by Lukas-Vincenc·Rendering
Images © Lukas-Vincenc. Used for product review; image policy.
Looking Glass Display Simulator earns its place in the blender_extensions library as a compact, self-contained extension that brings QuiltMaker, LKGDisplaySim, and LensVisualization tabs into Blender. It's a first release under an open-source GPL license, worth noting alongside the known quilt-render freeze behaviour.
Looking Glass Display Simulator is a Blender extension for simulating and experimenting with holographic display technology like Looking Glass Displays. It also includes tools for creating quilts compatible with Looking Glass displays. Once installed, it adds new tabs on the right-hand side of the main window: QuiltMaker, LKGDisplaySim, and LensVisualization.
The workflow starts by building a scene, then using QuiltMaker to spawn cameras, calibrate them, and render a quilt. In the display tab, you select that quilt with a file picker, spawn a display, and observe the holographic effect in the Rendered Viewport while adjusting lens, display, and image settings. The LensVisualization tab can simulate a cylindrical lens and show how it refracts light.
This is version 1.0.0, the first release, compatible with Blender 5.0 and newer and released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. It requires no special permissions. Note a known issue: Blender appears to freeze after the quilt render begins, but it keeps working in the background, with a progress bar in the bottom-left corner until it finishes.
Looking Glass Display Simulator is best for simulating holographic displays like Looking Glass inside Blender and creating quilts compatible with those displays.
Looking Glass Display Simulator is completely free to download and use.
Looking Glass Display Simulator lists compatibility with Blender 5.0 and newer, so you'll need that version or a later one to run it. Once installed, the extension adds new tabs on the right-hand side of the main window, including QuiltMaker and LKGDisplaySim. If nothing appears after installation, check that the checkbox next to the add-on name is enabled in the add-ons list. The current release is version 1.0.0, published May 13th, 2026, and it requires no special permissions to operate inside Blender.
Looking Glass Display Simulator can be installed straight from the Blender Extension Store: open Edit > Preferences, select Get Extensions, search for its name, and press Install. Alternatively, you can install it manually by downloading the repository as a ZIP and using Install from Disk under the Add-ons preferences, or by dragging and dropping the file into Blender. After installation, new tabs should appear on the right-hand side of the main window. If they don't show up, make sure the add-on's checkbox is ticked in the add-ons list.
Looking Glass Display Simulator has a known issue where Blender appears to freeze after you press the Render button for the quilt. According to the developer, Blender is still working in the background rather than crashing, and a progress bar appears in the bottom-left corner to indicate progress. Once rendering finishes, the interface unfreezes. No solution has been found so far, so the practical approach is to wait for the progress bar to complete before interacting with Blender again.
Looking Glass Display Simulator is listed as free here in the catalog, and it's released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. The extension also states that it does not require special permissions. For the latest licensing details, releases, and any changes, check the developer's page on GitHub. The current version is 1.0.0, and the source is written entirely in Python, so you can review or modify it in line with the GPL terms.
Also in Rendering for Blender.
by Quentin Pointillart
Textureblender is a collection of Blender node groups for the Shader Editor, centered on a Texture Blend node that mixes textures using a Mask input. It also includes the QP_Tools addon for managing PBR textures.
by n4dirp
Render Commander is a Blender add-on by n4dirp that configures and exports standalone render scripts with fully embedded settings, enabling parallel rendering across multiple devices with advanced configuration for Cycles and EEVEE.
by Nukxon
Nukxon VR Exporter is a Blender add-on that turns a scene into a walkable VR tour. Place VR cameras, render 6-face cubemap panoramas, export the mesh, and bundle everything into a single .nukxon package to share.
by Mikydosh
Helio is a Blender add-on that lights 3D scenes automatically from real-world GPS coordinates, date, and time. It computes the Sun's position with the NOAA Solar Calculator algorithm and applies it to the Sky Texture and Sun light object.
by Kafuji
Vrtoon Shader Manager is a non-photorealistic shading add-on for Blender, offering two customizable NPR shaders, one-click model setup, batch parameter tweaking and an advanced outline generator built around Blender Eevee.
by Physical Addons
Physical Starlight and Atmosphere - Sky is a Blender addon for real-time, physics-based sky and atmosphere rendering. It works in Eevee and Cycles, using photometric measurements and analytic air mass volume calculations for scientifically accurate atmospheric scattering.
by Andrew_D
Extreme PBR Nexus is a Blender addon for managing a library of over 1800 materials, compatible with Cycles and Eevee. It includes texture painting between materials, animated water, and displacement built on native Blender modifiers.
by Community
Tri-lighting is a Blender add-on that places a three-point lighting setup on the selected or active object. Found under View3D → Add → Lights, it was previously bundled with Blender 4.1.
by Håvard Dalen
Lens Sim is a Blender addon that simulates camera lenses using real-world optical data. It extends the standard Blender camera so you can choose and render dozens of lenses in Cycles.
by pioverfour
Sun Position is a Blender add-on that positions and animates the Sun to simulate real-world natural lighting, using geographic location, time and date based on the NOAA online calculator.
by Dynamic Sky
Dynamic Sky is a Blender add-on that creates dynamic sky for the Cycles render engine. Originally authored by Pratik Solanki, it was part of Blender 4.1's bundled add-ons and is now offered as-is.
