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Blender Depot - Browse and batch install Blender add-ons

13

Akash Hamirwasia writes:

Usually, it is through a YouTube video or blog post we come to know about a new add-on, and there isn't a proper platform dedicated to listing them correctly. This is what Blender Depot aims to solve. It is a platform that allows artists to finally use great add-ons by the community and batch install multiple add-ons directly in Blender.

As this is a side project, I would love to know how the community feels, and how this platform can be improved in the future.

About the Author

Avatar image for Akash Hamirwasia
Akash Hamirwasia

I am Akash, user of Blender for +3 years. I create tutorials and resources on the free 3d software-Blender. I can help you create amazing scenes with very simple steps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get notified, when I upload a video.

13 Comments

  1. Lovely idea, but on the website the first thing I noticed was that when I right-click an add-on's link I don't get an "open in new tab" option. And if there's a way to change from the default grid view to list view I didn't see it. These mean the site's difficult for me to navigate, so I haven't tried the batch uploader yet.

    Search seems to work well, and I spotted some old faves on your site -- looking forward to this!

  2. Very, Very Nice. Now paid addons with Blender ID authentication and install and search from within Blender.

    • Akash Hamirwasia on

      Initially, the plan was to do everything in Blender. But separating it as its own platform makes it easier to add more features and fix bugs as Blender add-on usually requires manual updates.

      • Many users may actually enjoy the act of browsing during a break with a latt'e in their paws. It can be cathartic.

      • It could be done like the plugin manager of VCV Rack (modular synthesis). There you select the plugins (addons) online and compile a list of everything you want (like your package). You can then login in VCV and just hit update plugins. It will then download the plugins, this could cut the time of locating folders and downloads, streamlining the process and making it even easier and faster.

  3. Andreas Klostermann on

    I've been using pip to install my own extensions. Pip manages dependencies and can even use precompiled binaries. For example I have an extension to integrate Jupyter notebooks with Blender, and it requires several packages from PyPi. Also the scientific python stack is pretty handy.

    The trick to use pip with Blender is to download the "get-pip.py" script and run it with Blender's included Python binary and voilà - you have modern Python package management right inside Blender!

    • Akash Hamirwasia on

      Good solution, but I don't expect an average artist to go through the setup just to manage add-ons.

      • There are addons with setup instructions a lot worse. Especially for anything with multiple Python files or even Python dependencies.

        In my opinion Blender should ship with pip and the major/most popular addons should move to PyPi or at least a git + setup.py distribution. This would make it easier to share code between addons, and installing addons would still be a lot easier. Of course it would be trivial to make a GUI dialog to add extensions or even integrate it into the preferences section.

        Or even better, package Blender with an Anaconda environment, which would make compiling blender-compatible C extensions on all three platforms even easier.

  4. please update export import Lipsync for papagayo for 2.8 - Export Import Lipsync.py in Blender 2.8. need fix. Can not load it.

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