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Natron

DESIGN
Velocity0.0

Open source compositing software for visual effects

natrongithub.github.io ↗

Natron's last real release was 2024, and the feed since then is build infrastructure.

compositingvfxdormantbuild-toolingplatform-maintenance
◆Current state
The most recent item in Natron's release feed is not a release at all — it is a pacman repository of MinGW build packages used to compile the compositor on Windows. Before that, the last substantive publication was a 2.5.1 pre-release in September 2024 carrying Qt deprecation cleanup, UNC path support and rendering fixes. The 2.6 line exists only as a 2023 test snapshot for Apple Silicon that was posted asking users whether it starts.
◆Where it's heading
This reads as a project sustained by maintainers keeping it compilable rather than one being developed. The through-line across the last several years is platform survival: off Python 2, off Qt4, onto Apple Silicon, onto compilers that default to C++17 — each change forced by the environment moving underneath it rather than chosen. Known issues listed in 2021 releases, including silently stalling renders, are still listed unchanged in later ones.
◆Prediction
Nothing in this feed indicates active feature development or a dated 2.6 release; the recent activity is build tooling, so the most likely next publication is another packaging or CI artifact rather than a user-facing version.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1y ago

    Natron MINGW pacman repository

    Not a Natron release — a published pacman repository of custom MinGW packages that CI uses to build Natron and its plugins on Windows. It appears in the release feed because the build artifact is published there, and it is the most recent thing the project has posted.

    View source ↗
  2. 1y ago

    2.5.1 pre2 adds Windows UNC paths and fixes mipmap render bugs

    The last substantive pre-release: Qt deprecation warnings cleared, UNC path support on Windows, and rendering bugs from intersecting rects at different mipmap levels fixed. Real work, but framed as maintenance on a version that never reached stable.

    View source ↗
  3. 3y ago

    2.6 test snapshot brings Apple Silicon builds, pending user testing

    A Qt5-based test snapshot offering Apple Silicon support, published as a request for testers rather than a release. It removed the Qt4 macOS bug where closing a window crashed the application, but shipped with known issues and no follow-up stable build in this feed.

    View source ↗
  4. 3y ago

    2.5.1 pre1: compiler and OpenGL build fixes

    Build and compatibility fixes: C++17-default compilers, pthread issues in glog, GLX context handling, and OpenGL support for plugins with dynamic GL. Entirely about keeping the source compiling.

    View source ↗
  5. 3y ago

    2.4.4 reworks the node-graph menu and allows expressions in project settings

    A maintenance release on the 2.4 line with a reworked node-graph right-click menu and support for simple expressions in project settings such as frame range. Published the same day as 2.5.0, which is where the larger change went.

    View source ↗
  6. 3y ago

    2.5.0 moves Natron's scripting from Python 2 to Python 3

    ⚡ SPARK

    2.5.0 moved Natron's scripting from Python 2 to Python 3, the change that separates the 2.5 line from 2.4. For a compositor whose automation is written by its users, this resets the compatibility baseline for every existing script.

    View source ↗