Houdini 20.5 Nodes Geometry nodes

Labs ZibraVDB File Cache (Alpha) 0.2 geometry node

Compresses an OpenVDB sequence to disk into a single ZibraVDB file, and decompresses ZibraVDB file from disk to an OpenVDB sequence.

On this page
Since 20.5

This node combines the functionality of the ZibraVDB Compress node and the ZibraVDB Decompress node to let you compress VDB sequences into .zibravdb files and then read those compressed files from disk.

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

Load from Disk

When this is on, the node reads its output from the compressed .zibravdb file, rather than output its input. When you click Save to Disk or Save to Disk in Background (on the Caching tab) to compress VDB sequence to .zibravdb file, the node automatically turns this checkbox on.

Reload Cache

Force a reload of the .zibravdb file from disk and decompress needed frame again.

File

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

Caching

Cache

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.

Sequence

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.

Save Filters

Delete Attributes

A space separated list of attributes to delete from the VDB before compressing it. The names will match at primitive and detail level.

Delete Groups

A space separated list of groups to delete from the VDB before compressing it.

Number of Casts

If you know you don’t need full precision for certain attributes in the input, this multi-parm lets you convert the attributes to lower-precision types before saving the geometry. Set the number or click the plus or minus buttons to set the number of conversions to do.

Class

In a “cast” multiparm instance, the level (vertex, point, primitive, or detail) of the attribute(s) you want to convert to lower precision to save space.

Attributes

In a “cast” multiparm instance, a space-separated list of attributes at the given level (set by the Class parameter above) you want to convert to lower precision to save space.

Precision

In a “cast” multiparm instance, the precision to convert the matching attributes down to, to save space.

Compression Settings

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.

Advanced

Save

Render with Take

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

Scripts

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