One Week With Nvidia Omniverse
It’s been about two weeks since Nvidia Omniverse was officially released to the general public. Since then I’ve just begun to explore what it’s capable of. In this post, I’m going to break down what Omniverse is and a few of my favorite features so far.
WTF is Nvidia Omniverse?
After spending a week with Omniverse, it’s still hard for me to define it. And I think that was intentional. On the surface, Omniverse is a collection of tools to help streamline your 3d workflow but underneath it's the foundation to redefine the entire process.
Dramatic? Maybe a bit. But if you think about it, this has been a long time coming. As long as I’ve been around we’ve hacked together these 3d “pipelines”. Usually, you're stuck having to create the same asset multiple times across each platform. With Omniverse, you’re given an entirely new way to work between applications and teams.
But with so much functionality, where do you start? Here are a few of my favorite features so far!
1. Seamless Blender Bakes
First on the list is the Blender beta application. A very minor feature compared to the rest of the platform but for Blender creators, potentially, a huge timesaver. This new tool lets you bake light data for an entire Blend file into one image texture with just a few clicks.
After you’ve downloaded this beta, you get access to the following panel. Within it, you get access to a few handy USD import and export options and the ability to bake your scene.
2. Audio2Face
Next up is Audio2Face. This ML-powered tool generates mocap data based on an audio clip you give it. It really is as simple as uploading your own WAV file and then assigning it within the parameters panel. Right away the placeholder model will come alive. From here you can take the motion data and remap it to your own custom models.
This is potentially a massive time saver when you compare it to setting up shape keys for all facial positions and then streaming mocap data from your mobile device.
3. Asset Browser
Keeping an organized asset library isn’t always easy, but Omniverse has some great features to find your files. It starts with ML object detection! Anytime you add a new asset you’ll be able to search for it without having to label it.
It’s also worth noting that there are connectors built for Sketchfab and some of the other cloud asset sites. That way you can peruse those models alongside your local ones.
4. Collaboration Features
Probably one of the most notable features on launch is the ability to spin up a local server and work collaboratively. Once you’ve completed the setup, you can have a team working on the same scene with live updates in Omniverse.
This feature isn’t totally new, but what’s cool is that your team doesn’t have to be working in the same app. You can have someone in Maya and someone in Unreal Engine and see all of those updates live!
5. Omniverse Kit
Last on the list is a bit different than the others. Instead of this being a specific feature, it’s the ability to build on top of the Omniverse platform. Omniverse Kit is the Python-based API that comes with the infrastructure to build extensions.
Alongside the API, they’ve also released the application Omniverse Code to help assist in building your own features.
These five things only really scratch the surface. As you get started with Omniverse, I recommend checking out the Nvidia YouTube channel. They’ve put together a great resource for getting started with the platform. Even if you’re a team of one, there is a very good chance you’ll be able to use it!
