name: Alliance for OpenUSD description: >- The Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) is a Linux Foundation project dedicated to promoting interoperability of 3D content through Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD). Founded by Pixar, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, and NVIDIA, AOUSD standardizes 3D content ecosystems for film, gaming, architecture, industrial design, and the metaverse. OpenUSD provides a high-performance extensible software platform for collaboratively constructing animated 3D scenes with schemas for geometry, shading, lighting, physics, and volume rendering. image: https://kinlane-productions2.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg tags: - 3D - Interoperability - Linux Foundation - Metaverse - OpenUSD - Specification - Standards - USD - Visual Effects created: "2026-03-16" modified: "2026-04-19" url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/aousd/refs/heads/main/apis.yml specificationVersion: '0.16' apis: - name: OpenUSD C++ API description: >- The OpenUSD C++ API is the primary interface for working with Universal Scene Description data. Provides access to USD core (scene composition and asset management), UsdImaging and Hydra (rendering infrastructure), schema APIs for geometry (UsdGeom), shading (UsdShade), lighting (UsdLux), physics (UsdPhysics), volume (UsdVol), and the Shader Discovery and Registry (SDR). Available as an open-source library under the Apache 2.0 license. image: https://kinlane-productions2.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg humanURL: https://openusd.org/release/api/index.html baseURL: https://openusd.org tags: - 3D - C++ - File Format - Library - OpenUSD - Rendering - Scene Description properties: - type: Documentation url: https://openusd.org/release/api/index.html - type: APIReference url: https://openusd.org/release/api/index.html - type: GettingStarted url: https://openusd.org/release/tut_usd_tutorials.html - type: GitHubRepository url: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD - type: Glossary url: https://openusd.org/release/glossary.html contact: - FN: AOUSD Community url: https://aousd.org/ - name: OpenUSD Python Bindings description: >- OpenUSD provides comprehensive Python bindings for all major C++ modules, enabling scripting and pipeline integration in Python-based DCC workflows. Python bindings cover the full USD API including pxr.Usd, pxr.UsdGeom, pxr.UsdShade, pxr.UsdLux, pxr.UsdPhysics, pxr.Sdf, and Hydra. Used extensively in production pipelines at Pixar, ILM, and other studios. image: https://kinlane-productions2.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg humanURL: https://openusd.org/release/api/index.html baseURL: https://pypi.org/project/usd-core/ tags: - 3D - OpenUSD - Python - Scene Description properties: - type: Documentation url: https://openusd.org/release/api/index.html - type: SDK url: https://pypi.org/project/usd-core/ - type: GitHubRepository url: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD contact: - FN: Pixar Animation Studios url: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD maintainers: - FN: Kin Lane email: info@apievangelist.com X: apievangelist url: https://apievangelist.com common: - type: LinkedIn url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allianceopenusd - type: Portal url: https://aousd.org - type: Documentation url: https://openusd.org/release/index.html - type: GettingStarted url: https://openusd.org/release/tut_usd_tutorials.html - type: GitHubOrganization url: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios - type: GitHubRepository url: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD - type: JSONSchema url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/aousd/refs/heads/main/json-schema/aousd-usd-layer-schema.json title: USD Layer Schema - type: Vocabulary url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/aousd/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/aousd-vocabulary.yaml - type: Features data: - name: Scene Composition description: >- USD's composition arcs (references, payloads, variants, instancing, and specializes) enable non-destructive scene assembly from multiple asset layers with override workflows. - name: Schema-Driven Extensibility description: >- OpenUSD's schema system allows studios and tool vendors to extend the core specification with domain-specific schemas for physics, simulation, characters, and environments. - name: Hydra Rendering Architecture description: >- The Hydra rendering delegate architecture enables pluggable render backends including Storm (OpenGL), Arnold, RenderMan, and others. - name: Multiple File Formats description: >- OpenUSD supports human-readable ASCII (.usda), binary (.usdb), and packaged archive (.usdz) file formats for different use cases. - name: Asset Resolution description: >- The ArResolver system enables customizable asset path resolution for integrating USD with studio asset management systems. - type: UseCases data: - name: Film and Visual Effects Production description: >- Exchange complex animated scenes between DCC tools (Maya, Houdini, Blender, Katana) and render farms using OpenUSD as the common format. - name: Game Development description: >- Use OpenUSD as an interchange format between game engines like Unreal Engine and Unity and DCC content creation tools. - name: Architecture and Design Visualization description: >- Share 3D building models, materials, and lighting between architectural design tools and real-time visualization platforms. - name: Metaverse and XR description: >- Enable interoperability of 3D assets and scenes across XR platforms, spatial computing devices, and virtual world applications. - name: Industrial Digital Twins description: >- Represent complex mechanical assemblies and simulation environments for industrial digital twin applications using USD schemas. - type: Integrations data: - name: Autodesk Maya / 3ds Max description: >- Import and export USD files via Autodesk's official USD plugins for Maya and 3ds Max, enabling OpenUSD-based pipelines. - name: SideFX Houdini description: >- Native USD integration in Houdini via LOPs (Layout Object Primitives) for creating and editing USD scenes and assets. - name: Apple Reality Composer Pro description: >- Apple's spatial computing tools use .usdz as the primary format for augmented reality and visionOS content. - name: NVIDIA Omniverse description: >- NVIDIA Omniverse is built on OpenUSD, using it as the foundation for collaborative 3D design and industrial digital twin workflows. - name: Pixar RenderMan description: >- RenderMan natively reads USD scenes, making it the primary production renderer for USD-based feature film pipelines.