2.1.3. Add-ons

Add-ons are installed and managed through the Edit > Preferences menu. In figure 1, we have searched for add-ons in the Sequencer category. There is only one add-on pre-installed: the Power Sequencer add-on. More details about this Preferences panel can be found in the manual.

Figure 1: The add-ons panel with the Power sequencer add-on selected.

Where do these add-ons come from? Some are installed together with Blender itself. They can be enabled very easy. Just put a check in the box next to the name; e.g. Sequencer: Power Sequencer in figure 1.

The following link gives you an incomplete list of all built-in add-ons. Unfortunately, for the Video Sequence Editor, there is only one built-in add-on: the Power Sequencer. The docs refer to the GDQuest (author) website for more information.

Luckily, there are also so-called 3rd Party Add-ons. These add-ons are made by the community and cover a very broad spectrum of functionality. Some of them are very specific; for example importing markers from another software. The quality also varies widely and you should always check for which version of Blender these add-ons are written. They have to be installed manually with the Install button (see figure 1) of the Preferences panel.

The installation is different depending on the format of the add-on (zip-file or Python file). The best way to choose is by understanding how an add-on is written. A very good introduction can be found a the Blender manual.

Tin2Tin has compiled a webpage on Blenderartists.org with more than 100 links to add-ons. They fit into categories such as toolboxes, (multi-threaded) export and import, effects, strip editing, generate, audio, scene strips, markers, organization, Multicam, user interface, shortcut keys, and templates.