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BLBlender

Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better

by Inlet·Workflow

Illustrative cover generated by AnyPlugins — no product screenshot available.

Why we like it

Earns its place in the superhive library for tackling a specific pain point in Blender's NLA editor: consolidating strips and baking object and bone motion together.

What is Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better?

Blender's Non-Linear Animation editor fills up quickly as keyframes are grouped into more and more strips, and the stack can become crowded and hard to read. NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better addresses that by merging multiple selected strips into a single strip, cutting the clutter and leaving a clearer editor to work in.

During a merge the add-on applies any animated influence and animated time into the result, creates a new action, names it, and removes the old strips. Modifications such as stepped interpolation, time changing and looping carry over. You can also set selected strips, animating objects or bones, to take precedence over higher strips or ignore others entirely.

A Plus tier extends this with baking. It bakes both the selected object and the bones of that object in one operation, rather than forcing a choice between the two, and handles any valid animated values. The baked strip lands on the closest available track from the strips you selected, instead of the bottom track. It works across Blender 2.83 through 4.3.

Who is Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better best for?

Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better is best for blender animators managing crowded stacks of strips in the Non-Linear Animation editor.

How much does Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better cost?

Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better is completely free to download and use.

Key features

  • Merges any selected NLA strips into a single strip
  • Applies any animated influence and animated time into the merged result
  • Creates a new action, names it, and removes the old strips
  • Carries over modifications like stepped interpolation, time changing and looping
  • Bakes both the selected object and its bones together, rather than one or the other
  • Bakes any valid animated values
  • Places the baked strip on the closest available track from the initially selected strips, not the bottom track

Tags

#NLA editor#animation#baking#non-linear animation#Blender add-on#keyframes#workflow

Frequently asked questions

What Blender versions does NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better support?

NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better supports Blender versions 2.83 through 4.3, covering a wide span of releases across the 2.8, 3.x and 4.x series. That range means the add-on can slot into both older established pipelines and current Blender installations. Because Blender changes its Python API between versions, it's worth confirming behaviour against the specific build you run and checking the developer's page for any notes tied to newer releases.

Is NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better free?

NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better is listed as free in this catalog. Licensing and pricing can change over time and may differ across the tiers the developer offers, so check the developer's page for the current terms before you rely on a particular arrangement. The add-on is released under the GPL license, the same license Blender itself uses, which governs how the code can be used and shared.

Can NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better bake both an object and its bones?

NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better can bake both the selected object and the bones of that object together, rather than making you choose one or the other, and it bakes any valid animated values. This baking capability sits in the NLA Merger Plus tier of the tool. If your work involves character rigs where object-level and bone-level motion both matter, this combined bake handles them in the same operation.

Where does the baked strip end up in the NLA editor?

NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better places the newly baked strip on the closest available track from the strips you initially selected, instead of dropping it onto the bottom track of the NLA editor. When it merges strips it also creates a new action, names it, and removes the old strips. Along the way it applies any animated influence and animated time, plus modifications such as stepped interpolation, time changing and looping.

How does NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better decide which strips take priority?

NLA Strip Merger - Baking Better lets selected NLA strips, whether animating objects or bones, take precedence over higher strips in the stack, or ignore other strips completely. This gives you control over which strips win during the merge. The tool targets the crowding that builds up in Blender's Non-Linear Animation editor as more keyframes get grouped into strips, merging your selection into a single, clearer result.

Alternatives to Nla Strip Merger - Baking Better

Also in Workflow for Blender.

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