Video to Blender

Turn a reference video, image or idea into an editable procedural Blender node system. A skill for coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini) that builds native Geometry Nodes, Shader Nodes and compositor graphs from Python, with a tested node-group library and validation tools.

The top-level graph: one modifier builds the whole street	One part opened: the houses, framed block by block

Storybook Street (prompts/storybook-street/) rebuilds a 20 s AI-generated village clip as one Geometry Nodes modifier on a path curve: the cobbled road, half-timbered houses, props, bunting moving in the wind, and a walker with planted feet. A camera follows the walker on any path. Every visible part is a node graph: geometry and motion in Geometry Nodes, materials in Shader Nodes, the sky in the world shader, haze and glow in the compositor. Python only builds those graphs and sets up the input curve, sun, camera rig and render settings. Draw a different curve and the same graph builds a different street.

The skill pairs a workflow with nodekit, a Python graph builder and inspector, and a tested node-group library: 39 NK groups in 6 modules, each built, evaluated and numerically checked in Blender. Blender 5.2 or later is required.

Agents writing Blender node scripts work blind: they cannot see the graph or the render, Blender's Python API changed in 5.x, and a script that runs can still leave a broken or unreadable graph. Common results:

• modifier inputs set as ID properties, which raises in 5.2;
• a shared node group rebuilt in place, silently unlinking every user;
• sockets looked up by index, which breaks when a node's mode changes;
• a single 300-node group with no frames or descriptions;
• motion baked as keyframes where a function of time would do;
• a "procedural" asset that only works on the one input it was built for.

This skill closes those gaps:

• nodekit builds graphs from Python the way you would write them by hand. Sockets are found by name, panels and ranges are declared, blocks are framed with a sentence, and the layout is automatic. It reads the result back as JSON, lints it, and sets modifier inputs the 5.2 way.
• Tested building blocks you instance instead of re-deriving. Each is checked in Blender with numbers, for example:
  • the curve frame is orthonormal on hills;
  • a bend preserves centreline length;
  • parcel widths sum to the curve length;
  • scatter counts follow density;
  • a planted foot never slides;
  • spring gain matches the analytic formula;
  • premultiplied haze has no halos.
• A checker and a validator. nodes_tools.py check builds and evaluates every group with zero warnings and zero lint. validate.py reopens a saved .blend and checks warnings, evaluation time and camera clearance.
• A workflow with a definition of done: artist controls (a Primary panel of macros), presets, sweeps, reuse on other inputs, temporal checks for animation, and honest reporting.
• Reference-driven reconstruction as one optional prompt (prompts/reference-to-nodes-prompt.md), not a requirement.

Claude Code (plugin marketplace):

claude plugin marketplace add gokayfem/video-to-blender

claude plugin install video-to-blender@video-to-blender

Or copy the skill: cp -R skills/procedural-blender-nodes ~/.claude/skills/.

Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot and other agents (via skills):

npx skills add gokayfem/video-to-blender

Or install by hand:

• Codex: copy skills/procedural-blender-nodes to ~/.agents/skills/.
• Cursor: copy it to ~/.cursor/skills/, plus the rule in adapters/cursor/.
• Copilot: gh skill install gokayfem/video-to-blender procedural-blender-nodes, plus adapters/copilot/.
• Gemini CLI: gemini extensions install https://github.com/gokayfem/video-to-blender.

claude.ai: zip skills/procedural-blender-nodes and upload it under Settings > Capabilities > Skills.

ChatGPT, Gemini Gems and other chat tools: see adapters/.

You also need Blender 5.2 or later, as blender on PATH, $BLENDER, or the macOS app.

Ask naturally, for example:

• "Make a Geometry Nodes fence that follows any curve, with controls for post spacing and lean."
• "Ivy that grows over whatever mesh I give it."
• "Recreate this clip as an editable Blender setup."
• "Port my 4.2 node script to Blender 5.2."

The agent routes the request, finds groups, writes a build script that saves a .blend, and checks it:

python3 scripts/nodes_tools.py search curve fence
python3 scripts/nodes_tools.py try -- --module my_effect --root . --png out/try.png
blender -b my_effect.blend --python scripts/validate.py

What the commands do:

• search ranks library groups by name, summary, tags and uses.
• try builds one group on a test input, prints its node warnings and lint, and renders a still.
• validate reopens the saved file and checks warnings, counts, evaluation time and camera clearance.

The full catalog with inputs and uses is references/library-index.md.

The top of this page is prompts/storybook-street/. It was measured against the reference over time (colour, luma percentiles, image motion) and validated by reopening the file; its README reports the results and the remaining differences. It has a Primary panel of eight macro controls, six presets, and the same graph on an S-bend, a hill and a spiral town:

Reference (top) vs reconstruction (bottom)	Variations of one graph	The same graph on other curves

Its workflow became the reusable reference-to-nodes prompt, for any reference: a video, images, or a written description.

Smaller starting points, each built only from the library and run on more than one input, are in templates/:

Fence along any curve	Bunting in the wind	Scatter by slope and height	House from a few controls	Growth over any mesh (simulation zone)

CI (.github/workflows/checks.yml) downloads Blender 5.2.2 for Linux, checks its SHA-256, and runs the checks headless.

skills/procedural-blender-nodes/   the skill: SKILL.md, nodekit/, library/, templates/, references/, scripts/
tests/                             property tests, Blender test runner, gallery builder, eval validator
evals/                             plugin eval suite: with vs without the skill
gallery/                           rendered templates
prompts/                           reference-to-nodes prompt and the Storybook Street project
adapters/                          prompts for tools without skill support
.claude-plugin/                    Claude Code plugin + marketplace manifests

Contributing: see AGENTS.md for the rules every library change must pass. The sibling project for GLSL is shader-skills.

MIT. All code is original. The techniques and sources are listed in CREDITS.md.