Master OpenUSD Plugin Development: A Practical Guide with NVIDIA Examples

Unlock the full potential of Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) by mastering plugin development! This guide leverages NVIDIA's OpenUSD plugin samples to provide you with actionable insights and practical examples for creating custom schemas, file format plugins, dynamic payloads, and Hydra 2 scene indices. Prepare to build powerful extensions that revolutionize your 3D workflows.

Jumpstart Your OpenUSD Plugin Journey

This repository is specifically designed to accelerate your learning and development of OpenUSD plugins. You can quickly explore and adapt the provided samples to fit your unique environment.

• Fork and Customize: Tailor the examples to your specific needs.
• Bring Your Own Build: Seamlessly integrate with your existing OpenUSD builds by specifying their location in the configuration.

Essential Building Blocks: OpenUSD Plugin Types

This guide covers essential plugin types, each with practical examples:

• OpenUSD Schemas: Customize data structures to perfectly match your needs.
• File Format Plugins: Extend USD's ability to read and write custom file formats.
• Dynamic Payloads: Load scene data on demand, optimizing performance and memory usage.
• Hydra 2 Scene Indices: Integrate custom data sources and algorithms into Hydra's rendering pipeline.

Setting the Stage: Quick Start Guide

Ready to dive in? Here's how to get your environment set up:

1. CMake Prerequisite: Ensure CMake 3.23.1 or higher is installed and accessible in your system's PATH.
2. Build and Deploy: Utilize the provided tools to build libraries and configure your environment allowing you to load sample scenes inside usdview.
3. Platform Consideration: The provided commands best suit a Linux environment or git-bash on Windows.

Building Custom Schemas: A Step-by-Step Approach

Learn to create and package custom schemas within NVIDIA Omniverse Extensions. Refer to this comprehensive guide [link is missing in the original text, but it would be here]. Unlock the power to describe your data in a way that works best for your workflow, boosting efficiency and collaboration.

Real-World Examples: Unleashing the Power of OpenUSD

Explore these sample scenes to witness the capabilities of different plugin types:

Dynamic Payloads: Load on Demand

Open resources/scene.usda in usdview. Right-click "MetropolitanMuseumOfArt" and select "Load". This demonstrates how to load data dynamically, fetching department and object information from the Metropolitan Museum of Art via REST APIs. This dynamic loading greatly helps in managing large datasets.

Hydra 2: Geospatial Precision

Open resources/wgs84/deutschebahn-rails.usda in usdview. This example showcases how to accurately resolve WGS84 coordinates in Hydra 2, displaying a reference map for verification. This is great for large geospatial datasets

Hydra 2: Metrics Assembler Mastery

Open resources/metrics_assembler.usda in usdview. Experiment with the metersPerUnit value in metrics_assembler_2.usda to observe its impact when it differs from the root stage's value.

Hydra 2: Harnessing NVIDIA Warp

Explore these examples to see NVIDIA Warp in action with scene indices:

• warp_demo_mesh.usda: Deform a mesh using Warp.
• warp_demo_sim.usda: Simulate physics against sphere particles with Warp.

Warp is a powerful tool for high-performance deformation and simulation.

Project Structure: Navigating the Repository

Understand the organization of the repository:

• /deps: Dependencies.
• /src: Source code.
  • /hydra-plugins: Hydra plugin examples.
  • /kit-extension: Kit extension examples.
  • /usd-plugins: USD plugin examples.
    • /dynamicPayload: Dynamic payload plugin example.
    • /fileFormat: File format plugin example.
    • /schema: Schema plugin example.
• /tools: Build tools.

The /src directory is where you'll find the example code for each OpenUSD plugin type which are essential to creating a useful USD plugin. The remaining files support the building and execution of plugin libraries. The best way to develop a great OpenUSD plugin is to get started, so jump in today!

Leveraging Packman: Streamlining the Build Process

NVIDIA's Packman tool simplifies the build process by providing pre-built packages:

• Customized OpenUSD 22.11 build for Kit.
• Stock OpenUSD 23.05 builds.
• Python distributions (3.10/3.11).
• Build support files for schema generation and plugin building (nvopenusdbuildtools).

Understanding Derived Artifacts

Folders starting with _ are derived artifacts and can be safely deleted:

• _build: Generated build artifacts.
• _install: Built and staged plugins.
• _venv: Virtual environment for running samples in usdview.