A deer with
a brain.

A neuroimaging viewer you can truly make your own. Scriptable in Python, beautiful through Blender, open to your AI.

Get started Quickstart · 5 min Developer docs ↗

The interface

Four zones, one workspace.

The center holds the synchronized 2D and 3D views. Around them sit the left View Adjustments panel, the right Plugin Studio, and the bottom Data Organization panel. Scroll the clip — every view stays locked on the same point in space.

• Center Synchronized 2D & 3D views
• Left View Adjustments
• Right Plugin Studio
• Bottom Data Organization

Take the interface tour →

3D editing

Shade, light, project.

The live VTK scene is a studio: smooth surfaces, balance the lights, and drop quantitative maps onto anatomy — while the slice planes keep MRI context in view.

3D editing in BrainDeer →

3D & high-res

Compose here. Render in Blender.

One click opens Blender with the same layout. Light it in Cycles or EEVEE, or ask BrainDeer AI for an orbit and a zoom — without rebuilding the scene.

High-res with Blender →

BrainDeer AI

Just tell it what to do.

A chat assistant in Plugin Studio that can tune the viewer — colormaps, contrast, layout — in plain language. Agent mode acts; you stay in control of destructive steps.

BrainDeer AI →

Developers

Made to be extended.

BrainDeer is pure Python. Plugins get full access to the viewer, Blender takes care of the beautiful renders, and the API lets your AI assistant take part too.

Plugin catalog →

# my_first_plugin.py
from brain_deer.plugin_api.v1 import PluginBase, PluginMetadata

class Plugin(PluginBase):
    def get_metadata(self):
        return PluginMetadata(
            name="My First Plugin",
            version="0.1.0",
            description="Says hello to the viewer.",
        )

    def initialize(self) -> bool:
        self.logger.info("Hello, BrainDeer!")
        return True

From data to insight, three steps.

01

Open

Drop in a NIfTI or point BrainDeer at a BIDS dataset. DICOM is welcome too.

02

Explore

Slice, scroll and orbit. Every view stays in sync while you think out loud.

03

Share

Render in Blender, stream to VR or export a glTF. Like the deer up there.

Explore the docs.

Guides, concepts and reference. From first launch to your own plugin.

01

Getting started

Installation, first launch and a guided tour of the interface.

02

Quickstart

From NIfTI to an interactive 3D view in five minutes — with video.

03

Guides

Atlases, Warpdrive, export, VR and more — every workflow with a short clip.

04

Plugin catalog

All bundled plugins at a glance.

05

Troubleshooting

Qt/OpenGL issues, performance tips, FAQ.

06

Developer docs ↗

Architecture, plugin development, API reference (Sphinx).

Ready when you are.

Free, open source and at home on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Get started GitHub ↗

Spotted an error? Every page has an edit pen in the top right that takes you straight to GitHub. Source & issues: github.com/netstim/BrainDeer