mcblend vs Snowstorm

mcblend is a free, open-source Blender add-on for creating and modifying Minecraft Bedrock Edition models. It imports and exports entity and attachable models, including cubes and polymeshes. For animation, it exports keyframes and poses, and can bake animations into Minecraft format, including work using inverse kinematics and constraints. It can also turn Blender camera movement and field-of-view animation into JavaScript data for Minecraft Script API cutscenes and scripted camera playback; additional game logic is needed to apply that data to a player's camera.

The add-on arranges UV coordinates for cube faces and can create a template texture. Polymeshes use Blender's regular texturing features. It also draws on Blender's rigging and physics tools and can set up rigid bodies automatically. Installation uses a ZIP downloaded from GitHub releases and added through Blender's Add-ons preferences; the documentation instructs users to install Blender 5.2. Models must use exactly one armature, with each cube or polymesh as a separate object parented to armature bones. Polymeshes are experimental in Minecraft and may not remain supported. Updates require removing the old add-on and installing a new version.

Snowstorm is a custom editor and generator for Minecraft Bedrock Edition particle files. Its web app is available at snowstorm.app, and a Visual Studio Code extension provides another way to edit particle files; that extension requires the name pattern *.particle.json. A Quick Setup tab offers preset particle motions and appearances to get a project started. Files can be added to Minecraft Bedrock resource packs and used in experiences. The project repository identifies JannisX11 as owner, lists a GPL-3.0 license, and says the web app can be hosted locally using a preferred local server. Snowstorm is free, with a listed free version at free. The supplied platform listings include Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, Windows, and extension. Snowstorm is also described as a decentralized microproxy network, with client and volunteer-peer uses for censorship circumvention. Microsoft Learn says it is provided by external contributors, not Mojang or Microsoft.