Natron fork - 3D system, Cycles renderer, deep, particles, and more! (Windows build)

Software Natron
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Hey all!

I’ve been building a fork of Natron this year and it’s at the point where I think it might be useful for some artists. I started this project as I wanted a free way to clean up and grade HDRIs, and it slowly grew into this Frankenstein. Here’s a video of some of the features.

Disclaimer: This fork is 100% vibe-coded, the docs, code, and most things in-between. I don’t have a background in CS or programming, and I don’t consider myself a TD. I also don’t have the time to write/audit all the docs and instructions manually. So, feel free to remove this post if it goes against any rules.

Core updates

  • Qt5 to Qt6 with PySide6

  • Python 3.14

  • OpenGL 2.0 to 4.3

  • OpenImageIO 3.1

  • OpenColorIO 2.5 with GPU ACES views in the viewer

  • OpenVDB 13

  • OpenEXR 3.4

  • Cycles 5 (forked to add deep EXR output, and only renders on the CPU)

The bundled OpenFX plugins are built from patched source, so the IO nodes understand OCIO v2 configs and the newer colorspace names.

Main nodes / features

None of these renderers are intended to replace hero objects rendered in proper DCCs. I thought they could be helpful for DMP/comp for BG/MG assets.

  • 3D viewport with gizmos: Card / Sphere / Cube / Cylinder, Alembic and OBJ geometry, PBR materials with texture maps, and a Megascans loader.

  • Particles: particle system with emitters, forces, spawn and collisions, rendered in ScanlineRender or Cycles (still in development).

  • CyclesRender: a quick way to render all scene objects, useful for single-frame tests.

  • CyclesRenderPass: more control for specific camera/trace/matte objects, has support for shadow and reflection catchers, use it for full-frame renders.

  • Volume3D: a basic volume box with noise controls for basic BG mist/clouds.

  • FastVolumeRender: a real-time GPU volume renderer that works with VDBs and the Volume3D. Need to add remapping settings.

  • Project3D: similar to other DCCs.

  • ScanlineRender: similar to other DCCs.

  • Deep: similar to other DCCs.

A few caveats

  • Windows only (might be possible to port to Linux).

  • I’m working full time, and I’m not a programmer, so expect rough edges and please report them.

I do plan on posting to reddit and other socials, but I wanted to get your thoughts first and to catch any major bugs/issues. Gives me time to work on other demos too.

Thanks!

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