LightUSD
LightUSD is a full-featured, dependency-free, lightweight USD library written
in C++17. It reads and writes USDA, USDC, and USDZ, and includes MaterialX and USD Physics support.
(Previously known as TinyUSDZ)
The src/next product is the default for native, Python, and WASM consumers.
The legacy product is deprecated, but remains in the repository and in CI for
existing integrations. Select it explicitly with
-DLIGHTUSD_NATIVE_PRODUCT=legacy or -DLIGHTUSD_WASM_PRODUCT=legacy.
LightUSD is designed for applications that need USD to be compact, portable,
and fast: high-performance 3D interchange and DCC tools, render and asset
pipelines, generative AI, and Physical AI systems that connect scene
understanding with simulation and robotics. The same core runs across desktop,
mobile, WebAssembly, and sandboxed environments, with explicit resource limits
for untrusted assets. MCP interface provided.
Releases
Packages
Python:
python -m pip install lightusd
import lightusd
stage = lightusd.load("scene.usdz")
for prim in lightusd.traverse(stage):
print(prim.type_name, prim.name)
See python/README.md for Python usage. WebAssembly and
JavaScript packages live under web/.
Build
LightUSD requires a C++17 compiler and normally uses CMake:
cmake -S . -B build_ninja -G Ninja \
-DLIGHTUSD_BUILD_TESTS=ON -DLIGHTUSD_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON
cmake --build build_ninja
ctest --test-dir build_ninja --output-on-failure
See doc/build-and-examples.md for integration,
build options, and examples.
Documentation
Security
Use USDLoadOptions::max_memory_limit_in_mb for unknown inputs. For hostile or
internet-sourced assets, also isolate loading in a sandboxed process or WASI
environment.
License
LightUSD is primarily licensed under Apache 2.0. Some helper code uses MIT or
similarly permissive licenses. See LICENSE.3rdparty for
third-party notices.
