blender-pro-workflow

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: blender-pro-workflow
description: End-to-end production workflow guidance for Blender — the order to assemble scenes (block-out → camera → light → forms → materials → detail → render → composite → export), critique protocols, time budgets, and recovery patterns. Use whenever the user asks to "make a complete scene / hero shot / production-quality render", "what's the right order to do this", "set up a full pipeline", or has a multi-step request crossing modeling + lighting + materials + rendering. Make sure to use this skill for any request that spans multiple phases of 3D work, even if the user does not say "workflow" — also covers "make a final image of X", "produce a hero render", "professional-looking result".
when_to_use: Multi-phase Blender work spanning modeling + lighting + materials + render. Or when the user is unsure where to start. Often loaded BEFORE other sub-skills as a guide for sequencing.
allowed-tools: Read Bash mcp__blender__execute_blender_code mcp__blender__get_scene_info mcp__blender__get_object_info
---

# Blender Pro Workflow

End-to-end guidance for putting a real scene together. This skill answers "in what order, with what fidelity at each step, should I tackle this?" Use it as the planner, then chain-load the specific sub-skills for each step.

## Reference-locked override

If a task involves source templates, orthographic references, brand mascots, or fit validation, defer ordering to `blender-skill-harmonizer` and the reference-locked skills. The generic production order is subordinate to source-of-truth gates.

## The 11-step canonical order

```
1.  Reference + plan          → State the goal; collect refs
2.  Block-out                 → Primitives only at correct scale
3.  Camera + composition lock → Pick focal length; frame the shot
4.  Light pass v1             → Three-point lighting; no color yet
5.  Refine geometry           → Replace primitives with real models
6.  Materials v1              → Flat colors; values before color
7.  Light pass v2             → Add color; tune ratios
8.  Detail pass               → Sculpting, fine textures, polish
9.  Final render              → Production samples + denoising
10. Composite                 → Color grade, glare, vignette
11. Export                    → Target platform format
```

**Why this order**: each step gates the next. A great model under bad lighting renders worse than a mediocre model under great lighting. A perfect material tuned in flat lighting will look wrong once real lighting goes in.

## Sub-skill chain by request type

| User request type | Chain (in order) |
|-------------------|-----------------|
| "Hero shot of a sword" | this → blender-modeling → blender-materials → blender-lighting → blender-cameras → blender-rendering |
| "Render this scene cinematically" | this → blender-cameras → blender-lighting → blender-rendering |
| "Make a 3D logo for the web" | this → blender-modeling → blender-materials → blender-lighting → blender-rendering → blender-export |
| "Animate a turntable" | this → blender-modeling → blender-materials → blender-cameras → blender-animation → blender-rendering |
| "Set up a studio scene" | this → blender-cameras → blender-lighting → (then the user adds models) |
| "Full production pipeline" | All of: blender-modeling → blender-materials → blender-lighting → blender-cameras → blender-rendering → blender-export |

## Time budget (for a hero still)

| Stage | % of total time |
|-------|-----------------|
| Reference + plan | 5–10% |
| Block-out + camera | 10–15% |
| Lighting setup | 10–20% |
| Modeling refinement | 30–40% |
| Materials + textures | 15–20% |
| Final render + composite | 5–10% |

**Anti-pattern**: 90% modeling, 10% lighting. Lighting and materials are what make a model *look* good. Don't invest in geometry detail until the value structure of the image works.

## Recipes

### Recipe 1 — Block-out scene scaffold

Use this as the very first step. Establishes scale, composition, camera fram