Unique Addons that change blender
there so many addons for blender most of them are content libraries of different things like plants and cars, but there are also unique addons that completely change how blender works or that introduce totally new functionality to blender in a unique way, and that is what this list is going to be about.
1 Node Editor Timeline
blender comes with one timeline but this addon turns your node editor into a second timeline, you play your nodes in a sequence like they are keyframes in a timeline, this can be very useful if you want to show the progression of your nodes setup or if you want to create unique transitions from one geometry nodes setup to another, just imagine the possibilities. you can use this addon for learning geometry nodes by playing back geometry nodes setup by other creators to see how they where made.
2 Projection Modeling
if you want to make unique models, try this projection modeling addon, you can projection cut different shapes from others making very unique and interesting meshes, this addon is perfect for hard surface modeling or creating kitbash assets.
3 Cell Fluids
if you are tired of waiting hours and hours for blender to bake water simulations, try this cell fluids addons, no baking needed, everything is realtime, the water is highly detailed with materials and foam and you do not need hours to preview what you have baked. cell fluids is great for creating river rapids, ocean waves and any large water bodies. its lightweight and not resource intensive like manta flow,
4 Procedural Traffic
if you want car traffic, try procedural traffic, the addon comes with 400 cars all animated with smart obstacle avoidance, when a car detects anything Infront of it, it will slow down and so will the cars behind it, causing the expect traffic behavior’s. cars can swap lanes, over take each other and more.
5 Node Tree Organizer
when working with geometry nodes most artists just go through the nodes without caring about organization, so if you download a geometry nodes project from your favorite artists you may want to use node tree organizer to organize the nodes for you in an easy to understand flow.
6 Curve Loft
if you are modeling objects from reference images, try this curve loft addon, you can align different curves to fit your object profiles at different areas, then using the addon you can connect them into a mesh, saving you hours in blocking.
7 Vdb Loops – Blender Addon
if you want fog, fire, storms or clouds in a looped animation, the vdb loops addon comes with a collection of different looped vdbs you can choose from.
8 Uv Flow [Beta]
this addon changes how we uv in blender. its uv unwrapping at light speed, you can create seams and uvs will be generated on the fly for you and if you dont want to make seams the addon can take care of that for you, creating procedural seams that you can customize when needed based on edge angle and cavity of the mesh.
9 Smartify Nodes – Easy Smart Effects & Materials
smartify nodes brings smart materials to blender, these are materials that take mesh geometry into consideration, its a drag and drop solution to adding environmental effects to your materials, like moss, snow, dust, leaks and more. the addon generates smart masks, that direct where dust, snow or dead leaves will collect on an object, creating materials and objects that blend realistically into there environment.
10 Visual Light Analyzer
speaking of unique addon, this is a light analyzer, if you want to get technical with your lighting you are going to need this addon, it shows you the hot sports or over exposed and under exposed parts of your render, and if you want to be even more technical you can see the path taken by individual light rays from your light source.
11 Easy Hair
there is a new way to create hair, this addon just lets you draw curves on to a mesh, and it will generate hair that flows in the direction of the curves you have drawn, saving you alot of time and work grooming and trimming the hair manually and if thats not enough, the addon can use weight maps to generate hair and flow of the hair as you draw it.
