USD version 0.12.0 is a preview release for beta. Visit the Autodesk feedback community to obtain this version. Get involved with USD development by visiting the official Autodesk MayaUSD GitHub repository.

Highlights

This release includes the following improvements:

• Adopted USD version 21.05
• Added support for standardSurface opacity Import/Export
• Added export roots functionality
• Added import/export support for lights

What's Fixed

Fixed Issues from GitHub
[GitHub 1169] Selection Highlighting in viewport 2.0 via UFE API causes a crash MAYA-112601
[Github 1588] USD import errors with USDz errors even on different usd formats MAYA-112854

General Fixed Issues
Make sure objects are selected after parenting MAYA-112126
Failed verification: !propName.IsEmpty() after parenting/ungrouping MAYA-112102

Known Limitations

The following list of limitations remains in flux as development is ongoing.

USD stage creation workflow limitations

See Create a USD stage for more information

• Switching selected object variant can cause sync issues

USD import and export workflow limitations

See USD import options and USD export options for more information

• Cameras have limited support during import/export
• The round-trip workflow is currently lossy (ie. contains a loss of information from compression)
• Mesh component level control is unsupported

USD materials workflow limitations

See USD import options for more information

• Duplicate Shader Nodes in the Materials dropdown of the USD File Type Specific Options Menu:

Loading the latest MayaUSD plug-in will provide the `UsdPreviewSurface` shader node. Loading a previous version of the plug-in will provide a `pxrUsdPreviewSurface` shader node. While both materials can import and export intrinsically to USD, loading both plugins into the same file will provide both nodes and create backward compatibility issues. The two nodes will correctly export to `UsdPreviewSurface`, but importing the scene back into Maya will choose the first registered node (ie. selection is dependent on plug-in load order).

-    **Workaround**: Have *only one* of the two aforementioned plug-ins loaded in Maya **or** ensure the *first* loaded plug-in is the preferred selection.

• USD core rendering backend HydraGL(Storm) is not fully supported in Maya (switching to Hydra render delegate from VP2 on a Maya scene can cause Maya to crash) - Workaround: To ensure Maya's native VP2 render delegate can support the materials of a file, verify that the file's meta data inputs are importing correctly in Maya by using USD View. Generally, to achieve similar material results to an original file, convert to the original materials used on import.