Today, in a move aimed at fostering collaboration and innovation in the realm of 3D content creation, powerhouse companies Pixar, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, and NVIDIA have joined forces to announce the establishment of the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD). This partnership, backed by the Joint Development Foundation (JDF), a subsidiary of the Linux Foundation, is set to accelerate the standardization, evolution, and growth of Pixar's Universal Scene Description (USD) technology.

The overarching goal of the alliance is to standardize the 3D ecosystem by enhancing the capabilities of Open Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD). By encouraging greater interoperability among 3D tools and data, this coalition will empower developers and content creators to describe, assemble, and simulate extensive 3D projects while catalyzing a broader range of 3D-enabled products and services.

Born from the innovative minds at Pixar Animation Studios, OpenUSD serves as a potent technology for describing 3D scenes, facilitating robust interoperability between tools, data, and workflows. Widely recognized for merging artistic expressions and optimizing film content production, OpenUSD's strength and adaptability make it an ideal platform for addressing the demands of emerging industries and applications.

The Alliance will embark on the formulation of detailed specifications outlining the features of OpenUSD. This endeavor will foster increased compatibility, broader acceptance, seamless integration, and the inclusion of OpenUSD in the standards set by other regulatory bodies. JDF, a subsidiary of the Linux Foundation, has been chosen as the project's home due to its ability to facilitate open, efficient, and effective development of OpenUSD specifications while providing a pathway for recognition by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

AOUSD will also serve as the principal forum for collaboratively defining enhancements to the technology across the industry. The alliance extends an invitation to numerous companies and organizations to join its ranks, shaping the future of OpenUSD.

Steve May, Chief Technology Officer at Pixar and Chairman of AOUSD, remarked, "Universal Scene Description was invented at Pixar and forms the technological foundation of our state-of-the-art animation pipeline. OpenUSD, built on years of research and application within Pixar film production, has transcended its origins to impact not only film, visual effects, and animation but also other industries increasingly reliant on 3D data for media exchange. With the announcement of AOUSD, we embark on the exciting next step: the continued development of OpenUSD as a technology and its ascension as an international standard."

Guido Quaroni, Senior Director of Engineering, 3D&I at Adobe, stated, "At Adobe, we believe in providing artists with a range of flexible and powerful solutions that operate across a multitude of devices. Utilizing a common 3D data representation throughout the creative process multiplies the value of individual packages and devices. OpenUSD has been crafted to be one of these 'multipliers,' and we're delighted to see such a diverse group of companies come together to support this innovative and open technology."

Mike Rockwell, Vice President of the Vision Products Group at Apple, affirmed, "OpenUSD will accelerate the next generation of AR experiences, from artistic creation to content delivery, ushering in a broader array of applications for spatial computing. Apple has actively contributed to USD's development, making it a pivotal technology for the groundbreaking visionOS platform and the new developer tool Reality Composer Pro. We look forward to propelling its evolution into a widely adopted standard."

Gordon Bradley, Fellow, Media & Entertainment at Autodesk, noted, "Whether creating CG worlds, digital twins, or delving into the 3D web, content creators require a unified method for collaboration and data exchange across tools, services, and platforms. Autodesk is pleased to support the Alliance for OpenUSD as it propels 3D interoperability for visual effects, animation, and beyond, aligning with our vision to aid customers in designing and shaping a better world."

Guy Martin, Director of Open Source and Standards at NVIDIA, added, "OpenUSD offers 3D developers, artists, and designers a comprehensive foundation to tackle large-scale industrial, digital content creation, and simulation workloads with wide multi-app interoperability. This alliance represents a unique opportunity to accelerate global OpenUSD collaboration, developing formal standards across industries and initiatives to realize 3D worlds and industrial digitalization."

The AOUSD's executive members will speak at the Academy Software Foundation's Open Source Days on August 6 and the Autodesk Vision Series at SIGGRAPH on August 8 at 1:00 PM PT in Room 404A.

For more information about AOUSD and how to get involved, visit www.aousd.org. Those interested can also participate in the USD-focused panel discussion on August 6, 2023, through the Academy Software Foundation's website.

About Apple
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple's five software platforms - iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS - provide a seamless user experience across all Apple devices and empower people with groundbreaking services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple's more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to creating the best products on Earth and to leaving the world better than they found it.

About the Joint Development Foundation
The Joint Development Foundation (JDF), part of the Linux Foundation family, provides the entrepreneurial and legal infrastructure enabling organizations to develop technical specifications, standards, data sets, and source code. JDF projects like the Ultra Ethernet Consortium, the Alliance for Open Media, the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, and the Overture Maps Foundation are creating innovative markets, driving change, and advocating for an open participation and licensing policy. For more information, visit jointdevelopment.org.

About the Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and industry adoption. Together with the worldwide open-source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training, and events to scale any open-source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at linuxfoundation.org.

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