2.79 – Blender – Interplanety

How to resize panels in Blender UI

In order to resize the T- or N-panel of the Blender UI, you just need to hold the edge of the panel with the mouse and drag it left or right. However, in this case, you can only change the size of the panel itself, but not the interface elements on it.

To change elements size and the font size of the panel, you need:

hover cursor on the panel
hold together the “ctrl” keyboard button and the middle mouse button (scroll wheel)
move the mouse up or down

This works not only for the side panels but also for all the “Properties” window.

Making a water drop and the right water shader

Making beautiful water splashes and drops and setting up a procedural water shader.

By Vitaly Sokol

Blender 2.79, Cycles.

Fast moving modifiers in the stack

The “shift+r” key combination, which repeats a perfect action, works not only with editing a mesh but also with the Blender interface. For example, with this key shot, we can simply move the modifier in the modifier stack up and down, without hunting the runaway arrows.

Top and bottom toolbar position in Blender windows

In Blender 2.8 the toolbars are located on the top of the working windows. But you can easily return them to the habitual bottom position.

Right-click on the panel and select “Flip to Bottom” to move the panel down. To return the panel back to the top, right-click on it and select “Flip to Top”.

This feature is not Blender 2.8 exclusive, the same can be done in Blender 2.7.

How to continue step selection

The combination of Ctrl + Shift + Num+ keys continues the selection with the specified step. Each pressing increases the selection by one step.

Num+ is the “+” button on the numeric keypad.

Koi Fish Pattern

Koi fish color pattern in BIS

Blender Cycles, Eevee shader.

Porting add-on from Blender 2.7 to Blender 2.8

In the latest version 2.8 of Blender developers have made many changes in API, so all the scripts and add-ons written for earlier Blender versions (2.7 and below) have stopped working. To run your add-ons in the new Blender 2.8, you need to port them – correct their code to work properly with the new Blender API.

To enable your add-on in Blender 2.80 you have to make the following changes in code:

Continue reading “Porting add-on from Blender 2.7 to Blender 2.8”

Suede

Suede material in BIS

Blender Cycles shader.

How to add input of integer type to the node group

To make an integer input/output in the node group:

Install the BIS add-on 1.5.2. version or later,
Select the desired node group in the Node Editor,
In T-panel in the “BIS” tab, “Tools” section: click “+ Input” to create an input or “+ Output” to create an output in the selected node group.

Blender add-on: BIS v. 1.5.2.

BIS (Blender Interplanety Storage) updated to v.1.5.2.

Added “Tools” subpanel for Node editor.
Added the ability to create the basic types of inputs/outputs in node groups.

With this new tool, you can, for example, add inputs/outputs of the Integer type to node groups.

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Pearl

Pearl material in BIS

Blender Cycles shader.

BIS: Pro- account

The BIS library is free and fully accessible for all users. Any content (materials or meshes) from the open part of the library can be downloaded by any user without any restrictions. So why do you need a pro- account?

At first, this is a way to support the project. Like any other free project, BIS needs for users support. However, the BIS pro- account is not only a status attachment. The pro- status does not provide any additional content, but it allows you to make your pipeline with BIS more convenient.

Pro- account users have the following advantages:

Continue reading “BIS: Pro- account”

Using Microsoft Visual Studio Code as external IDE for writing Blender scripts/add-ons

Blender has its own built-in text editor for writing scripts and add-ons, but it’s much convenient to develop them in external IDEs that provide the user with more features such as autocomplete, syntax highlighting, integration with version control systems and other tools that make development faster and easier.

One of these IDEs is Visual Studio Code from Microsoft. This is a free universal environment that supports development with various programming languages, including the Blender API language – Python.

Continue reading “Using Microsoft Visual Studio Code as external IDE for writing Blender scripts/add-ons”

BIS page on Patreon

Now the BIS materials library for Blender has its own Patreon page.

If you want to support the project, you can do it there.

Using the BIS library with Pro- account

Texturing/shading materials in the Christmas scene with the BIS library having pro- account.

The main advantage of the BIS pro- account: you don’t need to switch to the BIS website to get active materials, all materials can be download directly from Blender.

How to use the BIS materials library for texturing/shading in Blender

Texturing/shading materials of the Christmas scene with the BIS library.

BIS: 14 days with “pro”

The BIS administration congratulates all the library users with Merry Christmas and New Year Holiday!

Each registered user is provided with a “pro” account for 14 days.

Blender add-on: BIS v. 1.5.1.

BIS (Blender Interplanety Storage) update to v.1.5.1.

The “search” field is hidden for regular accounts, it is still not used (the active palette is filling through the BIS website).

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BIS: Preview for meshes auto-generation

In the BIS (Blender Interplanety Storage) library enabled the preview auto-generation for saved meshes. Sometime after storing, if the user has not added his own preview for the saved mesh, the preview will be created automatically.

BIS: Saving meshes (objects) to the storage

The “Meshes” section of the BIS library is for storing meshes (objects).

Saving objects to the BIS personal storage:

The BIS interface for saving/downloading objects is placed in the “BIS” tab of the T-panel in “3D View” window.

Authorize it the Blender add-on.

Mark one or more objects selected.

Continue reading “BIS: Saving meshes (objects) to the storage”

Blender add-on: BIS v. 1.5.0.

BIS (Blender Interplanety Storage) update to v.1.5.0.

A new storage type for objects (meshes) is added. Not only materials but also the models can be saved and shared in the BIS now.

At present, the meshes storage is working in experimental mode.

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How to check if Blender object property/attribute is read-only

To check is an attribute/property of any Blender object (mesh, node, modifier, etc.) read-only:

With the is_property_readonly function, execute the following command:

<object> .is_property_readonly (‘<property name>’)

Through the rna structure, execute the following command:

<object> .bl_rna.properties [‘<property name>’]. is_readonly

For example, for the “is_editmode” mesh property (is the mesh in edit mode or not):

bpy.context.active_object.data.is_property_readonly('is_editmode')

# True


bpy.context.active_object.data.bl_rna.properties['is_editmode'].is_readonly

# True

bpy.context.active_object.data.is_property_readonly('is_editmode')

# True

bpy.context.active_object.data.bl_rna.properties['is_editmode'].is_readonly

# True

Blender add-on: BIS v. 1.4.2.

BIS (Blender Interplanety Storage) update to v.1.4.2.

Some internal technical changes in saving nodes format (connecting links by inputs/outputs identifier)
Added saved node groups version control

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How to find out in what version of Blender the blend file was saved

To check in what version of Blender the blend file was saved:

Open your file in Blender
In the Python Console window execute the following command:

bpy.data.version

1	bpy.data.version

Or open the blend file in any text editor, for example in Notepad++. The Blender version will be listed in the first 15 characters.

Also, the version of the open blend file can be viewed in the Outliner window in the Data Blocks group:

How to get the version of the add-on installed in Blender

A complete list of add-ons installed in Blender we can get using the addon_utils:

import addon_utils
print(addon_utils.modules()[:])

# <module 'space_view3d_3d_navigation' from ...

import addon_utils

print(addon_utils.modules()[:])

# <module 'space_view3d_3d_navigation' from ...

Having the add-ons list, we can get the version of the desired add-on by its name with the following code:

import addon_utils
print([addon.bl_info.get('version', (-1,-1,-1)) for addon in addon_utils.modules() if addon.bl_info['name'] == 'ADD-ON_NAME'][0])

# (1,4,0)

import addon_utils

print([addon.bl_info.get('version', (-1,-1,-1)) for addon in addon_utils.modules() if addon.bl_info['name'] == 'ADD-ON_NAME'][0])

# (1,4,0)

Where the ADD-ON_NAME is the name of the desired add-on.

If the add-on is missing a version indication, the default result will be returned.

# (-1,-1,-1)

1	# (-1,-1,-1)