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TrueSKY 3.0 Preferences Overview

TrueSKY’s add-on preferences define global behavior for clipping, render defaults, volumes, color management, custom celestial objects, and preset workflows. These values are applied whenever TrueSKY configures a scene, so they are the backbone of consistent skies across projects.

Where to find the TrueSKY preferences

  • Open Edit → Preferences → Add-ons.
  • Search for TrueSKY and expand the entry.
  • The TrueSKY Preferences panel appears inside the add-on entry (with tabs for Defaults, Objects, and Presets).

Tab Layout Overview

TrueSKY groups its preferences into three main tabs plus a small set of global controls at the top of the panel.

The Defaults tab configures recommended values for clipping, render engine, samples, volumetrics, color management, and caustics; each value has a paired toggle that decides whether TrueSKY is allowed to enforce it automatically.

The Objects tab manages Custom Celestial Objects, including their names, descriptions, and icon images used throughout the UI.

The Presets tab controls how preset carousels behave in the main TrueSKY panels and whether new items silently apply defaults or prompt you for a preset.

Global controls at the top of the preferences panel handle the HDRI output directory, viewport compositing mode, sun position display, and a few advanced behavior flags used by other TrueSKY panels.

Global Controls

These settings appear above the tab strip and affect how TrueSKY interacts with scenes and UI across the board.

Show Computed Sun Position

Shows the calculated sun azimuth/elevation in the Luminous positioning controls so you can match lighting numerically between scenes.

HDRI Output Directory

This TrueSKY-specific preference stores a fallback HDRI render directory and exposes three operators:

  • Copies the active path
  • Pick/update the desired folder
  • Resets the path to blank

Viewport Compositing Mode

Chooses when Blender’s viewport compositor is enabled (DISABLED, CAMERA, ALWAYS) for scenes that TrueSKY decorates with compositing effects, mirroring the modes available in Blender’s viewport shading menu. (Blender Documentation)

Disable Selecting Primary Body

This TrueSKY-specific preference (disable_selecting_primary_body) prevents accidental selection of the primary celestial body mesh in the viewport when its system is enabled, reducing the chance of breaking orbit or alignment rigs.

Defaults Tab

Clipping & Render

These preferences set baseline spatial and render behavior for new or reconfigured TrueSKY scenes; each has an accompanying toggle that lets TrueSKY override scene values or leave them alone.

Recommended defaults logic

Each setting has a recommended value and a paired toggle; if the toggle is on "", TrueSKY applies its default, otherwise "" the scene’s existing value stays as-is.

Viewport Clip Start

Sets the minimum visible distance of the 3D viewport; TrueSKY’s default (0.1) keeps near-geometry stable while still supporting large-scale skies. (Blender Documentation)

Viewport Clip End

Sets the maximum visible distance of the viewport and is pushed very high (100,000,000) by default so orbital or planetary-scale TrueSKY setups don’t disappear when you zoom out. (Blender Documentation)

Camera Clip Start

Controls the near clipping plane of the active camera so rendered objects closer than this distance are excluded from direct visibility, mirroring Blender’s camera clipping behavior. (Blender Documentation)

Camera Clip End

Controls the far clipping distance for the render camera, preventing large sky domes and celestial objects from vanishing when you frame wide shots. (Blender Documentation)

Render Engine

Chooses whether TrueSKY-configured scenes default to Cycles or Eevee, with the recommended default set to CYCLES for physically accurate volumetrics and atmosphere.

Eevee caveats with TrueSKY

We do NOT recommend using Eevee with TrueSKY. In many TrueSKY scenes Eevee can be significantly slower, may freeze for long periods during heavy scene or volumetric updates, and often produces incorrect or poor-looking results for TrueSKY's atmospheric and volumetric effects. For reliable performance and correct visuals, prefer using Cycles for final renders and heavy look-dev.

Viewport Noise Threshold

Controls whether Cycles’ adaptive sampling uses a viewport noise threshold instead of a fixed sample count, giving faster, auto-stopping previews when the viewport noise drops below a chosen level. (Blender Documentation)

Viewport Samples

Cycles Sampling Sets the baseline number of Cycles samples for viewport renders (default 32), used when adaptive sampling is disabled or as the max sample budget when a threshold is active. (Blender Documentation)

Render Noise Threshold

Enables a noise-based stopping criterion for final renders, letting TrueSKY scenes converge based on quality rather than a fixed sample count when this toggle is on. (Blender Documentation)

Render Samples

Sets the default sample budget for final renders (128 by default), acting as either the exact sample count or the upper bound for adaptive sampling. (Blender Documentation)

Fast GI Approximation (Disabled)

This option is currently disabled in the beta. Keep it off to avoid cloud artifacts and rely on volume presets for performance tuning.

These preferences tune heavy-hitter performance and appearance settings for volumetrics, color management, and world caustics.

Volume Presets

Pick a single Volume Preset that controls both scene step rate and per-layer multipliers.

  • Volume Preset: Previz, Fast, Medium, High, Super High, or Realistic.
  • Steps Mode:
  • Fast Steps for preview speed.
  • Accurate Steps for stable results when traversing volumes.
  • Quality Mode:
  • Fast for larger steps and faster previews.
  • Accurate for smaller steps and cleaner detail.
  • Fast Viewport: Doubles the viewport step size for faster interaction.

Choosing presets

Start with Fast Steps + Fast Quality while blocking, then switch to Accurate for finals.

Volume Look Preset

Controls contrast and volume bounce depth with named looks (High Contrast, Medium Contrast, Light and Airy, Realistic, Super Ultra Hyper Real). Presets show example icons to preview the look. Custom lets you enter a bounce count. Higher bounces give richer light transport but render slower.

Lock Volume Max Steps

Keeps volume max steps locked to a safe default (1024) so extremely fine step rates do not explode render times. Disable the lock only if you need to raise or lower the max steps manually for a specific scene.

Custom volume values

Lower step rates sharpen detail but slow renders. 20–40 is fast and light; 10–20 is slower with better detail; 2–5 is high detail and very slow. Avoid values below 1—render time skyrockets with little benefit.

Volume Light Path Bounces

Sets the maximum number of volume scattering bounces, controlling how deeply light can scatter inside fog, clouds, and atmospheres before Cycles stops computing further interactions. (Blender Stack Exchange)

Transparent Light Path Bounces

Defines how many transparent surface interactions (e.g. glass domes, cutout clouds) a ray can pass before being terminated, which directly affects performance and the visibility of layered transparent assets. (Blender Stack Exchange)

View Transform

Selects the global color management view transform (e.g. Standard, AgX, Filmic, ACES 1.3, ACES 2.0), with the TrueSKY default set to AgX for modern highlight handling in skies and clouds. ACES options appear in Blender 5.0+. (Blender Documentation)

Look

Picks the contrast/look curve associated with the chosen view transform, automatically swapping to the AgX or Filmic look set when you change view_transform, and giving TrueSKY presets a consistent base grade. (Blender Documentation)

Exposure

Controls the default exposure behavior used by TrueSKY effects and scene setup.

  • Exposure Type: Choose Manual Exposure or Auto Exposure.
  • Auto Exposure Mode: Whole Screen, Center Weighted, Spot Metering, or Matrix Metering.
  • Exposure Offset: Biases auto exposure brighter or darker.
  • Exposure: Manual EV adjustment (default -4.0) to keep HDR skies in range.

Objects Tab

This tab is for managing Custom Celestial Objects and their icons. It's mainly for setting icons easily.

How the custom object list is drawn

The list UI is on the left and detail panel on the right showing name, icon preview, and icon path.

Custom Celestial Objects Collection

This TrueSKY-specific pointer groups all custom celestial objects (e.g. suns, moons, spacecraft markers), including descriptions, icon IDs, and icon paths that are reused in TrueSKY’s main panels.

Load Custom Celestial Bodies from Blend

This operator reloads the custom celestial object definitions from your configured asset .blend, refreshing the list and ensuring newly added bodies show up in the preferences UI.

Celestial Icon Path & Icon Loader

This TrueSKY-specific pairing lets you assign or change the icon image path for the active celestial object, with a small preview if a valid icon ID is present.

Presets Tab

The Presets tab delegates most of its UI to the scene’s preset system but exposes key behavior flags at the preferences level.

Assume Defaults

This TrueSKY-specific preference flips the usual “hold Alt to apply defaults silently” behavior so that, when enabled, new items automatically apply the default preset and Alt temporarily shows the preset picker instead.

Preset Management in Preferences

Renders the same preset carousels you see in the main TrueSKY panels (luminous bodies, primary body, clouds, effects, full scenes) but in a compact list form for bulk import/export and studio template management.