Quick start

1. Press N in the 3D Viewport, open the X-Spot 3D tab.
2. Click Create projector scene. You land in the X-Spot 3D workspace with a sample picture.
3. Click Load image and choose your picture.
4. Click Render original and Render anamorphic.
5. Use Back to my scene to return to your own work.

How the rig works

A spot light carries your image as its colour and projects it onto a flat screen. The Original camera sits at the light and sees the picture as the projector does. The Projected camera looks at the tilted screen from the viewing spot; its render is the stretched picture to trace or paint on the ground. Everything lives in the scene XSpot_Rig with its own Cycles, world and colour settings.

The X-Spot 3D workspace

• Image editor: your source picture.
• Original camera view: the picture as projected.
• Projected camera view: the stretched, anamorphic result.
• 3D view: the rig itself; move the screen or the cameras to explore.
• Shader editor: the image node of the light.
• Outliner and Properties: for fine control.

Panel reference

Inside the X-Spot 3D workspace the controls are at the top of the Scene tab in the Properties editor (right side) and in the X-Spot 3D tab of the sidebar of the top-left 3D view, which opens by itself. In your own workspaces the X-Spot 3D tab (sidebar, N) shows only Open and Remove.

• Create projector scene: appends the rig scene and the workspace. Available while no rig scene exists.
• Load image: chooses the picture and sets the light proportions (height divided by width).
• Samples: Cycles samples for both renders. Default 128 with denoising.
• Original long side (px): longer side of the original render, the other side follows your image.
• Width / Height: size of the anamorphic render, default 1080 x 1920.
• Render original / Render anamorphic: starts a normal Blender render (like F12): the render window opens, progress is visible and Blender stays responsive. The PNG is saved into an X-Spot 3D folder next to your .blend (temporary folder if the file is unsaved).
• Open X-Spot 3D workspace / Back to my scene: switches in and out; Back restores your scene and workspace.
• Remove projector scene: deletes the rig after confirmation.

Troubleshooting

• The X-Spot 3D tab is missing: Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions > Installed, tick X-Spot 3D, and enable Auto-Save Preferences.
• Renders are slow: lower Samples or choose a GPU in Preferences > System > Cycles Render Devices.
• Grey planes in a viewport: switch it to Rendered shading.
• Output file not found: save your .blend first, or use the path shown in the info message.

Changelog

• v006 (0.0.6) (2026-10-11): Render buttons start a normal Blender render: render window opens, interface stays responsive, progress visible
• v005 (0.0.5) (2026-10-11): Tab X-Spot 3D stays visible in the workspace (as in v003); panel also at the top of the Properties Scene tab; sidebar opens by itself
• v004 (0.0.4) (2026-10-11): Control panel opens by itself in the X-Spot 3D workspace; outside it only Open and Remove are shown
• v003 (0.0.3) (2026-10-10): Rename to X-Spot 3D (panel, workspace, manifest name, docs)
• v002 (0.0.2) (2026-10-10): X-Spot 3D workspace, sample picture, camera names Original and Projected, safer removal, any startup template
• v001 (0.0.1): First build

Support

Send your Blender version, OS, steps to reproduce and any error message.