Quixel partners with Apple to push the boundaries of 3D
Quixel is partnering with Apple to shape the future of 3D, beginning with AR and VR, by supporting USDZ — an open, single file format optimized for graphics and animation.
What is USDZ?
The Universal Scene Description (USD) format was pioneered by Pixar. Apple is now backing the format, and has worked with Pixar on developing USDZ.
USDZ is a container format for USD, that will allow for creating completely self-contained assets, including support files that are “foreign” to USD, like textures, VDB volumes, and so on. It contains the entire asset, including all asset files in one format: all maps, models, textures, animation physics, rigging, and so on.
Within any pipeline, a USD stage tends to be composed of a sprawling network of files, and so USDZ addresses this problem of bundling all of that up — making for easier distribution.
Future applications
Quixel is part of an industry-leading group of 3D-specialist companies selected to be a part of this push towards USDZ.
Major companies are already set to back USDZ, and Quixel, too, will be supporting this single file format. Soon, Megascans will be available in USDZ.
The new format will have far-reaching effects on the way you use Quixel Megascans, and we‘re excited to be looking ahead down this road.
