Build a new subject end to end: headless .bbmodel authoring, a Blender scene ready to render, and a render.cmd that renders PNG stills on every GPU and encodes them with FFmpeg.
Load blockbench-use before the first model edit and follow its routing to the domain skills. The form answers settle its appearance-versus-performance question; do not ask it again.
1. Intake form
Ask before any building. Use the client's structured question tool (AskUserQuestion in Claude Code); without one, send the same questions as one numbered list. Present options in the order shown, without marking a recommendation.
Round 1: what to build. Ask all four questions in one call.
| Header | Question | Options (label: description) |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | What quality level? | High-quality: detailed silhouette, smooth rounded parts, detail in textures · Low-poly: faceted, bold shapes, flat color regions |
| Textures | Which texture style? | PBR textured: albedo + normal + MER, resolution asked next · Vanilla Minecraft: Minecraft's own 16× textures · Classic Blockbench: hand-painted pixel art, no PBR |
| Animation | How should it move? | Animated: keyframed clips · Havok physics: physics-based motion baked with the Havok plugin in Blockbench desktop |
| Scene | What kind of scene? | Simple 3D scene: subject with a few context props · Complete 3D scene: full environment with foreground to background · Simple 3D vignette: subject on a small diorama base · 3D isometric room: cutaway room seen from an isometric camera |
Round 2: details. Ask only the questions that apply, in one call.
| Header | When | Question | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | No argument was given | What is the subject? | Two or three example subjects suited to the round 1 answers; the user types their own through Other |
| Resolution | Textures = PBR | Which PBR resolution? | 2K PBR: 2048² maps, ~32 px per unit · HD PBR: 512–1024² maps, 128–256 px per block · PBR (standard): 16×–32× pixel art with PBR channels |
| Output | Always | Where should the project folder go? | A parent folder the user chose before, if you know one · Current directory: ./<slug>/ · anything else through Other |
| Render | Always | Which render preset? | 1080p: 1920×1080, 30 fps, 10 s · 4K UHD: 3840×2160, 30 fps, 10 s · Square loop: 1080×1080, 30 fps, 6 s seamless loop · Quick preview: 1280×720, 24 fps, 5 s |
An argument after the command (/blockbench-new-model a lighthouse on a sea stack) is the subject. Derive <slug> from it (lowercase, hyphens, ≤ 40 characters). Create <output>/<slug>/ and refuse to overwrite a folder that already holds a project; offer a numbered slug instead.
Echo the full brief back in one sentence ("A high-quality, 2K PBR textured, animated simple 3D vignette of a lighthouse on a sea stack, 1080p 30 fps 10 s, in …") and continue without waiting for confirmation.
2. Preflight
Check everything the answers need before modeling; report all gaps at once.
- Headless server:
bbmodel_*tools are connected. If not, see setup, give the user the command with their folder filled in, and stop. - Preview renders:
bbmodel_renderneeds Node 23.6+ with npm and a GPU; its packages install on first use (rendering). Warn the user about the one-time install, and about$BB_RENDER_HOMEif C: is short on space. - Blender, FFmpeg, GPUs: locate and probe them as in find the tools.
- Havok physics: Blockbench desktop with the MCP plugin and the Havok Physics Animations plugin (
havok_*tools afterblockbench_launch). If unavailable, ask whether to switch to keyframed animation. - AI textures (PBR):
FAL_KEYfor generated albedo. If missing, note it and paint procedurally. - glTF route: when Blender has no
.bbmodelimporter, Blockbench desktop is needed for glTF export.
3. Plan
Write plan.md in the project folder: the brief, each answer translated with option specs (geometry budget, texel density, texture size, filtering, channels, scene contents, camera and lights, frame range), the part list with real-world sizes, the animation beats per second of the render, and the shot list. Keep it current; subagents read it.
4. Build the models
Follow headless build: layout, build order, verification after each pass, and parallel subagents for complete scenes and rooms. Textures and animation follow the rows in option specs for the chosen answers. Share each write tool's web_app link with the user as models land.
Gate before Blender: every asset validates, its contact sheet and a posed render look right, and the plan's budgets hold. Havok scenes are baked and saved first.
5. Build the Blender scene
Follow Blender handoff: import, run the fix pass, assemble, light and stage cameras for the scene type, apply the render preset, and save blender/<slug>.blend from scripts kept in blender/scripts/.
6. Render deliverable
Copy render_worker.py and render.cmd into render/, fill the placeholders, and confirm none remain. Render the verification stills, look at them, fix what they show, and time one full-quality frame. Do not start the full render unless the user asks.
7. Report
Reply with:
- the project folder, the
.blend,render/render.cmdand the video path it will write; - the verification stills (send or link them);
- the
web_applinks of the final models; - GPUs found, seconds per frame, frame count and estimated total render time;
- what was substituted or skipped (no
FAL_KEY, no Havok, glTF route) and anything unverified.