Crystalline - documentation

Install

Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > drop-down arrow > Install from Disk..., pick crystalline_v1.0.0.zip (don't unzip it) and tick Crystalline. Blender 5.2 or newer.

Use

1. Select your objects.
2. 3D View > Sidebar (N) > nice mesh > Crystalline: click a preset.
3. Tweak the sliders. The same buttons are in the Object menu.

Buttons

• Presets: apply (or update) the effect on the selected objects.
• Real geometry checkbox: also add the geometry (removable modifier). Off = material only.
• Unique Copy: own copy of a material shared with other objects.
• Remove: take it all off, exactly as it was.
• New Pattern / Copy to Selected: new seed / copy every setting to the selection.

Panels

• Global: Amount (master), Pattern Size, Seed, Per-Object variation, Bump
• Spread: Infestation, Spread Size
• Material Layers > Veins: Amount, Color, Glow, Size
• Material Layers > Crust & Stain: Crust, Stain, Glow Spill
• Real Crystals > Clusters: Clusters, Size, Per Cluster, Splay, Thickness, Small Crystals, Seed
• Real Crystals > Crystal Look: Color, Glow, Clarity

Tips

• In the dark the crystals carry the picture: a dim, cold light plus Crystal Glow gives the cave mood.
• Spread Size sets how big the infected areas are; Infestation sets how much of the surface they take.
• In EEVEE turn on Raytracing for clear crystals; without it they render solid and frosted.

Good to know

• The infection map comes from the world position: if you move an object afterwards, its crystals grow somewhere else. Apply the modifier first if you animate the object.
• Crystals are light instances, but Crystal Cave on huge areas makes a lot of them: lower Clusters.
• Curves and text get the veins, crust and stain only; real crystals need a mesh.