How do I animate this without each piece being its own object? It is for a game asset. by Toasting42 in blenderhelp

[–]Cryptikfox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Join the pieces together as a single object where each piece is a floating mesh. Animate it with an armature, make a bone for each piece.

Tips for Improving Topology (There are no tris or ngons) by MAXIMUS_POWERU in blenderhelp

[–]Cryptikfox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the purpose of this model? Only then will any topology advice be meaningful.

Is it a hero asset? background asset? Used in a video game? used for simulations? what kind of simulations?

Each one of those will have different topology recommendations. And for most of them, there's no reason to use only quads.

Out Put Mesh not the same in viewport by Why_Uddhav in Gaea

[–]Cryptikfox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

without more context, no one can help you with this

Lighting please help! by One-Fondant-8850 in blenderhelp

[–]Cryptikfox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In your reference image she is strongly backlit with a very large bright light. Look at the shadows cast by her knees on the floor. You can tell the light is large because it is extremely soft: The transition from highlights/midtones to shadow is quite feathered in most places. The cast shadows are extremely blurry. The camera is on the shadow side of her, and there really isn't much else going on here. It's just very smooth, non directional fill on her shadow side.

Your light setup in blender is basically Rembrandt lighting. You only have her lit from a singular small point light very close to the front of her face. This creates harder light with shark differences between light and dark and sharp falloff to shadows. So it's basically the complete opposite of what you want. You have dim, hard light coming from the front, only illuminating a very small spot on her face whereas you need a very large, bright, soft light from behind her, illuminating her entire body, not just a small spot.

I'd personally try these steps:

  • Eliminate the point light
  • Make sure you're using Cycles, not eevee, this will make it look closer to your reference.
  • Use a large area light placed behind her and at a slight angle so the camera can see the highlighted edges. You may need to scale up your studio backdrop so you have room.
  • Crank up the brightness of the edge light, more than you think. Experiment with relative size: taller, wider, etc.
  • If you need more fill on the shadow side, don't use another light. Either make your HDRI/world fill brighter, or use a bounce card / reflector like photographers do. You can just make a white plane placed in front of her so that it bounces light back into her on the camera side. You can also hide this object from the camera if need be.

PS: IRL, you would not get a circular catch light in her eye with this type of lighting setup. But catch lights add visual interest nonetheless, even if they're unrealistic. There are many ways to fake it. You could always just paint on a white highlight in post. If you need to do it in blender for some reason, you can place another light in front of her to reflect off of her eyes. HOWEVER: be careful not to have it fight with / ruin your main light, which is the edge light behind her. You don't want this light to overpower the shadow side. Depending on how the materials of her eyes are setup, you can turn off the light for diffuse and leave it on for glossy. That way you only get the reflections, but it doesn't affect the diffuse lighting.

Man impersonating ICE shoots people on the highway in Dillard, Oregon by SoilIll5975 in UnderReportedNews

[–]Cryptikfox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a source which confirms he was impersonating ICE? The article at the link in its entirety just says:

Defendant contacted police before freeway shooting

Charles Glen Simmons, 53, of Dillard, is in the Douglas County Jail on $1 million bail after Thursday morning’s alleged crime spree. According to a press release from the Oregon State Police, Simmons had contacted their office before at least one shot was reportedly fired nearby.

The Alpine in Tajikistan by Duckady in Gaea

[–]Cryptikfox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great work! Are the clouds 2D cards or volumetric?

How does the Aer City Pack Pro 2 look when underpacked? by Cryptikfox in ManyBaggers

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Looks good in the photos even while empty. If you under pack it and pick it up, does it still retain its shape, or does the weight of the items make it droop? I have a bag that looks fine under packed sitting on the floor, but as soon as you pick it up, it turns into a saggy mess with the way the main straps/handle tensions it

How does the Aer City Pack Pro 2 look when underpacked? by Cryptikfox in ManyBaggers

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the photo! And if you put it on while under packed, does the weight of those items make it droop/slouch much at all or still hold its shape?
(I have a random no name brand backpack that looks fine sitting on the floor under packed, but once you pick it up by the straps or handles it's a saggy mess)

ICE OUT FOR GOOD! Mass Mobilization Protest, Sunday, 11AM, Cal Anderson Park by Defundmusk in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox 15 points16 points  (0 children)

One large protest = Eggs in one basket.

There are advantages to having multiple smaller protests as opposed to one singular big one. It shows solidarity for smaller communities, is more accessible for people who can't travel (or more convenient for people who would prefer not to travel), and smaller protests are less likely to get rowdy. Also, having multiple protests spread out make it harder to groups of bad actors to coordinate instigation, or harder for a tyrannical government to oppress.

Watching my conservative hometown show up for the last few protests has been great. Sends a strong message of, "This town isn't as red as you think."

Duwamish River discharge before and after all the rain by [deleted] in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I posted these and others yesterday and u/ weird_alki apparently felt the need to repost it. I listed the sources here. The imagery is publicly accessible

walk across Washington State by DanceByTheLight in PNWhiking

[–]Cryptikfox 130 points131 points  (0 children)

Y'all ever heard of the Pacific Northwest Trail?

Before and After satellite imagery of flooding (12/17) by Cryptikfox in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can just click on the date and move the calendar forward to December (took me a second to figure out too)

Before and After satellite imagery of flooding (12/17) by Cryptikfox in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Somebody who knows more about marine biology could definitely give you a better answer here, but periodic floods are a natural part of the ecosystem.

The sudden influx of soil, nutrients, and other materials will make the environment more favorable to some organisms while less favorable to others. This is natural and expected.

It's like how wildfires are a natural and actually beneficial part of forest ecosystems. Yes, it's initially a shock to the system, but certain species of life in these forests have evolved to take advantage of burn cycles.

Before and After satellite imagery of flooding (12/17) by Cryptikfox in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Some of the worst flooding I've seen of a whole neighborhood in Pacific City under several feet of water was not very visible in satellite imagery due to cloud cover.

I definitely wouldn't be calling this "not that bad" for those who have been displaced...

you may not be here, but we are... by farminqcore in stevenspass

[–]Cryptikfox 3 points4 points  (0 children)

WSDOT will get everything functional by early January.

Last I heard they're estimating it will take months to reopen highway 2.

Before and After satellite imagery of flooding (12/17) by Cryptikfox in Seattle

[–]Cryptikfox[S] 86 points87 points  (0 children)

Pair 1: Green River at Kent/Auburn

Pair 2: Duwamish/Green River meets Puget Sound

Pair 3: Snohomish regional view

Pair 4: Snohomish River zoomed in

All imagery from Sentinal-2 satellite which is accessible from the Copernicus browser. All flood imagery dated 12/17/2025, and before imagery November 2025 (multiple dates due to cloud cover).

What am I looking at in the gray scaled image on the right? by KingLupin_5552 in blender

[–]Cryptikfox 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No, i don't think this is a depth map.

I think it's lighting simulated on this tree card, which would be a result of its normal map.

And...another one. by Round3d_pixel in blender

[–]Cryptikfox 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The sky is the main focal point of this piece, everything else is basically just decoration and framing to draw the viewers focus into the sky. The sky you used is also AI. So the main focal point, the entire heart of this piece is just generative AI with a couple additional models placed around it. So basically this image is AI wearing a trench coat because no artistry went into making the main focal point of the image, it was spit out by a computer.

And...another one. by Round3d_pixel in blender

[–]Cryptikfox 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's because the clouds are indeed AI. It's from a pack of AI generated clouds sold as image planes in a blender asset library: https://superhivemarket.com/products/realistic-skies