All Questions
117,574
questions
293
votes
4
answers
609k
views
Can Blender render pngs with the background transparent?
I would like to render an animation as a series of .png images with transparent backgrounds for use in a video. Is this possible?
239
votes
8
answers
491k
views
Why does the zoom sometimes stop at a point?
I often find that I can zoom in to a point, but then cannot zoom any more, even when there is a lot of room to zoom to the meshes on the scene.
This is particularly annoying in the following ...
- 2,493
229
votes
6
answers
489k
views
How to close view windows?
I would like to close some view windows that I opened accidentally.
See the image below:
Edit: another note: I tried searching for the solution, but only found things like "Join Area", which don't ...
- 2,393
210
votes
4
answers
595k
views
Change pivot or local origin of an object
How can I change the local origin of an object, without changing the object location in the world space.
This is the object located at position (0,0,0) in the world space
This is the same object ...
- 4,561
189
votes
10
answers
387k
views
What's the quickest, easiest way to point the camera somewhere in blender?
Often I want to just point the camera to an object or a specific area in my scene to get an idea of how it'll look in the render. What's the most painless hassle-free way to do this in blender?
A ...
- 2,971
168
votes
1
answer
504k
views
Splitting pieces of a mesh into a new object
I've just made a set of armor by using a male body mesh model I downloaded and selecting certain faces from the model and duplicating them to create viable armor pieces.
Since the pieces are just ...
- 1,863
158
votes
19
answers
51k
views
Resources for Blender
Since asking for tutorials, videos, resources, links to other content or downloads is considered off topic here, this is a specifically created Community Wiki which gathers resources for Blender and ...
156
votes
4
answers
282k
views
Add different materials to different parts of a mesh?
How do you add more than one material to a mesh?
I have tried adding two materials to the object, and then assigning one of the materials to a vertex-group, but I could not find a place to assign it....
- 5,729
140
votes
5
answers
403k
views
How to recenter an object's origin?
So, I'm working creating a lamp... yes, newbie here.
After modeling for a bit, I noticed that my point of origin was no longer the center of my object:
How to I reset an object origin point to the ...
- 1,753
138
votes
4
answers
270k
views
How can I make a camera the active one?
I have multiple cameras in a scene. What I want to do is to change which one is active. This way I can view the scene from different angles. How would I do this?
- 3,267
126
votes
10
answers
630k
views
How to focus on the selected object?
In Maya if we have an object selected and we press F then the object is brought into focus and if no object is selected then all the objects in the scene are brought into focus.
How can this be done ...
- 1,595
119
votes
2
answers
44k
views
Render with a wider dynamic range in cycles to produce photorealistic looking images
To get images that seem more photorealistic, not only a much wider Dynamic Range is needed, but also having the color information desaturate towards white as it would happen in an overexposed ...
user1853
114
votes
11
answers
131k
views
How can I pause a render in progress and then resume it at a later time?
I would like to pause a render that I have started, with the intention of resuming it at a later time (but during the same Blender session). How can I do this?
- 3,251
108
votes
1
answer
47k
views
What is a BSDF?
The term "BSDF" is common in Cycles shaders such as "Diffuse BSDF" and "Glass BSDF" but is not present in all names ("Emission" and "Mix Shader" are two such examples).
What exactly is a BSDF?
- 9,472
105
votes
7
answers
169k
views
Precisely move the 3D cursor
The 3D cursor can be moved by simply LMB clicking anywhere in the viewport. Is there a faster and easier way to position the 3D cursor?
- 49.6k
104
votes
5
answers
176k
views
What is non-manifold geometry?
I am not quite sure what non-manifold geometry is. I thought non-manifold geometry was just floating vertices and hole in a mesh. From my experience this is not always the case however. What is non-...
- 14.8k
100
votes
10
answers
132k
views
Where does console output go
I'm trying to debug a Python script by placing a print("foo=" + foo) statement in my code.
But where does the output appear?
It doesn't appear on the Python ...
- 3,971
97
votes
3
answers
181k
views
Add the Same Modifier to Multiple Objects at Once?
Is it possible to add a modifier to more than one mesh at once?
I have a lot of unique objects, and I want to set a subdivide modifier to them, would I have to do each one individually?
I have ...
- 5,729
96
votes
3
answers
238k
views
Enabling GPU rendering for Cycles?
I want to enable GPU rendering, but there is no option in User Preferences > System:
Why is this? How can I get cycles to render using my GPU?
92
votes
7
answers
198k
views
How to smooth shade an object while retaining hard edges?
I frequently come to the problem of having a mesh with parts I would like to render smooth and "hard" edges connecting them.
How can I set the mesh to show the sharp edges but render everything else ...
- 3,644
92
votes
5
answers
92k
views
How can I run blender from command line or a python script without opening a GUI?
I'm interested in using Blender for producing images, 3d files, or calculating geometry on a server.
Can I make blender run a python script without opening a GUI?
If not, can I incorporate Blender's ...
- 1,023
89
votes
6
answers
96k
views
How do I completely remove an image from my .blend file?
I'm creating a model for a 3D game that will eventually be exported using a custom Python script. This model makes heavy use of UV textures.
However, the project now references a bunch of images that ...
- 1,423
88
votes
2
answers
84k
views
How is Cycles different from Blender Internal?
How does Cycles work and how is it different from Blender Internal?
Which is better?
- 158k
86
votes
9
answers
121k
views
How to avoid noisy renders in Cycles?
I know that this question is a bit old or maybe overdone, but I'm running the latest edition of Blender and when I use the Cycles engine I get really fuzzy results and I can't find a simple, non-...
- 1,297
86
votes
2
answers
130k
views
How to close/open a view panel
I can't find a way to close a view panel, in particular the horizontal at the bottom, is pretty useless to me at this moment.
- 4,561
84
votes
4
answers
231k
views
How do I set a background image while I am editing?
How do I put a backdrop behind the model that I am creating so that I can compare the picture to the model while editing?
- 3,587
83
votes
3
answers
56k
views
How can I quickly generate / create a large city without modeling it all by hand?
I am trying to create an urban open-world environment in Blender that would be about one square kilometre in size. To avoid having to model hundred of individual buildings, I am looking for a way to ...
- 933
83
votes
5
answers
264k
views
How would you cut a shape out of an object using another object?
Coming from SketchUp one of the tools I miss most is the circle draw tool which lets you draw a circle on any face and then you could extrude it in/out. The only tool that I know of that comes close ...
- 7,066
80
votes
9
answers
175k
views
How can I remove all unused materials from a .blend file?
I'm testing different materials in the same object, and finally the file has a lot of unnecessary material, is there any command that performs the cleaning of these materials automatically? in short, ...
- 1,315
79
votes
5
answers
62k
views
What is the difference between a UV Sphere and an Icosphere?
When working with or adding meshes, I've seen UV Spheres and Icospheres being presented to me. What are the differences between them, when should either be used and is there anything I should take ...
- 2,916
79
votes
4
answers
112k
views
Is it possible to make Blender a Y-up world?
After learning bits and pieces of Maya, 3DS Max, IMAGINE and XSI I noticed that they all have Y-up worlds with Z being used for depth (naturally).
is there a way to make Blender a Y-up world?
and ...
- 791
77
votes
9
answers
144k
views
How can I add vertices to intersection of two edges?
I need to put a point at the intersection of two edges. Below is a picture with red circles around where I need points to be placed.
- 8,083
77
votes
2
answers
51k
views
How can I reuse existing materials, objects, etc from an existing .blend?
I have created several designs for a particular project and they are related, but I don't want to have to keep recreating any similar elements, such as shared materials or textures.
How can I use the ...
75
votes
22
answers
20k
views
What's the fastest and / or craziest way to model an arrow in Blender?
I'm curious about all the ways you can come up with a solution. I'm searching for the way with the least clicks and maybe the two runner ups. I made up some rules on how to count them:
A default ...
- 16.2k
74
votes
2
answers
210k
views
Where can the viewport clipping parameters be changed?
Zooming in to inspect texture details in 3D view clips some closer faces like shown in the image. It's not the camera view so changing camera settings doesn't help.
Where can the distance to the ...
- 38.8k
71
votes
4
answers
108k
views
Render just part of a final image from Cycles?
I'm using an older Nvidia chip that hates running viewport renders, and I need to check if changes to the materials on a few objects not far from the center of my scene are (I'm rendering a floorplan ...
- 1,943
71
votes
4
answers
50k
views
When should N-Gons be used, and when shouldn't they?
Support for N-Gons (polygons consisting of more than 4 vertices) has been in Blender for a while now, but many of us still may not know when to use them, and how to do so effectively.
In what ...
- 925
71
votes
6
answers
26k
views
Is there a tool for scientific visualization using Blender?
Is there an interface or API that allows using Blender as a tool for mathematical and scientific visualization? It should allow Blender to read in data (a la gnuplot or matlab, perhaps using scipy) ...
- 812
70
votes
10
answers
60k
views
Using 3rd party Python modules
I'm currently developing a script for Blender to handle Mesh Frequency Decomposition.
The script is nearly complete, but i need one more thing: The SciPy library to compute eigenvalues and ...
- 701
70
votes
5
answers
194k
views
How to reset the center of rotation of the 3d view when it is not the center of the view
Sometimes the 3d view rotation using the 3rd mouse button starts to rotate around an unusual point that is not very convenient. I don't know why it starts doing this, but it usually starts when I'm ...
- 1,663
69
votes
3
answers
164k
views
Keep sharp edges when using subdivision surface
How can I use the subdivision surface modifier to create more high poly meshes without ruining sharp edges?
For example this mesh
The sphere should be subdivided but the rim of the cylinder should ...
- 7,066
68
votes
6
answers
288k
views
Cutting a mesh in half
I have a mesh which I have imported from an OBJ file. I would like to apply Material A to the section of the mesh which is on one side of a given plane, and apply Material B to the section of the mesh ...
- 877
68
votes
5
answers
41k
views
How to pass command line arguments to a Blender Python script?
Let's say we have a Python script my_script.py that does some data processing with Blender. This script accepts some arguments (e.g. ...
- 783
66
votes
2
answers
64k
views
How do I align the viewport to a face normal?
I would like to align the view straight on to a face, perpendicular to the normal. How do I align the 3D viewport to the face of a mesh?
- 18.8k
66
votes
3
answers
384k
views
How do I put an image texture on a material in Cycles?
I am creating a model of a glass and I would like to put a drawing on it (a png picture).
I know how to do it using Blender Render, but not with Cycles Render. Help :)
- 763
66
votes
2
answers
25k
views
How do blender units and meters, feet, or yards correlate?
If I'm using blender game engine, how do blender units work in relation to gravity, acceleration, or weight? Is there a rough physical world equivalent?
- 1,047
65
votes
1
answer
85k
views
How do I "parent" objects?
I'm looking for a way to have two separate objects be connected, so that when I move the first object the second one will move also. The term parent is used, but how do I parent a object?
- 49.6k
64
votes
5
answers
98k
views
Is it possible to group several objects and then manipulate them (scale, rotate, translate) as one?
I've never been quite able to figure out how groups work in Blender (at least not since 2.5/6x). Is it possible to group several objects and then manipulate them (scale, rotate, translate) as one?
63
votes
2
answers
30k
views
Creating a Black Hole in Blender
I recently saw the film Interstellar and it was fantastic! The effects blew me away and it got me in the mood to try and re create the black hole, however I haven't been able to find any information ...
- 1,391
62
votes
2
answers
289k
views
FBX export why there are no materials or textures?
I used node textures in a mesh I exported to FBX.
I then imported it into Unreal Engine 4, and it didn't import any textures; I clicked the Upload Textures option in Unreal Engine.
Is there something ...
- 771