A New Standard for Volumetric Data: ZibraVDB Is Now Free for Indies

A New Era for Volumetrics

For a long time, volumetric visual effects were viable only in high-end offline VFX workflows. Large data footprints and poor real-time rendering performance limited their use: most teams simply avoided volumetrics altogether. It’s similar to the early days of online video: limited computational power and low network bandwidth made video content hard to share or stream. Today, of course, we can’t imagine the internet without it, and we believe volumetrics are on a similar path.

With advanced data compression and real-time, GPU-driven decompression, anyone can now bring CGI-class visual effects into Unreal Engine. 

From now on, it’s completely free for individual creators.

What it means for you?

OpenVDB effects are common, but rarely used. Why? The reasons are clear: large file sizes, poor real-time performance, and time-consuming conversions. But that’s now changed.

With ZibraVDB, you can easily integrate volumetric effects into your projects without the need to convert them into flipbooks or constantly recreate them when your scene changes.

If you work in Houdini and want real-time visualization in Unreal Engine, it’s now as simple as drag and drop: no need to waste hours tuning your VFX.

Asset size matters. There's a big difference between dealing with a 2GB OpenVDB file and a 50MB ZibraVDB file, especially when it comes to distribution and download speed.

It’s similar to what we already see in photo and video workflows: power users might prefer raw, uncompressed files, but for most use cases, compressed formats are more than enough.

And unlike other solutions, ZibraVDB runs anywhere.

We support Windows, macOS, and Linux, all major GPU vendors, and CPUs too. That means no hardware lock-in — just freedom to create.

Why Volumetric Data Needs a New Standard

ZibraVDB has already proven its value among major VFX studios, with professionals adopting the technology quickly and effectively. We've also received a growing number of requests from educational institutions and have provided many student licenses to support learning and experimentation.

This clear interest across both industry and education has led us to the next step in our distribution strategy: ZibraVDB is now free for all indie developers and VFX enthusiasts using either Unreal Engine or Houdini.

You can now use ZibraVDB in your personal projects, compress and distribute OpenVDB files, and share your content freely with the community. Whether you're working on a hobby project or experimenting with volumetrics in an educational setting, this is your opportunity to explore the full potential of real-time volumetric effects, without limitations.

We’d love to see what you create. Your feedback and demos help shape the future of ZibraVDB and, we believe, the future of volumetrics in modern content pipelines.

How to use ZibraVDB: Personal vs Studio License

ZibraVDB is available for free under the Personal tier, intended exclusively for individual creators, hobbyists, and students. To qualify, you must not have earned more than $100,000 USD in gross revenue from your commercial activity in the digital content industry within the past 12 months. You can get your free license key here.  

We offer flexible pricing for Studios here.

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