# Release Notes

# v8.3.0 - 2024-03-14 Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# New

Added Apple Silicon support
Added support of MtoA 5.3.2.1
Added support of USD files exported by MtoA.
Added ability to convert float color prim-vars to color set on Maya meshes.
Added ability to handle left-handed USD Mesh as Maya meshes.
Redshift Upgraded supported version to v3.9.19

# Improvements

3Delight NSI - improved 3Delight shading networks serialization and procedural to handle color.ourtR/G/B to float
Improved detection of shading network for both surface and displacement.
Removed the "Connected mode" from Multiverse Read Asset. From now on we only use Maya Geo for all cases.

# Bug Fixes

3Delight NSI - fixed a case where displacement did not work as expected.
Redshift - fixed a crash from TimeCode handling.

-Redshift** - fixed an issue which caused motion blur not to render on non-deforming moving meshes.

Fixed an issues with extensions with the file format plugins.
Fixed an issue which caused compound nodes to evaluating even if in their Maya visibility was set to hidden
Support reading USD files with uv coordinates declared also as ST (besides UV)
Removed the "Maya Geo" read mode as it cannot work with animated meshes and xforms.
Fixed a python error in mvLightLinkEditorUI.py
Resolved an issue with animated meshes by refreshing current time appropriately.
Arnold - Fixed an issue with Bifrost-written subdivision primitive variables when rendering with Arnold.

# v8.2.0 - 2023-07-30 Free Solo Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# NEW FEATURES

Maya to Katana shading network transfer

It is now possible to use Multiverse to write USD files containing shading networks and material assignments and have them automatically reconstructed in Katana by the usd_in Katana node.

Additionally these will render 1:1 in Katana when using 3Delight NSI (which guarantees by design that the exact same shader binaries and parametrization exists in all of its DCC integrations).

WARNING

While this change is automatically handled in Maya and Katana, but it will affect users' scripts that reconstruct shading networks in other DCC applications such as Houdini Solaris. If your scripts rely on the namespace nsi and outputs:surface please note they need to be changed to parse your USD files from this:

token outputs:mv:surface.connect = </pPipe1/shading/shaders/dlPrincipled1.outputs:surface>

To this:

token outputs:nsi:surface.connect = </pPipe1/shading/shaders/dlPrincipled1.outputs:outColor>

Co-existence with maya-usd

As of this versions it is possible to have both the MultiverseForMaya and maya-usd plug-ins loaded at the same time in Maya. This was not possible before due to undesired interference between shared libraries that have now been fully compartmentalized (by us).

We remind users that to understand the many benefits of Multiverse compared to maya-usd we strongly recommend all users and decision makers to go beyond "big corp" marketing and read the section about differentiating factors in the introduction. Happy reading.

USD 23.02

Upgraded USD libraries from USD version 22.11 to 23.02.

Maya 2024

Added builds for Maya 2024 for all customers of the Pro Cloud and Pro Offline versions. Still not available for the free solo users.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Arnold - Added support for "Instances" of "Point Instancers".
Arnold - Added support for the "subdivision iteration attribute written to USD files by Bifrost (primvars:arnold:subdiv_iterations).
Added an icon to the slack support channel in the Shelf.
Improvements in the Cloud licensing.
Free Solo users will be notified automatically when a new version of Multiverse free version exists (this because the free version can only work with the latest free version released).
Better UI for light linking in mvSet's AETemplate.
Better UI for adding displayOpacity in Compound's AETemplate.
Added visual feedback in Multiverse compound for missing or bad USD layers.

# Bugfixes

Avoid a potential crash with bad layers.

# v8.1.0 - 2023-06-30 Free Solo Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# NEW FEATURES

Light Linking

By default Multiverse Compound shapes are lit by all lights in the scene and compounds can be (un)linked with the standard Maya light linking editor: however this affects all scene items in compounds.

As of v8.1.0 Multiverse it is possible to perform light linking between lights in the Maya DG and scene items in the USD stage. This can be achieved via a new light linking editor on a per-compound basis available from the compound Attribute Editor. Light linking works with include/exclude logic.

The following renderers are currently supported:

3Delight NSI
Arnold
RedShift

While VRay is in the works and likely to be added in a the near future and based on customer demand, Renderman will most likely not be able to handle this feature due to design limitations in its API.

Snapping to USD compounds

It is now possible to snap Maya objects to Compounds in the Viewport.

Display Opacity

Writing, reading and API offer ability to set and get USD Display Opacity. Akin to Display Color this is presented in the UI of the Maya Shading Group nodes.

WARNING

Display Opacity is an expensive effect and will slow down the viewport draw performance and playback. For this reason a "Force Opaque" option has been added to the Multiverse preferences.

Redshift for macOS

Added Redshift 3.5 support on macOS platform.

Arnold 7.2 / MtoA 5.3

Added Arnold 7.2.0.0 and MtoA 5.3.0

RenderMan 25

Added RenderMan 25 support.

Maya 2024 / Python 3.10

Early support, can be provided to customers of the PRO Cloud or Pro Offline version on a on-demand basis. The free version will be limited to Maya 2018 to 2023.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Import USD as Maya data now is able to import multiple UV Sets.
Arnold: improved support for Point Instancers within Instances
RenderMan improved Support for Point Instancers within Instances
Redshift: added support for single-value int/float primvars USD user attributes in Redshift
Redshift: added support for AutoBump displacement
Asset Read: Support for USD animation timecode and setting FPS (using the first timecode encountered in the stage)
MEOW: Improved the UX of MEOW with tooltips and better fitting for help.
MEOW: The fit of the Help Window in MEOW has been improved to avoid horizontal scrolling.
MfM: better Marking Menu Material Override UI.
Large improvements in licensing response with the cloud and free licenses.

# FIXES

Arnold: Fixed an issue with surface shader before override.
Fixing "nested USD variants" on all renderers.
Redshift: Fixed motion blur for curves.
RenderMan: PointInstancer fixes
Arnold: PointInstancer fixes
VRay: multiple fixes to support proper displacement from textures and procedurals.
VRay: handle preservation of geometry borders
VRay: Fixed finding displacement shader with namespace.
VRay: Fixed inheritance of attribute set.
MfM: Fixing bug in mvSet with primvars:displayColor.

# DOCS

Improved introduction.

# v8.0.2 - 2023-03-24 Free Solo Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# FIXES

Fixed composition write error caused by the new callback writer API introduced in version 8.0.1.
Fixed override write writer error caused by the new callback writer API.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Improved the MEOW Info Window to show detailed information for USD Shader shading networks which have displacement.

# v8.0.1 - 2023-03-22 Free Solo Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# NEW

A new marking menu entry has been added, allowing the user to assign directly from the viewport any existing, new, or embedded USD material overrides to selected prims within the selected Multiverse compound. Once assigned, MEOW will be notified to keep the GUI in sync.
New writer callback functionality, allowing the TD to execute custom Python scripts on Multiverse USD write. Any functionality available from the USD and Python API can be used, such as removing unwanted prims, adding custom attributes, and even notifying databases.
New Callbacks documentation for the previous feature.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Added support for Maya's Displacement node, 3Delight's Multi Blend node and Maya's Remap Color in USD shading networks.
Improved writing of relative paths in Multiverse overrides and compositions, a new attribute is now available in the override writer and in the API.
Added support for Maya file node with UDIM and colorspace
Added attribute override support for the 3Delight NSI compositing matte attribute in dlSet.

# FIXES

Fixed UNC path relative resolution on windows
Fixed a regression introduced in v8.0.0 with material assignment pointing to surface shaders instead of shading groups. Now this happens only for hardware shaders (StingrayPBS).
Fixed a refresh draw issue with duplicated compound nodes in the Hydra-VP2 viewport.
Resolved an issue that was displaying an unwanted RenderMan error.
Handle a warning caused by recent changes in USD Material Binding API.

# v8.0.0 - 2023-02-06 Pro Cloud Pro Offline

# NEW FEATURES

Added file-formats support

Multiverse is now able to read and procedurally render the following new file formats, in addition to USD and Alembic. This opens the usage of Multiverse for visualization and rendering of data from other applications such as Fusion360, Catia, Solidworks, PTC Creo, Siemens NX, Rhino, SketchUp, OnShape, Revit etc.

Both streaming into compounds and in the renderers, as well as importing as Maya geometry is possible.

Format	File extension	Multiverse version
STEP	`.step` `.stp`	8.0+ (new)
IGES	`.iges` `.igs`	8.0+ (new)
IFC	`.ifc` `.ifc`	8.0+ (new)
STL	`.stl`	8.0+ (new)
OBJ	`.obj`	8.0+ (new)
USD	`.usd` `.usdc` `.usda` `.usdz`	5.0+
Alembic	`.abc`	1.0+

Note: Other formats may are possible under special customer support.

Choose how to read data

As of version 7.0 Multiverse can selectively import as Maya geometry individual primitives or (sub-)hierarchies from MEOW's RMB menu while preserving a "live connection" with the compound via the mvUsdImporter node.

Now, with version 8.0, Multiverse allows users to choose how data is read into Maya from the Multiverse Asset Read UI, with the following options:

Compound: reads data by streaming it into the compound and in the renderer. No heavy data exists in Maya or in Maya files. This is the default behavior.
Maya Geo: imports data as Maya data: all data exists in Maya as native Maya geometry and has no live connection with the compound.
Connected: reads data by streaming it into the compound AND import it as Maya data with live connections with the compounds to allow easy round trip between the two.

Delayed loading of primitives in MEOW Implemented lazy loading of primitive items in MEOW which results in performance gains of 100x (and even more depending on the asset).

As a result it is now possible to open in MEOW very large hierarchies with hundreds of thousands of items/prims without UI delays, for example the Moana scene now opens promptly in MEOW.

Faster primitive visibility in MEOW

Unlike USD, which offers one single visibility, Multiverse - in a similar fashion to Houdini - offers both "display" (viewport) and "rendering" visibility. Their computation in MEOW has been sped up. This opens up for nice workflows where the user can decide to read a very complex asset with a fast draw mode (skip or single bounding box draw mode), then open up MEOW, travel to the wanted item, set viewport visibility to off for all other prim items, show only the wanted one, and then swap the draw mode to smooth shaded.

USDZ Material Packages

Introducing "USDZ Material Packages", this is a new feature that offers:

Ability to use pre-made "material packages" containing textures, as USDZ files. For example you can now use any material from AmbientCG.com (opens new window) whose extension has been changed from .zip to .usdz. These materials are serialized using usdPreviewSurface networks.
Ability to create your own, new Material Packages, with a new shelf button UI that is easy to use: you can find it on the Multiverse Shelf. This produces USDZ files that contain the textures and values specified in the UI. These materials are made with usdPreviewSurface networks.
Ability to layer Material Packages in a Multiverse Compound: once layered, USD materials can be assigned to prim items in MEOW.
Rendering of USDZ Material Packages in 3Delight NSI.

Some further details:

Supports only normal maps encoded in OpenGL
If both a normal texture (GL) and a displacement texture exist in the material package, the displacement texture will be used for rendering with 3Delight NSI (while the normal map will be only used for OpenGL preview).
Materials created by the Multiverse Create Material Package, can be previewed in USD viewers including Apple Quick Look.
Note that material packages are uncompressed and unencrypted zip files, so their extension can be changed to zip, unzipped to be explored and even authored/tweaked manually.

Note that these materials are serialized using usdShade and reference the actual native renderers' shaders (not usdPreviewSurface networks).

Hypershade Shading Networks as USDZ Material Packages

In Multiverse 7 we introduced ability to serialize arbitrary Maya shading networks to USDA files. This function exists in Hypershade, via File> Export Selected Networks> Multiverse USD Shading Networks.

Now, with version 8.0, we are introducing ability to serialize arbitrary shading networks as "Multiverse USDZ Material Package" containing textures. These materials can encode shading networks for arbitrary renderers. In Multiverse they will render with 3Delight NSI when layered to a compound.

Note that these materials are serialized using usdShade and reference the actual native renderers' shaders (not usdPreviewSurface networks).

USD Unit Conversion

An option has been added to the Multiverse Asset Read UI to convert the source file scene unit into Maya default units (cm).

Multiverse Pro Cloud

Introducing a Multiverse Pro Cloud, a new cloud-based, unified, portable, license (which is both interactive and render) with guaranteed 99.95% uptime by AWS Lambda.

This allows remote teams that work from home to license Multiverse even without the need for VPN access.

The pro cloud licensing can also co-exist with the pro offline licenses.

Pro Cloud licenses are portable (not tied to any hardware), this means a company could e.g: purchase 50x cloud pro licenses, receive a unique key, copy the key on 100x machines, and any of these can potentially use the license provided as long as there are not more than 50x concurrent licenses in use.

We are also introducing monthly Vs annual pricing (the latter is discounted), both as subscription. A new customer portal is also available to manage your subscription, credit card and info etc. (link in the confirmation email after purchase).

Arnold / MtoA 5.2 support

Arnold MtoA v5.2.x.y support / Arnold 7.2.x.y has been added.

VRay 6 support

VRay 6 Support has been added.

Redshift API 3501 and 3502 support Added support for Redshift API 3501/3502, used by recent RS versions like 3.5.09 and 3.5.11.

Note that Redshift API is not in-sync with the Redshift for Maya version, for example Redshift for Maya 3.5.09 used RS API 3501, but Redshift for Maya 3.5.11 uses RS API 3502.

USD Updated USD library to OpenUSD v22.11.

Simple Asset Resolver Added a new optional asset resolver for unmodified filepaths, this is called mvSimpleAssetResolver and can be enabled by setting the environment variable MV_USD_ASSET_RESOLVER. This asset resolver allows you to use relative paths for creation and loading of assets, given that it passes filepaths un-modified. Read more in the asset resolver documentation page. We plan to make this default in the next version.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Redshift: fixed an issue with license server and Redshift IPR which was making the whole IPR experience sluggish with Redshift.
Asset Write: improved writing of hardware rendering shaders (StingrayPBS) as usdPreviewSurface shading networks: added support for non-textured values for metallic, roughness, and emission color.
Asset Write: improved writing of meshes when no UVs are present.
Viewport: added specular highlight support for usdPreviewSurface in viewport shading.
MEOW: visibility propagation in MEOW is multiple times faster than in previous versions.
Redshift: improved Redshift support on Linux.
Free version: fixed some instability issues for the free cloud version.
Redshift: added support for curves and point instancing (note that mesh instancing was already supported).
NSI procedural: add support for ignoring usd materials at a per per-prim level.
Renderman: added support for trace:bias, dice:watertight and other attribute overrides.
Redshift: add support for attribute overrides like matteobject, intersectpriority, holdout, diffuse/speculardepth, bakingidentifier.
Redshift: added support for texture projections and other material features. Now the shading network translation is the same Redshift for Maya.

# FIXES

Viewport: fixed issue with assets written with the hardware shaders option appearing black in the viewport.
NSI procedural: fixed an issue with face-varying vertex normals.
NSI procedural: fixed an issue with face-varying vertex normals.
Asset Writer: fixed an issue with instancing and non-top level export root.
Asset Writer: fixed rotation order when writing and importing point instancers.
Redshift: fixed an issue with mesh tessellation for instances.
Redshift: show a warning when for wrongly typed overrides.
Redshift: fixed an issue with face-varying data.
Redshift: handle assets with smooth and non smooth normals.
Redshift: handle normals and left-handed winding.
Renderman: fixed a warning
Renderman: fixed a regression on overrides caused by unwanted caching introduced in recent versions of Renderman for Maya.
Redshift: fixed visibility for inherited prim items.
Redshift: handle deformation motion blur correctly.

# v7.1.0 - 2022-07-29 Free Pro

# NEW FEATURES

Hierarchy Import with Live Connection

Multiverse reads USD data by streaming it into Maya and into the renderers, keeping the scene lightweight and I/O performance very fast.

To allow "round trips" between Maya data and USD data, in version 6.5 a feature was added to import USD data of an individual primitive as Maya data (a prim is an item of a Compound). After any edit, Maya data could be put back to USD using the previously imported prim paths, as new data or as sparse data.

In version 7.1 a new function has been added to allow importing USD data of an entire hierarchy (or a portion of) as Maya data. Note that this feature is implemented with high performance in mind.

Both work with Multiverse unique "live-connection", that grants back and forth edits of Maya data with a procedural, node-based, live connection provided by the mvUsdImporter node. Edits can be written back into USD via the Multiverse Asset Writer (since the source data is Maya data) and can be written as new or as sparse data. All this with the auto-sync supports which will layer the edit on top of the Compound of origin.

This features can be accessed in the following ways:

via RMB in MEOW: "import as Hierarchy", in addition to the already available "Import as <prim type>".
via the new new global Maya "File> Import: USD (Multiverse)"

Import of USD instances and USD point instancers with Live Connection

Added ability to import static or animated USD instances as Maya instances.

Added ability to import USD static or animated point instancers as Maya instancers.

Both support Multiverse live connection provided by the mvUsdImporter node.

When in MEOW, USD point instancer items will show "Import as Instancer" in the RMB menu. Point instancers will be also imported with the hierarchy importer and with the file Importer (see above).

USD Instances in MEOW are actually inherits, and will show Import mesh in MEOW.

Both features also work with the new hierarchy Importer both in MEOW and in the File> Import menu.

OpenPype <> Multiverse integration

Thanks to our new partnership with the Pype.club team (opens new window), we are proud to release a complete integration of Multiverse as of OpenPype 3.11, on all platforms.

This allows to create, publish and load Multiverse USD Assets, Compositions, Overrides and Looks in OpenPype.

The integration allows for a large number of workflows and relies on the Multiverse Python API (opens new window). It is fully open source, thus also offering an example on how easily Multiverse can be integrated in a production pipeline with Python.

We wish to thank Milan Kolar (opens new window) and the entire OpenPype team for the fruitful collaboration.

Links:

Prism <> Multiverse integration

We are proud to announce the integration of Multiverse in the Prism pipeline (opens new window) v2.0 beta which allows to create, publish and load Multiverse USD assets, compositions and overrides in Prism.

The integration entirely developed by Richard Frangenberg and used the Multiverse Python API (opens new window), contact him for early access.

USD/Z rendering in HydraVP2 Viewport

It is now possible to display USDZ assets in the Multiverse HydraVP2 viewport, this now includes support for per-face assignments (UsdGeomSubset) when drawing USDZ files in the viewport. USDZ assets rely on UsdPreviewSurface embedded shading networks, as a consequence any USD/A/C/Z asset with UsdPreviewSurface networks can be previewed in the viewport.

USD/Z Rendering with 3Delight^NSI

It is now possible to render USDZ assets with 3Delight^NSI, this now includes support for per-face assignments (UsdGeomSubset) when rendering USDZ files. USDZ assets rely on UsdPreviewSurface embedded shading networks, as a consequence any USD/A/C/Z asset with UsdPreviewSurface networks can be rendered with 3Delight^NSI.

Note

3Delight^NSI rendering of USD files with usdPreviewSurface networks use the following assumptions:

Normal maps are in OpenGL encoding
The supported PBR workflow is the roughness/metallic
Opacity maps are expected in the alpha channel of the "base color" texture.
For USDZ assets only PNG and JPG textures are supported (as per USDZ specs (opens new window)).

In case both usdPreviewSurface materials and USD Shading Network exist in the USD file on the same primitive (item), NSI shading networks will win over usdPreviewSurface when rendering.

Note that material overrides in MEOW (whether from Maya materials or Materials in the USD file) will always win over pre-written assignment in the USD file.

Finally, rendering with USD shading networks can be disabled on a Compound via the "Ignore USD materials" option.

Composition Writing

A new option has been added to the Composition Write (both in UI and Python API): "Write as Compound Layers". This is useful when consolidating a single compound node with multiple layers (at least more than one layer) by writing it as a composition: effectively this writes the Compound's layers as USD "subLayers" rather than as USD "references".

This resolves an inconsistency behavior that caused overrides existing in Maya to behave differently than when written to USD.

The bottom line:

When writing composition of that consists of multiple compounds nested in a hierarchy with transforms, set "Write as compound Layers" to off.
When writing composition of a single compound with more than one layer, turn it on to use "subLayers".

This option is currently left exposed to allow the old behavior ("references") for backward compatibility reasons. We may automate this in future releases.

Asset Writing of Maya Instances

Instances of Maya geometry shapes are now written by the Asset Writer as USD "inherits" (opens new window) instead than as USD "references".

This allows material overrides to behave like any other other overrides: an override on the original geometry will also propagate to its instances (and individual instances they can accept further local overrides).

As a consequence, written composition are consistent (in terms of how layers and overrides are applied) to what is seen in the Maya viewport and MEOW.

Note that a new option has been added to the API for Asset Writing: writeInstancesAsReferences (defaults to false) in case the old behavior is desired for backwards compatibility reasons.

Note also that item names (prims) that are "inherits" are drawn in light pink text in MEOW (this has also been added to the Help pop up menu).

Maya 2023 and Python 3.9

Multiverse for Maya 2023 with Python 3.9 support has been added to all platforms.

VRay 5.20.23

Upgraded VRay 5 support to VRay SDK 5.20.23 (VRay 5 for Maya, update 2.2)

Redshift 3.0.67 and 3.5.03

Added support for multiple versions of RedShift within the same Multiverse build. The supported versions are:
- 3.0.67+
- 3.5.03+
Depending on customer demand we may add additional versions.

Arnold 7.1

Added support for Arnold 7.1.0.0 and MtoA 5.1.0.

Documentation

New Usage introduction to Multiverse.
Updated the Multiverse pipeline diagram in light of the new features.
Many updates to v7 over the whole documentation.
Added some notes on macOS dynamic linking of the Python library in the install macOS section.
Renamed Blog as Tips, and added a new tip: Generating USD Clips (without going out of memory) in Houdini and in Multiverse for Maya.

Flat installer for Windows

As of version 7, Multiverse changed from a .exe to a zip installer on Windows. Make sure to execute (and/or check) the multiverse-cmd.bat file to understand the environment which Multiverse uses to run correctly.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Viewport: Hardware rendering of normals in the Multiverse HydraVP2 viewport is now always correct also in cases with hard edges or various cases with per-face or per-vertex normals.
VRay: Fixed an issue which was preventing Multiverse attributes to be added to VRay nodes.
USD: Removed some unnecessary warning message verbosity coming from the USD library.
Info View: The info window on the shelf now also displays the Multiverse build date and the python version.
Writers: More informative error messages when writing with incorrect selections.
MEOW: Improved the Item View (triggered by MMB) to display aside MEOW and not above it.
MEOW: Show the prim path and type separately from attributes, on top.
MEOW: Allow for resizing columns, and reorder attributes according to alphabetic or numeric values.
MEOW: Ability to copy any row (name type value) via a double click as a quoted CSV string.
Python API: Added a new API to list all primitives (items) that have a material override applied: ListMaterialOverridePrims.
3Delight: Improved support for per-vertex UVs for the procedural in some special cases.
Redshift: Added support of rendering per-point primvars (equivalent to Houdini's "point" storage class) on points/particles geometry.
Redshift: Added support of rendering per-curve primvars (equivalent to Houdini's "primitive" storage class) on curve geometry.
Redshift: Added support of rendering per-point primvars (equivalent to Houdini's "point" storage class) on mesh geometry.
Redshift: Added support of rendering per-vertex primvars (equivalent to Houdini's "vertex" storage class) on mesh geometry.
Redshift: Added support of rendering per-face primvars (equivalent to Houdini's "primitive" storage class) on mesh geometry.
Viewport: Correctly display per-primitive curve displayColor.
Redshift: Added support for reference positions "P ref" (from Maya reference objects). This prevents USD assets to "swim" into 3D textures if the primvars:Pref attribute is present in USD (it can be written in a USD file by the Multiverse Asset Writer).
Redshift: Largely improved performance in IPR.
Redshift: Better handling of (potentially missing) normals and winding order.
Redshift: Improved typed primvar reading on meshes, curves points.
Asset Writer: Improved to handle cases where maya references have no dag parent. reminder: writing multi-root USD geometry prims albeit allowed is not recommended, when using the asset write always select one single node in Outliner (or pass a selection of one node in the API): Multiverse will always writs its children and optionally its ancestors.
Redshift: Removed some unnecessary logging warning about primvars.

# Fixes

Writer & Importer: Fix handling of per-vertex UV coordinates in some special geometry cases.
Compound: Fixed a regression with layer muting in the Compound shape.
Reader: Fixed a regression with display purposes loading in the viewport even when disabled.
macOS: Fixed an issue with USD Metal conflicting with other USD libraries that could be concurrently loaded.
macOS: Fixed issue with launching usdview caused by wrong environment. Remember that usdview must be launched from mayapy.
VRay: Fixed a crash when editing materials in IPR in VRay 5.
MEOW: Fixed an issue with renderers materials menu potentially empty.
Maya: Fixed attribute editor template missing extension attributes on shapes whose AE were already shown prior to the Multiverse plugin load. This affected shape nodes from Maya and from the renderers plug-ins Maya integrations.
Redshift: Fixed a regression when rendering the per-primitive primvars on mesh geometry.
Viewport: Fixed a crash with per-primitive curve displayColor.
Reader: Fixed generation of USD clips in the Multiverse Read UI, this was due to changes in the USD 20.05/21.11 handling of clips. Note that now clip generation will create both a *.topology.usda and a *.manifest.usda file along with the main sequence .usda clip file.
Redshift: remapValue shading nodes are now correctly interpreted.
macOS & Python: Improved linking of Python on multiple versions of macOS and Maya, for more details hop to the install macOS document.
Arnold: Fixed missing Arnold support due to a build error in the 7.0.0 RC version.
Viewport: Fixed an issue causing some animated abc or usd assets to not update the draw correctly when scrubbing the timeline.
Redshift: Fixed material overrides on instances.
Writer: Avoid crash and print a warning when trying to write assets with invalid filenames due to special characters.
Viewport: Fixed issue with Maya playblast turning out black with floating point render target.
Redshift: Fixed wrong orientation with USD point instancers.

# v7.0.0 RC - 2022-03-22 Pro

# NEW FEATURES

Multiverse Hydra-VP2 Viewport

Introducing the novel HydraVP2 viewport that leverages on Maya VP2 for better draw performance and seamless Maya interaction.

Highly performant with scenes containing multiple Multiverse compounds
Supports rich shading effects (depth of field, lighting, shadowing etc...)
Ability to instantly switch between viewport draw modes
Much increased draw performance
Support for marquee selection
Support for multi selection via the CTRL+Shift+Click key combo.
Ability to independently control the draw and rate of instances
Allows for both OpenGL and DirectX

Trivia

Multiverse used VP2 in v5, then Hydra Storm in v6. With v7 we have leveraged on our longstanding experience with both technologies and developed a new "HydraVP2" Viewport which works with any Maya versions and does not rely on any intermediate abstraction layers, nor "virtual" Maya nodes. It uses Hydra for upstream, native, direct talk with USD. We believe, combined with our special features, this will offer the best of both worlds experience to users.

Instance draw mode

Ability to draw instances (whether Maya or USD point-instancers) with a different draw mode. This improves draw performance in very complex scenes.

Instance draw ratio

Ability to set the percentage of instances to display (whether Maya or USD point-instancers). This further improves draw performance in even more complex scenes.

Maya material draw mode

The new Maya material draw mode allows to draw a Multiverse compound in the viewport using its shape-assigned Maya material. It supports full shading, texturing, transparency and also works with hardware lighting and shadowing.

Compound selection

Multiverse Compounds are now selected as bounding boxes when selected from outliner.

Auto color mode

The new Auto-Color draw mode allows to draw a Multiverse compound in the viewport using a set of 6 flat colors.

De-Instancing ability

Ability to de-instance (or re-instance) an instance root (think of objects that were duplicated as instances in Maya). Once an instance root has been de-instanced, overrides can be applied. This action is and can be written out as an override. The Python API has been extended for this.

Writing Maya shading networks to USD

New support for writing complete Maya shading networks, potentially animated, and coming from any renderer, inside USD files. Writing can be executed from the asset writer, from the override writer and from Maya's Hypershade. Writing of shading networks is decoupled from material assignment and therefore allows for powerful pipeline workflows. This feature is a 100% a pure USD solution and does not rely on MaterialX.

It is possible to layer in a Multiverse compound a USD file that exclusively containing shading networks (for example from the Hypershade writer) on top of another USD file containing a hierarchy of prims that is completely unrelated, effectively making the former accessible as a material library for assignment to the latter.

Embedded shading networks can be used for:

Interchange purposes with other DCC apps such as SideFX Houdini: TDs can use the USDShade API schema to read and reconstruct embedded shading networks in other DCCs or in Maya itself and then assign them as Maya material overrides.
Procedural rendering with 3Delight NSI (see next item).

Rendering USD Shading Network with NSI

Embedded shading networks can be rendered in a lossless fashion with the 3Delight NSI renderer making it possible to render a Maya scene that contains only cameras and lights with geometry and shading networks stored in USD files. 3Delight NSI uses OSL for all its shaders and Multiverse also supports writing and rendering of custom user OSL shaders. Finally, the compound shape now has an additional option to ignore USD assignment if desired.

MEOW now feature a new "Assign USD material" as an override: this means that if a primitive has a material assignment it can be overridden with another embedded USD material. Additionally it it also possible to assign a "classic" Maya material override. Both actions can be written as overrides.

MEOW info will show detailed information about embedded shaders on relative prims where USD materials are assigned as well as shading networks info and attribute values on the materials.

MEOW Persistence

MEOW, the Multiverse Explore and Override Window, is now persistent: it always keep displaying the latest selected Multiverse compound node even when selecting other Maya nodes. This offers user friendliness and also avoids unnecessary re-computation of the whole USD stage. The gain is noticeable with very complex hierarchies.

MEOW Multi-tabs, with prim count

MEOW now also support multi-tabs which can be created and destroyed by the user. Multi-tabs allow for avoiding re-loading complex tree hierarchies over and over in scenes with multiple compounds.

Tabs display the total primitive count for the compound, along with its name.

Python2 & Python3 support Multiverse is now built for both Py2 and Py3:
- Maya 2018, 2019, 2020 with Python2 on Windows, Linux and macOS
- Maya 2022 with Python2 on Windows, Linux
- Maya 2022 with Python 2 and Python3 on Windows, Linux and macOS
USD Libraries
- Updated to USD 21.11 on Windows and Linux.
- Updated to USD Metal 21.11 on macOS, this work is in collaboration with Apple.
- AR 2.0 support is now the default asset resolver.
- Multiverse now uses a custom USD plugin path, which, together with its custom library namespace and prefixed Python module prevents potential clash with any other Maya plugins which link to other USD libraries.

# IMPROVED

Marquee selection over one or more Compound shape and and one or more Maya shape will return the correct selection of shapes.
Refactored material assignment workflow to use standard USD material relationships rather than the multiverse:material attribute.
Improved Pulsar license server output.
Disallow adding overrides for non supported location types (e.g. instances) in MEOW.
MEOW's MMB Show Info panel now can show which shader is input into another shader attribute.
It is now possible to "jump" to material assigned to a primitive with the "Show in MEOW" RMB option.

# FIXED

Animated particle instancers are now written correctly both for assets and compositions.
MASH instancers with Multiverse Compounds used as source can preview in the viowport prior to writing them as Compositions.
The Pulsar license server in some special network and O/S configurations.
MEOW does not display deleted mvSet for assignment anymore
Many fixes in viewport display with animated draw modes and purposes.
NSI procedural: Fix incorrect computation of xform cache samples.
Error messages: removed some annoying USD-related VTArray warning messages
MEOW: fixed an issue with slow performance with fully collapsed tree hierarchies.
NSI: fixed an issue with mvRenderNSI loading in Maya batch mode, now the plugin will be loaded if necessary, regardless of "require" statements in Maya files.
MEOW: fixed an issues with the "Show Network in Node Editor" feature.

# REMOVED

Proxy view mode
Flat draw mode
Storm hydra view
NSI hydra view (this may be reintroduced in the future upon further work)

# v6.7.4 - 2021-12-03 Pro

# NEW

Maya 2022: Added support for Maya 2022 with Python 2.7 on Windows and Linux. Note that since Maya 2022 on macOS is Python3 only, Multiverse will add support for it as of v7.0.0, which is scheduled by Dec 2021 / Jan 2022.
TIP

Maya 2022 by default runs in Python3 mode, to run Maya with Python2.7 use the following command in the prompt / terminal: maya -pythonver 2. Alternatively set the following environment variable MAYA_PYTHON_VERSION=2. Once Maya is running you can verify the Python version by executing the following in the Python Script Editor import sys print(sys.version).
Arnold 7: Added support for Arnold 7 / MtoA 5.
Asset Reader: Added an option to display and optionally handle Z-up oriented assets as Y-up when reading an asset. The same option has been added to the Multiverse Python API.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Composition Writer: Automatic support for handling the time offset and scale (for re-timing) parameters when writing compositions.

# FIXES

3Delight: Fixed issue with parallel expansion of instanced primitives which as causing random hangs/crashes in scenes where many USD files were open in parallel.
Asset Writer: Resolved an issue with animation and scale constraints.
MEOW: Fixed viewport visibility (vv) and render visibility (rv) so to work with multi-selections actions.

# v6.7.3 — 2021-07-26 Free Pro

# IMPROVEMENTS

VRay: Improved procedural rendering to accept also assets with invalid topology when UV indexes are out of range.

# FIXES

Asset Writer: Resolved an issue when writing Maya particle instancers nodes (e.g. the ones used in MASH) which were animated. Incidentally parent constraints that pointed to an animated instancers were also affected by this, and consequentially they are now also working as expected.
Renderman: Resolved an issue with instance prototypes not being correctly chosen by point instancers.
Renderman: Renderman 24 is now officially supported.
Distribution - The USD executables in the bin folder are now correctly tagged with the +x permission on Linux and macOS.
Online License: Fixed an issue causing an unsupported response from the cloud which could cause a crash (Free Version only).
License server: Fixed a display issue with the reporting of used licenses in the Pulsar floating license server (Pro Version only).
License server: Now Pulsar is able to show hostname with IP address.

# v6.7.2 — 2021-06-08 Pro

License server: Fixed an issue with the Pulsar floating license server (Pro Version only).

# v6.7.1 — 2021-06-07 Pro

License server: Fixed an issue with the Pulsar floating license server (Pro Version only).

# v6.7.0 — 2021-06-07 Free Pro

# NEW FEATURES

# USD Purposes

Complete Purpose support: this includes the ability to choose whether to read render, proxy and guide purpose both from the Multiverse Reader UI (selection can be made before actually reading the data) and also from on the Multiverse Compound shape node (meaning: after having read the data). Purpose is now orthogonal to the viewport modes, this separation allows to selectively see purposes in any view mode. In addition the mvSet node options have been extended to support tagging geometry with the guide purpose for writing assets, in addition to render and proxy. Finally, MEOW now uses useful visual cues to indicate purpose on primitives.

# USD Blend Shapes

It is now possible to write assets which use the Maya blendShape deformer as USD blend shapes. Multiple shape targets and in-between shapes are supported, data can be also written with skeleton animation and skin weights. In addition, USD blend shapes are present in the MEOW tree, as well as in the viewport (if marked visible).

# Compositions with Auto-Saved-Overrides

Added support for writing pending (unwritten) overrides when writing compositions: file names are generated automatically using the Compound shape name and the write timestamp. This allows users to read multiple Compounds, set Overrides and with a single Write Composition operation take care also of automatically saving the pending overrides, thus facilitating consolidation of large scenes.

# Viewport Preferences

Added the new Multiverse preferences window (see new icon in Shelf), currently supporting several options to control the Hydra Storm viewport and customize the look and shading of Compounds and selected items.

# NURBS writing

Added support for writing nurbsCurve nodes to the Asset Writer. NURBS curves are typically used to guide curve grooming of fur & hair in Maya ⇆ Houdini pipelines.

# USD Frames per second metadata writing

Added option to all writers to specify a frame per seconds (also known as "timecodes per second") option, defaulted to 24.

# Python API

Added API options relative to the new features:

All Writers: Added option framesPerSecond (scalar, defaults to 24.0)
Asset Write: Added option writeBlendShapes (boolean, defaults to False)
Composition Write: added option writePendingOverrides (boolean, defaults to False)

# IMPROVEMENTS

Asset Write: Added ability to write hardware shader (USD preview surface) as overrides.
Asset Write: Skeleton schema is not written anymore to USD when writing sparse override if the joints option is disabled.
Redshift: Largely improved some internals which now result in much faster time to initialize and finalize rendering. Speed-up of up to 30x have been measured on scenes with many compounds.
VRay: Largely improved some internals which now result in much faster time to initialize and finalize rendering. Speed-up of up to 30x have been measured on scenes with many compounds.
3Delight: Added support for overriding the visibility to shadow rays.
Redshift: Increased the mininum version of the Redshift renderer to v3.0.45.

# FIXES

Viewport: Resolved drawing issue in the bbox/bboxes mode which did not update when using transform overrides.

# DEPRECATED

Removed from shelf the viewport proxy mode, now purpose and draw modes are orthogonal to viewport draw modes. See “USD purposes” above in the changelog.

# PRO LICENSING

Important

The Multiverse PRO version license server (“Pulsar”) has been updated. It is backwards compatible with clients running previous version of Multiverse (e.g: v6.6.x), however, if you wish to run v6.7.x on your clients you MUST then update the license server to also use v6.7.x.

Major improvements to the floating license server "Pulsar", including several bug fixes in the Linux version, much lower CPU utilization (now almost insignificant), ability to log stats to the console via a new environment variable MV_LICENSE_LOG=1 that traces license checking and other minor improvements.
A new Studio License has been introduced: up to 999 interactive + 999 render floating licenses at a predictable and fixed yearly cost, a perfect solution for medium and large studios that scale and don't want to worry with license numbers, see http://multi-verse.io/buy (opens new window) If you need more than 999 interactive and 999 render licenses please contact sales@j-cube.jp

# FREE LICENSING

Important

The Multiverse FREE version has been updated to use a new cloud infrastructure. Any users of the FREE version is required to update to v6.7 by July 7, 2021. Earlier FREE versions (e.g: v6.6.0. or lower) will not be able to acquire a cloud license after this date.

Major improvements to the cloud license server, now using a scalable system able to checkout hundreds of thousands of licenses worldwide and concurrently.
As of this version, max 1 FREE license is allowed per network. If you need to use multiple concurrent licenses within the same network the PRO version is required.

# v6.6.10 — 2021-04-30 Pro

# FIXES

Overrides: Resolved issue with active state / visibility overrides not being correctly updated.
3Delight: Resolved issue with rendering instances and nested instances.
3Delight: Resolved issue with translating point instancers.
3Delight: Resolved issue with attribute inheritance on point instancers.
VRay: Resolved issue with rendering point instancers.

# v6.6.9 — 2021-03-31 Pro

# NEW

Asset Write: Added ability to ignore specific node types when writing assets via Python API.
Python API: Added support for syncing selection made via API with MEOW.
Arnold: Added support for Arnold 6.2 / MtoA 4.2.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Asset Write: Instances of Multiverse Compounds are now written as instanceable references instead of internal references.
Viewport: The proxy viewport mode is now always flat shaded.

# FIXES

Asset Write: The "Inherit Transforms" flag on Maya transform nodes was not respected correctly when writing Assets.
Python API: Added the bool type to the API function that creates USD attributes.
**Overrides_ Resolved an issue with transform overrides set on items with the same name but belonging to different parents.
Arnold: Resolved an issue with Arnold library linking in the Multiverse for Maya 2018 on Linux (before this version using LD_PRELOAD was necessary).
3Delight: Resolved an issue with the visibility flags not correctly handled for instances.
3Delight: Resolved an issue with the resetXformStack flag not being respected.
3Delight: Resolved an issue when rendering assets with instances in batch mode.
3Delight: Resolved an issue with the custom USD color attributes not being rendered correctly with a primitive attribute reader.
Redshift: Resolved issues with material assignment on objects with the same name.
Redshift: Resolved an issue caused by override path being too long.

# v6.6.8 — 2021-02-19 Pro

# FIXES

Overrides: Resolved an issue with RemovePrimitiveOverride breaking overrides on "invalid items".
Overrides: Resolved an issue which was failing to create and override for a parent on a hierarchy containing overrides with the same name in their descendants.
Python API: Resolved an issue with instances not being returned from the GetChildrenForPath function which is useful to traverse hierarchies.
Redshift: Resolved an issue with assignment of the same material overrides onto multiple items of the same Compound.
Redshift: Resolved an issue with assignment of materials with shared shading network nodes to multiple parts of the same Compound.
Redshift: Resolved a crash with specific Alembic caches.
Redshift: Resolved an issue with material override not updating correctly.
Redshift: Resolved an issue with instances rendered in wrong position.

# v6.6.7 — 2021-01-29 Pro

# NEW

Attributes: Added support for primvars on point instancers. So, for example, a color primvar on a point instancer prim can be retried by a primvar reader for rendering purposes.
Attributes: Added support for writing custom USD attributes of type bool.
Overrides: Added a Maya attribute to Multiverse Compound nodes which allows to preserve invalid item overrides when the user reads different assets with incompatible hierarchy structure / primitive name but still wants to preserve the overrides. Note that the attribute is hidden from the UI and can be set via scripting: bool preserveOverrides (default: false). When set to true overrides will be preserved. Invalid overrides can be removed with the removeNodeOverrides() API function.

# FIXES

Redshift: Resolved an issue with instances not rendering.
Overrides: Resolved an issue with (animated) visibility overrides not correctly updating in the viewport.

# v6.6.6 — 2021-01-13 Pro

# NEW

3Delight: added support for dlSet ray visibilities at the Compound node level as well as for attribute overrides on specific primitive paths.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Changed the primvars:st type from float2 to texcoord2f. This grants a matching compatibility with Houdini and is also future-proof with upcoming versions of USD were texcoord2f is the recommended choice.
Python API: Better error reporting with the RemoveTransformOverride Python API when a primitive path doesn't exist.
Prevent mvSet nodes to be deleted when a connected compound is deleted.

# FIXES

Resolved an issue with viewport visibility overrides incorrectly affecting the display of the render visibility icon in MEOW.
Now using the full DAG path path in CreateTransformOverride, this potentially prevents hierarchy clashes.
Resolved an issue with overrides not updating when their attributes were deleted from the attribute editor.
Arnold: Resolved issue with incorrect UV mapping rendering in both USD and ABC files coming from Houdini.
Vray: Resolved issue with missing UVs and with USD files coming from Houdini (ABC was working already).
Redshift: Resolved issue with missing UVs for both USD and ABC files coming from Houdini.

# MUSE alpha 2 — 2021-01-04 Pro

# NEW

# Layer Edator

The new "Layer Editor" allows to add layers to the stage, effectively "composing" them. Layers can be muted, un-muted, removed, and reordered by moving them up/down. Note that, as per Usd convention, upper layers always override lower layers. Every modification to the stage is held in the current session layer which is always at the top of the layers stack. Composed layers can be written as Compositions, with the option of writing them as references or as sub-layers.

# Stage Editing

It is now possible to non-destructively edit the USD stage by adding new primitive children ("prims") in the Hierarchy Editor. Newly added prims are created at the selected point in the hierarchy and are colored in green, they can also be renamed and removed. USD references can be associated to newly added primitives. All operation are done via RMB.

# Add Attributes

It is now possible to add new USD attributes on any primitive in the "Attribute Editor". Currently the following types are supported: float, color, token, string and each new attribute can be marked as "primvar". New buttons are available to add new attributes, remove added ones, and reset edited ones to their default values.

# macOS version (using Metal)

As of this version MUSE is also distributed for macOS. It uses the Apple Metal graphics API to draw on the viewport via the Hydra Storm delegate. MUSE is packaged as a single-file macOS ".app" and can be simply used in-situ or moved on your desired drive location.

Important note for macOS Users

This version of MUSE is not yet "notarized" on macOS and will only run if you RMB on the app and select "open" which will prompt a dialog allowing you to bypass the gatekeeper. Alternatively you can disable macOS' System Integrity Protection (SIP).

# Material Display

Added support for enabling/disabling USD preview materials (if present in the stage) in the viewport.

# Distribution (all OS)

The distribution on each OS has been made location independent and several unnecessary files were removed. Run-scripts are also been removed for all platforms.

# Licensing

MUSE will pop-up a licensing UI dialog when run the first time, you can use this dialog to input the license server in the format IPAddress@Port. Once the license server is found MUSE will check a Multiverse Pro license at the start and release it immediately. Once validated, license information will be stored in a per-user configuration file.

# UI Improvements

Reworked File menu terminology to be in sync with Multiverse read/write logic.
A root primitive is always displayed in the hierarchy editor.
Added link to the Documentation in the Help menu.
Added support for changing the viewport background color from the View menu.
The about dialog now displays Muse version along with the short git commit id (sha-1).
Improved the behavior of prim filtering in the Hierarchy Editor.
Added a checkbox in the Write Current Session to reload the override file just written as a new layer.

# FIXES

Fixed crash when quickly selecting many items in complex hierarchies.
Fixed issue with camera position not being preserved when edited the stage.
Fixed issue with expansion state not being preserved in the Hierarchy Editor.
Fixed crash with double-clicking to expand in the Hierarchy Editor.
Fixed crash on context menu activation.
Fixed crash when double clicking on empty area of the Hierarchy Editor.

# v6.6.5 — 2020-12-14 Pro

# NEW

VRay: added support for displacement in VRay. Both the classic Maya displacement node connected on the shadingEngine and the VRay displacement node are supported.

# IMPROVEMENTS

USD Clips: improved generation of USD clips, clip files are now easier to read and edit. Note that file-per-frame sequences now require file names with strict frame padding between dots, such as my_sim_frame.0042.ext (where ext is .usd/.usdc or .abc).
VRay: suppressed some warnings on set selections
3DelightNSI: removed an unnecessary string containing material names which was unnecessary.
VRay: the blackhole surfaceShader material option now works as expected punching a black hole in the alpha.
VRay: visibilities controld on vray object attributes in mvSet are now supported (and override visibilities on Render Stats in the Multiverse Compound).

# FIXES

All Procedurals: Fixed issue with leaf primitive being incorrectly rendered even if their "active state" override was marked as inactive. activated are rendered, while .
USD Clips: fixed a regression which prevented reading of alembic file-per-frame sequences in usd clips.
Pro Licensing: fixed the Windows distribution to include libeay32.dll in the Multiverse bin folder rather than in the lib folder (this affected only the Windows platform).
Python API: Fixed CreateTransformOverride when adding overrides on same path on different objects.
PythonAPI: Fixed AddUsdAttributeToNode when multiple compounds with the same name exist in the scene.
Asset Writer: Fixed an issue when writing "stepped" animated assets which was producing wrong transformations.

# v6.6.4 — 2020-11-30 Pro

# NEW

MEOW: Added support for activating/deactivating items in a Compound as a override action. The "active state" can be written as an override by the Write USD Override UI and by the API (deactivated items are removed from the stage, form the viewport and from rendering).
Python API: Added API function to control active state of items.
Python API: Added write flag that allows users to specify a custom export root path that will be prepended on the written asset.

# IMPROVEMENTS

VRay: Added support for integer user attributes (compatible with both VRay 5 and 4).

# FIXES

Reader: Fixed issue with loading assets with filename starting with a number.
Redshift: Fixed issue with procedural data not being correctly cached.
VRay: Fixed evaluation for primitive variable attribute values.
VRay: Fixed issue with UV interpolation on subdiv meshes.
Licensing: Fixed issue that prevented the Pulsard.exe program to find all necessary libraries on the Windows platform.

# v6.6.3 — 2020-11-13 Pro

# NEW

Arnold: Added support for Arnold 6.1.0.0 / MtoA 6.0.1 on all platforms.
MEOW: Added a RMB option to inspect a material override without selecting it, this prevents clearing the MEOW UI while editing material attributes.
Python API: Added new function to query existing USD attribute names.

# IMPROVEMENTS

UI: Selection wireframe color of Multiverse Compounds is a bit less intense and produces a more pleasant look. Likewise for "wireframe on shaded".

# FIXES

Writer: Fixed issue with incorrect bind transform for leaf joints which prevented correct writing of usdSkel deformations in some circumstances.
Writer: Fixed an issue with exporting animated overrides.
NSI: Fixed a 'set property' warning on USD root location.
NSI: Fixed an issue with interpolation of per-point primvars.
Arnold: Fixed issue with varying colors on points.
Viewport: Fixed display of "wireframe on shaded" draw modes.
Compound: Fixed issue with overrides being lost when adding new layers.

# v6.6.2 — 2020-10-29 Pro

# IMPROVEMENTS

Reader: Show an info message in the Read UI to inform the user when a usd sequence clip has an empty time range.
Python API: Added a new function to add Usd attributes to any node.
Docs: Misc docs improvement, and added the above API function to docs.

# FIXES

UI: Resolved a Maya 2020+ Windows-only issue with reopening the MEOW window after it has been detached and closed.
Reader: Fixed issue with value of Use Relative Paths option not being preserved across multiple reads and on a new Maya session.

# v6.6.1 — 2020-10-23 Pro

# IMPROVEMENTS

Viewport: Improved selection in viewport when Maya shapes and Multiverse compounds are overlapping / stacking.
MEOW: Added support for displaying relationships in details window.
MEOW: Added support for hiding/showing multiple items at once.
Writer: Updated to avoid setting prim type when writing sparse overrides.
Writer: Add support for handling displayColor as special case of custom USD attribute.
Writer: Updated to only consider positions for curves when writing sparse overrides.
UI: Misc improvements in Compound AE Template.

# FIXES

Writer: Fixed issue with writing meshes with custom USD attributes.
Writer: Fixed issue with writing override for skeletons.
Writer: Fixed crash on writing when skeleton root was contained in a group.
Writer: Fixed issue with skinned meshes not being correctly written if the bound skeleton was not also written.
NSI: Fixed issue with overrides not correctly handled in IPR.
API: Fixed typos in API doc strings.
Docs: Misc improvements.

# v6.6.0 — 2020-10-09 Free Pro

# NEW FEATURES

# Variants

Introducing a novel, comprehensive and production-ready, support for USD Variants in Maya. This allows users to easily and efficiently author, edit, write, select, override and render both hierarchy-based & attribute-based variations (with support for animated attributes), whether originating from Maya data or from USD data encapsulated in Multiverse Compounds.

Variant in Multiverse allow users to easily and interactively switch models/hierarchies as well as attributes/primvars, which can be queried for shading variations at render-time or for other pipeline needs. Multiverse offers complete rendering agnostic workflow enabling users to create conditional logic in shading networks by querying primvars and dynamically switch any property of the asset's look.

Variants management can be performed via the UI or via the Multiverse Python API, for which a new variants module has been introduced.

Variants allow more streamlined pipeline workflow because information about variations is completely self-contained in USD files without the need of storing such information inside Maya nodes (such as locators, transforms etc.) This grants for better flexibility within the same DCC in different stages of the pipeline and also easier interchange with other DCCs.

Refer to the new Variants documentation for details:

# Custom Attributes

Introducing custom attributes writing for both Maya-typed and USD-typed attributes with full support for animation.

Custom attributes can be written both from Maya data (supported mesh/curves/point shape nodes and transform nodes) and from USD data encapsulated in Multiverse Compounds via Attribute Overrides in MEOW (mvSet node). Custom attributes can be added both from the UI and from the Multiverse Python API.

Custom attributes writing is controlled by new options in the Asset Writer UI: Maya-typed ones are explicitly listed with a comma-separated list of names, while writing of USD typed attributes is enabled/disabled using a flag.

Refer to the new Custom Attributes documentation for details:

Authoring Custom Attributes

# MUSE alpha 1

Introducing "MUSE", JCube's new "Multiverse Usd Standalone Editor". MUSE allows users to open, interactively visualize, playback, any USD asset and composition without the need for a DCC application. The aim of MUSE is to provide a fast and non-destructive multi-editing of attributes in a USD file, adding references to other USD files, write USD overrides and write USD compositions with overrides.

MUSE is currently in Alpha and is provided exclusively to clients of the Multiverse Pro Version as a "Tech Preview", it will briefly check for the presence of a license server but won't consume Multiverse licenses.

To know more about the present and future of MUSE we have prepared a small FAQ.

# Compound Consolidation

It is now possible to consolidate all layers in a Multiverse Compound with one click from the Compound UI: the consolidated composition will be written and re-loaded automatically, if the sync option is active.

# Subdiv Creases

Multiverse now automatically recognizes subdivision creases on Maya meshes and writes assets accordingly. Subdivision surfaces with vertex and edge creases can then rendered by the available procedurals.

# Remove Material Override

Introducing the action of "removing a material assignment" as an override: in MEOW you can now assign a Null material as an override which will effectively remove a pre-existing material assignment in a non-destructive way as it can be written as a USD override.

# Composition Write with Time Settings

When writing compositions the following time setting in USD are now recognized: time offset and speed multiplier.

# Asset Write with Flatten Parent Transforms

The Asset Write UI now allows to flatten parent transformations at the current selection (know in Alembic as the worldSpace option).

# Other New Changes, Fixes and Improvements

Asset Write: fixed to always write extent when writing points.
Asset write: a warning is now shown when selection contains multiple roots.
Asset Write: added sparse writing for curves.
Asset Write: avoid writing samples for non-animated attributes.
Asset Write: fixed issue with unknown node types preventing to write sparse overrides.
Reader: added a warning when "no default primitive" is set in the USD file.
Reader: added information about default primitive in the USD file.
Reader: improved clip-generation to generate a manifest file for the topology.
Reader: large clips can now be read safely.
Compound UI: when opening layers from a Compound, the same file browser dialog and options as the Multiverse reader is used.
UI: improved UI in mvSet, added options for custom USD attributes writing.
macOS: fixed an issue with usdSkel skinning not being applies in some circumstances in the viewport.
macOS: several Metal API improvements.
MEOW: added description for the new icons in the help window.
MEOW: new menu action to show the "item info" window (which can also be summoned via MMB-click).
MEOW: improved the positioning of the "item info" so to always fit with the screen.
MEOW: resolved issue with incomplete creation of outbound connections from shadingEngine nodes.
All Renderers: fixed issue with usdSkel skinning not applied on render.
Arnold: fixed a crash with curve rendering when driven by usdSkel deformations.
Arnold: fixed an issue with transform overrides not being honored.
Arnold: fixed issue with wrong orientation in point instancers.
Asset Write: add support for offsetParentMatrix in transform nodes (Maya 2020+).
NSI: added support for reading UVs for curves.
NSI: fixed issue with translation of xform for SkelRoot primitives.
NSI: fixed issue with wrong orientation in point instancer.
Redshift: fixed an issue with transform overrides not being honored.
RMan: fixed issue with wrong orientation in point instancer.
VRay: added support for matte attributes.
VRay: curves now can render with per-primitive UV information.
VRay: fixed an issue which prevented the correct distribution of both the v4 and v5 procedural.
Python API: added a function to refresh MEOW panel.
Python API: added a new function to query USD items by path.
Python API: added functions to query xform/material/attribute overrides.

# v6.5.2 — 2020-09-08 Pro

# NEW

Added support for VRay 5. The minimum supported version of Vray 5 is v5.00.20. Note that VRay 4 is and will continue to be supported.

# IMPROVEMENTS

macOS: General Metal performance and stability improvements.
macOS: Metal improvements for handling drawing of non indexed points.

# FIXES

Renderman: Resolved an issue that prevented to handle correctly cubic curves.
Writing: Resolved a permission issue which prevented to write over NFS on Windows in network environments not managed by Window server. Now both mapped drives and UNC paths are fully supported.
Writing: Resolved an issue that prevented to write compositions over NFS, or compositions that contained at least one assets stored on a NFS.

# v6.5.1 — 2020-08-21 Pro

# IMPROVEMENTS

VRay: Added support for velocity render elements for motion blur in post.

# FIXES

VRay: Resolved an issue with transform override does now matching between viewport and render.
VRay: Resolved materials that were not applied as MEOW overrides (ALSurface, HairNext...)
VRay: Resolved an issue with rendering displacement
Licensing: Resolved an issue with the Pulsar floating license server on macOS, the relative documentation has been updated.

# Docs

Added a Multiverse on Jupyter tutorial in the new Blog section.
Added a sample pipeline workflow in the Pipeline section.

# v6.5.0 — 2020-08-07 Free Pro

# NEW FEATURES

# USD Data Importer

Added support for importing USD data from a loaded Multiverse Compound. Importer functionalities are available in the MEOW interface (via RMB on a prim) and currently support polygon meshes, transforms and cameras. Imported data is fed from a Multiverse Compound preserving animation and changes to the resulting Maya objects can be written back to USD as sparse overrides. See the Importer section.

Video (opens new window)

# Auto-sync Imported Data Back to USD

Sparse overrides written from imported objects can be automatically added as a new layer into the original Compound node allowing for a full data round trip from Maya/OtherDCC to USD, back to Maya and back to USD. See the Importer section.

Video (opens new window)

# Redshift Support

Added support for rendering with Redshift on Windows and Linux. The minimum supported Redshift version is v3.0.22. Featuring complete support for all Redshift primitives: polygons, hair, point clouds and instancing / point instancing of any of the previous. All motion blur types are supported too: velocity, acceleration, linear and deformation motion blur. All of the Multiverse overriding methods for attributes and materials are supported.

Video (opens new window)

# Largely improved VRay Rendering

A large number of improvements on VRay rendering are available with this version.

# Integrated Path Tracing Viewport with 3Delight^NSI

Added out-of-the-box integration of the 3Delight^NSI rendering library in the Multiverse Hydra NSI viewport on Windows, Linux and macOS. This offers unlimited threaded rendering, watermark-free in the Maya viewport. The library is shipped with Multiverse and no additional installation nor license of 3Delight is required (note: the library won't clash with other 3Delight libraries which may already exist or be added to the system).

Whereas an OpenGL rasterizer, such as Storm, can offer very fast playback and draw performance with certain datasets, it may also suffer due to large amount of data to draw or when the amount of VRAM is limited: this can be instead handled efficiently by a modern path tracer such as NSI, where system memory (RAM) is the only real limit.

This work is the result of a close partnership with Illumination Research Pty Ltd (the makers of 3Delight (opens new window)).

Video 1 (opens new window) and Video 2 (opens new window)

# Layers Muting

Added support for muting layers in a Multiverse Compound. This allows to easily inspect the result of the composition of different combination of layers and offers a friendly way to assemble layered setups with e.g. sparse overrides. Note that muted layers are excluded from being written.

Video (opens new window)

# USD Asset Resolver Support

Added support for USD asset resolvers. Along with the legacy file-based approach, Multiverse can now resolve asset paths using an USD asset resolver. User can choose the ArDefaultResolver plug-in or provide a custom resolver. See the Asset Resolution section for more details.

# Ability to Select Ancestors from Marking Menus

Added ability to select hierarchy ancestors for the currently selected item (USD prim) in the viewport via Maya Marking Menu.

Video (opens new window)

# USD 20.08 Support

With version 6.5.0 of Multiverse we have updated USD libraries to version 20.08, this provides the latest and greatest USD support on all Maya versions and platforms.

# Documentation

Added a new documentation system which works offline in addition to be elegant and search-able. The documentation is available online (opens new window) as well as distributed as a separate ZIP file. It can be served locally using the provided Python script serve-docs.py.

# No more Temp Files when Rendering

As of this version Multiverse does not write any temporary USD file when rendering. This has been updated for all supported renderers. The related environment variables are now unnecessary.

# Pro Version Features now Available in 6.5.0

VRay: Added support for rendering with VRay GPU (introduced in v6.4.3).
Viewport: Added support for framing the currently selected item (introduced in v6.4.3).

Video (opens new window)
Viewport: Added new marking menu to create a transform override on the currently selected item (introduced in v6.4.3).

Video (opens new window)

# Other Changes

VRay: Fixed an issue with vrayBlendMaterial MEOW overrides.
VRay: Fixed a crash when rendering with animation (from Vray for Maya or VRay standalone).
VRay: Fixed a crash when rendering with subdivisions.
VRay: Added support for non-array float, int and color (normal, point, vector) primitive variables, which can be recovered with the vrayUser* shading utility nodes.
VRay: Removed unwanted VRay attributes which were added on nodes that inherit from objectSet. All of VRay attributes are now added on Maya objectSet nodes on-demand.
Redshift: Added Redshift extension attributes on Compound nodes.
Redshift: Improved override support for redshiftVisibility nodes.
Redshift: Improved override support for redShiftMatte nodes.
Arnold: Fixed an issue with smoothing of curves.
3Delight: Fixed an issue with attribute overrides on root location.
Renderman: Removed unwanted Renderman attributes which were added on nodes that inherit from the objectSet. Renderman attributes are not added on Maya objectSet nodes anymore, they are now added in the "Extra Attributes" section of mvSet nodes.
mvSet: Improved the UI of mvSet nodes for both the default behavior and for the proxy/render purpose.
UI: Updated icons for better visibility.
Docs: Updated docs.
3Delight: Added HydraNSI support to macOS
Viewport: Improved performance of texture reading in the Storm Viewport on all platforms.

# v6.5.rc3 — 2020-07-22 Pro

USD: Updated USD library version to 20.08 on Windows and Linux. macOS scheduled for the next update / final release.
Docs: Heavy rewriting of the documentation. This is a work in progress.
Redshift: Fixed namespace usage with the Redshift procedural.
Redshift: The minimum supported Redshift version is now 3.0.22.
UI: The about Window now contains the build commit ID.
VRay: Fixed regression with namespaced materials introduced in RC2.
UI: Added icons for the mvSet menu.
Improved several icons.

Info

HydraNSI now requires OpenGL: Core Profile (either "Strict" or "Compatibility") in the Maya display preferences. This means the OpenGL "Legacy" mode is unsupported when using HydraNSI.

# v6.5.rc2 — 2020-07-13 Pro

Python API: Add return values to ImportPrim() and update docs.
Redshift: Improved MultiverseForMaya.mod file to find procedural automatically.
Redshift: Added support for primvar user data on mesh, curve, points. Primvars can be read by user data utilities and used for shading.
Redshift: Fixed curve width.
Fixed and issue with running usdview on Windows from the shelf button.
MEOW: Small improvements in MEOW UI.
MEOW: Added ability to create new or assign existing Maya materials.
VRay: Added support for material override on shading groups both at shape both at assignment level and at MEOW override level.
VRay: Fixed override attribute for OpenSubdiv-related attributes on Maya set nodes.
Writer - Grey-out the importer options instead of hiding them.
VRay: More complete support for USD point instancers.
macOS: macOS 10.15 "Catalina" as specific Metal API is required by Hydra.
Free License: Avoid outputting some unnecessary HTTP response messages.
Free License: Fixed an issue with cloud response that could have produced crashes.

# v6.5.rc1 — 2020-07-03 Pro

NSI: Added option to control curves smoothness in Multiverse Compound node
Python API: The Multiverse plug-in is no longer automatically loaded when the multiverse module is imported. A new multiverse.LoadPlugin() function has been added to the module to explicitly load the Multiverse plug-in.
Shell scripts: Improved shell scripts to setup Multiverse environment.
Installer: Added a flat-style ZIP distribution for Windows (only available) for the Pro Version of Multiverse.
macOS: The minimum version of macOS supported is now 10.15 (Catalina).
Clip files: Fixed issue with missing target primitive in generated clip files.
Arnold: Fixed crash when loading Arnold plug-in.
Arnold: Fixed issue with rendering Compounds created before loading the Arnold plug-in.
NSI, Arnold: Fixed issue with rendering smooth curves.
VRay: Fixed conflict between vrayUserAttributes and custom attributes.
VRay: Fixed issue with Cryptomatte.
VRay: Fixed issue with rendering Compounds with multiple layers.

# v6.4.3 — 2020-06-09 Pro

# NEW

VRay: Added support for rendering with VRay GPU.

Note that the minimum supported VRay version is 4.30.01.
Viewport: Added support for framing the currently selected item (USD prim) in one of the following ways:
1. Hotkey: If not already registered, CTRL+ALT+F will be automatically registered on Windows and Linux while COMMAND+F will be registered on macOS.
  Note that a different key can be mapped from the Maya Hotkey Editor: Windows->Settings/Preferences->Hotkey Editor> Custom Script> Multiverse
2. Marking menu: RMB > Frame Selected Item
3. Shelf: Frame shelf Icon (new icon has been added to the shelf).
Video (opens new window)
Viewport: Added new marking menu to create a transform override on the currently selected item.

Video (opens new window)

# IMPROVEMENTS

Alembic: Update asset read UI to avoid fetching metadata when reading Alembic caches.
macOS: Updated USD on macOS for better support of Metal acceleration.
Viewport: Reorganized RMB marking menu to fit the new options.
Improved scripts to set-up the Multiverse environment for macOS/Linux (terminal) and Windows (cmd).

# FIXES

Overrides Fixed issue with assigning a transform override to a location with pre-existing transform override. The existing transform override is now correctly replace by the new one.
Reader: Fixed issue where the incorrect folder was displayed when double clicking on a Multiverse Compound asset path in the layers widget for assets using relative paths.

# v6.4.2 — 2020-05-29 Pro

Writer: Resolved a Windows issue which prevented composition made with with files referenced from different devices / drives to be written successfully.
Writer: Fixed an issue where USDZ files were prevented to be written as part of a compositions.
VRay: Fixed an issue with normals always rendered per face when subdivision surfaces are off.
Arnold: Resolved a crash caused by rendering empty Multiverse Compound with Arnold.
3Delight: Fixed an issue causing shifts in UV coordinates.
Free License: Fixed an issue where uninformative text was printed when requesting a free license.
Licensing: Better warning messages for the Pro Version licensing when licenses are not found.
Windows Installer: Circumvented an issue with Maya installer causing the Autodesk Shared folder not to be created on Windows when an user did not install Maya with either Arnold or Bifrost. The Multiverse installer now takes care of creating this folder (which is used by the MultiverseForMaya.mod file) and guaranteeing the Multiverse plug-in is visible in the Maya plug-in manager even if Arnold and Bifrost are not installed.
Build: Package file names now contain the git short commit id, it is printed to console when the MultiverseForMaya plug-in is loaded.

# v6.4.1 — 2020-05-14 Free Pro

# NEW

VRay, Renderman: Added mvSet namespace functionality to RenderMan and VRay plug-ins to be on par with 3Delight and Arnold. This effectively allows to create multi-renderer setups in Multiverse leveraging on namespace for switching shading networks. As a result you can switch lookdev from any renderer to any another renderer with 1-click.

Watch Video (opens new window)

# IMPROVEMENTS

Better Windows command prompt script to set up environment variables.
The script has been renamed from Shell.bat to multiverse-cmd.bat
Better Linux command prompt script to set up environment variables.
The script has been renamed from Shell.bash to multiverse-terminal.sh

# FIXES

Viewport Linux: The Material Preview viewport mode now works as expected.
Arnold: Resolved a regression with subdivision overrides.
Renderman: Resolved an issue that prevented re-rendering due to and “invalid object handle”.
Renderman: Fixed a platform-related issue in the Renderman .arg file.
Renderman: The environment is now initialized correctly by the Windows installer.
VRay: The environment is now initialized correctly by the Windows installer.
Removed variable re-declaration warnings.

# PYTHON API

Fixed leading double slash returned by MvUsdItem.fullPath.

# DOCS

Several documentation updates.

# v6.4.0 — 2020-05-11 Free Pro

# NEW FEATURES

# Renderman Integration

Added complete integration of Pixar Renderman with full support of rendering of USD files containing polymeshes, subdivision surfaces (including creasing), points, curves. Support for all types of motion blur (3D transformation and deformation, velocity-based, acceleration-based), overrides for materials, attributes, transforms, visibility. Support for all rendering modes such as Preview, IPR, Batch and Command line .rib. Scene expansion is executed procedurally, with minimal rendering time to first pixel (TTFP). Renderman 23 is required (and 23.2 is recommended).

# VRay Integration

Added complete integration of Chaos Group VRay with full support of rendering of USD files containing polymeshes, subdivision surfaces (including creasing), points, curves. Support for all types of motion blur (3D transformation and deformation, velocity-based, acceleration-based), overrides for materials, attributes, transforms, visibility, Support for all rendering modes such as Preview, IPR, Batch and Command line .vrscene. Scene expansion is executed procedurally, with minimal time to first pixel (TTFP). VRay 4 is required (v4.30.01 is required).

# General

USD: Updated USD library version to 20.05.
Updated: Alembic library version to 1.7.10.

# ADDED

Viewport: Added new "Preview Materials" viewport mode. This option is present on the shelf, on the Read UI, on Compounds attribute editor and on marking menus.
Viewport_, _macOS: Large improvements in performance and drawing using the Metal API.
Writer: Added support for writing Maya curves to USD (paintfx and strokes nodes). The Multiverse Write Asset UI has been updated. Note that reading and rendering curves was already supported.
Writer: Added support for writing Maya particles to USD (nParticles nodes). The Multiverse Write Asset UI has been updated. Note that reading and rendering points was already supported.
Writer: Added basic support for writing Maya lights to USD. The Multiverse Write Asset UI has been updated.
Writer: Added support for writing RGB color sets. They can be accessed and rendered with each renderer’s "primvar" reader shader. The Multiverse Write Asset UI has been updated.
Writer: Added support for writing multiple UV sets.
Rendering: Added support for rendering subdivision creases with Arnold.
Writer: Output path and write time are now printed to the script editor when writing USD assets and compositions.
Reader: Read time is now printed to the script editor when loading USD files.
Added information about USD version in the Info window, which is accessible from the shelf.

# PYTHON API

Added new skel.``AssignSkeletonAnimation() function to assign skeleton animation to skeleton locations.
Added new GetUsdMetadata function to retrieve metadata from USD files.
SelectPrimitives() now prevents from selecting non-existing locations.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Viewport: Display colors are now used as fallback for display when Preview Materials are not present.
Viewport_, _macOS: Added support for drawing meshes with varying topology.
Writer: References to external textures are now collected and included in the target archive when writing compositions to USDZ.
**Rendering_ Improved velocity/acceleration motion blur with Arnold. Now all renderers behave the same when doing velocity/acceleration motion blur.
**Rendering_ Several improvements with cryptomatte in Arnold (fully working in object mode and providing consistent behavior with instances).
**macOS_ Reduced output verbosity.
Names of files generated by Multiverse for rendering now include milliseconds in their timestamp string to prevent clashes.
Added icons for lights in MEOW tree graph and help window.
Added new MV_RENDER_FILES_PATH environment variable to control the location of files generated by Multiverse during render. The new MV_RENDER_FILES_PATH replaces MV_TMP_DIR - MV_TMP_DIR will still work as a fallback.
mvUsdCompoundShape nodes were erroneously added to newly created mvSet nodes, if selected.

# FIXES

Viewport: Fixed issue with pick-selecting instances of Compound nodes.
Viewport macOS: Resolved issue with drawing multiple compounds at the same time.
Rendering: Resolved issue with recovering color set with the Primitive Attribute node in the NSI procedural.
Rendering: Resolved regression with recovering the displayColor primvar in Arnold via aiUserDataColor.
Rendering: Resolved an issue with different number of motion keys in vertex/normal arrays in the Arnold procedural.
Writer: Resolved issue with Stingray PBS base color attribute not be correctly handled when writing preview materials.
Writer: Resolved issue with missing namespaces when writing USD composition made of multiple instanced of Multiverse Compounds.
Writer: Resolved issue with wrong number of scale attribute values being generated when writing point instancers.
Writer: Resolved crash when writing point instancers when the instanced objects were included in the exported hierarchy.
Writer: Resolved issue with the Inherits Transform attribute not being correctly handled.

# 3D ASSETS

Updated J Cube Esper Room (opens new window) USD asset to v3, now including cameras, lights and preview materials on the Maneki asset in the bathtub.
Updated J Cube Maneki (opens new window) USD and USDZ assets to v2, now including animated turntable camera and improved display color / preview materials.

# DOCS

Updated installation documentation for all platforms.
Updated Licensing the Free Version in light of the new, simplified and decoupled download & register logic introduced on the website (opens new window).
New Rendering Attributes section.
Added notes on Rendering with Renderman.
Added notes on Rendering with VRay.
Updated many documentation pages.

# v6.3.1 — 2020-04-09 Pro

# USD SKELETON WORKFLOW FOR MOCAP & CROWDS

Added support for "binding" USD skeleton animation to compatible USD skinned static assets in an artist-friendly manner, directly from MEOW: simply select source of animation and apply it to the target skeleton. Skeleton animation USD data can come from 3rd party Mo-Cap applications such as Vicon Shogun (opens new window), or can be generated with Multiverse, for example by loading FBX data from Mixamo (opens new window) in Maya and Multiverse Write as USD data. The resulting USD compositions can be exchanged with Houdini Solaris (opens new window) for crowd workflows, as well as written to USDZ to preview in macOS and IOS, facilitating preview work in production. The Multiverse Python API also provides a new skel utility module to facilitate these tasks. See the relative docs: Multiverse USD Skeleton Workflow.

# NEW

Python API: Added new skel utility module and relative online documentation: Multiverse Python API.
Write Asset: Added support for writing multiple UV sets.
Write Asset: Added support for writing (multiple) color sets.
macOS: As of this version the macOS build of Multiverse is fully notarized. This means users on macOS 10.14.5+ and 10.15+ can use Multiverse without the need to disable SIP (which is set on by default on any macOS machine).
Viewport: Added new HUD to display which Hydra renderer is currently used for rendering in the Maya viewport. It can be turned on/off via the menu: Display> Heads Up Display> Multiverse Hydra Renderer.

# IMPROVEMENTS

USDZ: Preserve textures referenced in compound nodes when writing .usdz compositions.

# FIXES

macOS: Improved library loading, this also resolves an issue when working with mayapy.
macOS: Resolved issue with libGLEW on macOS which was linking to a local development path rather than using a proper rpath.
Resolved issue with Arnold not being able to read the displayColor primvar via aiUserDataColor shader.
Resolved issue with merge shape/xform option when writing cameras.
Resolved issue with writing meshes with time-varying topology.
Python API: Fixed incorrect separator used in MvUsdItem.fullPath.
Write Asset: Fixed issue with missing shader connection in preview material.
Write Asset: Fixed issue with writing UVs on skinned mesh.
Added missing usdz extension in write composition dialog filter (albeit it was already possible to write USDZ compositions if the user typed the .usdz extension).
Licensing: Multiverse Pro license server, “Pulsar”, now offers better feedback information for the installed floating license keys, their validity & expiration.
Licensing Pro Version: Pulsar can now scan a directory via the -k commad-line option so to collect all floating license .txt keys in that folder.

# v6.3.0 — 2020-03-17 Free Pro

:: warning Heads Up In case you are installing Multiverse 6.3.0 over the same folder (rather than using the more proper approach of versioned folder names), please wipe your previous installation of Multiverse 6.2.x before installing 6.3.0. :::

# NEW

**Writer_ Added support for writing to USD animated “skinned” meshes with multiple skin clusters. Multiverse can also individually write the following:
- Skin weights for poly meshes
- Joint hierarchies
- Skeleton animation
Writer: Added support for writing USD Preview Materials from StingrayPBS materials assigned directly to Maya shapes or through Maya’s hardwareShader attribute (this is a message attribute which is available on any Maya material and depending on the renderer it is either visible, hidden or can be manually added).
Writer: Added support for writing (animated) cameras.
Licensing: Added new dialog to notify users in case license acquisition fails.
Distribution: The USD library distributed with Multiverse can now co-exist with other USD libraries from third-party Maya plug-ins, this avoids any potential conflicts:
- The USD dynamic library is now named libmvusd.
- The USD Python modules exist now under the mvpxr root module.
  Heads Up
  
  Please update your Python scripts to use mvpxr. Also, make sure, in case you are installing Multiverse 6.3.0 in the same folder as your previous version, to wipe the previous version folder contents or you will end up with both the old pxr and the new mvpxr python module root folder. In general we recommend to version your installation folders.
Added new icons for skeleton, animation and lights in MEOW.
Started adding UI tooltips to the Asset Write UI.

# FIXES

Arnold: Resolved issue with mismatching playback time (e.g. written cache 24 fps, Maya’s setting at 25 fps).
USDZ: When writing a USDZ file a default gray USD Preview Material will be instanced, this prevents “pink” USDZ rendering which is caused by lack of material assignment.
USDZ: Resolved issue with writing compositions to USDZ files.
Distribution: Removed unnecessary binary utils from the package.
Distribution: Fixed a dependency with Maya’s TBB: as a result Multiverse is now completely independent from Maya’s TBB.
Distribution: Fixed an issue with macOS builds looking for non-relative path GLEW library which could have caused usdView to not launch depending on the user environment.

# DOCS

Added Write Display Color to USD
Added Write Preview Materials to USD
API Docs: Updates in the Multiverse Python API.

# v6.2.3 — 2020-03-03 Pro

# NEW

The location of Multiverse temporary files can now be controlled by setting the MV_TMP_DIR environment variable.
Writer: Temporary override files are not written when no overrides are defined.

# FIXES

Arnold: Resolved an issue with smoothing attribute for mesh node in Arnold procedural.
Arnold: Resolved an issue with ray visibility attributes in Arnold procedural.
Arnold: Resolved an issue with override attributes in Arnold procedural.
Resolved an issue with RemoveNodeOverrides() API in Maya 2020.
3Delight: Resolved an issue with poly as subd attribute in NSI procedural not respecting the overriding order: Multiverse node ← (overridden by) USD asset ← (overridden by) MEOW.
Resolved an issue with material assignment being unnecessarily written in compositions.

# DOCS

Added a documentation section for Environment Variables.

# v6.2.2 — 2020-02-21 Free Pro

# NEW

Writer: Added support for writing renderer-specific attributes for both NSI and Arnold.
Writer: Added support to write Pref (Position Reference).
Writer: Added support for writing timecode information in animated overrides.
MEOW: Added description for icons in the help “?” window.
mvSet: Find a new enable/disable option that makes writing the material namespace optional in overrides.
Note: Make sure to set this to ON in pre-existing scenes with a namespace string or materials will not be found.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Better selection behavior with VP draw modes for selected Compounds.
Show materials assigned to Multiverse Compounds as related nodes in the Attribute Editor Tabs.
Arnold: Added support for overriding the Arnold smoothing, doublesided and opposite attributes on meshes.
[Writer] - Better handling of selection when writing overrides.

# FIXES

Resolved an issue with overrides order evaluation that prevented written attribute at root level to take precedence on the attributes set on the node (coming from Arnold or NSI extension attributes). Now you can write out overrides at root level and they will supersede attributes on the Compound nodes. The order of evaluation is, from weakest to strongest: attribute on node ← attribute on written override layer (topmost wins in case of multiple layers) ← attribute set on MEOW (but not yet written).
When materials overrides are not found because they are not present in the scene, Arnold will now fall back to the next parent override found in MEOW (same behavior as with NSI).
Resolved an issue that prevented to correctly display animated Compounds, if cached playback was active (Maya 2019 and 2020).
Resolved an issue that prevented MEOW to work correctly when assigning SG nodes with no materials connected: dangling SG are now skipped.
Resolved a crash in NSI when rendering curves with motion blur - which resulted in crash when rendering the Esper Room scene carpet.

# DOCS

Small docs updates.

# v6.2.1 — 2020-02-14 Free Pro

# NEW

Added new help window (“?”) in MEOW.
Added support for displaying the content of USD override files in MEOW.

# FIXES

Resolved an Arnold crash due to bad/undefined UVs in some objects of the popular USD “kitchen” scene.
Resolved an issue with ghost objects in the Esper Room.
Removed some unnecessary warnings about overrides in the console.

# DOCS

Updated the Known Issues documentation.

# v6.2.0 — 2020-02-13 Free Pro

# NEW

A new Display Color attribute is now available on the Multiverse section of Shading Group. This color information will be used for display purposes in the Hydra Storm and NSI viewports. Documentation has been updated.
Marking Menu options to switch the selected asset viewport draw mode are now available on RMB in the viewport.

# DOCS

Several documentation updates.

# IMPROVEMENTS

The Arnold procedural has been largely improved. Now it completely supports .ai attributes, support for point/curve scaling, velocity, acceleration, attribute/shading overrides, ability to read primitive variables from USD via aiUserData nodes, motion blur, re-timing and change of time while in running IPR and improved Arnold 6 support.
A carpet made of curves has been added to the J Cube “Esper” scene.

# FIXES

Resolved an issue with Maya 2019 and 2020 cached playback causing continuous updates in the viewport and when rendering in IPR with Arnold.
Resolved a regression with the Arnold procedural which prevented material assignment with namespaced materials.
Resolved a crash when writing point instancing from MASH/instancer with a namespaced source.
Resolved issue with inconsistent behavior when loading USD assets with visibility attribute.
Resolved issue with incorrect results returned by the API functions to query item visibility.
Resolved issue with UV texture coordinates when writing USDZ assets.
The merge transform and shape option is now respected when writing instances of a mvUsdCompoundShape node.
The merge transform and shape option has been removed from the Multiverse Write USD Asset UI. It is still available when using the Multiverse Python API.
Now usdView starts correctly also on Windows.
Compositions written on Windows are now readable on Linux/macOS
Resolved a crash with Arnold when non-Arnold materials were assigned to Compound Shapes via DAG assignment or overrides.
Resolved a crash with Arnold and undefined UV coordinates.
Fixed the Windows Shell.bat script.
API: Fixed an exception in HasAttributeOverride API call when no overrides existed.
Docs: Revised several sections of the documentation. Also added a Known Issues section.
The J Cube “Esper” scene was not working on Linux/macOS, it has now been fixed and updated to v002. Find it at: https://j-cube.jp/solutions/multiverse/assets/

# v6.1.0 — 2020-02-03 Free Pro

# NEW

Added support for writing specific Maya attributes as sparse overrides from the Write USD Asset UI.
Ability to use Multiverse Compounds (static/animated, assets or compositions) as sources for MASH instancing.

# PYTHON API

Updated API PDF documentation.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Largely improved instancing and point instancing performance with Arnold.
Added static/animated Maya visibility support when writing.
Display color is now on by default when writing.
Better UI icons in MEOW for visibility in display vs render.

# FIXES

Now Arnold can render assets with “bad UVs”.

# DOCS

Several Documentation updates.

# v6.0.0 — 2020-01-27 Free Pro

# INTRODUCING MULTIVERSE | USD

With Version 6 we introduce an easy to use, production-ready, native USD solution for Autodesk Maya with both Free and Pro version available.

Multiverse enables anyone to instantly & non-destructively author, playback, layout, look-dev, light and render large 3D data sets and to inter-op with USD-ready DCC apps such as Houdini / Solaris. Everything is interactively streamed to Hydra-based viewports and to final frame renderers, in procedural and parallel fashion.

Powered by a new end-to-end multi-threaded architecture, from scene construction to final rendering. Designed with a strong emphasis on delivering an easy and logical workflow to artists and real-world users under tight work deadlines and budgets. Featuring UI and UX that are clear, well thought and pleasant. Ready for deployment in production environments of any scale, with a new Python API that is straightforward to use and integrate, abstracting the complexity of the USD APIs.

# HIGHLIGHTS

Completely new, end-to-end, massively multi-threaded architecture which delivers up to 100x* faster performance in authoring, reading, drawing, manipulating, playback and rendering time-to-first-pixel.
Fully compliant with USD v19.11+ (with v20.02+available upon customer demand).
Non-destructive authoring workflow for layout, lookdev, layering and composition.
Unified rendering workflow: easily work with multiple rendering engines while keeping exactly the same artist workflow.
Ability to easily author USD hierarchies for assets and compositions, straight from the Maya outliner.
Write USD assets, compositions and overrides with support for USD variants and proxies.
Read USD and Alembic files, whether static or animated, as a single file or as a sequence via USD clips, with ability to easily generate clips.
Complete read/write support of USD point instancing. Maya duplicate as instance, instancer, particle instancer and MASH. Houdini packed/point instancing and duplicates.
Ability to explore and override USD assets with a pleasing, logical and extremely fast UI.
Selectively override transforms with full animation support, including parents and hierarchical inheritance.
Selectively override materials, generic & render attributes, visibility and variant selection with complete hierarchical inheritance.
Realtime high-FPS playback and manipulation streamed to the viewport with OpenGL (Win/Linux) and Metal (macOS), using multiple visualization modes.
Interactive path tracing streamed to the viewport with 3Delight, soon to be added for other capable renderers.
Procedural rendering streamed to Arnold and 3Delight (including 3Delight Cloud), with other renderers coming soon.
Velocity, acceleration, linear, curved and deformation 3D motion blur.
Inter-op between Autodesk® Maya® and other USD-ready DCC applications, in particular with SideFX®Houdini / Solaris.
Generate 3D USDZ assets for Augmented Reality (AR) in iOS and macOS with full lookdev and animation support.
Pipeline automation with the new, easy to use, Multiverse Python API.

# NEW

Built around native USD core data and API. Fully compliant with USD v19.11+ (v20.02+ available upon customer demand).
End-to-end multi-threaded architecture where data is always read, drawn, constructed, processed and rendered in highly multi-threaded fashion.
Non-destructive workflow for layout, lookdev, layering and composition.
API: New Multiverse Python API with extensive documentation & examples. The Multiverse plug-in is automatically loaded when importing the API module.
The Maya shelf has been redesigned to present all the new functionalities.
Write USD Asset / AR Asset with time-varying support.
Write USD Composition / AR Asset with time-varying support.
Write USD Overrides with time-varying support.
Ability to automatically sync written overrides in a compound.
Full writing/reading support for USD point instancing as well as instancing as duplication:
- ability to read any type of Houdini / Solaris instancing: USD point instancing, packed instancing, duplicates
- ability to write/read any type of Maya instancing: USD point instancing from MASH, instancer and particle instancer and instancing, duplicates, point instancing.
Full USD instancing support and regular instancing support in the procedurals.
Read USD Asset / Composition / Override / AR Asset
Added support for reading of file-per-frame sequences via USD Clips. This includes ability to generate USD clips from sequences of USD or Alembic data.
mvUsdCompoundShape node (“Multiverse Compound”) able to read USD and Alembic.

Note - Alembic is now read through the USD API.

Proxy Viewport mode leveraging on USD Proxies.
Flat Shaded Viewport mode.
Storm Hydra Render Delegate optimized for high speed thumbling and playback (high performance OpenGL GPU rasterizer with draw consolidation).
3Delight NSI Hydra Render Delegate optimized for very large assets that won't fit GPU memory (high performance path tracing engine).
Added a new node called mvSet (or “Multiverse Set”) for global attribute assignments, render-specific attribute assignment, USD proxies, USD collections.
Intuitive and high performance GUI dubbed “MEOW” - short for Multiverse Explore & Override Window. It is built with a new architecture able to display very complex tree graphs of items (with potentially hundred of thousands of items) and override selectively and with inheritance:
- Transformations - New system to override transformations via locator transform nodes at the exact location and with support fro foster parent node. Additionally override transformations can be animated at please and written as USD overrides.
- Materials - ability to override materials via shading group engine nodes and also write them as USD overrides.
- Attributes - ability to override attributes via objectSet nodes and also write them as USD overrides.
- Variants - ability to select USD variants and also write such selection as USD overrides.
- Full support of Rendering Vs Viewport visibility: items can be invisible in the viewport but visible at render-time.
Ability to send a Multiverse compound to the external usdview application for inspection.
NSI procedural will translate any attribute present in USD or Alembic.
Entirely rewritten all documentation.
Multiverse Info button that displays version information.
Completely new 3Delight NSI rendering procedural for native USD data (including Alembic). Supports, curves, points, mesh, data (and thanks to NSI any of these can be a light too).
Completely new Arnold rendering procedural for native USD data (including Alembic). curves, points, mesh, and mesh_light data.
Added acceleration motion blur support for 3Delight NSI on mesh, point and curve data.
Unified rendering workflow that allows for easily switch between rendering engines while keeping the same artist workflow.
Added support for Maya 2020.
Added support for Arnold 6.0.1.0+.
Added inter-op support with Houdini 18 and Solaris.
The macOS build now uses the Metal API instead of OpenGL for viewport rendering. This is currently a beta implementation.
Added Maya 2020 support.
Completely rewritten documentation, example, guidelines.
Introducing the new Free Version which is fully functional and allows for commercial use. The only restriction being that it requires an alive internet connection.
cloud-based licensing system to validate the free version.
added support for material namespace in the mvSet node.
rendering procedurals automatically translate any USD primitive variables in USD files.

# IMPROVEMENTS

Ability to rewrite an asset while being loaded in the same session of the application.
Ability to display the shading network for the selected material in MEOW via RMB. Double-click will instead show the material in the Attribute Editor.
Ability to add Compounds while in NSI IPR (Arnold was already able to).
Added RMB command in Compound to open a USD asset in a file browser (on any platform).
Largely improved writing of USDZ AR Assets with support for opacity, compositions, subdivisions and animated transformations.
Added option to strip namespaces when writing.
Largely improved the look and content when popping an item info window via MMB in MEOW.
Writing assets can now be done at the current selection in the hierarchy and optionally include ancestors.
Added a completely new set of icons for the shelf.
Shelf viewport modes will apply to all compounds if no compound is selected.
Added new 3Delight and Arnold shaders to the MEOW via RMB. Also added Maya 2020 standardSurface for the Maya 2020 plugin.
Ability to create & assign new materials, or assign existing for overrides, directly from MEOW via RMB.
Removed the old MLO (Multiverse Look Outliner). Its functionalities are superseded by the new MEOW (Multiverse Explore & Override Window).
Removed support for Maya 2016 and 2017. The minimum Maya version is now 2018.
Retired the Hyperspace API which was used up until Multiverse v5. Note that Alembic is now read directly through the USD API.
The mvCompoundShape node has been removed. The new mvUsdCompoundShape node has taken its place.
The mvShadingSet node as been removed.
Retired the “Indie Version” which is now superseded by the “Free Version”.
The USD libraries use a Multiverse namespace.
Largely optimized the size and content of the build on all platforms.

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