For the last decade, Notch has powered the world’s most ambitious live events — stadium tours, opening ceremonies, immersive experiences, and beyond. Built by artists, for artists. Pressure-tested on the most demanding global stages.
1.0 is GOLD. Say hello to 2026.1.
For 12 months, the Public Beta version of Notch 1.0 has been used by productions — small to stadium scale — proving itself under real-world pressure. During that entire time, we have shipped dozens of significant new features, refined core systems, and pushed performance further. Now, we’ve reached a point where this foundational release is feature-complete.
Today, Notch adopts a new, clearer versioning structure: we’re pleased to announce that 1.0 is now 2026.1. This isn’t Notch standing still. Notch keeps evolving. Major versions will ship throughout the year, but 2026.1 is the stable, production-ready foundation everything builds on.
Notch 2026.1 isn’t the future of real-time creation. It’s the standard.
Features that Change Everything
Real Fast to Real Time: NURA (Notch Unified Rendering Architecture) lets you move between four rendering modes — real-time performance to photorealistic quality — without rebuilding your scene. The new Sparse Multi-Grid Solver, Rigid Body Physics, Soft Bodies, and Cloth Deformers run at speeds and complexity that would break traditional workflows. Advanced ray tracing handles billions of polygons. Fidelity that used to be impossible is now not just attainable — it’s easy.
Scale to Any Canvas: From phone to stadium. Frame-perfect consistency every time. Render Queue, Command Line Renderer, Deterministic Rendering, Tiled Rendering — the infrastructure scales with you. One project file. Infinite deployment.
Introducing Two Big Things Today
Notch for After Effects (Beta): We’re very pleased to announce Notch for After Effects goes into public beta today. With this new plugin, you can embed Notch VFX Blocks directly into Adobe After Effects, enabling particles, simulations, and post-processing on your timeline — and much more. Motion designers get Notch’s GPU-accelerated speed without sacrificing their After Effects pipeline, complete with the full parameter control they’re accustomed to. You can use Notch for After Effects with a VFX or RFX license — or a dedicated Notch for After Effects machine license, which is being offered for free throughout 2026.
Notch Render Node: 2026.1 ships with the brand new Notch Render Node, a separate render application with a UI for rendering Notch scenes. In it, you can queue up multiple renders, just like you would in Builder. This also complements the Notch Command Line renderer for scripted renders. Starting today, users with an active VFX or RFX subscription will receive a free 90-day machine-locked license to get started with the Notch Render Node (to both GUI & CLI versions). And render farm licensing is coming soon — stay tuned.
Notch Where You Are: Global Events and Training
Catch Notch on the road in 2026 at in-person trainings; trade shows, including ISE, NAB, LDI, and more; regional meetups; and live streams. Connect with the team, see live demos, and learn from the artists behind the tool. Visit notch.one/events for the full schedule.
Our users have trusted Notch with the world’s biggest projects. That trust shapes everything we build. Notch 2026.1 now lets you scale larger, move faster, and create bolder.
“We’re the visual creation platform of the future — today,” adds Nick Rivero, Chief Commercial Officer at Notch. “Today, real-time becomes the standard, not the exception. Notch 2026.1 is a statement that this industry is ready to embrace creative fluidity in our one-stop-shop tool.”
Supporting Quotes
“Real-time creation isn’t the future anymore. It’s what we do now. Notch 2026.1 is proof that this industry is ready.” — Matt Swoboda, Founder
“We’re the visual creation platform for today .” — Nick, Chief Commercial Officer
About Notch
GPU-native. Built by artists, for artists. Headquartered in London. Battle-tested on the world’s biggest stages. Notch enables creators to work at the speed of ideation. No waiting. No compromise.
Stop rendering. Start creating. Notch.
Contact Notch here: sales@notch.one
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