Blender add-on

The Marso add-on brings Marso Studio into Blender. It does two things:

• Import — browse your Studio projects and pull finished, textured assets straight into your scene
• Auto PBR — queue up meshes already in your Blender scene, generate PBR materials for them with I2M, and get the maps back wired into your materials

Both run against your Studio account and spend credits from the same balance as the web app. Nothing is generated locally.

What you'll need

• Blender 5.2 or newer. The add-on will not install on earlier versions.
• A Marso Studio account with credits. See Credits & billing.
• An API key — the add-on authenticates with a key, not a login.

1. Download the add-on

1. Log in to marso.app.
2. Open Plugins in the left sidebar.
3. Download the Blender add-on. It comes as a single .zip.

Keep the .zip somewhere you can find it — you'll point Blender at it in the next step. Don't unzip it. Blender installs the add-on from the zip as it is.

Check back here for updates. The add-on tells you when a new version is published, and the Update button brings you back to this page. There's no auto-update.

2. Install it in Blender

1. Open Blender.
2. Drag the downloaded file into the Blender window.

Blender will ask you to confirm the install. Accept, and the add-on is enabled straight away.

If drag-and-drop doesn't work:

1. Edit → Preferences → Add-ons.
2. Open the ▾ menu at the top right and choose Install from Disk….
3. Select the downloaded file and confirm.
4. Find Marso in the list and tick its checkbox.

Turn on Online Access

The add-on talks to the Marso API, and Blender blocks network access for add-ons by default.

Go to Edit → Preferences → System and enable Online Access.

Without it, generation and update checks fail with "Enable Online Access in Preferences > System."

3. Create an API key

1. In Marso Studio, open the API Key section in the left sidebar.
2. Give the key a name — "Blender" is a sensible one — and click Create key.
3. Copy the key immediately. It's shown only once.

Keys begin mxr_live_. See API access for managing and revoking them.

Treat the key like a password. Don't share it, commit it, or paste it into a .blend file you're sending on. If it's ever exposed, revoke it in Studio and create a new one.

4. Set up the add-on preferences

Open Edit → Preferences → Add-ons, find Marso, and expand it. Three things need filling in before anything will run.

API Key

Paste your key here. The field is masked.

Cache Path

A folder for thumbnails and the cached project listing. Lightweight, and rebuilt automatically if you delete it.

Downloads Path

A folder for the assets you import and the PBR maps you generate. These are your files. Deleting them breaks the link to the asset and forces a re-download next time.

The add-on writes this structure:

Cache Path
├── thumbnails/          project and asset preview images
└── projects.json        cached project and asset listing

Downloads Path
├── Projects/<Name>/     imported 3D assets and textures
└── AutoPBR_Output/      generated PBR texture maps

Pick paths on a drive with room to spare, and somewhere your backups already cover.

Leave the API Endpoint alone. It's there for development targets and is already set correctly. If you've changed it by accident, the arrow beside it resets it to the default.

5. Open the panel

The add-on lives in the 3D Viewport sidebar, which is hidden by default.

1. Hover your mouse over the 3D Viewport.
2. Press N — or use View → Sidebar.
3. Click the Marso tab.

You'll see the Marso header with your credit balance, and a toggle between the two sections: Import and Auto PBR.

No Marso tab? The add-on isn't enabled. Go back to Preferences → Add-ons, search "Marso", and check the box is ticked. If the tab strip looks crowded, widen the sidebar.

Importing from your library

With Import selected:

1. Projects — click the refresh icon to sync your Studio projects. Projects with no finished assets are hidden.
2. Click a project to open it.
3. Assets — tick the assets you want. There are select-all and select-none buttons, a grid/list toggle, and zoom controls for the grid.
4. Click Import Selected.

Assets are downloaded to your Downloads Path and linked into the scene. Already-downloaded assets are reused, so a second import is instant — tick Force redownload if you need to pull a fresh copy.

Your library is restored from cache when you reopen a .blend, so the panel isn't empty every time.

Generating PBR on your own meshes

With Auto PBR selected:

1. Select the meshes you want in the viewport.
2. Click Add Selected to put them in the queue.
3. Check the cost and your balance, shown above the button.
4. Click Generate PBR.

The queue accepts several meshes, and they're processed in turn. Use the – and bin icons to remove one job or clear the queue — only possible while nothing is running.

Every mesh in the queue is charged, so trim it before you generate rather than after. Costs are the same as the equivalent node in the web app: see Credits & billing.

What you get back: albedo, metallic, roughness and IOR, predicted by I2M and attached to the mesh's material. Normal map prediction is in active development. The maps are written to AutoPBR_Output/ in your Downloads Path.

If a run is interrupted

Closing the file or quitting Blender mid-run cancels it. When you come back, the panel flags any jobs left unfinished and offers a Reset button. Use it, then queue the meshes again.

Keeping the add-on up to date

The add-on checks for a new version shortly after Blender starts, and quietly does nothing if there isn't one. When there is, a banner appears at the top of the panel with an Update button that opens the Plugins page in Studio.

You can also check manually with Check for Updates in the panel header. Both need your API key set and Online Access enabled.

To update, download the new version and install it the same way — Blender replaces the existing one and your preferences are kept.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What it means
No Marso tab in the sidebar	The add-on isn't enabled. Preferences → Add-ons, tick Marso.
Set your API key in addon preferences	The API Key field is empty. See step 3.
Set storage paths in preferences first	One or both of Cache Path and Downloads Path is unset. Both are required.
Enable Online Access in Preferences > System	Blender is blocking the add-on's network access. See step 2.
No projects cached. Click Refresh.	Nothing synced yet. Click the refresh icon on the Projects panel.
No projects with assets yet	Your projects have no finished assets to import. Generate something in Studio first.
Won't install at all	Check your Blender version. 5.2 is the minimum.
A generation fails or the balance is short	Top up in Studio; the panel links to it.

Anything else, or a result that looks wrong: Contact Support.