Tutorial: Realistic Lightning in Blender 3.0

[@willmorgan5465]

“Doesn’t need too many nodes” proceeds to show roughly 300 nodes

[@-The_Architect-]

51

[@MattSigmaX]

@@-The_Architect- Exaggeration for comical effect.

[@mysticmarble94]

@@MattSigmaX Nah, I counted again, literally 300.

[@DBMN]

FYI Curve Parameter is now called Spline Parameter Blender 3.1+

[@DBMN]

This is to help people following Tutorial I am not trying to correct the creator - Thanks Bad Normals loving this so far :D

[@lucasxsmith]

legend

[@krisixyz]

the fact he told it...

[@461fpictures2]

This is what worked for me: Take the factor value from the "Spline Parameter" (since there isn't a curve parameter anymore) and plug it into the value of a "Sample Index" node (Click "Clamp" on this node). Take the Split Node Connection coming from "Set Position" node in the first grouping and plug it into the Sample Indexes' Geometry. Take the value of the Sample Index Node and plug it into the Min of the Map Range Node like he does. From there you should be able to follow along.

[@Toxicmastro]

safed my work thanks alot!

[@hashimfarooq6060]

CHAD

[@bavariazombie3226]

ty man

[@RobbieTilton]

Transfer Attribute no longer exists. For mapping the size of the sub bolt... I used Sample Index instead and it worked for the top half of the instances coming from the main bolt, but somehow stopped working on the bottom half of the instances from the main bolt...

[@RobbieTilton]

once i clamped the 'sample index' node it worked as shown in the video

[@ultramanandrew]

bro, i owe you tits. thank you!

[@annamaiorino240]

@@RobbieTiltoncould you elaborate on how you connected the sample index? I’m a beginner and so stuck here

[@milliam]

Best blender youtuber rn easily

what are u doing here bro, post an edit already, we miss you

[@Nylak-gm]

what the heck why u here 💀

[@birhon]

absolutely not true. this guy sucks

[@cyrix_0185]

Woow this was a blast to folow! I was able to make it in blender 4.0, only one of the nodes nedded was replaced, instead of the "Trasnfer attribute" node use "Sample Index". Great tutorial I subscribe!

[@YoungMoonWorks]

man you saved my work, i was search how to change the transfer attribute node for an hour!!!

[@tinaunglatt297]

In case, "Transfer Attribute" node is now called "Sample nearest surface" since 3.4 or idk.

[@Ellythealien]

it says the input geometry (curve) is not supported tho

[@infuriatinghealer]

I really wanna know the process which leads to figuring out this kind of stuff! like all that math, all that information. I think solving problems the way you do is key when working with a 3D software so I wonder how you do it.

[@plejra]

Yeah some more theory and techniques explanation would be good. If someone doesn't understand the mechanisms it has less value in other use cases.

[@MalmqvistM]

I would recommend Default cube or Erindale for a bit more in depth Geo nodes tutorials. I actually like this straight forward approach as a complement though. As for figuring out the process I think its a matter of trying things out until you enough nodes/tools that are available. At least thats how I have learned 3D.

[@goatpepperherbaltea7895]

It helps to know what the nodes do I went through blenders website and all the explanations of individual geo nodes and it really made me more capable of messing around with them

[@infuriatinghealer]

@@goatpepperherbaltea7895 It is one thing to know what the tools does that is true, but the way they use these nodes and know what is missing and what needs to be done in order to pick the proper tool is what challenges me the most. if you watch their growing plant geo tutorials it follows the same method. I'm stunned and keep thinking "how did they even think of that"! i assume a experience is a huge part of it. I've been practicing blender for little less than a year, I can't expect to have their power of observation and outlook on the tools. not to mention they are really good at math I believe. I...suck...at math!

[@fatal510]

The crazy thing is this isn't that wild. It's just instancing some curves on curves. The problem is we peasants don't even think to do this as we lack that creativity part. But if someone said to me "hey make a lightning bolt with geonodes, but don't worry about shading" i could have easily done this.

[@satyamanu2211]

You could add more than one group inputs , that will save you from the hassle of using just one input node

[@theblacksolid_fr]

Nice shot ! It's a good starting point, thanks. @14:50 : instaed of making instances real you can simply change the vector value to positive 1 in Z axes which allows third small branches to slightly follows their parent branches direction (which is also cool :) )

[@immineal]

This is so great! Literally searched for this since like 5 years ago when I started, was really hard back then without all the Geo Nodes an stuff like that

[@michaelwilliamson248]

I’d love to see your setup for the volumetric clouds!

[@mulanmiller5000]

The lightning is cool but damn those clouds look sick! I'd love a video how to achieve this. I know there are tutorials about clouds but I want that dark and dense look :)

[@Michael-zu5mz]

0:16 "not too many nodes"... im dead bruh.

[@animaxx3d-animation]

A wonderful tut. I'm into scientific visualization. This opens so many aplications like the vascular system, neurons..... Thank you!

[@explicitz4921]

"And it actually doesn't need too many nodes-" **proceeds to show a library of code**

[@mousemadecontent2126]

awesome tutorial - i was really looking forward for a good lightning tutorial in blender and this is in my opinion the best one out there :). Thx so much!

[@erd404]

“Doesn’t need too many nodes.” *_creates a whole family tree of geometry nodes_* “I mean, it’s a pretty complicated material.” *_uses 2 nodes_*

[@genesis2303]

Nice one, btw you can duplicate group input to avoid noodle mess with connecting inputs.

[@Rome3625]

You tell information in a way its pleasant to listen and comfortable to remember

[@applepie8143]

I've been searching for such a tutorial for my last work, thank you so much!!!

[@nniitchh]

Great result, but it's realy hard to follow you as a beginner. It would be nice if you could say which buttons you are pressing for a specific action or enable the window that is showing which button is pressed at the moment. E.g. I had no clue how you disabled the nodes at 2:55 until I found out that it's called mute. Such things seem eazy for a pro, but as a beginner and not a native speaker, it took me ours to follow the whole tutorial. I don't need to understand everything you are doing, but I want to recreate it as fast as possible. Or the whole stuff at the 18th minute is so confusing.

[@Neon_Noir]

Thank you for the mute tip. Not a beginner per say, more of a novice, but I don't have much experience with geometry nodes so for everyone else that might see this just select the nodes and press m on the keyboard to mute the nodes.

[@shengalabu8050]

PLEASE DO NOT STOP UPLOADING YOUR A GOD WJEN IT COMES TO THESE THINGS

[@notmubashir]

this tutorial taught me the greatest blender feature i've ever learned.... how to turn off auto-offset.

[@BadNormals]

I also finally discovered it making this video. It's a thing that you're too lazy to Google but when you find it you're so happy.

[@zhixoworld]

This is the best lightning tutorial in Blender. Thanks very much. Defiantly gonna check out your Patreon for more🌸💜 Although I still had the problem with the 3rd level branches (27:54)..I just disconnected the "🟥 Curve Parameter - Factor_OUT" from the "🟪 Transfer Attribute - Attribute_IN " and it almost fixed it but in slow-mo lightning you can still see the 3rd ones appear in the middle.

[@NickSaffo]

I'm having this same issue now. Did you ever find a solution to this?

[@isaachuerta1914]

You can just use the factor of the curve/spline parameter in the value of the other map ranges, without using all the transfer attribute/sample index stuff, it works perfectly and you can save a lot of time

[@annamaiorino240]

Does this mean plugging the factor of the spline parameter into the other map range min?

[@iluvyunie]

btw, curve parameter is now spline parameter

[@brandonjacksoon]

Awesome result! Underrated channel!

[@anmolpreetsingh8149]

I just need to thank you sooo much bro like this lightening is soo good I am saving this project and using it in every single lightening related project . Thank you soo much 💖

[@craigbaker6382]

Thank you for these very helpful and complex tutorials. I enjoy your style. On another topic outside of Blender: Lighting and LightNING are not the same word. There is an additional "N" and so it is pronounced with the "N" after the "T". I once lived in a country where the locals would say : Your accent is charming. I wished they had corrected me but instead they let me keep saying things incorrectly. No negative intention as I point it out.

[@heartcrucher]

You ROCK, look at that lighting's NOD

[@yugene-lee]

Heyo! Something helpful for you, you can add multiple group inputs and outputs! In that way, you don't have to make 50 paths from all the nodes to one node and helps make things cleaner! Thanks for the tutorial!

[@m.fantasma7508]

Thanks dude! it worked for me.

[@rizzpatni9485]

I can't find "Transfer Attributes" in the blender 4.0

[@gelato270]

Really nice. Can't stop trying.

[@Koggelxander]

"And it actually doesn't need too many nodes as well, just a little you know collection as you can see here" That doesn't look like a little collection to me. 😂😭🙈 What was used to disable the nodes? Which keys? EDIT: To disable use M. "Mute"

[@SardiPax]

Great tutorial but I really hope work is done on making some of those node elements, especially Curve Parameter, more intuitive. I often struggle with understanding which curve a parameter is related to. It would be easier to understand if it was a connector on the geometry/curve input node, that way you are explicit in which curve you are using.

[@drumboarder1]

"just a little collection" says the pixie as my head begins to ache

[@BadNormals]

Oh it's not that bad...

[@abrarsavan7709]

Just a tip, You can view individual nodes in Geometry nodes by pressing ALT+SHIFT+Left Click (With Node Wrangler Enabled)

[@BadNormals]

Thanks, that's really useful.

[@omm12459]

25:46 the frustration is real. LOL 😂

[@davidfrazier4358]

Made it all the way to 10:55. There is no Transfer Attribute in version 3.4! Would it be something else? thanks for any help. Stuck until...

[@DasDritteD]

Like everybody else I missed the Pre-3.4-Blender "Transfer Attributes" node and searched a lot till I found this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poHbaGuOjdaVi7c. Basically you have pipe the factor value of the node "Spline Parameter" into "Sample Curve" and store the output value with a "Store Named Attribute" node. After this you can query the value with a "Named Attribute" node and use it to scale the smaller lightning branches.

[@rainyrobloxian-xt9cl]

curve parameter is now spline parameter

[@psy237]

well in game dev there's max three values per vector. I strongly believe they are something completely different than vectors in biology ;) nice node tree! This is probably the best lightning generator out there (including the houdini one^^)!!!! Keep up the good work! I'm probably never getting into the nodes as I have no real use except for something like that, but that happens once a year or something :'D so this is very helpful, as there's really nothing else out there and your solution is just perfect. Edit: Wanna say thanks again, I'm done with my lightning bolt, tomorrow it's time for UE. In blender it already looks absolutely fantastic :) And btw, 420 is the time when it's time to smoke some weed ;)

[@BadNormals]

Good to hear you finished the bolt, now it's indeed time for some 🌿

[@KhOrganization]

when using transfer attribute at around 22:00 to adjust the thickness of the second level of lightning, nothing works for me from there on out. I don't know if it's something with blender 3.1, but nothing i do with transferring, changing to index, realizing instances, or even using the color ramp changes the thickness and using the math node does nothing. the branches of lightning always stay invisibly thin. Not sure as to why since my node setup matches yours exactly. I'll update this if i figure it out. I can have literally nothing plugged into the transfer attribute, and it's still behaving the same way. So it seems like no matter what I input it's not affecting the output. Also why are we realizing instances of the main branch when we're trying to transfer from the second level branch and just map it to the first level?

[@nihilusedit1447]

same problem, did you find a solution ?

[@kayaboeties6016]

Try using sample index instead of transfer attribute. It creates a similar result.

[@krixsh_yt1998]

21:15 this color ramp is not affecting my lightning pls help

[@krixsh_yt1998]

And therefore the "Multiply" node does not affect the branch

[@m.fantasma7508]

Really good, easy to follow and understand as an intermediate.

[@Animacores]

Advance level of 3D Animation very impressive indeed I like this tutorial very helpful 🔥🔥🔥

[@Tripp94]

great video, but i am having an issue with mine. when i connect the line to instance at 10:11 my bolt vanishes and i haven't been able to figure out why. everything looks connected and in place but it doesn't work still.

[@tjeezyAYE]

28:27 the third level branches that are appearing from the plain air are still appearing late even after i add subtract node and tweak the settings please help

[@Kenjineering]

I had this issue too, I tried for several hours to fix it, and for me adding an additional Realize Instances node between the Instance on Points and Set Curve Radius (third branch cluster) fixed it.

[@smepable]

Amazing. Did you do a Tutorial in the clouds too?

[@goat13]

mostly i think its on patreon

[@microfx]

@@goat13 good call... will be my third blender patreon sub this month haha but so worth it

[@sheldonhutton9703]

Yes we definitely need a cloud tutorial

[@plasmasource4894]

at 9:00, color ramp works best on constant.!!!

[@4liferskater]

what is the node for transfer attribute in blender 3.4 plzz

[@Andreamacor]

Your Blender is very Strong! Good work and very fantastic skills!

[@ManningMoore]

Lol I just finished a movie where this video would have been perfect for. Thanks for showing it! Amazing stuff in these tutorials

[@anation5775]

Cool stuff I would love to see a walkthrough or tutorial of how you made the storm clouds scene

[@FinalComp]

Thanks man, It would be cool to have the whole node tree on a single image.

[@FinalComp]

I followed the tutorial step by step and still cannot animate gradually the second branches

[@faustoart]

I really feel old watching your tutorials, it's really imposible for me to understand how the hell did you get there. Anyway, congratulations, you have an incredible talent

[@juozaszutautas6757]

When I plug lower part of nodes into instance just like he does in 10:08 my lightning disappears does anyone know how to fix it? Just found out that the first node was unplugged.

[@omm12459]

same problem bro, instead of disapearing my whole geometry scatters... can you pls help me out?

[@omerkoc8100]

Transfer attribute I couldn't complete the last stage successfully because blender doesn't have it in 3.6.0 transfer attribute what should I put instead

[@annamaiorino240]

Did u ever find out😢

[@YvesBodson]

Your process is brilliant.. I learned quite a lot about GN with your work flow.. Thanks for your work

[@birhon]

i disagree. this guy sucks

[@3DShihab]

Your tutorials are fire dude.

[@the-ai-art]

Thanks. Exactly what i was looking for :)

[@Logan_wlt]

How to make the cloud ??

[@Gregory_Harshfield]

Since the transfer attribute has been replace with the Sample Nodes, what sequence of those nodes would I use to imitate the transfer node's function.

[@Roblox-Music]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/goSan6Z8g6iFnLs This doesn't for work for this instance but that's what they "replaced" it with.

[@annamaiorino240]

Did u ever find out I’m stuck here too😢

[@Gregory_Harshfield]

@@annamaiorino240 No dice and he didn't follow up with me. I imagine there are other tutorials using updated versions of Blender.

[@mikoajlewicki9512]

Ok now make it disintegrate realisticly (after the impact lightning usualy filckers for couple fractions of a second and then sort of breaks into smaller parts that get progresivelly smaller until they disappear, important thing is that those smaller parts dont move, its easy to do wiht material throu combination of musgrave, color ramp, and mixing shader with transparent or translucent, thou it would be interesting to see that done via geonodes

[@anastasiashopine7808]

thnx for this and for everything else that uve recorded! one small request - hot keys on screen while your doing these tutorials will be great ;)

[@GeorgeMutambuka]

Genius stuff! Thanks!

[@144digital]

You're a gem my dude

[@romit1025]

Hi Traansfer Attribute is missing from blender 3.5 any alternatives?

[@nuhankhan2394]

Hey we don't have the transfer attribute now so what should we use

[@ubuntu8908]

Please help? Now made Lightning in two tutorials, this was last: in small size it work, but I have a project where need Lightnings about 400 meters long. And when doing it, there is only line with some noise! Which are the numbers to check or parameters to change (I have tried every value, but only getting terrible results or Blender to freeze 😵‍💫)?

[@ubuntu8908]

Now I tried to do little one and in object mode get it bigger, but it looks very bad. 😬😟

[@mainecoon6122]

Pretty much the best, as always...

[@greentokyo]

YES! THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

[@tinwarrior]

how do i get the lightning to animate like move a bit

[@blackswan6386]

i need to point the end of this lighning to a object is this possible with this method ? thanks Mate did just astonishing work

[@nniitchh]

Some cuts just skip final values like at 25:50. It's a great lighnting, but the video is cut and structured so annoying to recreate. And I had a weird black lighting string that did never go away, so I just subscriped to your Patreon and took your file xD.

[@davindavid1795]

How do I add multiple lightings and randomise the flash?

[@baryafe]

where can I find the thunder video tutorial?

[@CarlosX3D]

Great Tutorial thankyou :-)

[@nellyTranquilino]

Wow! Amazing ⚡

[@xbboyn9977]

How did you make the clouds!

[@d4veejones53]

Love your tutorials! this was excellent, I am having some trouble though, keeping my lower branches on the original curve, can anyone point me in the right direction?

[@tomaslima794]

Do we have this in the patreon?

[@vladvolodiy828]

Спасибо за видеоурок, но можно попросить тебя сделать видеоурок по теме:"как добавить молнию с свечением в океан, если используется рендер Cycles?

[@Anmolsingh-v5b]

Thank you for this but I have a question. If i want to give each lightening their own keyframes of age parameter and seed then how can I do that??? It would be a lot more helpful to me ...

[@jochemlaurenssen9440]

Is it possible to make ships wake with geo nodes?

[@nealmenhinick]

'simple node setup' 😅 Great tut man

[@JoshuaRandyBuono]

Appending is your best friend after using this tutorial, just remember that

[@INSANEx708]

how do you add the nodes to the line? By default i did not have them and in the vid you already have it, I assume you skip that part and somehow add it?

[@Utsab_Giri]

Hey, thanks for the tutorial. How did you make the dense cloudscape in the opening shot?

[@maxdriftmier6786]

What do you do now for transfer attribute? It has been removed in blender 3.4

[@graygrandeza6126]

Is this something that can be exported to other programs?

[@andreytrukhachev7417]

Somehow I have a central spline always ON. The Age for it is working, but in the min position (0.01) it still have a thin spline drawed. What could be the problem? Also how we can adjust the time of appearing of the second and third branch? I see that the main branch dont get the thick but the second branch are already appears. Appretiate any feedback.

[@andreybagrichuk5365]

Man, tell me plawse, howdo U made those clouds ?

[@soltancrypto742]

where is the curve parameter node in the new blender

[@jobansingh139]

u kill it man

[@dantepowerrr]

Hi! Awesome tutorial! I followed along and the lightning looks great, except for the animation. My lightning never "dissapears", it only becomes really thin. I don't know what I have done wrong, I've gone through the video 5 times, checking every node connection and value, but still, no solution. did anyone else had the same issue? (I'm using 3.0 btw)

[@BadNormals]

What is your map range to max value of the middle branch?

[@dantepowerrr]

@@BadNormals Its 0.030 Update: I played around with it some more. I made the the to max value on the middle branch 0, just like the top and bottom and increased the curve circle radius to compensate for some of the lost thickness. Thank you!

[@shakaama]

QUESTION: can i export it to unreal engine 4?

[@BadNormals]

I believe Alembic or FBX should work well.

[@Chryfi]

You are amazing

[@xxxxxx-cd4vt]

Good job man