Universal Scene Description

Learn

  • Introduction to USD
  • Terms and Concepts
  • Tutorials
    • Hello World - Creating Your First USD Stage
    • Hello World Redux - Using Generic Prims
    • Inspecting and Authoring Properties
    • Referencing Layers
    • Converting Between Layer Formats
    • Traversing a Stage
    • Authoring Variants
    • Variants Example in Katana
    • Transformations, Time-sampled Animation, and Layer Offsets
    • Simple Shading in USD
    • End to End Example
    • Houdini USD Example Workflow
    • Generating New Schema Classes
    • Creating a Usdview Plugin
  • Downloads and Videos
  • Products Using USD

Reference

  • API Documentation
  • Toolset
    • usdedit
    • usdcat
    • usddiff
    • usdview
    • usdrecord
    • usdresolve
    • usdtree
    • usdzip
    • usdchecker
    • usdfixbrokenpixarschemas
    • usdstitch
    • usdstitchclips
    • usddumpcrate
    • sdfdump
    • sdffilter
  • Specifications
    • UsdPreviewSurface Specification
      • Goal
      • Core Nodes
      • USD Sample
      • Other Notes
      • Changes, by Version
    • Usdz File Format Specification
      • Purpose
      • Usdz Specification
      • Packaging Considerations for Streaming and Encapsulation
      • MIME Type
      • Toolset
  • Proposals
    • Adapting UsdLux to Accommodate Geometry Lights
      • Introduction and Background
      • Design Space and Issues
      • UsdLux LightAPI OM
      • Proposal and Behaviors
    • Adapting UsdLux to the Needs of Renderers
      • Background and Goals
      • Foundational Technologies in USD
      • Proposals
    • Asset Previews in USD
      • Introduction
      • Proposal
      • Schema
    • Asset Resolution (Ar) 2.0
      • Background and Goals
      • Tasks
      • Rollout and Transition
      • Proposed API
    • Coordinate Systems in USD Proposal
      • Purpose
      • Requirements
      • Proposed API Schema
      • USD Sample and Analysis
      • Projections, Cameras, and CoordSysAPI
    • Generalizing Connectable Nodes Beyond UsdShade
      • Background and Goals
      • Proposal
      • Discussion
    • Render Settings in USD Proposal
      • Purpose and Scope
      • Overall Design and Concerns
      • Concrete Schemas
      • Prim and Scene Organization
      • Workflow Considerations
      • Examples
      • Discussion and Questions
    • Rigid Body Physics in USD Proposal
      • Purpose and Scope
      • Overall Design Concerns
      • Concrete Schemas
      • Examples
    • Schema Versioning in USD
      • Introduction
      • Proposal for Per-Schema Versioning
      • Risks, Questions, Limitations
      • Guidelines for Schema Versioning
      • Pixar Examples, Past and Future
      • Possible Code Generation Changes to Support Versioning
    • Stage Variable Expressions
    • UsdAudio Proposal
      • Goal
      • Initial Requirements
      • Proposed Prim Schema
      • USD Sample
      • Other Notes/Questions
    • UsdShade Material Assignment
      • Background
      • Basic Proposal for Collection-Based Assignment
      • Analysis of Collection-Based Binding
      • Integration
      • Remaining Questions
  • FAQ
    • General Questions
      • What is USD and why should I use it?
      • What programming languages are supported?
      • Isn’t USD just another file format?
      • So what file formats does USD support?
      • What file format is my .usd file?
      • What character encoding does .usda support?
      • How can I convert USD files between binary and text?
      • What data types are supported?
      • What does a USD file look like?
    • Subtler Aspects of Scene Description and Composition
      • I have some layers I want to combine: Should I use SubLayers or References?
      • What happens to “overs” when their underlying prim is moved to a different location in the scenegraph?
      • When can you delete a reference (or other deletable thing)?
      • What’s the difference between an “over” and a “typeless def” ?
      • Why Can’t I Instance a Leaf Mesh Prim Directly?
    • Build and Runtime Issues
      • Why Isn’t Python Finding USD Modules?
      • Why Isn’t This Plugin Being Built?
      • Why Isn’t My App Finding USD DLLs and Plugins on Windows?
  • Performance Considerations
    • Use an allocator optimized for multithreading
    • Use binary “.usd” files for geometry and shading caches
    • Package assets with payloads
    • What makes a USD scene heavy/expensive?
  • Third Party Plugins
    • RenderMan USD Imaging Plugin
      • Configuration
      • Developer
    • Alembic USD Plugin
      • Known Limitations

Collaborate

  • Source Code @ GitHub
  • OpenUSD Forum
  • Contributing
    • Contributor License Agreement
    • Coding Conventions
    • Pull Request Guidelines
    • Git Workflow
      • Github Issues
  • Contributors

Press

  • Open Source Release
  • Open Source Announcement
Universal Scene Description
  • Proposals

Proposals

Note

New proposals will no longer be added here. Proposals should now be posted and reviewed at OpenUSD-proposals

  • Adapting UsdLux to Accommodate Geometry Lights
  • Adapting UsdLux to the Needs of Renderers
  • Asset Previews in USD
  • Asset Resolution (Ar) 2.0
  • Coordinate Systems in USD Proposal
  • Generalizing Connectable Nodes Beyond UsdShade
  • Render Settings in USD Proposal
  • Rigid Body Physics in USD Proposal
  • Schema Versioning in USD
  • Stage Variable Expressions
  • UsdAudio Proposal
  • UsdShade Material Assignment
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