Add-ons and dependencies

Dependency tracing removes most manual packaging work. It cannot prove that every external tool, license, generated path, or cache works remotely. Always render one representative remote still as part of scene validation.

What to review

• images, image sequences, and UDIM tiles
• linked or appended .blend libraries
• Alembic, USD, and OpenVDB references
• simulation and geometry caches
• fonts, LUTs, and custom color-management data
• audio or footage that drives animation or compositing
• file-output node paths and view layers
• scripts, binaries, environment variables, and network resources
• third-party add-ons that affect evaluation or rendering

This list names common dependency types. It is not a guarantee that every format or third-party integration works in every configuration.

Include Enabled Addons

The add-on lists the non-default Blender add-ons enabled in your local installation. Select only the ones the remote render needs. The submission worker packages the selected add-ons and installs them on the render nodes.

*Package only add-ons that affect evaluation or rendering on the remote node.*

• Annotation 1: Tick only render-required add-ons

Include an add-on when it changes something evaluated at render time, for example, generated geometry, animation, a renderer integration, camera behavior, or a required node type.

Do not include an add-on that only changes modeling or interface workflow and leaves ordinary Blender data behind.

Licenses and native dependencies still apply

Packaging Python add-on files does not transfer a commercial license, sign in to an external service, install an operating-system library, or make a platform-specific binary compatible. Verify the add-on's farm-use terms and runtime requirements.

Caches and generated assets

Before submission:

1. Bake or export data that is expected to be static.
2. Save the scene after the bake.
3. Confirm Blender can reopen the file and find the cache from disk.
4. For PROJECT, confirm the cache lives under the selected project root.
5. Scrub or render a frame that actually reads the cached data.
6. Submit that representative frame and compare full output.

Do not assume that a packed .blend contains every cache. Blender packing behavior varies by asset type, and some external files stay separate by design.

Linked files and paths

For PROJECT, use paths that can be written relative to the common root. If the panel reports a dependency on another drive or outside the root, choose one of these fixes:

• move it beneath the production root and relink it
• create a project-local copy when licensing and workflow allow
• widen the project root to include it, without sweeping in unrelated data
• submit with ZIP

Validation recipe

Open cleanly

Restart Blender or reopen the scene so cached in-memory data does not hide a missing file.

Check paths

Use Blender's missing-file reporting and inspect warnings in Upload Settings.

Render locally

Render the production view layer and a frame that exercises linked data, caches, and add-ons.

Submit one frame

Use the same upload mode, Blender version, image format, and experimental settings planned for the animation.

Inspect remotely

Check the web preview and logs, then download the full frame and compare it with the local render.

• Upload mode: Choose path-tolerant ZIP or reusable PROJECT mapping.
• Frame errors: Use logs and a reproducible local frame to isolate a dependency problem.