Houdini 20.5 Nodes Geometry nodes

Labs ZibraVDB Compress (Alpha) 0.2 geometry node

Compresses an OpenVDB sequence and caches it to disk as a single file.

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Since 20.5

This node compresses an OpenVDB sequence to disk into a single .zibravdb file. This drastically reduces the memory footprints of cached volumetric data, enables faster viewport playback in Houdini through the Labs ZibraVDB Decompress SOP or the Labs ZibraVDB File Cache SOP.

Tip

Currently, ZibraVDB does not compress VDB sequences containing vector fields/channels, such as Color (Cd.*), velocity (vel.*), emission (scatter), etc. You can bypass this limitation by spliting and renaming your vector fields to float fields. Up to 8 float fields/channels can be compressed at once.

Vector VDB compression will be supported in the future.

About ZibraVDB

ZibraVDB is a VDB compression and real-time playback technology developed by Zibra AI. It can achieve approximately 30~100 times cache size reduction with minimal quality loss, with even higher compression rates planned for future updates. The proprietary output file format, .zibravdb, captures an entire VDB sequence in a single file, which can be loaded back into an application (such as Houdini or Unreal Engine), decompressed on the GPU in real time, and played back in the viewport at speeds multiple times faster than native solutions.

What ZibraVDB brings is a memory-efficient, high-performance volumetric data pipeline that seamlessly integrates into artists' existing, familiar workflows. It significantly reduces storage costs, improves volumetric data I/O speed, and ultimately makes it easier and more feasible to share working projects and distribute final products with high-quality volumetric effects.

ZibraVDB for Houdini is an open-source plugin contributed by Zibra AI to SideFX Labs. This plugin allows ZibraVDB’s compression, decompression, and fast playback capabilities to integrate smoothly into Houdini’s native volumetric workflows.

The compressed output can also be used directly with ZibraVDB for UE, enabling artists to create beautiful, high-fidelity volumetric effects in Houdini, and render them efficiently as 3D ray-marched volumes in real-time environments for virtual productions or video games.

Getting Ready

Activating License

To start using ZibraVDB for Houdini you need to get license key and activate it.

  1. You can get license key using ZibraVDB for Houdini Alpha form.

  2. Open houdini.env file in Houdini’s Documents folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\houdiniXX.X\houdini.env.

  3. Create zibravdb_license_key.txt file and paste your license key in it. The file can be located anywhere.

  4. Add string ZIBRAVDB_LICENSE_KEY = "path\to\zibravdb_license_key.txt" to the end of the file. Now the plugin should be activated.

Downloading ZibraVDB Core Library

When first using any ZibraVDB node you need to download core library. This needs to be done only once.

  1. Press Download Library button on this or any other ZibraVDB node.

  2. Accept Terms of Service.

  3. A pop-up window will appear confirming successful download.

Parameters

Render to Disk

Compresses VDB sequence to .zibravdb file and saves it to disk.

Background Render

Compresses VDB sequence to .zibravdb file and saves it to disk in background.

Controls…

Opens the control dialog to allow adjustments of the render parameters before rendering.

Valid Frame Range

Specifies whether to compress VDB in the frame range or a single frame.

Start/End/Inc

Specifies the range of frames to render (start frame, end frame, and increment). All values may be floating point values. The range is inclusive.

Render with Take

Uses the settings in a particular take while rendering. Choose Current to use the current take when rendering.

Out File

Path to the .zibravdb file VDB sequence will be compessed to. The node automatically creates missing directories in the path.

Quality

Specifies quality of the compressed effect. The lower quality is the higher compression rate will be.

Use Per Channel Settings

Allows to specify different compression quality for each channel.

Number of Channels

Allows to specify number of overrides for compression quality per channel. Not specified channels will use value from Quality parameter.

Channel Name

Name of the channel that will have custom compression settings.

Channel Quality

Specifies compression Quality for the specific channel.

Pre-Render Script

Run this script before any rendering.

Pre-Frame Script

Run this script before each frame.

Post-Frame Script

Run this script after each frame.

Post-Render Script

Run this script after all rendering.

Download Library

Downloads the core library for ZibraVDB. You need to press this button when using ZibraVDB for the first time.

Geometry nodes