Baking Documentation Seems Stale #80244

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Pepper Lebeck-Jobe · 2020-08-30T09:39:35+02:00

2020-08-30 09:39:35 +02:00

System Information
Operating system: Mac OS 10.15.6
Graphics card: Radeon Pro 555 2GB (Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB)

Blender Version
Broken: 2.83.5
Worked: ???

When reading the documentation here:
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/baking.html?highlight=baking there are lots of references to clicking a "Bake" button. But, I think this button has either been moved off of the "Physics properties" tab in the Object editor, or removed from the UI entirely. I was able to find it using F3 and searching for Bake Data. But, still cannot find the button in the UI.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error
Follow this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrnSACiTJ4
At the point where you're supposed to set the Mokey's head on fire, get frustrated because you only see 50 frames of smoke being animated.
Then, read this comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrnSACiTJ4&lc=UgycghRxBl-ZJCPZHBJ4AaABAg
On step 7, it says to click "Bake Data"
Get frustrated that there is no "Bake Data" option in my Physics Tab.
Go do the Blender 2.83 documentation (linked above)
Find that it also talks about baking the data, but there is no button.
Finally, find another comment that says you can search using F3 for "Bake All Data" and it will work.

**System Information** Operating system: Mac OS 10.15.6 Graphics card: Radeon Pro 555 2GB (Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB) **Blender Version** Broken: 2.83.5 Worked: ??? When reading the documentation here: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/baking.html?highlight=baking there are lots of references to clicking a "Bake" button. But, I *think* this button has either been moved off of the "Physics properties" tab in the Object editor, or removed from the UI entirely. I was able to find it using F3 and searching for Bake Data. But, still cannot find the button in the UI. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** Follow this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrnSACiTJ4 At the point where you're supposed to set the Mokey's head on fire, get frustrated because you only see 50 frames of smoke being animated. Then, read this comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrnSACiTJ4&lc=UgycghRxBl-ZJCPZHBJ4AaABAg On step 7, it says to click "Bake Data" Get frustrated that there is no "Bake Data" option in my Physics Tab. Go do the Blender 2.83 documentation (linked above) Find that it also talks about baking the data, but there is no button. Finally, find another comment that says you can search using F3 for "Bake All Data" and it will work.

Pepper Lebeck-Jobe commented

2020-08-30 09:39:35 +02:00

Added subscriber: @eljobe

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2020-08-30 10:08:25 +02:00

Added subscriber: @jenkm

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2020-08-30 10:08:25 +02:00

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/fluid/type/domain/cache.html

Section "Bake All, Free All".

Is that what you need?

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/fluid/type/domain/cache.html Section "Bake All, Free All". Is that what you need?

Pepper Lebeck-Jobe commented

2020-08-30 16:07:51 +02:00

Well, sort of. I think the part that is confusing is that "Bake All, Free All" only show up when the Cache type is "Final."

But, the documentation on this page: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/baking.html#baking (especially down in the Baking section) talks about some other user actions like, "Bake" "Free Bake" "Bake all Dynamics" and I haven't been able to find those options when on the "Physics Properties" panel of, for example, a Smoke Domain (with or without the Cache Type set to "Final". It "feels" like the documentation hasn't been kept up-to-date with the way the program works. But, maybe I've just missed some part of the documentation, or maybe I'm misunderstanding what is being described.

Well, sort of. I think the part that is confusing is that "Bake All, Free All" only show up when the Cache type is "Final." But, the documentation on this page: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/physics/baking.html#baking (especially down in the Baking section) talks about some other user actions like, "Bake" "Free Bake" "Bake all Dynamics" and I haven't been able to find those options when on the "Physics Properties" panel of, for example, a Smoke Domain (with or without the Cache Type set to "Final". It "feels" like the documentation hasn't been kept up-to-date with the way the program works. But, maybe I've just missed some part of the documentation, or maybe I'm misunderstanding what is being described.

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2020-08-30 16:21:07 +02:00

There is a note:

Most physics simulators in Blender use a similar system, but not all have exactly the same settings available.
All the settings are covered here, but individual physics types may not provide all these options.

But, I agree that there is a UI problem here.

No need to hide buttons if they are inactive, they should only be grayed out,
so that the user can see them and had the ability to get help with right-click > manual.

There is a note: > Most physics simulators in Blender use a similar system, but not all have exactly the same settings available. > All the settings are covered here, but individual physics types may not provide all these options. But, I agree that there is a UI problem here. No need to hide buttons if they are inactive, they should only be grayed out, so that the user can see them and had the ability to get help with right-click > manual.

Richard Antalik commented

2020-09-02 16:24:31 +02:00

Added subscribers: @Blendify, @iss

Richard Antalik commented

2020-09-02 16:24:31 +02:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Archived'

Richard Antalik closed this issue

2020-09-02 16:24:31 +02:00

Richard Antalik self-assigned this 2020-09-02 16:24:31 +02:00

Richard Antalik commented

2020-09-02 16:24:31 +02:00

Thanks for report, but I would disagree a bit there,

If I am looking for something new in complex software I would first use systematic approach so click in manual on Physics > Fluid > Read intro (there's workflow) > Click on bake as that is the subject and read the whole thing so I have full picture.

In Blender you can bake a lot of things so that's a bit problematic when you just type bake in search bar.

I think current docs aren't that bad, I will CC @Blendify to consider improvements, but otherwise close this report.
We don't handle user feedback, suggestions or feature requests here. Only bugs and that with quite strict definition.

For user requests and feedback, please use other channels: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests
For more information on why this isn't considered a bug, visit: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Not_a_bug

Thanks for report, but I would disagree a bit there, If I am looking for something new in complex software I would first use systematic approach so click in manual on Physics > Fluid > Read intro (there's workflow) > Click on bake as that is the subject and read the whole thing so I have full picture. In Blender you can bake a lot of things so that's a bit problematic when you just type bake in search bar. I think current docs aren't that bad, I will CC @Blendify to consider improvements, but otherwise close this report. We don't handle user feedback, suggestions or feature requests here. Only bugs and that with quite strict definition. For user requests and feedback, please use other channels: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests For more information on why this isn't considered a bug, visit: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Not_a_bug

Aaron Carlisle commented

2020-09-03 06:11:06 +02:00

I will look over that document and make sure things are layed out clearly and are up to date.

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2020-09-03 09:40:03 +02:00

As I said above, the user manual is OK. The problem here is that the Bake button are hidden depending on other settings.

This option is only available when using the Final cache type.

This statement can easily be overlooked.

The user must first see something so that they can go to the manual and read how it works. You won't think of reading about something that doesn't exist.

If you read the comments under the video from the description, you will see that this is a widespread problem.

As I said above, the user manual is OK. The problem here is that the Bake button are hidden depending on other settings. > This option is only available when using the Final cache type. This statement can easily be overlooked. The user must first see something so that they can go to the manual and read how it works. You won't think of reading about something that doesn't exist. If you read the comments under the video from the description, you will see that this is a widespread problem.

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Baking Documentation Seems Stale #80244