2024 has been a tremendous year for the Render Network, highlighted by major growth milestones (including an over 3x usage increase), expansions to the network to provide support for a wider range of 3D tools and GPU computing services, and showcases of next generation creative workflows in AI, spatial computing, and holographic media.
Here’s a look back at Render Network highlights in 2024:
Burn Mint Equilibrium Scales + RENDER Upgrade
This year, Render Network community upgraded a majority of RNDR ERC-20 tokens to the new Solana SPL RENDER token, providing the foundations for the network to increase in efficiency and scalability, as well as implement protocol upgrades like the Burn Mint Equilibrium.
The upgrade to the RENDER SPL token allowed the network to rollout the Burn Mint Equilibrium early in 2024, providing mechanisms for network growth, including the ability to release Creator and Availability rewards that were key for network growth in the second half of the year.
Expansions to the Network
Throughout 2024, Render Network governance proposals were passed and implemented that expanded support for a wider range of 3D rendering tools and creator workflows on the network’s decentralized GPU computing platform, including:
- The Render Network Cinema 4D Wizard passed by the Render community in RNP-012 provides a more frictionless workflow for artists using Cinema 4D, the leading motion graphics pipeline, to access the Render Network’s near unlimited compute power. The Wizard provides easy push-button job exporting to the Render Network directly from the Cinema 4D interface, along with an artist-friendly scene checker that reviews jobs for errors to ensure they will run properly on the network.
- Render Network Integrates Redshift the leading biased GPU render engine, providing support on the Render Network for the two dominant GPU-accelerated render engines in motion graphics and visual effects, Octane and Redshift.
- Blender Cycles Beta Releases after being approved by the Render Network community in RNP-014, deepening the Render Network’s support for the largest 3D ecosystem, Blender, with native integration of their GPU render engine, Cycles. With Cycles joining Render, millions of Blender artists and developers can now access near unlimited high performance GPU cloud rendering from both Octane for Blender and Cycles workflows for free.
With these additions, including the forthcoming integration of the leading GPU renderer in studio VFX pipelines, Arnold Render, which was added to the network’s roadmap in RNP-016, the Render Network now supports most of the leading GPU rendering platforms. This enables artists to mix and match render engines frictionlessly based on a project’s aesthetic and technical needs, increases the interoperability of the network across 3D pipelines, and continues to expand the network’s decentralized growth.
Render Onboards New AI Compute Services
In 2024, Render took major strides in expanding the network’s decentralized GPU computing platform to support emerging generative AI workflows and services, synthesizing 3D and AI creation workflows into one unified pipeline. The year began with a series of RNPs to bring leading DePIN networks like Exabits and Prime Intellect as Compute Clients on the network, increasing the network’s utility beyond GPU rendering to support next generation AI compute workflows.
In the fall, the network released a set of expansions to the generative AI tools on the network by adding AI text-to-image generation services like Flux by BlackForest Labs, Dream Machine by Luma Labs, and Stable Diffusion by Stability AI. Accompanying these integrations, the network previewed upcoming Render Network support for RunwayML, Skybox 360 by Blockade Labs, and Topaz Labs’s industry leading AI upscaling pipeline
Upcoming versions of Octane released this fall previewed a future of content creation powered by Render that synthesizes 3D and AI creative workflows into one platform augmented by the network’s near unlimited high performance GPU compute. A new AI module in the Octane Node Graph brings leading generative AI text to image tools intuitively into Octane’s 3D creation interface. The update also included plans to run generative AI services like Topaz AI, Skybox 360, and other leading text-to-image generators on Render GPUs — with a python-based launcher in development to streamline distribution of AI workloads on the network.
An alpha version of Octane 2026.1 also featured a new neural rendering architecture built for the future of AI accelerated holographic rendering and spatial computing. These include features presented in Alpha builds of Octane like: Meshlets, Virtual Texture Streaming, Neural Radiance Caching, and 3D Gaussian Splatting, making it easier to create fully immersive holographic renders with augmentation from the Render Network’s compute platform.
Render Previews the Future of Decentralized AI
At major industry events, the Render Network community was updated on high level plans for how the network is approaching the fast moving field of generative AI and DePIN. During key conferences like Token 2049, Consensus, and Permissionless, and TechForum Argentina, Founder of the Render Network, Jules Urbach detailed how the network is focusing on ‘inference time compute’ — an evolution of the field of AI to focus more on more intensive inference processes that can run on decentralized GPUs.
Jules described the relative performance gains of increasing inference and fine tuning processes when compared to the diminishing returns of pre-training for new foundation models. He relayed how these processes of using ‘longer context windows’ to augment a LLM can be run on the consumer GPUs that the Render Network hosts, and therefore, are a focus for the network as it approaches the field of decentralized AI.
Read more about these developments in the network’s Fall Update.
The Future of Spatial Media — Powering The Archive
Throughout 2024, Render showcased the future of immersive and spatial media with a series of updates to The Archive. The year kicked off with The Archive releasing one of the first Apple Vision Pro immersive experiences — powered by Render — bringing a comprehensive archive of life-sized fully immersive U.S.S. Starship Enterprise models in spatial formats.
Updates to The Archive were expanded to other groundbreaking works of 20th century culture like 2001: A Space Odyssey — with 1:1 remakes of iconic sequences from the film rendered in ultra high resolution using the Render Network. A three-minute short film experience ‘ODYSSEYS’ captivated audiences, bringing 2001: Space Odyssey to life in a new immersive 3D format with virtual walkthroughs of key sets and sequences from the film were rendered on the network. 3D recreations of theThe Dawn of Man, monolith, the Discovery centrifuge, HAL 9000 superintelligence, stargate, and starchild sequences were then used to illustrate the remarkable visual effects of 2001, in a groundbreaking behind the scenes documentary feature 2001: Creating Kubrick’s Space Odyssey.
The year ended with a massive update to The Archive, the release of ‘765874:Unification’ — an 8-minute experience revisiting Captain Kirk’s final appearance on screen, produced for The Archive app on Apple Vision Pro. Unification introduced novel digital prosthetic and virtual production technologies to bring iconic characters Captain Kirk and Spock to life in ultra high fidelity combining live action performance with next generation rendering tools, powered by Render Network decentralized GPUs.
The video has already garnered over 7.5 million views on YouTube alone, and millions more views on social platforms, inspiring audiences with the possibilities of next generation storytelling technology to preserve iconic moments from essential 2oth century film and television works.
In addition to Archive productions, the Render Network community of the world’s leading 3D artists created groundbreaking immersive and spatial experiences powered by Render. The recent Anyma show at Sphere Vegas, has captivated audiences as the year closes with a look in the future of fully immersive live entertainment. Breathtaking sequences by Annibale Siconolfi were rendered at next generation resolutions on thousands of decentralized GPUs using the Render Network.
Render also empowered artists like Alex Pearce to push the boundary of ultra-realistic virtual production with 24,000 x 12,000 resolution renders used to create 3D environments for next generation virtual filmmaking.
In the words of Alex: “Render Network allows us to render 12K high res, high sample count, multiple passes in a very short amount of time that would otherwise take months to render on a single GPU.”
Render on the Global Stage
Render Network’s presence at major events like Mutek Montreal, IBC, Breakpoint, and Token2049 solidified its standing as a leader in DePIN, AI, and 3D media. These gatherings connected the Render team and community and served as destinations to expand partnerships across the 3D graphics and AI industries.
At BCON LA, IBC Amsterdam, and BCON Amsterdam, the Render Network team introduced the integration of Blender Cycles and support for the Blender ecosystem as a whole. Jules’s presentation at BCON2024 unveiled plans to make the Render Network and Octane for Blender free to millions of artists and developers in the Blender ecosystem, as well as showcased the future of 3D media blending virtual production, AI, and next generation digital rights management on Render.
The Render Network also sponsored a remarkable gathering of the world’s leading 3D artists in the first Digital Art Death Match hosted by Beeple. The immersive gallery experience and real time 3D ‘Everyday’ challenge was a preview into the future of networked 3D art creation and live entertainment.
This December, at the leading global arts festival, Art Basel, the Render Foundation announced $100,000 in grants to support Solana’s artists-in-residence program, and a new series of grants focused on supporting AI creators on the Render Network. During the event, Render showcased works created on the network by some of the world’s leading 3D artists, and Jules gave a detailed presentation going behind the scenes of the innovative digital prosthetic and virtual production technology used in ‘Unification’.
Ending the Year with Community and Growth
The Render Network community grew significantly this year, surpassing 200K followers on X, exceeding 40 million rendered frames, and increasing network usage by over three times in 2024, a major growth milestone for the network as it scales decentralized GPU computing.
Promotions to Maxon, Blender, and OctaneStudio+ artists expanded the network’s user base, setting the stage for a wider range of artists to leverage the network in 2025.
The year end Advent Calendar competition awarded over $40,000 in USDC grants to artists in daily prizes for artists leveraging the Render Network to create stunning renders for the holidays, encouraging integrating use of high performance GPU compute in their workflows.
Finally, the network closed with the Render Network community passing a series of RNPs that expand support for new 3D workflows like Arnold Render and Blender, and set the stage for Render Foundation ecosystem and growth initiatives in 2025.
As we celebrate Render Network’s 2024 achievements — made possible by an amazing community — we’re excited to step into 2025 with a continued commitment to empower artists and redefine the future of decentralized computing. Stay tuned for what’s next!
