Blender 2.78 released not too long ago, but a few major bugs were discovered since then, despite a strong internal QA push before it launched. As such, Blender has released 2.78a. In a way, it has some benefits. NVIDIA wasn't able to release the final CUDA 8 SDK in time, so Blender 2.78 shipped with the RC SDK, and it was only enabled for Pascal-based cards. This extra month allowed them to roll it in and enable it for all cards, although it probably won't affect the end-user in any major way.
The release notes claim that 69 bugs were fixed, several of which were crashes and hangs. I have never really experienced any of these, but those who do should, obviously, appreciate the patch. As always, Blender is free, so enjoy creating.
Seriously. If you have free time and the slightest bit of interest: Go do it.
3Ds costs thousands while
3Ds costs thousands while Blender 3d is free. Blender 2.78/2.78a has curve paint and other new features. And did I say the Blender 3d is free as in save those thousands for better hardware and not have to spend it on the software!
The only issue I’m having with Blender is that it still has problems ipporting complex SVG files like the ones that InkScape’s Trace Path option produces. InkScape does not have an effecitve option to limit the amount of SVG nodes generated or limit how close a generated node can be to another generated node. So when the InkScape SVG is generated from an image the node handles can get twisted into tiny loops that are too small to resolve in Blender’s 3d editing mode. InkScape also generates auto image Traced paths with nodes right on top of other nodes and that leads to Blender 3d’s SVG import producing paths with no filled surfaces showing when there is a closed path with a serface and materal assigned.
I wish that Inskape has a effective method to limit the number of nodes generated without degrading the SVG shape/trace and how close one node could be placed next to another node(Node spacing option) built into Inkscape’s Trace Path functionality because it’s great for generating SVG/Path based backgrounds/backdrops for doing 2D animations with Blender 3D’s new 2d animation options and plugins.
Blender 3D also takes forever to open a .Blend file if it has a lot of SVG paths with many nodes! So maybe some form of Optimization of Stored .Blend files that have a lot of complex SVG/Paths in the files options needs to be offered to make the .blend files load faster.
Blender 3d is great software that is free(No Payment required), They also take donations so even a few dollars can be helpful.
Not sure why you would want
Not sure why you would want to import a trace of a photo SVG just guessing you want to take a photo and extract 3d from it, bit difficult with a single photo
Try this video about how to do it with multiple pictures of an object all free and OSS
https://youtu.be/D6eqW6yk50k
On the other hand maybe a bump map might surfice (if it is just surface detail rather than shape)
Try this video
https://youtu.be/W07H7xeUnGE
HTH
That not what I’m doing, Bump
That not what I’m doing, Bump maps are for 3d models, there are some new 2d animation features for Blender 3d, and InkScape has a feature that will generate up to 256 scans or up to 256 separate SVG/layers. So it makes for may planes of background/foreground cutouts generated from a single image(hand drawn image or photo image) that can be scanned from a single image brought into InkScape and converted into SVG planes.
So the scanned trees planes/plants can be in front of the other background features like in a diorama/shadow box style of 2D planes for the 2D characters to easily move behind and in front of depending on how the generated SVGs are stacked. InkScape will auto scan a single image into levels based on Color or value and those generated SVG paths(Up to 256 layers) can be physically stacked from back to front in Blender’s 3D space. The user can then animate the 2d character on its own plane in Blender 3d, and have that characters plane move through the stacks of Background/foreground scene planes/cutouts derived from the InkScape auto trace Image option and imported into Blender 3d’s edit mode.
It’s like having your own theater with Blender 3d simulating an actual theater with background and foreground drops/space for the animated 2d characters to move around in. InkScape’s Trace Path is very powerful and fast and the scanned SVG layers can be eaisly made into animation props and save tons of work. So with Blender you have a virtual back lot and stages with the ability to produce your 2d animated charactors’s movements and automate the making of 2d animations. You can even animate the background props to simulate movement like the animation studios do for 2D animation.
Blender 3d is like having your own theator or movie studio where you can do things in 3d or 2d, or mix 2d with some 3d to create animations, the hand drawn kinds of animations and the 3d kinds or mashups of both 2D or 3D.
It could be useful to
It could be useful to extract, for instance, a logo from an image to convert it into a 3D object for motion graphics. Actually, I just finished doing one for the site, although I had access to Ryan's vector shape.
As long as there is a few
As long as there is a few colors levels scanned on a simple logo in InkScape then the generated SVGs are not so complex and will usually import into Blender correctly. I have had a few simple 6 color level scans(Trace Path) not import properly into Blender 3D’s SVG import mode and it’s usually because InkScape Trace Path placed 2 nodes very close to each other(One node on top of another node) and one of the node’s lines was left with a tiny loop/kink in the SVG line so Blender could not resolve the surface feature layout applied to the material assigned to the path when it was imported. Even zoomed in in Blender 3d edit mode all the way is still not enough to see the tiny kink and sometimes this can be resolved by moving the node away from the other node to reveal the tiny kink. This placing of SVG nodes too close together by InkScape’s auto trace path feature can be almost impossible to fix if the traced path has many hundreds of nodes and each one has to be examined to find out which one Node/Nodes is placed too close to another node with a tiny kink.
Inskape’s XML defined interface is somehow messed up on my computer so I can not get at the feature that generates less nodes removed using InkScape’s simplify path functionality. So I had to edit the XML file directly for the simplify ratio/percentage. But simplifying an auto traced path in InkScape can and does alter the original scan and produces artifacts. I do not Know the exact functionality of InkScape’s Trace Path functionality but it is a very complicated method of iterating through an Image and drawing the correct paths and assigning colors and values to match the actual Image but it appears to be plenty of PHD level work that is still not fully perfected but it’s great for what it does even with its limitations.
It just needs more post processing of the generated nodes to keep one node farther away from another node and the node handles placed properly.
For all I know it may be Blender’s SVG import functionality that is responsible for introducing the errors and not InkScape’s fault at all. That SVG math is above my level and InkScape’s Trace Path functionality is very advanced above even that mathematically and at the algorithm level to be able to decide the color stacking and color values and what paths show through to colors below and above. It’s all like automated stencil management and color values placed next to other color values, but if you look at each layer individually that layer is only one color up to a minimum of 256 colors! But the color fields placed next to each other create even more than 256 color variation when one color is place next to another on a 256 color level scan. I’ll bet a lot of Edwin H. Land’s retinex theory of color vision and other work is utilized in that Trace Path code/Plugin used by InkScape.
Both Blender 3d and InkScape make us of some very brilliant peoples work and lots of others work to keep the Open Sourced work on many thousands of people, and companies that have contributed to both software projects.
Scott, once the logo is scanned as an SVG with InkScape’s Trace Path edited for any adjustments in InkScape and saved and imported into Blender its easy to convert the Logo’s created Paths into a 3D object and even bevel the edges using Blender’s curve tools. The imported path can also be edited in Blender of need be. Once you take an SVG and convert it into a an extruded curve object or 3D mesh object in Blender you can use Blender’s Lights and lighting tools to do even more with shadows and light that can be not be done with 2d effects on 2d editing software. It’s easy get some nice effects like that for even 2d graphics using Blender’s lights and other features on 3d lettering/logos to really make logos pop.
I see my mistake, respond to
I see my mistake, respond to an AC
No it’s the links to the
No it’s the links to the videos without the videos’ titles, and there are some tweaks that need to be offered by InkScape so that simplifying SVG/Paths objects do not degrade the Traced bitmap path/s. Blender is confused by some of the SVG geometry generated by InkScape’s Trace Bitmap to Path option, too many nodes and too many nodes too close together. On paths(imported SVG) with lots of path nodes too close together Blender needs to have some functionality like mesh vertices has to reduce doubles, only for reducing double path nodes(Nodes so close together that they can be merged and not change the object’s geometry). InkScape’s Trace bitmap is the best thing since sliced bread for converting bitmaps/other Images(all images are bitmap when loaded into memory) into SVG form but it just needs to have more generated SVG optimization options like forcing nodes to be farther apart along a trace so the user can spot twisted handles. InkScape’s Trace Bitmap produces hundreds or thousands of nodes per stacked scan, up to 256 separate scans/Paths are generated so the numbers of nodes can add up fast, and it’s not feasible to go through thousands of nodes looking for any features that are too small to resolve in Blender’s 3d edit mode.
Include the titles of the videos with the links next time, and InkScape’s Trace Bitmap option is what I like the best about InkScape it is just that there needs to be more optimization options for node distance/spacing on the generated paths.
It brought a render time for
It brought a render time for a simple yard scene down from 1:08 sec to 45sec. This is on a Titan X pascal with 5820k. Using GPU rendering.