Zibra AI launches new real-time VFX technology ZibraGDS
Originally posted on 2 October 2025, and updated for the stable release.
Games and VFX tech firm Zibra AI has launched ZibraGDS (Geometry Data Structure), a new technology for compressing large geometry caches and rendering them in Unreal Engine.
Intended to “solve the one problem Nanite never touched”, ZibraGDS makes it possible to render “massive geometry sequences … in true real time”.
Zibra AI claims that it can reduce the size of animated geometry by “up to 92%”, increasing the complexity of the destruction, cloth and fluid simulations that can be displayed in-engine.
Does for simulation caches what ZibraVDB does for volumetric effects
Regular CG Channel readers will probably be familiar with Zibra AI through ZibraVDB, its technology for compressing volumetric effects like smoke and fire.
It enables artists to create volumetric effects in applications like Houdini at a scale that would normally only be possible to render offline, and display them in real time inside Unreal Engine.
ZibraGDS does a similar job, but for geometry caches from other types of simulation: Zibra AI namechecks animated destruction, cloth, liquids, and soft bodies.
The technology – a combination of compression tool and real-time renderer – makes it possible to bring “medium-to-large geometry sequences” into Unreal Engine “without severe trade-offs”.
“Alembic and animated mesh compression has been one of the most-requested features from our customers, and we’re excited to bring it into production pipelines,” said Zibra AI CEO Alex Petrenko.
Outperforms native Unreal Engine workflows
Although Unreal Engine has its own systems for speeding up playback of animated geometry, Zibra AI claims that ZibraGDS outperforms the Geometry Cache, Unreal Engine’s solution for scrubbing through and rendering imported Alembic sequences.
According to the company, it “cuts animated geometry data size by up to 92% and [renders] at least 5-10x faster than existing approaches”, sustaining “millions of polygons per frame”.
During beta, ZibraGDS was tested by leading international visual effects studios DNEG and Blur Studio, both of which have “since signed enterprise agreements” to use it in production.
Currently available for Unreal Engine only
Unlike ZibraVDB, which is available for Houdini as well as Unreal Engine, ZibraGDS is currently only available for Unreal Engine.
Although Zibra AI’s marketing material describes ZibraGDS as a technology for bringing geometry sequences into “real-time engines” in general, rather than Unreal Engine in particular, in replies to comments on YouTube, it says that support for Unity “is not on our roadmap”.
While the initial public release only imports Alembic caches, Zibra AI tells us that it plans support USD and “any other format that is widely used for geometry sequences”.
The company also plans to support non-mesh geometry types like point clouds, for particle systems, and curves, for hair simulations.
Price and system requirements
ZibraGDS is compatible with Unreal Engine 5.3+. The software is rental-only.
Personal subscriptions, for artists with revenue under $100,000/year, cost $4.90/month or $49/year.
Indie subscriptions, for studios with revenue under $1 million/year, cost $14.90/month or $149/year. Enterprise subscriptions are priced on enquiry.
Read more about ZibraGDS on Zibra AI’s website
Read more about ZibraGDS in the online documentation
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