Release Notes
Current Release
Major Dependency Updates
Upgrade to USD 22.11
The USD 22.11 upgrade includes Asset Resolution 2.0 (Ar 2.0) support. Ar 2.0 makes it easier to support multiple asset systems: one resolver can handle a local filesystem, another can handle http, and so on.
See:
OpenUSD Changelog (and back as far as 19.11)
Upgrade to Python 3.10
The Python 3.10 upgrade from 3.7 brings a large number of features and general improvements as well as plethora of security-related fixes. See:
For more details and help on updating extensions etc see our Migration guide
Smoother Playback and Navigation
Kit applications provide simulation and animation playback while at the same time providing UI workflow solutions. We have done a lot of work to ensure that UI rendering does not stand in the way of the overall playback experience.
We have improved the timing on the run loop clock so applications can be accurately paced. We introduce Thread Synchronization options so the Main and Rendering threads can be synced. An application can now be VSync on the present thread, removing all tearing effects without dropping any frames
omni.ui “Raster Mode” - Faster UI Rendering
The omni.ui API enables developers to create intuitive workflows. It’s the backbone of browsers, menus, inspectors and many more Extensions that are bundled in Kit SDK that allow developers to quickly develop feature rich applications.
Kit 105.0 introduces a new rendering mode for widgets: the “Raster” mode. We are seeing a reduction in render cost by up to 20x. In a large sample application, the full UI rendering has been brought down to less than 1 ms.the progress of the greater ecosystem.
Welcome Window
Kit includes a new extension omni.kit.welcome.window that is designed to pop up when you start an application. It is user-friendly and highly adaptable. Users can easily access recent files, samples, and learning resources, while developers can customize the experience by adding additional features that are most relevant to their users needs.
For more details, see the relevant Developer docs
On-Demand Extension Loading - omni.app.setup
Apps built on Kit 105.0+ allows extension to be loaded on demand. While menus continue to present all available features, an extension providing functionality is only initialized upon first use. This optimization greatly reduces startup time and eliminates unnecessary delays.
This approach is also extended to Layouts - predefined Layouts can be defined and their extensions loaded only when the layout is chosen (if you have downloaded Omniverse Code, see e.g “Viewport”, “Documentation”, “Browsers” under the new Layout menu in the Code main app menu bar)
For more details, see the relevant Developer docs
Public Extension Registry
When building Kit-based apps, users can now download new extensions or update existing ones from a public extension registry which will be updated on a regular basis - so apps do not need to be released as often, and can contain a slimmed down set of extensions.
RTX Rendering Improvements
The RTX renderer comes with a host of new features, improvements and performance enhancements, some of the highlights are:
Realtime mode - Added ‘Roughness Sampling (experimental)’ to Real-Time/Translucency render settings, which allows for rendering rough translucent materials such as frosted glass, at the cost of performance.
The instance count limit has been significantly increased from 8 million to 16 million to accomodate more complex and detailed visualizations of scenes with a large number of objects and instances.
a new Dome Light sampling mode for fast and artefacts-free sampling of low-frequency Dome Light textures.
Introduced a new additional camera Fisheye Lens Projection Type “Omni-Directional Stereo”: a projection model for stereo 360 degree imaging.
For a complete set of release notes, see RTX Release Notes
Materials Improvements
There are several enhancements to Material workflows, including:
Enable Users to defer material compilation as they design and build out their shading graphs
Users have the ability to author full UsdPreviewSurface graphs in the Material Editor; including textures, 2d transforms and primvar reading nodes
UsdPreviewSurface in Omniverse now fully compliant with the USD specification so that users can feel confident when exchanging their scenes across USD applications.
Users can texture map UV-less models using tri-planar / box mapping nodes
Enable users to transform their hi-fidelity MDL materials into a standard Real-Time material exchangeable across the USD ecosystem
For a complete set of release notes, see Materials Release Notes