brew

Install openvdb with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Sparse volumetric data processing toolkit. Version 13.0.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install openvdb

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install openvdb

MacPorts ports tree · graphics/openvdb/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add openvdb

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · openvdb · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libnanovdb-dev

Debian stable package indexes · libnanovdb-dev · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install openvdb

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · openvdb · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#openvdb

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/op/openvdb/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S openvdb

Arch Linux sync databases · openvdb · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install libopenvdb13_0

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libopenvdb13_0 · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Sparse volumetric data processing toolkit

Project links

Commands and aliases

nanovdb_print
nanovdb_validate
vdb_print

history

Project history and usage

OpenVDB is an Academy Award-winning C++ library and file format for sparse volumetric data: fog, smoke, clouds, water simulations, level sets, particles, and other 3D grids where most voxels are empty. It began inside DreamWorks Animation and became one of the visual-effects world's standard volume interchange and processing packages.

Project history

OpenVDB was developed at DreamWorks Animation, with the project site naming Ken Museth, Peter Cucka, Mihai Alden, and David Hill as primary original developers. DreamWorks released it to the open source community in August 2012 after using the underlying sparse-volume technology in feature-film production.

The original emphasis was efficient level-set storage and manipulation, but the public library expanded into a broader volume toolkit: tree-based sparse grids, file I/O, filtering, meshing, topology operations, Python bindings, and command-line inspection tools. NanoVDB later extended the ecosystem with a compact, GPU-friendly representation for read-only sparse volumes.

In October 2018 the Academy Software Foundation accepted OpenVDB as its first hosted project, moving governance from a studio-maintained open source release toward a neutral foundation home for film and animation infrastructure.

Adoption history

OpenVDB spread because it solved a production problem shared by many studios: dense 3D volumes are expensive to store, move, and render, while effects work often touches only a sparse subset of space. ASWF described it as an industry-standard technology for more detailed volumetric imagery such as water, clouds, ice, and liquid simulations.

The package became a common dependency in digital-content-creation and rendering stacks because tools can exchange volumes through VDB files instead of inventing private cache formats. The ASWF announcement cites adoption for feature-film effects at DreamWorks, and the project appears in package managers as both a development library and a set of utilities such as vdb_print and NanoVDB validators.

How it is used

Developers and technical directors use OpenVDB to create, read, transform, filter, combine, resample, and serialize sparse volumes. In package-manager form it is usually installed as a native library for DCC applications, renderers, simulation tools, converters, and pipeline scripts rather than as a standalone end-user application.

The command-line tools matter for pipeline debugging: package users can inspect VDB metadata and validate NanoVDB data without launching a full DCC program.

Why package nerds care

OpenVDB is a package-nerd classic because a specialized movie-studio data structure escaped into the general open source supply chain. It brings heavy C++ dependencies, ABI concerns, Python bindings, file-format compatibility, and graphics-pipeline expectations into ordinary distro and Homebrew packaging.

It also shows how VFX infrastructure packages mature: studio origin, open source release, broad toolchain adoption, and foundation governance under ASWF alongside projects such as OpenColorIO, OpenEXR, OpenTimelineIO, and Open Shading Language.

Timeline

2012-08-03: DreamWorks Animation announces the open source release of OpenVDB.
2018-10-23: ASWF announces OpenVDB as its first hosted project.
2020: NanoVDB is introduced as a compact GPU-oriented companion representation within the OpenVDB ecosystem.
2024: OpenVDB 12.0 relicenses the project from MPL-2.0 to Apache-2.0 after approval from major copyright holders.

Related projects

OpenVDB is closely related to NanoVDB, Houdini-style volume workflows, renderers and simulation systems that consume VDB caches, ASWF infrastructure projects such as OpenEXR and OpenColorIO, and DCC applications that need a shared sparse-volume interchange format.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 5 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 2 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure
`nanovdb_print`	cli	global executable
`nanovdb_validate`	cli	global executable
`vdb_print`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version13.0.0

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv13.0.0

https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:openvdb
Version	13.0.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/openvdb
Homepage	https://www.openvdb.org/
Repository	https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb
Upstream docs	https://www.openvdb.org/documentation
License	MPL-2.0
Source archive	https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openvdb/archive/refs/tags/v13.0.0.tar.gz
Dependencies	boost, c-blosc, jemalloc, openexr, tbb
Build dependencies	cmake, doxygen
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	openvdb
Version Scheme	0
Revision	1
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libnanovdb-dev 10.0.1-2.3+b1

Sparse Volume Processing toolkit - NanoVDB - dev