Create a Maya USD model

Import and export support

Maya's round-trip USD import and export process lets artists import USD data as intrinsic Maya data or export intrinsic Maya data as USD data. Artists can use Maya's tools and workflows to create and export models for their USD pipeline and re-import it to make further edits, if necessary. This method implements:

• Material import (USD Import Options) and export support (USD Export Options)
• Command line support for import (mayaUSDImport) and export (mayaUSDExport) operations
• Import and export support for face component tags of meshes (note: a componentTag is encoded as a GeomSubset primitive)
  • Note: Edge/Vertex component tags are currently unsupported.
• Import and export of Maya lights (directional lights, point lights, spot lights and area lights) and light attributes (color and intensity, light-object linking, shadow linking and falloff focus, cone angle, and IES profiles)
  • Light illumination is supported and lights currently can illuminate in the Viewport
• Import and export of cameras are currently supported in the Viewport.
• USD File Formats: Exporting USD file types in ASCII (.usda, human-readable) or binary format (.usd or .usdc, encoded machine-readable)

Import and export commands

If you are an experienced Maya user and would like to access specified import and export commands with USD, you can find the applicable flags and how to use them here. This document contains the common commands that are shared by the various USD plug-ins made by Autodesk and Pixar.

Other feature support via commands:

• The sets command is supoorted in Maya. Note: Not all things that are sets support objects in the Maya interface.
• Custom primtype import/export translator creation support, in python.

Related Concepts: See variant, variantSet, instancing, metadata in the Pixar USD Glossary.