Blender All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 1

Working with Linked Data

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using data from one Blender file in another

Handling linked data more efficiently with a built-in add-on

Overriding linked data

As you start working with more complex projects that have multiple scenes, your .blend files will get increasingly complex. At that point, it starts making sense to begin using a slightly more complex project structure that involves working in multiple files. I touched on this concept briefly in Book 3, Chapter 4 when discussing asset libraries in Blender. Sometimes, though, you need something that falls somewhere between the needs of a local asset library and a global one. You need project-based assets.

As an example, consider the situation where you’re working on an animation and you have a character that needs to appear in three or four different scenes. As you work, you suddenly discover, “Oh no, this character is supposed to have green eyes!”

However, the model that you worked with has brown eyes in every scene. With a more naive workflow, you would have to go into every one of your shot files and change the color of your character’s eyes. For one change in maybe three or four scenes, maybe that’s ...