My Favorite Blender Addons and Resources
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just attach it to a new wagon”
~Mark McCormack
As a 3D artist, you're likely already familiar with plugins and their potential to make your workflow more efficient, expand your creative options, and improve the quality of your work. Plugins are add-ons for 3D software that can enhance its functionality, automate repetitive tasks, and add new tools and features.
One of the most significant advantages of using plugins is the ability to automate repetitive tasks, which can save a considerable amount of time and effort. For example, plugins can be used to generate complex meshes, retopologize models, or create custom materials or textures.
You might even use a plugin to create complex procedural textures, add physics-based simulations, or automate the rigging process. By automating these tasks with plugins, you can spend more time on the creative aspects of your work, such as lighting, texturing, and compositing. The main goal here is to save you time.
I did a Q&A on Instagram recently and one of my most popular questions was about the plugins I use when making 3D art. So without further ado, here are the plugins and resources I use most. I’d recommend them to all 3D Artists, regardless of skill level:
1) Geo-Scatter ($99)
Geo-Scatter (originally Scatter 5) is my go to plugin for adding realistic foliage when creating outdoor environments. Generate beautiful trees, flowers, grass, and dirt with a click of a button. You can also adjust the scatter density and details of the biomes generated. Impressively, Scatter 5 features wind simulation which animates the generated environment in real-time. However, be warned that this is extremely computer intensive!
I’ve created this 3D art piece with the help of Geo-Scatter:
2) Blender-OSM ($6+)
Blender-OSM is an add-on that downloads and imports real world terrain data. It’s based off of Open Street Map, a geographical database that has data on almost every part of the planet. I used this add-on to extract geographical data on a few blocks in New York to generate this animation:
Note: You will still need to texture the meshes, but UV mapping will do the trick.
3) Blender Kit ($0-10)
If I could only recommend one plugin to a beginner, it would be this one. BlenderKit is an add-on that allows you to download models, materials, HDRs, scenes, and brushes directly in Blender. Everything is available for commercial use and there is a large selection of both paid and free models and textures. I enjoy this plugin for its ease of use and get most of my textures from here.
4) Mixamo ($0)
While not an officially an add-on, this is an essential part of my workflow. Mixamo, created by Adobe, is a library of full body characters and animations, captured from professional motion actors. This plugin will save you hundreds of hours spent rigging and animating your character.
I used Mixamo to create the running and wall jump animations in this animation:
5) Archimesh ($0)
Archimesh is an add-on specifically designed to generate various architectural elements like rooms, doors, windows, roofs, and more. This is mainly used for architectural visualization, but I’ve found that it saves me a lot of time when I need to create background elements in my 3D art pieces.
6) Bonus: Models + Textures Resources
Polyhaven - High Quality (up to 8k) HDRIs
Sketchfab - Online Marketplace of 3D models
CGtrader - Another 3D Model Marketplace
Turbosquid - Yet Another 3D Model Marketplace
I wanted to keep this list short and to the point. I’ve found that a lot of artists in the space like to gatekeep this kind of information, but this is a list I wish I stumbled upon when I was first starting out.
Go create - Good luck!