by carlosmu·Workflow
Images © carlosmu. Used for product review; image policy.
Playblast earns its place for tackling one narrow Blender annoyance: previews and final renders share the same output settings, so the addon stores a dedicated playblast configuration you set up once. On Superhive it holds a 5 rating across 25 reviews, and a demo video is available.
Blender doesn't handle final-render and OpenGL-render settings separately, which means checking animation timing usually involves changing the same parameters over and over. Playblast, an addon from carlosmu, addresses this by letting you define a default playblast behavior once in the addon preferences, covering output, format, codecs and resolution.
Once configured, you trigger a playblast quickly and can overwrite some parameters on the fly. A CTRL+SHIFT+F12 shortcut runs the Playblast operator, and CTRL+SHIFT+F11 replays the last one. Other operators create a Turnaround-Camera, open the folder holding the playblast in your operating system's file browser, add version suffixes, and open the addon preferences. Recent versions gather these utilities into a popover that can appear in two locations.
A couple of practical notes: the h264 codec needs resolutions divisible by two, and an optional resize method handles cases where they don't match. Rendering can't be cancelled in the initial version, so save your file and let the task finish. If audio playback misbehaves in Blender's internal player, an external player such as VLC can be set up.
Playblast is best for blender animators who make frequent previews to check timing and want playblast output settings kept separate from their final-render settings.
Playblast is completely free to download and use.
Playblast installs like a standard Blender extension. On Blender 4.2 and newer, you drag and drop the addon's zip file directly into Blender. On older versions, download the zip, then go to Edit > Preferences > Addons > Install, select the file, and tick the checkbox to activate it. If you already have an older version of the addon, uninstall it first. After installing, adjust the addon preferences to suit your needs and save them.
Playblast version 1.3.2 was released for Blender 5.0 compatibility, and the addon is listed as Blender Extension compatible. Earlier updates added support for the 4.2 Extension System, and installation by drag-and-drop is supported from Blender 4.2 onward. For the exact range of supported Blender versions and the current build, check the developer's page before installing, since compatibility details can change between releases.
Playblast works with the h264 codec, which requires your render resolution to be divisible by two in both width and height. If your width or height doesn't meet that requirement, the addon can fix it automatically, but only when the resize method preference is active. It's worth checking your resolution values before running a playblast so the output encodes correctly, or enabling that preference so mismatches are handled for you.
Playblast, at least in its initial version, does not let you cancel a render once it starts. The developer recommends saving your file before running a playblast and waiting patiently for the task to finish. Separately, if you notice audio playback issues in Blender's internal player, the developer suggests setting up an external player such as VLC, which is free and open source, to review your previews.
Playblast is listed as free in this catalog. Licensing and pricing can change over time, so check the developer's page for the current terms before downloading. The addon is offered by carlosmu, and the developer's website also hosts the documentation covering each preference option in detail, which is useful when you first configure the output, format, codec and resolution defaults.
Also in Workflow for Blender.
by darkstarrd
Glare Node Controller adds a panel to Blender that lets you set up glare directly from the Render panel. Built by darkstarrd, it offers a simple workflow for users who want to avoid the Compositor.
by maylog
Bone Animation Copy Tool is a Blender add-on for retargeting bone animation between armatures. It maps motion from a source skeleton to a target using bone constraints, with a mapping table at its core.
by darknation
Skin Mesh To Bone is a Blender add-on that skins all selected meshes to a bone on the active armature. The operator lives in the Object menu in the 3D Viewport.
by david494
Copy/Paste Nodes is a Blender add-on that copies and pastes nodes in all node editors as JSON text via the system clipboard. It uses two shortcuts, CTRL+ALT+C and CTRL+ALT+V, separate from Blender's internal clipboard.
by SavedPixel
Palettegrid is a Blender plugin from SavedPixel for palette texturing. Create flat-color and gradient strip textures, snap UVs to strips, project gradients from the viewport, and edit colors live without leaving Blender.
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.
