@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+name: Build add-on zip
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "v*"
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build zip
+        run: zip -r multiview_product_renderer.zip multiview_product_renderer -x '*__pycache__*' '*.pyc'
+
+      - name: Upload build artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: multiview_product_renderer
+          path: multiview_product_renderer.zip
+
+      - name: Attach zip to the release
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: |
+          gh release create "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" multiview_product_renderer.zip \
+            --title "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" --generate-notes \
+          || gh release upload "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" multiview_product_renderer.zip --clobber
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*.blend1
+*.blend2
+/dist/
+/renders/
+
+# Local STEP files for manual testing - keep the folder and its README, ignore the CAD
+/test_files/*
+!/test_files/README.md
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Danyals-code
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
@@ -0,0 +1,251 @@
+# MultiView Product Renderer
+
+A Blender add-on for turning CAD products into consistent, batch-rendered image sets.
+
+Import STEP files, standardize them at the world origin, build a rig of orthographic and
+perspective cameras plus 3-point studio lighting, then render every product across every
+view in one click, with predictable file names like `AA_01_Widget_Front_clay.png`.
+
+- **Blender:** 4.0 and newer
+- **Panel location:** `3D Viewport → Sidebar (N key) → MultiView`
+- **Version:** 1.3.0
+
+---
+
+## Install
+
+### Option A: download the release zip (recommended)
+
+1. Go to the [**Releases**](../../releases/latest) page and download
+   **`multiview_product_renderer.zip`**.
+2. In Blender: `Edit → Preferences → Add-ons`.
+   - Blender **4.2+**: `Install from Disk...` (in the top-right dropdown menu)
+   - Blender **4.0 / 4.1**: `Install...`
+3. Pick the zip you downloaded. **Do not unzip it first.**
+4. Tick the checkbox next to **MultiView Product Renderer** to enable it.
+5. Press `N` in the 3D viewport and open the **MultiView** tab.
+
+### Option B: clone the repo
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/Danyals-code/MultiView-Product-Render-Blender-Addon.git
+```
+
+Copy the `multiview_product_renderer` folder into your Blender add-ons directory:
+
+| OS | Path |
+| --- | --- |
+| Windows | `%APPDATA%\Blender Foundation\Blender\4.x\scripts\addons\` |
+| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/Blender/4.x/scripts/addons/` |
+| Linux | `~/.config/blender/4.x/scripts/addons/` |
+
+Restart Blender and enable the add-on as in step 4 above.
+
+---
+
+## STEP import setup (optional)
+
+You only need this if you want to import `.step` / `.stp` files directly. If you already
+have meshes in your scene, skip it. The add-on works with any geometry.
+
+Open `Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → MultiView Product Renderer` and expand the
+preferences:
+
+| Setting | What it does |
+| --- | --- |
+| **STEP Import Mode** | `Auto` tries the STEPper add-on first, then falls back to FreeCAD. Or force one. |
+| **FreeCAD Executable** | Path to `freecadcmd.exe` (Windows) or `freecadcmd` (macOS/Linux). |
+| **Tessellation Deflection** | FreeCAD mode only. Lower = finer mesh, bigger files. Default `0.1`. |
+
+**FreeCAD route**: install [FreeCAD](https://www.freecad.org/) and point the preference at
+its console binary, typically:
+
+```
+C:\Program Files\FreeCAD 0.21\bin\freecadcmd.exe
+```
+
+The add-on shells out to FreeCAD, tessellates each solid into a mesh, writes a temporary
+OBJ, and imports that. Nothing is left behind in your FreeCAD install, and the scratch
+directory is removed even if you cancel. FreeCAD is run with its standard input closed, so
+a build that stops to ask a question fails immediately instead of stalling the import.
+Any single conversion is given 15 minutes before it is stopped.
+
+**STEPper route**: if you own the STEPper add-on, install and enable it; MultiView detects
+and uses its import operator automatically.
+
+---
+
+## Workflow
+
+The sidebar is laid out in the order you should use it.
+
+### 1. Scene Setup
+
+Pick a lighting preset and a background, then **Apply Scene Setup**. This builds an
+`MV_Lighting` collection and sets the world background.
+
+| Lighting preset | Look |
+| --- | --- |
+| **Studio Soft** | Large soft area lights, even fill. Default. |
+| **Studio Hard** | Smaller lights, crisper shadows and highlights. |
+| **Dramatic** | Strong key, deep falloff, minimal fill. |
+| **High Key** | Bright, near-shadowless, white-on-white product look. |
+
+**Intensity** multiplies the preset's light energies. **Transparent Background** renders
+alpha instead of the **Background Color**. `Rebuild Lighting` and `Apply Background` re-run
+either half on its own.
+
+### 2. Import Products
+
+Add one or more STEP files to the list and click **Import STEP Files**. Each file becomes
+its own collection under `MV_Products`. That grouping is what the batch renderer iterates
+over.
+
+Import runs in the background: the status bar shows `MultiView: 3/12 housing.step
+(converting)`, Blender stays responsive, and **Esc** cancels after the file in flight.
+Files that fail are skipped rather than stopping the batch, and FreeCAD's own error
+message is reported instead of a generic failure -- run `Window > Toggle System Console`
+to see the full list.
+
+You can also click **Add Empty Product Collection** and drag existing meshes into it, which
+is how you use MultiView with geometry that didn't come from STEP.
+
+**Fit on Import** (on by default) does this automatically: as each STEP file lands, the
+product is uniformly scaled so its largest dimension equals **Target Size** (default
+`1.0 m`, i.e. it fits inside a 1x1x1 m cube) and its bounding box is centred on the world
+origin. Turn it off if you want to place and scale products yourself.
+
+**Standardize Products** applies the same fit to everything already under `MV_Products`,
+which is what you want after dragging in your own meshes or importing with the option off:
+
+- **Recenter**: moves each product's bounding box centre onto the world origin.
+- **Rescale**: uniformly scales each product so its largest dimension equals **Target
+  Size**. This is what makes a tiny screw and a large housing frame read identically in
+  the final images.
+
+- **Auto Smooth**: fixes the faceted look a tessellated CAD import arrives with. FreeCAD
+  writes per-face normals that Blender keeps as custom split normals, and some Blender
+  versions also mark most edges sharp on import; either one pins the flat shading no matter
+  what you set. This clears both, then re-derives hard edges from the angle between faces
+  (**Smooth Angle**, default 30 degrees -- raise it to keep fewer hard edges, lower it to
+  keep more).
+
+Both operate on the product as one rigid assembly, so multi-part STEP files keep their
+parts in the right places relative to each other.
+
+Sharpness is baked into the mesh rather than left to a *Smooth by Angle* modifier, so a
+large batch costs nothing extra at render time. Running Standardize again is safe -- it is
+idempotent.
+
+Afterwards the transform is baked down: scale values read `1.0` and every object origin sits
+on the world origin, so the product rotates about its own centre and the N panel is clean.
+Geometry does not move during that step. Objects on multi-user or linked data cannot be
+edited by Blender, so those keep their transform and are counted in the status message.
+
+### 3. Cameras / Views
+
+Choose a view set and click **Build Cameras**. Cameras land in `MV_Cameras`, named
+`MV_Cam_<View>`.
+
+| View set | Cameras |
+| --- | --- |
+| **All** | Front, Back, Top, Bottom, Right, Left + 3 perspectives (9) |
+| **Orthographic** | Front, Back, Top, Bottom, Right, Left (6) |
+| **Standard** | Front, Top, Right, Perspective (4) |
+| **Minimal** | Front, Top, Right (3) |
+
+**Front Axis** tells the add-on which world axis points out of the front of your product.
+CAD exports usually land on `+X` (the default); Blender's own convention is `-Y`. Getting
+this right is what makes the "Front" render actually the front.
+
+**Framing Padding** is the margin around the product in frame. `1.4` leaves 40% headroom
+on the tightest axis; `1.0` fits the product exactly to the frame edge. Framing accounts for
+your output resolution's aspect ratio, so a 16:9 or portrait render is not cropped.
+
+All orthographic views share one framing, and all perspective views share another, so a
+product reads at the same scale across the whole sheet rather than being re-fitted per view.
+
+Need an angle that isn't in the presets? Add a **Custom View** with an X/Y/Z direction
+vector and an ortho/perspective toggle, and it gets built alongside the rest.
+
+### 4. Batch Render
+
+Set an **Output Directory**, choose a **Render Mode**, and hit **Render All**.
+
+| Render mode | Output |
+| --- | --- |
+| **Full Render** | Uses your current engine (Cycles/EEVEE) and materials. |
+| **Clay (Workbench)** | Fast single-colour clay pass with cavity shading. Default. |
+| **Both** | Writes a `_render` and a `_clay` image per view. |
+
+Every product is isolated in turn (all others excluded from the view layer), so nothing
+bleeds between shots. Progress prints to the system console.
+
+**Render engine, sample count, resolution, and file format stay in Blender's own Output and
+Render Properties.** MultiView only drives cameras, visibility, and file paths. It never
+overwrites your render settings, and the clay pass restores your engine when it finishes.
+
+#### File naming
+
+Output is organised per product and named deterministically:
+
+```
+renders/
+  AA_01_Widget/
+    AA_01_Widget_Front.png
+    AA_01_Widget_Top.png
+    AA_01_Widget_Persp_FTR.png
+  AA_02_Bracket/
+    AA_02_Bracket_Front.png
+    ...
+```
+
+The `AA_01` label is controlled by three fields:
+
+- **Start Prefix**: the letter pair for the first product (`AA`, `BB`, ...).
+- **Start Number**: the number the batch starts at, so a second batch can continue from
+  `AA_11` instead of restarting at `AA_01`.
+- **Products per Letter**: how many products before the prefix rolls over to the next
+  letter pair.
+
+---
+
+## Collections the add-on creates
+
+| Collection | Contents |
+| --- | --- |
+| `MV_Products` | One child collection per product. This is what gets iterated and isolated. |
+| `MV_Cameras` | Generated cameras, named `MV_Cam_<View>`. |
+| `MV_Lighting` | The lights from the active lighting preset. |
+
+Rebuilding cameras or lighting clears and regenerates only that collection. Your products
+are never touched.
+
+---
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**"No cameras. Build cameras first."**: run *Build Cameras* in the Cameras / Views panel.
+
+**"No product collections under 'MV_Products'."**: import a STEP file, or add an empty
+product collection and put your meshes inside it. Meshes sitting loose in the scene
+collection are not seen as products.
+
+**STEP import does nothing**: check that the FreeCAD path in add-on preferences points at
+`freecadcmd`, not the GUI `freecad` binary. Open `Window → Toggle System Console` (Windows)
+to see the subprocess output.
+
+**Products are all different sizes in the renders**: run *Standardize Products* with
+**Rescale** enabled.
+
+**The "Front" view isn't the front**: change **Front Axis** in Cameras / Views and rebuild
+the cameras.
+
+**Imported STEP geometry is blocky**: lower **Tessellation Deflection** in preferences
+(try `0.02`) and re-import.
+
+---
+
+## License
+
+MIT. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).