Exporting USD files

With the export package installed, you can export GameObjects from your scene to USD files using the new USD menu in Unity's main menu bar.

Supported USD file formats are:

  • .usd, which can be either ASCII or binary-encoded
  • .usda, which is ASCII encoded
  • .usdc, which is binary encoded
  • .usdz, a package file which is a zero-compression, unencrypted zip archive, which may contain usd, usda, usdc, png, jpeg, m4a, mp3, and wav files.

To Export from the Unity Editor to USD files:

  1. Ensure the GameObjects that you want to export are in the currently open scene.
  2. In the Hierarchy window, select the GameObjects you want to export.
  3. In the main menu, go to USD > Export Selected with Children or Export Selected as USDZ. The behavior of each of these options is described below. (Note: both of these options include the children of the selected GameObjects in the export).

Export Selected with Children

If you select USD > Export Selected with Children, your selected GameObjects are exported in either USDC or USDA format.

On Mac and Linux, the Save window displays multiple file format options which you can select: USDC and USDA.

On Windows, the default is .usd which will be saved as USDC (binary) format, but you can change the file ending in the Save window to .usda to specify ascii encoding.

Export Selected as USDZ

If you select USD > Export Selected as USDZ, your selected GameObjects and their children are exported in USDZ format.

Exporting via Recorder

Prerequisite: You need to install the Recorder package.

This USD Exporter package adds USD functionality to the Recorder window, if you have both packages installed at the same time.

To export a USD composition via Recorder, you can either use the Recorder Window:

  • From the Editor main menu, select Window > General > Recorder > Recorder Window,
  • Then click on + Add Recorder,
  • Select USD Clip.

Or add a Recorder track:

  • From the Timeline window, right-click and select UnityEditor.Recorder.Timeline > Recorder Track,
  • Then right-click on the track and add Recorder Clip,
  • In the selected recorder, choose USD Clip.

In the Recorder window, you can set the export option to only export the transform overrides, the same as above.

Using Recorder is the recommended option when compatibility with runtime is not required.