Application Templates

Usage

Application templates are a feature that allows you to define a re-usable configuration that can be selected to replace the default configuration, without requiring a separate Blender installation or overwriting your personal settings.

Application templates can be selected from the splash screen or File ‣ New sub-menu.

When there are no templates found the menu will not be displayed on the splash screen.

New application templates can be installed from the App-Menü.

If you would like to keep the current application template active on restarting Blender, save your preferences.

Motivation

In some cases it’s not enough to write a single script or add-on, and expect someone to replace their preferences and startup file, install scripts and change their keymap.

The goal of application templates is to support switching to a customized configuration without disrupting your existing settings and installation.

This means people can build their own applications on top of Blender that can be easily distributed.

Details

An application template may define its own:

Startup File
The default file to load with this template.
Preferences

Only certain preferences from a template are used:

  • Themes.
  • Add-ons.
  • Keymaps.
  • Viewport lighting.
Splash Screen
Templates may provide their own splash screen image.
Python Scripts

While templates have access to the same functionality as any other scripts, typical operations include:

  • Modifying and replacing parts of the user interface.
  • Defining new menus, keymaps & tools.
  • Defining a custom add-on path for template specific add-ons.

Templates also have their own user configuration, so saving a startup file while using a template won’t overwrite your default startup file.

Directory Layout

Templates may be located in one of two locations within the scripts directory.

Template locations:
{BLENDER_USER_SCRIPTS}/startup/bl_app_templates_user
{BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS}/startup/bl_app_templates_system

User configuration is stored in a subdirectory:

Without a template:
./config/startup.blend
./config/userpref.blend
With a template:
./config/{APP_TEMPLATE_ID}/startup.blend
./config/{APP_TEMPLATE_ID}/userpref.blend

See Blender’s Directory Layout for details on script and configuration locations.

Command Line Access

Using the command-line arguments you can setup a launcher that opens Blender with a specific app template:

blender --app-template my_template

Template Contents

Each of the following files can be used for application templates but are optional.

startup.blend
Factory startup file to use for this template.
userpref.blend

Factory preferences file to use for this template.

When omitted preferences are shared with the default Blender configuration.

(As noted previously, this is only used for a subset of preferences).

splash.png, splash_2x.png

Splash screen to override Blender’s default artwork (not including header text).

Must be 501x250 and 1002x500 (used for HiDPI monitors).

__init__.py
A Python script which must contain register and unregister functions.

Bemerkung

Bundled blend-files startup.blend and userpref.blend are considered Factory Settings and are never overwritten.

The user may save their own startup/preferences while using this template which will be stored in their user-configuration.

The original template settings can be loaded using: Load Template Factory Settings from the file menu in much the same way Load Factory Settings works.