• In 3d

    Run python command in Blender from 3D view

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 2

    Are you tired of getting the “RuntimeError: context is incorrect” error when trying to run python commands in Blender?!? Of course you are!!
    But sweat no more – thanks to this new and super simple Blender addon, you can run your python commands directly from any 3D view and get the correct context – always! This is a solution to dreadful blender context is incorrect problem you have been waiting for!

    But wait!!! There is more! You can run either a single line or even execute whole script documents!
    So forget about writing addons or doing complex context copy operations just to run that […]

  • In 3d

    Procedural hexagon tiles Blender shader

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 4

    Recently I saw that someone was selling procedural hexagon tiles Blender shader. I became very curious about how this was achieved and spent couple days trying to figure this out on my own. Turns out you don’t need much more than just a bunch of math nodes and UV coordinates as an input. The rest is just basic geometry and basic math. No OSL. Works on GPU and in the viewport! Welcome to Shader Programming 101 🙂

    I won’t go into details, but what I made is a node group that can generate any N-Gon. On top of that there are couple helper […]

  • In goodies

    Parent selected layers to new Null script for After Effects

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 3

    I created a small script for After Effects that allows to quickly parent all selected layers to a new Null layer which is automatically centered around selected layers. Layers that are already parented will not be touched (useful if you are parenting whole hierarchy – then script will only parent top parent layers).

    Null layers in and out points will be set to mach the total range of all selected layers.

    Also there is an option to lock selected layers after parenting.

    As always – you must have your comp selected in project window. That’s the limitation of AE scripting. 

    How to use:
    1. Download […]

  • In 3d

    Hierarchy helper Tools Blender addon

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 4

    One feature I find missing in Blender, is ability to quickly group objects under new Empty (Null) object. I found an addon called “Parent to Empty” – it was great but did not work inside hierarchies. Based on that addon, I created my own, improved version – which works in hierarchies and as a bonus – removes children object inverse matrix. (About the strange inverse matrix – read below.) As in original addon, you can create the Empty object in three places – center of selected objects, center of active object or at 3d cursor. You can also create a […]

  • In 3d

    Center object to children Blender addon

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 3

    One thing that I have to do very frequently but could not find easy way to do is centering object to its children or moving parent object to 3d cursor position without moving children.

    Normally you would unparent children from the parent object. Then you would move the parent to where you want it to be. After that you would try to find the unparented children somewhere in outliner (they are moved to the root of the hierarchy and scattered around by name). Then you would parent them back. Super annoying!

    No more! 

    There is another command included – bpy.ops.object.snap_sparent_to_cursor() or search for “Move parent […]

  • In goodies

    Parenting puppet pins to null objects script for After Effects

    ByGatis Kurzemnieks 20

    I created a free addon script for After Effects that allows parenting puppet pins – it creates control Nulls for all Puppet Tool pins of the selected layer. Nulls are created in correct positions. Nulls will have the name of the pins with an optional prefix added. Layer name can also be added after prefix. Puppet tool pins are parented to the nulls with expressions. You can also specify the scaling of the nulls to suit your needs.

    tip: if you have not named your pins and the “Prefix layer name” is on, default puppet names “Puppet Pin 1..x” will be […]