Introduction

In this article we will see how to export an audio file in Reaper, how to export in MP3 and WAV format, which are two of the most popular formats, but you will see that it is very simple to choose the format you need. For this it is important to be clear about the export format you need and also its sample rate or bit depth.

Before we move on, here’s a song we were commissioned to produce for an event, let us know what you thought in the youtube comments!

How to make a RENDER of the project in Reaper

With our Reaper project ready to export the first step is to go to File > Render or use the shortcut CTRL+ALT+R, as shown in Figure 1.

The “Render to file” window will be displayed where we will be able to configure all the export parameters. In this window there is everything we need so let’s see in detail each section of the Reaper export window.

Fig. 2: Ventana “Render to File” de Reaper.

Render entire project, separate tracks or selected time in Reaper

In the first part of the Reaper Render window we can start configuring from where we want to export our audio, inside “Source” the default option is “Master mix” and it refers to the output from the Master track in the DAW, that is, all the tracks that are not muted at that moment and are sending their signal as a last instance to the Master.

Fig. 3: First part of the Reaper Render window.

We can export the audio tracks separately with the option “Selected tracks (stems)“, see the options listed in figure 4.

Fig. 4: Selecting which tracks of the project to export.

In “Bounds” we can configure which part of the timeline we want to export, whether it is just the first two bars, two minutes, the whole project, regions, etc.

Fig. 5: Selecting which time regions of the project to export.

Output section of the Reaper export window

EnIn the “Output” section we write the name of the file(s) and choose the directory where they will be exported. The “Directory” section contains the folder where our audios will be sent, we can change it by clicking on “Browse”. In “File name” we write the name for the files. Finally the “Render to” field shows the final result of the configured parameters.

Fig. 6: Export directory and name of the final files.

Audio export options in Reaper

Within “Options” we can configure the “Sample rate“, how many channels we want and other more advanced settings such as “Resample mode” or “Normalize/Limit“. In image 7 you can see that the “Sample rate” is set to 44100, which is the standard quality used in CDs. Depending on the project to be exported, these options must be configured correctly since they could have inconveniences that could damage our export or lead us to undesired results.

Fig. 7: First part of the Reaper’s Render window.

En el apartado “Primary output format” (POF) y “Secondary output format” (SOF) podemos elegir dos formatos para exportar nuestro proyecto en Reaper, en este caso nuestro formato primario será WAV con una profundidad de bits (WAV bit depth) de 24 bits PCM.

In the “Primary output format” (POF) and “Secondary output format” (SOF) section we can choose two formats to export our project in Reaper, in this case our primary format will be WAV with a bit depth of 24 bits PCM.

Fig. 8: Choosing the primary project export format in Reaper.

Fig. 9: Bit depth for exporting project in Reaper in WAV format.

Hacemos click en “Secondary output format” (SOF), esta opción nos permite generar un segundo archivo con un formato distinto en el mismo proceso de Render de un proyecto de Reaper. Para el formato secundario elegiremos MP3 (encoder by LAME project), como se observa en la figura 10.

We click on “Secondary output format” (SOF), this option allows us to generate a second file with a different format in the same Render process of a Reaper project. For the secondary format we will choose MP3 (encoder by LAME project), as shown in figure 10.

Fig. 10: Selection of a second format for exporting the project in Reaper, MP3 format.

Start project export process in Reaper

Once all the Render parameters of the project are configured, we click on the “Render 2 files” button, in this case since we have chosen to export two different files in the same process. Clicking on this button will start the rendering process.

Fig. 11: Confirm project export in Reaper.

The window shown in Figure 12 appears, showing the rendering process of the project in Reaper. Once the process is finished, we will be able to find our two files in the folder we chose. The final window will show the drawing of the audio waveform where we will be able to see the clips, besides Reaper provides us with this same information in the lower text box: Peak, Clip, RMS, LUFS, etc. If we click on “Show in browser” it will take us directly to the directory where the files are located.

Fig. 12: Audio export process in Reaper.

Tsunami

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Plot

You are a worker dressed in a teddy bear suit who is advertising on the street when suddenly a tsunami is seen on the horizon and the city begins to be devastated. You fearfully seek shelter by entering a building, but this is only the beginning, you won’t be safe until you reach the top of the building.

How to play

Control the character with the WASD keys or the arrow keys and press SPACE to jump. Press E to lift a box to move it. Collect the keys that unlock the doors to continue the ascension. Reach the roof.

Developed for the Ludum Dare 50 Game Jam with theme "Delay the inevitable" by:

MARTÍN HEINTZ

MUSIC COMPOSER

GAMEDEVTRAUM

UNITY DEVELOPER

STEFF

UI/UX DESIGN

ÁLVARO

GAME DESIGN

Introduction

In this article we are going to see how to connect animation bones to a 3D model so that they can deform the model, this is useful to create poses and animations using keyframes.

PREVIOUS ARTICLE: HOW TO CREATE THE ARMATURE THAT WE ARE GOING TO USE

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Starting point – We already have an armature

We start with a 3D model and the Armature object we want to connect to the model, you can check the previous article on how to create animation bones.

*Fig. 1: We start from a 3D model together with an animation skeleton.*

*Fig. 2: The 3D model has subdivisions so that the animation bones can deform it.*

Parent 3D model to animation bones

What we have to do now is to link the 3D model to the Armature object, this is done by parenting them, it is important to parent the 3D model to the animation bones, that is the Armature object has to be the parent object, note that in figure 3 the objects have been selected incorrectly, in this case, the correct way to select them is as shown in figure 4, in which the active selection is the Armature object. For more details see the article on how to parent and un-parent objects in Blender.

*Fig. 3: Both objects are selected, the active selection is the 3D model.*

*Fig. 4: Both objects are selected, the active selection is the animation skeleton.*

In the window to parent the objects we select one of the options within “Armature Deform”, each one will have different effects, in this case we are going to use the basic form that would be “With Empty Groups” (figure 5) in which groups of vertices are created within the 3D model with the names of the bones.

*Fig. 5: Window to parent objects in Blender.*

Once the 3D model is linked to the animation bones, select the object and go to the window where the vertex groups are located by clicking on the icon shown in figure 7.

*Fig. 6: Once the relationship has been established, the 3D model is selected.*

*Fig. 7: Vertex tab of the selected object.*

In the “Vertex Groups” section we can see the vertex groups that have been created by linking the model to the Armature with the “Empty Groups” option, at this point these vertex groups have not been assigned any vertex of the model so we are going to start assigning them.

*Fig. 8: Vertex groups were created with the names of the animation bones.*

Select the model and enter the edit mode, notice in the “Vertex Groups” tab that the “Weight” field appeared, which was not there before, the Weight value allows us to indicate what percentage of influence will have a particular bone on each vertex, where the value 1 indicates total control by the bone and 0 indicates that the bone does not have any control over the vertex.

*Fig. 9: Enter the edit mode of the object related to the Armature.*

*Fig. 10: The vertex group window changes slightly in Edit Mode.*

Before assigning the vertices to each group I am going to show the names of the bones, for that I select the Armature object, go to the Armature properties and in the Viewport Display window check the “Show Names” box as shown in figure 11.

*Fig. 11: Activate this option to display the names of the animation bones in the Viewport.*

Assigning vertices to bones

We are going to select the vertices at the top of the 3D model, those shown in Figure 12.

*Fig. 12: A set of vertices is selected to link to an animation bone.*

Con los vértices seleccionados vamos a la ventana “Vertex Groups” y seleccionamos el grupo al cual asignar los vértices, en este caso el grupo “Bone.001” y acto seguido pulsamos el botón “Assign” que se muestra en la figura 14.

*Fig. 13: Select the group corresponding to the bone to which you want to assign these vertices.*

*Fig. 14: The selected vertices are assigned to the selected group.*

Test if the bone deforms the assigned vertices

Before assigning more vertices we can do a test to see if what we did worked, for that we select the Armature object and go to pose mode, as shown in figure 16.

*Fig. 15: In object mode the animation skeleton is selected.*

*Fig. 16: Change to Pose mode to animate the bones.*

In pose mode we select the bone and rotate it, if everything went well we should see that the bone deforms the vertices that were assigned to the group, as we can see in figure 17.

*Fig. 17: When rotating a bone in Pose mode, the linked vertices rotate together.*

Assigning the remaining vertices to the animation bones

Now we are going to select the vertices of the lower part of the model which will be totally controlled by the bone at the bottom.

*Fig. 18: The assignment process is repeated for the vertices below.*

Vamos a la ventana “Vertex Groups”, seleccionamos el grupo correspondiente y hacemos clic en el botón asignar.

*Fig. 19: Now the group corresponding to the lower bone is selected.*

*Fig. 20: The selected vertices are assigned to the selected group.*

Make two animation bones control a group of vertices

For the remaining vertex loop what we are going to do is that both bones can control the vertices, for this we have to repeat the previous process but change the Weight parameter. We start by selecting the set of vertices, a quick way to select an Edge Loop is by pressing ALT and clicking on one of the edges of the loop we want to select.

*Fig. 21: The vertices in the middle that are at the same distance from both bones are selected.*

Then go to the “Vertex Groups” window and change the Weight value to 0.5.

*Fig. 22: Change the weight with which the vertices are assigned.*

Then we select the first group and assign the selected vertices to it.

*Fig. 24: The first group of vertices is selected.*

*Fig. 25: The selected vertices are assigned to the group with the previously selected weight.*

Then we select the second group and also assign the selected vertices to that other group.

*Fig. 26: The second group of vertices is selected.*

*Fig. 27: The selected vertices are assigned to the group with the previously selected weight.*

As the vertices were assigned to both groups in each of them with weight equal to 0.5 with this we have established that each bone will have a 50% influence on these vertices. In Figure 28 you can see the result of all this.

*Fig. 28: The vertices of the middle respond to both animation bones.*

One thing that could have been done is to assign the intermediate vertices weights of 0.25-0.75 in each corresponding group.

Introduction

In this article we are going to see how to create an ARMATURE in Blender (animation bones) that can be used to animate a 3D model using keyframes. If you already know how to create bones in Blender and want to know how to connect these bones to a 3d model, check this other article instead.

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Starting point

We start from the 3D model shown in figure 1, it is a cylinder to which subdivisions have been added as seen in the article on adding and removing edge loops.

*Fig. 1: We start with a 3D model of a cylinder with some subdivisions.*

Creating the animation bones

In object mode we will place the 3D cursor over the origin of the object to which we want to add the skeleton.

*Fig. 2: We make sure that the 3D cursor is over the origin of the model.*

Press SHIFT+A and add the object “Armature” as shown in figure 3, with this we create the skeleton, it is likely that the animation bone is hidden as in this case, to view it you can enter the Wireframe mode as shown in figure 4.

*Fig. 3: The animation skeleton is created.*

*Fig. 4: We enter Wireframe mode to see the Armature object that appeared inside the model.*

To visualize the animation bones more comfortably I will make the animation bones be displayed in front of the 3D model as shown in figure 5.

*Fig. 5: We set up the Armature to be seen in front of the model.*

Adding animation bones

We have created the Armature object, if we select it we can enter the edit mode as shown in figure 6, this allows us to add new animation bones, subdivide them, rotate them, etc.

*Fig. 6: Entering the Edit mode of the Armature object.*

*Fig. 7: The tip of an animation bone is selected.*

To obtain the two animation bones seen in figure 8 what I do is to select the tip of the first bone as in figure 7 and then press the E key, the new bone that appears is analogous to the extrusion of a face. I will place the tip of the second bone at the top of the 3D model as shown in figure 9.

*Fig. 8: A second animation bone appears when extruding.*

*Fig. 9: The second bone is positioned at one end of the 3D model.*

Then I will take the tip of the first bone and place it approximately at the center of the 3D model as shown in Figure 10.

*Fig. 10: The tip of the first bone is placed in the center of the 3D model.*

Pose mode to animate bones

If the Armature object is selected, the “Pose Mode” option will appear when changing the working mode.

*Fig. 11: With the Armature selected we go to Pose mode.*

In Pose mode we can give the bones the rotation we need and make animations with keyframes and the timeline, the problem is that we have created the animation bones but we have not linked them to the 3D model nor have we established how those bones will deform our 3D model, as shown in figure 12, when we rotate the animation bone in pose mode, the 3D model remains unchanged.

*Fig. 12: In Pose mode you can change the position, rotation and scale of the animation bones along with other properties.*

PART 2: HOW TO CONNECT THIS ARMATURE TO A 3D MODEL

Introduction

In this article we see how to open and close windows in Blender, this is something that you have to practice and master as soon as possible since in general we are going to work with multiple windows.

All the IMPORTANT information is summarized in the following TUTORIAL FROM MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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We start with the Blender Viewport window shown in Figure 1.

*Fig. 1: Starting from a standard Blender window*

To create a new window in Blender we take the cursor to one of the corners of the window, in this case the lower left corner, at a certain point the cursor icon changes, as shown in figures 2 and 3, this indicates that we can make a change in the layout of the windows.

*Fig. 2: The mouse is being moved to the lower left corner of the window.*

*Fig. 3: When reaching the corner the mouse pointer changes, indicating that we can split the window.*

If we click on that corner and move the cursor upwards, we separate a second window horizontally, as shown in Figure 4, while if we move the cursor to the right, the windows are separated vertically.

*Fig. 4: By clicking and dragging upwards the window is split horizontally.*

*Fig. 5: By clicking and dragging to the right the window is split vertically.*

Each of the windows can be further subdivided into other windows, as shown in Figure 6, in the new window we created on the right, by moving the cursor to the lower left corner, clicking and dragging upwards, I divide that window into two horizontally.

*Fig. 6: With the new window that appeared, the process can be repeated.*

The content of windows in Blender

In Blender we always work with a set of windows, although we have not noticed it, when we install Blender and open it for the first time we will see the “3D Viewport” window, the “Timeline” window, the “Outliner” window and the “Properties” window and maybe I am forgetting some others. In figures 7 and 8 we can see the icons corresponding to the “Properties” and “Outliner” windows respectively.

*Fig. 7: The properties window that comes by default in Blender.*

*Fig. 8: The Outliner window *that comes by default in Blender* .*

At any time we can change what each window displays by simply clicking on its icon and choosing the required window from the list shown in Figure 9.

*Fig. 9: In the upper left corner of each window is the icon that allows you to change the contents of the window.*

In figure 10 we have divided the main window into 4 and made each one show a different window.

*Fig. 10: Multiple windows in Blender in which each one shows a different content.*

How to combine windows in Blender

Now let’s see how to undo multiple windows in Blender, we start with the situation seen in Figure 11, where we have three windows that we would like to merge into one.

To join windows in Blender you have to take into account the following: two windows can be joined if in the border that divides the two windows the height or the width of these windows match.

*Fig. 11: We start from this multiple window layout to combine them.*

For example, in figure 11, the upper left and right windows coincide in height where they meet, but not the bottom window with any of the upper windows, so we start joining the upper windows.

To join the windows we go to one of the corners where they join until the cursor icon changes as shown in figure 12. If at that point we click and drag to the side of the other window, the icon shown in figure 13 will appear,

*Fig. 12: Move the cursor to a point in the window where the corners of the windows meet.*

This means that we can merge the windows into a single window, and if at this point, while holding down we move to the side of the other window the icon changes as shown in figure 14, which allows us to decide what will be the content of the window that will result from the merge.

*Fig. 13: By clicking and dragging one window to the other, this arrow appears, indicating that the windows can be combined.*

*Fig. 14: If we hold the click and move the mouse to the other window the arrow changes direction.*

When the mouse is released, the two windows are combined into one and we obtain the result shown in Figure 15.

*Fig. 15: The two windows were combined into one.*

Notice that both windows now coincide in width where they meet, so we can combine them by taking one of the windows at one of the contact corners and moving it into the region of the other window, as shown in Figures 16 and 17.

*Fig. 16: The cursor is moved to one of the common corners of both windows.*

*Fig. 17: The click-and-drag process is repeated to combine Blender windows.*

The result is shown in Figure 18 where we have combined all the initial windows into a single window.

*Fig. 18: Result of combining the multiple initial windows into one.*

Extra detail

Earlier it was mentioned that windows could only be combined if they matched in width or height at the junction area, however small windows can be dragged to other windows with which they do not share the same width or height, in Figure 19 the upper left window is taken and dragged to the lower window.

*Fig. 19: Returning to the case of the three windows, the cursor is moved to one of the corners of a small window.*

As shown in Figure 20 and the result in Figure 21, this allows us to change the distribution of the windows, so that the small window now occupies all the vertical space.

*Fig. 20: In this case the windows are not combined but their distribution on the screen changes.*

*Fig. 21: Resultado de la operación anterior.*

Introduction

In this article we see how to add edge loop to a 3D model to obtain extra geometry allowing us to increase the detail on our model.

All the IMPORTANT information is summarized in the following TUTORIAL FROM MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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Adding edge loops to a model in Blender

We start with a 3D model like the one shown in figure 1, what we want is to add subdivisions to the mesh distributed along the cylinder.

*Fig. 1: We start from the 3D model of a cylinder in Blender edit mode.*

Press CTRL+R and move the mouse to the object you want to cut until you see a representation of the new edge loop as shown in figure 2, if you left click on that moment you will create the edge loop, but you can also increase the number of subdivisions by turning the mouse wheel, so you get what you see in figure 3, a certain number of edge loops equispaced along the model.

*Fig. 2: With CTRL+R you can add edge loops.*

*Fig. 3: With the mouse wheel the number of loop cuts can be increased.*

When we confirm and create the edge loops, the window shown in Figure 4 appears in the lower left corner of the Viewport window, in which we can specify the number of slices and other parameters.

*Fig. 4: When applying the cuts, a window appears in the lower left corner to modify the parameters.*

How to remove an edge loop in Blender

Now what we are looking for is to get rid of some edge loops but keep the shape of the object, we start by selecting the edge loop we want to remove (later we will see how to remove several loops at once). A quick way to select an edge loop is to press ALT and click on the edge that is part of the loop we want to select, figure 5 shows where I clicked and the result of the selection.

*Fig. 5: To remove an edge loop we start by selecting the edge loop with ALT+Click.*

To remove those edges without leaving a hole in the model what we have to do is to dissolve those edges, so with the edges loop selected we press X and choose the option “Dissolve Edges”, this produces the result of figure 7.

*Fig. 6: Pressing X displays a window with delete options.*

*Fig. 7: Selected edges were dissolved.*

How to remove multiple edge loops in Blender at once

When we want to remove multiple edges with the previous method problems could arise if adjacent edges are selected, as shown in Figure 8, when trying to dissolve two edge loops that are together the result is as in Figure 9.

*Fig. 8: Two adjacent edge loops are selected and dissolved.*

*Fig. 9: Dissolving adjacent edge loops causes problems in the object geometry.*

An alternative is to select edge loops leaving an intermediate loop unselected, as shown in Figure 10.

*Fig. 10: Several edge loops can be selected with the SHIFT key.*

*Fig. 11: Again a dissolution of the selected edges is made.*

In this way the problem of figure 9 does not occur and the loops can be dissolved correctly, as shown in figure 12.

*Fig. 12: Result of the dissolution of the selected edges.*

Introduction

In this article we are going to see measurements in Blender, for example how to change from meters to millimeters or how to change the measurement system from metric to imperial in Blender.

All the IMPORTANT information is summarized in the following TUTORIAL FROM MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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We start with any 3D model in which the lengths of the edges have been displayed as shown in Figure 1, we see that the edges of the plane measure 2 meters each and if we go to the Transform window of the object we see that it is positioned at the origin and that distance is also expressed in meters.

*Fig. 1: Plan in which the lengths of each edge are shown.*

*Fig. 2: In the object transformation window the lengths are expressed in meters.*

The unit system window in Blender is located in the properties tab of the scene, we can access it using the icon shown in figure 3.

*Fig. 3: Scene properties tab in Blender where you can change the measurement system.*

There we go to the “Units” section and there we have the options to change the unit system, we are going to change the “Length” property from meters to millimeters, as shown in figure 5.

*Fig. 4: In the units section you can select which units to display and apply a scaling.*

*Fig. 5: Once the measurement system has been selected, the units for a given quantity can be changed.*

Now the lengths of the edges and the lengths appearing in the windows are expressed in millimeters, as shown in Figure 6.

*Fig. 6: By changing the length units to millimeters, dimensions and lengths are now expressed in millimeters.*

Using the imperial measurement system in Blender

If instead of meters we want to use feet or inches we must change the unit system from “Metric” to “Imperial”, as shown in figure 7.

*Fig. 7: The imperial measurement system can be selected to express lengths in feet and inches for example.*

*Fig. 8: The dimensions in the plane are expressed in feet.*

Now in the parameter “Length” we find the units feet and inches.

*Fig. 9: The units are changed to inches.*

Introduction – What are we going to do?

In this article we are going to see how to combine two textures in Blender to apply them to the same material using nodes, this is going to be a somewhat extensive article but with quite interesting content, we will see step by step how to go from a standard plane as in the image on the left to the result of the image on the right, in which two textures have been combined, a rock brick floor with a mud texture that is applied mostly in the spaces between the rocks, all this in a procedural way.

Download .Blend file with implemented nodes

Textures from this example

If you want to follow the procedure step by step here are the images I used. Right click and save the images.

Initial configuration of the model and material

We start with the standard plane in figure 1 and create a material for it.

*Fig. 1: To combine textures in Blender let’s start with a plane.*

*Fig. 2: We create a material for the 3D model.*

Configuration of the textures to be combined

With the object and the material selected we open the Shader Editor window to visualize the material nodes, we can see it in figure 3, by default a material in blender is created with the Shader Principled BSDF, to have a very basic idea, a Shader is like a code fragment that will be executed in the graphic card and that will determine how the 3D object will be seen on screen, it is not necessary to go deeper into the subject, Blender offers us the Shader Editor to create complex Shaders in a visual and intuitive way.

*Fig. 3: We open a “Shader Editor” window to work on the texture mix.*

What we are going to do now is to load the two textures that we want to combine, for that in the Shader Editor window we press SHIFT+A to add a new node and clicking on “Search” we look for the “Image Texture” node and position it to the left of the Principled BSDF node, the Image Texture node should look like in figure 5.

*Fig. 4: Window for adding a node to the Shader.*

*Fig. 5: An image node is added to the material.*

As we are going to combine two textures we will need two image nodes so we repeat the previous step and place the second image next to the first one.

*Fig. 6: Two image nodes for combining textures in Blender*

Now we load both textures, for that we click on Open and in the popup window we look for the textures we need.

*Fig. 7: Textures are loaded in both nodes*

*Fig. 8: Both nodes have their respective textures.*

Blend Node Configuration – MixRGB

The next step is to add the node that will be in charge of mixing the textures, press SHIFT+A and click on Search to look for the “MixRGB” node, which is shown in Figure 10, place it in the middle of the images and the Principled BSDF node.

*Fig. 9: The window to search for a node and add it is displayed.*

*Fig. 10: Search for the “MixRGB” node that will be used to combine the two textures.*

The MixRGB node combines two colors, as in this case we have textures, what it will do is to combine the colors of each texture pixel by pixel according to a mixing factor, this factor can be a constant or it can also be a black and white texture in which black represents 0 and white represents 1, being the grayscale all intermediate values. In figure 11 we see how to connect the textures that we want to combine to the mix node and in this we see the value “Fac” in 0.5, that is the mix factor, by default the textures will be mixed in a factor 50-50.

As shown in Figure 12 we connect the output of the MixRGB node to the color input of the Shader Principled BSDF.

*Fig. 11: Both images are connected to the blending node.*

*Fig. 12: The output of the mix node is connected to the input of the base color of the Shader Principled BSDF.*

First result of the mix of textures

To visualize the result we go to the Viewport and with the Z key we switch to “Material Preview” or “Rendered” mode, although for the latter we must take into account the lighting. As can be seen in Figure 13, the result is a 50-50 mix between both textures in all points equally.

*Fig. 13: Switch to the “Material Preview” view to display the applied material.*

If we take the factor to 0 the result is that the texture connected to Color1 is completely applied, as shown in Figure 15.

*Fig. 14: The factor determines how the textures are combined, we set the factor to 0.*

*Fig. 17: With the factor at 0 the mixture results in the first image.*

If we take the factor to 1 the result is that the texture connected to Color2 is fully applied, as shown in Figure 17.

*Fig. 17: With the factor at 1 the mixture results in the second image.*

Mixing textures using noise

Now what we are going to do is that the texture mix is not homogeneous throughout the space, we want that in some parts the brick texture is more visible and in others the mud texture, an alternative could be to use a noise node, which generates a random grayscale texture to which you can control certain parameters and generate different patterns.

In the Shader Editor window press SHIFT+A and click on Search to find the “Noise Texture” node.

*Fig. 18: Searching for another node to add.*

*Fig. 19: We add the “Noise Texture” node.*

We place the node in a comfortable place that allows us to connect it to the mixing node, we make the connection as shown in figure 20.

*Fig. 20: The output factor of the noise node is connected to the input factor of the RGBMix node.*

In the material view you will notice the first results, however I am going to add an intermediate brightness and contrast node so that the grays of the noise texture are shifted to white or black.

*Fig. 21: Searching for another node to add.*

*Fig. 22: We add a brightness and contrast node.*

The brightness and contrast node is placed between the noise texture and the MixRGB node (Figure 25 shows how it is connected). In this case I am going to increase the contrast a lot so that there are almost no grays, in figure 23 we see that it has the value 50.

*Fig. 23: The brightness node is placed between the noise and the RGB Mix node and the contrast is set to 50.*

The result is that the model has some parts where the brick texture is applied and others where the mud texture is applied, as shown in Figure 24, you can play a little with the texture node parameters shown in Figure 20 to see how the texture mix behaves. You can also combine different noise textures with different scales to create large areas of a texture that has micro details. However we will leave it here and continue with the final step.

*Fig. 24: Both textures are combined according to the noise texture.*

Mixing textures using another texture as a factor

What we want to do now is to use the rock brick texture itself to determine how to blend the textures, note that conveniently it is a grayscale texture in which the whiter areas are rock while the darker areas are the cracks, we are going to use this information to make the mud texture blend into the cracks of the brick texture.

For convenience we can select the brick texture node, duplicate it with CTRL+D and position it where the Noise Texture node was. As we are not going to use this image as if it were the color of a material but as a factor we must change the “Color Space” parameter to “Non-Color” as shown in Figure 25.

*Fig. 25: Now the noise node is changed to an image node with the brick texture and the Color Space is marked as “Non-Color”.*

By adjusting the values we can get a result like the one in Figure 26, in which the mud texture has been combined with the rock texture in such a way that it appears mostly in the cracks of the rocks.

*Fig. 26: The mud texture is combined with the brick texture where the brick cracks would be.*

Introduction

In this article we are going to see how to subdivide a 3D model in Blender to multiply the amount of geometry and be able to increase the level of detail.

All the IMPORTANT information is summarized in the following TUTORIAL FROM MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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How to subdivide the faces of a 3D model in edit mode

We start with a standard cube with 8 vertices and 6 faces, as shown in figure 1 next to the number of polygons, in edit mode we will select all the elements, right click and choose the option “Subdivide” as shown in figure 2.

*Fig. 1: To make the subdivision of the Mesh we start from a standard cube with eight vertices.*

*Fig. 2: Clicking on the selected model displays a window that allows the subdivision of the mesh.*

In the lower left corner of the Viewport window there is a “Subdivide” window with options to configure the subdivision parameters, for example the number of slices.

*Fig. 3: When applying the subdivision, a window for modifying the subdivision parameters appears in the lower left corner.*

Figure 4 shows the result of applying 4 cuts to the initial cube, note how the number of vertices has increased.

*Fig. 4: The initial cube has been subdivided with four cuts.*

A subdivision can also be made on a single face or a selected set of faces.

*Fig. 5: Subdivision can be applied to a specific set of faces.*

*Fig. 6: The selected face has been subdivided.*

Subdivisión con modificador Subdivision Surface

Another way to subdivide an object in Blender is by applying the “Subdivision Surface” modifier which not only subdivides the mesh but also executes a smoothing algorithm, to apply this modifier we select the object, go to the modifiers tab, click on “Add Modifier” and look for the “Subdivision Surface” modifier as shown in figure 7.

*Fig. 7: The “Subdivision Surface” modifier also performs subdivisions on the Mesh.*

EIn figures 8 and 9 we see the result of applying the subdivision with this modifier, the new faces appeared but also the cube had its corners rounded. When we use this modifier it is important to define the level of subdivision, a very high level could slow down the computer or even make it crashes.

An alternative to not slow down the computer is to use a level of detail while we are working and for rendering take a higher value, this with the “Level Viewport” and “Render” properties shown in Figure 8.

*Fig. 8: The Subdivision Surface modifier, besides subdividing the mesh, smooths the polygons.*

*Fig. 9: The number of vertices in the model has increased due to the Subdivision Surface modifier.*

As it is a modifier applied to the object, the subdivisions are procedural, i.e. the final 3D model is the result of the application of a computational algorithm that has as input the initial 3D model. If we enter the edit mode of the object we see that it is still a cube with 8 vertices.

*Fig. 10: In edit mode the model remains an eight-vertex cube.*

In figure 11 what I do is to press CTRL+R and add two cuts to the cube, then I scale these cuts to obtain the result of figure 12, notice the shape that the object took when doing this because it has applied the Subdivision Surface modifier that is now applied on the new faces.

*Fig. 11: Two cuts are made on the cube model.*

*Fig. 12: When cutting the part and arranging the loops, the smoothing applied by the Subdivision Surface modifier can be seen.*

In the properties of the Subdivision Surface modifier we can configure it so that it does not round the objects, simply add new geometry, for this we click on the “Simple” button shown in Figure 13. The cube in figure 14 seems to have 8 vertices at first glance but if we see the information of the polygons it tells us that it has 26.

*Fig. 13: The Subdivision Surface modifier can be set in Simple mode.*

*Fig. 14: In this case no smoothing is done but we can see that the number of vertices of the model has increased.*

Finally, if we want to keep the 3D model with the geometry subdivided to make modifications we can apply the modifier by clicking on the arrow above the single button in Figure 13 and put the option “Apply”, but be careful, once we apply the modifier and make several changes there will come a point where we can not go back by undoing changes. You should consider this carefully before applying a modifier and it may be useful to save a backup copy of the object with the modifier.

Introduction

In this article we see the procedure to bevel a model in Blender on an edge and on multiple edges. The bevel is an oblique cut on one or more edges of a model.

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Bevel on one edge

To make a bevel on an edge we have to be in the edit mode, then we select the edge, press CTRL+B and move the mouse slightly, with this we get a result as in figure 2, we can change the size of the bevel by moving the mouse to one side or the other, when we have the result we want we click to confirm.

*Fig. 1: An edge of the model is selected for beveling.*

*Fig. 2: Press CTRL+B to bevel the selected edge.*

When confirming the bevel, a window with options appears in the lower left corner of the 3D view window, where we can change different parameters such as bevel width, subdivisions, among others.

In figure 4 I increased the number of segments to 4 and reduced the Shape parameter, which made the cut on the part have the curvature shown in figure 5.

*Fig. 3: When applying the bevel, a window with options appears in the lower left corner.*

*Fig. 4: In the bevel window, the segments and the bevel shape have been changed.*

*Fig. 5: The result of applying the parameters in the window of the previous figure.*

Bevel on multiple edges

If we select two or more edges and press CTRL+B the bevel is made on all edges and normally taking as reference the midpoint of the selection, depending on the pivot point we have selected.

*Fig. 6: Press CTRL+B to bevel the selected edge.*

*Fig. 7: Beveling of the cube with all edges selected.*

Introduction

Sometimes we have a lot of unwanted geometry in our models, in this article we are going to see how to remove duplicate vertices in Blender, that is to say vertices that are overlapping other vertices or very close to each other and can cause 3D model visualization problems.

If you prefer to watch a video I have the right video for this topic:

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How do we know that have overlapping vertices

To begin with we have the following cube that at first sight seems normal, however if we see the information of its polygons we notice something strange, this cube has 11 vertices although it seems to have only 8, this means that there are other vertices and probably they are overlapped with the others.

*Fig. 1: The geometry information tells us that this cube has eleven vertices.*

By the way, you can display the geometry information this way:

To eliminate the duplicated vertices we select all the vertices of the model (key A) and with F3 we open the operation search window, look for the option “Merge By Distance” and click on it.

*Fig. 2: To remove duplicate vertices first select all vertices of the model.*

*Fig. 3: In the search window we type “merge” and choose the option “By Distance”.*

In this case, as shown in Figure 3, a message appears at the bottom of the window informing us that 3 vertices have been removed and now the cube has 8 vertices.

*Fig. 4: A message at the bottom informs us of the result of the operation.*

*Fig. 5: By selecting again all the vertices we see that now the model has eight vertices.*

In case the operation did not work it could be because of the distance with which the operator was applied, in the lower left corner, after applying a “Merge By Distance” we get the window shown in Figure 6, there we can set the distance that is considered to merge the vertices, we can try increasing this distance but we have to be careful with two things, one is that a very big distance could ruin other parts of the model without us noticing and second, once we change the distance, the next time we use “Merge By Distance” Blender will remember that distance and apply the operation with it.

*Fig. 6: The distance can be set to consider which vertices should be merged.*

Introduction

In this article we will see how to show only the selected object in Blender and hide all the other objects, this is a simple trick that works for objects and also geometry, that is to say, we can select a couple vertices or faces and isolate that geometry from the rest and work better.

If you prefer to watch a video I have the right video for this topic:

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Procedure to isolate objects and geometry in Bleender

Let’s consider the situation we have in figure 1, in which we have a selected object that is surrounded by other objects, we would like to be able to visualize only the object we have selected and hide the rest, for that we can use the shortcut SHIFT+H, which results in what we can see in figure 2. To make visible again all the hidden objects we press ALT+H.

*Fig. 1: A selected object in a scene with more objects.*

*Fig. 2: The selected object is displayed in isolation for better working.*

Introduction

When we are Rigging and creating animations in Blender it is useful to be able to visualize the animation bones in front of the 3D model to make it easier to select and manipulate them, in this article we will see how to make bones always appear in front of everything, regardless of whether there are other objects in front of them.

All the IMPORTANT information is summarized in the following TUTORIAL FROM MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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We start with a 3D model and its respective Armature object (animation skeleton), as shown in figure 1 the Armature is barely visible in solid mode, so let’s switch to Wireframe mode to be able to see and select the Armature, as shown in figure 2.

*Fig. 1: In the scene we have a 3D model and an Armature object that is obstructed by the object.*

*Fig. 2: In Wireframe mode you can see objects that are hidden behind other objects.*

With the Armature selected we go to the properties window with the icon shown in figure 3 and in the “Viewport Display” section we check the “In Front” checkbox.

*Fig. 3: With the Armature selected, go to its properties tab.*

*Fig. 4: In the “Viewport Display” section, check the “In Front” checkbox to display the animation bones in front of the objects.*

Now the animation bones are always visible from any perspective no matter if they are inside the model or even if there are other objects in the scene in front of them, making Armature easy to use.

*Fig. 5: The animation skeleton is now visible even if it is inside the 3D model.*

*Fig. 6: In this other view we see how the Armature is inside the model but still visible.*

Introduction

Sometimes we are looking at a certain part of a scene in Blender and we need to visualize an object that is located in other place, if we don’t have so much experience using Blender this can be a big problem because controlling the view and the render camera could be quite challenging.

The TIP we are going to see in this article could save you in more than one time, we will see how to quickly focus the view on an object and also how to make the rendering camera move and focus a target object.

Video tutorial on how to focus the view on an object in Blender

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Focus the view on an object in Blender

In order to quickly FOCUS the view on an object in Blender we select the object and press the dot key on the numeric keypad (Numpad .), with this we go from the situation shown in figure 1 below to figure 2, in which the view is centered on the origin of the selected object. If you don’t have a numeric keypad you can select the object, click on “View” and then choose the “Frame Selected” option, this will focus the view on the selected object aswell.

*Fig. 1: We start from this situation in which the selected object is not centered in the view.*

*Fig. 2: Pressing the dot on the numeric keypad moves the view to focus on the origin of the selected object.*

Focus the camera on an object in Blender

The idea is similar in this case, but we want to move the RENDER CAMERA so that is focused on the selected object.

We start from the situation shown in figure 3 below in which we are seeing the camera perspective, the camera view can be activated with the zero key on the numeric keypad (Numpad 0).

We go to the view tab shown in figure 4 and activate the “Camera to View” checkbox, this will allow us to control the position and orientation of the rendering camera by zooming, panning and rotating the view. In case you do not see the View panel is because it is hidden, it can be displayed with the N key or the arrow icon that is observed in the upper right corner of Figure 3 (slightly above and to the right of the green circle with the letter Y).

*Fig. 3: We start from this situation in which the rendering camera is not centered on the selected object.*

*Fig. 4: Option to lock the camera to the 3D view.*

When the camera is locked to the 3D view you can see the red dotted box, now to center the camera on the object we select the object and press the dot on the numeric keypad, so we go from the situation in figure 5 to the situation in figure 6.

*Fig. 5: When the camera is locked to the 3D view it shows a red dotted line.*

*Fig. 6: Pressing the dot on the numeric keypad centers the view on the origin of the selected object.*

Introduction

In both Blender and Unity you can establish a hierarchical relationship between objects in the scene, in Blender this is reflected in the Outliner while in Unity we see it in the Hierarchy window. If we have an object that is related to a second object called parent, when the parent object is transformed, meaning by transformation the state of position, rotation and scale or a change in these properties, this transformation also applies to the child object since the properties defined in this one are calculated relative to the parent. In this article we see how to parent objects in Blender and then how to remove that parent relationship.

Video tutorial on how to parent and unparent objects in Blender

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Summary on how to parent objects in Blender

1. Select the objects to be linked and make the parent object the active selection.

2. Press CTRL+P and choose the way you want to parent them, usually the “Object (Keep Transform)” option.

SEE DETAILED PROCEDURE

Summary on how to un-parent objects in Blender

1. Select the objects to be unparented.

2. Press ALT+P and choose the option with which you want to remove the relationship, usually the “Clear and Keep Transformation” option.

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How to parent objects in Blender – Detailed process

We start with a scene containing two objects, “Object1” and “Object2” as shown in the Outliner window in Figure 1.

The first thing we are going to do is to select the objects we want to parent.

ATTENTION

In figures 2 and 3 both objects have been selected but both cases are NOT EQUIVALENT, notice that one of the objects is highlighted in yellow, in the case of figure 2 it is the cube on the right while in figure 3 it is the cube on the left.

The object highlighted in yellow is the “Active Selection” and when we parent these objects the parent will be the object we have as the active selection.

*Fig. 1: In the scene we have two objects to be related.*

*Fig. 2: Both objects are selected, the active selection is the object on the right.*

*Fig. 3: Both objects are selected, the active selection is the object on the left.*

To relate one or more objects to another parent object we press CTRL+P which displays the window shown in Figure 4 in which we can choose the type of relationship, in general I choose the option “Object (Keep Transform)“, which makes the child object calculates its local transformation from the origin of the parent object and also keeps the position in which it is.

*Fig. 4: Window for parenting objects to the object that is the active selection.*

In figure 5 we see the result of applying a rotation to the parent object, the child object rotates as a whole due to the parent relationship. In figure 6 we see that we can rotate the child with respect to its own origin and this does not affect the parent object.

*Fig. 5: When the parent object is rotated this rotation is transferred to the child objects.*

*Fig. 6: The child object can be rotated individually and this does not affect the parent object.*

In the Blender Outliner we see the parent relationship that has been established, object 1 is now contained within object 2.

*Fig. 7: In the Blender Outliner the relationship between these objects is reflected.*

How to unparent objects in Blender – Detailed procedure

Starting from the previous objects that are related, we are now going to unparent the objects. To do this, select the object to be unparented and press ALT+P, the window shown in figure 8 appears, generally I choose the option “Clear and Keep Transformation” which removes the parent relationship and keeps the position, rotation and scale of the object. As shown in figure 9, now both objects are at the same hierarchical level.