by Arturo-Cervantes·Workflow
Images © Arturo-Cervantes. Used for product review; image policy.
Sitting at rank 373 in the Blender extensions library, PBSU 3D Studio earns its place as a focused importer and exporter for the aging .3ds format, carrying cameras, lights, and basic animations alongside meshes.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) adds 3D Studio import and export to Blender, letting you move complete .3ds scenes in and out of the application. It handles meshes, cameras, lights, and basic animations within those scenes.
During import, the add-on applies automatic geometry smoothing through shade_smooth, and an optional geometry fix can be enabled to address common errors in incoming files. It was designed for legacy 3DS content and for projects tied to Proton Bus Simulator Urbano (PBSU).
The add-on works with Blender 4.2 LTS and newer and is distributed under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. To install, download the .zip from the developer's Releases page, then open Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install, select the file, and enable it. Version 1.0.0 was last updated in July 2025, and the add-on currently ranks 373 in the Blender extensions library.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) is best for blender users working with legacy 3D Studio (.3ds) files or preparing content for Proton Bus Simulator Urbano.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) is completely free to download and use.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) is compatible with Blender 4.2 LTS and newer, so any Blender release from the 4.2 long-term-support line onward should run it. If you are on an older build, you would need to update Blender before installing. The add-on is written in Python and distributed as a standard extension, and version 1.0.0 was last updated in July 2025. For the latest compatibility notes, check the developer's GitHub page.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) installs through Blender's standard add-on flow. Download the .zip from the Releases section on the developer's GitHub page, then open Blender and go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install. Select the downloaded .zip file and enable the add-on from the list. On Blender 4.2 and newer you can also drag and drop the package into Blender. Once enabled, the import and export options for 3D Studio files become available.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) offers an optional geometry fix that runs during import, aimed at common errors in incoming .3ds files, so you can decide whether to apply it. Alongside that, the add-on applies automatic geometry smoothing through shade_smooth when importing scenes. Both features are geared toward legacy 3DS content and projects for Proton Bus Simulator Urbano. Because the fix is optional, you can import without it if your files do not need correction.
PBSU 3D Studio (.3ds) is listed as free here in the catalog, and it is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, an open-source license. That license governs how the code can be used, modified, and shared. Because licensing terms can change, check the developer's GitHub page for current details before you rely on it in a project. The source is available in the same repository under the GPL-3.0-or-later terms.
Also in Workflow for Blender.
by Mast26
LiveryHelper is a Blender add-on for creating, editing and customizing car liveries. Select a source image, optional metallic and roughness maps, a base color tint, then apply the livery to a selected mesh.
by Silky-Renders
Timelapse is a Blender add-on from Silky-Renders that captures timed screenshots using Blender's built-in screenshot function. Set an interval in seconds, choose JPG or PNG, and start or stop capture whenever you like.
by Calm Dude
GP Animator Desk is a Blender add-on from Calm Dude, co-created with Kevin C. Burke, that adds panels and buttons for working with drawn animation. It covers onion skinning, references, frame management and tool switching.
by polygoniq
Open Linked is a small Blender add-on from polygoniq that opens linked blends directly from the Outliner. A right-click menu lets you open selected linked libraries without leaving the Outliner window.
by quackarooni
Toggle Socket Visibility is a Blender add-on by quackarooni that controls which node sockets are visible through a sidebar panel or a hotkey-triggered pop-up, listing the active node's input and output sockets.
by Salt Media
BlenderAe2 by Salt Media transfers 3D data and objects between Blender and After Effects in both directions, covering vertices, 3D layer transforms, camera data and layer synchronization.
by MACHIN3
Machin3Tools is a continuously evolving collection of tools and pie menus for Blender, gathered in a single customizable package. It ships in two base variants, Prime and DeusEx, with the DeusEx variant adding more advanced tools.
by MikhailRachinskiy
3D Print Toolbox is a Blender add-on with utilities for 3D printing. It analyzes mesh volume and surface area, checks and fixes geometry, hollows shapes, aligns models to the print bed, and exports to STL, PLY, and OBJ.
by glukoz
UVPackmaster 4 is a UV packing engine for Blender that packs UV maps on the CPU and GPU, using the Cuda and Vulkan APIs, and can run on the CPU and all system GPUs at once.
by MMD
MMD Tools is a Blender add-on for editing MikuMikuDance (MMD) models. It handles importing and exporting model, motion and pose data, along with chopping and joining parts, plus rigid body, material and motion editing.
by HaughtyGrayAlien
SimpleBake brings PBR and traditional texture baking to Blender from a single panel. Select objects, choose maps, and bake — no special node groups or new workflow, working with whatever materials you've already built.
