🖼️ Gallery¶

These clips are small examples produced with the Blender add-on, covering a range of motion types: drape, compression, inflation, twisting, and contact-driven shape change. The first batch was authored in Blender’s UI (each card links to a downloadable .blend); for the second, the simulated portion is generated by a Python script in Blender’s Scripting editor while cameras, lighting, and non-simulated props are still set up in the UI (each card links to the script). If you want the setup steps behind them, start with Getting Started and Workflow.

Animated pieces of paper crumpling under compression. — **Crumple** Compressed pieces of paper crumpling into a tight stack. crumple.blend · video

Animated curtains waving in a breeze. — **Curtain** Curtains waving in a breeze. curtain.blend · video

Animated kite blown by the wind and caught on tree branches. — **Kite** A kite blown by the wind and caught on tree branches. kite.blend · video

Animated prawn and flower ball pressed together into a cracker. — **Press** A prawn pressed permanently together with a flower ball to form a cracker. press.blend · video

Animated inflated cushion with multiple monkey heads resting on top. — **Puff** An inflated cushion with multiple monkey heads resting on top. puff.blend · video

Animated striped zebra car sweeping through a grass field. — **Zebra** A striped zebra car sweeping through a grass field. zebra.blend · video

In the scenes below, the simulated portion was generated by a Python script run inside Blender’s Scripting editor. Cameras, lighting, and any non-simulated props are still set up in Blender’s UI. Each card’s caption links to the script that builds the simulated portion.

**Cards** A house of cards struck by a sphere flying along the floor. cards.py · video

Five cylinders arranged in a ring, spun about their own axis and revolved around the world X axis. — **Five-twist** Five cylinders in a ring, spun about their own axis and then revolved around the world X axis. five-twist.py · video

**Noodle** A grid of dangling rod strands settling into an inverted hemispherical bowl. noodle.py · video

**Woven** A woven cylinder twisted by spinning and pulling its two open ends. woven.py · video

UI Look¶

A couple of static screenshots of the add-on running inside Blender. The full-size versions are linked under each thumbnail.


Kite scene set up in Blender. (full-size)	Zebra scene set up in Blender. (full-size)

The Add-on in Action¶

The clip below shows the add-on running inside Blender. Geometry and constraints are authored locally, the simulation runs on a remote solver, and the resulting frames are fetched back and played in the viewport.

A screencast of the Blender add-on dispatching a scene to a remote solver and playing the fetched results in the Blender viewport. — The add-on dispatching a scene to a remote solver and playing the fetched results in the viewport.¶

From a Python Script to Simulation¶

You can also drive the entire pipeline from a Python script inside Blender’s scripting editor. This is handy for procedural scene setup and batch variant generation. Below is a full example that drapes a sheet over a sphere:

import bpy
from bl_ext.user_default.ppf_contact_solver.ops.api import solver

# Reset any prior state.
solver.clear()

# Create a sphere (the static collider) at the origin.
bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_ico_sphere_add(subdivisions=4, radius=0.5, location=(0, 0, 0))
bpy.context.object.name = "Sphere"

# Create a 2x2 sheet just above the sphere as a 64x64 grid.
bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_grid_add(x_subdivisions=64, y_subdivisions=64, size=2, location=(0, 0, 0.6))
sheet = bpy.context.object
sheet.name = "Sheet"

# Pin the two corners on the -x edge via a vertex group.
vg = sheet.vertex_groups.new(name="Corners")
corner_indices = [
    i for i, v in enumerate(sheet.data.vertices)
    if v.co.x < -0.99 and abs(abs(v.co.y) - 1.0) < 0.01
]
vg.add(corner_indices, 1.0, "REPLACE")

# Build solver groups.
cloth = solver.create_group("Cloth", type="SHELL")
cloth.add("Sheet")
cloth.param.enable_strain_limit = True
cloth.param.strain_limit = 0.05
cloth.param.bend = 1

ball = solver.create_group("Ball", type="STATIC")
ball.add("Sphere")

# Pin the two sheet corners.
cloth.create_pin("Sheet", "Corners")

# Scene parameters.
solver.param.frame_count = 100
solver.param.step_size = 0.01

The drape script running inside Blender's Scripting workspace, with the simulated sheet draped over the sphere in the viewport on the left and the script in the text editor on the right. — The script above running inside Blender’s Scripting workspace. (full-size)¶

From Prompt to Simulation (via MCP)¶

The add-on also exposes an MCP server so an external agent can drive Blender and the solver directly. The clip below shows a natural language prompt building a bowl-and-spheres scene end to end, with no UI clicks. See MCP Server for the full setup.

Codex terminal on the left driving Blender on the right through the MCP server, building a bowl-and-spheres scene from a natural language prompt. — Codex (left) driving Blender (right) through the add-on’s MCP server. See the exact prompt used to produce this clip.¶

A cloth sheet draped over a sphere, produced from a single natural language prompt through the MCP server. — A prompt: drape a sheet over a sphere and make an animation video mp4 render 300 frames.¶