usd-inspect

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Reference for inspecting USD/USDA/USDC files using OpenUSD CLI tools. Use when you need to query prim hierarchies, attribute values, material bindings, skeleton data, or compare USD outputs.

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USD Inspection Reference

Environment dependency: This skill requires OpenUSD CLI tools (usdcat, usdtree, sdffilter, sdfdump) to be built and on PATH. On this machine they're installed at D:\USD\install\bin from the OpenUSD source at C:\Users\Geoff\Source\Repos\OpenUSD. These tools won't be available on other machines unless OpenUSD is built and installed there.

OpenUSD CLI tools are installed at D:\USD\install\bin and on PATH. Use these instead of writing ad-hoc Python scripts.

Tools Overview

Tool	Best For
`usdcat`	Dump full USDA text, extract specific prim subtrees via `--mask`
`usdtree`	Quick hierarchy overview, see all prims with optional attributes
`sdffilter`	Primary query tool — filter by path regex, field regex, time ranges
`sdfdump`	Raw layer data with path/field filtering, good for debugging

Common Recipes

See the full prim hierarchy

usdtree file.usda

See hierarchy with all authored attributes

usdtree -a file.usda

See hierarchy with metadata (kind, active, etc.)

usdtree -a -m file.usda

Extract a specific prim subtree as USDA

usdcat --mask /root/skeleton file.usda

Extract multiple prims

usdcat --mask /root/skeleton,/root/mesh file.usda

Flatten compositions and dump

usdcat -f file.usda

sdffilter — The Query Powerhouse

Filter by prim path (regex)

# Everything under /root/skeleton
sdffilter -p "/root/skeleton" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# All prims with "Bip01" in the path
sdffilter -p "Bip01" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Specific bone
sdffilter -p "/root/skeleton/Bip01_R_Calfquot; --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Filter by field name (regex)

# Only jointNames attributes anywhere
sdffilter -f "jointNames" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Only transform-related fields
sdffilter -f "xformOp" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Binding-related fields
sdffilter -f "skel:(jointNames|bindTransforms|restTransforms)" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Combine path + field filters

# Get bind transforms on a specific skeleton
sdffilter -p "/root/skeleton" -f "bindTransforms" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Get all material bindings on meshes
sdffilter -p "mesh" -f "material:binding" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Output types

# Quick outline (default) — paths and field names, truncated values
sdffilter --outputType outline file.usda

# pseudoLayer — USDA-like but with truncated arrays (human-readable)
sdffilter --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Full layer — complete USDA, no truncation
sdffilter --outputType layer file.usda

# Summary — high-level stats
sdffilter --outputType summary file.usda

# Validity check
sdffilter --outputType validity file.usda

Control array truncation

# Show up to 20 elements per array (default is 8 for pseudoLayer)
sdffilter --arraySizeLimit 20 --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Show ALL array elements (careful with large meshes)
sdffilter --arraySizeLimit -1 --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Time samples (animation data)

# Show only frame 0
sdffilter -t 0 --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Show frames 0 through 30
sdffilter -t 0..30 --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Limit timeSamples output
sdffilter --timeSamplesSizeLimit 5 --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

sdfdump — Raw Layer Inspection

# High-level summary (chunk count, etc.)
sdfdump -s file.usda

# Full dump with all array values
sdfdump --fullArrays file.usda

# Filter to specific path
sdfdump -p "/root/skeleton" file.usda

# Filter to specific field
sdfdump -f "bindTransforms" file.usda

# Validate all data values are readable
sdfdump --validate file.usda

Skeleton-Specific Queries

These are the most common queries for debugging armature/skinning issues:

# Joint names list
sdffilter -f "joints" -p "Skeleton" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit -1 file.usda

# Bind transforms (inverse bind matrices)
sdffilter -f "bindTransforms" -p "Skeleton" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit -1 file.usda

# Rest transforms (rest pose)
sdffilter -f "restTransforms" -p "Skeleton" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit -1 file.usda

# Joint indices and weights on a mesh
sdffilter -f "skel:(jointIndices|jointWeights)" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit 40 file.usda

# Skeleton binding on mesh prims
sdffilter -f "skel:" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Xform ops on skeleton root
sdffilter -p "Skeletonquot; -f "xformOp" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Material Queries

# All material bindings
sdffilter -f "material:binding" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Material definitions (shader params, textures)
sdffilter -p "_materials" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

# Specific material inputs
sdffilter -p "_materials" -f "inputs:" --outputType pseudoLayer file.usda

Geometry Queries

# Mesh point counts and extents
sdffilter -f "(points|extent|faceVertexCounts|faceVertexIndices)" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit 10 file.usda

# Full vertex positions (careful — large!)
sdffilter -p "mesh" -f "points" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit -1 file.usda

# Normals
sdffilter -f "normals" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit 10 file.usda

# UV coordinates
sdffilter -f "primvars:st" --outputType pseudoLayer --arraySizeLimit 10 file.usda

Tips

Pipe to file for large outputs: sdffilter ... file.usda > output.txt then use Read tool
Pipe to head for quick peek: sdffilter ... file.usda | head -50
pseudoLayer is almost always the right outputType — it's readable and concise
arraySizeLimit defaults: 0 for outline, 8 for pseudoLayer, -1 for layer
Path regexes are standard regex — use $ for exact match, .* for wildcards
These tools work on both .usda (text) and .usdc (binary crate) files
For .usd files, the tools auto-detect the underlying format