At SIGGRAPH Asia in Sydney, the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) has revealed a comprehensive roadmap to establish an international, cross-industry standard for harmonising diverse data types essential for describing 3D scenes and environments.
Established by Pixar, OpenUSD stands as a high-performance 3D scene description innovation, boasting unparalleled interoperability among tools, data, and workflows. Inaugurated in August, AOUSD has set its sights on solidifying OpenUSD’s position as a global standard, complete with written specifications delineating its evolution and growth.
The primary objective of the two-year roadmap is to define the structural essence of OpenUSD’s low-level data, ensuring seamless portability and interoperability across a spectrum of software platforms and devices. This foundational definition will streamline access and consistent utilisation of OpenUSD data for developers and users, fostering a predictable operational landscape.
“The new roadmap shared today shows the progress the alliance is making and unveils milestones and planned expansions over the next year to ensure interoperability and collaboration,” said Steve May, Chief Technology Officer of Pixar and Chairperson of AOUSD.
AOUSD’s vision extends beyond the core specifications with plans including the establishment of rules and guidelines for higher-level data types such as 3D meshes and materials. The alliance anticipates the final approval of the core specifications by the conclusion of 2025.
Dozen new members
AOUSD also welcomed 12 new general members, including industry titans such as Epic Games, Meta and Unity. This surge in membership underlines the soaring demand for interoperability in 3D workflows across diverse sectors.
It has also forged a liaison relationship with Khronos Group to fortify community support through shared ideas and resources. This partnership aims to synchronise the development of OpenUSD and Khronos’ glTF, facilitating a more coherent roadmap to avoid unnecessary disparities and enhance interoperation between the two technologies.
Image: NVIDIA
Entelechy Asia 