Joint Development Foundation (JDF) is also leading the project that will allow greater compatibility and integration
pixar, Adobe, apple, Autodesk, and NVIDIA, together with the Joint Development Foundation (JDF), an affiliate of the Linux Foundation, announce an alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) to promote the standardization, development, evolution and growth of Pixar's Universal Scene Description (USD) technology.
The alliance seeks to standardize the 3D ecosystem by advancing the capabilities of the Open Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD). By promoting greater interoperability of 3D tools and data, the alliance will enable developers and content creators to describe, compose and simulate large-scale 3D designs and build an ever-expanding range of 3D-enabled products and services.
Created by Pixar Animation Studios, OpenUSD is a high-performance 3D scene description technology that provides robust interoperability between tools, data and workflows. Already known for its ability to collaboratively capture artistic expression and streamline the production of cinematic content, the power and flexibility of OpenUSD make it an ideal content platform to address the needs of new industries and applications.
The alliance will develop written specifications detailing OpenUSD's capabilities. This will allow for greater compatibility and wider adoption, integration and implementation, as well as allowing for inclusion by other standardization systems in their specifications. The Linux Foundation's JDF was chosen to lead the project, as it will enable the open, efficient, and effective development of the OpenUSD specifications, while providing a path to recognition through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The AOUSD will also provide the first forum for large industry to collaboratively define technology enhancements. The alliance invites a wide range of companies and organizations to join and participate in shaping the future of OpenUSD.
“Universal Scene Description was invented by Pixar and is the technology foundation of our next-generation animation pipeline,” said Steve May, chief technology officer at Pixar and president of AOUSD. “OpenUSD is based on years of research and application in Pixar filmmaking. We open-sourced the project in 2016, and OpenUSD's influence now expands beyond film, VFX, and animation and into other industries that increasingly rely on 3D data for media exchange. With the announcement of AOUSD, we signal the next exciting step: the continued evolution of OpenUSD as a technology and its position as an international standard.”
“At Adobe, we believe in providing artists with a set of flexible and powerful solutions that run on a variety of devices,” said Guido Quaroni, senior director of 3D&I engineering at Adobe. “Leveraging a common 3D data representation during the creative process multiplies the value brought by each package and device. OpenUSD was created to be one of these 'multipliers' and we are excited to see a diverse group of companies come together to support this innovative and open technology.”
“OpenUSD gives 3D developers, artists and designers the complete foundation to work on large-scale digital and industrial content creation and simulation workloads with broad interoperability of multiple applications,” said Guy Martin, Director of Open Source and Standards from NVIDIA. “This alliance is a unique opportunity to accelerate OpenUSD collaboration globally, creating formal standards across industries and initiatives to create 3D worlds and industrial digitization.”
“Whether you're building CGI worlds, digital twins or looking to the 3D Web, content creators need a cohesive way to collaborate and share data across tools, services and platforms,” says Gordon Bradley, Senior Fellow Media and Entertainment from Autodesk. “Autodesk is excited to support the OpenUSD alliance as it drives 3D interoperability for visual effects, animation and more, and supports our vision of helping customers design and build a better world.”
“This partnership will be an excellent benefit for everyone working with this framework, after all OpenUSD offers a powerful engine for high-fidelity 3D worlds. As well as an expansive ecosystem for the age of AI and the metaverse. In addition, the automotive, health, manufacturing sectors, among others, are adopting the technology for various applications”, highlights Jomar Silva, NVIDIA developer relationship manager for Latin America.
Members of the AOUSD steering committee will speak at the Academy Software Foundation's Open Source Days on August 6 and at the SIGGRAPH conference in Autodesk Vision Series, on August 8, at 5 pm (Brasília time), in room 404A.
