Panel Overview
The BlendMotion Panel
The BlendMotion panel lives in Blender's 3D Viewport Sidebar. Open it by pressing N in the viewport, then click the BlendMotion tab.
The panel is organized from top to bottom in the order you'll use it:
| Preflight | Auto-checks your setup before you start |
| Port | UDP port for communication (default 9090) |
| Tracking | Choose Full 6DoF or Rotation Only |
| Controls | View Through Camera toggle and Start/Stop |
| Sliders | Sensitivity, Smoothing, Position Scale, Dolly Smooth |
| Presets | One-click parameter sets for common use cases |
| Post FX | Post-recording tools: Smooth and Bake to World |
Preflight Checklist
Automatic Setup Verification
The Preflight Checklist runs automatically every time you open the panel. It verifies everything you need before connecting your iPhone.
| Your IP | Your computer's local IP address on the current Wi-Fi network. Click the 📋 copy button to copy it, then paste it into the iPhone app. |
| Camera | Confirms your scene has an active camera. If not, add one with Shift+A → Camera and press Ctrl+Numpad 0 to set it as active. |
| Port | Checks that the selected UDP port (default 9090) is available and not in use by another application. |
| Scene FPS | Shows your current scene frame rate. Recording keyframes will use this FPS value. |
The ℹ️ reminder at the bottom reminds you to keep your iPhone on the same Wi-Fi network and to hold it in landscape orientation.
Port
UDP Communication Port
This is the UDP port BlendMotion uses to receive motion data from your iPhone. The default value is 9090 and works for most users.
| Default | 9090 |
| Range | 1024 – 65535 |
| Protocol | UDP (low-latency, no handshake) |
If port 9090 is already in use by another application, the Preflight Checklist will warn you. Simply change the port number here and use the same port in the iPhone app.
Tracking Mode
Choose How Your Camera Moves
The Tracking Mode dropdown lets you choose between two motion capture modes:
| Full (6DoF) | Default. Tracks both rotation (pan, tilt, roll) and position (forward, sideways, up/down). Use this for handheld shots, walk-throughs, and any scene where the camera physically moves. |
| Rotation Only | Tracks only rotation. The camera stays locked in place. Perfect for tripod shots, panoramic sweeps, look-around scenes, or when your camera is parented to an object and you only want to add organic rotation on top. |
When Rotation Only is selected, the Position Scale slider is automatically hidden since it doesn't apply.
Controls
View Through Camera & Start
| View Through Camera | When checked, the 3D viewport automatically locks to the active camera view when tracking starts. This way you see exactly what the camera sees in real time. Uncheck if you want to observe the camera from a different angle while tracking. |
| Start / Stop | Click Start to begin listening for iPhone data. The button changes to Stop while active. The panel will show "Connected" with your iPhone's IP once the first packet arrives. |
Once connected, additional controls appear: Recalibrate (resets the origin point to your current hand position) and a live status display showing rotation and position values.
Sliders
Fine-Tune Your Camera Motion
Sensitivity — Controls how much the Blender camera rotates relative to your phone movement.
| Range | 0.10 – 3.00 |
| Default | 1.00 (1:1 tracking) |
| Low (<1.0) | Dampens rotation — good for large sweeping motions |
| High (>1.0) | Amplifies rotation — good for small desk movements |
Smoothing — Reduces hand shake for smoother, more cinematic motion.
| Range | 0.00 – 0.95 |
| Default | 0.30 |
| 0.0 | No smoothing — raw, direct tracking |
| 0.3 – 0.5 | Recommended for most use cases |
| >0.7 | Very smooth, but adds noticeable lag |
Position Scale — Multiplies your physical movement distance in Blender.
| Range | 0.10 – 50.00 |
| Default | 5.00 |
| Low (<3) | Tabletop / small-scale scenes |
| High (>10) | Large architectural / landscape scenes |
Dolly Smooth — Extra smoothing for position only. Most useful when your camera is parented to an object.
| Range | 0.00 – 0.95 |
| Default | 0.60 |
| Use case | Smooths out position jitter on dolly/crane rigs while keeping rotation responsive |
Presets
One-Click Parameter Sets
Presets instantly configure all four sliders for common shooting styles. Select a preset and the sliders update automatically.
| Preset | Sens. | Smooth | Pos Scale | Dolly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handheld | 1.0 | 0.3 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Cinematic | 0.6 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Dolly | 0.8 | 0.5 | 8.0 | 0.6 |
| Crane | 0.5 | 0.8 | 12.0 | 0.7 |
| Raw | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
Handheld is the default and works well for general-purpose tracking. Cinematic adds extra smoothing for polished results. Dolly and Crane are designed for cameras parented to rigs. Raw gives you zero smoothing for direct 1:1 tracking.
Post FX
Post-Recording Tools
Post FX tools work on your recorded keyframes after you stop tracking. They help you polish your camera animation.
Smooth — Applies a smoothing filter to your recorded keyframes to remove residual hand shake.
| Passes | Number of smoothing iterations (1 – 50, default 5). More passes = smoother result. Each pass reduces high-frequency noise while preserving the overall motion path. |
| Algorithm | Quaternion-space 1-2-1 kernel — handles rotation correctly without 180° flips or gimbal artifacts. |
Bake to World — Converts a parented camera's animation into world-space keyframes.
| When to use | After you're happy with a parented camera animation and want to remove the parent while keeping the exact same motion. |
| What it does | Bakes the final world-space position and rotation on every frame, then clears the parent. The camera follows the exact same path but is now independent. |
Ctrl+Z if you over-smooth. Start with 5 passes and increase gradually.
iPhone — Connect Screen
Connecting to Blender
This is the first screen you see when you open BlendMotion on your iPhone. Hold your phone in landscape orientation before connecting.
| IP Address | Enter your computer's local IP address here. The easiest way: copy it from the Preflight Checklist in Blender (click the 📋 button) and paste it here. |
| Port | The UDP port number. Default is 9090. Must match the port set in the Blender addon panel. |
| Connect | Tap to start sending motion data to Blender. Make sure the Blender addon is running (Start pressed) before you connect. |
iPhone — Tracking Screen
Live Tracking HUD
Once connected, the tracking screen shows a real-time viewport preview from Blender and gives you full control over recording, calibration, and playback.
Status Bar (top)
| 🟢 Green dot | Connected and sending data to Blender |
| Tracking: Normal ✓ | ARKit tracking quality. "Normal" means stable tracking. "Limited" or "Initializing" means the camera needs better visual features — add more light or point at textured surfaces. |
| 60 fps | ARKit tracking frame rate. Green = good performance. |
| ● LIVE | Indicates live tracking data is being sent to Blender. |
Viewport Preview (center)
Shows a live preview of the Blender viewport streamed at 24 FPS. This lets you see what the camera sees in Blender without looking at your computer screen. Tap the Preview button to toggle it on or off.
Settings (right panel)
| Sensitivity | Controls the rotation multiplier. Same as the Blender slider — adjust on-the-fly without going back to Blender. |
| Pos Scale | Controls the position multiplier. Useful for quick adjustments mid-session. |
| Record FPS | Choose the keyframe recording rate: 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps. Should match your Blender scene FPS for smooth playback. |
Action Buttons (bottom)
| Rec | Start recording keyframes. While recording, every frame is captured to the Blender timeline. Tap again to stop recording. |
| Retake | Deletes all recorded keyframes and rewinds the timeline to the start. Use this when you want a fresh take without manually clearing keyframes in Blender. |
| Pause | Freezes the camera in place while keeping the connection alive. Useful when you need to reposition yourself. |
| Reset | Restores the camera to its original position (captured when you clicked Start in Blender) and recalibrates the tracking origin. |
| Preview | Toggles the live viewport preview on or off. The preview streams from Blender at 24 FPS over a separate UDP channel. |
| End | Disconnect from Blender and return to the connect screen. |
Live Tracking HUD
Once connected, the tracking screen shows real-time feedback and gives you control over recording and calibration.
Status Bar (top)
| 🟢 Green dot | Connected and sending data to Blender |
| 60 fps | ARKit tracking frame rate. Green = good performance. |
| Tracking: Normal ✓ | ARKit tracking quality. "Normal" means stable tracking. "Limited" or "Initializing" means the camera needs better visual features — add more light or point at textured surfaces. |
Horizon Indicator (center)
The crosshair and horizon line show your phone's current orientation. The rotation values below it (↺ roll and ↕ pitch in degrees) help you monitor your movements in real time.
Settings (right panel)
| Sensitivity | Same as the Blender slider — controls rotation multiplier. Adjust on-the-fly without going back to Blender. |
| Position Scale | Same as the Blender slider — controls position multiplier. Useful for quick adjustments mid-session. |
| Record FPS | Choose the keyframe recording rate: 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps. Should match your Blender scene FPS for smooth playback. |
Action Buttons (bottom)
| Rec | Start recording keyframes. While recording, every frame is captured to the Blender timeline. Tap again to stop recording. |
| Recal | Remote recalibrate — resets the origin point to your current hand position. Same as clicking Recalibrate in Blender, but you don't need to touch the computer. |
| End | Disconnect from Blender and return to the connect screen. |