Copy to Autograph for Blender

Copy to Autograph is a lightweight bridge designed to streamline the workflow between Blender and Maxon Autograph. It allows you to instantly transfer 3D scene layouts, cameras, lights, and animated objects via the system clipboard—no intermediate files required.

This can be especially useful in compositing tasks (transferring the camera and object positions after matchmoving) or in motion graphics with complex camera and object animation in 3D space.

Why use this instead of USD, FBX or GLB?

While formats like FBX, GLB, or USD are industry standards for complex geometry, they often come with significant overhead for motion graphics tasks:

• Instant Transfer: No need to export, name, save, and then import files. Just run Copy to Autograph command in Blender and Ctrl+V in Autograph.
• Native Compatibility: The addon generates JSON data formatted specifically for Autograph’s internal clipboard structure.
• Zero File Management: Ideal for iterative "look-dev" where you frequently tweak camera positions or light intensities.

Usage

1. Select Objects: Select the objects you want to transfer in the Blender 3D Viewport.
2. Run Operator:
   • Go to the Object menu in the 3D Viewport and select Copy to Autograph.
   • Alternatively, press F3 and search for "Copy to Autograph".
3. Configure:
   • In the popup dialog, set your Scene Scale and the desired Frame Range, then click OK.
4. Paste in Autograph:
   • Switch to Autograph and select your active Composition.
   • In the Timeline panel, press Ctrl+V (or right-click and select Paste).

Key Limitations

Important: This addon is not a geometry exporter. It does not transfer complex meshes, vertex data, or textures. It is designed to transfer scene layout and animation. For complex 3D models, Autograph’s native 3D importers (glTF/USD) should be used.

There’s no live link to the data from Blender — once you paste the data into Autograph, it doesn’t update dynamically from the original scene in Blender.

Supported Object Types

The addon supports the following objects, assuming they use default geometry dimensions (e.g., a standard 2m Cube):

• Meshes: * Basic primitives (Cube, Sphere, Plane) are recognized by their name and mapped to native Autograph primitives.
  • Note: Any mesh that does not match these basic primitives will be imported as an "Empty" mesh object, preserving only its transformation and animation data.
• Cameras: Transfers position, rotation, focal length, sensor size (aperture), sensor shift, and Depth of Field parameters (F-stop and Focus Distance).
• Lights: Supports Point, Spot (including inner/outer cone angles), and Directional (Sun) lights.
• Text: Transfers string body, font name, and horizontal alignment.
• Empties (Image): Transfers Empty objects set to "Image" display type as Image Layers in Autograph.

Animation & Baking Logic

The addon uses a Per-Frame Baking approach. When you copy objects, the script iterates through the specified frame range and captures the World Matrix of each object.

• Full Support: Because we bake the final world position, the addon natively supports Constraints, Drivers, Animation Modifiers, and Complex Parenting.
• Smart Optimization: If an object is static within the selected range, the addon will export simple constant values instead of a heavy animation curve to keep the clipboard data clean.

⚠️ Critical Setup Notes

1. Match Your FPS

Autograph stores animation data based on absolute time (seconds), while Blender is frame-based.

• Before pasting, ensure that your Autograph Composition has the exact same FPS as your Blender Scene. If the frame rates differ, the timing of your animation will drift.

2. The Playhead Rule

In Autograph, objects are pasted starting at the current position of the Playhead (CTI).

• The animation exported from Blender will begin at whatever time your playhead is currently positioned in Autograph.