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  • wazou
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    wazou polycounter lvl 5
    Really great, well done ;)

    Glad you like rmb pie menu ;)
  • Mr_Flamey
    I made a small tool for working with vertex color data that some people might find useful. The key features are the ability to move data around between channels (copy or swap) or vertex weights, and the isolate channel feature that lets you paint into only one channel at a time. It also has some other features like channel invert, value remap and posterize.

    Info and download here:
    https://github.com/andyp123/blender_vertex_color_master



  • Yadoob
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    Yadoob polycounter lvl 7
    @Mr_Flamey : nice, it's really needed features and youre implementation is quite good !
     
    A bit of catch up about eh Eevee real time engine of Blender : 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv9NIUCrcgc&index=52&list=PLa1F2ddGya_9XER0wnFS6Mgnp3T-hgSZO

    Cool list of incoming features in the talk like shading in the UV view and other optimisation, still a  long way to go but the results are already impressive !
  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    i was just looking at 2.8 the other day.
    is there anything to be done in the preferences to make eevee run well? some of the demo scenes make a powerpoint slideshow seem fast here (forest and archviz in particular). on 1070 GTX and 4ghz machine with the visual studio build.
    generally, even in clay view mode i perceive a slight lag.

    and: layers be gone --- hello collections! i want you so bad already! :) it's like having the outliner plugin from 3ds max in blender. i love it.

  • Belzzebozz
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    Belzzebozz polycounter lvl 6
    Mr_Flamey: Great! Thank you a lot !!!


  • hypronost
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    hypronost polycounter lvl 6
    Gave the bevel shader a try with some booleans. friggin love it!
  • kio
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    kio polycounter lvl 15
    @thomasp I think the volumetric effects are very heavy. And they dont really aim at being "realtime", more like an interactive renderer. Did not play around with it so far, but would be nice if it can be tweaked as a fast preview renderer as well :)


    got annoyed by the two uv modes in blender, so I implemented a uv selection highlight for the viewport, and while at it I also added a preselection for the viewport and uv-view. Still missing a few bits, and not even tried on a dense mesh :D






  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @kio : oh ouiouiouiouioui !
    Can't wait to see how it will develop. I love how it still shows the original selection in the viewport and then your highlight on top - very nice.
    (Hopefully preselection will be an option rather than always on :) )
  • kio
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    kio polycounter lvl 15
    @pior haha, yes that won't be much of a problem, also the colours need to be configurable as well.

    I have something working for faces&islands as well now - but performance seems to be a problem on higher polycounts. Also i dont like that you cant select stuff in the viewport now - and the back and forth with the sync selection is really cumbersome. I still have to investigate things, but I might also need to add a "uv selection" mode for the viewport as well.
    I dont get why blender is structured this way, makes no sense to me. They just would have to drop selecting both sides of the uv seam on selecting in image editor, and then can completly let go of this dual mode thing.
  • kio
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    kio polycounter lvl 15
    bit of an update to my uv-addon. slowly reaching a usable state. drawing code might need some attention as it gets quite slow on higher poly counts. Preferences are needed as well, for things like.. colors. And then I really have to do some unwrapping and see how it works.




  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    scripting question: i have hotkeys to read/write to a specific OBJ file that i use for data exchange between apps. trying to add NURBS curves to the features now and am a little confused by the results.

    here's what i would set in the GUI to export from blender:


    and this is the command I use in my script:

    bpy.ops.export_scene.obj(filepath="a:/3D/objs/tmp.obj", 
    check_existing=False, use_selection=True, use_animation=False, 
    use_mesh_modifiers=True, use_edges=True, use_smooth_groups=True, 
    use_smooth_groups_bitflags=False, use_normals=True, use_uvs=True, 
    use_materials=False, use_triangles=False, use_nurbs=True, 
    use_vertex_groups=False, use_blen_objects=True, group_by_object=False, 
    group_by_material=False, keep_vertex_order=True, global_scale=1, 
    path_mode='STRIP')

    leads to:



    (i've offset the imports to distinguish from the original curve)

    with the options i set via script the curve reimports as a bunch of vertices. i'm using the identical import process to reimport both times though so the difference must be in the export.
    going by the definitions found at https://docs.blender.org/api/blender_python_api_2_74_release/bpy.ops.export_scene.html

    bug, oversight on my part? what is that? :)



  • kio
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    kio polycounter lvl 15
    mhh works on my machine - is the curve somehow parented?


  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    @kio thanks for the feedback. who doesn't like a dose of the good old 'works on my machine'. ;)
    the curve isn't linked to anything as far as i can see. will try with a vanilla installation then to see if some other addon is causing the issue. good to know that it at least does not seem down to a bug on the OBJ side of things!

  • armagon
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    armagon polycounter lvl 11
    Does anyone know any tool similar to this: https://gumroad.com/l/htdXQ

    For Blender?

  • Belzzebozz
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    Belzzebozz polycounter lvl 6
    Heyo,

    Does anybody have a good "instance" workflow in Blender for e.g. Game environments? Or is there maybe an add on that can make copies a little like instancing in Modo? 

    I have tried Group instancing but this really isn't a smooth solution. Especially that when u move your parent model in object mode all the children will move with it. Also, snapping doesn't really work like it should.
  • JoseConseco
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    JoseConseco greentooth
    I made this:

    If you want child to not be influenced by parent, u can use make unique option. But it is paid addon (u can get discount if  you have HardOps)
  • Belzzebozz
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    Belzzebozz polycounter lvl 6
    Nice I will have a look. And yes i do have HardOps
  • SnowInChina
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    SnowInChina interpolator
    Heyo,

    Does anybody have a good "instance" workflow in Blender for e.g. Game environments? Or is there maybe an add on that can make copies a little like instancing in Modo? 

    I have tried Group instancing but this really isn't a smooth solution. Especially that when u move your parent model in object mode all the children will move with it. Also, snapping doesn't really work like it should.
    i am not familiar with instancing in modo, but in blender you can link files (file -> link) from other blend files and they will update when you edit the source file

    also, if you duplicate an object with alt+d (instead of shift+d) it will create an instance of that model, you can scale, rotate.. etc this however you want in object mode
  • Belzzebozz
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    Belzzebozz polycounter lvl 6
    @SnowInChina : I was thinking about the linking solution. But the alt+d tip is great! Thanks !!! It is pretty close how it works in modo. The only things that is missing is some kind of visual feedback that it is an instance. Like a different outline or wire frame color.
  • Prime8
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    Prime8 interpolator
    @Belzzebozz the only visual feedback I know of is when you switch to edit mode all instances are displayed in edit, though not editable.
    You can as well create an instance by changing another objects mesh data in the data tab, but I would rather use this as a fix in case you lost the lnik for whatever reason, you can check it there.
    The modifier stack works per object, you can therefore use different modifiers on the same instance. Applying mesh changing modifiers is not possible however.
  • yursiv
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    yursiv polycounter lvl 10
    Working on addon for blender for quickly merge kitbash pieces, and some more things
    https://youtu.be/j4K-wCUb2sQ
    https://youtu.be/3-nMtiMALM0
  • Mad_Llama
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    Mad_Llama polycounter lvl 6
    @yursiv it looks hell of a lot like meshfusion! This is amazing! Are you planning to expand this addon anyhow? I'd buy it. 
  • yursiv
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    yursiv polycounter lvl 10
    yes, of course. it has some other features also. I'am working on it right now. It's in alpha stage for now. Stay tuned for more features in my topic
    https://youtu.be/4ucXZfSmwuU
  • Kraftwerk
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    Kraftwerk polycounter lvl 18
    While there are lately quite a few very neat open source game engines, this one is super thight integrated into Blender, looks really really nice:
    https://youtu.be/2-xkLH5FjPw


  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    That does look really nice, hopefully it will have legs. Wonder why something like this hasn't replaced blender's own lackluster internal game engine? (prob a dumb question).

    their website http://armory3d.org
  • Alemja
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    Alemja quad damage
    If any of you guys have ever used Textools for 3ds Max, @renderhjs is making a Textools plugin for Blender:



  • FourtyNights
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    FourtyNights polycounter
    Awesome, I love that more and more people are starting to embrace the power of Blender nowadays. :smiley:
  • joebount
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    joebount polycounter lvl 12
    Real quick question: is there a way to do an edgeloop selection from edges already selected? The select loop by clicking is nice but I don't necessarily want that behavior all the time.
    It does what I want when I go in the menu Select -> Edge Loop/Ring but not when I assign a shortcut to it.

    Found it: Basically had Loop select and multiloop select assigneds to the same shortcut. Thanks!
  • JoseConseco
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    JoseConseco greentooth

    Hi I made new addon - Render Bevel - is simple blender addon, for making variable bevel size for round corner cycles shader.
    Script requires blender 2.79 daily build, aka 2.79a from here
    Render Bevel panel is located in3d View -> Tool shelf -> Tools tab -> Render Bevel panel.
    Get it from here (gumroad)
    or here (dropbox link)
    Simple video with example of how this works
  • kanga
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    kanga quad damage
    Awesome, I love that more and more people are starting to embrace the power of Blender nowadays. :smiley:
    Those that dont are missing a real fast train!
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    renderhjs said:
    I started the first TexTools for #3DSMax in 2009, the blender version will have more fancy baking modes. TexTools will be free
    I'm not so sure this is good. It can propagate a feeling that software is something "easily done" or "low valued" that you can just give it away at no cost.
    Why study your ass off and work on your skills to make good tools, if you're going to put it out there for no return? It's unsustainable.
    I'd rather it cost a symbolic price of $1 rather than being completely free.

    Even Blender developers get paid, it's called the "development fund".
  • Mad_Llama
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    Mad_Llama polycounter lvl 6
    @RN I disaggree. If you're not broke and want to repay the community, or even developers (some good addons make it to the blender trunk ) this is a great way to do so.
    Blender is free on its own, doesn't that make software feel cheap?  :) 
    Just support the guys who are making the addons, know that often those are made not to earn a salary, but to help out and share tools 
  • wazou
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    wazou polycounter lvl 5
    On Gumroad people gives money to support devs on free addons.
    This is nice.
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool


    This add-on let's you change the FOV angle of your camera while automatically moving it so that the perceived distance to the 3D cursor remains the same. Some people call this effect the "dolly zoom".
    You use this while you're looking through a camera.

    It can be used for:
    - Aligning your scene with camera background images (i.e matching perspective, especially for organic meshes).
    - For animation and stills, trying out different FOVs without having to move the camera all the time.

    You can get it on Gumroad: https://gum.co/zxZtr

    Thanks!
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    Ok, can someone tell me how this is not a bug? It has annoyed me for ages and release after release it stays in. You should not be able to snap to vertices on the other side of your mesh-- That's what 'Limit selection to visible' is for. Surely this is a known issue? On dense meshes it's a struggle to even snap onto what you want.


  • yursiv
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    yursiv polycounter lvl 10
    I am pretty sure this option can be done. Did you wrote proposal somewhere. Here for example?
    https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Doc/Contact#Requesting_Features

  • cyaoeu
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    cyaoeu polycounter lvl 2
    Fuiosg said:
    Ok, can someone tell me how this is not a bug? It has annoyed me for ages and release after release it stays in. You should not be able to snap to vertices on the other side of your mesh-- That's what 'Limit selection to visible' is for. Surely this is a known issue? On dense meshes it's a struggle to even snap onto what you want.
    Limit selection to visible is for selection and has nothing to do with snapping. If you think it's a bug (snapping snaps to other side of mesh) let the developers know by submitting a bug report.
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    cyaoeu said:
    Fuiosg said:
    Ok, can someone tell me how this is not a bug? It has annoyed me for ages and release after release it stays in. You should not be able to snap to vertices on the other side of your mesh-- That's what 'Limit selection to visible' is for. Surely this is a known issue? On dense meshes it's a struggle to even snap onto what you want.
    Limit selection to visible is for selection and has nothing to do with snapping. If you think it's a bug (snapping snaps to other side of mesh) let the developers know by submitting a bug report.
    Is snapping not reliant on selection? Whether it's a bug is precisely what I'm asking, before I go and wade through entries in the bug tracker. Though I can't see how this could be considered normal/desirable behavior.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @yursiv : If anything, my advice would be to *not* report it as a bug but rather as an annoying behavior that needs to be resolved. Software engineers take the word "bug" very literally, which often ends up in big misunderstandings.

    (For instance : Photoshop changing the current layer after undoing a single stroke seems like a "bug" for the users, but for the Adobe engineers it is not a bug since the undo/history behaves as intended and there is no line of code to be fixed).

    Instead, describe your problem in full detail in a very naive but straightforward manner. In a way you have to "play dumb" a little. If you go into too much technical detail you run the risk of ending up tangled in discussions that will not resolve the issue.

    (BTW : I agree, this snapping behavior is plain dumb. Probably an old design oversight.)

    Good luck !
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    @Pior is right. When I made a report I was told this:

    Thanks for the report, but this sounds more like a feature request than a bug report, code is working as expected currently. If you think a new behavior should be added (or current should be modified), please use forums or bf-funboard ML.

    I think that fits your case.
    If I were you, I'd make a right-click-select post (what you already wrote is perfect), share the link in here so we can vote for it and move on.
  • cyaoeu
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    cyaoeu polycounter lvl 2
    Fuiosg said:
    cyaoeu said:
    Fuiosg said:
    Ok, can someone tell me how this is not a bug? It has annoyed me for ages and release after release it stays in. You should not be able to snap to vertices on the other side of your mesh-- That's what 'Limit selection to visible' is for. Surely this is a known issue? On dense meshes it's a struggle to even snap onto what you want.
    Limit selection to visible is for selection and has nothing to do with snapping. If you think it's a bug (snapping snaps to other side of mesh) let the developers know by submitting a bug report.
    Is snapping not reliant on selection? Whether it's a bug is precisely what I'm asking, before I go and wade through entries in the bug tracker. Though I can't see how this could be considered normal/desirable behavior.
    Well snapping uses the selected vertices, but the target can be anything, even on the other side of the mesh. Limit selection to visible will limit your original selection to the visible vertices, but the target part of the snapping has nothing to do with selections. Only the developers can tell you if something is a bug or not.

    There are other ways to snap things like using Snap Cursor to Selection and Snap Selection to Cursor. Or snapping while pressing x/y/z to constrain the movement. 
  • Odeca
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    Odeca polycounter lvl 3
    How did I miss this thread for so  long, just checked the last 10 pages and it blew me away!

    I have few questions...

    I'm a big fan of your work Wazou, so may I ask you if it's possible to have that fency merge-connect tool in a way that doesnt break UVS?  That would be pretty neat as that's what makes it very special in Maya

    Second question is a bit more tricky, I want to be able to cut holes trough a cylinder using a subdivided plane as start and then add a bend modifier to achive optimal result, as that gives freedom to work with also nasty geometry ( https://i.imgur.com/DNTVcQd.png )

    Problem is, that on the other side of the cylinder since the vertecies are not welded, I get bad results. 

    I'm trying to figure this out and I hope you guys could come up with some solutions or workaround
  • wazou
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    wazou polycounter lvl 5
    Hi,

    Ok, did it, come on the discord (link on addon page on gumroad), I will give you the .py I edited.

    For the second question, you cannot do this in blender saddly, we need a merge modifier for that.
  • 3D_director
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    3D_director polycounter lvl 5
    Hi, is anyone working on the blender101 project (simplified startup screen for blender directed to novice users with minimal user interface?)
    Thanks.
  • Fuiosg
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    Fuiosg polycounter lvl 5
    RN said:
    If I were you, I'd make a right-click-select post (what you already wrote is perfect), share the link in here so we can vote for it and move on.
    Thanks for the tip, here's the post if anyone cares to vote.

    https://blender.community/c/rightclickselect/Qzbbbc/prevent-snapping-to-hidden-targets


  • yursiv
  • Peris
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    Peris polycounter lvl 17
    Hey guys, here's a little baking UI I put together. Makes it fast and easy to bake maps and iterate. Hope you find it useful!

    https://github.com/leukbaars/BRM-BakeUI



  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    What do you think is the best viewport lamp setup? (for the three lamps that you can change on User Preferences > System)

    I've read more than once that matcaps are not the best shading to use when on a 3D viewport, and after trying the viewport lamps again after a long time using matcaps, they do give you a better sense of form!

    I tried looking at how other programs do it. There doesn't seem to be a consensus:
    3ds uses an over-the-shoulder lamp setup, with a secondary opposite lamp (3ds docs was the one that most explained about it):

    Maya, just from screenshots (didn't find any docs on it) seems to use a frontal lamp? Notice the pillow shading (It's the default viewport, on the left)

    Modo seems to use something similar to 3ds, an over-the-shoulder lamp. Maybe there's a second lamp serving as a fill light as well?




    PS: you can mess with the Blender viewport lamps through Python, it's in bpy.context.user_preferences.system.solid_lights.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @RN : Here's mine, FWIW : 



    Very simple, but it's been serving me well so far.
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    @pior It looks great, I'll try that out!
    Thanks.
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