Pixar Animation Studios Receives Prestigious Award for Universal Scene Description technology
Pixar Animation Studios has been honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a Scientific and Technical Award for their groundbreaking creation of Universal Scene Description (USD). This proprietary technology, developed by Pixar, has become the standard across the industry and has revolutionized the production workflow of 3D scenes.
The Recognition of Pixar’s Technological Innovation
The Academy recognized the outstanding achievement of Pixar and the individuals behind the creation of USD. F. Sebastian Grassia, Alex Mohr, Sunya Boonyatera, Brett Levin, and Jeremy Cowles will be honored for their exceptional design and engineering work on Pixar’s USD technology. USD is the first open-source scene description framework that accommodates the full production workflow, fostering collaboration across studio pipelines.
The Versatility and Impact of USD
USD’s versatility and maturity are demonstrated by its robust engineering and advanced design, particularly its versatile layering system and highly efficient crate file format. As a result, USD has been widely adopted as the de facto interchange format for 3D scenes in the motion picture industry. This recognition from the Academy highlights the significant impact of USD in facilitating alignment and collaboration across the industry.
The Power of Pixar’s USD in Film Production
Developed by Pixar, USD allows for the robust and scalable interchange of 3D scenes, making it possible to seamlessly integrate various assets, sources, and animations in film production. The technology has empowered Pixar’s engineers to work closely with artists to create innovative tools, pipelines, and technologies that shape the studio’s films. Locations, characters, and every image in Pixar films are built on top of USD, emphasizing its fundamental role in their creative process.
The Future of USD and Collaboration in 3D World-building
Pixar continues to invest in the future of USD, aiming to enhance its capabilities and collaborate with the growing USD community, new industries, and partners. With the support and investment from The Walt Disney Company, Pixar is designing and deploying the next generation of features for USD and its imaging framework Hydra. The fact that USD is open source further encourages its adoption and potential for solving the challenges of collaboration in 3D world-building and asset delivery at scale.
Pixar’s Legacy of Technological Innovation
Having a long history of pioneering and foundational computer graphics technologies, Pixar believes that USD has much more to offer in addressing the evolving challenges of collaboration in a three-dimensional world. The prestigious recognition from the Academy further solidifies Pixar’s position as an industry leader in technological innovation.
Explore our interview to learn more about the origins of USD and its role in revolutionizing the animation industry.
Analyst comment
Positive news. The market for 3D animation and film production will benefit from Pixar’s innovative Universal Scene Description (USD) technology. USD’s versatility and adoption as the industry standard interchange format will continue to facilitate collaboration and alignment across the industry. Pixar’s investment in enhancing USD’s capabilities and collaboration with the growing USD community will further drive its adoption and potential for solving collaboration challenges in 3D world-building.
