Install

⚠️ Needs update for BFDS 7.0.x

This wiki page describes how to set up your BFDS installation.

• Requirements
• Install a stable version
• Upgrade a stable version
• Install a development version

Requirements

First, take a look at the Release notes page to get the required software versions for:

• the Blender application hosting the BFDS addon, other versions may not work;
• the target NIST FDS solver, other versions may fail to read the exported cases.

Then, install the required version of Blender on your computer, as explained in the relevant Blender documentation.

Install a stable version

Being so specific in scope, the BFDS addon is not distributed as an official Blender addon. To begin using this plugin, you need to download, install, and enable the latest released version as follows.

Step 1: Download the plugin

Go to the the release page and click on the bfds.zip package of the latest stable release.

The release zipped file is downloaded to your computer.

Step 2: Install and enable the addon

To install the just downloaded release:

• launch Blender;

• open the Preferences panel by selecting Edit > Preferences in the main menu;

• select the Add-ons section in the Preferences panel;

• click on the Install button and use the file browser to select the bfds.zip you downloaded in the previous step;

• enable the BFDS addon by checking the box to the left;

The BFDS functionality should become immediately available.

If the addon does not activate, check the console window for any errors that may have occurred. In this case, please file an issue on the issue tracker.

Step 3: Post install setup

By clicking on the arrow at the left of the addon in the Preferences > Add-ons panel, you can see the relevant information and links. In the same section, you find the BFDS preferences.

Click on the Load Default BFDS Settings button to complete the setup. The default BFDS startup file is loaded, and the external commands for your platform updated.

Upgrade a stable version

If you have a working internet connection, you can rapidly upgrade the BFDS addon like this:

• launch Blender;
• open the Preferences panel by selecting Edit > Preferences in the main menu;
• select the Add-ons section in the Preferences panel and search for the BFDS addon;
• click on the Upgrade Addon button, then refresh the choices, and select the new version that you wish to install.

The upgraded BFDS version becomes available after Blender restart.

If you do not have a working internet connection, or if something goes wrong, you can always click on the Remove button in the same panel to delete the addon from your computer. Then you can reinstall from scratch a new version.

If the upgraded addon does not activate, check the console window for any errors that may have occurred. In this case, please file an issue on the issue tracker.

Install and upgrade a development version

If you want to stay on the edge of development to test brand new features, instead of installing a stable version, you can clone the firetools/bfds repository to your local Blender addons folder.

Beware that you need to be Git savvy to install a live development version.

Step 1: Find the right location

This Blender documentation page specifies the default directories for Blender application and settings, depending on the operating system.

For example, the user's addons are currently stored in:

• on Linux: $HOME/.config/blender/3.2/scripts/addons/ (in my case the $HOME variable contains the /home/egissi/ directory)
• on macOS: /Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Blender/3.2/scripts/addons/
• on Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.2\scripts\addons\

This addons directory is the right location for the clone of the firetools/bfds repository.

Note that, if installing the first addon yourself, you may need to create the addons directory and its tree.

Step 2: Clone the repo and enable the addon

Next, with the Git tool already installed, get into your addons directory and clone the bfds repository as follows:

$ cd ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/Blender/3.2/scripts/addons/
$ git clone git@github.com:firetools/bfds.git

To enable the just cloned addon:

• launch Blender; if Blender is already open, first close it, then reopen;
• open the Preferences panel by selecting Edit > Preferences in the main menu;
• select the Add-ons section in the Preferences panel;
• search and enable the BFDS addon by checking the box to the right;

The BFDS functionality should become immediately available.

If the addon does not activate, check the console window for any errors that may have occurred. In this case, please file an issue on the issue tracker.

Step 3: Post install setup

By clicking on the arrow at the left of the addon in the Preferences > Add-ons panel, you can see the relevant information and links. In the same section, you find the BFDS preferences.

Click on the Load Default BFDS Settings button to complete the setup.

Step 4: Upgrade to the latest

As your addon is now hosted on a git repository, keep your repo synchronized to the development version by typing:

$ cd ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/Blender/3.2/scripts/addons/bfds/
$ git pull