Your renders, in your pocket.
RenderBuddy keeps an eye on every render, simulation and cache on your workstation, and tells your phone how it's going. Live progress, the current frame, and a push the moment it finishes or fails.
In beta · Windows 10 and 11 · iOS and Android
Unreal Engine 5.1–5.8
Houdini 19.5–21
Blender 3.0+
Windows 10 / 11
Set it up once. Then walk away.
Install the Agent and a plugin
The Agent lives in your Windows tray. The plugin sits inside Unreal, Houdini or Blender and reports to it.
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Scan the QR code
Open the app, tap Pair a machine and scan the code the Agent shows. No ports to open, nothing to configure. The code also hands your phone the key for end-to-end encrypted previews.
Get on with your day
Progress, frames and alerts follow you. Check in from the couch, the train or bed.
See exactly where it is.
Frame, percentage, time left, and the machine's CPU, GPU and VRAM while it works. Follow several workstations from one list.
- Renders, simulations, caches and TOP cooks, with Houdini's work items node by node
- Live numbers stream only while the app is open, so an idle machine costs nothing
Know the moment it's done. Or the moment it isn't.
Every push starts with the machine's name, so you know which one is talking.
- Render started, finished, failed, paused or cancelled, with the reason for a failure in the app
- Black frames in the output, caught in the first frames (Unreal checks every frame)
- Not enough disk space for the frames a Houdini job still has to write
- The app stopped responding mid-render
- The machine went offline or RenderBuddy was closed during a render, and when it's back online
Preview. Stop. Start.
Grab the frame that's rendering right now, stop a render that went wrong, or start a new one without walking back to your desk.
- Preview the current frame, end-to-end encrypted: only your phone can open it
- Stop a render from your phone
- Start an Unreal render: a Movie Render Queue preset and a level sequence, or a whole saved queue
- Start a watched Houdini node: a render, cache, simulation or TOP cook, with another take if you like
Your PC knows when you're watching.
The Agent shows what your phone sees: the cloud connection, whether the app is open on this machine, the last thing you asked it to do, and every app it's following.
- Pair with a QR code. It stays paired and renews itself.
- Day and Night follow your Windows setting
- Plugins talk to it only on this computer
RenderBuddy Agent
RenderBuddy Agent
Get RenderBuddy
Three small pieces: the Agent on your PC, a plugin in each app you render with, and the app on your phone.
Agent for Windows
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit
Plugins
Unreal Engine 5.1–5.8 · Houdini 19.5–21 · Blender 3.0+
Phone app
iPhone and Android
Want to know the day it's out? Join the Discord.
Free while in beta. See the pricing planned for launch.
Good to know
Does RenderBuddy upload my scenes or project files?
No. It sends the state of the render (progress, frame numbers, time left), your machine's load, and a small preview image of the current frame when you ask for one. The preview is removed when the render finishes. Your .uproject, .hip and .blend files never leave your PC.
Can anyone else see my frames, even RenderBuddy?
No. When you pair by scanning the QR code, every preview is encrypted on your PC with AES-256-GCM, using a key that reaches your phone only through that QR code. Our servers, Firebase and Google only ever store unreadable data, and your phone refuses a preview that isn't encrypted or is out of date. If you pair by typing the code instead, previews still work but aren't end-to-end encrypted, and the app says so. More on privacy and security.
Do I need to open ports or change my network?
No. The Agent connects out over your normal internet connection, so it works behind home routers and studio firewalls. The plugins only talk to the Agent on the same computer.
Will it slow down my renders?
The plugins listen to events your app already raises during a render, and the Agent sends updates only when something changes. Live numbers stream only while you have the app open. Houdini previews are made by the Agent at the lowest priority, so your render keeps the CPU.
Can I follow more than one machine?
Yes. Pair each workstation or render node once and they all show up on the app's dashboard.
What does it run on?
The Agent runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit). The app is for iPhone and Android. Plugins cover Unreal Engine 5.1–5.8, Houdini 19.5–21 and Blender 3.0 and later.