Blender “DNA” and Serialization

Abstract

This chapter explains Blender’s persistent data model and related data structures. We first discuss a high-level description of the blend file. One of the most interesting aspects about the blend file is that it has been engineered to be very fast. Its contents are a binary image of memory, when the file was serialized. Blender supports backward compatibility, making the required transformations of the data structures in a given release to any later release. We will discuss the mechanics of reading a blend file. Because the blend file is a direct copy of runtime data structures, a good understanding of the blend file will support our understanding of how Blender maintains state and manages scene contents, such as objects and mesh data.