Perforce in Blender: check out, lock, sync and submit from the Dousen sidebar

By Luca Vitiello · Updated 6 October 2026

Dousen adds a Dousen tab to the Blender sidebar (N) with a File Status (P4) sub-panel. It shows whether the open .blend file is locked, opened by others or behind the depot, and lets you check out, sync and revert it under your own Perforce user. Published exports go to the Jira task's changelist.

What changes for artists

Launch the DCC from DousenDesktop. A DCC started from a desktop shortcut has no Dousen panel. DousenDesktop runs on Windows 10 and 11, and tasks come from Jira Cloud.

What Perforce status does the Dousen sidebar show in Blender?

Press N over the 3D Viewport and select the Dousen tab. The File Status (P4) sub-panel starts collapsed. Expand it to see the lock state of the current .blend file. Dousen reads the state with p4 fstat, through P4Python if it's installed or the p4 command line otherwise, and refreshes it about every 30 seconds. The line is one of these:

StatusMeaning
Locked by <user> (CL n)Someone else has the file checked out exclusively.
Opened by <user(s)>One or more people have it open without an exclusive lock.
Locked by youYou hold the Perforce lock, from an exclusive checkout or p4 lock.
Not at latest (have r<n>, head r<m>)Your local copy is behind the depot.
AvailableNobody else has the file open or locked, and your copy is current.
P4 error: <detail> or Not in PerforcePerforce can't answer, because the server is unreachable or the file isn't in the depot.

If your project uses Perforce streams, Dousen detects that on its own. The sidebar is a native Blender panel, so the stream name appears in the DousenDesktop status bar and in the Qt panels of other DCCs, not in Blender.

How do I check out, sync and revert a file from Blender?

Only the button that applies to the file's current state appears in File Status (P4).

  1. Open a .blend file that is under your Perforce workspace root.
  2. Expand File Status (P4) and read the status line.
  3. Click Check Out Source to edit an existing file. The file opens for edit in the task's changelist, and the status changes to Locked by you if the checkout was exclusive.
  4. If the status says Not at latest, click Sync & Reload (not at latest). Dousen asks you to confirm first, because the reload discards unsaved changes.
  5. To drop your changes, click Revert Checkout and confirm. The scene matches the restored file afterward.
  6. Click Refresh to read the lock state again without waiting for the timer.

To add a new file, use Set Up Asset in the New Asset sub-panel. It saves the .blend file to the source path that your conventions resolve and adds it to the task's changelist.

How do exported files land in the task's changelist?

When you select a task in DousenDesktop, Desktop sends the Jira key and changelist to every running DCC. Click Publish Checked Instances and Dousen opens the scene and the files from your last export for edit in that changelist, then adds newly created files after the export. The publish itself doesn't submit anything. Submit the changelist from DousenDesktop afterward. The full flow is in One changelist per Jira task. Auto-publish on Save uses the same Perforce handling.

If you restart Blender, the first publish afterward doesn't know the previous outputs. Check those out yourself if your workspace is read-only.

What stops a publish in Blender?

Before it exports, Dousen runs a Perforce pre-flight. If another user has locked a file that the export would write, the publish stops and names the lock. The failure appears in the Publish history tab in DousenDesktop. Coordinate with the person who holds the lock, or ask them to submit or revert.

How does the Blender addon load?

DousenDesktop ships the addon, so you don't install anything in Blender. Launch Blender from the apps bar in Desktop, after you check the executable path in Settings → DCC Apps. Desktop loads the addon and passes it the project, task and sign-in details. A Blender that you start from a desktop shortcut has no Dousen tab. After you update DousenDesktop, restart Blender so it loads the new addon code. The DCC addons page covers startup scripts and troubleshooting.

If your studio keeps DCC source files in a separate Perforce repository, possibly on another server, the same buttons act on that repository's server. See Source repositories for the admin binding and the artist workspace.

Dousen is free during the studio beta, with access by request, and free forever for teams of up to 5 users. Request early access.