USD import and Extract Materials

[peterg2036972]

Latest Beta lists two new 3D features in development: iImport of USD files and ability to extract materials.

Inport of USD files did not work for me. AE Beta was unable to see the file type when I tried to import those formats.

As for Material Extract - that extracted two elements from a glb file but were blank and contained no properties. How is the Material Extract function supposed to be used?

[VictoriaNece]

The USD info is phrased in a somewhat confusing way. You won't be able to import USD files at this time. It's actually a change happening behind the scenes: we use the USD library to import OBJ files, and it's been integrated in a new way that means it won't conflict with other 3D apps and cause AE to crash. 

Material Extract isn't ready to test yet. How do you imagine using something like this in your work?

[peterg2036972]

Material Extract isn't ready to test yet. How do you imagine using something like this in your work?

I’m not sure that’s why I was interested to start experimenting with it.

The first thing that comes to mind is being able to animate some kind of material switcher, which you often seen in various product configurators.  If material can be extracted then why not replaced?

But maybe other more creative uses.  If we can extract materials then I assume there is some mechanism for targeting and altering them?  So beyond simple transforms to animate scale, rotation, and position, maybe this can also lead to one material morphing into another.

I also wonder if being able to target and manipulate materials directly would allow more flexibility in being able to add effects directly to them (as opposed to using the Calculations effect method)?

Being able to target and alter material of an object might give After Effects 3D some kind of Substance Painter type capabilities where minor (or even extreme) changes don’t necessitate having to work  in a separate application and reimporting the asset.   

Beyond all that I imagine being able to extract textures of an object may be useful to those AE users who don’t have access to or knowledge of other 3D tools but still want to manipulate materials in a simple paint program?

[VictoriaNece]

That's good feedback! Thank you for taking the time to reply.