How to Actually Use Align Euler to Vector in Blender's Geometry Nodes

Blender's 'Align Euler to Vector' node is one that we end up needing a lot, but it's not very intuitive.
In this video by CG Cookie's Jonathan Lampel, we will unpack Blender's Geometry Nodes with special focus on Align Euler to Vector.
Even if you've never used it before, this will give you the tools to harness its power.
Watch Assemble, the full course on procedural modeling with geometry nodes:
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The course is also available on Blender Market: blendermarket.com/products/as...
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Euler Rotations
01:47 - Vectors
02:19 - Alignment Basics
03: 25 - Aligning to an Object
05:38 - Aligning Multiple Axes
07:45 - Vectors and Location
08:33 - Aligning to a Mesh
11:28 - Mesh vs. Curve Normals
13:56 - Aligning to a Curve
16:23 - Final Notes
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[@BillGarrett]

This is the clearest explanation of this node I've ever seen. Fantastic work, thank you.

[@totheknee]

5:57 - GIMBAAAAAALLLLL LOCCCCCK!!! 24 years after learning about it, and it still rules the animation world! Take that Quaternions!

[@LauraMakesStuff]

The tip about aligning to both the curve tangent AND the normal solved a problem I had been struggling with for days! THANK YOU!

[@MichaelSievers]

Plain magic... you made me grasp the concept, finally.. Thank you!

[@konichiwatanabi]

Love Blender content like this that unpacks the working principles. Thanks!

[@susanac4099]

Fantastic explanation. I finally understood the " align to euler vector" node. I used to just tweak it without having any idea of what it was doing.

[@coreys2686]

Perfect timing! I was just looking at an old 3.1 tut going over this. I still have a lot to learn about Geonodes.

[@FarukAhmet]

Wonderful demonstration

[@travissmith7471]

I found it extremely helpful... And I started reminiscing about my days in Geometry class... Sitting at my desk... Wondering what will I need with this knowledge in the real world... And here I am attempting to learn 3D animation in Blender... Thanks for sharing...

[@jimsmind3894]

Thanks, that node has caught me out a few times with its odd behaviour. This really helped me understand what it's actually doing.

[@wentaofeng5548]

very informative tutorial, using the arrow mesh is such a great trick! Never fully understand how this node works until watching this vid, great job!!!

[@2000bvz]

Excellent and very clear explanation! Thanks!

[@SouthernShotty]

That course looks great!

[@zboy303]

Truly great stuff. Thanks!

[@DDaveDeer]

Thanks for your hard work on this!

[@oivasquezc]

This is beautiful

[@emmanuelrenquin2567]

Thumbs up for a tutorial that actually explains things.

[@maxcue5578]

Clear, interesting super useful.... All we need to know about this node without going round in circles.. (kinda no pun intended). CGcookie is a must.

[@jerryhunter1114]

Great video, unlocks a lot of confusion on my end! thank you!

[@olaufr]

Thanks for this video, very well explained and very helpful, great work!

[@IrocZIV]

Didn't know how little I knew about curves. Very good tutorial.

[@sidekick3rida]

Immensely helpful. Thank you!

[@atriptoreality]

Great video!

[@Thingsbydesign]

holy heck! this makes so much sense after battling it out long with geo nodes :D

[@missing_the_texture]

this was really helpful thank you❤

[@KaoukabiJaouad]

best explanation ever on the "align to euler node", you're right it should be named align to vector node(if it was named like that i would have understood it perfectly), why confuse people, the explanation of geometry nodes in blender is average, or below average for complex nodes(on the official website), it could be a lot better, we need more people like you.

[@carlosfernandez3565]

shhhhhtttt I was using this tutorial for some work I was doing yesterday where I was trying to array a group of objects along a curve but whith a cool subtle gradual rotation. This was extremely useful but I was a little on a hurry to figure it out and move on that I didn't get to the point of mesh vs curves until today that I rewatched the video to actually understand it, which would have solved my issues yesterday I guess. Still got a good random result yesterday thanks to you and the first half of your video.

[@silentlady408]

Very clear !!

[@thezachlambert]

Great vid! Came here because the node was giving me odd behavior and I felt like I needed a refresher on the node but after watching the video I found out that my problem was having the inputs mismatched on the Rotation and Vector socket smh. 😅😅😅

[@a.miroshin]

Thank you!

[@davisburnside9609]

Finally! I get it, I've been trying to understand it for weeks lol

[@WilEngl]

thank you so much for this one :)

[@user-ev5ur7fw4t]

indeen a great job thanks

[@globglob3d]

Amazing tutorial, very well researched and explained. I've built myself a similar node group for debugging and teaching myself geometry nodes, I encourage anyone to do the same.

[@itsjes3d]

You saved me! thank you!

[@GaryParris]

excellent

[@DanielPartzsch]

Very helpful, thanks a lot. Next up: vector rotate please ... 😊

[@rbettsx]

You can nail this down a bit more.. in the first rotation align and axis. In the second rotation spin around and that now good axis, by setting that, instead of 'Auto'.

[@hwajeongjeon6238]

thanks : D

[@shevskee]

14:10 whooopsieee!

[@Aaws424]

Thank you a loooooooot

[@nirmansarkar]

14:13 Ooohh Spicy!

[@rjwh67220]

I would be interested in how, or if, the Euler functions relate to the work of the groundbreaking Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler. I’m familiar with his work, and don’t immediately see any parallels. EDIT: An amazingly useful tutorial. I’d never really understand the Euler stuff and never used it. I’m not afraid of it anymore, and I can think of MANY ways to use it.

[@alexandre.albisser]

The man Euler is indeed behind all this: "In geometry, Euler's rotation theorem states that, in three-dimensional space, any displacement of a rigid body such that a point on the rigid body remains fixed, is equivalent to a single rotation about some axis that runs through the fixed point. It also means that the composition of two rotations is also a rotation. Therefore the set of rotations has a group structure, known as a rotation group." - Wikipedia So basically the proof of this theorem is what allows the align euler to vector node to work.

[@markdebono1273]

There is something no one really talks about, that is how do you re-align Euler to world?

[@kpcreationtamil5985]

what is photorealistic character creating method in avatar movie ?

[@yohomes5]

Can we have the Mesh Axes node group?

[@sajjadabouei6721]

I thought I know align to vector node deep and completely untill I came a cross to this video

[@moregamingplayz9002]

Can you do Transformers transformation tutorial?

[@luobohu6588]

Is curve normal different from mesh normal?Why their normals point to inward of the curve?

[@_casg]

brooo i need help , i am trying to do this same thing aligning instances but with polycurves, and when the instances reach the corners they don't seem to align, they slowly turn into place of their alignment if you know what i mean, i what it to align everywhere even the corners but i don't know what nodes to use

[@dracullbo]

I don't get it, if the normals point away from the object origin why in 15:08 they pointed to the origin?

[@DanteS-119]

Holy moly it's Elijah Woodckerberg.

[@philhacker2405]

At 845. Wouldn't that be parallel to the world to object vector?

[@kpcreationtamil5985]

Create a Photo Realistic Forest

[@mingothemongo4466]

14:11 - surprise swastica

[@kione]

14:13 😦

[@ninerobixninerobix]

you guys not gonna update your old courses on website there is alot 2.8 2.6 there not any one about modeling in 3.0 above

[@fabbrobbaf]

I knew it was hard...if it take a 15 minutes long tutorial to get it, it must be hard

[@issac7787]

I got more confused the more I learnt 🤣

[@minthu6955]

I just want to release pains of my right side teeth and my left foot circle of bruce..

[@jeffg4686]

Guys, it would be good if someone addressed the *ISSUE* of AI in the industry. It's going to hit all industries eventually, but is hitting THIS ONE now, hard. As leaders in the blender community, it would be good to hear your thoughts on this upcoming issue. Where should people be focusing their efforts. Creativity even is at risk, not just the technical.

[@jonlampel]

Actually, we will!

[@jeffg4686]

@@jonlampel - good to hear. I don't know if you've been following in general (like crop picking, etc) but AI is taking over ALL jobs. Lawyers will be toast. getting weird

[@voyageruk2002]

@@jeffg4686 There's no doubt that AI is going to play a major part in our lives, nobody really knows where is going, right now the computation required is pretty big, I don't think it's going to become as widespread as everyone is predicting until it can handle the volume of requests it's going to have to deal with. Very interesting times are ahead, especially with some of the work deep mind are doing.

[@sippinizar]

you guys not gonna update your old courses on website there is alot 2.8 2.6 there not any one about modeling in 3.0 above