by bloody_albatross·Modeling
Images © bloody_albatross. Used for product review; image policy.
Earns its place in the blender_extensions library for a focused job: turning pixel art into per-pixel geometry with shared materials and pattern-based naming.
Import Pixel Art is a Blender add-on that converts pixel art images into 3D geometry, creating one element per pixel. Pixels with 100% alpha are skipped, and every pixel of the same color shares a single material, so adjusting that material updates all matching pixels at once.
Two import modes are available. Separate Cubes creates a 1x1x1 cube for each pixel as its own object, all parented to an empty so the whole piece can be transformed together and moved pixel-by-pixel while holding ctrl. 2D Mesh places every pixel as a plane in one single mesh, which imports faster; extrude by one unit in Z or add a solidify modifier if you want depth.
Materials can optionally use nodes, and existing materials with matching names can be reused. Object, pixel, mesh and material names follow format string patterns using variables like {filename}, {color}, {x} and {y}. An optional auto down-scaling step handles pixel art that was up-scaled to an exact integer multiple, working best with PNG, BMP or GIF rather than lossy formats.
Import Pixel Art is best for importing pixel art images into Blender as colored cubes or flat squares.
Import Pixel Art is completely free to download and use.
Import Pixel Art is compatible with Blender 4.2 LTS and newer. It's distributed as an add-on for these versions, so if you're on 4.2 LTS or a later release you can install and activate it. The current build is version 1.2.1, last updated on 2024-09-09. For the most recent status and any changes to supported versions, the developer's page on GitHub is the place to check.
Import Pixel Art installs through Blender's add-on preferences. Open Edit > Preferences > Add-ons, use the Install button to add the script, then click the checkbox to activate it. Once enabled, the add-on can import pixel art images as separate cubes or a single 2D mesh. For best results the source image should have each apparent pixel be an actual 1x1 pixel; otherwise you can enable the auto down-scaling option. Full details are available on the developer's page on GitHub.
Import Pixel Art's auto down-scaling works best with PNG, BMP or GIF images. It only succeeds when the pixel art was up-scaled to an exact integer multiple of the original with no other filters applied. Lossy formats like JPEG will almost always fail because they smudge the pixels. The process is done in Python and can be slow for big images, so down-scaling manually with a nearest-neighbor option in an image editor is another route.
Import Pixel Art lets you set names for the parent empty, pixel objects, meshes and materials through format string patterns. Patterns can use variables such as {filename}, {use_nodes}, {color}, {x} and {y}, which are replaced with their values. To include literal curly braces in a name, escape them as {{ and }}. Because same-color pixels share a material, the material name pattern helps you group and adjust them together.
Import Pixel Art is listed as free here and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. The add-on imports pixel art images into Blender as colored cubes or flat squares, with pixels of the same color sharing a material and optional auto down-scaling for up-scaled images. For current licensing terms, the full source code and the latest version, the developer's page on GitHub is the place to look.
Also in Modeling for Blender.
by imare32
Fractal Family is a Blender extension for creating fractal curves using complex integer lattices. Based on Jeffrey Ventrella's research, it explores the 'family tree' of fractal curves through recursive substitution on Gaussian (square) or Eisenstein (triangular) grids.
by BEAST_of_BURDEN
SCO EdgeWise is a Blender add-on for measuring distances, edge lengths, and angles in Edit Mode. It reports vertex distances, edge and edge-group lengths, angles, and 3D Cursor offsets, adapting to the scene's active unit system.
by KushiroCG
Hard Bevel is a Blender add-on for beveling selected mesh faces and edges without creating overlapping geometry. Where Blender's built-in Bevel produces overlaps at sharp faces, Hard Bevel prevents this and also handles ngon shapes.
by Tyo79
Modal Lattice Resolution is a Blender add-on by Tyo79 that creates a fitted lattice on your active object and lets you tweak its resolution and interpolation modes directly from the 3D viewport.
by young
Anime Hair Maker is a Blender addon for building anime-style hair. It adds several ways to populate hair strands, including sculpting with the new hair system, planting strands, drawing bezier hairs, and converting legacy particle hairs.
by Community
LoopTools is a mesh modelling toolkit for Blender that gathers several tools to aid modelling. It was previously part of Blender 4.1's bundled add-ons and is now offered as an extension, provided as it is with limited support.
by Community
Extra Mesh Objects is a Blender add-on that expands the Add > Mesh menu with additional mesh object types. Previously bundled with Blender 4.1, it now ships as a standalone extension for Blender 4.2 LTS and newer.
by nickberckley
Bool Tool brings quick boolean operators to Blender for hard-surface modeling, covering brush booleans, destructive auto boolean cuts, and workspace tools that carve objects with custom shapes in both object and edit modes.
by Community
Extra Curve Objects is a community add-on for Blender that adds extra curve object types. It lives under View3D → Add → Curve → Extra Objects and was previously part of Blender 4.1's bundled add-ons.
by MACHIN3
MESHmachine is a mesh modeling addon for Blender focused on hard surface work without subdivision surfaces. It fuses and unfuses surfaces, creates variable fillets and washouts, edits bevels, and details meshes with plugs.
by Community
A.N.T.Landscape is a Blender add mesh add-on for generating landscapes and displacement. Originally a bundled add-on in Blender 4.1, it's now offered as-is with limited support, accessed from the View3D sidebar's Create tab.
