Platform Compatibility

  • Windows (x64), Linux (x64) and macOS (arm64 & x64)
  • macOS x64 (Intel Architecture) version is provided, but not tested

Blender Compatibility

As a general rule, using latest Blender LTS release is the best, at the time of writing it is Blender 4.5 LTS, latest LTS is used for development and will be the most tested Blender version

  • Blender 4.2.6 LTS or later (using LTS is always recommended)
  • Blender 4.3 may not work because issue with installation that has been fixed after its release
  • Blender 4.4 or later will be compatible, up to Blender 5.0
  • for Blender 5.1 use distribution zip with -blender-5.1 suffix and see notes on Blender 5.1 bellow

Notes on Blender 5.0

  • PCV is fully compatible on macOS with Metal gpu backend and on Windows/Linux with OpenGL gpu backend
  • on Windows/Linux with Vulkan gpu backend, there is minor issue that has been fixed in Blender 5.1 (it is not clear if fix will be backported to Blender 4.5 LTS), this issue affects viewport postprocessing, Tiles shading and modal tools that depends on point selecting, if you switch gpu backend to OpenGL and restart Blender, all will be working as intended. Blender 5.1 works fine with Vulkan backend.

Notes on Blender 5.1

  • Blender 5.1 comes with major changes relevant to extensions, Python version went from 3.11 to 3.13 and Numpy from 1.x to 2.x and all libraries that use compiled code need to be budled for new Python and all of them need to support new Numpy
  • At the moment, only Open3D is not yet officially released for Python 3.13 and it is not bundled in PCV so features that depends on Open3D will not work
  • To install PCV in Blender 5.1, you need to download and install distribution zip for Blender 5.1 (-blender-5.1 suffix), regular distribution zip will refuse to install

Notes on Blender 5.2

  • When Blender 5.2 LTS will be released, PCV for macOS x64 (Intel Architecture) will no longer be updated and will be available only as legacy version for Blender 4.5 LTS

Installation

  • download latest version point_cloud_visualizer-*version*-*platform*-*architecture*.zip for your system
  • start Blender, drag and drop zip into it

Update

  • download latest version point_cloud_visualizer-*version*-*platform*-*architecture*.zip for your system
  • start Blender, go to Preferences > Get Extensions and find PCV in list
  • Choose Uninstall from drop down menu
  • quit Blender
  • start Blender
  • install new PCV (drag and drop zip, see Installation)

⚠️ Upgrade from PCV 3.0.x or earlier (Legacy addon)

PCV 3.1+, as extension, bundles all libraries, libraries installed by legacy PCV must be removed. Not doing so may lead to conflicts between bundled and legacy installed libraries, especially when another installed legacy addon still uses user site-packages directory for its dependencies.

There are two ways to do that: Automatic after new PCV installation via Check Environment button or Manual by deleting all libraries (packages) directories and files from inside of user site-packages directory.

If you are sure you didn't previously install any library using legacy PCV Install *library* operators, you can skip all of the following steps. If you are not 100% sure, you can follow Automatic procedure.

Automatic

  • Start Blender, go to Preferences > Addons, find legacy PCV, disable and remove. Save Preferences (if automatic saving is disabled) and Quit Blender.
  • Start Blender again, install new PCV (drag and drop zip, see Installation).
  • Go to Preferences > Addons, find PCV, expand and under Libraries click Check Environment button. Operator popup will show any problems found and list of libraries installed in user site-packages directory if any are found there. If any library is found, now you can uninstall all libraries from shown list by running Uninstall All operator from popup (will run pip uninstall *package* for each library found in list, which should uninstall it only from user site-packages, not anywhere else if you happen to have more copies). Quit Blender when operator finishes.

Manual

Manual option is recommended for advanced users, that way you will be sure nothing is left uninstalled.

  • Start Blender, change any region to Python Console and paste following command:
import site; site.getusersitepackages()
  • Press Enter. Path to user site-packages directory will be printed out. Open this directory in your OS file browser. Usually the directory is on macOS/Linux at ~/.local/lib/python3.11/site-packages on Windows %APPDATA%/Python/Python311/site-packages. Also usually this directory is hidden, you may need to enable showing of hidden directories in your OS file browser or paste path to File Explorer path bar on Windows or use Go to Folder (Command+Shift+G) on macOS. Leave window with directory opened.
  • From Blender Preferences > Addons disable legacy PCV and remove. Save Preferences (if automatic saving is disabled) and Quit Blender.
  • Now manually remove libraries installed by legacy PCV (or any other legacy addon that uses the same system):
    • Go to your OS file browser you opened earlier with opened user site-packages directory and remove everything inside (delete or move to another directory as backup, as you wish), doing so will uninstall all Python libraries installed to user site-packages directory.
    • If you are using some other legacy addon that installs libraries and uses user site-packages directory, you will need to let such addon reinstall them, usually disable and enable (if installs automatically) or click button in such addon preferences (if they let user do it manually).
  • Start Blender again, install new PCV (drag and drop zip, see Installation).
  • To check if everything is OK and no other than bundled libraries are available, open PCV preferences and under Libraries section, click Check Environment button, popup will open with info. If all is OK, All seems to be fine. message will be displayed.
    • Please note, if some other legacy addon uses user site-packages it will be detected and reported, if some other legacy addon installs any library automatically at startup, it will be also found and reported.