geodesic_distance_ui

Geodesic Distance UI Add-on Example

This is a more complex add-on example (see the other add-on for a simple 1 file add-on).

This example is intended to showcase:

• Using external libraries installed via pip (here potpourri3d)
• Multi-file add-on development and release (this is simulated by having a separated geodesic_project subfolder that contains the logic to compute geodesic distances)

For the multi-file add-on part, I based this on this very helpful and detailed blog post: Creating multifile add-on for Blender. This solution has not been super thoroughly tested, but it seems to work for this simple example. The main feature of this proposed implementation is that the add-on development is simplified:

• No need to rezip everything and Install in Blender, simply run debug_script.py script from Blender text editor
• Upon running this script, imported module geodesic_project is also reloaded, so changes to the code there will be taken into account

Dependency installation

This add-on requires an external library installed via pip in Blender's Python. Before installing or developping this plugin, start by running install_dependencies.py script from Blender text editor.

Using the add-on

To see how the add-on works, you can use the provided blend file geodesic_distance_ui.blend that contains a scene with a Suzanne mesh and has a nice material to visualize the geodesic distances that the add-on computes and stores as UV coordinates.

The add-on can be installed from the provided zip file: Edit > Preferences > Add-on > Install > select the zip file. Then tick the checkbox in front of the add-on item to install it. In case of errors, check the system console (after opening Blender from console).

After opening the add-on panel, select some vertices on the mesh (in edit mode), click Add Source Vertices and click Compute Geodesic Distance. Here is what you should see:

Development

During development, the add-on can be reloaded quickly by using the debug_script.py file. Open it in Blender text editor and run it to simulate re-installing the add-on.

Release as an add-on

To release the add-on, zip the folder geodesic_distance_addon. This is the file that should be selected from the Add-on installation menu.

You can try installing directly the add-on by using the provided zip file.