Zibra AI unveils ZibraGDS
Games and VFX tech firm Zibra AI has unveiled ZibraGDS (Geometry Data Structure), a new technology for compressing large geometry caches and rendering them in Unreal Engine.
Currently in alpha, ZibraGDS makes it possible to render “massive geometry sequences … in true real-time”, increasing the complexity of 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.
Although the current alpha build only imports Alembic caches, Zibra AI tells us that it plans support USD and “any other format that is widely used for geometry sequences”.
Claimed to outperform Unreal Engine’s own Geometry Cache and vertex animation textures
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.
The video embedded above shows ZibraGDS reducing the file sizes of imported simulation caches by around 10x, with an attendant 10-15x increase in frame rate.
Another common workflow is to convert animation data to 2D textures, using Unreal Engine’s Vertex Animation Tool, or equivalent tools in applications like Houdini.
Zibra AI doesn’t make specific performance comparisons to workflows based around vertex animation textures, but notes that they “impose strict limits on frame count and vertex density”.
Currently available for Unreal Engine only
Unlike ZibraVDB, which is available for Houdini as well as Unreal Engine, ZibraGDS is only available for Unreal Engine “for now”.
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”.
Price, system requirements and release date
ZibraGDS is currently available in closed alpha as an Unreal Engine plugin. ZibraAI hasn’t announced pricing or a final release date yet.
For comparison, ZibaVDB took around 18 months to go from the initial demo to a stable release.
Sign up for alpha access to ZibraGDS on Zibra AI’s website
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