Blender 2.83.5
Usage: blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]
Render Options:
-b or --background
Run in background (often used for UI-less rendering).
-a or --render-anim
Render frames from start to end (inclusive).
-S or --scene <name>
Set the active scene <name> for rendering.
-f or --render-frame <frame>
Render frame <frame> and save it.
* +<frame> start frame relative, -<frame> end frame relative.
* A comma separated list of frames can also be used (no spaces).
* A range of frames can be expressed using '..' separator between the first and last frames (inclusive).
-s or --frame-start <frame>
Set start to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames too.
-e or --frame-end <frame>
Set end to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames too.
-j or --frame-jump <frames>
Set number of frames to step forward after each rendered frame.
-o or --render-output <path>
Set the render path and file name.
Use '//' at the start of the path to render relative to the blend-file.
The '#' characters are replaced by the frame number, and used to define zero padding.
* 'animation_##_test.png' becomes 'animation_01_test.png'
* 'test-######.png' becomes 'test-000001.png'
When the filename does not contain '#', The suffix '####' is added to the filename.
The frame number will be added at the end of the filename, eg:
# blender -b animation.blend -o //render_ -F PNG -x 1 -a
'//render_' becomes '//render_####', writing frames as '//render_0001.png'
-E or --engine <engine>
Specify the render engine.
Use '-E' help to list available engines.
-t or --threads <threads>
Use amount of <threads> for rendering and other operations
[1-1024], 0 for systems processor count.
Format Options:
-F or --render-format <format>
Set the render format.
Valid options are:
'TGA' 'RAWTGA' 'JPEG' 'IRIS' 'IRIZ' 'AVIRAW' 'AVIJPEG' 'PNG' 'BMP'
Formats that can be compiled into Blender, not available on all systems:
'HDR' 'TIFF' 'OPEN_EXR' 'OPEN_EXR_MULTILAYER' 'MPEG' 'CINEON' 'DPX' 'DDS' 'JP2'
-x or --use-extension <bool>
Set option to add the file extension to the end of the file.
Animation Playback Options:
-a <options> <file(s)>
Instead of showing Blender's user interface, this runs Blender as an animation player,
to view movies and image sequences rendered in Blender (ignored if '-b' is set).
Playback Arguments:
-p <sx> <sy>
Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy>.
-m
Read from disk (Do not buffer).
-f <fps> <fps-base>
Specify FPS to start with.
-j <frame>
Set frame step to <frame>.
-s <frame>
Play from <frame>.
-e <frame>
Play until <frame>.
Window Options:
-w or --window-border
Force opening with borders.
-W or --window-fullscreen
Force opening in fullscreen mode.
-p or --window-geometry <sx> <sy> <w> <h>
Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy> and width and height as <w>, <h>.
-M or --window-maximized
Force opening maximized.
-con or --start-console
Start with the console window open (ignored if '-b' is set), (Windows only).
--no-native-pixels
Do not use native pixel size, for high resolution displays (MacBook 'Retina').
--no-window-focus
Open behind other windows and without taking focus.
Python Options:
-y or --enable-autoexec
Enable automatic Python script execution.
-Y or --disable-autoexec
Disable automatic Python script execution (pydrivers & startup scripts), (compiled as non-standard default).
-P or --python <filename>
Run the given Python script file.
--python-text <name>
Run the given Python script text block.
--python-expr <expression>
Run the given expression as a Python script.
--python-console
Run Blender with an interactive console.
--python-exit-code <code>
Set the exit-code in [0..255] to exit if a Python exception is raised
(only for scripts executed from the command line), zero disables.
--python-use-system-env
Allow Python to use system environment variables such as 'PYTHONPATH' and the user site-packages directory.
--addons <addon(s)>
Comma separated list of add-ons (no spaces).
Logging Options:
--log <match>
Enable logging categories, taking a single comma separated argument.
Multiple categories can be matched using a '.*' suffix,
so '--log "wm.*"' logs every kind of window-manager message.
Use "^" prefix to ignore, so '--log "*,^wm.operator.*"' logs all except for 'wm.operators.*'
Use "*" to log everything.
--log-level <level>
Set the logging verbosity level (higher for more details) defaults to 1,
use -1 to log all levels.
--log-show-basename
Only show file name in output (not the leading path).
--log-show-backtrace
Show a back trace for each log message (debug builds only).
--log-show-timestamp
Show a timestamp for each log message in seconds since start.
--log-file <filename>
Set a file to output the log to.
Debug Options:
-d or --debug
Turn debugging on.
* Enables memory error detection
* Disables mouse grab (to interact with a debugger in some cases)
* Keeps Python's 'sys.stdin' rather than setting it to None
--debug-value <value>
Set debug value of <value> on startup.
--debug-events
Enable debug messages for the event system.
--debug-ffmpeg
Enable debug messages from FFmpeg library.
--debug-handlers
Enable debug messages for event handling.
--debug-libmv
Enable debug messages from libmv library.
--debug-cycles
Enable debug messages from Cycles.
--debug-memory
Enable fully guarded memory allocation and debugging.
--debug-jobs
Enable time profiling for background jobs.
--debug-python
Enable debug messages for Python.
--debug-depsgraph
Enable all debug messages from dependency graph.
--debug-depsgraph-eval
Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on evaluation.
--debug-depsgraph-build
Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on graph construction.
--debug-depsgraph-tag
Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on tagging.
--debug-depsgraph-no-threads
Switch dependency graph to a single threaded evaluation.
--debug-depsgraph-time
Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on timing.
--debug-depsgraph-pretty
Enable colors for dependency graph debug messages.
--debug-gpu
Enable GPU debug context and information for OpenGL 4.3+.
--debug-gpumem
Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
--debug-gpu-shaders
Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
--debug-gpu-force-workarounds
Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.
--debug-wm
Enable debug messages for the window manager, shows all operators in search, shows keymap errors.
--debug-xr
Enable debug messages for virtual reality contexts.
Enables the OpenXR API validation layer, (OpenXR) debug messages and general information prints.
--debug-xr-time
Enable debug messages for virtual reality frame rendering times.
--debug-all
Enable all debug messages.
--debug-io
Enable debug messages for I/O (Collada, ...).
--debug-fpe
Enable floating point exceptions.
--disable-crash-handler
Disable the crash handler.
--disable-abort-handler
Disable the abort handler.
Misc Options:
--app-template <template>
Set the application template (matching the directory name), use 'default' for none.
--factory-startup
Skip reading the BLENDER_STARTUP_FILE in the users home directory.
--disable-library-override
Disable Library Override features in the UI.
--enable-event-simulate
Enable event simulation testing feature 'bpy.types.Window.event_simulate'.
--env-system-datafiles
Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES environment variable.
--env-system-scripts
Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS environment variable.
--env-system-python
Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON environment variable.
-noaudio
Force sound system to None.
-setaudio
Force sound system to a specific device.
'NULL' 'SDL' 'OPENAL' 'JACK'.
-h or --help
Print this help text and exit.
-R
Register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows only).
-r
Silently register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows only).
-v or --version
Print Blender version and exit.
--
End option processing, following arguments passed unchanged. Access via Python's 'sys.argv'.
Other Options:
/?
Print this help text and exit (windows only).
--debug-freestyle
Enable debug messages for Freestyle.
--debug-ghost
Enable debug messages for event handling.
--verbose <verbose>
Set the logging verbosity level for debug messages that support it.
Argument Parsing:
Arguments must be separated by white space, eg:
# blender -ba test.blend
...will exit since '-ba' is an unknown argument.
Argument Order:
Arguments are executed in the order they are given. eg:
# blender --background test.blend --render-frame 1 --render-output '/tmp'
...will not render to '/tmp' because '--render-frame 1' renders before the output path is set.
# blender --background --render-output /tmp test.blend --render-frame 1
...will not render to '/tmp' because loading the blend-file overwrites the render output that was set.
# blender --background test.blend --render-output /tmp --render-frame 1
...works as expected.
Environment Variables:
$BLENDER_USER_CONFIG Directory for user configuration files.
$BLENDER_USER_SCRIPTS Directory for user scripts.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS Directory for system wide scripts.
$BLENDER_USER_DATAFILES Directory for user data files (icons, translations, ..).
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES Directory for system wide data files.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON Directory for system Python libraries.
$TEMP Store temporary files here.
$SDL_AUDIODRIVER LibSDL audio driver - alsa, esd, dma.
$PYTHONHOME Path to the Python directory, eg. /usr/lib/python.