Intel's Discontinued Open-Source OpenPGL Project Finds A New Home
•February 18, 2026
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Why It Matters
The transition safeguards a critical component of modern rendering pipelines, ensuring continued innovation and stability for the VFX and content‑creation ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- •Intel halted OpenPGL development in 2025.
- •ASWF will host OpenPGL as new working group.
- •Blender, Autodesk, V-Ray rely on OpenPGL.
- •Disney’s Zootopia 2 first film using OpenPGL.
- •Sebastian Herholz joins Blender after Intel tenure.
Pulse Analysis
OpenPGL emerged in 2022 as part of Intel's oneAPI Rendering Toolkit, offering a sophisticated path‑guiding algorithm that improves convergence speed and visual fidelity in Monte Carlo renderers. Its Apache 2.0 licence encouraged rapid integration across a spectrum of tools—from open‑source projects like Blender to commercial engines such as V‑Ray and Corona—making it a de‑facto standard for high‑quality global illumination. By addressing the stochastic noise inherent in path tracing, OpenPGL has become a hidden engine behind blockbuster visual effects, including Disney’s Zootopia 2, underscoring its industry relevance.
When Intel announced cost‑cutting measures in 2025, OpenPGL was among several open‑source initiatives placed on the back burner, leaving a maintenance vacuum that risked fragmenting the VFX software ecosystem. The Academy Software Foundation, a Linux Foundation‑hosted consortium dedicated to open‑source content‑creation tools, stepped in after a Technical Advisory Council vote. ASWF’s governance model provides a neutral, sustainable home, complete with transparent contribution processes, regular releases, and broader community oversight—key ingredients for long‑term project health.
The migration signals a broader shift toward collective stewardship of critical graphics infrastructure. With ASWF’s resources, OpenPGL can accelerate feature development, improve cross‑engine compatibility, and attract new contributors beyond Intel’s former internal team. For studios and freelancers alike, the continuity of a reliable path‑guiding library reduces technical risk and lowers total cost of ownership, enabling artists to focus on creativity rather than custom integration. As the demand for photorealistic rendering grows across film, gaming, and real‑time visualization, OpenPGL’s sustained evolution will remain a cornerstone of the open‑source rendering stack.
Intel's Discontinued Open-Source OpenPGL Project Finds A New Home
Intel OpenPGL Finds a New Home at the Academy Software Foundation
Back in 2022 Intel announced OpenPGL as an open‑source library for path guiding to help enhance the quality of path‑based renderers. With time Blender began making use of OpenPGL and other industry interest and adoption. Unfortunately, Intel quietly ended work on OpenPGL in 2025 but has now fortunately found a new home.
The Apache 2.0‑licensed Intel Open Path Guiding Library was started as part of the Intel (oneAPI) Rendering Toolkit and found use not only by Blender but also OpenMoonRay as well as reportedly in commercial offerings from Autodesk, Corona, Cinema 4D, V‑Ray, and more. But amid cost‑cutting at Intel over the course of 2025, OpenPGL development ceased as one of many open‑source projects Intel cut back on.
Intel’s OpenPGL repository on GitHub hasn’t been archived or formally discontinued but hasn’t seen any commits in the past eight months. It turns out indeed that it’s no longer being developed.
Intel dropping OpenPGL development was confirmed in this ticket:
“The project was initiated in 2022 by Intel as part of the Intel oneAPI Rendering Toolkit, but was recently discontinued due to restructuring and shifting priorities. Given the project’s widespread adoption and usefulness to the VFX industry, we want to bring OpenPGL under the ASWF umbrella.”
Following recent voting by the Technical Advisory Council (TAC), the OpenPGL project is now being picked up by the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF). The Academy Software Foundation is the Linux Foundation‑hosted project for advancing open‑source in the content‑creation industry. It’s a great fit for OpenPGL development moving forward.
The OpenPGL is becoming a new working group within the ASWF. This PDF slide deck laid out the case for OpenPGL at the foundation. Interestingly, it also notes Disney’s Hyperion making use of Intel OpenPGL and that Zootopia 2 was the first released movie to use this former Intel software project. Sebastian Herholz, who had worked at Intel as the main OpenPGL developer, is also mentioned as soon joining Blender.
At least now this former‑Intel, widely‑used open‑source project will be able to live on at the Academy Software Foundation.
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