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Key Facts: NCP-OUSD Exam
2 years
Certification validity period
NVIDIA
90 minutes
Exam duration for ~60 questions
NVIDIA
14 days
Required wait period before retake after failure
NVIDIA
LIVRPS
USD composition arc priority order: Local, Inherits, Variants, References, Payloads, Sublayers
OpenUSD specification
Certiverse
Online proctoring platform for all NVIDIA certifications
NVIDIA
Pixar
Original developer of Universal Scene Description (USD), now open-source via AOUSD
AOUSD / openusd.org
NCP-OUSD is a 90-minute professional exam testing OpenUSD stage composition, LIVRPS arcs, Python API, and NVIDIA Omniverse platform components. Essential for 3D pipeline engineers, digital twin developers, and Omniverse extension builders.
Sample NCP-OUSD Practice Questions
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1What is OpenUSD (Universal Scene Description) and who created it originally?
A.OpenUSD is an open-source 3D scene description framework originally developed by Pixar Animation Studios for managing complex 3D assets, now maintained under the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD)
B.OpenUSD is a NVIDIA-developed universal shader description format for GPU-based rendering pipelines
C.OpenUSD is an open standard for transmitting 3D game assets between different game engines in real time
D.OpenUSD is a binary 3D mesh format optimized for GPU streaming from NVMe storage
Explanation: OpenUSD was created by Pixar Animation Studios for managing the complex 3D asset pipelines of animated films. It provides a composable, hierarchical scene description system that can represent geometry, materials, lights, cameras, and scene hierarchy. The Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD), with NVIDIA, Pixar, Apple, Adobe, and Autodesk, now stewards the standard.
2What is the primary file format used by OpenUSD and what are the common file extensions?
A..usd (binary or ASCII), .usda (human-readable ASCII text), .usdc (binary crate format), and .usdz (zip archive containing USD files and textures)
B..usd3d (binary 3D mesh), .usdx (compressed), .usdm (material only), and .usdl (light-only)
C..usd is ASCII only; .usdbin is the binary format; .usdpack is the archive format
D..openusd (primary format), .ousd (compressed), and .ousdz (with textures)
Explanation: .usda is human-readable ASCII text ideal for version control and debugging. .usdc is the binary 'crate' format optimized for performance (smaller size, faster loading). .usd can be either format. .usdz is a zip-compressed archive containing USD files and referenced assets (textures, geometry), used for AR on iOS/Android and asset exchange.
3What is NVIDIA Omniverse and how does it relate to OpenUSD?
A.NVIDIA Omniverse is a platform for 3D collaboration and simulation that uses OpenUSD as its native scene description format, enabling real-time multi-user collaboration on complex 3D scenes
B.NVIDIA Omniverse is NVIDIA's cloud gaming platform that streams 3D games using OpenUSD for asset compression
C.NVIDIA Omniverse is a training platform for AI models using 3D simulation environments, unrelated to OpenUSD
D.NVIDIA Omniverse is a ray tracing renderer that renders .usdc binary files but does not use the full OpenUSD specification
Explanation: NVIDIA Omniverse is built on OpenUSD as its foundational format. It provides real-time collaborative workflows where multiple users in different DCC tools (Maya, Blender, Revit) can simultaneously work on the same USD scene via the Omniverse Nucleus server. Omniverse Kit provides the runtime/API for building Omniverse applications (like NVIDIA Isaac Sim for robotics, Audio2Face, etc.).
4What is a USD 'prim' and what is the USD scene hierarchy?
A.A prim (primitive) is the fundamental scene object in USD; prims are organized in a hierarchical namespace (like a filesystem path, e.g., /World/Car/Body) that forms the scene graph
B.A prim is a GPU-resident polygon primitive (triangle, quad) used for rendering in Omniverse
C.A prim is a USD metadata tag that marks assets as production-ready for pipeline use
D.A prim is a reference to an external USD file imported into the current stage
Explanation: Prims (primitives) are the fundamental nodes in a USD scene graph. Every object (mesh, camera, light, scope, xform) is a prim. Prims are organized in a hierarchical path namespace: `/World/Car/Body/LeftDoor`. Each prim has a type (Mesh, Camera, Light, Scope, Xform), properties (attributes and relationships), and can hold metadata. The collection of all prims on a stage is the scene graph.
5What is USD 'composition' and what is the significance of LIVRPS (layer stack composition)?
A.USD composition combines multiple layers of opinion data to produce the final scene; LIVRPS defines the strength order: Local, Inherits, VariantSets, References, Payloads, Specializes
B.USD composition is the process of rendering a USD scene to a final image using Hydra renderers
C.LIVRPS is the file naming convention for USD layer files in a production pipeline (Layer, Instance, Variant, Reference, Payload, Specialization)
D.USD composition combines vertex data from multiple meshes into a single optimized GPU buffer for rendering
Explanation: USD's composition system non-destructively layers opinions (values) from multiple sources. LIVRPS is the arc strength ordering: Local (strongest), Inherits, VariantSets, References, Payloads, Specializes (weakest). When multiple layers contribute values to the same attribute, the composition algorithm resolves them according to this strength hierarchy. This enables powerful non-destructive override workflows.
6What is a USD 'stage' in the OpenUSD Python API?
A.A stage is the in-memory container of the complete composed scene, created with `Usd.Stage.CreateNew()` or `Open()`, through which all prims and layers are accessed
B.A stage is a rendering pass that applies post-processing effects to a rendered USD scene
C.A stage is a named version snapshot of a USD asset saved to disk for version control
D.A stage is a USD layer that contains only the root prim and no child prims
Explanation: In the OpenUSD Python API, `stage = Usd.Stage.CreateNew('scene.usd')` creates a new stage backed by a .usd file. The stage is the primary interface for accessing the fully composed scene — querying prims, defining new prims, setting attribute values, and managing the layer stack. `stage.GetRootLayer()` returns the backing layer; `stage.GetDefaultPrim()` returns the root prim.
7In the OpenUSD Python API, which code creates a Sphere prim at the path `/World/MySphere`?
A.stage.DefinePrim('/World/MySphere', 'Sphere') or UsdGeom.Sphere.Define(stage, '/World/MySphere')
B.stage.CreatePrim('/World/MySphere', type='sphere')
C.Usd.Prim.new(stage, '/World/MySphere', 'Sphere')
D.UsdGeom.CreateSphere(stage, path='/World/MySphere')
Explanation: `UsdGeom.Sphere.Define(stage, '/World/MySphere')` creates a Sphere prim using the UsdGeom schema. Alternatively, `stage.DefinePrim('/World/MySphere', 'Sphere')` creates the prim with the 'Sphere' type. The UsdGeom approach is preferred as it returns a typed schema object with convenient property accessors like `.GetRadiusAttr()`.
8What are USD 'variants' and why are they useful in production 3D pipelines?
A.Variants allow multiple alternate versions of a scene element (e.g., LOD levels, damage states, material options) to be stored in a single USD file and switched without modifying the file
B.Variants are USD's version control mechanism for tracking changes to prim attributes over time
C.Variants are alternate file formats for USD assets (binary vs ASCII) that can be switched at load time
D.Variants are different camera angles of the same scene stored in a single USD stage
Explanation: USD variant sets allow a single asset to contain multiple interchangeable configurations. A car asset might have a `VariantSet` called 'color' with variants 'red', 'blue', 'silver', and another called 'condition' with 'new' and 'damaged'. The active variant is selected per-reference, allowing efficient asset reuse without file duplication. Omniverse supports live variant switching.
9What is the USD 'Hydra' rendering architecture?
A.Hydra is USD's scene index and render delegate abstraction that separates scene data extraction from rendering, allowing multiple render engines (Storm, RenderMan, Arnold, Omniverse RTX) to render the same USD scene
B.Hydra is the GPU-based scene acceleration structure (BVH) that indexes USD geometry for ray tracing
C.Hydra is NVIDIA's proprietary renderer built into Omniverse that only works with USDC binary files
D.Hydra is the distributed rendering system that splits USD scene rendering across multiple GPUs
Explanation: Hydra defines two abstractions: Scene Delegates (which translate USD data into Hydra primitives) and Render Delegates (which consume Hydra primitives to produce images). This separates 'what to render' from 'how to render it'. Storm is Hydra's built-in OpenGL/Metal/Vulkan renderer; third-party render delegates include NVIDIA's rtxOmniverseHydra, Pixar's RenderMan, and others.
10What is a USD 'reference' composition arc and how is it used?
A.A reference composition arc allows one USD file to include/embed content from another USD file as a sub-scene, enabling modular asset assembly and library-based pipelines
B.A USD reference is a hyperlink stored in metadata that documents the source URL of an asset
C.A USD reference is a read-only pointer to a prim that prevents accidental modification of base assets
D.A USD reference creates a GPU instancing link between identical geometry prims for memory optimization
Explanation: References allow USD stages to include content from external USD files (or other prims within the same file). `prim.GetReferences().AddReference('assets/car.usd')` embeds the car asset at the reference prim's path. References are the primary mechanism for modular pipeline composition — environments reference building assets, which reference material assets, which reference texture files.
About the NCP-OUSD Practice Questions
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