RenderRegion Pro 0.1

Snapshot. Compare. Control — Directly In Your Viewport.

Blender 5.0 or later required  ·  Windows · macOS · Linux

RenderRegion Pro — Live compare mode with snapshot wipe slider

1. Introduction

RenderRegion Pro is a Blender 5 viewport addon that lets you focus Cycles or EEVEE on exactly the part of the scene that matters, compare moments side by side with a live wipe slider, and control common viewport toggles without leaving your viewport.

What it solves

• Waiting for a full viewport to re-render when you only care about one area
• Losing track of before/after states when adjusting materials or lighting
• Switching panels to toggle subdivision, hair, denoiser, or compositor
• Managing HDRI environments without opening a separate editor

2. Installation

1. Download the addon ZIP file.
2. In Blender go to Edit › Preferences › Add-ons.
3. Click Install from Disk and select the downloaded ZIP.
4. Enable the checkbox next to RenderRegion Pro.
5. Press Ctrl+Shift+R in any 3D Viewport to begin.

Note: The default shortcut can be changed in the addon Preferences.

3. Getting Started

Activating the Tool

Press Ctrl+Shift+R in the 3D Viewport, or right-click and choose RenderRegion Pro — Draw Region.

Viewport right-click menu

Region border context menu

Drawing Your First Region

• Click and drag to draw a rectangle over the area you want to focus on.
• Release — Cycles immediately begins rendering only that region.
• The region is outlined with a white border.

Full interface — slots on left, toolbar top-right, info bar above, compare slider active

Closing the Tool

• Click the X button in the top-right of the toolbar.
• Or right-click the viewport and choose RenderRegion Pro — Clear Region.

Note: You can draw a new region at any time without deactivating first.

4. Core Region Controls

Drawing

Click and drag anywhere to draw a new region. The previous region is replaced immediately.

Resizing

Drag the border handle to resize. Hold Alt while dragging to resize symmetrically from center.

Moving

Click and drag along the region border (not the handle) to move the region.

Clearing

Use Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R or right-click › Clear Region.

Camera View

In camera view, the region locks to the camera frame and follows pan and zoom automatically.

Multi-Viewport

Active in the viewport where you activated it. Clicking another viewport transfers the tool there.

Note: Saving the file while the region is active preserves the region.

5. Snapshot System

Capture the current render into a slot and compare it against the live viewport using a draggable slider.

Press Ctrl+1–9 to store the current render into a slot. Or middle-click an empty slot button on the left edge. Slots are created dynamically as needed, up to 10 total. Press 1–9 to activate a slot and enable the wipe slider. Drag the slider to compare snapshot vs. live render.

Full Snap View

• Double-tap a number key or Ctrl+Click a slot to fill the region with the snapshot.
• Double-tapping a different slot switches directly to that slot.

Managing Snapshots

• Reset Slider: Click the Reset button.
• Delete Snapshot: Right-click a slot and drag. ESC cancels.
• Delete All: Press Ctrl+Shift+Del.
• Save to Disk: Snapshots auto-save as PNG, JPEG, or WebP.
• Open Folder: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Click any slot.

Note: Ctrl+Scroll over a slot cycles through stored snapshots.

6. Toggle Buttons

Six one-click toggle buttons in the toolbar. All states fully restored on toggle back or when the region is cleared.

Toolbar buttons — Help, HDR, and all toggle controls

Note — SubD inside GeoNodes: The Subdivision toggle only affects standard Subdivision Surface modifiers. Subdivision operations inside a GeoNodes tree (such as Subdivide Mesh or Subdivision Surface nodes) are not detected and will not be disabled by this toggle.

Note — GeoNodes instances: Detection is best-effort. It traces active connections from the Group Output and catches standard Instance on Points and Duplicate Elements setups, including nested groups. Highly custom node trees that replicate instancing through non-standard nodes may not be detected. Blender's object-level API does not fully expose GeoNodes instancing, so partial support is expected.

Drag-Select Multi-Toggle

Hold LMB and drag across SubD, Hair, and Instance buttons. All toggle together on release. ESC cancels.

7. HDRI Lighting

The HDR button manages a dedicated "RenderRegion Pro HDR" world for fast environment lighting during lookdev. The addon ships with 3 bundled HDRIs (outdoor, indoor, studio) ready to use out of the box. Point it to any custom folder of your own .hdr or .exr files from Preferences.

Toggle On / Off

Click the HDR button. Your original world is saved and restored on toggle off. The RRP HDR world stays in the scene after closing the tool. Manually switching to the RRP world activates the button automatically.

Cycling Files

Ctrl+Scroll over the HDR button to cycle available .hdr/.exr files. Flash message shows current index and filename.

Rotating the Environment

Ctrl+Shift+Scroll to rotate the environment on the Z axis. Flash message shows current angle.

Intensity Control

A small intensity slider appears directly above the HDR button whenever the active scene world has a Background node — this includes the RRP HDR world and any custom world with nodes. The slider is automatically hidden when the active world has no Background node or no nodes at all.

• Drag left/right — adjust intensity continuously. Shift for fast (×5), Ctrl for precise (÷10).
• Click — enter a specific value by typing. Press Enter or Tab to confirm, ESC to cancel.
• Backspace (while hovering) — reset intensity to 1.0.
• Works on any active world — not just the RRP HDR world. Change your world in the Shader Editor and the slider stays in sync automatically.

Shortcuts

• Shift+Click: Open Shader Editor — floating Shader Editor set to World
• Ctrl+Shift+Click: Choose HDRI Folder — folder picker dialog
• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Click: Open Folder in Explorer

Note: To go back to the bundled HDRIs, clear the custom HDRI path in the addon Preferences.

8. Info Bar

Appears above the region border when your mouse is near. Shows render engine pill, color management pill, and GPU VRAM monitor.

Render Engine Pill

Shows current render engine. Right-click: engine selection menu. Ctrl+Scroll: cycle engines. Shift+Click: open Render Properties. Backspace: reset to Cycles.

Render engine selection menu

Color Management Pill

Shows current view transform. Right-click: view transform menu. Ctrl+Scroll: cycle transforms. Middle-Click: toggle False Color. Backspace: reset to AgX.

Color Management view transform menu

GPU VRAM Monitor

VRAM pills — green fill bars per GPU

• Real-time VRAM per GPU, updated every 2 seconds.
• Fill bar: green below 75%, orange at 85%, red at 95%.
• Multiple GPUs each get their own pill, stacking vertically when needed.

Layout Behavior

• Engine and Color Management pills centered in the safe zone.
• Color Management pill stacks above engine pill when space is tight.
• Pills shift outside region bounds when very tight — nothing ever hides.

9. UI Behavior

Auto-Hide

Toolbar buttons hide when the mouse moves away. Move back to reveal them.

Pin Mode

Click the Pin button to keep all buttons permanently visible.

Slot Layout

Keyboard button and slots always stack vertically on the outside left edge. Never hide.

Flash Messages

Two-color messages (white label + orange value) at top center — HDR toggle, cycle, rotation, slider reset, render pause/resume.

Render Pause

When Cycles viewport render is paused, region border turns orange. Resume to return to white.

Tooltips & Help List

Hover over any button for a tooltip. The Help (?) button shows the full two-column shortcut reference with section icons.

Help tooltip — full shortcut reference with section icons

Right-Click Context Menu

Right-click anywhere for the context menu. Right-click pills for their option menus. Menus always draw on top of all pills.

10. Preferences

Access via Edit › Preferences › Add-ons › RenderRegion Pro.

Preferences panel

Keyboard Shortcuts

Draw Region (Ctrl+Shift+R), Clear Region (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R), Delete All (Ctrl+Shift+Del). Each shortcut has an enable/disable checkbox, Ctrl/Shift/Alt toggles, and a key picker.

Snapshot Storage

Custom folder path and format: PNG (default), JPEG, or WebP.

HDRI Lighting

Custom HDRI folder path. Leave empty to use the bundled folder.

UI Options

UI Scale 0.5x–2.0x. Color pickers for Compare Slider, Region Border, and Button Active color.

Slot Shortcuts

Toggle to enable or disable 1–9 number key shortcuts for snapshot slots.

11. Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Region Controls

Snapshot Slots

HDRI Button

Info Bar Pills

Note: Configurable shortcuts can be changed in Preferences.

12. Tips & Notes

Performance Tips

• Draw the region as small as practical — focused rendering is much faster than full frame.
• Toggle Subdivision off during lookdev to speed up redraws.
• Use the Denoiser toggle to compare with and without denoising quickly.

Compare Workflow

• Store a baseline snapshot before making changes (Ctrl+1).
• Make your adjustment — material, lighting, or settings.
• Press 1 and drag the slider to see exactly what changed.

Snapshot. Compare. Control — Directly In Your Viewport.

Pixel Makers · RenderRegion Pro · Blender 5.0+