rendering

Rendering

Appropriate engine selection. Optimized settings. Production render passes.

When to Use

• Final portfolio/cinematic renders
• Look development validation
• Render pass output for compositing
• Game asset preview renders (Turntable)
• Style validation (realistic vs stylized)

Engine Selection

Engine	Use When
Cycles	Final quality, realistic, portfolio
EEVEE (BLENDER_EEVEE)	Real-time preview, stylized, game look dev; ray-traced reflections + virtual shadow maps in Blender 4.2+/5.x
Workbench	Fast clay/QA renders, silhouette and topology checks

Workflow

Camera Setup → Render Settings → Sample Tests → Full Render
    → Pass Output → Color Management → Delivery

Camera Setup

Naming: CAM_[Shot]_[Number]

• Focal length: 35mm (environment), 85mm (hero detail), 24mm (wide horror)
• Depth of field: subject distance focused
• Composition: rule of thirds; leading lines
• Turntable: empty parent rotating 360° for asset preview

Cycles Settings

Setting	Preview	Production
Samples	64–128	512–2048
Denoise	OpenImageDenoise	OpenImageDenoise
Max bounces	8	12
Caustics	Off (default)	On if glass/water hero

Eevee Settings

Setting	Value
Ray tracing (eevee.use_raytracing)	On for metals/glossy floors
Fast GI (eevee.use_fast_gi)	On for contact occlusion (replaces legacy AO toggle)
Bloom	Compositor Glare node, Type = Bloom (EEVEE bloom toggle removed in 4.2)
Shadows (eevee.use_shadows)	On; lower light shadow_maximum_resolution (e.g. 0.001) for crisp hero shadows, shadow_filter_radius for softness
Light threshold / sample counts	taa_render_samples 64+ for final

Render Passes

Pass	Use
Combined	Final composite
Diffuse Direct/Indirect	Relighting
Glossy	Reflection control
Normal	Compositing effects
AO	Contact shadow enhancement
Z (Depth)	DOF, fog in comp
Cryptomatte	Object masking
Emission	Screen glow effects

Color Management

View Transform: AgX (default) | Khronos PBR Neutral (product accuracy) | Standard (stylized/pixel exact)
Look: "AgX - Base Contrast" (neutral) or "AgX - High Contrast" / "AgX - Punchy" (dramatic)
Exposure: Adjust in compositor, not by blowing lights

Render Optimization

• Use render region for test crops
• Adaptive sampling (Cycles)
• Disable unseen objects in render layers
• GPU rendering default when available
• Persistent data for animation sequences

Asset Turntable Template

1. CAM_Turntable at 3/4 height, 45° angle
2. Empty at asset origin → rotate animation 0–360° (120 frames)
3. 3-point lighting rig
4. Render 1280×1280 or project-specified resolution
5. Output PNG sequence or MP4

Scripts

Tested on Blender 5.2 LTS via the official Blender MCP. Run with execute_blender_code (or headless, see the blender-mcp-workflow skill); read the script header for every argument. When the user will paste code into Blender themselves, give them the short runpy call with the absolute path of this installed script and their ARGS. Don't inline or rewrite the script: the tested file is the point.

Script	What it does
scripts/render_preset.py	Apply a render preset (engine, samples, denoise, resolution, color management). Returns the previous values so the change can be reverted.

import runpy
result = runpy.run_path("<skill_dir>/scripts/render_preset.py", init_globals={"ARGS": {...}})["result"]

ARGS: preset, resolution_percentage, device

Reference Image Validation

When matching a photo/concept (blender-mcp-workflow skill → references/reference-image-match.md):

Setting	Reference match
Hero camera	Match reference angle before grading
AgX Look	Base Contrast default; High Contrast if reference is punchy
Exposure	0.15–0.45 typical; hull must read, not clip white
Preview playback	EEVEE, motion blur off, taa_samples 1–8
Final still	Render at hero CAM_* — compare to reference
Compare tool	get_screenshot_of_area_as_image("VIEW_3D") or bpy render still

Run blender-mcp-workflow skill → references/visual-match-checklist.md before delivery.

MCP Integration

1. Configure render engine settings via MCP
2. Setup camera via MCP
3. Trigger test render via MCP if supported
4. Query render settings validation
5. Set output paths via MCP

Constraints

MUST DO

• Match render engine to project style
• Screenshot or render compare when reference image was provided
• Use denoising for Cycles production renders
• Setup color management before final render
• Render validation turntable for hero assets
• Organize cameras in COL_Cameras

MUST NOT DO

• Write code or snippets for Blender versions before 5.2, or add version fallbacks: this plugin targets 5.2+, and legacy branches teach users APIs that no longer exist
• Production render without sample test
• Ignore color management (sRGB vs Linear)
• Render at excessive resolution without purpose
• Skip render passes when compositing planned
• Use Cycles for real-time game preview needs

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Pass compositing	references/render-passes.md	Multi-pass output
NPR/stylized render	references/npr-rendering.md	Stylized-style projects
Reference image match	blender-mcp-workflow skill → references/reference-image-match.md	Photo/concept attached
Visual match validation	blender-mcp-workflow skill → references/visual-match-checklist.md	Before delivery