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OpenVeda Playbook: Blender

Your guide to contributing to the world's leading open-source 3D creation suite.

The Mission: Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, motion graphics, interactive 3D applications, and virtual reality.
Your Impact: Your code can help power the next big animated movie or indie game. Blender is used by everyone from hobbyists to major Hollywood studios.
Why it's a Career Supercharger: Contributing to Blender is a sign of elite technical skill. It shows mastery of C/C++, a deep understanding of computer graphics, and the ability to work on a codebase of immense complexity and scale.

Core Engine: C and C++.
Scripting & Add-ons: Python. The entire add-on ecosystem and parts of the UI are written in Python. This is the best entry point for many new contributors.
Graphics APIs: OpenGL (legacy), and now Vulkan (modern).
Key Tools: Gitea (at projects.blender.org) for source code, a custom tracker for bugs, and blender.chat for communication.

Primary Channel (Chat): The main hub for developer interaction.
- Link: Join blender.chat
- Your First Action: Join the #blender-coders channel.

Official Guide: Blender has a world-class wiki for developers. Compiling it is your first challenge.
- Link: Building Blender
OpenVeda Pro-Tip: Follow the platform-specific guide. The process will download many libraries and can take a long time. Be patient.

Official Guide: The process is well-documented. It involves finding a bug, creating a "diff" (a patch), and uploading it to their Phabricator-like tracker for review.
- Link: The Contribution Process

Historical Focus: Blender is a GSoC staple. Projects are always highly technical, focusing on areas like the rendering engine (Cycles), sculpting tools, the video editor, and physics simulation.
What Mentors Look For: A portfolio. They want to see that you are a Blender user first. A link to your art or animation portfolio is often more important than previous coding contributions. They need to know you understand the tool you are trying to improve.

The Golden Link (Python): The easiest way to start is by writing a small Python add-on.
- Link: Python Add-on Tutorials
For C/C++ (Bugs):
- Link: List of "Good First Issues" on the Bug Tracker

Be an Artist First: Use Blender. Understand the pain points of an artist or animator. The best contributors are those who are trying to solve a problem they themselves have faced while using the software.
Python is Your Gateway: Don't try to jump into C++ rendering code on day one. Start by fixing a small bug in a Python script or writing a simple add-on. It teaches you the workflow and the architecture.
Read the Module's Code: Before fixing a bug in a module (e.g., sculpting), spend time reading the code for that module to understand its design and conventions.

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