Composite with sky color, consisting of Combined, Modified Shadow, Reflection, and Specular passes

In Part 1 of this series, we started by looking at some of the key render passes that result in the final image as seen when we press F12 to render. We also reviewed how to set up for node editing, and we “built” a small part of the render pipeline by compositing diffuse and specular passes into a final image. Finally, we looked at the basics of pixel math, demonstrating some of the ways that Blender composites pixels internally – which can also be reproduced with a simple node setup…

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Viewer nodes showing Combined, Alpha, Diffuse, and Specular render passes.

I’ve been experimenting with compositing nodes lately; not so much for achieving specific results as for understanding how they work. The subject is also educational for increasing understanding of Blender’s rendering pipeline. Believe it or not, it’s possible to get a grasp on this without diving into the code…

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Time running forward and reverse with the Time Ipo

There was a question on the Blender Artists forum today regarding how the Time Ipo works. I answered briefly, but figured it would be good to go just a little more in-depth in a post. Here is a brief tutorial on the Time Ipo and how to use it. Keep in mind that the applications of the Time Ipo probably go far beyond what’s presented here, but if you’re unsure about it, this should serve as a good introduction…

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If you’ve played around with Shape keys, you know that they are basically vertex key frames. They’re very handy for animating organic models in ways that are more difficult to accomplish with bones. They are especially useful for aspects of facial animation, or for augmenting weighted deformations, which are difficult to achieve perfection with. What may not be immediately obvious is their use with Curves…

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Probably the best way to make a spring mesh is to use the Screw tool – but what if you want to compress and expand the spring for animation? It’s possible to rig a dynamic spring with an armature, and then animate it with Ipo curves or the Action editor.

There was a question posted on the Blender Underground Forums about how to make a spring in Blender. If you don’t need a dynamic spring, just use the Screw tool. If you need more than a static mesh spring, i.e., something that appears to function, the answer isn’t so simple…

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