Wherever you're starting from, this page is for you.
A client, customer, vendor or partner just mentioned it, and you want to understand what it actually is before going any further.
You're a manager who's heard about OpenUSD and wants to understand it well enough to evaluate whether — and how — to adopt it.
You're a 3D app user or engineer already dealing with OpenUSD, and honestly wish it wasn't such rocket science.
OpenUSD is a 3D standard originally developed by Pixar — yes, the studio behind Toy Story and many other films. Pixar released their implementation to the public in 2016, and formal specifications for the standard followed in 2025.
What makes OpenUSD interesting is that it crosses the needs of every industry working with 3D and looking to unify their workflows. Well outside of games, VFX and animation, it's become popular with companies building AI models for robotics, as well as car manufacturers, architecture and design firms, and more.
But there's a catch. OpenUSD — both the standard and its reference codebase — is a large, genuinely complicated body of work. Solving complex problems often needs complex solutions, but wading through millions of lines of dense code isn't exactly what stalled adoption needs.
So we implemented the standard ourselves. Not because we want you using our code instead of OpenUSD — but because building it, especially before any formal specs existed, is what gave us the depth of understanding we now bring to clients.
We consider ourselves one of the rare groups with hands-on, code-level experience in OpenUSD — combined with everything else that makes ELVOV different: a love of building innovative products, helping engineering teams reach clarity and hit their goals, and explaining complex problems in ways people can actually work with.
These are the questions we hear most from industry teams — roughly in the order the conversation tends to go, from a first look at OpenUSD to a full rollout across vendors and partners.
Can you explain OpenUSD to us, and its benefits compared to other standards?
What's the quickest way to get up to speed on USD's core concepts and terminology?
Can you provide a workflow needs analysis to gradually introduce USD into our current workflow?
Are there regulatory standards or best practices we should be aware of before adopting USD?
How can we adopt USD incrementally, in phases, to minimize resistance and allow for proper training?
What tools can we use to work with OpenUSD?
How do we even start the conversation with vendors and partners about adhering to a USD workflow?
How do we get vendors and partners to keep adhering to agreed standards over time?
Can AI help monitor USD workflows and validate data and standards compliance?
ELVOV