Move a project from 2.93 to 3.0 without causing issues

Question

I have some projects created with 2.93 version. Because of the speed of CycleX, I want to continue my project in 3.0.

In this post , it was said that it's better to continue in the same version to prevent problems. Well, I have to use 3.0, what should I do to migrate safely? What uncompabilities might happen? How should I fix or avoid issues?

Answer 1

This is a problem with any application when you update versions. There are a wide range of approaches depending on how large the project is and how many different parts of Blender it touches. Here is my personal approach:

These steps apply no matter how large or small your project is:

1. Make a backup of the entire project and put it someplace else. (You should do this anyway.)

2. Make a copy of the project, clearly label it as the 3.0 version, and never use 3.0 on the original project. That way you'll have a reference at hand that you can compare.

3. Prepare 3.0. Determine what add-ons you are using and verify, one by one that they work. Don't go any further if you can't find 3.0 versions or at least workarounds. (One of my projects is currently stuck at 2.93.6 because it uses an add-on that's not yet been updated.) Make sure you to update your 3.0 preferences to match your 2.93 preferences. The most important things here are

   • theme
   • keymap
   • Render settings (in System)
   • anything else you usually change

4. Learn about 3.0. Read the release notes, paying attention to what breaks. (In particular, Geometry Nodes break and you may have to redo any of those you use.) Watch some videos on new features to determine if anything new can help improve your project.

This step depends on how big the project is. If it's small enough you may not want to do it. Even if it's a big project you may not have time for it.

5. Create test cases. If you use rigify, make a copy of one of your characters and rig it, for example. Run through all of your project's materials in very simple scenes to see how they render. (I use a shader ball for this, like this one from Sketchfab.) Test your compositor setup, if you have one, with simple scenes. Et Cetera.