​​Blender Integration v0.6.3 Documentation
​​Updated: August 9th, 2023

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​Update

​​Confirmed support for Blender 3.6
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​Update

​​Confirmed support for Blender 3.5
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​Update

​​Confirmed support for Blender 3.4.1.
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​Update

​​Confirmed support for Blender 3.3 LTS.
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​Update

​​Version 0.6.3 fixes the Connecter Root Folders panel in Blender and adds link to the documentation.
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​​Published: December 9h, 2021

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​Update

​​Version 0.6.2 brings support for Blender 3.0.
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​Overview

​​Similar to Blender 3.3 LTS, the new integration lays the groundwork for the long term future. It offers a simplified interface, better user experience, and steadier performance.
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​​The Connecter Blender is compatible with all versions after 2.8x, and is tested on each new version for compatibility. The add-on allows fast append and lining workflow for objects, materials with simple placing or applying options. You can save objects, collections, and materials from Blender to Connecter with the generation of custom preview using Cycles and EEVEE renderers. 
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​​Check out the video overview:
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​Installation

​​You can install the add-on from Connecter -> Integrations -> Blender Integration installer. Available options:
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  • ​​Get plugin
  • ​​Generates a .zip archive which can then be installed using Blender’s standard workflow - from Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons -> Install…
  • ​​You can speed up the installation by using the “Copy path to clipboard” option and place it in the Blender installer.
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  • ​​Install from package 
  • ​​Option for installing versions different from the official one - older or new beta releases. You need to point the package with the new version. After that the process is the same as “Get plugin”.
  • ​​Exit
  • ​​Closes the dialog window.
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​​NOTE: After the installation, we recommend restarting Blender.
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​Аctivation

​​After a successful installation, in Blender go to Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons. Search for “Connecter”. If the add-on “Asset Management: Connecter” isn’t enabled, click the tick box in front of it to start using it.
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​​NOTE: If you can’t find this add-on, there’s a problem with the installation. Please contact our support team.
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​Drag & drop import of assets

​​When the Connecter add-on is enabled, dropping a .blend asset into Blender’s viewport from Connected brings two additional options - “Link & Place” and “Append & Place”. Each of them gives you the following feats:
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  • ​​Objects
  • ​​Аdd the objects along with the materials from the asset. Let’s you place them.
  • ​​Materials
  • ​​Choose one material from the asset and apply it to an object in the scene.
  • ​​Collections
  • ​​If there are multiple collections, you can choose one of them and place it.
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​​NOTE: For now, the customized append and linking options are only available for .blend assets. They won’t appear if you drag & drop .FBX, .OBJ or any other format.
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​Add assets from Blender

​​Our integration allows you to save different types of assets from Blender to Connecter and render a custom preview for them. The options are available from the context menu that you can get by right-clicking in the viewport or the Outliner. Some of them require the selection of an asset or the presence of materials. You can:
  • ​​Add Collection - from the Outliner - all assets from the selected Collection will be saved as .blend file and added into a folder of your choice. You can specify the name of the asset and quick-filter the object-types that will be included.
  • ​​Add Current file - from the viewport - similar to Collection, but saves all assets included in the current file. You can look at it as an advanced “Save as” option as it allows you to create a custom preview for your current project and filter object types. 
  • ​​Add Selected Objects - from the viewport - requires the selection of at least one asset (object, camera, light, etc). If you have selected multiple assets, you can choose to save them in one .blend file or in separate. In the latter case, the object name will be used for file name.
  • ​​Add Materials from selection - from the viewport - requires at least one selected asset with a material. If there are multiple materials, you can choose to save them in one asset or in separate. In the former case, each material will have its own preview which will be assigned to the asset and will form a gallery that you can explore in Connecter. The materials are showcased on a cube.
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​​You have three options for creating custom previews - Cycles, EEVEE, and Disabled. The latter won’t create a custom preview. For now, it will be saved with black square for native preview - an issue that will be resolved in the future.
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​​NOTE: The preview-generation settings are adjustable from the Cycles.blend and Eevee.blend files that you will find in the “Thumbnails” folder of your integration. You can edit the settings (for example, camera angle) and overwrite the file. The next time you add asset to Connecter, the new settings will be used.

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​Known issues

  • ​​Saving of native previews
  • ​​For now, all assets are saved with black square instead of normal native preview. The issue is caused by limitations in the Blender API and will be fixed in the future.
  • ​​Managing external files
  • ​​If a material is missing in your scene it can still be exported and will be visualized with pink preview. For now, the integration doesn’t handle these situations. We recommend running the “Find Missing Files” option from File -> External Data, before adding assets to Connecter.
  • ​​Saving materials from linked assets
  • ​​Currently, if you use “Add Materials from selection” on linked asset it will work, but the saved files and previews will be white cubes and won’t represent the real materials. This is caused by a limitation in Blender and will be fixed in the future.
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