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Argos Blender Addon

The Argos Blender Addon is a powerful interface that brings the Argos geometry processing toolkit directly into Blender. It provides a dynamic, user-friendly sidebar to execute high-performance geometry algorithms on your 3D models.

Key Features

  • Dynamic UI Generation: Automatically discovers and displays available algorithms and their parameters directly from the Argos toolkit.
  • Automated Setup: On first run, the addon automatically fetches the correct pre-compiled binary for your operating system (Linux or Windows).
  • Flexible Input: Process objects selected in your Blender scene or work with external .obj files.
  • Seamless Integration: Processed results are automatically imported back into your scene, maintaining a smooth workflow.
  • High Performance: Leverages native C++ processing for complex geometry tasks with integrated benchmarking.

Installation

For Users

  1. Download the latest argos_blender.zip from the Releases page.
  2. In Blender, go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
  3. Click Install... and select the downloaded .zip file.
  4. Search for "Argos" and check the box to enable it.

For Developers

If you wish to modify the addon or build the Argos toolkit from source: 1. Clone this repository. 2. Set the environment variable ARGOS_DEBUG=true. 3. Use the provided Makefile: - make zip: Creates a distributable addon package. - make test: Packages and installs the addon directly to your local Blender configuration.

Requirements

  • Blender: Version 3.0 or newer.
  • Internet Connection: Required for the initial download of the Argos binary.
  • System Tools (Only for Debug/Development mode):
  • Git: For cloning the toolkit.
  • CMake (3.10+): For building the toolkit.
  • C++ Compiler: GCC/Clang (Linux) or MSVC (Windows).

Usage

  1. Open the 3D Viewport and press N to open the sidebar.
  2. Select the Argos tab.
  3. Select Command: Choose the geometry algorithm you want to run.
  4. Adjust Arguments: Tweak the dynamically generated parameters for the selected algorithm.
  5. Choose Input:
  6. Selection: Uses the currently selected objects in Blender.
  7. File: Allows you to pick an external .obj file.
  8. Click Execute to run the process.

The addon will display the processing time in the status bar upon successful completion.

How it Works

The addon acts as a bridge: 1. It communicates with the argos binary to understand what algorithms are available. 2. When you click Execute, it marshals the geometry (either from selection or file) into a format Argos understands. 3. It executes the toolkit in a background process. 4. The output geometry is then unmarshaled and imported back into Blender as new objects.

Built with ❤️ by the Argos Team.