Pack External Assets
You can pack or send along any assets that are considered external data into your Blender file. The simplest method to do this is by going to File > External Data > Pack Resources . However, this will only work with certain types of Data Blocks and is a solution for simpler Blender files.Data blocks that are capable of being Packed are Fonts, Images, Libraries, and Sounds as of Blender 3.6.You must then save the file because Blender will not automatically save your file at this point. We recommend saving it as a separate file with the suffix _PACKED.blendPack Linked Libraries
Packing Linked Libraries is useful when an add-on or a data block that you use references another .blend file on your computer. By going to File > External Data > Pack Linked Libraries you pack those linked .blend files directly into one .blend file. You must then save this .blend file again to ensure it is packed.Set to Relative Paths
When utilizing external assets that cannot be packed as mentioned above. It is highly recommended that all links are set to relative. This way when you send a zip file to our render nodes with files linked, we can simply unzip it on our end and render it with those links preserved.Packing Add-Ons
Some add-ons have functionality specifically built to support packing and baking into your .blend file.For example, Botaniq has great documentation that guides you on how to use Botaniq with render farms.Other add-ons have a specific “Bake” or “Pack” button to automatically do this for you.Please refer to your add-on’s documentation for this.Scene Selection
Blender projects can contain multiple scenes, each with its own objects, cameras, and render settings. RenderJuice allows you to specify which scene to render during the configuration step.Active Scene (Default)
By default, RenderJuice renders the scene that was active when you saved your Blender file. This is the recommended option for most projects.Different Scene
If you need to render a scene other than the active one:
- Select “Different Scene” from the dropdown
- Enter the exact scene name as it appears in Blender
The scene name is case-sensitive and must match exactly.
Finding Scene Names in Blender
You can find your scene names in:
- The Scene dropdown at the top of the Blender window
- The Outliner panel (set display mode to “Scenes”)
Only one scene can be rendered per job. To render multiple scenes, submit a separate render job for each scene.
If you enable Video (MP4) in Renderjuice, the app will switch output settings to image frames (PNG/JPEG). This is intentional so your full frame sequence is always preserved, even if your .blend file is set to a video output. OpenEXR and OpenEXR Multilayer outputs disable MP4, so keep MP4 off when you need EXR for compositing.
Zipping your render
ZIP compression is lossless. This means the zipping process is safe to use for rendering. Everything will be preserved with no impact to output quality.
.blend files that depend on other .blend files and more.In these more advanced scenarios, we recommend zipping your project folder to send it off. When starting a new project, try to keep your directory structure clean and all local within a single folder. It’ll save you any hassle down the road whether you’re working with a team or with a render farm.What should be inside the zip
Your .zip should contain the .blend file you want to render and every dependency that is not packed into it.This can include:
- textures and image sequences
- linked
.blend libraries
- Alembic or other external geometry caches
- simulation caches
- video or audio assets
If your scene depends on a custom add-on or extension, upload that add-on separately in Renderjuice before you render. Do not assume the scene zip alone is enough.If your zip contains multiple .blend files
Renderjuice may ask you which .blend file inside the archive you want to render.Choose the actual scene file you want to render, not:
- backup files
- test scenes
- alternate look-dev files
- outdated copies left in the same archive
If possible, keep only the intended render file in the project zip to reduce mistakes.Common zip mistakes
- Zipping the wrong folder level so the
.blend and its dependencies are no longer next to each other.
- Leaving caches or external assets outside the archive.
- Keeping absolute paths that still point to your local machine.
- Including multiple
.blend files and selecting the wrong one in Renderjuice.
- Forgetting to upload required custom add-ons separately before rendering.
Windows Users
For the most part, if your renders are simple and you don’t have special characters in your file names and linked assets (excluding file extensions), the default Windows zip utility should handle it.However, it’s well known that Windows’ default zip utilities are unfortunately, not the best and doesn’t handle special characters inside file names well. We recommend using 7-Zip to zip your project folder or WinRAR to zip your project folder.
7Zip is free and open source.WinRAR offers licenses but offers a ahem “very extended” free trial.
Mac Users
MacOS’s built-in zip utility typically should handle the majority of cases fairly well. We don’t necessarily require a third party app like 7-Zip or The Unarchiver, but it’s always handy to have an extra option.Linux Users
The same advice for Mac users apply here. The default unzip utility that ships with most Linux distributions should handle the majority of cases fairly well, but always good to have an extra option.
