1BLENDER(1) General Commands Manual BLENDER(1)
2
6 blender - a full-featured 3D application
7
9 blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]
10
12 blender is a full-featured 3D application. It supports the entirety of
13 the 3D pipeline - modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering,
14 compositing, motion tracking, and video editing.
15 Use Blender to create 3D images and animations, films and commercials,
17 content for games, architectural and industrial visualizatons, and sci‐
18 entific visualizations.
19 https://www.blender.org
21
23 Blender 2.91.2 Usage: blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]
24 Render Options:
26 -b or --background
27 Run in background (often used for UI-less rendering).
28 -a or --render-anim
31 Render frames from start to end (inclusive).
32 -S or --scene <name>
35 Set the active scene <name> for rendering.
36 -f or --render-frame <frame>
39 Render frame <frame> and save it.
40 * +<frame> start frame relative, -<frame> end frame relative.
43 * A comma separated list of frames can also be used (no spaces).
44 * A range of frames can be expressed using '..' separator
45 between the first and last frames (inclusive).
46 -s or --frame-start <frame>
49 Set start to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames
50 too.
51 -e or --frame-end <frame>
54 Set end to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames too.
55 -j or --frame-jump <frames>
58 Set number of frames to step forward after each rendered frame.
59 -o or --render-output <path>
62 Set the render path and file name.
63 Use '//' at the start of the path to render relative to the
64 blend-file.
65 The '#' characters are replaced by the frame number, and used to
68 define zero padding.
69 * 'animation_##_test.png' becomes 'animation_01_test.png'
72 * 'test-######.png' becomes 'test-000001.png'
73 When the filename does not contain '#', The suffix '####' is
76 added to the filename.
77 The frame number will be added at the end of the filename, eg:
80 # blender -b animation.blend -o //render_ -F PNG -x 1 -a
81 -E or --engine <engine>
84 Specify the render engine.
85 Use '-E help' to list available engines.
86 -t or --threads <threads>
89 Use amount of <threads> for rendering and other operations
90 [1-1024], 0 for systems processor count.
91 Format Options:
94 -F or --render-format <format>
95 Set the render format.
96 Valid options are:
97 Formats that can be compiled into Blender, not available on all
100 systems:
101 -x or --use-extension <bool>
104 Set option to add the file extension to the end of the file.
105 Animation Playback Options:
108 -a <options> <file(s)>
109 Instead of showing Blender's user interface, this runs Blender
110 as an animation player,
111 to view movies and image sequences rendered in Blender (ignored
112 if '-b' is set).
113 Playback Arguments:
116 -p <sx> <sy>
119 Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy>.
120 -m
121 Read from disk (Do not buffer).
122 -f <fps> <fps-base>
123 Specify FPS to start with.
124 -j <frame>
125 Set frame step to <frame>.
126 -s <frame>
127 Play from <frame>.
128 -e <frame>
129 Play until <frame>.
130 Window Options:
133 -w or --window-border
134 Force opening with borders.
135 -W or --window-fullscreen
138 Force opening in fullscreen mode.
139 -p or --window-geometry <sx> <sy> <w> <h>
142 Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy> and width and height
143 as <w>, <h>.
144 -M or --window-maximized
147 Force opening maximized.
148 -con or --start-console
151 Start with the console window open (ignored if '-b' is set),
152 (Windows only).
153 --no-native-pixels
156 Do not use native pixel size, for high resolution displays (Mac‐
157 Book 'Retina').
158 --no-window-focus
161 Open behind other windows and without taking focus.
162 Python Options:
165 -y or --enable-autoexec
166 Enable automatic Python script execution.
167 -Y or --disable-autoexec
170 Disable automatic Python script execution (pydrivers & startup
171 scripts), (compiled as non-standard default).
172 -P or --python <filename>
175 Run the given Python script file.
176 --python-text <name>
179 Run the given Python script text block.
180 --python-expr <expression>
183 Run the given expression as a Python script.
184 --python-console
187 Run Blender with an interactive console.
188 --python-exit-code <code>
191 Set the exit-code in [0..255] to exit if a Python exception is
192 raised
193 (only for scripts executed from the command line), zero dis‐
194 ables.
195 --python-use-system-env
198 Allow Python to use system environment variables such as
199 'PYTHONPATH' and the user site-packages directory.
200 --addons <addon(s)>
203 Comma separated list of add-ons (no spaces).
204 Logging Options:
207 --log <match>
208 Enable logging categories, taking a single comma separated argu‐
209 ment.
210 Multiple categories can be matched using a '.*' suffix,
211 so '--log "wm.*"' logs every kind of window-manager message.
212 Use "^" prefix to ignore, so '--log "*,^wm.operator.*"' logs all
213 except for 'wm.operators.*'
214 Use "*" to log everything.
215 --log-level <level>
218 Set the logging verbosity level (higher for more details)
219 defaults to 1,
220 use -1 to log all levels.
221 --log-show-basename
224 Only show file name in output (not the leading path).
225 --log-show-backtrace
228 Show a back trace for each log message (debug builds only).
229 --log-show-timestamp
232 Show a timestamp for each log message in seconds since start.
233 --log-file <filename>
236 Set a file to output the log to.
237 Debug Options:
240 -d or --debug
241 Turn debugging on.
242 * Enables memory error detection
245 * Disables mouse grab (to interact with a debugger in some
246 cases)
247 * Keeps Python's 'sys.stdin' rather than setting it to None
248 --debug-value <value>
251 Set debug value of <value> on startup.
252 --debug-events
255 Enable debug messages for the event system.
256 --debug-handlers
259 Enable debug messages for event handling.
260 --debug-libmv
263 Enable debug messages from libmv library.
264 --debug-cycles
267 Enable debug messages from Cycles.
268 --debug-memory
271 Enable fully guarded memory allocation and debugging.
272 --debug-jobs
275 Enable time profiling for background jobs.
276 --debug-python
279 Enable debug messages for Python.
280 --debug-depsgraph
283 Enable all debug messages from dependency graph.
284 --debug-depsgraph-eval
287 Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on evalua‐
288 tion.
289 --debug-depsgraph-build
292 Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on graph
293 construction.
294 --debug-depsgraph-tag
297 Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on tagging.
298 --debug-depsgraph-no-threads
301 Switch dependency graph to a single threaded evaluation.
302 --debug-depsgraph-time
305 Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on timing.
306 --debug-depsgraph-pretty
309 Enable colors for dependency graph debug messages.
310 --debug-gpu
313 Enable GPU debug context and information for OpenGL 4.3+.
314 --debug-gpumem
317 Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
318 --debug-gpu-shaders
321 Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
322 --debug-gpu-force-workarounds
325 Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
326 --debug-wm
329 Enable debug messages for the window manager, shows all opera‐
330 tors in search, shows keymap errors.
331 --debug-xr
334 Enable debug messages for virtual reality contexts.
335 Enables the OpenXR API validation layer, (OpenXR) debug messages
336 and general information prints.
337 --debug-xr-time
340 Enable debug messages for virtual reality frame rendering times.
341 --debug-all
344 Enable all debug messages.
345 --debug-io
348 Enable debug messages for I/O (Collada, ...).
349 --debug-fpe
352 Enable floating point exceptions.
353 --disable-crash-handler
356 Disable the crash handler.
357 --disable-abort-handler
360 Disable the abort handler.
361 Misc Options:
364 --app-template <template>
365 Set the application template (matching the directory name), use
366 'default' for none.
367 --factory-startup
370 Skip reading the "startup.blend" in the users home directory.
371 --enable-event-simulate
374 Enable event simulation testing feature 'bpy.types.Win‐
375 dow.event_simulate'.
376 --env-system-datafiles
379 Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES environment variable.
380 --env-system-scripts
383 Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS environment variable.
384 --env-system-python
387 Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON environment variable.
388 -noaudio
391 Force sound system to None.
392 -setaudio
395 Force sound system to a specific device.
396 -h or --help
399 Print this help text and exit.
400 -R
403 Register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows only).
404 -r
407 Silently register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows
408 only).
409 -v or --version
412 Print Blender version and exit.
413 --
416 End option processing, following arguments passed unchanged.
417 Access via Python's 'sys.argv'.
418 Other Options:
421 /?
422 Print this help text and exit (windows only).
423 --debug-freestyle
426 Enable debug messages for Freestyle.
427 --debug-ghost
430 Enable debug messages for event handling.
431 --debug-depsgraph-uuid
434 Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on graph
435 construction.
436 --debug-exit-on-error
439 Immediately exit when internal errors are detected.
440 --verbose <verbose>
443 Set the logging verbosity level for debug messages that support
444 it.
445 Argument Parsing:
448 Arguments must be separated by white space, eg:
449 # blender -ba test.blend
450 ...will exit since '-ba' is an unknown argument.
451 Argument Order:
453 Arguments are executed in the order they are given. eg:
454 # blender --background test.blend --render-frame 1 --render-output
455 '/tmp'
456 ...will not render to '/tmp' because '--render-frame 1' renders
457 before the output path is set.
458 # blender --background --render-output /tmp test.blend --render-frame
459 1
460 ...will not render to '/tmp' because loading the blend-file over‐
461 writes the render output that was set.
462 # blender --background test.blend --render-output /tmp --render-frame
463 1
464 ...works as expected.
465
467 $BLENDER_USER_CONFIG Directory for user configuration files.
468 $BLENDER_USER_SCRIPTS Directory for user scripts.
469 $BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS Directory for system wide scripts.
470 $BLENDER_USER_DATAFILES Directory for user data files (icons,
471 translations, ..).
472 $BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES Directory for system wide data files.
473 $BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON Directory for system Python libraries.
474 $TMP or $TMPDIR Store temporary files here.
475 $SDL_AUDIODRIVER LibSDL audio driver - alsa, esd, dma.
476
479 luxrender(1)
480
483 This manpage was written for a Debian GNU/Linux system by Daniel Mester
484 <mester@uni-bremen.de> and updated by Cyril Brulebois <cyril.brule‐
485 bois@enst-bretagne.fr> and Dan Eicher <dan@trollwerks.org>.
486Blender 2.91.2 February 18, 2021 BLENDER(1)