ZibraVDB for Houdini and UE5 is now free to indie artists
Zibra AI has made ZibraVDB, its volumetric compression technology for Houdini and Unreal Engine, free for indie artists.
The tech, which enables users to compress smoke and fire effects simulated offline for real-time playback in games or virtual production, is now free to anyone earning under $100,000/year.
A new AI-based technology for compressing and playing back volumetric effects
Launched commercially last year, ZibraVDB is a new AI-based technology for compressing volumetric data in OpenVDB format.
It enables users to compress VDB files, like effects created in software like Houdini, then decompress and render them at runtime inside Unreal Engine.
That enables users – both game developers and VFX and virtual production studios – to render much more complex effects than would previously have been possible in real time.
According to Zibra AI, ZibraVDB can compress VDB files as small as 3% of their original size, and render them “twice as fast” as Unreal’s native SVT system, introduced in Unreal Engine 5.3.
Now free to indie artists and studios
ZibraVDB previously had a free trial edition, but it was limited to compressing five VDB sequences into .zibravdb format.
That restriction has now been removed, making it possible to compress an unlimited number of sequences, and play back the compressed versions inside Unreal Engine.
The free edition is available to indie users – artists earning under $100,000/year, or studios with under $100,000 in funding – including for commercial use.
Before the pricing change, individual subscriptions used to cost $10/month or $150/year.
Price and system requirements
ZibraVDB for Unreal Engine is compatible with Unreal Engine 5.3+ on Windows only. It is available via Epic Games’ Fab online marketplace under Fab’s Standard license.
The free edition of ZibraVDB for Houdini is compatible with Houdini 20.5.619+ on Windows, Linux and macOS.
It is available through SideFX Labs, the official set of experimental add-on tools for Houdini. You can find instructions for installing it here.
To use the free editions, you need to register for a license key on the Zibra AI website.
Full Studio subscriptions are priced on enquiry.
Download the free edition of ZibraVDB for Unreal Engine
Read the instructions for installing the free edition of ZibraVDB for Houdini
Read more about ZibraVDB on Zibra AI’s website
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.