USDSkel: Optimized Character Rigging

Together with Paul Kanyuk (Crowd TD at Pixar Animation Studios), we’ll look into the backstory of USDSkel, including how he became involved in its development.

Next, we’ll explore USDSkel imports of example characters into major digital content creation (DCC) software and onto an iPhone using USDSkel. Finally we’ll also take a look at Wonder Dynamics, a new markerless motion capture tool that exports USDSkel and how Python creates new opportunities.

Put simply: UsdSkel is Pixar’s USD module for defining and animating skeletal rigs—complete with schemas (structure), queries (reading), and APIs (writing and manipulation). It’s a bridge between your DCC (Digital Content Creation) tools and USD pipelines, ensuring skinned meshes and joint animations can move smoothly across different tools and engines: OpenUSD.

Why It Might Matter to Your Workflow

If you’re working with rigged characters, skeletal animations, or skinned meshes, understanding UsdSkel gives you the power to:

• Implement or tweak performance-sensitive parts like caching skeleton data or remapping joints.
• Export rigs from tools like Maya or Blender into USD while preserving joint structure and animations.
• Bind skeletons to geometry and control joint influences programmatically.
• Efficiently reuse skeleton definitions through instancing, thanks to USD’s layer system.
• Query skeleton and animation data within custom USD tools or pipelines.

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