Install

ℹ️ Updated to BFDS 7.0.x

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

• Requirements
• Install from Blender Extensions portal
• Install from a file
• Upgrade from a file
• 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 add-on, 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.

If you already have a previous version of the BlenderFDS add-on installed, you shall remove it to avoid any likely conflict.

Install from Blender Extensions portal

As BFDS is now included into the Blender Extensions portal, the online directory of free and Open Source extensions for Blender, this is the best and easiest way to install BFDS.

Here is a Prof. Rino’s video tutorial of the procedure.

Step 1: Install setup

1. Open Blender and go to Edit > Preferences.
2. In the Preferences window, select the Get Extensions tab on the left, and wait for the repository update.
3. Use the search bar to find BFDS.
4. Click the Install button and Blender will automatically download and enable the BFDS add-on.

Step 2: Post-install setup

1. In the same Preferences window, select the Add-ons tab on the left.
2. Search for BFDS.
3. Click the > button to expand the BFDS preferences panel.
4. 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.

Blender will keep BFDS automatically updated.

You should now see BFDS panels available in Blender. If the add-on 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 from a file

This way to install BFDS is not recommended, better use the Blender Extensions portal.

Step 1: Download the add-on package

Go to the the release page and download the most recent bfds-x.x.x.zip package on the right side of the page.

Do not unzip the package yourself, Blender installs directly from the zipped package.

Step 2: Install the add-on

1. Start Blender.
2. Select the Edit > Preferences menu, and go to the Add-ons section in the left sidebar.
3. At the top-right of the Add-ons section, click the v button and select Install from Disk.
4. In the file browser, navigate to the location where you saved the bfds-x.x.x.zip package.
5. Select the package and click Install Add-on.

After installation, Blender will list the add-on as BFDS fire simulations.

Step 3: Enable the add-on

1. In the same Add-ons section, enable the BFDS add-on by checking the box next to it.

You should now see BFDS panels available in Blender. If the add-on 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 4: Post-install setup

Perform the Post-install setup of the previous paragraph.

BFDS is ready to use for creating and editing NIST FDS cases directly inside Blender.

Beware that, in this case, BFDS is not automatically updated by Blender itself.

Do not forget the post-install setup step, if you want to enjoy the updated BFDS default settings. But this may cancel some of your customizations.

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 release, you can clone the firetools/bfds repository on your computer.

Then link the bfds/source folder to your local Blender add-ons folder. The linked folder should be renamed from source to bfds.

Blender has a built-in shortcut to jump straight into the local add-ons folder. Here’s how:

1. In Blender, select the Edit > Preferences menu, and go to the Add-ons section in the left sidebar.
2. Find any installed add-on (e.g., BFDS).
3. Expand its entry by clicking on the the > button.
4. The File: field show the path to the add-ons folder.

Beware that you need to be Git savvy to install a development version, and that version could be unstable.