muSCADier

Import OpenSCAD (.scad) files into Blender as native geometry — with colors, fast Manifold rendering, and live reload on save.

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Why this exists

OpenSCAD is a wonderful tool for parametric, code-driven modeling, but bringing .scad models into Blender was painful — almost none of the existing importers worked reliably. So I wrote one. I've tested it on many .scad files, including awkward, heavy and legacy ones, and it holds up well.

Why it needs OpenSCAD

.scad is not a mesh format — it's a small programming language (booleans, loops, modules, include/use, external libraries). Only OpenSCAD's own engine can evaluate all of it faithfully, so muSCADier drives the real OpenSCAD CLI to compile your model and imports the result into Blender.

Point it at an OpenSCAD you already have, or let it download one for you. Prefer a recent build: modern OpenSCAD ships the Manifold backend, which is far faster than the old CGAL renderer and is what brings per-object colors across.

Features

• One-click import — File > Import > SCAD (.scad), or the SCAD panel in the 3D View sidebar (press N).
• Try it instantly — a bundled example is one Import Example click away.
• Colors — imports 3MF with per-object colors when a Manifold-capable OpenSCAD is available.
• Fast — uses OpenSCAD's Manifold backend, up to ~100× faster than legacy CGAL.
• Live reload — keep editing your .scad in any editor; every save re-imports.
• Imports .scad from any era — legacy syntax is auto-repaired (child() → children(), assign() → let(), import_stl() → import(), dxf_linear_extrude() → linear_extrude()) on a temporary copy, so old models import fully instead of coming out empty. Your original file is never touched.
• Multi-file projects — relative include/use and project-local libraries/ folders resolve automatically.
• Non-blocking — compilation runs in the background with a progress readout and a Cancel button; Blender stays responsive.
• Bring-your-own or auto-download engine — use a system OpenSCAD, or fetch a recent nightly from within the add-on (Linux and Windows, x86-64).

Requirements

• Blender 4.2 or newer (developed and tested up to 5.1).
• OpenSCAD — either installed on your system, or downloaded from inside the add-on (Linux / Windows x86-64). A recent build is recommended for colors and speed. On macOS, install OpenSCAD yourself (e.g. from openscad.org or Homebrew) and, if needed, set its path in the add-on preferences.

Installation

1. Download muscadier-X.Y.Z.zip from the Releases page.
2. In Blender: Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions, open the drop-down (top-right) and choose Install from Disk…, then pick the zip.
3. Open the SCAD panel (N in the 3D View). If you don't have OpenSCAD yet, click Download nightly.

Usage

• Import: File > Import > SCAD (.scad), or the SCAD sidebar tab (N) → Import SCAD….
• Re-import the current file, or toggle Live to re-import on every save. Heavy models take as long as OpenSCAD needs to recompile.
• Example: with nothing imported yet, the panel offers Import Example — a quick way to check that your engine works and to see colors come through.

Compatibility

muSCADier aims to import any .scad, on any OpenSCAD version:

• New and old OpenSCAD — from the fast 2026 Manifold nightlies down to the 2021 CGAL builds. Capabilities are detected at runtime and the command line is adapted accordingly (colored 3MF where possible, plain STL otherwise).
• Legacy language features — removed or renamed constructs are auto-repaired so the geometry is complete rather than silently empty.
• Multi-file projects — relative include/use and project-local libraries/ folders resolve out of the box.

If you find a .scad that doesn't import correctly, that's a bug I want to hear about — please open an issue.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are very welcome: legacy edge cases, packaging for more platforms, performance, and features like richer material mapping. If muSCADier is useful to you, try it on your real projects and tell me what breaks.

License

Released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later — see LICENSE. Blender add-ons build on Blender's GPL Python API, so the GPL is both the natural and the required choice here.

Credits

Built on top of the excellent OpenSCAD project. Created by Emanuele Lovato.