A Blender Add-On which adds some tools that I personally use a lot.
And with I, I mean Juraji :D.
I use other applications to pose/style figures for 3D printing. However, these are optimized for 3D renders, not for
printing, so I import them into blender to prepare the model for printing.
I started using plain Python scripts to automate some of the tasks I use often in my workflow.
This soon turned into a plethora of scripts, after which I decided it would be nice to have them inside the Blender UI,
with inputs, buttons etc.
It adds a new panel (Juraji's Tools) to the 3D view of blender and exposes actions that I had scripted before.
Below are the descriptions for each of the panels/actions.
This panel executes the Decimate modifier, given the Ratio and the number of repeats on all selected objects.
The cool part is that, by doing this via a script, it eliminates the initial preview, which would be executed when the
modifier is added via the UI.
Also, I found that decimating at 0.25 would take quite a bit longer then decimating twice at 0.5. Hence, I've added the
repeat option.
Probably the most useful option for anyone. It takes the current object scale (say 1/1) and a target scale (e.g. 1/8),
calculates the scale factor and applies it to the selected objects.
In this example a 200 centimeter tall figure becomes 25 centimeters tall.
This might be a more specific one. The built-in export options export all or selected objects to a single file.
However, sometimes I create a larger figure which I need to slice into parts and then also export into parts.
This STL export option will generate a file for each of the selected objects.
Note that it takes the current projects location on disk to export the STL files. Make sure you save your project first
or you will get a warning.
I am currently already using this plugin myself, and you are free to do so as well.
Also, I have a few ideas on how to improve, which are listed below. This is however not a promise, as this is more of a
one-off side project.
On the other hand, if you have any improvements or ideas for additions, please create a ticket/issue, and we'll talk!
Or maybe you could even help out and create a pull-request. A small note there however, I am quite strict on code-style
and might decline if I deem your addition to be of poor quality or the addition to be out of scope.
Ofcourse, I will always be open for discussion.
- Create preferences for
- The tab, in which each option appears. Currently, all appear in "Juraji's Tools", which might not be to everyone's liking.
- Preferences for various default values.
- Internationalisation (i18n), if the need arises.
- I also have an idea for "Modifier Templates". I hate the fact that adding a modifier will always calculate a preview
for the default values. But most times one is going to tweak the values anyway. Having a value template, so modifiers
spawn with your own defaults would be cool, I think.
There is a lot that this idea might require, any ideas? Let me know!
Blender add-ons work in a pythonic way, i.a.w. as a Python module.
You can set up a venv or any other environment manager, the requirements.txt purely contains development support.
- functions: Contains various functions used by multiple modules.
No actual rules apply, other than separation by purpose. - modules: Contains the actual operator and accompanying UI implementation.
I've opted for each module implementing its own scene properties, operators and UI, so the add-on bootstrap can stay clean of spaghetti.
This way, editing a module is would never influence any other module. - init.py: This top level init is used by Blender to initialize the add-on.
Within this file one also imports the modules and registers them in Blender's api. - blender_manifest.toml: Add-on information for Blender.
- generate_package.py: Run this to create a zip file to install to Blender.
Other files are merely project/repository support.
Make sure that, if you use an IDE that adds a project settings folder, to exclude it from the commit.
Some links that you might be interested in, given you are interested in this project:
- Check out my Printables. I might have that one thing you need and it's free!
- Check out my Patreon. Specific for DAZ users, clothing and accessories for your 3D figures!
- Check out my GitHub. I share stuff I create in my free time for free!