Blender Light Box

WEB

Development

Use Visual Studio Code and open script.py. Split the editor into two columns and open text_0000.png next. Open the integrated terminal of VS Code and run:

blender --background light-box.blend --python script.py --render-output //text_ --engine $ENGINE --render-format PNG --use-extension 1 --render-frame 0

Replace $ENGINE with CYCLES or BLENDER_EEVEE. List all available engines using blender --background --engine help.

Make changes to python.py and rerun the command above. Watch text_0000.png to refresh in the VS Code preview.

Remove --background from the command to open Blender and debug issues. Use the same to save a Blend file with the cards solidified in.

To-Do

Discard cards which would put the card chain over the line size

Probably error out in the Python script.

Assing a correct translucent material to the card plan

Figure out how to animate the cards

Extend the script to implement animating the cards in and out of the light box.

Render an animation directly to a Gif or to an MP4 and convert using FFMpeg

Explore the blf module for text measurement options