# AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb

OpenVDB - Sparse volume data structure and tools

Repository: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openvdb
Homepage: http://www.openvdb.org/
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: openvdb, openvdb-development, c-plus-plus, volume-rendering, voxels, voxelizer, voxel, dreamworks, fx, vfx
Last push: 2026-08-25T22:15:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 80/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 43, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4891, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 303, "gap_med": 89.5, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3382, forks 767 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:58.572490+00:00)

## What it is
OpenVDB is an Academy Award-winning open-source C++ library providing a hierarchical data structure and tool suite for efficiently storing and manipulating sparse volumetric data on 3D grids. Originally developed by DreamWorks Animation for film VFX, it is now maintained by the Academy Software Foundation and includes NanoVDB for GPU support and OpenVDB AX, a DSL for volumetric manipulation.

## Use cases
- store and manipulate sparse volumetric data in C++
- voxelize meshes and other geometry into 3D grids
- render volumes like smoke and fire in a VFX pipeline
- run fluid simulations on sparse grids
- process level sets with CSG, filtering, and compositing operations
- work with volumetric data on the GPU via NanoVDB
- read and write .vdb volume files

## When to choose
- you need high-performance sparse 3D volume storage with fast random access
- you are building VFX, simulation, or rendering tools involving volumes
- you need GPU-accelerated volumetric processing with NanoVDB
- you need a mature, industry-standard volume format compatible with Houdini

## When to avoid
- you only need simple dense voxel grids for a small game
- your project cannot handle C++ build complexity and dependencies
- you need a lightweight header-only solution with no compilation

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: graphics, simulation, image-processing, serialization, file-system
- domain: graphics, simulation, developer-tools
- platform: cpp, cross-platform, python
- tags: sparse-volumes, voxels, vfx, nanovdb, level-sets, houdini, volumetric-data, game-development, gpu

## Member repositories
- AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb (main) score 80

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:58.572490+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:39:39.766572+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:58.572490+00:00, sha 99d4bd5b525b)
  - homepage: http://www.openvdb.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:33:17.857811+00:00, sha 19d2c01df3e9)
  - site_page: https://www.openvdb.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T09:33:17.867374+00:00, sha 3df39992f4ff)
  - site_page: https://www.openvdb.org/documentation (fetched 2026-08-29T09:33:17.869780+00:00, sha b2282337549a)
  - site_page: https://www.openvdb.org/documentation/doxygen/changes.html (fetched 2026-08-29T09:33:17.871857+00:00, sha fec0a66ed4ce)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.