Software installation

Skybrush Studio for Blender is a platform independent tool, just like Blender. The installation procedure is the same for Linux, macOS and Windows. Please follow the steps below.

Installation

1. Check hardware requirements

We suggest to follow the official Blender recommendation for choosing your computer on which you want to run Blender and Skybrush Studio for Blender.

An additional requirement is that you need to have active Internet connection on your computer as Skybrush Studio needs to communicate with the Skybrush Studio Server for certain tasks such as planning transitions or creating exports in Skybrush compiled show format. You may use the software without Internet connection, but certain functions that require an Internet connection will not be available until you go online again.

2. Install Blender

There are many Blender versions out there, we aim for compatibility with the latest Long Term Support (LTS) release. This is currently version 2.93.x.

3. Install Skybrush Studio for Blender

Skybrush Studio for Blender can be downloaded from https://skybrush.io as a single .zip file. Please download it to your computer first, then follow the instructions below.

Safari on macOS automatically unzips all .zip files by default, which will prevent you from selecting the .zip file itself when installing the plugin. If you are using Safari on macOS, hold down the Option key when clicking on the download link to prevent this from happening, or turn off the unzipping of "safe" files permanently in Safari  Preferences  General.
Install Blender Add-ons

  1. Open Blender and go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons.

  2. (optional) Activate the "User" filter for the add-ons.

  3. Press the Install…​ button on the top right.

  4. In the popup window select the Skybrush Studio for Blender .zip file that you have downloaded previously to your computer, and press Enter.

  5. Activate the "Interface: Skybrush Studio" add-on by clicking on the checkbox next to this item in the add-on list.

  6. Setup add-on preferences if you are using a version of Skybrush Studio for Blender other than the free community edition:

    API Key

    Enter the API key received that is used when communicating with the Skybrush Studio server.

    Server URL

    Enter the URL of a dedicated Skybrush Studio server if you are using a dedicated server.

Installing updates

If you have already installed Skybrush Studio for Blender and you receive an update for it, simply follow the same installation procedure as before to overwrite old files with new ones.

It might happen that the structure of the software also changes which might result in update failure. If you experience any error in the update process, try to completely uninstall the old add-on first manually (as described below) and then re-install the new one from scratch.

Uninstallation

If you decide to uninstall Skybrush Studio for Blender for any reasons, you have to do it manually. Removing the add-on from Blender’s add-on manager is possible, but it will not remove all files related to Skybrush Studio for Blender. The full, manual process is as follows:

  1. Deactivate the add-on first in Blender’s add-on manager.

  2. Open the file manager of your operating system and navigate to the folder containing the Blender add-ons. Refer to Blender’s documentation to find the add-ons folder.

  3. Remove the file named ui_skybrush_studio.py.

  4. Also remove the skybrush folder within the vendor folder.