A path tracer for Nuke that keeps instances instanced.
Instance Render (CPU/GPU)
First submitted: 25 August 2026
Author: Marty Blumen
Website: https://www.martyblumen.com/
Compatible Nuke versions: 14.0 or later
Compatibility: Source
InstanceRender
A path tracer for Nuke that keeps instances instanced.
Version 0.20.0 — Nuke 14.1–17.1 — Windows 64-bit — MIT
InstanceRender renders USD and Classic 3D scenes while preserving instancing through the acceleration structure. A UsdGeomPointInstancer or instanceable prim becomes a prototype plus transforms, keeping memory from scaling with the number of copies.
Highlights
CPU path tracing with Embree 4 and GPU rendering with OptiX, using the same shading kernel.
Native Nuke USD and Classic 3D inputs.
Real instancing through the BVH, including motion-blurred instances.
USD materials, lights, cameras and textures.
OpenVDB volumes with absorption, scattering, self-shadowing and emissive grids.
Catmull-Clark and bilinear subdivision with creases.
Points, curves and analytic primitives.
Nuke particles rendered as instanced spheres.
Per-instance colour, opacity and material overrides.
Cryptomatte by object, material and individual copy.
Extensive AOVs including depth, normals, motion vectors, IDs, albedo, position, shadows and light groups.
Deep output, including volume depth segments.
Progressive viewer refinement.
Nuke 17.1 Hydra render delegate support, with instancing preserved.
Lighting & Volumes
Includes dome, distant, point/sphere, rectangle, disk and cylinder lights, plus ShapingAPI controls and IES profiles.
Volumes support temperature-driven blackbody emission, intensity emission, multiple scattering, self-shadowing and emissive grids.
Noise Control
Includes radiance clamping for firefly-heavy renders and an OptiX AI denoiser using albedo and normal passes.
Compatibility
Nuke 14.1, 15.x, 16.0, 16.1, 17.0 and 17.1 on Windows 64-bit.
USD scene input is supported from Nuke 16.0 onward; earlier versions use the Classic 3D front end. Separate builds are provided for each Nuke minor version.
Installation
Run the included installer, restart Nuke, and find the node under 3D > InstanceRender or Tab > InstanceRender.
Nuke 17.1 Hydra support requires the supplied Hydra launch setup or PXR_PLUGINPATH_NAME.
Not in this release
Light filters and portals.
Textured displacement.
See also: CopyToPoints, the companion instancing and scattering tools that feed geometry, particles and volumes into InstanceRender.
Opensource
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marten Blumen
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
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furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
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OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
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