Particle system behaves inconsistently in viewport and render when instance object visibility is disabled #81973

New Issue

Trevor Anderson · 2020-10-22T19:27:55+02:00

Trevor Anderson commented

2020-10-22 19:27:55 +02:00

System Information
Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.18362-SP0 64 Bits
Graphics card: Quadro P2200/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 441.20

Blender Version
Broken: version: 2.91.0 Beta, branch: master, commit date: 2020-10-21 22:57, hash: b0f34eee30
Worked: The behavior was different in 2.80

Short description of error
When the instance object of a particle system is disabled in the viewport the particles are also disabled in the viewport. However when the instance object is disabled in render they still appear in the render.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Open the default scene.
Create another object (B).
Create a particle system modifier on the default cube (A).
Set Particle Settings to Hair (A).
Set Render -> Render As to "Object" (A)
Set the Instance Object to the other object (B).
Disable the object (B) in viewport and render
Render the scene, observe that the object has particles rendered
particle_visibility_bug.blend

**System Information** Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.18362-SP0 64 Bits Graphics card: Quadro [P2200](https://archive.blender.org/developer/P2200.txt)/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 441.20 **Blender Version** Broken: version: 2.91.0 Beta, branch: master, commit date: 2020-10-21 22:57, hash: `b0f34eee30` Worked: The behavior was different in 2.80 **Short description of error** When the instance object of a particle system is disabled in the viewport the particles are also disabled in the viewport. However when the instance object is disabled in render they still appear in the render. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** 1. Open the default scene. 2. Create another object (B). 3. Create a particle system modifier on the default cube (A). 4. Set Particle Settings to Hair (A). 5. Set Render -> Render As to "Object" (A) 6. Set the Instance Object to the other object (B). 7. Disable the object (B) in viewport and render 8. Render the scene, observe that the object has particles rendered [particle_visibility_bug.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F9036737/particle_visibility_bug.blend)

Trevor Anderson commented

2020-10-22 19:27:55 +02:00

Added subscriber: @tanderson

Germano Cavalcante commented

2020-10-23 19:29:50 +02:00

Added subscriber: @mano-wii

Germano Cavalcante commented

2020-10-23 19:29:50 +02:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Needs User Info'

Germano Cavalcante commented

2020-10-23 19:29:50 +02:00

Worked: The behavior was different in 2.80

How different?

Here is the same file adapted for blender 2.79.
particle_visibility_bug_279.blend
The behavior appears to be the same.

It is normal for instances to be affected in the same way as the original object. I don't think this is a bug.

> Worked: The behavior was different in 2.80 How different? Here is the same file adapted for blender 2.79. [particle_visibility_bug_279.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F9053705/particle_visibility_bug_279.blend) The behavior appears to be the same. It is normal for instances to be affected in the same way as the original object. I don't think this is a bug.

Germano Cavalcante commented

2020-10-23 19:33:07 +02:00

Changed status from 'Needs User Info' to: 'Confirmed'

Germano Cavalcante commented

2020-10-23 19:33:07 +02:00

Oops, I misunderstood the problem.
I can confirm that it is different.
And in fact the behavior in the render and viewport should be consistent.

Oops, I misunderstood the problem. I can confirm that it is different. And in fact the behavior in the render and viewport should be consistent.

ronan ducluzeau commented

2020-10-27 15:43:21 +01:00

Added subscriber: @zeauro

ronan ducluzeau commented

2020-10-27 15:43:21 +01:00

To be clear, disabling rendering of emitter and original object, instanced as particles, is the most common thing you want to do to render only particles.

Problem in 2.79 was that Viewport was not able to hide the sphere without hiding particles although they were rendered.
Nobody wants to render a unique big instance overlapping all the other tiny instances. Nobody wants a return to that situation.
If you ower

Now, we can disable rendering of the cube and the sphere in viewport and in render without disabling rendering of particles.
For that, we have the local temporary viewport display corresponding to Eye icon.
Use that Eye button instead of the Screen button to hide Sphere and everything will be fine.

Screen button, described as Globally Disabling the objects in all Viewports, is there to check object dependencies through collections and file linking, not to fine tune visibility in Viewport.

Check the file.
particle_visibility_wanted.blend

To be clear, disabling rendering of emitter and original object, instanced as particles, is the most common thing you want to do to render only particles. Problem in 2.79 was that Viewport was not able to hide the sphere without hiding particles although they were rendered. Nobody wants to render a unique big instance overlapping all the other tiny instances. Nobody wants a return to that situation. If you ower Now, we can disable rendering of the cube and the sphere in viewport and in render without disabling rendering of particles. For that, we have the local temporary viewport display corresponding to Eye icon. Use that Eye button instead of the Screen button to hide Sphere and everything will be fine. Screen button, described as Globally Disabling the objects in all Viewports, is there to check object dependencies through collections and file linking, not to fine tune visibility in Viewport. Check the file. [particle_visibility_wanted.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F9111363/particle_visibility_wanted.blend)

Trevor Anderson commented

2020-10-27 19:23:09 +01:00

That makes a lot of sense to me. So the eyeball and the render toggle are consistent here and the monitor/screen allows you to go further in the viewport but there's no analogous option for renders.

I ran into this when an object was being linked in and used in a particle system but it was then hidden in the source file, so the particles were only showing up in renders. Pretty much the situation you described.

For the previous problem with the visibility couldn't that have been resolved by just putting the original object in a collection and hiding that collection?

Thanks for the response.

That makes a lot of sense to me. So the eyeball and the render toggle are consistent here and the monitor/screen allows you to go further in the viewport but there's no analogous option for renders. I ran into this when an object was being linked in and used in a particle system but it was then hidden in the source file, so the particles were only showing up in renders. Pretty much the situation you described. For the previous problem with the visibility couldn't that have been resolved by just putting the original object in a collection and hiding that collection? Thanks for the response.

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Particle system behaves inconsistently in viewport and render when instance object visibility is disabled #81973