September 1, 2021

Owned by Cory Omand
Last updated: Sept 01, 2021 by Philippe Sawicki
3 min read

Video Conference Link

Attendance

Cory Omand - WG Chair, Pixar/TWDS
Alan Blevins, Dreamworks
Alex Gerveshi, AWS
Alex Schwank, Apple
Allen Hastings, Foundry
Aloys Baillet, Animal Logic
Andy Biar, Warner Bros.
Anandhaiyappan, Botvfx
Arash Keissami, Nira.app
Ashwin Bhat, Autodesk
Ben Chung-Hoon, Google
Bill Spitzak, Dreamworks Animation
Carlos Felipe Garcia Murillo
Carson Brownlee, Intel
Charles Fleche, Rodeo FX
Chris Rydalch, Blue Sky Studios
Daniel Heckenberg, Animal Logic
David Aguilar, Walt Disney Animation
David Larsson, Adobe
Deke Kincaid, Digital Domain
Dhruv Govil, Apple
Doug MacMillan, Tippett Studio
Eoin Murphy, NVidia
Eric Enderton, NVidia
Fabrice Macagno, Animal Logic
Francois Lord, Rodeo FX
Gary Jones, Foundry
Gordon Bradley, Autodesk
Henrik Edstrom, Autodesk
Henry Vera, DNEG
James Pedlingham, Foundry
Jeff Bradley, Dreamworks
Jerran Schmidt, Autodesk
John Hood, SPI
John Mertic, Linux Foundation
Jordan Soles, Rodeo FX
Jordan Thistlewood, Foundry
JT Nelson, Pasadena Open Source Consortium/SoCal Blender group
Kimball Thurston, Weta
Larry Gritz, SPI
Lee Kerley, SPI
Lucas Morante
Luca Scheller, RiseFX
Mark Elendt, SideFX
Mark Final, Foundry
Mark Tucker, SideFX
Mathieu Mazerolle, Foundry
Matthew Levine, WDAS
Matthew Low, DWA
Michael B. Johnson, Apple
Michael Kass, NVidia
Michael Min, Netflix
Niall Redmond, Foundry
Nick Porcino, Pixar
Paul Molodowitch, NVIDIA
Pete Segal
Phil Sawicki, NVIDIA
Pier Paolo Ciarravano, MPC
Richard Lei, Weta
Rob Stauffer, SideFX
Robin Rowe, CinePaint
Roman Zulak, NVIDIA
Rory Woodford, Foundry
Sean Looper, AWS
Sean McDuffee, Intel
Seb Schmidt, Weta
Sergio Rojas, Arena World
Serguei Kalentchouk, Apple
Shawn Dunn, Epic Games
Sue Sauer, Sunrise Productions
Steve Hwan
Thomas Kumlehn

Agenda

  • Sub-working group updates

    • USD Camera (Michael M.)

      • Netflix Camera engineer (Chris) created camera samples

      • Looking to share data that was collected in the near future

      • Next planning scheduled for next week, looking to potentially onboard folks from

    • USD Web Visualization (Roman Z.)

      • Autodesk demonstrated great progress in integrating USDZ into the Autodesk Forge Viewer

      • Autodesk looking forward to open-sourcing the solution, looking for feedback from the community

  • USDWG Leadership (comand)

    • Looking to rotate the USD WG Chair as a replacement for Cory

      • Main goal is to bring a new perspective, new energy

      • Cory to remain available for support and assistance (as a TAC sponsor)

    • Low overhead job: focus mostly on keeping meetings going, maintaining the agenda on track, etc.

    • Q/A on Working Group needs:

      • TAC has been trying to narrow the definition of a Working Group (time-bound, eventually comes to an end). How does the USD WG fit this definition?

        • USD WG sits relatively outside of this definition, as it focuses on supporting community-lead initiatives rather than attempting to solve a specific problem.

        • No pressure from the TAC to change the operating model of the USD WG

        • USD WG seen as a great forum to bring information, issues and value to the attention of the community

      • Connection to Pixar seen as needed to continue driving the conversation

        • Pixar still "owns" USD: new proposals and changes go through Pixar. Direct link is valuable.

        • Community engagement to drive ideas is still essential.

      • Cory's contribution in leading the conversations, asking the right questions was seen as beneficial to the group

    • Proposed duration of Chair

      • Consensus around about 1 year (as opposed to rotating 3-months period, seen as too short to gain traction)

      • Potential need for a co-chair, to act as replacement to cover vacations, time off, etc.

        • Lowers the risk of bias in the decision-making process

        • Helpful in taking notes during meetings

        • Increases the breadth of the representation in the industry (gaming, AEC, etc.)

    • Individuals proposing their candidacy:

      • Alexander Schwank

      • Nick Porcino

      • Michael Min

    • Transition to take place at the next meeting session

  • Call for additional topics

    • Proposal from Autodesk for a potential sub-working group: MaterialX, and how it could work better in the community

      • Presented how MaterialX flows through USD, and how to expand it for more workflows

      • Current issue: Translation is lossy and limiting

      • Proposal: Improve the UsdMtlx plugin, and improve runtime workflows performance (by avoiding code re-generation on changes)

      • Also part of the problem space: color management, build Vulkan support in Hydra

      • SideFX, Adobe signaled interest in the topic

      • Ask: Who would be interested in the topic? What would be the best way to approach this topic?

        • Question to be brought up to the TAC for guidance/advice, given that MaterialX overlaps with a few other topics and WG

        • Reach out to Gordon Bradley or Henrik Edstrom of Autodesk to address feedback or signal any interest

        • Gordon Bradely to present plan in a next session

  • Closing/Action Items

License: CC BY 4.0, Copyright Contributors to the ASWF USD working group.