Step 1

Install

Download and install Riel Studio. Takes about two minutes.

Windows Security Warning We haven't purchased code signing yet, so Windows will show a security warning during early launch. This will be resolved in a future update.

Click "More info" on the SmartScreen dialog.

Click "Run anyway" to proceed.

Choose components to install. Uncheck what you already have. Click "Next".

Review the summary. Click "Install" and wait for it to finish.

← A D → to navigate

Why does this warning appear?

Windows blocks apps it doesn't recognize yet. This has nothing to do with safety — it's just because the app is new.

We're adding code signing soon, and the warning will disappear automatically.

Step 2

Activate

Enter your license key to unlock all features.

Open your Gumroad purchase email. Copy the license key.

In Blender, open Edit → Preferences → Add-ons. Search "Riel Studio".

Paste the key into the License Key field. Press Enter.

← A D → to navigate

Step 3

Connect

Link Riel Studio to ComfyUI Desktop.

Open ComfyUI Desktop. Pick whichever works for you — Comfy Cloud or local ComfyUI.

Press N to open the side panel. Go to Server tab. Click "Connect".

N-panel — Server tab with Connect button

Confirm the status shows "Connected".

← A D → to navigate

Can't connect?

Check ComfyUI is running. The server must be active before you connect.

Check the port. Default is 8188. Update the port in Server tab if you changed it.

Check your firewall. Allow Blender and ComfyUI through your firewall.

Restart both apps. Open ComfyUI first, then Blender.

Step 4

Run Your First Workflow

Import a workflow and generate your first result.

Go to the Workflow tab. Click "Import".

A file browser opens. Navigate to your workflow .json file and select it. Click "Import Workflow" to confirm. The node tree builds automatically and appears in the editor.

Riel Studio needs an Output Receiver node to bring results back. Press Double-click to add one. Connect it to your output node, then pick the output format from the dropdown. Keep Display pressed — results auto-import to that display type after every run.

Output Receiver node with format dropdown

Press "Queue" to run the currently displayed workflow.

Check the result in the matching viewport. Switch freely between the three viewport types in the Editor box of the N-panel.

Result in viewport — Editor box viewport types

← A D → to navigate

Basic Feature

Frame Sequence Node

Render what your camera sees, frame by frame, straight into your ComfyUI workflow.

In the node editor, choose Add → Frame Sequence. Two nodes appear as a pair: Frame Sequence and Frame Sequence Output. (Don't cut the thin wire between them!)

Pick an existing Scene, then a Camera from that scene. If the camera has no keyframe, the node switches to single frame mode automatically.

Frame Sequence node in single frame mode

If the camera has multiple keyframes, a frame ruler appears under the node. Click a frame to get an image socket for it — drag a range to get a video socket that renders those frames.

Click a spot on the ruler and an image socket appears on the Output node. Drag a range and a video socket appears — it renders every frame in that span.

Ruler selections and the matching Output node sockets

If you check Workbench for the first time, Cavity is applied to the scene automatically — it sharpens objects in Workbench renders, so the AI model reads your 3D environment better.

Workbench and Cavity checked in the Shading popover

When Workbench is checked, Queue renders the scene with Workbench. When unchecked, it renders with Eevee — so make sure your scene has its own lights.

Workbench unchecked renders with Eevee, checked renders with Workbench

← A D → to navigate

Everything in the Shading popover

Lighting — Studio / Matcap / Flat, plus studio light or matcap choice and world rotation.

Colors — Wireframe Color; Object Color (Material / Object / Single); Background (Theme / World / Viewport).

Options — Backface Culling, Object Outline, Specular Lighting, X-Ray, Shadow, Depth of Field.

Cavity — crevice shading. Type: World / Screen / Both. First time you enable Blockout, Cavity turns on once with Screen Ridge 2.0 so edges read immediately.

Basic Feature

Camera (Depth, Canny)

Add depth maps and edge detection to any camera in your scene.

Once a camera is set on a Frame Sequence node, two extra features become available. In the 3D viewport, select a camera and press the Depth toggle at the top. Drag the yellow handles to set the camera's depth minimum and maximum value.

Depth toggle and the camera's yellow depth handles

You can also press the Canny toggle at the top. Hover over the 3D viewport, press N to open the N-panel, then click the Scene tab on the side — there you can adjust the Canny line color and background color.

Canny toggle and the Scene tab with line color and background settings

When the camera chosen on the Frame Sequence node has the Depth toggle on, matching depth image/video sockets are created automatically alongside the regular ones.

Depth toggle on the camera adds Depth sockets to the Frame Sequence Output node

Canny toggle on the camera adds Canny sockets to the Frame Sequence Output node

← A D → to navigate

Basic Feature

Camera (Openpose)

Create poseable rigs and render them as OpenPose control images.

In the 3D scene, press the OpenPose button to create a default rig. The rig spawns at the 3D cursor (treated as ground level) and faces your current viewpoint. If the Without Camera dropdown is selected, the rig is created without a camera.

OpenPose button creates a default rig at the 3D cursor

Select the With Camera dropdown and press OpenPose to add a rig and a camera as a pair. The new camera automatically becomes the active camera. Press Numpad 0 to see the rig right away.

With Camera creates a rig and camera pair

Select the rig and press Tab to enter Edit Mode, where the bones become visible. Select one or more joints and drag them to pose the rig freely.

Edit Mode shows the rig bones, which you can select and drag

In Object Mode, press the Mannequin button to generate default cylinder shapes on every rig in the scene.

Mannequin button generates cylinder shapes on every rig

← A D → to navigate

Advanced

Claude MCP

Connect Claude to Blender and control your scene with natural language.

To use Claude MCP, enable the MCP Server checkbox in the Preferences tab. The port defaults to 8100. You can also press the eye icon to reveal the generated token.

Preferences — MCP Server box with Enable checked and Port 8100

Click the Copy Setup button once — the dedicated prompt is copied to your clipboard automatically. Then log in to Claude Code and paste it to connect Claude MCP to Riel Studio.

Connect to Claude Code — Copy Setup button

← A D → to navigate

Advanced

Grease Pencil

Draw points, lines, and shapes on mesh surfaces for Claude MCP to read.

In the 3D viewport, hold Ctrl while hovering to switch between View mode and Grease Pencil mode.

3D viewport with View and Grease Pencil mode toggle in the header

In Grease Pencil mode, almost everything you draw snaps to the surface of existing meshes by default. There are five stroke types: point, line, polygon, freehand, and a point in space. Each stroke is automatically tagged with a unique number, and Claude MCP can read that tag along with its point count and path. It also sees every mesh, camera, and light in the current 3D scene.

Grease Pencil draw toolbar with the five stroke-type tools

Hold Shift and drag to erase the strokes on screen. The eraser is a red dashed circle.

Grease Pencil Erase tool with red dashed circle eraser

Click once on a mesh surface to place a point.

A single point placed on a mesh surface, tagged 1

When you hold the number 1 key and click a mesh surface, a ray is created perpendicular to that face, with a point in space riding along it. While 1 is held, slide the point to adjust it. Release 1 to lock its position.

Holding 1 creates a ray perpendicular to the face with an adjustable point

When you hold the number 2 key and click mesh surfaces, each click adds a point and connects them into a line. The line follows the order you placed the points, so it carries a direction.

Holding 2 connects clicked points into a directed line

When you hold the number 3 key and click mesh surfaces, a face is created using every clicked point as a vertex. Keep adding points while 3 is held, and release 3 to finalize the shape.

Holding 3 builds a face from the clicked points

While in Grease Pencil mode, press Tab to switch to Edit Mode. There you can select one or more vertices of the existing points, lines, and faces. Select two or more, then press F to draw a green edge. The green edge has a direction too, and when you select multiple points, the order you pick them sets the line's direction.

Edit Mode with selected vertices joined into a directed green edge

← A D → to navigate

Advanced

Camera Markers

Place and aim cameras along your Grease Pencil paths.

Once your lines are drawn the way you want, hold the R key and move the pointer near a line — a red camera icon appears on it. Drag it to its initial position, then click once to lock it in.

Holding R places a red camera icon along a line

The moment you lock the camera, the view jumps to that camera's perspective. Move the mouse to aim, and fly around freely with WASD plus Q and E. You can also scroll the mouse wheel to adjust the camera's focal length. When the angle and position look right, click once more to lock it in.

The view switches to the placed camera so you can aim and fly it into position

While in Grease Pencil mode, press Tab to enter Edit Mode, where you can drag any point or red camera across a surface to reposition it. To remove a placed camera, hold R and move close to it — an X appears, and a single click deletes it.

Holding R near a placed camera shows an X to delete it

You can also select a red camera in GP Edit Mode and press Numpad 0 to re-edit its view and position. Once the angle looks right, click once to lock it back in.

Select a camera and press Numpad 0 to re-edit its view

← A D → to navigate

You're all set!

Join our Discord for tips, workflows, and community support.

FAQ

Common issues and quick fixes.

Nodes are not showing up

Make sure the .json file is a valid ComfyUI workflow.

Check that ComfyUI has all required custom nodes. Missing nodes show as red boxes.

Restart Blender after installing new custom nodes.

Update failed

When a new version is available, an update notification appears automatically inside Blender. You can choose to update right away or skip it.

Close Blender completely before updating — an open Blender locks the add-on files.

Your license key stays active — no need to re-enter it.

If the update still fails, uninstall first (see below), then try again.

I can't type into Start / End

That's by design. Start and End are computed automatically from your camera's keyframe range.

Move or add camera keyframes and the values update on their own.

Depth and Canny won't turn on together

Intended behavior — they work like radio buttons, one at a time.

Turning one on turns the other off.

I can't see my MCP token

Check Enable in the MCP Server box first, then click the eye icon next to "Token hidden".

How to uninstall

Close Blender first.

Open the Riel Studio installation folder and run the uninstaller inside it.

The uninstaller lets you choose which components to remove — keep your settings and workflows, or wipe everything.