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Questions tagged [meta-objects]

Meta objects provide an implicit approach to modeling: instead of defining the surface of a model explicitly (as is the case with meshes and NURBS surfaces), the surface of a collection of meta objects is calculated with a mathematical function evaluated with the meta objects as input.

10 votes
1 answer
4k views

How to create a mesh from metaballs which will always work with a Boolean modifier?

My goal is to simulate a particle system in an animation, convert the particles to a mesh, then apply Boolean modifiers to the result mesh. This usually works. However, the mesh generation ...
Ed Tate's user avatar
  • 5,196
8 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is there a low level alternative for bpy.ops.object.convert()?

I am using bpy.ops.object.convert(target='MESH', keep_original= False) in a python function in blender to convert metaballs to a mesh. The script works fine when ...
Ed Tate's user avatar
  • 5,196
1 vote
1 answer
345 views

Where do I find the metaball panel?

In the manual it says press F9 but I have tried that, and it doesn't work. I am trying to find this for the negative feature that meta-balls have.
demorashade's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
6k views

What are surfaces and metaballs used for?

I use very often meshes and curves, because I know what they are used for (meshes for renders and curves for follow curves). But I actually don't use surfaces and metaballs. What are surfaces and ...
Faceb Faceb's user avatar
  • 3,885
9 votes
1 answer
500 views

Can I use something similar to the ParticleInfo Node but for meta objects?

In cycles you can control the color of a Particle-(dupli)Object with the ParticleInfo Node. You can, for example, divide Particle Age by Lifetime and use the result as factor for a mix shader. I ...
user2488's user avatar
  • 371
4 votes
0 answers
963 views

Baking metaball solver

I'm animating a particle system of metaballs, and finding that the scene takes a long time to initialize before it can even start rendering. I'm finding it annoying as I work on materials, since there'...
ajwood's user avatar
  • 10.1k
2 votes
1 answer
132 views

Duplicating motionpaths(keyframes)

I am kind of new to this whole blender program, and I'm currently trying to make a text animation where the letters are made out metaballs. By now I have made 850 metaballs and I'm not even done with ...
Peter Holton's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
7k views

How to create proper displacement for weld joints?

I am looking for a way to create procedural weld joints in Blender. Here are some reference images showing what I am looking for: The basic approach I have been taking is to create a base mesh then ...
Isaac's user avatar
  • 596
3 votes
1 answer
121 views

Changing family of many metas

I've got a few hundred meta balls making up an object. I'd like to duplicate it, and convert it to a mesh. It seems that the duplicated metas end up being in the same family as the originals, so ...
ajwood's user avatar
  • 10.1k
3 votes
1 answer
4k views

Is there a way to render particles as if they were a single liquid?

I don't want to use the fluid simulator beacuse i've been getting more controlled results with the particles system feature + using a guide as a force field. What i'm trying to accomplish is water ...
invicente's user avatar
  • 1,035
3 votes
1 answer
370 views

Is it possible to insert a keyframe to a metaball element?

I think everything is in the title : I want to deform my metaball object during animation. Let's explain a bit more : I have several metaball objects in my scene, each of them composed of several ...
Tawy's user avatar
  • 133
2 votes
1 answer
225 views

Is it possible to make a plane out of meta objects?

Yes, I know, Add > Metaball > Plane. But how can I make a large plane? Scaling it affects all meta objects in the scene. I thought of connecting a bunch of meta planes together, however this isn't a ...
gandalf3's user avatar
  • 158k
12 votes
2 answers
3k views

Scripting metaballs with negative influence

I'm generating metaballs with a python script, and I need to be able to toggle the negative option for some of the metaballs. (Edit: ...
Cody Reisdorf's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
230 views

Are there any non-standard meta objects available?

I recently started playing with Meta objects again after all these years of using Blender and largely ignoring them. However, I find the available types to be extremely limited. Are there any others ...
A Wild RolandiXor Has Appeared's user avatar

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