BlenderQ

BlenderQ is a terminal UI (TUI) tool for managing a queue of local Blender renders. Add a collection of .blend files to a queue and monitor their progress from the terminal.

⚠️ Still in development! This is a work in progress and not yet ready for use.

Features

• Interactive terminal interface using Ink
• Theme support
• Queue and render multiple .blend files
• Simple navigation and status tracking

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20+)
• Blender (v3.5+)
• Nerd Fonts (for the icons)

Installation

Install the BlenderQ CLI globally using npm or pnpm:

npm install -g blenderq
# or
pnpm add -g blenderq

Usage

Usage: blenderq [options]

Options:
  -V, --version           output the version number
  -z, --skip-splash       Skip splash screen
  -d, --dir <dir>         Set the directory to start in
  -b, --blend <blend...>  Set the blend files to open
  -h, --help              display help for command

Why Node.js instead of Python or Go?

I chose Node.js (TypeScript) primarily because it’s where my strengths lie, and I needed to quickly deliver a functional, maintainable TUI. Python and Go were attractive options, but they lacked pre-built components that matched my requirements, which would have significantly increased development time. Additionally, React-inspired design patterns in Ink made Node.js especially appealing for building clean, responsive terminal UIs. While I may explore Python in the future to integrate more directly with Blender, Node.js allowed me to efficiently ship something that works right now.

Example

Add a collection of .blend files to the queue

blenderq --blend /path/to/file1.blend /path/to/file2.blend

Manually search for .blend files from directory

blenderq --dir /path/to/directory