Initial Release

General

  • Added support for iClone 7.93

  • Added support for Menu > Plugin > Omniverse > Export USD.

  • Added support for Export USD (Omniverse) in File > Export menu

  • Added support for Export USD in the Toolbar.

  • If the plugin is not installed then a message prompt will appear inviting you to visit the instruction website.

  • The export will output the main USD file along with other dependencies, such as a light, material, and motion folders, which will contain the associated MDL materials and textures.

  • Export USD (Omniverse) > Send to Server can now be used to directly save a file to Omniverse Nucleus Server.

  • Export USD > Export All / Selected allows you to export the entire scene or parts of a scene.

  • 60, 30, and 24 fps options are available for Export USD > Export Range > Motion FPS.

Character

  • All accompanying accessories, hair, cloth, shoes, and gloves will be exported with the individual character(s).

    • Does not include physics settings and collision shapes in this version.

  • Character related animations will also export to Omniverse, which include the following data sets:

    • Transforms, Motion Clips (Gestures, Motion Layers), Expressions, Visemes¹, and Accessory Animations.

    • Baked Constraint animations (Look At, Path Positions, Path Offsets, and Links).

    • Spring Effects² and Physics Rigidbodies².

      ¹. Does not include Viseme Voices.

      ². Spring Effects and Rigid bodies are baked into keyframe animations. Once they are brought into Omniverse their physics settings can not be adjusted.

      ³. Does not include visibility keys, material animations, and sound.

    Note

    The character should be exported with the animation for the best possible result. For example, animation applied from a standard proportion to a smaller character will give unexpected/erroneous results.

Prop

All child objects will be included with the exported prop(s).

Prop related animations will also export to Omniverse, which include the following data sets:

  • Transforms, Morphs¹, and Animations Clips.

  • Baked Constraint animations (Look At, Path Positions, Path Offsets², and Links).

  • Spring Effects³ and Physics Rigidbodies³.

    ¹. Morph animations are only available for bone-skinned mesh. ². Path Offset > Scale is not yet supported. ³. Spring Effects and Rigidbodies are baked into keyframe animations. Once they are brought into Omniverse their physics settings can not be adjusted. ⁴. Does not include visibility keys, material animations, and sound.

Material & Texture

  • Materials and texture files will also export with the character. Different MDLs will be given depending on the Export USD (Omniverse) > Material > Render Mode settings.

    • RTX - Real-Time: All Digital Human shaders and SSS materials will use the Omniverse PBR shader.

    • RTX – Interactive (Path Tracing): Digital Human shader Skin, Head, Tearline, Eye occlusion, and SSS will all use the Omniverse SSS shader. This is an overall visual improvement at the expense of additional system resources.

  • PBR, Digital Human, and SSS shaders sent to Omniverse from iClone and Character Creator will map corresponding textures and material attributes accordingly.

Note

  1. Omniverse Digital Human and SSS shaders only support RTX – Interactive (Path Tracing) mode at this time. Export USD (Omniverse) > Material Render Mode must be set to RTX – Interactive (Path Tracing) for materials to map correctly to Omni-DH and Omni_SSS shaders. If RTX - Real-Time is selected, then every material will map to Omni-PBR shaders.

  2. When a Digital Human character with SSS shader is exported in RTX – Interactive (Path Tracing) mode into Omniverse and the render mode is changed to RTX - Real-Time within Omniverse, then the SSS shader will not take effect and the Digital Human’s material will change to pure white or pure black without any of the original material attributes and details.

  3. White lines can appear when Shader > Subsurface Scatter Scale is set too high, or when an improper SSS map is used, such as a solid white texture.

Camera

Camera attributes like Transform, Focal Length, Angle of View, and Film Back will be mapped to cameras exported to Omniverse. Note: Mapping is only supported for cameras with Fit Render Region and Fit FOV set to Horizontal. Camera related animations will also export to Omniverse, which include the following data sets:

  • Transform, Focal Lens, and DOF*.

  • Baked Constraint animations (Look At, Path Positions, Path Offsets, and Links).

DOF mapping only supports Focus Distance, Perfect Focus Range, and Blur Settings > Near Transition Region in order to keep the camera’s focal length consistent.

A Switch_Camera will be created for Export USD to Omniverse if they are used in the scene (Timeline > Project Track > Switcher). All cameras being used by the Switch Camera within the Timeline > Project > Switcher track will be sampled frame-by-frame into a single Switch_Camera, including animations and the aforementioned mapped attributes.

Note

Export times can be long if Bake Single Switch Camera is enabled, so it is best to leave this option disabled if you only need to export the selected character or prop.

Light

Light rotations, translations, Color, Multiplier, IES, and light textures will be sent when lights are exported to Omniverse. Discrepancies may persist for basic attribute mapping due to differences in the Renderer’s underlying technology, especially when it comes to light intensity. Light related animations will also export to Omniverse, such as transform, Color, Multiplier, and baked constraints (Look at, Path Positions, Path Offsets, and Links) settings.

IBL (Image Based Lighting)

  • IBL images can carry over to Omniverse with mapping for Rotate and Strength settings.

  • Discrepancies in light intensity may persist.

  • IBL animations does not yet export to Omniverse.

Others

  • Export USD > Post Effects offers several basic presets, which can be further adjusted under Create > Render Settings > Post Processing.

  • Export USD > Export Current Frame as Static Mesh for Refinement is provided to convert bone-skinned content to static meshes for subdivision rendering in Omniverse (the bones will be removed).

Live-Sync

For iClone 7.93, users who wish to render on the Omniverse Create will first need to export USD files to a designated folder, and load them into Omniverse Create and Machinima.

This version of Omniverse can only Live-Sync updated files. In order to achieve live updates, the assets will first need to be exported in USD format, then activate the Live-Sync capability in Omniverse Create or Machinima. Automatic updates will be triggered every time the file is overwritten (this also works with textures). Live Sync real-time automatic updates is a feature that is slated for release in a later version.

Roadmap

Upcoming features under consideration (in no particular order).

  • Support for Live-Sync from iClone and Character Creator to Omniverse.

  • Exportable soft-cloth physics settings to Omniverse for hair and cloth.

Omniverse Character Creator Connector