Blend Normals and Materials by Proximity with Fake SDF—Right from the Asset Browser to a Target Collection

A drag-and-drop Blender/Bforartists Geometry Nodes Collection asset to apply from the Asset Browser as a solution for blending Normals by proximity on all target meshes - including a setup wizard, normal blending distance and blur controls, intersection displacement, and easy installation.

💎 Feature Overview:

• Blends normals of all mesh objects in a collection

• (New!) Blends materials of all mesh objects in a collection, and reapply to new meshes with the Wizard

• Iterate on mesh islands or instances with high quality normals or more performant normals.

• View and debug material intersections

• Mesh displacement at intersections for fake SDF workflows

• Includes an easy to apply asset to drag and drop to the 3D View

• Includes a setup Wizard to ease setting it up onto an existing collection

• Contains flexible blending distance, offset and and blurring controls

• Preserves and blends materials or can use a material override

• Easy asset library installation (drag and drop extension installation) +

• Bonus Apply on Selection Operators

💡 Why This is Helpful

• 🛠️ Drag and drop use, setup wizard, and quick library installation

• 🏃‍♀️‍➡️Fast blending application of normals and materials on a collection of objects

• 💊Useful for blending for blobby characters, terrain pieces, machine parts and more

• 📦Keeps focus on visual impact out of the box, not node complexity

• 💡Helps visualize and blend objects before committing to retopology and booleans or remeshing.

🧙‍♂️ Wizard Setup – Documentation

Setup begins the moment the asset is dragged into the viewport. Here is an overview of what happens:

1. Drag the Asset into the Scene
   1. Use the Asset Browser/Shelf to either Link, Link Override (Bforartists) or Append. Append mode is recommended. 
      Tip: If you plan to use multiple instances of the same asset and store and edit in file, use the Append Packed mode. If you plan to not edit the source node group, then use link and then override. 
      Note: The Asset Shelf in Object Mode only exists in Bforartists right now, a GUI fork of Blender available free
   2. Go into the "Geometry Nodes Library" in the Library selector to the top left of the Asset Browser/Shelf or use the "All" category.

      

   3. To do this, drag from the Asset Browser or Asset Shelf into the 3D View (this is a collection asset)

      

   4. Once placed, this triggers the Setup Wizard popup
2. Setup Wizard Dialog Appears
   1. Select a collection of mesh objects to apply: the Target Collection is the group of mesh objects the will blend normals and make a new blended mesh object. The blended mesh object in a purple collection is where the blending settings are.

      

      
      
   2. Define Additional Properties (optional): Toggle the Wireframe Display checkbox so that the target collection obejcts show wireframe when overlays are toggled in the viewport.
   3. Toggle the Apply Blend to Materials so that the target collection objects include an alpha blend at the intersection of all materials in the target collection. If you run this wizard again, this will add the blend to new materials added to the target collection. If you disable this and run the the wizard again, it will remove the material intersection blend. 
   4. Toggle the Use Relative Position if you want the blended mesh to spawn at the origin point of the referenced collection. If off it will spawn at where you place the collection. 
   5. Toggle the Enable Bounds display so that the target collection objects show a bounding box when overlays are toggled in the viewport. This is best used in Lookdev viewport mode. 
3. Confirm to Apply
   1. OK: Deploys the geometry nodes asset referencing the Target Collection
   2. Cancel: Exit without applying, the asset will add to the scene and reference a default child collection, also in purple called "Default Blend Collection"
   3. Once confirmed, this will add a purple collection with a mesh object that contains the Geometry Nodes setup. This will also contain the Default Blend Collection if you would like to reference this.

      

4. Post-Setup Editing
   1. Settings can be adjusted later via the Modifier Stack in the Properties Editor
   2. You can also modify and use the Geometry Nodes asset directly from the Geometry Nodes editor. You'll see some frames explaining how this works.
   3. You can also "bake" the normals to the joined mesh object by applying the modifier stack that has the Geometry nodes

      

      
      

🧩 Addon Installation

1. Download the Addon Extension – Ensure you have the latest version.
2. Drag and drop the *.zip file into Blender/Bforartists
3. Confirm that you want to install it when the Install Wizard pops up
4. Restart Blender/Bforartists

Alternatively:

1. Download the Addon Extension – Ensure you have the latest version.
2. Open Blender/Bforartists – Navigate to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
3. Click ‘Install’ – Select the downloaded .zip file.
4. Enable the Addon – Search for the name of the addon in the addon list and check the box to enable it. Typically it may already be enabled and filtered after installation.
5. Save Preferences – Click ‘Save Preferences’ at the bottom left of the Preferences window to keep it enabled after restarting.
6. Restart Blender/Bforartists

🧩 Asset Browser Use

Open the Asset Browser in Blender or Bforartists

1. Open Blender and split the 3D View and switch to the Asset Browser editor.
2. To the top right library selector, select the "Default Geometry Nodes" or "All" library to access the assets under the "Normal" category.

Using the Asset Workspace in Bforartists

1. In Bforartists, go to the Asset Workspace tab.
2. To the top right library selector, select the "Default Geometry Nodes" or "All" library to access the assets under the "Normal" category.

Using the Asset Shelf in Bforartists

1. In Bforartists, open the Asset Shelf from the 3D View editor View header menu or from the bottom right arrow of the 3D View to open.
2. To the top right library selector, select the "Default Geometry Nodes" or "All" library to access the assets under the "Normal" category.

Dragging and Dropping Assets

1. Locate the desired asset in Asset Browser or Asset Shelf (Bforartists Only)
2. Left click on the asset, then drag and drop the into the 3D viewport editor.

✨ What's New - Version 2.0.0

• Fixed and improved the High quality normals to work on all instances or islands correctly, now more robust
• Fixed blending iterations to work better, this does affect performance but it runs more reliably now.
• Fixed the normal blending mask to not affect original normals, now it only blurs at the intersections
• Added the option to iterate on all mesh islands or instances
• Added the ability to apply a material blend with an alpha to all target collection materials
• Added a global noise controls to the intersection material blend
• Added the ability to remove the material blend when re-running the wizard without the Mesh Blend option
• Refactored the addon to be compatible with future Smart assets, allowing to install, uninstall and use a central library for all future assets
• Refactored the Wizard to be able to be run multiple times after adding an asset
• Added the Wizard button to discoverable areas
• Improved the wizard guide to have buttons instead of checkboxes

💙 Invest in Support

Or get this for free with the Blender fork Bforartists. Each sale guarantees alternative free availability, future support and new features!

🌍 Official Website

🪟 Windows App

🧡 Blender Launcher v2

🖥️ Source Code

✨ What's New

• Initial Release 1.0.0