Tutorials

3ds max’s transform gizmo has a useful little plane on it that constrains transformations on 2 axes. Blender has it also, although it is not well known I think. To constrain movement/scaling to two axes, simply shift-click the third axis, the one that is sheer to the desired transformation plane.

To do that without the manipulator and using only hotkeys, first press your transformation hotkey (currently it can only be G for move or S for scale) and shift-X (for Y + Z), shift Y (for X + Z) or shift Z (for X + Y).

I struggled with this for a while now, and couldn’t find the solution anywhere. As you probably know selecting multiple objects and setting draw mode will only set it for the active one. The solution is to use Copy Attributes. Set one object and set the draw mode you want, then select multiple objects. Your first object will be the active one, if not – shift-click it. Then press ctrl-c and choose Draw Options. Done.

To set a single material, press ctrl-l instead, and choose Materials.

All post effects and a SSS shader. Here is the node setup for this with annotations about what is what:

I encountered today a specific problem with Yafaray install and solved it, so here it is for future generations:

If you install Yafaray in Blender that has been upgraded from a older version to newer, and your Yafaray Export option is not showing in the render menu, check if you have your scripts in your local folder AND in Documents and Settings\UserName\AppData\Blender Foundation\Blender. If you do, the Yafaray installer will put the “yafaray_ui.py” script only in Documents and Settings, and if Blender uses the local scripts path Blender\.blender\scripts, the export option will not show.

So, just copy yafaray_ui.py from Documents and Settings and paste it into Blender\.blender\scripts.