It’s hard to use Blender at a professional level without addons, so in today’s video, we’re going to look at some addons that have been around for some time and see if they are still as powerful and useful as everyone expected.

Flip Fluids

starting with flip fluids, an alternative to blenders manta flow for fluid simulations, when put side by side, flip fluids simulations always look more detailed with form, bubbles and splashes compared to blender’s built-in manta flow simulations, they also simulate faster and the flip fluids addon comes with custom forces that are not possible with blender inbuilt in simulator.

Geo-Scatter 5.4

if you want to scatter objects in blender you have to either use geometry nodes or the particle system, while geometry nodes is great for scattering, you have to know what you are doing and it takes alot of time to setup, the particle system on the other hand is easy to setup, but it has alot of limitations, the Geo scatter addon was an upgrade to the scatter system in blender introducing standards like biomes, which can be implemented by other addons, its has now become the most popular scattering addon, and with its vast library of vegetations and plants its no wonder its one of the most selling addons on the blender market.

Physics Placer V1.1

scattering objects is a big part of what we do in blender, this is why there is more than one way to scatter objects inside blender, if you are scattering objects in tens of thousands, geo-scatter and the particle system are the best way to do it, but if you are scattering fewer objects especially large objects that are appearing in closeup shots, the physics placer addon is the way to go, this will use physics to scatter objects without intersecting each other and allowing for collisions when objects lean into each other, making them look more real and balanced, which the particle system or geometry nodes cant do.

Epic Preset Clothing Pack

after learning the basics of blender, thats when the fun begins, the customization, the character design, being able to choose between different things like what clothing your characters should have without being too worried about modeling everything from scratch because you are relying on ready made collection of clothing like this clothing pack, this is what makes renders stand out, when you as the designer are not worried about the time and effort it takes to make something because its parts that make it are already made and all you have to do is just assemble and polish to your art direction.

Human Generator

the addon has created alot of professional tools that you as an artist can choose where to start from, whether to start from scratch, or from a base character where you get to change how the character looks, shaded, and how they dressed using addons like human generator.

Realtime Materials For Blender

it does not stop with characters, creating shaders and materials can also take time and you need a dozen of unique ones for every scene you create, thats why its important to take advantage of large libraries of procedural materials and shaders like this with all types of materials like wood, rock, fabric, tiles, sand, soil basically everything you need.

Vdblab

even when you can do something by your self, saving that time and dedicating it to polishing the final project can pay off, for example making explosions take alot of experimenting and burning computer time that would other be used for rendering, the vdb lab is a collection of presets and tools for creating explosions, from emitters, domains and shaders. these are not simply vdbs that you are importing into your scene, these are starting points for your simulations, so you can add additional elements like collider meshes, that can be included in the simulation as well to create explosions that fit into your setup.

Hard Ops / Boxcutter Ultimate Bundle

as one of the first addons to feature on the blendermarket hardops has been used in countless blender projects to create hardsurface models in a non destructive way, giving artists away to add and remove detail from models without worrying about undo steps or losing the work they have already done, this addon has brought features from popular softwares like maya and 3d max into blender and new features that dont exist in other applications.

Decal Machine.

Decal machine is another addon that has transformed blender renders from simple models made by noobs on the internet, to high quality renders that led to alot of blender artists into large studios, decal machine allows for plastering of intricate hardsurface detail like, bolts, wires, vents and more onto the surface of an object, they are done so well that you would think this is geometry detail, the addon also gives you the ability to change how deep the detail goes into the geometry and other features like material matching, normal transfer and more.

Sanctus Library – Procedural Materials

just like decal machine, sanctus library is a large library of procedural materials that artists are using to add realisic shaders, like stone, fabric, tiles and more with a level of customization you wont see anywhere else. the addon also comes with baking tools that you can use in case you want to use the material in other applications like unity or unreal engine. sanctus library is not limited to just materials it also comes with a number of procedural generators like a weld generator, grass, stained glass, dominos, a neon sign generator and more.

Extreme Pbr Nexus

if you prefer pbr textures to using procedural textures, extreme pbr nexus has done wonders for many artists since its publication on the blender market, its a collection of unique pbr texture sets like, bricks, rocks, grass, tiles and more, the addon also comes with a way to easily blend and mix different pbr materials, you can add dirt, ware and tear and more effects to make your materials look more alive.

Physical Starlight And Atmosphere

the sky you choose, or hdri you choose has a great impact on the beauty of you render especially for outdoor scene, the sky will determine the quality of your light, direction and mood of your scene, you can easily test this out by using different hdri images and you can see how quickly your scene looks, hdris can sometimes provide the necessary light in your scene, but when you want guarranteed quality everytime, a sky system like the physical starlight and atmosphere will always provide supperior results, this addon also comes with dynamic clouds, the ability to add suns, moons and stars and atmospheric fog.

True-Terrain 5

if you are creating large environments and need them to look detailed, the true terrain addon has all the necessary tools for that, you can create large landscapes that are fully textured and covered with vegetations, you also have a river and road tool to use incase you want to add rivers and roads.

Procedural Generators Pack Addon

we all know how geometry nodes has changed blender, the ability to create reusable and customizable assets for different scenarios, geometry nodes is on par with cycles and eevee int terms of features that changed blender for ever, if you want a collection of 50 plus procedural tools including a grass generator, rock, spaceship, wire, terrain, wind generator and more, check this addon out

FluidLab

one of the greatest limitation of blenders fluid simulator is that all your simulation have to be done in a bounding box, this makes the fluids look weired as they collide with an invisible barrier, the alternative is scaling the domain so that the walls are far away, but this increases the simulation time drastically that it becomes impractical to use, this is where the fluid lab addon comes in, its a fluid solver that is not limited by the domain, you can create fluids anywhere without first adding a domain box.

Komikaze V2: Toon Shaders & Assets Pack

if you make anime or stylized toon renders, take a look at komikaze, this is a collection of different render styles and materials, including, anime, choke, halftone, spyderverse and more,

Terrain Remix Brushes

The Blender addon community continues to impress, this time with a new terrain generator addon that introduces a novel, non-destructive approach to adding procedural features. This addon includes a variety of brushes, such as 127 peaks, 46 slopes, and 40 valleys, which can be placed and blended into the landscape to create unique features. It also features an erosion system, multiple presets, and a scatter system for adding vegetation and rocks.

Citybuilder 3D

Rendering pristine cities can be fun, but let’s be real: many stories are set in dystopian or post-apocalyptic worlds, like those seen in Mad Max, The Walking Dead, or The Last of Us. This city builder addon offers over 100 assets ideal for crafting scenes in a post-civilization setting, making it perfect for these kinds of narratives.

Blender Debris tool geometry nodes

if you are making a post apocalypse scene, i swear you are going to need this next tool, be cause you are going to need more debris than you need, this tool lets you scatter debris or rocks close to walls as that is what is expected, when debris or chuncks fall off of a wall, they fall closer, replicate this behavior using this debris tool, it also lets you add grass in corner areas and other things

Urbaniac! Building Generator

If you prefer handcrafted models, the Urbanic Building Library offers a comprehensive pack featuring buildings, streets, roads, highways, industrial assets, and more. Each asset is meticulously hand-modeled with high-resolution textures, providing exceptional detail for close-up shots.