Maya (Native) Connector#

Overview#

The Maya Native Omniverse Connector uses the built-in Autodesk Maya USD plug in that ships with Maya. Users can now open Omniverse USD content and work with all the built-in tools and workflows available in Maya.

To learn more about USD for Maya, see Autodesk USD for Maya Getting Started.

Compatible Versions#

The Omniverse Maya Native Connector works with the following versions of Maya.

Version	USD Version	Windows	Linux (not tested)
2022.4 (not tested)	Maya USD 0.27 (USD 21.11)	Yes	CentOS 7.9
2023.3 (not tested)	Maya USD 0.27 (USD 21.11)	Yes	CentOS 7.9
2024.2	Maya USD 0.29 (USD 22.11)	Yes	No
2025.3	No connector use USD for Maya GitHub	N/A	N/A

USD for Maya 2025 support

We recommend the Autodesk USD for Maya 2025 plugin for Import and Export support. Learn more here.

GPU Drivers#

Driver Version Support	Windows	Linux
Recommended	537.58 (GameReady, Studio), 537.70 (RTX/Quadro, Grid/vGPU)	525.85.05 (GameReady, Studio, RTX/Quadro), 525.85.12 (Grid/vGPU)
Unsupported	495.0 up to 512.59 and 525.x up to 526.91	495.0 up to 512.59 and 515.0 up to 526.91

Tip

Some GPU Driver versions need to have ECC disabled to prevent the following error: “pluginWin.mel Unable to dynamically load”.

Disable ECC to resolve maya_pluginWin.mel error

See Omniverse Technical Requirements for additional requirements information.

Tip

The latest NVIDIA driver versions should work, but may not have yet been fully tested for Omniverse.

Install Instructions#

Note

In the near future Connectors will be hosted on the NVIDIA NGC Catalog for download and installation. The Omniverse Launcher entry for each connector will be updated with a direct download link to the connector installer on the NGC Catalog from the Launcher.

Shut down Maya.
Uninstall the Maya Legacy Connector (if it is currently installed) using the Omniverse Launcher.
Before installing Maya Native Connector, the Maya USD plugin must be installed and loaded. Maya USD can be installed along with Maya during initial installation or can also be downloaded from the MayaUSD github .
Follow our Connector installation instructions to install this connector. Please make sure to install the version that matches your version of Maya.
Start Maya.
Go to the Main Menu and navigate to Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager.
In the Plug-in Manager window, search for OmniNative.mll and OmniSchemeResolver.py. Enable both if they are not already enabled.

Warning

In Maya 2023, you may get an error that the MayaUSD plugin cannot be found when you start Maya. To fix this error, make sure you update to the latest version of Maya (2023.1 and above will work).
Be sure that there are no USD conflicts on the System Path, for Windows and Linux, for USD to run properly.
You can only have one Maya connector installed at a time per Maya version.

Custom or Network Installation#

On Windows, if you have a non-standard or network install of Maya, the installer may fail because it looks for version subkeys, like 202x, under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Autodesk/Maya entry in the Windows Registry to validate Maya is installed.
- As a workaround, you can either install on a computer with Maya installed and copy the software package from $APP_DATA/Local/ov to your network path and copy the maya-native*.mod file from $MyDocuments/maya/202x/modules to a shared MAYA_MODULES_PATH, or you can create the Registry entries before installation.
If you use a non standard MAYA_MODULE_PATH, you will either need to copy the omni_native-*.mod file that was installed in $MyDocuments/maya/202x/modules to your custom path or update your MAYA_MODULE_PATH with the local path.

User Interface#

Main Menu#

The Omniverse Menu allows quick access to important Omniverse functions.

Image of the Omniverse menu. The entries are described in the table below.

Option	Description
Open Content	Opens a file browser to open a file from your PC or Omniverse Nucleus
Save Content	Saves the current USD file
Import Content	Import USD as native Maya data.
Export Content	Exports the current Maya scene as a USD file to your PC or Omniverse Nucleus
Export Selection	Exports the selected Maya nodes as USD.
USD Layer Editor	Opens the Maya native USD Layer Editor
Help	Links to this documentation
Open Logs in Explorer	Opens the Logs folder (useful when reporting errors)
About	Version and technical information about the plugin

Omniverse Shelf#

The Omniverse Shelf allows quick access to important Omniverse functions. The Export submenu offers the options to Export All or Export Selection. The Live submenu has actions for creating, connecting to, sharing, and leaving Live Sessions.

Option	Description
Export All	Export all objects and materials in the scene.
Export Selection	Export only objects and materials selected in the Maya Outliner.
Leave Session	Leave the Live Session.
End and Merge Session	End the Live session and Merge the changes to the source USD file.
Share Session	Share the link to the Live Session you are in with as path to copy and paste.
Join with Session	Join a Live Session.
Show Users	Show a list of Users in the Live Session.

Omniverse Export Content#

Export Content uses maya-usd to export the current Maya Scene or Selection as a USD file to your PC or Omniverse Nucleus.

The three-column Export window. The left-hand column shows bookmarks, Nucleus servers, and local drives and folders. The middle column shows the currently chosen folders contents. Export options are on the right-hand side. Along the bottom is an entry field for the file name, a dropdown allowing the user to choose the file extension, and buttons to Export or Cancel.

Any USD proxy nodes in the scene will not be exported. Refer to Autodesk Maya Documentation to determine which nodes are supported. If you’re trying to modify the proxy USD stage, use Save Content instead of Export Content.

Export Options#

Menu Item	Description
Export Mode	Export Modes. Prop: Export all data. Prop Animation Clip: Export only animation. Skeletal Mesh: Export skeletal meshes. Skeletal Animation Clip: Exports only skeletal animation clips. Animated Point Cache: Export point cache geometry, baking animation and deformation into the geometry per frame.
Checkpoint Comment	Add a Nucleus checkpoint comment.

*Refer to Autodesk’s docs for supported nodes and attributes.

Output#

Menu Item	Description
.usd File Format	Binary or Ascii
Create USD Parent	The name of the USD node that is the parent of the exported data. The default is World
USD Parent Type	Xform or Scope. The USD node type of parent, default Xform
Export Roots	Multi-flag that allows export of any DAG subtree without including parents
Move To Origin	All root-level nodes are centered at the origin in the output USD file.

File Output#

Menu Item	Description
Batch Export	If References or Payloads are chosen, individual USD scenes will be added to the exported file either as References or Payloads, respectively.
Preset	Sets the preset mode for the exported Maya material
Prop Path	Sets the prop path for the exported Maya material
Material Path	Sets the material path for the exported Maya material
Texture Path	Sets the texture path for the exported Maya material

Export#

Menu Item	Description
Lights	Export Maya lights
Cameras	Export Maya cameras
Filter Constraints	Filter constraints, which aren’t supported in USD and can cause translation issues.

Geometry#

Menu Item	Description
Subdivision Method	Binary or Ascii
Component Tags	Exports component tags
Color Sets	Enables or disables the export of color sets
UV Sets	Enables or disables the export of UV sets
Skeletons	Determines how to export skeletons. Valid values are: None: No skeletons are exported Auto: All skeletons are exported, SkelRoots may be created Explicit: Only skeletons under SkelRoots are exported
Skin Clusters	Determines how to export skinClusters via the UsdSkel schema. On any mesh where skin bindings are exported, the geometry data is the pre-deformation data. On any mesh where skin bindings are not exported, the geometry data is the final (post-deformation) data. Valid values are: None: No skinClusters are exported Auto: All skinClusters will be exported for non-root prims. The exporter errors on skinClusters on any root prims. The root-most prim containing any skinned mesh will automatically be promoted into a SkelRoot, e.g. if `</Model/Mesh>` has skinning, then `</Model>` will be promoted to a SkelRoot Explicit: Only skinClusters under explicitly-tagged SkelRoot prims will be exported. The exporter errors if there are nested SkelRoots. To explicitly tag a prim as a SkelRoot, specify a `USD_typeNameattribute` on a Maya node.
Blend Shapes	Enables or disables export of blend shapes
Display Colors	Exports display color

Materials#

Menu Item	Description
Material Scope Name	Name for the parent scope for material/shader prims.
MDL	Export materials to MDL.
USD Preview Surface	Export materials to USD Preview Surface.
Collect Resources	If checked, copy all textures and materials to the folder containing the exported file.

Note

M_OmniPBR uses “mono average” for opacity. It will enable opacity and show in Kit apps, if set to “alpha default” and “mono alpha” to each material, or disable opacity during export.

You can Learn more about USD Preview Surface and Omniverse MDL Materials here.

Animation#

Menu Item	Description
Animation Data	Toggle to export animation or not.
Frame Range	Start and end frames to include in the export.
Use Animation Range	Set the start/end frames to match current scene range.

Advanced#

Menu Item	Description
Visibility	Exports any state and animation on Maya visibility attributes
Instances	Enables or disables the export of instances
Merge Transform and Shape nodes	Combines Maya transforms and shapes into a single USD prim that has transform and geometry, for all “geometric primitives” (gprims). This results in smaller and faster scenes. Gprims will be unpacked back into transform and shape nodes when imported into Maya from USD.
Include Namespaces	Includes or Removes namespaces during export. By default, namespaces are exported to the USD file in the following format: `nameSpaceExample_pPlatonic1`
Filter Types	Maya type names to exclude when exporting. If a type is excluded, all inherited types are also excluded, e.g. excluding `surfaceShape` will exclude mesh as well. When a node is excluded based on its type name, its subtree hierarchy will be pruned from the export, and its descendants will not be exported.
Encoded Options	‘;’ delimited string of additional options supported by maya-usd

Functionality#

Note

Autodesk Maya has developed a native OpenUSD plugin for Import and Export support. Learn more about USD for Maya here.

Opening USD and Maya files from Omniverse or local disk.
USD files with Default Render Context, USD Preview Surface.
Saving USD Files back to original file location.
Exporting Maya Scenes to Omniverse.
Bi-directional Live Session connections.

Missing Functionality#

Maya Native Connector does not support MDL render context in the viewport.
USD features are restricted to what the Autodesk Maya USD plugin supports per application and plug in version.
- See Autodesk USD for Maya Documentation.
Saving a USD file as a new file to Omniverse ,that was originally in a different location, does not collect the dependencies.

Known Limitations#

MDL render context does not load in Maya Native, only USD Preview Surface. If a USD file has MDL context it wil not load with textures.
Exporting is currently limited to what Maya USD supports.
- Only Maya shaders and utilities are supported, along with a limited set of properties (lambert, blinn, phong, standardSurface, usdPreviewSurface, pxrUsdPreviewSurface).
- See Autodesk USD for Maya Documentation.

Live Workflow#

As of 208.0, Maya Native Connector provides a bi-directional Live workflow. Updates can be both transmitted from and received by Maya connected to a Live session.

Note

For more information on Live Workflows, visit OmniLive

Warning

Live Sync and Live Collaboration are experimental and will not be supported in the connector in future releases.

Creating a Live Session#

The most important thing about Live sessions is that they only work with files saved to Nucleus. If you are currently working in a Maya scene, you will first need to export your scene to Nucleus as USD.

Once your scene has been exported, you must open it from the Omniverse menu or Toolbar. Upon opening a scene, you will be greeted with a scene containing only a Maya-USD mayaUsdProxyShape object in the outliner. If you are not able to see objects in a hierarchy beneath the proxy shape node, make sure that the Outliner’s Display -> Shapes menu option is checked.

An image of Maya with an opened USD scene containing a sphere, a cone, and a cylinder. The Outliner displays the full USD Stage hierarchy.

With a USD file opened from Nucleus, clicking the Live button in the Omniverse tab on the Shelf will present the following dialog:

The Live Session dialog box in Create mode. It has two radio buttons Labeled Join Session and Create Session at the top, an entry field for the name, and CREATE and CANCEL buttons at the bottom.

When Create Session is chosen, you have the opportunity to create a new Live session for the currently open USD scene. Give the session a name and click Create to start a new Live Session.

Right-clicking the icon will show additional menu options, including one for Sharing a Live Link, and one for joining sessions through a shared link.

Joining a Live Session#

The Live Session dialog box in Join mode. It has two radio buttons Labeled Join Session and Create Session at the top, a dropdown for choosing an existing session, a list box for session participants, and JOIN and CANCEL buttons at the bottom.

If Join Session is chosen, available sessions will be displayed as choices in the dropdown, and each session’s active participants will be displayed.

Sessions created from Maya can be joined from Omniverse Kit applications in the standard way.

Note

When Live syncing a file, the most recent settings on the Export panel are honored. For example, if you had cameras and light toggled off and then then toggled on live sync with a USD file that has cameras and lights, then cameras and lights would not subscribe to live sync.

Participating in Live Sessions#

While Maya is connected to a Live session, the icon will in the toolbar will be colored green. At this point, small edits in your current Live scene will appear to all other connected participants.

Animated demo gif showing bi-directional Live Session sync between Maya and USD Composer.

Note

Live is disabled if the target USD has animation or a different up axis than the Maya file. Duplicating a prim may not retain the prepend information, payload or reference, if used. This may result in incorrect or heavy mesh information in the USD stage.

Ending Live Sessions#

Image showing the right-click menu available from the Live button on the toolbar, including the Leave Session and End and Merge options.

Similar to other Connectors, there two ways to end a Live session in the right-click menu of the Live button on the Shelf:

Option	Description
Leave Session	Leave the Live session, and forget all the changes that accrued while connected.
End and Merge	Leave the Live session, merging all edits from participants into the Stage in memory.

Live Sync Limitations#

In some cases Materials will appear to not Live Sync, depending on when the viewport textures (checker ball icon) are turned on. To reduce the issue, turn on viewport textures once you open the USD file; otherwise materials loaded before this is turned on will not sync properly.