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Python Threads are Not Supported

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In short: Python threads cause Blender to crash in hard to diagnose ways. For example, a crash can occur while rendering with Cycles, with Python drivers, while a background thread is used to download some file.

So far, no work has been done to make Blender's Python integration thread safe, so until it's properly supported, it's best not make use of this.

Note that some modules in the Python standard library may use threads as well. An example is the multiprocessing.Queue <https://docs.python.org/3/library/multiprocessing.html#multiprocessing.Queue>_ class.

Python threading with Blender only works properly when the threads finish up before the script does, for example by using threading.Thread.join(). In other words, they can only be used while the main Blender thread is blocked from running.

Alternative Approaches

For running Python code independently of Blender, it is recommended to use the multiprocessing <https://docs.python.org/3/library/multiprocessing.html>_ module.

Code Examples

Here is an example of threading supported by Blender:

.. code-block:: python

import threading import requests

urls = [ "http://localhost:8000/file-1.blend", "http://localhost:8000/file-2.blend", "http://localhost:8000/file-3.blend", ]

def download(url: str) -> None: name = threading.current_thread().name print("{}: Starting".format(name)) response = requests.get(url) print("{}: Request status code {}".format(name, response.status_code))

threads = [ threading.Thread( name="thread-{}".format(index), target=download, args=(url,), ) for index, url in enumerate(urls) ]

print("Starting threads...") for t in threads: t.start()

NOTE: While threads are running, no code (including the main thread)

may use bpy or any Blender API - only standard Python or third-party modules.

print("Waiting for threads to finish...") for t in threads: t.join()

It's now safe to use bpy again since all threads have finished.

print("Threads all done, now Blender can continue")

This is an example of an unsupported case, using a timer that runs many times a second:

.. code-block:: python

from threading import Timer

def my_timer(): t = Timer(0.1, my_timer) t.daemon = True t.start() print("Running...")

my_timer()

Use cases like the one above, which leave the thread running once the script finishes, may seem to work for a while, but end up causing random crashes or errors in Blender's own drawing code.