AMD Releases USD Hydra Plug-in for Blender

The new tool lets artists and developers import USD files into Blender, compose USD scenes, and render them with the help of the Universal Scene Description‘s Hydra render framework.

We should note that Blender is getting its own USD import tools in Blender 3.0 later this year but AMD’s new plugin can help you deal with USD files right now. The plugin also allows exporting USD stages to other DCC applications.

What is more, you can load, edit, and export materials in ILM’s USD-compatible MaterialX format which can be used in Substance 3D Designer and Arnold.

As for the renderers, the current build supports hdStorm, the default Hydra solution, and AMD’s Radeon ProRender. AMD states other renderers available as Hydra delegates (Arnold, Redshift, and RenderMan) should "work easily".

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