Asset Modularity and Instancing

In this module, Asset Modularity and Instancing, we will explore the principles and practical workflows of asset modularity, content reuse, and instancing in OpenUSD. Through guided exercises and real-world scenarios, participants will build modular asset hierarchies using OpenUSD’s model kinds and composition arcs and leverage scenegraph instances and point instancers to build efficient and scalable 3D scenes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you’ll be able to:

• Explain how OpenUSD empowers asset modularity

• Explain the concept of instancing in OpenUSD and its relationship to the composition system

• Implement scenegraph instancing and understand the creation of implicit prototypes

• Create and manage point instances

• Explain how point instancing differs from scenegraph instancing

• Design nested instancing hierarchies for complex scene structures

• Utilize variant sets to implement geometric and material variations in instanceable assets

• Analyze and optimize scene performance using instancing techniques

• Apply instancing strategies to real-world production scenarios, such as creating large-scale environments

Module Outline

This module contains the following lessons:

• Overview
• Setup
• Asset Modularity
• What Is Instancing?
• Authoring Scenegraph Instancing
• Refining Scenegraph Instances
• Authoring Point Instancing
• Refining Point Instances
• Instancing FAQ

Prerequisites

Completion of all lessons in:

• Setting the Stage

• Scene Description Blueprints

• Composition Basics

• Beyond Basics

• Creating Composition Arcs

• Asset Structure Principles and Content Aggregation

An understanding of fundamental programming concepts in Python 3 such as functions, loops, dictionaries and arrays and Python 3 related libraries. Understanding of OpenUSD concepts and basic OpenUSD API’s.

Tools, Libraries and Frameworks Used

OpenUSD