Project Blender
Project Tools will store a version of Blender within the shared
directory. This version of Blender is internal to that project. This allows for multiple Blenders to be installed on your system, each with their own preferences tailored specifically to that project. The main advantage to running/managing Blender using the Project Tools scripts is that it will synchronize the Blender version and Shared Add-Ons across for all users contributing the the project. Project Tools also allows you to run a custom build of Blender with the Add-Ons and preferences set for your project.
Blender Setup
The next step is to deploy the required software onto each of the studio's workstations.
- Download the latest Blender
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./update_blender.py
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./update_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python update_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python update_blender.py
This will download the latest blender to data/your_project_name/local/blender
Choosing Branch to Install
You can specify a daily build branch to fetch by editing the BLENDER_BRANCH
variable in the script file.
Create Shortcut
Once your project has been setup using the "Project Tools" scripts Blender should be available inside your application's native application launcher. The run Blender script will take the correct blender version for your operating system from your_project_name/shared/artifacts/blender
and extract it to the local directory. Along with any add-ons in the your_project_name/shared/artifacts/addons
folder. Your Blender preferences are stored on a per project basis in {directory-path}
Create Linux Shortcut
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./install_desktop_file.sh
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./install_desktop_file.sh
Available on Gentoo
To learn more about running the Blender if you are on a Gentoo system please see the Gentoo guide, including how to run a debug build.
Launch with Custom Build on Linux
You must run the Create Linux Shortcut step before running a custom build. This will launch blender using your custom binary, but with the Add-Ons and preferences of your project.
- Navigate to your custom Blender binary
- Right Click the binary
- Select
Open with > Blender your_project_name
Create Windows Shortcut
- Open the directory
%HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
- Create a shortcut to
launch_blender_win.bat
on your desktop
Create Mac Shortcut
- Open the directory
~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
- In finder, select the
launch_blender_mac.command
and pressctrl+shift+command+t
to add it to the dock.
Launch via Terminal
To launch Blender from the terminal, open the tools directory within your project folder, and from the terminal use the run Blender script.
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./run_blender.py
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./run_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python run_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python run_blender.py
Command Line Arguments
Note: Command Line Arguments also known as Flags are not supported by the run_blender.py
script.
Update Blender
This script will fetch the latest Blender download from https://builder.blender.org/download/ The Blender download for Linux, Mac, and Windows will be downloaded into the your_project_name/shared/artifacts/blender
folder. It will keep up to 10 previous downloaded versions for backup. This Blender doesn't update automatically, at least one user in the project must manually initiate an update, all users will receive this update because blender is stored within the shared
directory.
Blender Studio Users
Internally to the Blender Studio only, the blender inside your project is automatically updated overnight, not manual update is required.
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./update_blender.py
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./update_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python update_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python update_blender.py
Rollback Blender
Use rollback_blender.py
to switch the "current" version hosted in your_project_name/shared/artifacts/blender
to one the older downloads, rolling back affects all users using your project. This is intended to be used to rollback to an older version in case of bugs in newer downloaded versions.
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./rollback_blender.py
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./rollback_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python rollback_blender.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\svn\tools
python rollback_blender.py
Run a previous version of Blender Locally
In some cases users may want to run a previous version of Blender on their machine without affecting other users.
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./run_blender_previous.py
# Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/your_project_name/svn/tools
./run_blender_previous.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\your_project_name\svn\tools
python rollback_blender_local.py
# Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\your_project_name\svn\tools
python rollback_blender_local.py
Install/Update Add-Ons
Blender Add-ons can be packaged directly from the Blender Studio Pipeline repository. Personal Add-Ons can be installed normally.
- Enter Directory
cd ~/data/blender-studio-pipeline/scripts/pipeline-release # Linux/Mac
cd ~/data/blender-studio-pipeline/scripts/pipeline-release # Linux/Mac
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\blender-studio-pipeline\scripts\pipeline-release # Windows
cd %HOMEPATH%\data\blender-studio-pipeline\scripts\pipeline-release # Windows
- Update Git
# Windows & Linux/Mac
git checkout main # Checkout main branch
git reset --hard # Remove any changes stored in your branch
git pull --rebase origin # Pull to update to latest commit
# Windows & Linux/Mac
git checkout main # Checkout main branch
git reset --hard # Remove any changes stored in your branch
git pull --rebase origin # Pull to update to latest commit
- Run Package Local Script
./package_local.py ~/data/your_project_name/shared/artifacts/addons # Linux/Mac
./package_local.py ~/data/your_project_name/shared/artifacts/addons # Linux/Mac
python package_local.py %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\shared\artifacts\addons # Windows
python package_local.py %HOMEPATH%\data\your_project_name\shared\artifacts\addons # Windows
Blender Studio Users
Flamenco is installed and updated by the package manager of your Gentoo workstation. To learn more see Update Local Add-Ons in the Gentoo section.