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Blender Mega Thread

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  • VertexPainter
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    VertexPainter polycounter lvl 8
    LalaD said:
    if I can disable it?


    User preferences->Input->3d view->3d view global

  • LalaD
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    LalaD polycounter lvl 6
  • Michael Knubben
    For those who haven't bought it yet: The Pie Menu Editor does a lot more now than it did at release.
    Recently a capable-looking Macro Editor was added, and before that the developer added the ability to edit the tool-panel, either by hiding sections, or just creating your own.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HhN4aHCxg
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGs0de6ZYdw

    It also allows you to set up some more complex hotkeys than Blender does out of the box.

    For those already using it: share your stuff! I'd love to see how other have it set up.
    @Jakro Show off that stuff you shared on Slack the other day!


  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    @mightypea Here's a macro I made using PME. Though it does utilise a function from HardOps.
    https://youtu.be/JBMTlIBlZfk I've attached the .json files if any of you would like the macro. Just change the .txt extension to .json. 
  • AtticusMars
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    AtticusMars greentooth
    Does anyone know if it is possible to make a clipping border out of a lasso selection? Box is nice but not adequate for all situations.

    Also is it possible to hold a hotkey to snap to ortho views while orbiting like in ZBrush?
  • MmAaXx
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    MmAaXx polycounter lvl 10
    for snapping is ALT while orbiting.
    About the clipping, only rectangular.
  • Michael Knubben
    Hello guys, How are you?
    Any of you know an Addon for Blender similar to 3Ds Max script's textools where I can Control the texel density for my models? Thanks!!
    https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?417608-Addon-Texel-Density-Checker-1-0-1
    Magic UV has tools for setting the texel density as well, but this plugin (that I haven't had the chance to test) looks like it's more ocnvenient.

  • pixelb
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    pixelb greentooth
    @MightyPea Amazing, I've been wanting this since forever. Works fine for me, though sometimes it takes more than one click to apply.
  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    Here's a quick little tool to make UVing a little easier. Powered by Pie Menu Editor! :tongue:
  • AtticusMars
  • Yadoob
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    Yadoob polycounter lvl 7
    A bit of news from the Blender 2.8 project :


    The Roadmap : https://code.blender.org/2017/03/eevee-roadmap/

    And also an explanation of what happened during the  workflow workshop :
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YOx_yomjtQ
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    Ok I gotta ask cause this is bothering me, is there no way to repeat select a pattern of edge loops? I thought you used 'select next active' (cntrl shift +) but for some reason it doesn't select the whole edge loop.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @Fuiosg : Another way to get what you want would be to start by selecting the whole series of parallel edges then run "Checker Deselect". And then select loops from there.



  • MmAaXx
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks for the tips. It'd be nice if you could do it with just keyboard shortcuts, not sure why it only selects one edge, but this works.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    It can be done with keyboard shortcuts as soon as you define the keyboard shortcuts that you need :)

    There is no point relying on an unedited default keymap since it will obviously have shortcuts that you don't need, and some that are missing for your specific workflow.
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    I get that, but why have 'select/ next active' only choose a single edge and not the edge loop. If I wanted just one edge that's what I would have selected. Just wish blender had more smart selection tools like modo, or maybe it does and they're not readily apparent to me.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    If I understand correctly Select next Active looks at the relationship between the Active component and the previously selected one and infers the next component to select from there. Therefore, the function is not designed to operate on loop input, and is not designed to output anything else than a new Active component (which is always single).

    A shortcut-based approach to what you need would be : first selecting a full ring ; then running CheckerDeselect with options fitting the pattern that you need ; and then selecting the loops from there.

    I am of course not saying that Select next Active should or shouldn't be able to do that. Just saying that if the limitation you are facing was to be reported as a problem or a bug, it would be (justifiably) dismissed by the devs since the feature being referred to does exactly what it is designed to do in the first place :) However, if you feel like there is a strong need to be able to infer a selection of loops based on the two currently selected ones and their relative spacing, it would be worth bringing it up as a desired feature to add. That said it would probably be given low priority since the same can already be done through Checker Deselect :)

    (FYI the "Active component" is the last selected component which acts a selection lead, shown in white. This is a separate concept from a selection of multiple components, shown in orange.)
  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    @Fuiosg I made a stack key for this process. I just hit shift - to checker deselect, and then if i press shift - again it will loop selected edges. 
  • Michael Knubben
    I think it'd actually be interesting to see how everyone's customised their Blender. I think by and large, we're more customisation-minded than the people over at blenderartists.org, and stuff like Jakro's use of PME is really cool to see.
    For instance, I really like working in fullscreen with little to no UI, so I set up a modifier panel to be opened with a hotkey:


    Which works in tandem with my RMB menu (very much work in progress):


    The NW pie entry adds a subdivision modifier if none is present, and toggles it on or off if one already exists.
    The NE pie does the same, but for the mirror modifier.
    W toggles alls modifier's visibility on or off (so it's a duplication of a feature in the panel, but I'm still working on that.)
    N calls this panel for whichever action was last (so like F6, or the thing in the bottom right of the interface):


    I'll post more if anyone's interested, but for now: share yours!
    I know @pior has got some cool custom stuff as well, like the bending script he had someone make, and @Jakro definitely has more...


  • Stromberg90
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    Stromberg90 polycounter lvl 11
    Good idea, it's always cool seeing how others have blender setup :)
    And I like it being so customizable, among the many included addons, open source once or making one from scratch,

    That floating panel looks cool! :)
    I don't work with as little UI as you do, but even then it would save me time from switching tabs.

    Here is how I have blender setup, I tried picking what shows best on gifs.
    I use maya at work, so I try and keep most of my hotkeys and functionallity in sync.

    Just my layout first.

    Copy pasting between meshes

    Edge to curve

    Maya Style Quad View(I don't use this very often, and it has a rate of working at around 50%)

    Maya Merge(One thing I missed from maya was the merge tool)

    Duplicate along curve

    Mirroring(Wonder if this is similar to the auto mirror you got, but yours select the axis automatically?)

    And last but not least, for importing kitbash files, where it searches though a hardcoded folder listing the blend files, then importing a group that has the same name as the file.
    Next step on this one is having a script save out the selected files to the same folder with the right name, group and all that.

  • Michael Knubben
    Automirror does what I wish the modifier did non-destructively: slices/bisects geometry at the mirror line, so you don't get overlapping geometry.
    If it isn't already included in the default plugins, I think you'll find it here: https://github.com/lapineige/Blender_add-ons/tree/master/AutoMirror

    Have you looked into Asset Management for your kitbash files? It seems like a perfect solution for you.

    Have you got links to your scripts? I'm particularly interested in the Edge to Curve script (it's coming to Speedflow, but for now requires some manual steps) and Duplicate Along Curve scripts!

    Nice layout by the way, I considered doing it it like that as well.
    Here's what my UI looks like unmaximised:

    My Outliner has three parts as you can see, and they're layed out like this:
    -At the top, it only shows the selected objects.
    -Middle part is just a regular outliner, showing everything in the current layer
    -Bottom part is for groups.

    I've also started adding some stuff to my 3D View header as you can see, which I think is a far more logical location for Display/View/Shading menus, which pop out like this:


  • Stromberg90
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    Stromberg90 polycounter lvl 11
    I'll take a look at the auto mirror.

    The way you have setup the outliner seems like a good way to go about it, never thought about doing it like that, going to setup mine the same and see how it goes.
    Like I didn't use blenders groups, because they don't show up in the outliner but this will help with that :)

    I did look at the Asset Management addon a while ago, now that you mention it I'll have another look and hopefully get rid of my own script ;)

    Do you got your scripts online?, would be nice looking at the code and pickup some tricks.

    I don't have my scripts online just yet, I have been wanting to do it, they require some cleanup though, since know they mostly work to the degree that I can work with them, and not much further.

    I'll take some time during the weekend to polish them up and put them on my github.

    Wouldn't mind a polycount-blender discord/slack or a channel in the official groups, would like to talk to more blender polycounters.
  • L0ckeness
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    L0ckeness polycounter lvl 5
    I've also spent some time replicating more basic maya shortcuts and navigation in blender. I'm always wondering if there was some plugin or in depth guide to getting as much functionality as possible shared between the two programs but haven't seen much past the "maya will it blend?" series of videos really trying to take on the subject til this last string of posts here.

    Maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places, or maybe it doesn't exist yet, but I'm sure there are many people who use maya at work / blender at home who would be interested in more information to setting up as much overlap as makes sense between these two softwares.
  • HeadClot
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    HeadClot polycounter lvl 9
    Not really sure where to post this. But should be useful for those of you who do Non-real time rendering. It is also still experimental. Just an FYI. :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDB7x35Cda4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1pC7dNS0hs

    Mod edit: moved this in here, let me know if you'd prefer to keep it in a separate thread @headclot

  • Michael Knubben
    We've discussed having software-specific groups on the Slack, but given Slacks limited history (text gets wiped out past x number of messages, regardless of channel), the downsides (splitting up the Slack, becoming a mess of channels) outweigh the benefits in our eyes. As far as I know, @Fingus started out with a bunch of application channels, but ended up getting rid of them.
    There is a Blender Discord with a sizable crowd, but I found it to be super unwelcoming, and it's ran by what turned out to be (in my limited time in there) the worst offenders themselves, so kind of a topdown shitshow.

    My 'scripts', as far as you can call them that, are all set up in Pie Menu Editor (Which now does Macros, Tab editing, UI editing, Pies, advanced hotkeys... it's really evolved into a fantastic tool), aside from the odd script I managed to blag friends into making (like @kaptainkernals 's Rotate Around Cursor script, which is on his Github).
    Everything's kind of in flux at the moment, but I'll definitely share mine once they're not a mess.

    @L0ckeness: There's only so far you can go with that type of thing, in my experience. Most programs, and especially those that do everything, work in subtly (or not) different enough ways that they warrant their own setup. It's hard to transport hotkeys wholesale from one to the other without the inevitable differences being a hassle, to the point where any muscle memory you can use for both ends up being a bit of a wash.
  • Stromberg90
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    Stromberg90 polycounter lvl 11
    Pie Menu Editor looks nice, had it on my watchlist for a while :)

    I've added the two scripts you requested to my github, I'll add the rest during time.
    https://github.com/Stromberg90/Scripts/tree/master/Blender

    Any of you know if it's possible to have shade smooth and auto smooth activated by default?
  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    @Yamanote Pie Menu Editor has a Stack Key feature where you can stack multiple commands to the same key. You could simply have one command that activates mouse wheel up and then bind that to whatever keyboard shortcut you want. That way you can just activate bevel with while using your tablet and hit your keybinding that scrolls up once if you wanted more segments. then just bind another key with a version that does mouse wheel down. 

    Though you could also use the macro editor for this. Either would work :)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range

    Hmm...curious as to why this 'Mega Thread' wasn't made a sticky after all this time, rather than relying on OP bumping every once-'n-awhile through interested eyeballs browsing for relevant info?

    Oh well...anyways I'd gone back ten pages too check that I'm not doubling up linking this tidbit relating to Blender's much maligned UI. Basically a fully functional fork made available quite recently I've personally yet to test BTW, however just having a peek at the documentation online plus coupled with user reviews, so far seems to be just the thing to alleviate IMO the aforementioned disquiet, namely:

    Bforartists

    http://www.bforartists.de/

      

  • Michael Knubben
    It's still Blender's 'much-maligned' UI, @Tiles just removed some things and added others. I can't speak to the actual result, but I applaud him for sticking to his guns and seeing this project through.

    Visually, Bforartists's added icons don't fit in at all, but I think he knows that.
    On top of that, I disagree with the idea that icons are always the best way to represent tools. Compressing everything to a single square can help fit more on screen, but often at the expense of clarity.

    Really, I just don't think he goes far enough to warant it being a fork.


  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    I made a basic set of Macros for maya-like subdivision modelling. 
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    Newbish rigging question, in this image I'm using a limit rotation constraint, but I don't understand the values at all. I had to give X a negative minimum value for it to do what I want; is this the way it should be or is there a problem with how my bones are setup? Trying not to dick something up early on.
  • Lamoot
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    Lamoot polycounter lvl 7
    @Fuiosg negative minimum value is fine. I usually limit the rotation visually and don't care what value is needed to achieve the result.

    Since you're limiting the rotation in bone's local space, the result will depend on the roll of the bone (set in edit mode). In armature panel you can enable axes to see bones' orientations, which is useful at many stages of rigging.


  • Yadoob
  • Pedro Amorim
  • Prime8
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    Prime8 interpolator
    Wow these look both great.
    Adding decals with the Blender given tools is already quite comfortable, but this is a new level... or looks like at least, haven't tested it

  • cptSwing
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    cptSwing polycounter lvl 11
    Impressed by the decal wizardry!
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Hi all - is there a version of GoB that works between Blender 2.78 and Zbrush 4R7 ?

    Either GoB, or any other addon that would let one send a model to Zbrush in one click, and bring it back in one click. Even a Autohotkey script automatically writing/reading a dummy .obj file on the desktop would be fine. Best would be for such a tool to not try to be "clever" (that is to say, no need for the tool to monitor changes and update objects  on the fly. The dumber the better - like a regular import)

    For the record GoB for 2.72 errors out as follows in 2.78 :



    Thanks !
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    Can anyone recommend settings that improve the flatten/polish brush for sculpting? I've figured out most of blender's brushes except this one, it seems to bulge the surface out more often than polish it.
  • JoseConseco
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    JoseConseco greentooth
    Pior -try my fork, it made some fixes to original script. But I remember making gob work for the first time was always problematic, so I'm not sure it will work for you (just follow the instruction in txt file, and try restarting blender zbrush ):
    https://github.com/JoseConseco/GoB
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Hi Jose, thank you for your help ! Unfortunately this version is giving me the same result/error. The configuration on the Zbrush side works as intended (I just have to manually point to blender.exe because I run Blender directly from a folder as opposed to using a regular install) ; but clicking on the blue/green button doesn't seem to do much, and clicking on the beige button brings up the previous error message. 

    Is there any other solution out there to transfer data between the two programs ? This would most definitely make my life easier !
  • JoseConseco
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    JoseConseco greentooth
    Piot - maybe try runing blender in admin mode -just for the first time, so that you have owner right  to create ObjectList.txt file. After that you should be able to run blender in normal  mode, and get access to ObjectList.txt.  Maybe it helps. I don't know other way.
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    From the source of JoseCanseco's fork and the error you posted, it seems that the hardcoded path to the GoZ app that the script uses doesn't exist in your system (it doesn't point to that file).

    If you can, try to find where GoZBrushFromApp.exe actually is in your hd, and then replace the path to it at this highlighted line (as well as the line immediately below it, the path to the Pixologic folder):
    https://github.com/JoseConseco/GoB/blob/master/GoB_2-72.py#L36


    Then save the script and reinstall it.

    A way to improve this process would be for someone to add an addon preference like LuxRender does with its addon, where on the addon info itself you'd have a field to set the path to the GoZBrushFromApp from your computer so you don't have to go into the script and change it.
  • GhostDetector
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    GhostDetector polycounter lvl 10
    @pior

    I have encountered error once but I don't really remember how I fixed it exactly.

    All I remember doing, that may have fixed it, was:
    • Update Blender to the newest version
    • Removing the add-on then adding it back
    • Windows Update
    • Clean computer's registry
    Try seeing if the GoB addon works on an earlier version of Blender on your computer. 

    The GoB v2.72 does work with Blender 2.78
  • Frederico4d
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    Frederico4d polycounter lvl 9
    Hi guys, me working on multiple animations for the same (or different many similarly named rigs), this will be hundreds of animations soons, and what better way to go from an animation to the other than with  1 click, also having it change the timeline range automatically, zooming it in graph editor or dopesheet or timeline whatever you have open, and adding fake user (basically saving it). Was using max before, and had to use load and save animations to file, (because I was not using those fancy rigs, cat or bip) and it sucked.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQrfsufhyWw

  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @RN , @GhostDetector  : I am happy to report that I got it to work.

    Line 36 of the code put me on the right path, and this thread https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/24766/zbrush-4r6-released (msorrel post) made it clear : for some reason GoZBrushFromApp.exe was simpky not on my system, its disappearance likely caused by the Zbrush updater. Thankfully enough there is an installer for it located in  C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 4R7\Troubleshoot Help\GoZ_for_ZBrush_Installer_WIN.exe so it was just a matter of running that and from there everything worked. Definitely a convoluted process ... all because of Pixologic as usual :)

    @JoseConseco : I have been using your version, but what exactly does it do that is different from the original ?

    If that is of any interest to you I can mention that I do have to scale down my objects by a .1x factor in Blender before GoB-ing them out, because if not they end up too big for Zbrush to properly handle (the brush can hardly be made big enough for large Move brush operations, the Dynamesh slider requires very small values, and so on. My Blender scenes are set up in such a way that 1 generic unit = 1 real centimeter. So maybe adding a scale option to your fork could be valuable for people with similar settings ?

    Scaling things inside Zbrush to compensate is obviously not an option because it doesn't have accurate scale measurements, and would break on GoB reimport anyways. But ! oddly enough, I don't get the scaling issue if I GoB out a part and append it to a model that is displayed at a good working scale in Zbrush already, very odd (and again that's all probably be caused by the odd way Zbrush works internally).


  • JoseConseco
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    JoseConseco greentooth
    Stuff i fixed in my fork of gob (those are old fixes and I don't remember exactly what was broken):
    - works with instances (in past If I remember correctly object sent to zbrush would be uninstanced)
    - object transformations are not destroyed  (prevously I would apply rot,loc,scale on export to zbrush) - so eg. pivot of hat translated 2meters up in z axis, would be set to 0. Now it stays 2 meters up
    -  bug with empty texture fixed (would prevent object from being exported to zbrush)
    - catching closing file exception - blender could lock access to goz file, and you would no be able to send updated mesh through goz link- this would require blender (or pc restart) to unlock the file
    - bug with weights fixed - but I don't remember what it was about
    There is still some problems sometimes, but from zbrush side - eg. zbrush randomly changes name of subtool, and then blender can't recognize imported object, as one that is already on scene. I think I can't modify goz in zbrush cos pixologic don't give acces to it.
    Zbrush scaling is funky but for me it works ok - see 2 meters/blender units basemesh exported from blender - and then with default dynamesh settings:

    I'm not sure why you have the problem. 
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Awesome list of fixes !  I am glad to be using your version :D

    As for the scaling : I wouldn't really call that an issue or a bug - more like a side effect of the way Zbrush handle scale. I think you'd run into it too if your test character was 200 blender units as opposed to 2. But then again it's not really a big blocker at all, just something I thought I'd mention if that is of any interest to you.

    Regarding models updating on re-import : as far as I am concerned I personally feel like it is always best to never force update a model in the original scene but rather always bring it in as a new mesh. I am not exactly sure what GoZ/GoB does by default and I don't want to run the risk of overwriting my work, therefore I personally always duplicate my object before GoBing for safety.

    Anyways - thank you for your work !
  • derphouse
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    derphouse polycounter lvl 4
    Made a small script for gradient texturing. Intended for our env. artist and fresh out the oven, so it's quite specific and prone to errors, but thought I'd share the gist of the script here!



    It handles the unwrap and the export, so you really just need to focus on placing some neat gradients. It gets multiplied with another gradient meant to give more control of light and shadow. Exports .fbx and a 1x256 albedo map(We're working on mobile), but I might expose the map dimension parameters soonish.
  • Jakro
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    Jakro greentooth
    @derphouse That's pretty awesome! I'm guessing that UVs are generated via a side projection and then shrank to put into a pixel width atlas for a vertical gradient map. Do you think it would be possible to apply a gradient like this without having having squashed UVs? What I'm asking is whether or not you can project a gradient like this onto a mesh that's been UV'd for handpainting for example? The ability to quickly generate a vertical gradient to a mesh before or after handpainting would be really nice. Maybe this is out of the scope for your needs but I thought I'd ask :P Awesome work regardless!
16465676970139
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