Zibra AI’s collaboration with SideFX Labs brings real-time volumetric compression to Houdini, optimising storage and bandwidth and enabling high quality VFX workflows.
ZibraVDB for Houdini is now available through SideFX Labs. This collaboration between developer Zibra AI and the team responsible for Houdini, SideFX Labs, integrates real-time volumetric compression and decompression directly into the software, optimising storage and bandwidth to support VFX workflows.
ZibraVDB efficiently replays large VFX volumes stored in the OpenVDB format, delivering up to 100x compression and, according to Zibra AI, rendering substantially faster than Unreal's Heterogeneous Volumes. These features increase the potential to use render volumes in real-time environments that have previously been considered too large.
Through ZibraVDB, virtual production and CGI studios can use compressed, GPU-powered VDB effects and render film-quality volumetric VFX in real time. Unlike lossy compression, ZibraVDB maintains visual quality, while reducing processing times and demands on storage. This method opens new possibilities for realistic scene lighting, speeds up content creation, and enhances studios’ rendering capabilities.
New Volumetric Workflows
ZibraVDB creates a new VFX workflow between Houdini and Unreal Engine, allowing files to be imported into Unreal Engine with drag and drop functionality. By also enabling real-time playback on consumer-grade hardware, the plugin makes volumetric effects more affordable and efficient for production pipelines.
With its custom AI-based approach, ZibraVDB makes it possible to compress large-scale VFX, created in different tools and stored in OpenVDB format, by about 20x on average and up to 100x in some cases, without increasing the build size.
Users can render volumetric effects in game engines in real-time, and re-use a volumetric effect in multiple situations, optimising memory consumption. An effect’s appearance in different parts of a project can be changed with shaders, regulating colour, density and playback speed to match the application.
Compression, Integration, Accessibility
Large data sizes often cause traditional volumetric rendering systems to slow down, making them inadequate for supporting real-time performance. ZibraVDB's very high compression rate makes complex volumetric effects viable in real-time environments with minimal impact on quality and efficiency.
ZibraVDB integrates smoothly into existing software set-ups, particularly Houdini and Unreal Engine, allowing studios to adopt the new tools without disrupting their workflows. This direct integration results in greater efficiency, allowing more time for creative work than managing technical limitations.
By enabling real-time playback on consumer hardware, ZibraVDB makes high-quality volumetric effects more widely accessible to a broader range of creators. In other words, the ability to produce film-quality VFX does not have to depend on investing in expensive equipment.
Alpha Testing
For a limited time, ZibraVDB for Houdini is in Alpha and available for free. Interested virtual production and CGI studios are invited to join the Alpha test and explore the use of efficient volumetric effects for their projects. Apply here. effects.zibra.ai
