USD support and Hydra Delegate

[adro79]

Hi, I just discovered this render framework thanks to a comment on this video.

Since it's a powerful project, it would be nice to see it integrated with other open-source projects rather than just Blender.

OpenUSD could provide universal integration to other DCCs like Gaffer, Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Blender (via Hydra) and most of the applications that support this industry-standard technology. Also, it would permit more studios and artists to use and support the Malt project.

I hope you consider this feature on a long run once Malt get more mature.

[rosstheblenderanimator]

I think It makes more sense to get full supports for geometry nodes as it comes with blender and similar things to Houdini.

[adro79]

I agree. I'm not asking for this feature to be developed right now, as USD is not yet fully supported everywhere, but I recommend them to stay tuned so the don't miss the train.

[pragma37]

OpenUSD could provide universal integration to other DCCs like Gaffer, Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Blender (via Hydra) and most of the applications that support this industry-standard technology.

Does this hold true in practice?
Can you take any renderer with a Hydra delegate, plug it into any DCC with Hydra support and things "just work" (The DCC UI gets populated with the renderer's specific settings and node systems)?

My impression is that Hydra only covers the scene geometry reliably, and renderers end-up needing a DCC-specific plugin/integration anyway. But maybe that's wrong/outdated info?

[adro79]

Every delegate can have its own render settings, like enable denoiser or diffuse samples.

Image from Katana Docs

For other custom features you could create the necessary schemas and procedurals.

I'm not a developer so I don't know what it would need to create a hydra delegate, but you can take a look at other implementations like Moonray, Cycles, Arnold, Gatling or 3Delight.

[pragma37]

Thanks for the insights.

Note that render settings are different from schemas, so supporting the former doesn't mean they support the latter.

The main issue is that all the Hydra hosts out there are private software (and hella expensive), so I don't really have an actionable path for doing further research, not to mention testing/supporting an hypothetical Malt Hydra delegate.
Blender is the only exception, but the Hydra support is still pretty bare-bones.