Editable Motion Paths
Take her for a walk.
Drag the dots, she follows. My Blender add-on does the same thing, for animators.
- Role
- Design Engineer, built with Claude
- Year
- 2026
- Tools
- Python · Blender API · GPU overlays · Claude
- Result
- Shipped as an open-source public beta
THE PATH IS THE INTERFACE
Editable Motion Paths is an open-source Blender add-on that lets animators reshape an object's trajectory directly in the 3D View.
In Blender, a motion path is display-only: to change it, you leave the viewport and edit curves in the Graph Editor. I wanted to grab the path itself. The scene above is a web take on the same idea.
WHAT IT DOES
Drag a key, the path follows. Pull Bézier handles to shape a curve. Alt-click to switch between a sharp corner and a smooth turn.
Lock a move to an axis with X, Y or Z, snap with Ctrl, select several keys with Shift: the same shortcuts animators already use in Blender.
MY DECISIONS
No second animation system. The add-on never creates a hidden curve or a Follow Path constraint. Blender's own animation curves stay the source of truth, so nothing breaks when you turn it off.
3D handles, 1D curves. Blender stores a position as three separate curves (X, Y, Z). I rebuild a 3D tangent from them, then write each edit back to the three axes while keeping the original timing and easing.
Feels native. A click selects, a drag moves, a small threshold prevents accidental moves, and the shortcuts match Blender's own.
Shipped like a real tool. Public beta on GitHub with an install guide, a QA checklist, CI and issue templates, to collect real feedback before going further.
Built with Claude as my coding partner. The interaction design and the product decisions are mine.
