Blender 2.81 master build add-on compatibility

[Metin_Seven]

Hi,

After installing my first 2.81 master build, the 2.8 Preferences were reset, and some external add-ons return errors or don’t show up in the add-on list after installing.

I’ve tried to install five add-ons so far. Boundary Aligned Remesh only turned out to work if you install the unZipped Python script, and Modifier List returns an error right now.

[dan2 (dan)]

I’ve been able to use 2.8 addons just fine, the use 2.8 settings button didn’t work though, still had to reinstall my theme, hotkeys, activate addons, etc. .

Didn’t see any big API changes and I certainly hope it won’t happen as often as in the last few months, that was… quite a journey . I plan to use daily builds in production, can’t wait to see all the new stuff.

[zeauro]

@Metin_Seven

After installing my first 2.81 master build, the Preferences were reset,

That is normal behavior. Master’s build is tagged as 2.81. So, it expects Preferences into a 2.81 folder, not 2.80 one used by stable release.
In theory, if there is no change of python API or UI prevent addon to work, it should work.
So, it probably depends on the addon.

[Metin_Seven]

Thanks @dan2 and @zeauro. I indeed noticed the 2.81 folder.

Tried installing @Jeacom’s Boundary Aligned Remesh add-on from the 2.81 preferences, but it doesn’t show up in the add-on list.

Boundary aligned remesh

I saw people sharing stuff about triangle meshes, cloth simulation, so I had to give my small contribution. I made this addon last night. The algorithm is quite simple and very similar to the one used on Toporake, feel free to use and adapt the code as you want. boundary_alinged_remesh.py (6.8 KB)

[Metin_Seven]

An update: In the mean time I’ve tried installing a different add-on (@kkar’s EZLattice) and that works in 2.81.

Going to try more add-ons now. As @zeauro mentioned it probably depends on the individual add-ons.

[Metin_Seven]

Hmm, Modifier List returns an error upon activation.

[kkar]

@zeauro

In theory, if there is no change of python API or UI prevent addon to work, it should work.

Not sure, some of my add-ons do not work at all. In one instance the add-on installs fine but the menu items are all grayed out (Modo-Me).

Here is my Duwamf add-on throwing an error. Bear in mind that it works fine in 2.80

[dan2 (dan)]

Blender can be fiddly with addon installs at times, that threw me off quite some times in the beginning. Try unzipping it and point to the .py instead of the zip. If there are multiple scripts for an addon you’d need to re-zip the subfolder containing them.

There should be something about this in the addon section to help poor folks like us out .

[Metin_Seven]

It works now, thanks from a Python script nitwit.

[Jeacom]

I think there might be some problem with blender itself, maybe it’s not recognizing zip files?

[Metin_Seven]

I don’t think that’s the issue. All other installs were done from a Zip file. But I’m glad Boundary Aligned Remesh turns out to work fine.

As a matter of fact, right now only Modifier List returns an error when trying to activate it.

[kkar]

I do not think so, it I tried folder method without success.

I am working on figuring this out, I have some leads. It seems like it is time to ditch 2.79 compability codes in one of my addons.

[dan2 (dan)]

What version are you using for modifier list? 1.3.1 seems fine, I might be behind though, not sure. (they’d really need to put that into the master, it makes such a difference)

[Metin_Seven]

You’re right, 1.3.1 works. It’s my fault, I downloaded the auto-generated Zip file from the main Github page, because I recently saw that @Symstract had changed something in the code. So I thought to download the latest code in a Zip, but I should have simply downloaded the pre-Zipped release version from this page.

But not everything turns out to be a false alarm. @kkar has encountered some issues with his add-ons in 2.81.

[dan2 (dan)]

After the API marathon we had with 2.80 we’re all on the edge .

I tried over 400 addons in 2.80 (just counted… must be something wrong with me), for some it worked right out of the box, for some I had ro re-name or re-zip them, point to the py file or even go into the script, take care of some API changes.

I sort of figured this being part of the deal with Blender. It’d be great to have some sort of consent or at least a sticky for things like these - it mat throw off a lot of newcomers.

(as a side note, this is nothing compared to what one needs to go through to make maya scripts/plugins work in some cases, so I’m super happy I switched to blender.)

That being said, I think this could be a great thread to keep track of future conflicts with addons and daily builds.

[Metin_Seven]

@dan2

I tried over 400 addons in 2.80 (just counted… must be something wrong with me)

I’m seriously impressed. Always thought I was a real Blender enthusiast.

@dan2

as a side note, this is nothing compared to what one needs to go through to make maya scripts/plugins work in some cases, so I’m super happy I switched to blender.

I also remember fighting with MaxScripts and Max plug-ins. And I hated the SDK changing with every Max release, resulting in a recurring plug-in update delay each year.

[dan2 (dan)]

@Metin_Seven

Always thought I was a real Blender enthusiast.

Add to that, that I’m using maya 10 hours a day in production, I’m only a more serious Blender user for that past year . It’s highly addictive.

@Metin_Seven

I also remember fighting with MaxScripts and Max plug-ins.

Haha, I’ve been there . Maxscript is what made me give up scripting for several years, MEL is what got me started again… I still suck, probably thanks to both of them.