FAQ¶
License and seats¶
Marble Studio Free costs nothing and needs no seat. Marble Studio Pro is licensed per seat: one seat per computer you use it on. It works on an honor system: no license key and no online check. There is no activation or account; install it on the computers your license covers. See Install and activate.
The add-on code is released under the GPL (GNU General Public License v3 or later), like Blender itself.
Is there a song length limit?¶
No. Marble Studio Free makes a complete course for a song of any length, with any number of notes. Every course it makes loops perfectly, like any other. What Marble Studio Pro adds is listed below.
Free and Pro compared¶
| Feature | Marble Studio Free | Marble Studio Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Song length | Any length | Any length |
| Generate: MIDI to a full course, Next Seed | yes | yes |
| Edit any key; the course re-flows | yes | yes |
| Perfect loop with Seam Mirror | yes | yes |
| Render Loop, Course Check, and Z-Hop | yes | yes |
| Key Shape, Key Bases, song audio, and hotkeys | yes | yes |
| Camera | Looping follow camera | Plus the Camera Director |
| Key look | Colors you pick | Plus materials, palettes, strike glow, and your library |
| Wall | Plain color | Plus tiling images and materials, and Straighten |
| Instruments | Standard key and base | Create and save your own instruments |
| Marble | Glass Hero Marble | Plus any ball as the marble (Marble Replacement) |
| Tracks | - | Hand-placed: Rails, Pipe, Tube, and Half Pipe |
| Seam Decor | - | yes |
Nothing Pro is shown grayed out or locked in Marble Studio Free: Pro features are simply not in it.
Is it a physics simulation?¶
No. The motion is keyframed curves, authored to look physical. That is why every strike lands exactly on its note, the loop closes perfectly, and the file plays the same way every time. See Authored, not simulated.
Can I use my own models?¶
In both editions you can edit the key itself with Key Shape and give the key bases your own material in Key Bases. Marble Studio Pro adds your own ball with Marble Replacement, your own keys and bases with Instruments, your own wall material with Wall Surface, and your own props across the seam with Seam Decor.
Which frame rate should I pick?¶
Use the frame rate you will export at. It cannot be changed once the course exists. See Frame rate, and Tempo and frame rate for matching it to your song's tempo.
Support¶
Contact us through the store page where you got Marble Studio, or through marblestudio.pro. Tell us your Blender version, the add-on edition and version (shown in Preferences > Add-ons), what you did, and any red or yellow rows in Course Check. A screenshot of the Marble Studio tab helps.