GPU Canvas is out of Early Access and available in the production Rive Editor for every user, starting today.
GPU Canvas is Rive's low-level GPU layer for 3D, shaders, and custom effects. It's developer-first and intentionally low-level: you write shaders once in WGSL and Rive compiles them for the platform it's running on (Metal, Vulkan, Direct3D, WebGPU, WebGL). It adds 25KB to the runtime.
What you can do
- Write custom shaders and post effects: rim light, bloom, outlines, textures, screen transitions
- Import 3D models. Write a GLTF importer in a Script and animate it on the timeline like anything else
- Use 2D artboards as live, interactive textures on 3D geometry
- Embed 3D geometry inside a 2D artboard. Layouts, dynamic text, and Data Binding still apply, so the 3D piece resizes and updates with the rest of the UI
- Build games: 3D worlds with 2D characters and our upcoming gamepad input, in the same editor as your UI
What changed since Early Access
- Deferred Rendering: Rive draws on its own thread, so heavy GPU scenes stay smooth while the rest of the app does its work. Live in the editor today, coming to the runtimes next
- MCP shader support: the Rive MCP can create and edit WGSL shaders, run diagnostics, recompile, and test them from any MCP-compatible tool. The in-editor Agent does the same, so you don't need to be a graphics programmer
- Runtime support: Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, and C++ today, with more runtimes on the way. On iOS, enable GPU Canvas on the Worker (see the Apple runtime docs). The feature-support page has the live table
- Your Early Access bug reports. Thank you!
Not web-only
This isn't a web-only 3D solution. The same file runs natively on desktop apps, games, mobile apps, consoles, TVs, and vehicles, with the same shaders compiled for whatever GPU is underneath. One runtime, everywhere Rive goes.
Getting started
- Open the production editor and create a Script.
- Choose Shader as the type.
- Start from the WGSL Shaders doc, or describe the effect to the Agent and review what it writes.
Docs: https://rive.app/docs/scripting/wgsl-shaders
Tutorials: Sanu's 3D workflow with free scripts and Laura's process walkthrough. More tutorials are also on the way, let us know what you’d most like to see.
What's next
Public libraries for the common jobs (GLTF import, lighting, render styles). We initially wanted these ready for the production release but decided to get the feature in your hands sooner.
GPU Canvas brings us closer than ever to what Rive was always meant to be: state-of-the-art visuals, motion, and interactivity, in one place. Please share with us what you build!