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  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9

    1) I think you are misunderstanding some basics here that might be a cause for your misconception. Seams in Blender are properties of edges. Most often you use them to mark where polygons should be split apart when unwrapping, but not all projections methods use them (on purpose). In fact, only the plain "Unwrap" option uses seams.
    UVs on the other hand are a set of coordinates (U and V) in 2D space, and are stored per vertex, just as the XYZ coordinates are. You can split UV islands on a vertex just as you can split normals on a vertex. In both cases you have two data entries for that one vertex. Meaning you don't need marked seams to split polygons into UV islands.
    In general UVs are what is saved in most export formats and what most 3D applications have in common. Seams in a more general sense, not related to Blender then is just the phenomenon or artifact if you will, where textures projected onto two neighboring polygons don't transition well.

    2) This comes back again to what I just explained in (1). You don't need marked seams to unwrap your model. If other unwrap methods already work for you, there is no need to go and do the extra work to mark all island edges as seams. That's also the reason why the other projection methods don't just mark seams on their own. But the way you described is already the fastest way to do it to my knowledge.

    3) Select linked is the way to go, yes. But I would recommend using the hotkey for it (Blender default: L, while hovering over what you want to select). Then you also need to adjust the operator after you made your selection. Set it to "UVs".

    All subsequent selections with "Select Linked" will select already existing UV islands in the 3D view. If you want, you can have it be delimited by UVs and seams by shift clicking on the "Seams" option as well. (Or any other combination as well. In the UV editor view port you would also use "Select Linked", but that version does not have that many options and can only delimit by island.

    4) As far as I know there is no feasible way to do that. The only thing I can think of is baking them to a texture, but that is a VERY static thing. :D
  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    @wilson66 If you mean the new face sets feature then I don't know of a way to export that. Also I did not find any expansive documentation on it. It is fairly new after all.
  • Justo
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    Justo polycounter
    @f1r3w4rr10r
    Thanks for explaining :) 

    Meaning you don't need marked seams to split polygons into UV islands.

    Yeah, I think this is what I was getting at too.

    3) Select linked is the way to go, yes. But I would recommend using the hotkey for it 

    Don't worry, I already made a few hotkeys (and scripts where needed) to automate operations. Blender is so easy to mold to one's wishes, and that is so so powerful... 



    About the Smart UV Project function. Isn't it just a half-way angle-based mapping, strangely mixed and limited by a cube mapping? Using it to unwrap a cylinder primitive, and there is no setting I can find for it to spit out 3 shells. It will at most produce 6 shells - one for every axis view. You would think that if the Angle Limit was set above 90, it should be welding the top and bottom shells together with the sides if I'm not mistaken. Is there no "true" unbound angle-based projection mapping in Blender? Willing to search for reliable external addons if needed.
    (Normally the suggested way to unwrap a cyl is to use cyl projection mapping ofc, but my point is that apparently smart uv projection will always create seams at the axis plane divisions, even if the angles of the edges themselves should be well within the Angle Limit)
  • Eedle
    Hello!

    I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction for some tutorials that would show me how to create a script that reproduces the following behavior:

    I often find myself in need of the Max Bevel functionality. That is similar to an extrude followed by a scale. It looks like this inside Max: 


    Now the issue with doing an extrude followed by a scale on inset faces like that is that it produces a result like this, with both sets of edges scaling inwards even with individual origins set as the pivot of the transformation:


    Now there's 2 solutions that I've found which work, one being insetting with depth on the face selection, and the other being selecting the two sets of edges and using the Shrink/Flatten function. As seen below, the two both produce the desired effect:


    What I'd like is to program the Inset functionality to a key that when pressed first allows you to slide the cursor (the same way extrude does) to change the value of the Inset Depth. Then, when click is pressed, the Depth variable is set and you can slide the cursor again to modify the Thickness variable. Upon click again the operation is finished (perhaps it could show the Inset Box with the bottom left side of the screen). 

    If anyone knows of an addon that does something like this, or any tutorial that could teach how to do something like this, it would be really helpful.
  • FrankPolygon
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    FrankPolygon grand marshal polycounter
    @Eedle There's a single line, horizontal display that appears in the lower left corner of the 3D view port when a tool operator is active. This displays will show the current input values for all parameters and the hotkeys for toggling the primary input to adjust the other input values. When the inset operator is active there is a hotkey (ctrl is the defualt) that switches the mouse input between the thickness and depth values. This should result in the tool behavior you're looking for.

    Here's what that display looks like:



  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    @Justo I never really use smart UV project myself, but yeah I can reproduce what you are saying. The documentation mentions though it is supposed to be used for mechanical things, so a curved surface seems to be already too much for that fairly simplistic algorithm.

    I never really found a need to use anything else than marking seams and using unwrap. But I guess if you need something faster, that can sometimes end up being slow.
  • Justo
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    Justo polycounter
    I never really use smart UV project myself, but yeah I can reproduce what you are saying. The documentation mentions though it is supposed to be used for mechanical things, so a curved surface seems to be already too much for that fairly simplistic algorithm.

    I never really found a need to use anything else than marking seams and using unwrap. But I guess if you need something faster, that can sometimes end up being slow.
    When I read that in the docs yesterday I groaned out loud :'( - anything hard surface with bevels will most definitely not work with a tool like this, since it'll just cut a seam somewhere in the bevel even when the angle of its faces shouldn't allow for it. I was hoping this could speed things up for certain shapes, but I suppose it all comes down to doing it the manual way... 


    For anyone interested, a user updated the custom build of Blender that selects backfaces without having to toggle on XRay. It's now finally using the 2.83 LTS release :)     
  • Polyboi
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    Polyboi node
    Hey everyone, im building a rig and i have some shape keys driven from bone rotation, and all works great until i turn IK on and for some reason the bone rotation data is no longer shown in Euler I reaaaally need this data. I have already tried crutching by adding additional bone with copy rotation constraint but it also shows nothing.
    Help pls
  • Fletcher
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    Fletcher polycounter lvl 11
    Hi two quick questions regarding uv editor, can I make lines of uv edges thinner? I searched in preferences but couldn't find anything. Second one is about uv editor in separate window. So I don't like to split my viewport in half and I undock uv editor window and move it to second monitor. This works great but the problem is that uv editor window is somehow totally separate from main Blender window and I need always first click on window to make it active and then do what I want to. This is painful when I am using uv sync and move between 3d viewport and uv editor window. I wonder if there is a way to keep both windows active all the time?
  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    @Fletcher for the first I would look in the theme options. If it exists, it is likely in there.

    The second is not a problem of Blender, but a problem of your operating system's window manager. What you are looking for is a focus on hover/mouseover.
    On Windows, you can find that in the accessibility settings (https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/47361-autofocus-window-mouse-hover.html). On Linux there are multiple window managers that do that out of the box (i3 for example) and most can be made to behave like that. On Mac I have no idea. But in all cases this will be a system wide setting and not only affect Blender.


  • Fletcher
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    Fletcher polycounter lvl 11
    @f1r3w4rr10r yep, theme options were first to look but I didn't find anything usefull there.

    Focus on hover kind of works but I need to wait a second to windows became active and already I activated my uv window when I didn't want to (Discord were above uv editor and when I was typing message cursor went off Discord window and activated uv editor) so it's not perfect solution. And I think it is pretty much Blender thing that undocked window behave like that. Other softwares like Substance Painter/Designer or Maya does not have any issues with undocked windows. So I'll keep searching on that topic. Still thanks for help! :)
    Edit: same thing when I click on any part of any undocked window of SUbstance Painter/Designer/Maya/Cinema4d etc it brings up all of particular software windows. When I click on blenders undocked window the main window is not being brought up so I need to activate it separately. This is an issue for me as I cannot effectively use my multi monitor setup which is shame.
  • Deforges
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    Deforges polycounter lvl 11
    @Fletcher For the uv window you can you can generate a fill image to get rid of the lines, alternatively you can create your own uv grid image and import it. https://imgur.com/i1wIBW2


  • wilson66
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    wilson66 polycounter lvl 8
    Task: I need to create a large ball of yarn/wool, the challenge being the creation of the single curve going around a sphere. I'd really like to avoid having to place individual curve points around a sphere, I could just create a curve, and extrude that around a sphere manually by clicking, placing each point/vertex onto the sphere with face snapping activated. 

    That'd take forever though. Is there some method/ addon to create a single curve going round the surface of a sphere in random directions a specified number of times? Just going around the surface will be enough, the volume of the sphere does not need to be filled. I would be thankful for ideas on how to go about this.
  • eltarbos
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    eltarbos polycounter lvl 7
    wilson66 said:
    Task: I need to create a large ball of yarn/wool, the challenge being the creation of the single curve going around a sphere. I'd really like to avoid having to place individual curve points around a sphere, I could just create a curve, and extrude that around a sphere manually by clicking, placing each point/vertex onto the sphere with face snapping activated. 

    That'd take forever though. Is there some method/ addon to create a single curve going round the surface of a sphere in random directions a specified number of times? Just going around the surface will be enough, the volume of the sphere does not need to be filled. I would be thankful for ideas on how to go about this.

    Activate the add-on "add curve Extra objects"
    In object mode you will find a spline generator menu in the N panel create tab.
    The spirofit or bounce spline function will help you to create spline around an object with many parameters.
  • Deforges
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    Deforges polycounter lvl 11
    I saw an interesting discussion on a facebook group today about commercial addons for blender. Blender's license explicitly states "Sharing Blender or Blender add-ons or scripts is always OK and not consider piracy."  So if I had Hard Ops, I can really just give to anyone I want? 

     I wouldn't do this, I think any developer should be able to get money out of their creation but I'm simply curious.
  • birb
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    birb interpolator
    Deforges said:
    I saw an interesting discussion on a facebook group today about commercial addons for blender. Blender's license explicitly states "Sharing Blender or Blender add-ons or scripts is always OK and not consider piracy."  So if I had Hard Ops, I can really just give to anyone I want? 

     I wouldn't do this, I think any developer should be able to get money out of their creation but I'm simply curious.
    An add-on using the API of a GNU GPL licensed software is considered a derived work, thus must be licensed under the same terms Blender uses. If you look into an add-on's source code you'll notice most of them include the GNU license block and the ones who don't are just being lax.

    That makes the answer "Yes" and "No". The Blender-derived source code can be freely distributed under the license's condition—being an asshole isn't illegal—, but the assets can't. Objs, blend files, independent scripts and images are all assets, and those can be licensed whatever way the creator wishes. Additionally, keep in mind that copyright exists independently from the license used.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
     "I saw an interesting discussion on a facebook ..."
    "... but I'm simply curious."

    Thankfully enough, just because someone writes something on facebook doesn't mean that it's true ...
    What did the Blender Foundation tell you when you asked them the question ?
  • Deforges
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    Deforges polycounter lvl 11
    @birb thanks for the explanation 

    @pior to clarify, that bit I posted in quotations is straight off blenders website but I didn’t ask them since I don’t plan on distributing any kind of scripts, free or commercial, at all.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Heya -
    That's not my point. By wondering about facebook posts by random people and also by not linking to the actual source of the statement, you are greatly increasing the chances of confusion on the topic. It's now easier than ever to get access to information, so why not making the small effort of contacting the BF to get *actual* clarification on what you are wondering about ? Also who knows if by "Blender Add-ons" they mean the ones shipping with the app by default, or third-party ones.

    My point overall is that by just "discussing" things (posting on FB, forum threads, and so on) without any solid statement from the actual source, no one really gets any wiser since everything can lead to misinterpretation. So why not go to the source instead, and *then* share your findings ?
  • jRocket
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    jRocket polycounter lvl 18
    birb said:
    An add-on using the API of a GNU GPL licensed software is considered a derived work, thus must be licensed under the same terms Blender uses. If you look into an add-on's source code you'll notice most of them include the GNU license block and the ones who don't are just being lax.
    The issue of whether Blender add-ons(or any other GPL work) constitute a derivative work is not as clear-cut as you make it out to be. Some argue that dynamically linked libraries are okay, as long as they don't contain source code from the original work. Some would say it doesn't even matter, and that things like plugins are not necessarily derivative of the original code- thus do not have to be GPL. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#Linking_and_derived_works
  • wilson66
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    wilson66 polycounter lvl 8
    eltarbos said:
    wilson66 said:
    Task: I need to create a large ball of yarn/wool, the challenge being the creation of the single curve going around a sphere. I'd really like to avoid having to place individual curve points around a sphere, I could just create a curve, and extrude that around a sphere manually by clicking, placing each point/vertex onto the sphere with face snapping activated. 

    That'd take forever though. Is there some method/ addon to create a single curve going round the surface of a sphere in random directions a specified number of times? Just going around the surface will be enough, the volume of the sphere does not need to be filled. I would be thankful for ideas on how to go about this.

    Activate the add-on "add curve Extra objects"
    In object mode you will find a spline generator menu in the N panel create tab.
    The spirofit or bounce spline function will help you to create spline around an object with many parameters.
    Very nice, thank you!
  • Deforges
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    Deforges polycounter lvl 11
    pior said:
    Heya -
    That's not my point. By wondering about facebook posts by random people and also by not linking to the actual source of the statement, you are greatly increasing the chances of confusion on the topic. It's now easier than ever to get access to information, so why not making the small effort of contacting the BF to get *actual* clarification on what you are wondering about ? Also who knows if by "Blender Add-ons" they mean the ones shipping with the app by default, or third-party ones.

    My point overall is that by just "discussing" things (posting on FB, forum threads, and so on) without any solid statement from the actual source, no one really gets any wiser since everything can lead to misinterpretation. So why not go to the source instead, and *then* share your findings ?
    There's no need to be like that. All the sources I found from Blender and google were very vague and as Birb and Jrocket have stated, the issue is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. I'm sorry that I didn't put enough effort for your liking into a question. I'll pm you with any questions to get your personal approval before I post again.
  • birb
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    birb interpolator
    jRocket said:
    birb said:
    An add-on using the API of a GNU GPL licensed software is considered a derived work, thus must be licensed under the same terms Blender uses. If you look into an add-on's source code you'll notice most of them include the GNU license block and the ones who don't are just being lax.
    The issue of whether Blender add-ons(or any other GPL work) constitute a derivative work is not as clear-cut as you make it out to be. Some argue that dynamically linked libraries are okay, as long as they don't contain source code from the original work. Some would say it doesn't even matter, and that things like plugins are not necessarily derivative of the original code- thus do not have to be GPL. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License#Linking_and_derived_works
    Awkward wording apart, my reply was based on the official BF stance found in https://www.blender.org/about/license/.

    That's all I have to say as further engaging in this discussion would be to argue hypothetical situations and conflicting point of views, something I have zero intention of doing. Not saying that you want, it's just that this sort of discussion tends to drag on forever and is pointless given it has no legal weight until it hits a court.
  • melviso
  • birb
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    birb interpolator
    melviso said:
    Does anyone know what modifier this is? The symbol looks different from those on Blender 2.8:
    (snip)
    It's Mirror with an older version of the icon.
  • melviso
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    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    @birb Thanks. Btw its from this video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7JOZppkTrQ

    Does anyone know how they are getting the bevel edges on the fly as the asset is being created?
  • m00k
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    m00k polycounter lvl 3
    @melviso Im not sure which part of the video you are referencing but maybe you are mistaking the cavity shading for a bevel? Or it could be the bevel modifier. 

    If you mean the interactive beveling tool its just ctrl+B on blender default keymap. It's the legacy/hotkey tool instead of the toolbar one
  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    @m00k I wouldn't call that legacy. It is the same tool, just with the hotkey.
  • m00k
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    m00k polycounter lvl 3
    I suppose, how about poweruser operator ;)
  • wilson66
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    wilson66 polycounter lvl 8
    I have an array of objects which looks really computer generated/ evenly spaced out. I'd like to control/ randomize the rotation/ transform offset in X/Y/Z of each individual object in that array, so it looks more natural. Is there an easy way to do that?

    I could assign e.g. a displace modifier, and then e.g. use a 'cloud' texture to displace the objects by a small amount, but control is limited, and I can't control rotation of the objects at all.
  • Prime8
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    Prime8 interpolator
    @wilson66
    I recommend to use a particle system for anything array-like that needs randomization.
    You can use an array as emitter, If you need a specific pattern. Spawning one particle per vertex or face gives you the necessary control.
  • melviso
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    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    @mook Thanks.

    Has anyone here ever tried using Blender 2.8 for huge scenes with like 500 8k textures e.t.c? If so, how was the performance and render time and management?
  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    @melviso is just scaling the UVs down not an option? What are you trying to achieve? By design UVs loop around beyond 1 in pretty much all of 3D. If you want to split it across more textures, either use multiple materials/textures or UDIM. Although I don't know what the UDIM support in Blender is like at the moment.
  • LuisCherubini
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Oh snap, Preserve UVs is here !!! And it works pretty much flawlessly.

    This makes lowpoly art soooo much more fun and pleasurable to work on, as it basically allows to texture and model non-linearly, at the same time. This one was long overdue really ...

  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    That is pretty cool indeed! Now if we could please get edge/face constraints added too then I'd officially be out of things I still miss from Autodesk land.

  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9

    Currently it just has one thing I don't really like: It will behave as before, if the snap would go off-screen, in order to make the jumps not as jarring and not to confuse the user. I'd rather have it snap in all cases, or at least be able to turn the limitation off.
  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    @f1r3w4rr10r yeah I saw those gifs but that seems to relate only to snapping if I understood it correctly? The edge/face constraints are all about sliding component selections across surfaces, restricted only by topology or volume. Also using proportional edits and UV correction.

    Vertex slide in Blender is like the most basic implementation of what Max/Maya have in this regard but it only covers one use case.
  • gnoop
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    gnoop polycounter
    Does  anyone know if it's possible to see  Blender thumbnails in win explorer?  
  • birb
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    birb interpolator
    gnoop said:
    Does  anyone know if it's possible to see  Blender thumbnails in win explorer?  
    They should appear when saving files with Save Preview Thumbnails enabled. This setting doesn't appear in the save dialog, it's currently located in Preferences > Save & Load. Here are the most up-to-date pages form the manual about it (1 2).
  • MrNinjutsu
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    MrNinjutsu greentooth
    Goodness! I've been looking forward to this day for so long!

    This will help with manual LOD'ing for sure!  
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @gnoop : all the answers you need on that are on page 121 of this very thread :)

  • gnoop
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    gnoop polycounter
    pior said:
    @gnoop : all the answers you need on that are on page 121 of this very thread :)


    oh,  thanks  pior         Looks like nothing helps in my case although.   Tried that blender -r  many times  before  and  one more time again . Never worked.      And I always had this folder view  option  "Always show icons, never thumbnails"    off   .  
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    Polyboi said:
    Hey everyone, im building a rig and i have some shape keys driven from bone rotation, and all works great until i turn IK on and for some reason the bone rotation data is no longer shown in Euler 

    [image]

    I reaaaally need this data. I have already tried crutching by adding additional bone with copy rotation constraint but it also shows nothing.
    Help pls
    @Polyboi I don't know if you've already found a solution (your post is from June 29th), but those sliders aren't showing the final transform of the object, or bone in this case. They show the user transforms -- a base transformation set by the user (aka the artist).

    If you're using a constraint, the transform of an object does not show up on the transform slider in that sidebar. But if you set a Transform Channel driver, it should always use the final composite transform of the object, so I don't know why your driver isn't working, it might be because of some other problem.
    This video explains it better (or rather, it explains where the IK constraint lies in the constraint stack), it's from Nathan Vegdahl's amazing Humane Rigging series for Blender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVs2BQfZbg&list=PLE211C8C41F1AFBAB&t=1129

    Note that those tutorials use Blender 2.62, but most of the theory and steps should translate well to newer versions.
  • melviso
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    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    @f1r3w4rr10r No worries. I sorted it out.

    Has anyone had this issue with Textools baking out grey flat color for diffuse baking? Any idea what might be causing this issue?
  • gnoop
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    gnoop polycounter
    Anybody use "magic UV'  addon  ?   I think it comes as one with normal blender installation but nothing seems working there.  I am curious about "circle"  ,"Strighten",  "smooth"  buttons .


  • guitarguy00
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    guitarguy00 polycounter lvl 6
    How do the UV tools in standard Blender compare to 3DS Max's UV tools? They seem quite limited from what i have seen? I couldn't even find a 'relax' option unless it is hidden somewhere?
  • Tiles
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    Tiles greentooth
    It is called Minimize stretch, to find in the UV menu. And there are a few addons to extend the Blender UV functionality.

  • f1r3w4rr10r
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    f1r3w4rr10r polycounter lvl 9
    The only thing I really needed to enhance UV functionality was UVPackmaster2. Because it is so much better than Blender's pack algorithm.
  • guitarguy00
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    guitarguy00 polycounter lvl 6
    The only thing I really needed to enhance UV functionality was UVPackmaster2. Because it is so much better than Blender's pack algorithm.
    As far as I know no standard modeling packages comes close to Packmaster2's pack algorithm besides maybe Modo?
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