Step 2: Files it needs
How dependency detection works, what each status means, and the fastest way to attach a folder full of missing files.
A .blend usually points at files that live next to it: textures, linked libraries, caches, fonts, sounds, VDB volumes. The render machine has none of them unless we send them. This step is the list of every such reference we found, and what state it is in.
Statuses
- includednothing to do
- The file is packed inside the
.blenditself. It travels with the file you already selected. - matchednothing to do
- A file that ships with Blender itself (from its
datafilesfolder, for example the default studio HDRIs or the fallback font). The render machine resolves it from its own Blender install. You can still drop your own file on the row to override it. - uploadednothing to do
- You attached a file for this row. It will be uploaded and wired in.
- neededaction required
- We know the scene wants this file and we do not have it. Rendering without it gives you pink textures, missing geometry or a fallback font.
- partial sequenceaction required
- A frame sequence (VDB volume, image sequence, simulation cache) where only the anchor frame is available. The rest live next to it on disk. Without them, frame 1 renders and the rest of the animation does not.
Attaching files fast
The Auto-fill from folder button appears whenever something is missing. Pick the folder your assets live in and every row whose filename matches is filled in at once, sequences included. You can still adjust individual rows afterwards.
Otherwise, use the file picker on the row itself. For a sequence row, select all frames of the sequence; they are grouped and uploaded together.
What kinds of dependency are detected
| Kind | What it is |
|---|---|
| Texture | Any image used by a material, world or texture node, including HDRIs |
| Linked .blend | Another file linked into this one. Needed, and its own textures are needed too |
| Font | Used by text objects. Without it, text falls back to Blender's default font |
| Audio | Sequencer or speaker sound. Only matters for video output with audio |
| Video | Sequencer strips, video textures, camera tracking footage |
| Alembic / USD cache | .abc or .usd scene or simulation data |
| OpenVDB volume | .vdb fog, smoke and fire, usually a whole numbered sequence |
| Simulation cache | Baked Mantaflow, cloth, particle, ocean or legacy smoke caches, usually a folder of per-frame files |
| Mesh cache | MDD / PC2 per-frame deformation data |
.blend guarantees that folder came along. If a sim renders as its first frame repeated, or does not appear at all, the cache did not get attached.Two ways to avoid this step entirely
- Pack the file in Blender: File > External Data > Pack Resources. Textures move inside the
.blend. This does not cover simulation caches or linked libraries. - Use the add-on, which asks Blender directly what the scene references, follows library links, and expands whole VDB and cache sequences by itself. See Submitting from Blender.