> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.colormass.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.colormass.com/building-blocks/integrations-and-plugins/blender-addon/scenes.md).
# Scenes
Blender and the template editor can exchange scenes in both directions: send a template or part of it to Blender, and upload meshes, lights, cameras, curves or whole scenes from Blender back into the template.
## Connect
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
## Open the template
Open the template in the template editor, in a browser on the same computer as Blender.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
## Connect to Blender
In the scene viewer's options menu, turn on **Connect to Blender**. The menu shows **Connected** once Blender answers.
Connect the template editor to Blender
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
In Blender, the colormass entry in the status bar shows a link icon, and the popup says which platform the template editor works on.
{% hint style="info" %}
Only one Blender can be connected at a time. If you have several open, the template editor connects to the one you started first.
{% endhint %}
## Send from the template editor to Blender
Right-click a node in the template tree and choose **Send to Blender**. The option appears on every node that has something Blender can show, on the node itself or below it: a group sends everything in it.
The dialog lists what will be sent. Uncheck **Include materials** to send the meshes without their materials.
Send scene objects to Blender
Decide what should be sent
What arrives in Blender:
* **Meshes** as they were uploaded, with their subdivision as a Subdivision Surface modifier.
* **Materials** from the platform. Without them, each material slot gets the platform's default material. Decals arrive with their mask and colour overlay.
* **Curves** as Bezier curves.
* **Lights and cameras.**
* **HDRI lights**, which become the scene's world.
* **Render settings** from the Render and Post Process nodes and the cameras. Blender lists what would change and asks before changing anything. See [*Rendering*](/building-blocks/integrations-and-plugins/blender-addon/rendering.md).
Each send gets collections of its own that follow the template's groups, so objects you send again don't mix with those you sent before. The template editor fetches the materials itself, so Blender doesn't need to be logged in for a send.
Customer accounts can send products, meaning templates of type Product.
## Upload one object
Select a mesh, light, camera or curve and open **Properties ▸ Object ▸ colormass**. The upload button sends the object to the connected template.
* **Meshes:** the upload options decide how the mesh arrives:
* **Center Origin:** centers the mesh around its bounding box, instead of keeping its current origin.
* **Weld Vertices:** merges repeated vertices, which avoids artifacts when the mesh is subdivided.
* **Convert to World Space UVs:** the platform scales the uploaded mesh's first UV map to match its real surface size. The mesh in Blender stays as it is.
* **Create Displacement Map Slot:** adds a UV map for displacement maps.
* **Lights:** area lights (square or rectangle), point lights and sun lights.
* **Cameras:** perspective cameras.
* **Curves:** a curve is laid onto a mesh. First select that mesh in the template editor; the panel shows which mesh the curve will lie on.
The **Scale UVs to World** button scales the UVs of the selected mesh in Blender itself, so they match the mesh's size in the scene.
## Upload several objects or a whole scene
Click **Upload Objects** in the colormass popup, or **Upload Several Objects** in the Object properties. The dialog shows what will go to the template editor before anything is sent.
* **Selected / Active collection / Whole scene:** which objects to upload. Each collection becomes a group in the template. Objects that don't render in Blender are left out.
* **World as HDRI light:** adds the world as an HDRI light. The dialog tells you whether the platform already has the HDRI or will get it as a new one. If the platform can't take the world, the dialog says why.
* **Render settings:** sets the template's samples, resolution percentage and, where the platform has it, tone mapping. It also lists what the platform renders differently from your scene. See [*Rendering*](/building-blocks/integrations-and-plugins/blender-addon/rendering.md) for more details.
* **Mesh options:** as for a single mesh.
* **With materials / Without materials:** with materials, each zone of a mesh gets the platform material its slot holds. Without them, the zones stay empty and are named after the materials.
* **Also upload changed and new materials:** uploads a new revision of every material you changed, and creates the ones the platform doesn't have yet. The list shows what happens to each material.
The upload sends everything to the platform the template editor works on. If the upload creates materials or HDRIs, the addon has to be logged in to that same platform. Choose the organization they belong to in the dialog.
