
3D content creators are clamoring for NVIDIA Instant NeRF, an inverse rendering tool that turns a set of static images into a realistic 3D scene.
Since its debut earlier this year, tens of thousands of developers around the world have downloaded the source code and used it to render spectacular scenes, sharing eye-catching results on social media.
The research behind Instant NeRF is being honored as a best paper at SIGGRAPH - which runs Aug. 8-11 in Vancouver and online - for its contribution to the future of computer graphics research. One of just five papers selected for this award, it's among 17 papers and workshops with NVIDIA authors that are being presented at the conference, covering topics spanning neural rendering, 3D simulation, holography and more.
NVIDIA recently held an Instant NeRF sweepstakes, asking developers to share 3D scenes created with the software for a chance to win a high-end NVIDIA GPU. Hundreds participated, posting 3D scenes of landmarks like Stonehenge, their backyards and even their pets.
Among the creators using Instant NeRF are:
Through the Looking Glass: Karen X. Cheng and James Perlman San Francisco-based creative director Karen X. Cheng is working with software engineer James Perlman to render 3D scenes that test the boundaries of what Instant NeRF can create.
The duo has used Instant NeRF to create scenes that explore reflections within a mirror (shown above) and handle complex environments with multiple people - like a group enjoying ramen at a restaurant.
The algorithm itself is groundbreaking - the fact that you can render a physical scene with higher fidelity than normal photogrammetry techniques is just astounding, Perlman said. It's incredible how accurately you can reconstruct lighting, color differences or other tiny details.
It even makes mistakes look artistic, said Cheng. We really lean into that, and play with training a scene less sometimes, experimenting with 1,000, or 5,000 or 50,000 iterations. Sometimes I'll prefer the ones trained less because the edges are softer and you get an oil-painting effect.
Using prior tools, it would take them three or four days to train a decent-quality scene. With Instant NeRF, the pair can churn out about 20 a day, using an NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPU to render, train and preview their 3D scenes.
With rapid rendering comes faster iteration.
Being able to render quickly is very necessary for the creative process. We'd meet up and shoot 15 or 20 different versions, run them overnight and then see what's working, said Cheng. Everything we've published has been shot and reshot a dozen times, which is only possible when you can run several scenes a day.
Preserving Moments in Time: Hugues Bruy re Hugues Bruy re, partner and chief of innovation at Dpt., a Montreal-based creative studio, uses Instant NeRF daily.
3D captures have always been of strong interest to me because I can go back to those volumetric reconstructions and move in them, adding an extra dimension of meaning to them, he said.
Bruy re rendered 3D scenes with Instant NeRF using the data he'd previously captured for traditional photogrammetry relying on mirrorless digital cameras, smartphones, 360 cameras and drones. He uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GPU to render his Instant NeRF scenes.
Bruy re believes Instant NeRF could be a powerful tool to help preserve and share cultural artifacts through online libraries, museums, virtual-reality experiences and heritage-conservation projects.
The aspect of capturing itself is being democratized, as camera and software solutions become cheaper, he said. In a few months or years, people will be able to capture objects, places, moments and memories and have them volumetrically rendered in real time, shareable and preserved forever.
Using pictures taken with a smartphone, Bruy re created an Instant NeRF render of an ancient marble statue of Zeus from an exhibition at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum.
Stepping Into Remote Scenes: Jonathan Stephens Jonathan Stephens, chief evangelist for spatial computing company EveryPoint, has been exploring Instant NeRF for both creative and practical applications.
EveryPoint reconstructs 3D scenes such as stockpiles, railyards and quarries to help businesses manage their resources. With Instant NeRF, Stephens can capture a scene more completely, allowing clients to freely explore a scene. He uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU to run scenes rendered with Instant NeRF.
What I really like about Instant NeRF is that you quickly know if your render is working, Stephens said. With a large photogrammetry set, you could be waiting hours or days. Here, I can test out a bunch of different datasets and know within minutes.
He's also experimented with making NeRFs using footage from lightweight devices like smart glasses. Instant NeRF could turn the low-resolution, bumpy footage from Stephens walking down the street into a smooth 3D scene.
Find NVIDIA at SIGGRAPH Tune in for a special address by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and other senior leaders on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 9 a.m. PT to hear about the research and technology behind AI-powered virtual worlds.
NVIDIA is also presenting a score of in-person and virtual sessions for SIGGRAPH attendees, including:
The Next Evolution of Universal Scene Description (USD) for Building Virtual Worlds
Real-Time Collaboration in Ray-Traced VR
Meet the Researchers: How to Use NVIDIA Kaolin in Your 3D Deep Learning Workflows
The Future of Extended Reality: How Immersion Will Change Everything
Learn how to create with Instant NeRF in the hands-on demo, NVIDIA Instant NeRF - Getting Started With Neural Radiance Fields. Instant NeRF will also be part of SIGGRAPH's Real-Time Live showcase - where in-person attendees can vote for a winning project.
For more interactive sessions
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...
23/07/2026
This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...
23/07/2026
As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization
Ballplayers chatting with announ...
23/07/2026
Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...
23/07/2026
Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...
23/07/2026
TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...
23/07/2026
LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...
23/07/2026
Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...
23/07/2026
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...
23/07/2026
Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...
23/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...
23/07/2026
Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...
23/07/2026
Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...
23/07/2026
Quickly creates reverse reverb effects
Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...
23/07/2026
New engines, resonators, effects & more
Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...
23/07/2026
SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...
23/07/2026
NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance
23 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has launched ...
23/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...
23/07/2026
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...
23/07/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name ...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digi...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile
Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...
23/07/2026
Wuppertal July 23, 2026
Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year.
Ce...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...