like this

I want the following vertices selected.

I apologize for making my issue unclear.


texts: UV mapping , when colouring the outer corners of the canvas , other faces are affected which are not unwrapped

texts:
O.K here goes
I've got a simple plane , which is subdivided in 64 equal parts (8*8)
I select the inner 16 faces and unwrap them , in the object data tab I give it a name , lets's say "this one"

Now , in the (cycles) material editor  I create a mix shader ,which consists of a simple diffuse shader and a texture map that will have the image for the selected inner faces )
The texture map get's its coordinates from the UV map node( set to 'this one '') .
Now , when going into the image editor /view mode we can see our selected /unwrapped inner faces and start drawing .
I make sure that the unwrapped  uv,s are centered in the image editor , surrounded by enough empty space
As expected , only the inner faces are affected and thus coloured

Here's the thing , as soon as I draw in one of the corners of the image editor (just a tiny 1 pixel dot is enough)  ,all  the other faces are also affected which are not unwrapped at all .
How come ?
So my question is ,are the corners of the image editor some kind of boundary ?


texts: Is it possible to use Matcap lighting in conjunction with normal maps?

texts:
Is it possible to use MatCap lighting in conjunction with normal maps?
MatCap lighting works great when creating surface detail on sculpts etc. It would be nice if there was an easy way to also use MatCaps when examining normal map baking results.


texts: Render result gives totally different result

texts:
I'm a total noob at Blender but I was trying to render this animation of a plastic bag turning around. In my viewport all seems normal but when I render it it looks totally different.
I'm completely lost with this. Does anyone know what I can do to change this?
Thanks in advance!!
render:

viewport display:


texts: Can't create mesh? Mesh is invisible or somewhere hidden?

texts:
I cant create a mesh anymore :( or anything else. if I use Shift A and create something, the mesh, light or whatever doesnt appear on my view port. As location I get: -nan(ind)m and when I try to set it back to zero nothing happens. I really don't want to restart my model :/

It happened after I saved my project.
I could recreate the entire model in a new project but I fear to lose again endless hours of work.


texts: Make Human to Blender with IK doesn't work as expected

texts:
I'm exporting the character from MakeHuman with the MHX format with a rig "CMU mb" or the "Game Engine". Then I imported the file to blender overriding the exported data and selecting the MHX as the Rig Type

After that I go to the MHX2 Runtime panel and switch all the FK to IK.

My problem: it doesn't work, if I grab the hand (or any part) it doesn't work as expected.

My blender version is 2.78.
Any ideas? Thanks.


texts:
Happy New Year!

I want to rebuild a picture using the BLAM Addon for Camera Calibration, but using the two-vanishing-point method does not work properly for me.
Look at the Plane on the right side:

Alternatively i tried using the image midpoint,in which the plane looked good, but the pillar seems distorted:

Question:
Is my setup on the left side correct?
Did I forget something?
I already used Lens Correction in Photoshop for the Distorsion.

Thanks for your time!


texts:
I can't find the entries in User Preferences (input tab) to change the keys for navigating in 3D view, using walk navigation mode.

Currently it's bind to WASD keys, and since I have an AZERTY keyboard, it would be nicer to have ZQSD mapping to move the view.

Is it hard coded into Blender's source code ? Or do I miss the entries in User preferences ?


texts:
part of my loop, which I am trying to solder with a mesh is displayed incorrectly.

and, if you move the mesh with the DataTransfer along the surface of another mesh, then the loop becomes incorrect in other places.

Thanks for your help


texts:
I have a landscape full of trees which I need to split up before it's able to be imported into a game. The game has a vertex limit for each object at 65k, so I'll need to cut my trees object into over 100 pieces for them to fit.

Is there a way to split it using a grid, or some automated method like that?

Thanks, I've been struggling with this for months already, it's very tedious and time consuming to split the mesh over and over every time I make an edit to the landscape/tree placement.


texts:
In 2.79Blender-Internal,I have been trying to simulate the path of a rigid body on a cloth like surface.However,the cloth(cube) gets ripped when the rigid body(sphere) comes in contact with it.
Following settings have been used to stop this behaviour [but it still rips!]

**

  cloth structural stiffness - 1500
    particle permeability - 0
    collision
  absorption - 1
  rigid body collider mass - 0.001

**

For further clarity ,please refer the attached the blend file .

How to stop this ripping?


texts: Rendering parts of an animation in different computers

texts: Can I render the first half of an animation on my computer and the second half on my friends the make them video files and combine them?


texts: Bones and mesh relationship is wrong (Bug?)

texts:
I am not good with words, for that I apologize. I don't know how to explain in few words this problem.
I was working on my old personal project when I realized that it would be nice to make some changes in bone structure and rigging.. well, I have saved my old file and made a NEW armature (all bones, nice rigging, working perfectly in bone structure when I go animation mode)... but here is the problem. When I add to my mesh the armature (CTRL+P with weights and also tried without it) the mesh just gets twisted badly. Therefore I first removed all vertex groups that automatically came and added manually (also tried adding armature without weights, same problem) to make sure all is working as it should be... but, big fail. All my work got twisted in all direction.
Well, I went further, took out the bone structure (armature) deleted all my work (as i have the old backup) and made a simple tube (with plenty of subdivision for each bones) and tested it the simple way.. well.. it is the same problem. All tube is twisted badly, doesn't work as it should work. I don't know what I might have done wrong, or what is wrong with my bone structure and rigging, but... I'm a little bit upset since I have wasted 3 hours to find the solution myself.

I don't know what is wrong with this. I'm asking the community help, perhaps corrections/tips/solutions/advice, whatever could enlighten my problem and lift up my crankiness.

I have added the file (the simple test file with the tube and the armature) so that someone who has time, take a look at it and see what is wrong with it. Why gets my mesh twisted so badly and not work in the proper way as the armature works.

Thank you all in advance, again apologize for my bad English and perhaps twisted phrases.


texts: Mesh halves have different colors (normals recalculated and doubles removed)

texts:
I have a problem with my model. Using mirror modifier or duplicating and scaling -1 on the X axis sometimes results in an half darker than the original one. I have recalculated normals and removed doubles but the problem doesn't get solved. I hope you will be able to help me]1

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B08odNC5CcQEYkZRdmpYYzRSZWM .blend file


texts: How to edit Quick Tools Addon and create your own menu (with some basic python scripting question)

texts:
first, sorry for my english, :D i want to ask quite a lot about editing and inserting correct script/operator for adding menu/operator for editing quick tools addon..

so, i've edited quick tools by jonathan williamson to fit my needs. but years passed and i forgot how to edit addon correctly, test it, and inserting the menu that i need and never finished editing it.

here's what my version of quick tools look like

so, i want to add autosmooth and its angles value under shade flat operator, but it seems that i couldn't get that working properly. here's my attempt to add the autosmooth operator..

but i just couldn't make it work, it says python fails, look for console..

and here's, my question is,

how to edit and inserting a menu/operator correctly? it seems that if i copy its python path, it gets me nowhere, only some path that actually working.. but operator like "autosmooth"can't work at all. is there any special things that i need to consider before adding them blindly by just copy its path guys?
how to safely edit and test the addon that we create/edit? as far as i remember, i pressed some button to make it run, and after i edit them, it ruins everything.. and my addon can''t work or at least after i installed them, it just can't run or listed in addon tab..
if i want to make menu/operator, "add subsurf with 2 subdivs and optimal display", "delete subsurf", "display subsurf in edit mode", "display "subsurf cage", how to to that and create a proper menu in quick tools?
and the last one, if i want to create menu , ädd bevel with angle method", ""bevel modifier width" and "bevel modifier segment" how to create that guys?

that's all my question guys, sorry if i disturbing you with this long question.. i really hope to be able understand python scripting so that i can make my overall work faster..

best regards


texts: What is the difference between module and script execution methods in the Game Engine?

texts:
There are two options when using a sensor to run a python script (which also makes me wonder why the python option is a Controller and not a Actuator, but I guess that's a separate question).

As far as I can tell, Module runs a function in certain file (specified file.function). Script runs an entire file.

What are the practical differences between the two (assuming they are functionally the same)? What are some example cases where you would want to use one over the other?

The wiki page seems to be down currently, so forgive me if the answer is written right at the top..


texts: Changing the location of panels in different categories in the Toolshelf (script needed)

texts:
I need to relocate some panels from the toolshelf in other categories.

I noticed that the BSurfaces addon has a preference field that allows to relocate where it's panel is placed in the toolshelf simply by changing the string in that preference field.
When activated, it is placed in Toolshelf region > Tools category (but only in Edit mode). I would like to put it in a "Retopology" category (tab), so that's what I type in.

Based on that feature, I would like to have a template script that I can activate as an addon that allows me to do the same but for the other panels so I can rearrange my interface and regroup similar panels to better suit my workflow.

For example, let's say I wanted the panel "Rigid Body Tools" from the "Physics" category in the Toolshelf to be relocated in a new category named "Custom" (still in the Toolshelf).

PS: I want to define the relocation of the panel directly from this addon, without messing with the code of the official release.

I suppose the way to do it is to change the "bl_context = " of the panel I wish to relocate but I don't know how to access it.

Can somebody write me such a script?

Thank you.


texts: Problem with parented control bones? affect other values that should not be effected

texts: I have two control bones that control the shape key of each eye respectively. And then I have constrain (child of) these bones to one main bone (in center), so that I don't have to grab each bone to control the blink. now the problem is that, I have parented the main blink control bone to the rest of the rig. Now whenever I move the rest of the rig down the character close it's eyes. I don't know what to do now?


texts: Can dynamic lighting on meshes be translated onto a video clip?

texts:
Is it possible to procedurally affect the appearance of a video clip depending on the luminance of an area of a mesh?
Question detail:
The process I'm trying to do is explained below.

import and track a video clip (for ease of explanation, it is the corner of a room, as in the attached image)

set up a 3D scene with the camera solve from the video clip via 'setup tracking scene'
model the room corner in 3D
the video is going to be used day for night, so parameters (brightness, contrast etc) will be adjusted to make it appear to be a night scene)
dynamic lighting elements will be introduced in the 3D scene, which will cast light on the meshes used to model the room corner

What I want to do is use the luminance of the meshes to adjust the brightness (and other parameters - if there are coloured lights I would like to tint it for instance) of the video clip so it appears it is being illuminated by the dynamic lighting elements. Is this possible?


texts:
How do you guys generally deal with BAD hidden edges in Blender when working with animated character meshes? For example, I have a couple of them on my character's low-poly elbow that look terrible because of the hidden edge orientation - the edges sink deep into the elbow when it bends. It is so extreme, it looks like a mech arm when bent.
Do you guys convert these problem areas into triangles (which usually requires converting them back before sub-division) to have full control over the orientation? Or do you reshape the topology to make the area better? Or do you just ignore the problems?
I've been trying the second option (reshaping), but have spent more time than is probably worth on 8 vertices. Anyone have any tricks or is there an obvious solution I don't know about? I used Max in the past. And for that, we could just flip the edges. But it was still sometimes a problem during export/conversion.
Thanks for any suggestions!


texts: Blender export to gltf makes red look weird

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I am trying to make a robot head and body in Blender for a WebVR project and I am getting some odd behavior. I have a red material that I am using for both the body and head but when exporting the objects to gltf the head turns out really dark (except for an inset I made). The body looks fine though. What is even more confusing is that this is ONLY an issue with shades of red since my blue model exported just fine for both head and body.
Picture of head in Windows 3D Viewer (looks the same in WebVR):

Picture of body (color looks as expected):

Picture of blue head (same model, just a blue base color for the material):

Does anyone have any ideas? I already checked and face normals seem to be correct (outwards).


texts: Missing dynamic transform snapping in 2.8?

texts:
I have downloaded the Blender 2.8 Alpha2 from the 21 September 2018.

There I tried to snap my object to the current visible grid.
This was supported in 2.79. Also the documentation of 2.79
confirms the behaviour.

All the GIFS were made with factory settings. I hold CTRL for snapping while moving the Object. I made no changes to the settings or else.

So this is how it looks in 2.79

And this is 2.80 alpha 2

So, does anyone know if this will be part of 2.80 later?
Or is this change intentional?


texts:
Blender File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Y9j3ABEq0XOu63Fr3aPSiCehDvm49Cu/view?usp=sharing
I need help with starting this model. Below is my situation and current approach. Would be grateful to anyone who helps!

:


texts: How to do texture painting on a character?

texts:
I am currently trying to add some color to my human model. It's Nothing fancy with depth and textures, I just want to add some color over the smooth shading. However, this task seems impossible since I don't know how to work the texture painting properly.

I have separated the body parts of my mesh into separate pieces (head, torso, arm, hand ect.) in hopes this would make painting easier. However I find it odd that when I paint on one piece of the mesh the paint will also appear on a piece of the mesh I did not select. Also some areas of the selected mesh are not even being effected by the paint. I have looked at several youtube tutorials but most are dealing with painting on a single mesh and aren't working for me. Does anyone know why this is happening?


texts:
I have several objects (see the attached picture) I want to merge, so that I finally get one uniformly mesh.

In the end I want to 3d print this object but the slicer software for the printer can´t handle these several loose objects. It preferes one single, clean mesh without non manifold edges.

I already tried using the Boolean modifier to join the objects but it ended in a mess with lots of non manifold edges.

Here a link to the .blend file i created.

Does someone have expierience with joining mulitiple objects into one single? Slowly I´m really annoyed from this problem and would be really pleased if someone could help me out with an solution for this.


texts: How to place match the floor of a picture with a plane using f-spy?

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I have this 3D ground and "image as plane" photo with fSpy camera, but it's look wrong on the legs, is there a way to make legs to touch the ground like in original photo? not sure in which direction to search

UPDATE:
I mean, I believe is right with fSpy, cause all geometry lines up in camera view, I guess I'm doing something wrong or impossible with "image as plane", wrong rotation or something?


texts: How can I export a uv normal map from unity to other programs

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Recently I started creating a room for my game, but I got stuck in a problem. In Blender I used smart UV project to my walls and added a normal map to them, the problem is: How can I export the same normal map with the same size( the wall size) into Unity or just save it as a png?
Thanks!


texts: Transform a solid to a specific porous structure

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


texts: How to get dynamic paint to work in cycles?

texts:
So I'm trying out dynamic paint. I set up the scene where a plane passes past a cube. I used the cube as a canvas and the plane as a brush. I generated the UVmap for the cube and  used image sequence on the canvas, and have baked the images. This is how i set up material nodes.

But when I render the image on the viewport, the materials don't change. So I'm not sure what I did wrong?


texts: Is there any way to remove edges causing a loop?

texts:
How do I remove/dissolve the selected edges while keeping the geometry?
Every other modeling software I've worked with can do this without any problem but Blender refuses to dissolve/remove them or adds faces if I merge them.


texts: How do I make a randomized order of the array modifier?

texts: I'm trying to make a line of colored bubbles using an array modifier but I want them in a sort of unorganized conga line. Is it possible using the array modifier, or do I have to do them manually?


texts: I have tried using the knife tool, merging faces,and even auto smoothing, but these deformity shadow thingies don't seem to disappear


texts:
I'm modeling BB8, and having difficulty getting really good dirt and grunge on him in the right places and the right texture.  I did watch Andrew Price's video on how to add grunge using dirty vertex colours but as you will see the effect I'm going for is not quite the same as what he did.  I'm trying to get precise, accurate dirt that really looks like something has been rolling on a dirty surface for a while.  How can I achieve this?

Here's the reference photo I have been working off of:

Here is the render:

Here is the vertex paint settings:

Here is the node group I made for the grunge (it is plugged into the principled node):

And not sure if this helps but this is the grunge image I was using (colourized with brown in GIMP):

Here's a link to the .blend (was too big for giant cow films): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1edSlMISPUr0KYetTipJ9FHTacljA2am3


texts: How to add a freestyle stroke to a specific edge in blender?

texts: I am trying to add a black line (freestyle) to a single edge in blender cycles render. I need help !


texts: Deform an array of objects without modifying its geometry, just the relative position of them

texts:
I'm trying to model a lipid bilayer and for the moment have managed to create the main structure (three arrays and one mirror).  The problem is that the overall shape is flat and I'm trying to make it irregular.  The shape of the undeformed array is like this

My objective is to deform the array but without deforming the meshes like this

but keeping the spheres with the same shape.  Something like modifying only the relative location of the individual molecules.  Is there any way to do that?  I'm fairly new to blender and not familiar with all of the modeling techniques.

Thanks!


texts: following blender guru in his donut tutorial i found a problem with donut. i simply can't choose an ordinary color it shows me some options to choose from


texts: How can I sepearate objects into individual files?

texts:
I started modeling a rifle, and I also did a sight with it.

The thing is: I want to make both the sight and the rifle into 2 individual files. Is there a way I can do this?


texts:
Hello,

I am trying to extend the lines on the body of the aircraft I am working on, see photo below.

I have used a combo of both scale and moving by the z axis so far, but I am unsure how to apply the lines of the model so they overlap the top line of the cockpit, having tried so far, it causes the bottom lines to bulge out over the bottom of the plane which I have already set, as seen in the pic.

Thanks for any help.


texts: So I have a basic mesh of my creature, and I want to sculpt the finer details. So I set the sculpt tool to mirror across the x-axis (Yes, I double checked that this is the right axis, but it isn't mirroring. How can I fix this?


texts: Is it possible to detect a change in a panel (as a compartment which we mark or a slider which we move) to launch a update function but only if the change is in a panel as T, N, Property panel ect... ?


texts: How to find the Python equivalent operation for tools, settings & menu?

texts:
When you press a button or change a setting, this is an operation which you can also do in Python, how do you find the Python equivalent to accessing these user interface elements.

Settings (text, numbers, colors... etc)
Buttons (tools you access via key bindings, menu items etc)
Menus (accessed via headers, other menus or key-bindings)


texts: The front part of the object material doesn't render

texts:
As you can see the front of the castle is laking a material. It is supposed to be a stone wall and you can see it on the sides but for some reason it doesn't render in the front.
Is there a problem with my camera setting or something else. I didn't have this problem before, it just suddenly appeared and I don't know how to get rid of it.

Here is a render of how it looked before and how it is supposed to look


texts: rename all children objects with prefix from parent

texts: I'm converting voxel art to blender for animation and render. All the cubes import automatically named cube.001, cube.002, ect. I then parent all those cubes to an empty to animate their movement and name the empty what ever the object is. only problem is when I import new objects even from other blender scenes, the imported cubes rename themselves so that they aren't duplicating names, so cube.001 becomes cube.234 and so on. Problem is that my friend is talking about potentially building a video game with these assets so accidentally renaming objects like this could be problematic in the future. Is there a way to rename all the children objects so they have a prefix that matches the parent name? For example parent: "space-bug" would rename the cubes "space-bug-cube.001" and so on.


texts: AttributeError when adding keyframes in draw function

texts:
I am trying to add add keyframes to an object from values in a csv file using python. It successfully reads the file and puts it into a list. However, it just gives me this error when adding the keyframes.

AttributeError: Writing to ID classes in this context is not allowed: Camera, Object datablock, error setting Object.<UNKNOWN>

This is the code that i have so far:

def draw(self, context):
    results = []
    layout = self.layout

    obj = context.object

    with open('record.txt', newline='') as inputfile:
        for row in csv.reader(inputfile):
            results.append(row)
    line = 0
    for x in results:
        line += 1
        if line > 2:
            currentFrame = str(x)
            xRot, yRot, zRot,_,_ = currentFrame.split(';')
            xRot = xRot.replace("['", "")
            print(xRot + " " + yRot + " " + zRot)
            obj.rotation_euler[0] += float(xRot)
            obj.keyframe_insert(data_path="rotation_euler", frame= float(line), index=0)
            obj.rotation_euler[1] += float(yRot)
            obj.keyframe_insert(data_path="rotation_euler", frame= float(line), index=1)
            obj.rotation_euler[2] += float(zRot)
            obj.keyframe_insert(data_path="rotation_euler", frame= float(line), index=2)

I would appreciate suggestions in how to solve this issue.


texts: I',m struggling with a change from blender 2.79 to 2.8. When you apply a rigid body to something and want to apply it to a lot of other objects, you you use dto (in blender 2.79) go over to your tools panel and hit "copy from active". But now, in blender 2.8, the tools panel no longer exists. Where is the new copy from active setting? The help I've gotten is "object>rigid body>copy from active" but I couldn't find it there.


texts: My Minecraft's Player rig doesn't have shadows, how to fix?

texts: So, I have a Minecraft's player rig, I've put a light spot and made the render, but I can't see the shadow of the rig, how can I fix it?


texts: I have applied a single material as a texture to an object in Blender 2.8. In the UV map the duplicated element is only displayed in the correct area however it is being duplicated. Please see attached photos for more detail. Any help would be great.


texts:
As seen in the picture, I have no option to select OpenCL as a solution to render with. I'm using Blender 2.78.5 (the version where we do have the Principled BSDF shader).
I'm on AMD Radeon HD 8730M which is supposed to be supported, and I did check it using the set CYCLES_OPENCL_TEST=ALL environment variable.
I have the latest AMD driver installed, 17.6.2, with the OpenCL™ Version
22.19.171.257.
I'm using Windows 10 64 bit.
I'd like someone skilled to tell me how to get GPU rendering up and running.


texts: I am a beginner. Please tell me how do I bring where X and Y cross to the centre of screen. I can bring by zooming in but when i do that this is what happens. It is supposed to be a circle but missing in between (I found how to cure that problem, thanks to one of you)


texts:
I have a UV Map and I created another one. I saw that all UV coords from first map remains in second UV Map and I have searched how to clean these coordinates. I found reset option but after applying this option, the UV Map it is not clear, it has some strange lines on background. It looks like in image below:

How do I delete the second map to look like in the image below?(without backround and without any coordinates on it as initially looks)

Upd: I tried reset, this is first image.
I tried to remove UV Map and create another one, it copy existent UV coordinates from first UV Map


texts:
I'm rendering a scene in Cycles and am having issues with fireflies. Most of the scene is completely fine however one particular spot has a tone of them.

I've tried lighting the area better but nothing seems to work. I've attached the small section of the scene where I'm having the issue


texts: eevee animation renders only first frame

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I am a beginner and made a pretty simple animation in blender, but when I try to render it with eevee(i go to render and then render animation) it only renders the first frame.
I tried to render it as individual frames as jpeg s and directly as a mp4 but both dont work.
Does anyone know what to do?


texts: Export Material View OBJ for Reality Converter

texts: Is there a way in Blender to directly export exactly what is displayed in the Materials View as a .obj file? I'm trying to load the file into Apple's Reality Converter with the material attached because it never shows up in the finished USDZ file.


texts: I'm learning Blender, and I haven't changed any settings from the default. The viewport has perfect anti-aliasing, but the render is jagged. This happens in Eevee and Cycles. The first pic is the viewport, and the second is a render.


texts:
I have modeling a mesh and then I want to curve it to fit another mesh.
But when I am using the curve modifier, some ridges appears on the mesh :

What can I do to avoid this ? I tried to multiply the number of faces using subdivision surface, but there is 6M faces on the mesh from the photo and so don't working.


texts:
How would I create a stripe on top of a brick texture?
Currently I have the brick texture setup like this.

Which gives me this result

But I'm stuck now as I don't know how to add the white stripes which appear every 5 rows or so for 2 rows.
This is how it looks and what I would like to achieve.


texts: Gltf-model export from blender. Materials are missing in a-frame

texts:
I'm trying to export to gltf correct. This model is using in a-frame.
The problem is that materials are missing after export.
In a-frame model is represented only in black color. Settings attached.

If somebody know how to solve this, please let me know. Thanks

[Blender model]

[A-frame]

[Export Settings]


texts: Blender 2.8 doesn't recognize my graphics card for GPU

texts: Blender 2.8 isn't recognizing my graphics card for gpu or opencl rendering. I'm using a mac with a Radeon Pro 580 8 GB graphics card. Are there any articles about best graphics card for use in Blender? I'm thinking about buying a new one, since the cpu rendering takes very very long. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!


texts:
So I'm trying to make a mineral texture for November, and I want to use vector displacement. But I can't get it to go just along the Z-axis, nor will the texture Be shown.
In the setting of the material I have displacement and bump on, and I'm using cycles. I have subdivided the plane too.
What am I not doing?


texts: Is there a way to add fake thickness to an alpha image texture?

texts:
I'm using Cycles I want to add thickness to a texture with alpha transparency like @rich-sedman do in his nice answer here:
How can I make a hexagonal grill?
But this time with an image texture (jpg+mask or png/tiff) not a mathematically generated one.
It can be separated planes or solidify modifier, I don't mind, even if solidify would be better.
I've already seen things about parallax mapping but not sure it's suitable and as good as this one.

Edit 1

A reference image of what kind of texture I use
https://www.textures.com/download/metalvarious0044/61614
The point of my question is that it can be seen from a side angle and not looks like a paper sheet.

Resolved

The answer of Rich is working, it's not perfect, no material on the volume, quite expensive and volume don't seem to work with UVmaps, only generated or object so for array it's complicate. But if it's not for a close shot it makes the joke.


texts:
I'm learning Blender and am following a spiderman tutorial ( https://youtu.be/UO0OM0plOX0?t=773 ) .. but I've been battling a serious problem for several days now and can't find the solution. Maybe someone can help ? I use Blender 2.92 and when I insert the Keyframe when letting go of the Web at around 13:00 it actually puts the (ChildOf-)Empty to the starting position and not to the current position? So My "web" just snaps around weirdly and does not at all behave as it should.. (when I observe the Empty's location coordinates the don't move at all either, but the empty moves, beeing linked to the hand)..
https://youtu.be/UO0OM0plOX0?t=773
Here 3 pics of the problem :
Here pic 1, start of animation "Empty" is selected Location is shown :
Then 1st Keyframe :  (Location unchanged)
Then the frame right afterwards where the Empty snaps back to original location :


texts:
I have modeled a simple robot leg. There is a U shaped socket at the top. A cylinder is attached in this U shape. The cylinder is the child of U socket. I rotate U socket via arrow keys using logic bricks to move the cylinder (U socket acts like a motor).
The problem is that when I rotate the leg, it passes through the ground.

U Shaped Socket - Dynamic
Cylinder - Dynamic, Box Collision
Ground - Plane, Static, Triangle Mesh

Why is this happening? How do I prevent the leg from passing through the ground?

Update
Please find the .blend file here.


texts:
Hello, I am completely new to 3D modelling and I am being taught by a friend, However, When I was rendering a logo, I found this!

It is a black mark that seems to change depending on which part of the animation I am looking at


texts:
I have 300 signs exported as a 2D svg file.
I would like to build a scene in Blender and exchange the SVG in the background. Maybe build a script that change the SVG and than renders the scene with the new sign. So I can let the PC render for a day and I have every sign as a picture.

Do someone know a workflow?


texts: Select Multiple Key Frames in Timeline Editor

texts: How I can select multiple key frames in the timeline editor so that I can delete them all at once .


texts:
I'm attempting to write an addon that will perform multiple extrusions along a curve.  Perhaps there is a simpler way that already exists but in case there isn't I am trying to do the following:

Suppose I have a triangle (so 3 vertices).  I would like to extrude it 10 times along a curve so that it merges to a single point.  There could be some 'apex' (forgive me if I'm not using the correct terminology) that I could move along the curve and 'up' and 'down'.  So it could be, for instance, from 0 to 1 where .5 would be in the middle and also a linear curve, AKA a straight line :)

I need some formula to calculate the vertex XYZ coordinates for this.

I hope that makes sense.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Why is blender showing up as transluscent?

texts: I was working on blender and set an image at a larger resolution and the image became transluscent and I couldn't make changes to what appeared on screen before. I have deleted and reinstalled blender twice and nothing changes when the program is reinstalled.


texts:
So I am experimenting with python nodes. So far I am able to add a new node tree and my Nodes are doing things (adding and multiplying floats...well). One more cosmetic thing is that I don't get how to set a Label from this, I predefine values and a label:

    MyNodeCategory("OTHERNODES", "Predefined Nodes", items=[
    # the node item can have additional settings,
    # which are applied to new nodes
    # NB: settings values are stored as string expressions,
    # for this reason they should be converted to strings using repr()
    NodeItem("FloatInputNodeType",  label="Pi", settings={
        "wert": repr(math.pi),
        }),

But I have no idea how to get this into my added Nodes, the above is closely to the Custom_Nodes.py template which hints this should be possible, the settings/properties are copied ok. Then the code leaves my in the dark:

# Optional: custom label
# Explicit user label overrides this, but here we can define a label dynamically
def draw_label(self):
    return "I am a custom node"

which is not what I want :-) This of course sets the label to "I am a custom node" in the node itself but also not in the Label: field in the Node: sidebar.

Omitting the def_label uses the bl_label.


texts: "Track to" and animations at the same time?

texts: For this question, I am trying to merge two things together. For the first part, I would like to have my empty that fires bullets to fire at the center of the screen while also having a spray pattern (sort of like the bullets shoot randomly, but I use an animation). I asked a question on how to have my bullets be fired to the center of the screen, and I received a great answer. I use a ray and an empty at the end of it, and the empty collides with objects. The empty that fires the bullets just tracks to it. If you do not understand, you can look at the QA in depth here. For the second part, I would like to have my bullets be fired in a "spray pattern." I achieved this using an animation on my empty that fires the bullets. For the question, I am trying to merge both of these things together. I would like my empty to point at the center of the screen while shooting in a pattern. Would I just need to apply both and it would work? Would the animation need to be removed? If you have any idea of how to achieve this, please post anything below. Thank you!


texts: multi texture handling with single shader in blender

texts:
I am new to blender, but i have worked in other packages professionally over the years. I was wondering, if blender has a system, where a single shader can handle multiple textures based on the object its applied to.
It can be extremely helpful , when there are so many objects in the scene, say called wood , but only their textures are different for each object. This will greatly reduce the number of material created, also manual assignment on each of the object.
So, the idea is , the objects have string primvars, which can be joined over to create a folder , where the textures will be stored. And as long as texture sets like Albedo,SPR etc is present in the folder, it would call them at rendertime.
Please, let me know , if its possible to do that.
Much Appreciated,
Thanks,


texts: Why can't I use a loop-cut on this simple mesh?

texts:
I just tried making a person in blender from a tutorial (first time I use blender) and somehow I can't make a loop-cut in the last 'box' thing.
It is nor a triangle nor an N-gon, I checked for double sides/vertices but nothing seems to work.
How can I get a loop cut here?
The yellow is what blender does, and the red is what I want added
Here's the blend model: http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=50184


texts:
Here is what i want to do:

I want the penrose triangle behind the flask. The triangle is partially in front, but i want part of it to render behind the flask. However the flask is glass, so the triangle needs to also be visible behind the flask.

The only I can think of is to break the triangle into multiple objects and join them in the compositor. Any better suggestions?


texts: Why are materials only being applied to parts of joined objects?

texts: I am currently putting together a model with multiple parts, and several sections are comprised of joined objects or "groups" (joined objects not physically touching). However, when I apply materials color to them, only the first object changed, the rest were unaffected. I haven't been able to work it out; still learning the program.


texts:
I am working on a character for a game that has 3 main actions: Walking, Running, and Idle. S1 and S2 stand for Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, respectively. I have all the priorities set to 0.

I want the priorities to be in an order where if Sonic runs or walks, the animations will play, but if neither of those things are happening, he will remain Idle. I have tried multiple combinations of priority orders, but I could not find a way to do this.


texts: What's the difference between the Undistortion node and the "Render undistorted"option in the camera background settings?

texts:
When you do camera tracking in Blender and press the "Setup Tracking Scene button", Blender automatically sets up a compositing node configuration that makes is easy to add 3D elements to the video footage.
One of the nodes is an Undistortion node, that is supposed to undo the lens distortion, to make the undistorted 3D elements generated by Blender fit into the footage.
When you are working on your scene, you can set the video to be the background image for your camera. In the settings for the background image, by default the "Render undistorted" checkbox is checked.
My expectation was that this would have the same behaviour as the Undistortion node in the compositor, but this appears to not be the case.
In the camera background picture, the undistort-option makes the picture look worse than the original: a line that was originally pretty straight, looks bent after performing the undistortion.
In the compositor, the undistorted picture looks exactly the same as the original footage, as if Blender has decided that the original video was not distored at all, and doesn't need any undistortion treatment.
My question is: how is it possible that the Undistortion node has a different behaviour from the "Render undistorted" option for the camera background? Do they, for some reason use different distortion values (K1, K2) to do their calculations?


texts: Issues with applying shape keys with the armature modifier

texts:
Right then! Issue is as goes, I want to bind a blink to shape keys with the aid of bones - which works flawlessly well, if it weren't for one thing. The pole targets on the body and IK rigging are accounted into the shape key as well, which alter the T-pose of the body slightly. So, In short, instead of just the eye lids moving, the body is as well.
Is there any way to target specific bones with shape keys? Or will it always take the entire armature?


texts: How to animate perpendicular strips moving along a cable? (visualizing DC electric current)

texts:
I'm a newbie to Blender.  I've been doing mediocre solid modeling (using Alibre) for years, so creating models to import isn't a big problem for me.  But I'm wanting to learn to do a very specific simulation of electrical current flowing using Blender.  This animator did a wonderful job of current flow simulation tracking an electrical path (wire) at the 0.48 to 1:10 point:

https://youtu.be/CWulQ1ZSE3c?t=48s
The white cylindrical current objects track the path (wire) even when the wires move as the switch is put in place.
I've watched some tutorials on:

having objects follow a path: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6NdQGySZhU
using keyframes as well as the dope sheet:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHdh8p37yM8

I'm guessing there may be multiple ways to perform this current flow simulation.  I'm finding Blender so powerful but also feature rich - feature rich enough to be confusing and difficult to learn.  Anyone have ideas on tutorials i should watch to help me get to this electrical current flow faster?  I really appreciate any help! Lane


texts: How to create a mesh from metaballs which will always work with a Boolean modifier?

texts:
My goal is to simulate a particle system in an animation, convert the particles to a mesh, then apply Boolean modifiers to the result mesh. This usually works. However, the mesh generation occasionally results in non-manifold elements which cause the Boolean modifiers to fail. The question is if there is a way to ensure that meshes generated from meta-elements will be a manifold and not contain non-manifold vertices. An idea solution solves the problems by

explaining how to generate the mesh without non-manifold elements;
explaining how to remove the non-manifold elements using a feature in blender; or
explaining how to use scripts to remove the non-manifold elements.

Manual editing of the mesh is not an option since thousands of meshes will be generated.

Details

Using Blender 2.76, the particle system consists of several thousand particles.
The particles are converted to a mesh by a script which runs on each render event. The script creates a metaball for each particle, then converts the metaballs to a mesh. This works fine. However, the resulting mesh occasionally contains non-manifold vertices. The non-manifold vertices can cause Boolean modifiers to fail.

Is there a way to either generate the mesh or modify the mesh to ensure that the all vertices are on the manifold. Manual editing is not an option since thousands of these meshes will be automatically generated in an animation.

Example:

This image shows the particle system during an animation:

This image shows a rendering of the meshed particle system:

This image shows the meshed generated from the particle system with non-manifold vertices identified. From the top of the image, 2-vertices are identified as non-manifold.

To see the issue with the mesh, this a zoomed version to the problem area is highlighted.

An example of a successful Boolean modifier applied to the mesh:

Update based on comments.

From testing with cubesurfer 0.95cubesurf 0.95 and Blender 2.76, the meshes generated are not always manifold.

Example:

For the same problem, here is the resulting cubesurfer surface.

This is the resulting mesh.

When selecting for non-manifold vertices, these are the non-manifold vertices and surrounding geometry.

Zooming in, these are the non-manifold vertices up close


texts: Depth of Field with Grease Pencil Objects not working

texts:
I have two grease pencil objects: one at origin and the other at Y: 92m (far back from the camera.) I'm trying to get the background to be blurred using the camera. (I know I can blur the object itself but in another scene I'm going to be moving the camera in between objects.) I'm using the Eevee render engine and I am in the Rendered viewport setting, but depth of field is not working. I have the camera focused on the character in front with an F-stop of 3.6.

I added some spheres to test if DOF was working at all, and it does work for the spheres.
(In eevee)

(In cycles with F-stop of 0.5)

Am I missing something?


texts: Having trouble with multiple animations triggered by key presses in the game engine

texts:
I have very little Python knowledge and I'm trying to get a character to play one animation when the A key is pressed, a different animation when the D key is pressed, a different animation when the W key is pressed, and finally a different animation when both the A and D keys are pressed at the same time. I hooked up the appropriate keyboard sensors and action actuators to a python controller and when I test the character, it works with the exception of one problem. Depending on how the keys are pressed in various combinations (not entirely sure which combinations are at fault) the animation will sometimes get stuck as if Blender doesn't recognize that a key has been released and it keeps on playing that keys animation or it will stop playing the animation but will be frozen on a particular frame. I've tried numerous variations of the code, to solve the problem but nothing works and I've tried using just logic bricks without any code, but nothing eliminates the problem from occurring with certain key combinations (like pressing A and W at the same time and then releasing the W key slightly before the A key. This causes the character to get stuck on the A key's animation)

Here is the code I used:

import bge

cont=bge.logic.getCurrentController()

a=cont.sensors['a']

d=cont.sensors['d']

left=cont.actuators['turn_left']

right=cont.actuators['turn_right']

stationary=cont.actuators['stationary']

w=cont.sensors['w']

walk=cont.actuators['walk']

if a.positive and d.status==0:

    cont.activate(left)

else:

    cont.deactivate(left)

if d.positive and a.status==0:

    cont.activate(right)

else:

    cont.deactivate(right)

if a.positive and d.positive:

    cont.activate(stationary)

else:

    cont.deactivate(stationary)

if w.positive:

    cont.activate(walk)

else:

    cont.deactivate(walk)

I've tried everything I can think of but its become a great frustration. Please help!

Here is a screenshot:


texts: Possible to control or limit distance of gloss and shadow how it affects other objects?

texts:
I'm creating a scene with a room and I wonder if it possible, with the help of nodes, limit the distance of an objects shadow and glossy to nearby objects or as an alternative tell object A not to affect object B but affect the rest of the scene?

I have turned of glossy and shadow in the Cycles setting for an object because I didn't want it to affect another object and it looked nice, but then it affected the rest of the scene in a negative way.

Curious if this is possible?


texts: Project looks like it has doubled faces but doesnt

texts:
I tried selecting all, removing doubles, selecting by interior faces, and just manually deleting double faces, but nothing changes and as far as i can see there arent any doubled faces, but my entire project flickers with that double face look. any way to diagnose this?

Blend file: