# Live Blender render previews

> Check finished frames before the job ends. Stop early when a camera, asset, add-on, or output pass is wrong.

- Canonical HTML: https://superlumin.al/live-previews
- Markdown endpoint: https://superlumin.al/live-previews.md
- Structured page data: https://superlumin.al/live-previews.json
- Primary image: https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/temporal-refine-frame-order-2026.png
- Published: 2026-07-29
- Last updated: 2026-08-06
- Author: Superluminal Engineering

## Quick answer

Inspect finished Blender frames, play available proxies, open original EXR layers, and read frame logs while later frames still render.

### Key benchmark facts

| Fact | Value | Context | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Frame state | Finished, active, and queued | The frame grid shows each frame's current state. |  |
| Sequence review | Playback before completion | Temporal Refine renders widely spaced frames first. |  |
| Original inspection | Output, layer, pass, channel, exposure | Original mode reads finished output files instead of thumbnails. |  |
| Original download | During active rendering | The add-on retrieves finished output files while later frames continue. |  |

## Data access

- [This page as structured JSON](https://superlumin.al/live-previews.json)

- Every chart below includes a full-resolution PNG and its underlying values as a Markdown table.

- Every screenshot below is embedded with its alt text, caption, and full-resolution URL.

## Related documentation

- [Product availability](https://superlumin.al/docs/availability): See which Superluminal features are available now, experimental, or visible as coming-soon previews.
- [Manage jobs and download output](https://superlumin.al/docs/blender-addon/manage-and-download): Refresh and inspect project jobs in Blender, open the web detail view, and reliably download completed frames.
- [Web app](https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui): Navigate Superluminal projects, render jobs, detailed frame review, billing, account settings, Market, and support.
- [Previews, outputs, and retention](https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui/outputs): Distinguish web previews from original render output, download safely through Blender, and plan around current retention.
- [Browse and manage render jobs](https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui/render-jobs): Search, filter, compare, duplicate, pause, resume, and delete jobs from a project's current job browser.

## Complete report

Superluminal shows completed Blender frames while the rest of the job renders. You can find a wrong camera, missing texture, or broken cache before more nodes repeat the problem.

![Superluminal job overview with Blender frames, progress, cost, and render status](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-overview.png)

*The job overview keeps frame state, progress, cost, and preview controls together.*

The job page combines the frame sequence, selected-frame details, timing, machine information, and logs. Stop the job when the output is wrong.

The [interface comparison](/compare/render-farm-interfaces) scored eight monitoring features across nine services. Only Superluminal confirmed every one.

## Frames from across the sequence arrive first

Temporal Refine starts with widely spaced frames. It then fills the gaps until every frame is complete.

![Temporal Refine frame order for frames 1 through 10 across four passes](https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/temporal-refine-frame-order-2026.png "Temporal Refine shows the sequence early")

*Example order for a ten-frame range. The first pass returns frames 1 and 9. [Open the full-resolution PNG](https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/temporal-refine-frame-order-2026.png).*

#### Underlying data: Temporal Refine shows the sequence early

| Pass | Frames added |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | 1, 9 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 3, 7 |
| 4 | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 |

This order helps reveal camera cuts, animation changes, and cache problems earlier than a first-to-last queue.

## The frame grid shows each state

Each frame appears as finished, active, or queued. Select a frame to open its preview, render time, node, and log.

![Superluminal frame grid with finished, active, and queued Blender frames](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-frame-grid.png)

*Each cell shows a frame number, preview, and current state.*

The [job details guide](/docs/web-ui/job-details) explains the grid and the selected-frame panel.

## Play the available sequence

Play or scrub the frames that have arrived. The frame timeline shows which frames are still missing.

Use the layer selector to inspect available view layers and passes without leaving the player.

![Superluminal preview playback controls with frame counter and state timeline](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-preview-controls.png)

*Playback controls move through every available frame.*

![Superluminal preview showing the Classroom Normal render pass](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-render-layers.png)

*Choose Composite, Albedo, Depth, Normal, or UV in the sequence player.*

## Inspect the original output

The web preview is a smaller copy for quick review. **Original** mode opens the completed output file.

For supported OpenEXR files, the inspector shows layers, channels, dimensions, pixel values, a histogram, a waveform, and a vectorscope.

![Superluminal original output inspector showing a finished OpenEXR frame and data controls](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-original-inspector.png)

*The original viewer shows output, layer, pass, channel, and exposure controls.*

The [output inspection guide](/docs/web-ui/outputs) explains the display and data controls.

## Read the frame log

The selected frame's log records missing paths, add-on import failures, device errors, and render stages. Search and severity filters narrow the results.

See [project dependencies](/dependencies) for missing files and [add-on support](/addons) for activation errors.

![Superluminal selected-frame log with search, severity, navigation, and download controls](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/web/job-logs.png)

*Search and severity filters find the relevant log event.*

## Download while rendering

**Download as frames finish** saves completed original files while other nodes continue rendering. An interrupted transfer can resume.

![Superluminal terminal downloading finished frames during an active Blender render](https://superlumin.al/docs/images/terminal/terminal-download-live.png)

*The downloader waits for new frames and can resume an interrupted transfer.*

See [manage and download jobs](/docs/blender-addon/manage-and-download) and the [measured delivery flow](/how-superluminal-is-so-fast).

## Sources

| # | Source | Type | Checked | URL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Superluminal job details documentation | Product documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui/job-details |
| 2 | Superluminal output documentation | Product documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui/outputs |
| 3 | OpenEXR documentation | Official format documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://openexr.com/en/latest/ |
| 4 | Render farm benchmark dataset, July to August 2026 | First-party benchmark evidence | 2026-08-05 | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json |