Numerical Input Mode
Saturday 4th June 2005With the release of 2.37 the numerical input of value has been improved.
As part of the rewrite, numerical input (typing values instead of using mouse input) was greatly improved in a lot of small yet useful ways:
- Works with all the transformations
- Better integration with constraints
- Cleaner and clearer output to the screen
- Input is much less error prone
This results in making numerical input more useful than it was before.
To be quite honest I never really knew about this feature, assuming that transformations were done either directly with the mouse after selecting a transform action, or editing the value in the Transform Properties Dialog Box (N Key, when any object is selected).
Now it's been pointed out in the release notes and I've had a play around with it, I think it's a great improvement. For instances, wanting to rotate an object by 45 degrees is as simple as selecting the object, then pressing R, then 45, then Enter.
It's also good for tweaking values. Say you not sure exactly how much you need to move an object. You start by moving it 10 units - G, then 10. At the this stage the object has moved, but because you haven't pressed Enter, the movement hasn't been committed yet. So you can keep repeating this process until you've moved it to the desired position.
eg:
G, then 10 [no, that's not quite far enough]
G, then 15 [just a little too far]
G, then 13 [just right]
Enter
You can also define which plane the tranformation is to take place on. And the values can also be negitive values.
G, then X, then 10 [moves the object 10 units down the X axis]
G, then X, then -10 [moves the object 10 units down the X axis in the negative direction]
Friday 29th July 2005 @ 10:59
I am an amateur animator, having started with Claymation and finding that it tok too long to take all the frames, import them into Stop Motion Pro 4 (www.stopmotionpro.com) and then rendering the entire scene, I have been learning blender over the past 4 months. I have got as far as creating a mesh (eg statue, animal and so on) adin the bones/armatures and then allocating the nearest verticees to the nearest bones. I have gained some good results from this, but am stuck. I want to create a creature that moves as though it has muscles and tendons etc under its skin. So far my sculptures move as though they have a flexible rubber skin that bends, stretches and folds when the bones move rather than creating a more realistic movement like human thighs do (for instance) with the skin only stretching over muscle groups and not folding like a piece of rubber!
At a wild guess, I suppose I would have to create cylinders and 3d ovals where the muscles should be and then parent the skin to those geometric shapes, however I am at a complete loss as to how this can be achieved.
Yes, I am just new, No I havent baught the manual (I am skint 24/7!), can anyone help me or point me to a website where I can learn this technique?
Please help!
Nicky Tn :<)
Friday 29th July 2005 @ 10:24
I've seen a few good tutorials out there, but not many go into the detail you require. However I did remember one set of tutorials that showed a good way to get the realism you're looking for. They are buy SonOfPat and can get to them by going here
Hope this helps.
Saturday 15th October 2005 @ 11:16
I have been learning this software for a few weeks and am very impressed. The reported dimensions of duplicated objects seems to be incorrect, however. If I start with a cube, press SKEY followed by X and the dimension, then go to Y and Z the reported dimensions in the NKEY window are correct.
Now I duplicate this object (move it to a new location), switch to edit mode and select an end using the BKEY, then move the face toward the object center (make the object smaller). Switching back to Object mode the reported dimensions have not changed - they are the same as the original object from which this was duplicated. Is there a way to show the new, correct dimension?
Thanks, Lou