Upgrade or spend $300 on Blender Addons?
OnlineRender writes:
A lot of users are contemplating on switching software and using Blender as their main tool …
if you have an update budget here’s a quick guide on tools you should buy.
Simon Stålenhag's Parking Lot
Scott has some really great videos. Been following him for a while and like it. Sometimes hard to follow for me cause of the strong accent, but focussing helps ;)
Having done CG for just over 30 years, I have a love hate relationship with add-ons. Yes. Add-ons can fill obvious gaps in functionality or speed up what’s already there. A good add-on can save you hours or even days of work. However, the introduction of 3rd party add-ons to your workflow can also introduce numerous unintended consequences and problems.
1. Add-ons can put your app stability at risk. For example, Cinema4D is generally a rock solid program. In and of itself, you can often use it for days or weeks without a hard crash. However, introduce the wrong plugin to the mix and you might find yourself crashing once or twice an hour. Blender is no different. Add-ons are designed to do stuff that the Blender developers never intended, which is exactly what makes them such a wild card.
2. As a rule of thumb, if it’s not built into the program, it can go away in an instant. It doesn’t matter if you spent $2 or $200. That add-on that you love today may not be compatible with tomorrow’s version of Blender. The sad truth here is that not all add-on developers are in it for the long haul. If you’re lucky, an add-on might well work past the officially supported version. However, if it doesn’t and developer has lost interest – which is all too common – you’re out of luck. I had this happen to me about 17 years ago. I paid $300 or so for the C4D version of Joe Alter’s “Shave and a Haircut” only to see them discontinue their support for C4D barely 6 months later. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the plugin that I paid for continued to work with the following version(s), which it did not. Heartbreaking.
3. Think about your files. Think about what happens when you try to open an old scene that was created using add-ons that no longer exist. If the add-ons in question simply helped you work faster (eg. HardOPS) then you might have no problem. Once the mesh is created, it’s created. However, if the add-on does something to the scene file such as creating custom modifiers, nodes, tags, or whatever then that file will just end up being an unusable mess years later. And if you think that you’ll never need or want open that 10 year old file again… you will. :) Just something to consider. Future proof whenever and wherever you can.
4. Relying on add-ons can sometimes make you lazy. Add-ons ARE supposed to make your life easier, but what happens when you become so dependent on them that you forget how to do those same tasks the “brute force” way? Trust me. When the add-on eventually disappears, which *will* happen at some point, you’ll be forced to do that stuff the hard way. If you’ve forgotten or, worse, never knew how then you’ll be at a distinct disadvantage. You’ll lose even more time (re)learning those skills and becoming proficient enough to do them quickly on your own.
5. Add-ons add overhead. It’s that simple. Blender, on its own, runs lean & mean. It starts up in short order. Even when you enable the various bundled add-ons, it still starts up quickly enough. Tack on $300 of extra add-ons and you might find yourself with enough time to grab a cup of coffee while it boots. Worse than that is the potential impact it might have on your available RAM. Not such a problem when you’re working with 64GB, but definitely something to consider if you’re just working with 8GB. RAM is a precious commodity. Use it wisely. Running a 5K marathon is hard enough. Doing it with a backpack filled with 25kg of sand is even harder. You’ll run slower and probably stop long before you finish your task. There are advantages to running lean & mean.
6. Accumulating them can be addictive, especially since Blender add-ons are usually so inexpensive. Do you REALLY need 5 add-ons that more or less do the same exact thing? If you must use add-ons, choose wisely. Your wallet will thank you.
Look. I get the advantages of add-ons. I do. I’ve literally spent thousands of dollars over the years on such helpers. Still, I prefer to rely on my own time saving tricks whenever possible. It saves money as well as the fear, frustration of worrying about obsolescence or added buginess. If it’s any consolation, while it isn’t perfect, Blender is among the most functionally complete 3D suites out there. Add-ons are nice, but they’re mostly just the cherry on that already awesome fudge sundae.
IMO, however appealing at the offset, don’t let add-ons become a crutch or rule your workflow. The price you long term risk is potentially greater than the short term reward. Better to do stuff the hard way or, perhaps, develop in-house add-ons or workarounds that you can personally control directly.