Portable Verge3D install / Installing multiple versions

This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 hours, 37 minutes ago by backpackvacuum.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

Author

Posts
2025-01-13 at 5:49 pm #79804

backpackvacuum
Customer

Hello!

My team creates a large number of applications, about one per week. We occasionally update Blender and Verge3D to get access to new features.

Updating all of our older applications to the newer version of Verge3D is not desirable, as each one will have to go through QA again, and it is not worth it. However, we do occasionally need to go back to our old applications and change some of the content.

Therefore, we would like to be able to have multiple versions of Blender and Verge3D installed so that we can go back and edit our legacy applications without doing a full update to them.

The Blender side of this is fairly easy with portable installations. However, it seems that installing an older version of Verge3D overwrites the current installation, and I am not finding a way to get the addon and server working in a portable install of Blender without affecting my other installations on the system.

Is the only currently available solution something like a VM?

2025-01-13 at 7:47 pm #79805

xeon
Customer

We have similar issues. Not saying this a great solution but one we use.

For each update to our system we keep the Blender release in use, the verge3D version and all associated plugins that may have been used. We also make the Application Manager use a specific folder for that version of blender and Verge3d…so there is no accidentaly updating an app.

When a new version of Blender and V3D is ready to use…we install the new B3D add the V3D update and change the App Manager folder. As long as you do this you can keep many concurrent versions of blender and V3D running simultaneously or archive them and have no issues…. or at least none that we have run into yet.

Xeon
Route 66 Digital
Interactive Solutions - https://www.r66d.com
Tutorials - https://www.xeons3dlab.com

2025-01-13 at 7:59 pm #79806

backpackvacuum
Customer

Thanks for responding!

Any additional details that you can provide on exactly *how* you do this would be awesome. How do you make the Application Manager use a specific folder?

I tried installing an old version of V3D into a separate folder from my current install, and then when I opened my current version of Blender and opened the App Manager, it was running the old version, so it seems like the installer goes and links to itself from (I’m guessing the AppData folder) to wherever you installed it.

2025-01-13 at 8:34 pm #79808

xeon
Customer

When you open the app manager there is a gear icon on the left side. If you click on this it will open a window and at the top of that window it provides you the option to designate a folder. Create the folder you want to associate with the version of the app you are using and thats it.

Xeon
Route 66 Digital
Interactive Solutions - https://www.r66d.com
Tutorials - https://www.xeons3dlab.com

2025-01-13 at 10:11 pm #79809

kdv
Participant

backpackvacuum wrote:

The Blender side of this is fairly easy with portable installations

it’s also quite easy for Verge3D… Suppose, you want to use V3D 4.5.1 with Blender 3.6.9. Install V3D 4.5.1 into a separate folder (ex. C:\Programs\Verge3D_451\), then go to C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.6\scripts\addons\verge3d\, open __init__.py and make sure ROOT_DIR is set to C:\Programs\Verge3D_451. This variable tells Blender where it can find Verge3D files.

Every new installation of Verge3D will overwrite …\addons\verge3d\, but you can backup it before installing…

Puzzles and JS coding. Fast and expensive.

If you don’t see the meaning in something it primarily means that you just don’t see it but not the absence of the meaning at all.

2025-01-13 at 11:20 pm #79810

backpackvacuum
Customer

How do you install each version of V3D?

If I just run the installer, then all versions of Blender launch the same version of the server.

I managed to create a custom shortcut to run server.py from a different version. Do you do something along those lines? Or do you uncheck “Install Blender Addon” in the installer and do the installation manually somehow?

2025-01-13 at 11:35 pm #79811
xeon
Customer
One simple way is when download the latest V3D zip file…rename the extracted folder to something like V3D_4_8 after a while you will have a collection of V3D versions. You can then go to preferences and select the version you want to use with the Blender version you want.
- This reply was modified 13 hours, 10 minutes ago by xeon.
Xeon
Route 66 Digital
Interactive Solutions - https://www.r66d.com
Tutorials - https://www.xeons3dlab.com
2025-01-13 at 11:56 pm #79813

backpackvacuum
Customer

kdv wrote:

go to […] __init__.py and make sure ROOT_DIR is set to C:\Programs\Verge3D_451. This variable tells Blender where it can find Verge3D files.

Okay, I’ve tried this and it’s working to launch the correct version of the server.

However, if I go into Blender Edit>Preferences>Add-ons>Render: Verge3D, it says the addon is the latest version.

Is it *actually* the current version, or does Blender just think it is because it grabs that from the blender_manifest.toml, but __init__.py is redirecting *everything* to the other version’s location? Or is this a frankenstein installation that is the latest version of the add-on and the old version of the server?

Thanks so much for the help

2025-01-14 at 12:23 am #79814

kdv
Participant

backpackvacuum wrote:

However, if I go into Blender Edit>Preferences>Add-ons>Render: Verge3D, it says the addon is the latest version.

you didn’t replace the addon itself to the previous version. you just changed ROOT_DIR for the current (and latest) addon.

As a variant, install V3D 4.x.x. It will replace addons for ALL Blender’s versions. Go to 3.6 and rename verge3d to verge3d_4.x.x. In Blender 3.6.x enable this addon from verge3d_4.x.x folder. Install the latest V3D version (it will replace addons for ALL versions but won’t touch your verge3d_4.x.x), in Blender disable the latest addon (from verge3d folder). Thus you will have 4.x.x version working in Blender 3.6.x and the latest addon won’t be enabled if you install a newer version (because you disabled it manually). If not, just disable it again…

Puzzles and JS coding. Fast and expensive.

If you don’t see the meaning in something it primarily means that you just don’t see it but not the absence of the meaning at all.

2025-01-14 at 4:09 am #79815

backpackvacuum
Customer

kdv wrote:

As a variant, install V3D 4.x.x. It will replace addons for ALL Blender’s versions. Go to 3.6 and rename verge3d to verge3d_4.x.x. In Blender 3.6.x enable this addon from verge3d_4.x.x folder. Install the latest V3D version (it will replace addons for ALL versions but won’t touch your verge3d_4.x.x), in Blender disable the latest addon (from verge3d folder). Thus you will have 4.x.x version working in Blender 3.6.x and the latest addon won’t be enabled if you install a newer version (because you disabled it manually). If not, just disable it again…

This works!

Thanks everybody for your help!
Author

Posts