LiveStream – Let’s install that Pesky Addon

December 11, 2020January 28, 2021 New Media Supply 0 Comments livestream

I noticed here on this website, that it is not always that straightforward to install addons. One reason could be that you are not familiar with installing addons in Blender. Another reason is that not all addons install the same way. And there could be loads of other reasons more. Since I installed quite some addons in Blender and have some experience in it, I thought: let’s do a LiveStream – Let’s install that Pesky addon. ~~The LiveStream will be available on Youtube on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRilykeqb6WzYpxaUTzzgg December 11, GMT: 3:00 PM, CST: 9:00 AM~~ For replay:

What to do when an addon doesn’t install

First, check the instructions provided by the developer of the addon.
If you downloaded a .zip file, check what’s inside the .zip file. There should be a folder (without a dot in the name) and in there you should see an __init__.py file. If that is not the case it could be you need to extract the .zip file (if there is only one .py file, and install only the .py file. Otherwise the folder structure is not correct, and you might need to extract it and zip it again properlly.
Check if you have the buttons Official, Community and Testing on. For example if the button Community is switched of and the developer didn’t put in it category testing, you won’t see the addon appearing.
Check the System console if there are errors. It could be that the addon is not compatible with the Blender version you are using. Or there could be other problems the developer didn’t foresee. You can find the System console here: Blender > Top Menu > Windows > Toggle System Console.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Save & Load, and check if Auto Run Python scripts is on. If off, turn it on. Some addon expect this to be on.
Navigate in your file-browser to (Windows): C:\Users\YourWindowsProfile\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.91\scripts\addons (Replace YourWindowsProfile with your Windows user-account. And 2.91 with the Blender version you are using. The Appdata is a hidden folder. You can turn on hidden folder in the Windows File Explorer.

You can also check this article on Github.

What to do in the LiveStream

The idea of the LiveStream – Let’s install that Pesky Addon is, that you can ask me to install an addon in Blender 2.91. So that can be an addon you want to install but you cannot get it done for some reason. There should be a chat available and if you provide me a link to the (free) addon, I can download it live and install it in Blender. If it’s a paid addon, there is a little chance I have the addon, so you can give it a try. Mind that I don’t stream that much, so it’s possible things go wrong, but let’s hope for the best.

In case I cannot manage it as well, and it’s not the developer’s fault, then I will investigate after the stream and give an update here in this article.

I want more live help!

In case live help is useful to you, you might be interested in Blender Coaching 121. It is not free, but if you want full attention and help tailored to your needs it might be an option.