Xara plus Blender questions

[ODdOnLifeItself]

Hello Angelize,

Re: "I couldn't help thinking how much easier that part would be in Xara!"

I often think that too. There is (sometimes) an advantage to doing it in Blender. If you are animating the scene, all the adjustments are done to each frame. If there are 120 frames, that's a lot of images to adjust in Xara. Also, you'll have to use the compositor if you want to do realistic depth-of-field images. Since the software knows the depth (from camera) of all the objects, it can selectively defocus and emulate bokeh effects.

I agree with you though, for basic image editing, it's intuitive and easier in Xara.

Peace

James

[Hwy101]

Yes I agree. I bookmarked this thread so I could find it again later If I need it.

Okay, How do I 'Bookmark' (I have been Posting to as Bookmark in my Subscribed Threads, in Quick Links) - Is there a Bookmark that I have been OverLooking?

[angelize]

Ok I'm still experimenting with spheres, I have a couple more Blender questions:

I have learned how to duplicate and object but how do I move objects in front of or behind each other, and say I have a red sphere and I duplicate it now if I have one sphere selected and I change the material they both change how do I apply a different material to each sphere?

[Soquili]

Okay, How do I 'Bookmark' (I have been Posting to as Bookmark in my Subscribed Threads, in Quick Links) - Is there a Bookmark that I have been OverLooking?

Tom - Bookmarking is done using your webbrowser.

In Firefox and Google Chrome it is called a bookmark.

In IE it is called a favorite.

[ODdOnLifeItself]

Hello Frances,

Good questions!

Re: "...how do I move objects in front of or behind each other..."

The views are controlled by the numeric keypad. From the front is "1"...from the right side is "3" and from the top is "7". (Using control with the previous numbers gives the view from the opposite side.... ie. back is "ctrl-1", left is "ctrl-3" and bottom is "ctrl-7".) To move objects in front/back of each other, just switch views, right select the object and put it where you want it.

Re: Materials

A quick explanation... Blender (as you know) uses materials for objects. If you have two objects using the same material, then if you change that material, you change it for both. (Think of Xara's named colors) When you look in the Materials tab, right next to the name there is a number and this number is the number of objects using that particular material. If you'll just click on that number, it makes the current material a single-user material for the current object. Now, if you edit anything, you change it only for the current object. (the same is true of textures by the way... if you have two spheres with one image mapped to both of them, if you change the image on one, you change the image on the other...UNLESS you do the same thing and click the little number square to make it a unique texture for that object, which you can change exclusive of other objects.

In the graphic below, the "2" is saying that there are two objects currently using this material. (clicking the 2 makes it so that, if I edit this material, it only affects the current object)



Hope this helps!

James

[angelize]

Thanks James, that helps a lot. I'm slowly learning and bumbling my way along I may even have something worth posting by tomorrow evening.

[ODdOnLifeItself]

You're welcome!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with...

By the way, I added a graphic to the above post to show exactly what I meant and where.

Peace

James

[Hwy101]

(( worst part is, I keep switching back & forth between Blender & 123D [Autodesk added a bunch of new stock shapes] Make Learning 'Interesting' ))

[ODdOnLifeItself]

There's always more to learn in Blender...

Today was playing around with the Explode modifier. Here is a quick example... (literally done in minutes)

Pardon the subject matter, there's no hidden meaning...just a quick knock-off.



Peace

James

[guyke]

There's always more to learn in Blender...

Couldn't agree more...