Blender 3D

Changes in add-ons registration through the API in Blender 2.8

Add-on registration and removing were made with the “Window manager” (wm) in Blender 2.7 Python API:

In Blender 2.8 API add-on operators moved to the “preferences”:

 

3D Cursor location in Blender 2.8 Python API

3D-cursor location property

in Blender 2.8 API moved to “cursor” object

When trying to get the cursor location through the “context.scene.cursor_location” Blender throws an error:

‘Scene’ object has no attribute ‘cursor_location’

Add-on preferences panel

When developing add-ons it is often necessary to give an ability to set a number of parameters that affect the whole add-on work to the user. For example, the user can specify a directory for saving/loading files, set some default variables or switch between add-on modes. Of course, the interface for setting such parameters can be placed in the add-on panel, but it is better to place it in a separate add-on preferences panel, which is located in the “Preferences” window under the add-on installation panel.

The main advantage of the add-on preferences is that they don’t reset when Blender restarts. The user does not need to configure the add-on preferences each time, it’s enough to set the necessary parameters once, personalizing the add-on for convenient work.

Let’s create an add-on and define a parameter, placing it in the add-on preferences panel.

Matrix, vector and quaternion multiplication in Blender 2.8 Python API

In Blender 2.7 the “*” (star) operator is used in the matrix, vector, and quaternion multiplication. In Blender 2.8 it is replaced with the “@” (at) operator.

If the “*” operator is used in vector, matrix or quaternion multiplication in Blender 2.8 it throws an error:

Element-wise multiplication: not supported between ‘Matrix’ and ‘Matrix’ types

Proper use of the “@” operator: