05. Understanding Basic Math -Geometry Nodes For Beginners / Blender 3.0

#Blender #GeometryNodes #Tutorial
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Geometry Nodes for Beginners
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Welcome to another short tutorial series about hot topic of the blender community, which is also the latest and anticipated feature - Geometry Nodes. In this chapter 5, we are going to discuss... the absolute basics of math nodes and few things about different input and output types. These will help you understand and build more complex relations between nodes procedurally. Also this is groundwork for further examples we are going to discuss whether its visual or motion.

Nodes are powerful, every major 3D program either already have a strong node based procedural workflow, or is adapting to it. Blender's Everything Node projects first installment is Geometry Nodes. Which is still at a very early stage of development, but can make life easier even with limited number of nodes we have a this moment.
It's fun, It changes the way we used to make environments, procedural effects, scatter things around. And not just that, with upcoming modifiers and many more nodes being added to it, its going to get even more powerful. So while the development of Geometry Nodes will go on for quite some time, its better we do some catching up, and start adapting to the new workflow.

This first part of Geometry Nodes series is for absolute beginners, Like, literally basics and no tricks or advance setups, This is for those who are starting with nodes and geometry nodes workflow for the first times. Well, Lets agree, it looks darn scary when you look at those big node maps, but once you understand it, you will never go back to old methods. We will start with creating absolute basic things , without touching the spreadsheet or attributes first. Main goal here is to get comfortable with nodes, know its meaning and uses, why it is better than old methods. Understanding the node based interface, adding nodes, connecting nodes, short keys, organizing nodes, making simple node groups etc. will be our first priority, from there on we will work towards using simple math in nodes, applying materials, using node groups, simple point instancing, Wiring parameters ,creating your first node based animation which you can apply to any other object with single click and it will give you exact same results. By the end of this short series you should have this animation with you, or even better example. And then we can get into a bit of rendering and lighting of this intro sequence.
Enough talk now, So lets get started and get our hands on Geometry Nodes already, and i will try to make it as easy as it could get, because honestly , I hate spreadsheets and math's as well, But there are always ways to find methods of learning. Lets figure it out together.
I will be adding new chapters in this playlist, to save this playlist for future updates

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Rico Cilliers
@RicoCilliers
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[CrossMindStudio]

Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is this tutorial series for Blender 3.0) ? -
Yes, This is being done using 3.0 and latest updated node system.

2. Would this be done using old legacy nodes or the new nodes including fields?
All the examples in this series are being made using new nodes, not the legacy nodes.

3. Would this still be relevant in future versions?
In case any significant change happens, it would be aderessed either in the new video tutorial, or in comment section pinned comment such as this.
Softwares keep on developing and improving, so as long as you focus on the core fundamentals, it shouldn't be too hard to get the concepts through videos.

4. Will you be covering every node?
I won't be making video for every node, but plenty of examples which would cover use case scenario for all the nodes combined.

5. Will you be making motion graphics series with Geo Nodes?
May be not seperately but there would be plenty of chapters in this series covering motion aspect in Geo Node.

7. I have white computer one with CD Driver n Multimedia Speakers, can i run Blender with geo node.
Yes.

8. Would you cover how to make Environments with Geo Nodes?
Why not.

9. I can't see then nodes you are using in tutorial?
As long as you are using the updated version you should be able to see all the nodes mentioned in tutorial.
Also check the discription for version details, that we used to discuss the examples.

10. Can we make Angry Birds movie with Geo Nodes?

[flyingarepa]

It really shows my age when I cringed in response to the “snap to the nearest second” around 18:00. Old clocks, like the one being modeled here had continuous motion because they are mechanical machines. The seconds hand snapping to the next position came about when quartz clocks and watches became commonplace, around the 1980s.

That said, I think it was an absolutely necessary component in your tutorial, because the knowledge you are imparting is more useful than historical accuracy.

Thanks for making this series freely available.

[ideeor]

This is the tutorial I needed to see. Math is not my strongest subject, but finally understanding how things work with vectors will help me to better understand Geometry Nodes. Thank you.

[markmiso]

Hey great tutorial, as always!
But I noticed there is an error in your math, the hour pin should move 12 times slower than your minute pin instead of 60.
While it's true that there are 60 minutes in an hour, in a clock we don't operate with time units itself but rotations.
You want the minute pin to move 60 times slower than your second pin because every full rotation of the second pin shoud make the minute pin move a sixtieth of a full tourn (there are 60 minutes in a clock).
But there are only 12 hours in a clock, meaning that at every full rotation of the minute pin, the hour pin should move one twelfth.

[ed_vs]

Hey man, great tutorial, thanks for this, I've followed a few of Erindale's tutorials on Youtube as well, and instead of the 6.2831 etc he just types 'tau'. That is the 360 degrees in radians. And you can just write 'tau' in the expression in the node, no need for the calculator, that works well. Also at 16:13, the calculation should be 1/12 not 60, because there are 12 hours for the hour hand to do 1 full circle. Also at 17:36 the snap node no longer exists in the final Blender 3.0. I used the Vector Math Node - and change the function to snap. Thanks for this great series, keep it up!

[scatterbrainart]

A couple notes on the math: When animating a clock you need to make sure your Frame Rate in the Output Properties tab corresponds to your radians calculation. The default is 24 fps, in which case you'd need to use 2*pi/1440 (24 fps * 60 sec = 1440 frames/min).
Also, you need to use 0.00349 instead of .003 or else your minute hand will be off by over 10%.

I know this is all pedantic, and the lessons in the video are still solid, but I do 3D graphics for an engineering consulting firm and details like this come back to bite me all the time.

[Aristocle]

In value you can use " pi*2 " .

[anilg]

Hello mates. Don't know when it was added but In Blender 3.2, there is Math>Conversion->To Radians node that you can add between Value and Combine XYZ (time 13:25) to convert radians to degrees.
Mates also note that origins of pins are set to world origin initially so first select the glass, set cursor to its center and then set origins of all 3 pins to that cursor.

[RandomRotation]

Just want to quickly thank you for this series. It really helps me to get into this whole new workflow. Good job man Cheers from northern germany **

[SvetlanaK_Sunday]

This is amazing! I had no idea how I could approach this topic, so difficult and scary. But with your help, it turns out to gradually "defeat the dragon"! Thank you so much for the knowledge you share with us!

[michaelmclamb]

Made it to 5 !!! Thank you so much very helpful and I love how the learning is building on top of each other smoothly. I would appreciate key strokes and mouse clicks for future tutorials

[caram]

I really love your style of teaching! Great job, thank you so much - don't know what I'd done without you

[issac]

Can't believe this tutorial is free, thank you

[regimunandar]

Thanks Ram! I avoid GeoNodes until recent 3.0 update, and now let's try it for good. Your tut is great and well explained for complete noob like me. Just discover that Geo Nodes also has Conversion to Radians (in Math node), so we don't need to hassle with that 'radiant' thing.

[wasquiat]

Hey there!
You're an amazing teacher, Ram. I'm really impressed by your clear and detailed explanation. You covered my all questions during the video. At the beginning I was afraid of geometry nodes but you nailed it!
I'm rarely writing a comment to videos, so you have a new follower :)
I'll be awaiting of your new content. Thanks!!

[Ali-Farzin-Abri]

you're awsome. love this series and how you explain things. finally understanding geometry nodes. thank you so much.

[sergosdeoliveros]

i'll comment this for anyone wondering how to separate the pins : select the whole object -> space bar -> separate loose parts. it's at the 1:00:10 mark of the video he mentions

[vapormist]

Oh my goodness! I wish I had a math teacher like you! You make things make sense! I will follow you from now on!

[JaredLodwickDesign]

You have a great teaching method. Thanks for these lessons!

[StarfuryFlames]

@12:27 .... 360º = 2π radians .... and u can use 'pi' in value fields within blender. (6.283 = 2 * 3.1415 = 2 * pi) =)