Various Blender questions.

Support Basics & Interface
1

Hi guys here are some questions i really need help with. Thanks!

  1. When I use texture paint and paint fast the brush creates edges almost like
    the painting engine can’t keep up with the speed. I have changed the “input
    samples” but if you go to high the brush gets unresponsive,if you stay low you
    get edges. Is there any way around this?

  2. Is there any way to cut select edges inside the uv editor??

  3. I have a problem that sometimes when I press undo, Blender undo way to much
    things. I think this happens sometime when I am in edit mode, and after I go
    out in object mode, things don’t work properly.

  4. In what way is pie menus better in Blender 2.74? I think I read that you
    actually didn’t have to release the button when you got close to a selection
    in order for the pie menu to jump to the second layer but that doesn’t seem to
    work for me?

  5. I am looking for a function/script that will create a 90 degree bend from
    selection. So for example imagine if I would select the end on a cylinder,
    this script would extrude the selection and rotate it 90 degrees.

  6. Is there any way to center the crosshair in the world center and just turn
    it off visually? I never use it just forces you to move two things instead of
    one.

UV EDITOR

Ooh my heart…

  1. SyncSelection for me seems like a tool for destroying peoples life.why does
    some tools work in one mode but not the other? If you can click on your 3D
    model and see the face inside the UV editor clearly highlighted, why wouldn’t
    you be able to highlight faces from the UV editor and clearly see them on the
    3D model swell? I mean its even the same data? ( activating SyncSelection,
    does not count because then blender has decided to explode every face on your
    model). Can anyone give me an example why you would need this function?
    Also are there any work around for this?

  2. Is it possible to create a pie menu that you can use inside the uv editor?

  3. I am having a hard time understanding how the uv editor work in Blender,or
    maybe its more of a general uv question. So here is the thing. If you mark a
    seam in the 3D view you should be able to see it inside the uv editor, but
    how? I also don’t understand why you can’t rip faces inside the uv editor
    (which means that the uv has seams or at least double vertices) and then
    Blender doesn’t display those in the 3D view OR the uv editor?

  4. Sometimes you place many identical islands on top of each other inside the
    UV editor to save texture space, is there any way that you can lock these so
    when you use the “Ctrl + p” blender doesn’t place all islands next to one
    another instead of respecting the islands that are stacked on top of each
    other?

  5. Is there any way to cut selected edges inside the uv editor??

Okay now my bitter rant is over. :o

2

when you are in editmode, you can undo everything you did while you where in editmode, but once you leave, and go into object mode, then you kinda “apply” everything you did in editmode. if you now go back into editmode, you wont be able to undo. in objectmode however, you can undo to the last point of witch you where in objectmode. so every time you go into objectmode you kinda “save an undo” if that makes sence.

if you THEN go back into editmode, and edit the mesh, and go to objectmode again, you will STILL be able to undo beyond the last object mode section.

also, keep in mind that if you go into objectmode, undo, editmode, and back to objectmode, then you will NOT be able to Redo what you just undid.

  1. so you get kinda like a pipe?
    03bf261aaaae00a637e55812d23e9998.png640×511 7.19 KB

3

Thanks a lot for that answer! Now i finally understand the undo thing. To be honest that system should be completely rewritten,useless! The spin stuff works great!

4

Jim, the reason why blender’s undo system is like that is cause it requires a lot of data to remember every adjustment. if blender where to remember everything, you would for sure run out of RAM.

and though you limit it to lets say 500 undos, (Witch if you think about it is not actually that much…) you would still not have enough.

5

Not exactly. You can select some UV faces and go Select -> Select Split. This will separate fully selected UV faces from everything else around it, effectively creating seams. There’s also the “Sticky Selection Mode” dropdown that lets you control exactly how you select UV vertices.

  1. I have a problem that sometimes when I press undo…

In a nutshell finalbarrage already explained it. It’s a known limitation that hasn’t been worked around yet. However…

To be honest that system should be completely rewritten,useless!

…it’s open source, and they accept patches.

  1. I think I read that you actually didn’t have to release the button…

There’s a setting in User Preferences, Interface, Pie Menus, called “Confirm Threshold”. Increase it from 0, and then if you move quickly enough, the second pie level pops out automatically.

  1. Is there any way to center the crosshair in the world center and just turn it off visually? I never use it just forces you to move two things instead of one.

You might want to reconsider. The cursor comes in quite handy as a transform or snapping pivot. But if you insist, IIRC there was an addon for that, “Enhanced 3D Cursor”. I’ve heard some complaints about its’ stability though.

UV EDITOR

  1. SyncSelection… Can anyone give me an example why you would need this function? Also are there any work around for this?

Probably because nobody came up with a better implementation. No.

  1. Is it possible to create a pie menu that you can use inside the uv editor?

Yes. Basic pie menu template is built into text editor. API documentation is on the wiki.

…If you mark a seam in the 3D view you should be able to see it inside the uv editor, but how?

No you shouldn’t, because there is no seam display in UV editor. If you mean that it’d be nice to, it’s open-source and they accept patches.

I also don’t understand why you can’t rip faces inside the uv editor…

You can, see above about Select Split.

…and then Blender doesn’t display those in the 3D view OR the uv editor?

It doesn’t automatically. There’s a UVs -> Seams From Islands operator that updates seams on the mesh.

  1. …is there any way that you can lock these so when you use the “Ctrl + p” blender doesn’t place all islands next to one another?..

No. Manual layout is manual layout. The software doesn’t try to outsmart you. There might be an add-on for that, but I’m not aware of any.

  1. Is there any way to cut selected edges inside the uv editor??

“Cut” as in “add more vertices”? No. If you’re talking about seams, Select Split.

6

Hi there pancake dude!

  1. make sence.

  2. cool! i will make one soon for sure.

  3. (regarding cut in the uv editor - so thats a no then i guess.

  4. that sucks, but thanks for clearify.

  5. Thanks alot! makes a world of difference!

  6. so no ,thanks.

  7. yeah i have read about this issue as well. I guess i just throw this crosshair far outside the main 3d screen and create a script that creates new objects at the world center + make the pivot the source for manual creation etc and make the pivot snap easy to verts so i dont need this crap.

  8. “I also don’t understand why you can’t rip faces inside the uv editor…” I actually wrote wrong here. what i mean is that if you select 4 faces out in the 3d view press “u” to unwrap it,that means that Blender cuts around those edges in the UV and stretches them correctly in the uv editor right? So why in the world doesnt blender show seams on the 3d models when they are there? now if you can press the “make seams from island” inside the uv editor why doesn’t blender do this by default?

7

Because, like Stan said, Blender doesn’t make decisions for you in this regard. Why would you need an option to create seams if the software just assumed that you wanted seams everywhere. Options are a good thing.

8

“Why would you need an option to create seams if the software just assumed that you wanted seams everywhere. Options are a good thing.”

Options are a good thing if they bring something extra to the table, if not they just confuse the user. When you select faces and unwrap you have already created seams/cuts depending on what functions you consider seam to have. If blender only uses seams as a description to show you where the cuts will be done next time you unwrap the model there should be an option called “display island seams” or something similar so that you can get feedback on the actual 3d model where cuts have already been made. Otherwise if you create a lot of cuts inside the uv editor and move things around after the first unwrap from seams in the 3d view you don’t get graphical feedback that resembles the truth. In what way is this beneficial to you?

9

No, Blender doesn’t only use seams to show the UV cuts. It also uses them to (optionally) delimit selection in face selection mode. I don’t see any point in showing temporary seams created while you’re unwrapping anyway, because they’re, uh, temporary.

EDIT: Furthermore, if seams were created automatically this way, you’d either need to remove them every time if you wanted to unwrap again with more faces selected, or stitch the UVs in UV editor.

10

No, If you select faces over seams and unwrap the selected faces will be “reset” and unwrapped again but the surrounding edges will get new visible seams. Its pretty simple they will look exactly like they look in the uv editor and you you are working according to those rules already. You are confusing things when you say “if seams were created automatically this way” because seams ARE created already in this way, blender just dont allows you to see them. Now please understand the difference, you are talking about seams as “instruction” for unwrap i am talking about uv seams as visual feedback for cuts in the uv that already exist. Blender should add an option for displaying cuts that have already been made. Try maya,modo,z brush,max. And see how wierd it looks.

11

No, they are not. Select one face and unwrap it, you get one UV island. Now also select another face adjacent to first one and unwrap both. You get one UV island (“shell” using Maya’s terminology). Now mark the edge between them as a seam and unwrap the two faces again. You get two UV islands. See what I mean now? Yes, I’m talking about seams as guides for the Unwrap operator. Yes, Blender doesn’t have UV border display in 3D view. Would it be helpful to have it? Perhaps, though I personally don’t see a point in it: when I’m done unwrapping a part of the mesh, I just hide those faces: they’re out of the way both in 3D view and in UV editor. No need to see any colorful borders or irrelevant UVs in the editor.

You’re welcome to implement it though, or submit a feature request (instructions are on the wiki). Annoying complaints on these forums yield absolutely nothing, except reducing the possibility of actually getting a reply concerning the actual issue at hand while increasing the odds of starting a fight about “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts”.

Thus, regarding other software, please don’t go there. Neither Maya, Max, ZBrush, or Blender are one another, every software has its own way of doing things. I could make a long list of things where Maya’s modelling department falls way behind Blender though, but that’s inviting flame wars and outside of topic anyway.

12

Trust me, i am not trying to go down that road :wink: There is a reason why i choose to work with Blender. Yes all software has its own solution but i am not a really big fan of “this is the way Blender work” mentality, its simply an excuse not to make progress. Look at the response pie menus have had and compare it to how it was before. Regarding the seam thing i don’t think this will be very constructive to continue to talk about. I hate the kind of debates where people start to say this is better than yours etc… I am simply saying let every user decide. I do believe that every good program should give users to option to do that. By using the solution that Blender does its clear that you can’t - for now. Anyway i appreciate the feedback!

13

I’m sorry, but you started it :slight_smile: The general mood of your posts, and especially that “you should be able to see it, but how?” thing. See, this is the Basics and Interface Support section. Statement like that here implies that there is an option to do that, but for some reason it doesn’t work. Yet it turns out, what you meant was it’d be a nice feature to have. See the difference? I could’ve asked you “where did you read that you should?” instead, but it’d be even more snappy, and I felt like I’ve already brought the point across. It’s borderline the same as when someone starts crying bug without looking into documentation first.

Simply compare this, keeping topic in mind:

  1. “In Maya, I can do A and then do B. Can I do this in Blender, and if so, how?” (first reaction: ok, I know how to do this, I’ll explain; or ok, it’s impossible, I’ll let the OP know)
  2. “You should be able to do A and then B, but it doesn’t work.” (first reaction: wait, what? I don’t remember such option… oh, wait, it’s because there isn’t one!)

I’m not urging you to adopt The Blender Way. It is a fragile concept at best anyway. It’s just that it’s far too often that people come in, seemingly with questions, to actually vent their frustration on the fact that Blender doesn’t work exactly like their beloved <insert your software here>. Same deal happens a lot with people migrating to Maya from Max, for example.

If you have new cool ideas, there are ways to realize them without turning this forum into Blender vs. World battleground or your personal Wish Land.

14

Hi Stan,

Reading through this tread i can honestly say that you are right. I also realise that my post is a little bit of a blend between suggestion on the ui/rant/ having question. I will try to be a little more clear with my descriptions, but maybe also a bit more respectful in my tone also from now on.

Where is the best place to make suggestions on the ui?

Kindly // Jimmy

15

https://developer.blender.org/

16

Thanks! I will check it out for sure!

EDIT: can you be a little more specific? the closest i got was some kind of mailing list?

17

No, developer.blender.org is not a place to request features. It’s a developers’ resource for tracking ongoing work. If you’re able to make a patch yourself (or find a programmer able to do it), that’s the place to post that patch for review.

General feature requests page is on the wiki (i.e. create an account and describe it there). You might also want to look through Module Owners pages for information on how to contact developers responsible for specific parts of Blender (when you’ve submitted a request or a patch, for example). Just remember that simple “I want that” statements would likely get rejected or forgotten: developers are busy people, especially with all the current ongoing projects. Try your best to justify the need, describe the functionality, explain rationale, demonstrate practicality.

18

I will thanks a lot!