Blender File Finder

BlenderFileFinder is a free Linux tool that scans your drives for .blend files, generates visual previews, and lets you tag/organize them effortlessly. No more getting lost meaningless file names.

A standalone application to browse, organize, and manage your .blend files with thumbnail previews and tagging support.

Features

• Thumbnail previews extracted from .blend files
• Animated turntable previews on hover
• Tag-based organization
• Automatic version grouping (e.g., model_v01.blend, model_v02.blend)
• Search and filter by name or tags
• Grid and list view modes

Prerequisites

• C++20 compatible compiler (GCC 10+, Clang 12+)
• CMake 3.16+
• OpenGL 3.3+
• GLFW 3.3+
• SQLite3
• Blender (optional, for generating rotation previews)

Install Dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install build-essential cmake libglfw3-dev libsqlite3-dev libgl1-mesa-dev

Install Dependencies (Fedora)

sudo dnf install gcc-c++ cmake glfw-devel sqlite-devel mesa-libGL-devel

Install Dependencies (Arch)

sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake glfw sqlite mesa

Building

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/yourusername/BlenderFileFinder.git
cd BlenderFileFinder
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

For a release build with optimizations:

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make -j$(nproc)

Installation

Option 1: Debian/Ubuntu Package (.deb)

Download and install the pre-built package:

sudo apt install ./blender-file-finder_1.0.0_amd64.deb

Or build your own .deb package:

./build-deb.sh 1.0.0
sudo apt install ./build/blender-file-finder_1.0.0_amd64.deb

This installs system-wide to /usr/bin/blender-file-finder with proper desktop integration.

To uninstall:

sudo apt remove blender-file-finder

Option 2: User Installation (No Root Required)

Install to your home directory:

./install-desktop.sh

This will:

• Copy the binary to ~/.local/bin/
• Install application icons
• Add a desktop entry so it appears in your application menu

To uninstall:

./uninstall-desktop.sh

Running

./BlenderFileFinder

Quick Start

1. Launch the application
2. In the sidebar, click "Add Location" to add a folder containing .blend files
3. Enable "Recursive" to include subfolders
4. Your files will be scanned and thumbnails will appear in the main view
5. Use the search bar to filter files, or click tags in the sidebar to filter by tag
6. Double-click a file to open it in Blender

Press F1 in the application to open the built-in User Guide.

Documentation

Generate Doxygen Documentation

Install Doxygen:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install doxygen graphviz

# Fedora
sudo dnf install doxygen graphviz

# Arch
sudo pacman -S doxygen graphviz

Create a Doxyfile and generate documentation:

cd /path/to/BlenderFileFinder

# Generate default Doxyfile (first time only)
doxygen -g

# Edit Doxyfile to set project options (optional)
# Key settings to change:
#   PROJECT_NAME = "Blender File Finder"
#   INPUT = src
#   RECURSIVE = YES
#   EXTRACT_ALL = YES
#   GENERATE_LATEX = NO

# Generate documentation
doxygen Doxyfile

Open the documentation in your browser:

xdg-open html/index.html

Data Locations

• Database: ~/.local/share/BlenderFileFinder/database.db
• Preview cache: ~/.cache/BlenderFileFinder/previews/
• Scan cache: ~/.cache/BlenderFileFinder/

License

MIT License