Can I make Blender run a Python script without opening a GUI? If not, can I incorporate Blender's Python API into my own Python script without running a GUI?
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5 Answers
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Command-line / subprocess
- You can use subprocess to run blender (like any other application) from python.
- Use the
-b/--backgroundswitch to run blender in the backgroud (GUI-less). - Use the
-P <filename>/--python <filename>switch to load desired python script.- Or use
--python-consoleto run python from stdin.
- Or use
Example: blender --background --python myscript.py
See: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/arguments.html
As module
This is an experimental feature and not enabled by default, but Blender can be compiled as a python module.
This allows 'bpy' to be imported from python or other applications/IDE's which embed python
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All what Aldrik wrote, and more Blender Python API Tips and Tricks
From official Blender documentation:
For scripts that are not interactive it can end up being more efficient not to use Blenders interface at all and instead execute the script on the command line.
blender --background --python myscript.py
You might want to run this with a blend file so the script has some data to operate on.
blender myscene.blend --background --python myscript.py
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For 2.79b
#blender --background --factory-startup --python $HOME/background_job.py -- \
# --text="Hello World" \
# --render="/tmp/hello" \
# --save="/tmp/hello.blend"
#
# Notice:
# '--factory-startup' is used to avoid the user default settings from
# interfering with automated scene generation.
#
# '--' causes blender to ignore all following arguments so python can use them.
#
# See blender --help for details.
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you can also directly run expressions without having to create a new .py file
like this:
blender "/path/to/file.blend" -b --python-expr "import bpy;print(bpy.data.filepath)"
In case anyone wants to run a script which involves indentations, for e.g. a loop:
blender "/path/to/file.blend" -b --python-expr $'import bpy\nfor obj in bpy.data.objects:\n print(obj.name)'
You can also run one script from a blender file to change another blend file!
import bpy,subprocess
file_path="/path/to/another/file.blend"
code='''
import bpy
for obj in bpy.data.objects:
print(obj.name)
'''
output = subprocess.check_output(f"blender '{file_path}' -b --python-expr '{code}'", shell=True)
print(output.decode('UTF-8'))
Heck, if you're crazy enough you can run a script from one blend file to run a script in another blend file all in a one liner from the command line
blender "/path/to/file.blend" -b --python-expr $'import bpy,subprocess\nprint("Objects in file ",bpy.data.filepath)\nfor obj in bpy.data.objects:\n print(obj.name)\nfile_path="/path/to/another/file.blend"\ncode="""\nimport bpy\nprint("Objects in file ",bpy.data.filepath)\nfor obj in bpy.data.objects:\n print(obj.name)\n"""\noutput = subprocess.check_output(f"blender \'{file_path}\' -b --python-expr \'{code}\'", shell=True)\nprint(output.decode(\'UTF-8\'))\n'
The possibilities are endless
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Update from 2024:
You can now install bpy from pypi: https://pypi.org/project/bpy/.
Then, you can run a script in Python3.11 (other Python versions won't work!).
I like using blender in Jupyternotebooks e.g. with this scirpt:
import bpy
from IPython.display import display, Image
path = "test.png"
bpy.context.scene.render.resolution_x = 500
bpy.context.scene.render.resolution_y = 200
bpy.ops.render.render()
bpy.data.images["Render Result"].save_render(filepath=path)
display(Image(filename=path))
I've also made a small script collection here: https://github.com/kolibril13/ipyblender-experimental
