Video Stabilization

This entry will cover the ever popular desire to stabilize captured video.  Having reviewed several avenues for doing this (even with dedicated video editing software), this method seems to be the best and provides the most control.

To get started, when first launching Blender switch to the Motion Tracking view.

The first step is to select a track point.  This is simply done by holding [Ctrl] and [Right-Click] a point on the scene.  Some things to consider when selecting a point.  First find a point of good contrast that will not change between frames.  This is the anchor for the scene.

Adding Multiple Animations

This post is targeted for storing multiple animations that can be brought into a gaming engine like Unity.  This post is built on top of 2 other previous posts.

To learn how to create a rig go here:  Rigging Intro

To learn how to animate a rig, go here:  Animate Rig

Building off these two the next step is to store several animations of the same armature in one blend file.  To do so, when you are in the Dope Sheet view and capturing your animation, you'll need to set the Mode to Action Editor.

Give the current animation a Name (in my case I called it "swim").  And be sure to click the [F] button, as this creates it as a unique animation in the file.

Click the [+] sign to create a new animation, and give it a new name.  You'll need to delete all the previous keyframes (except perhaps the first), then add new animation.  Once again, make sure to click the [F] button again so that it is identified as unique animation.

To see how to configure this animation in Unity, go here:  Import Animation Model

Array Constrained Rotation

This entry will cover using the Array Modifier as well as a rotation Constraint to make a rotationally, symmetrical object, by editing only a small part of the mesh.  The example given is with creating a snowflake.

First step is to create an Empty.  You can use any type, i used a cone because the tutorial i watched did so.

Stacking Modifiers

Although stacking modifiers on a mesh is a fairly elementary concept, here I'll show the power of stacking modifiers to make a very elaborate design from a very simple base mesh.  This came about when I made a nerf trophy that would be 3D printed.  The red region (honeycomb shape) is what will be made.

Calculating a Mesh Area

This post focuses on using the 3D Printing Addon to calculate the surface area of a mesh.  This can translate into useful information, as in the case when designing a backyard, and you want to determine the surface area of a patch of grass that is not nicely geometric.

Bevel Text

This entry will cover the function of adding a Bevel to the built in Text object as can be shown below.

Toggle Viewport Visibility for Child Objects

Quick Tip:  to toggle the viewport visibility of child objects in the outliner, hold Ctrl and click on the eyeball icon of the parent object.  This will toggle the visibiltiy of all the child elements as well.

In the example above, holding Ctrl and clicking on the visibility icon for Clock object caused the visibility of the HourHand and MinuteHand to be affected.