
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 ...
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...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...