Nvidia opens its ‘metaverse for engineers’ by adding millions of Blender users to Omniverse

Nvidia touted its Omniverse as a “metaverse for engineers” and now has more than 50,000 users. But now he hopes to expand the base considerably with the addition of the millions of Blender users who use a simple tool to create 3D images.

At the Siggraph online visual computing event, Nvidia announced the launch of a major expansion to the Omniverse, the simulation and collaboration platform that lays the foundation for the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds. which are all interconnected, as in novels such as Snow accident and Loan Player One.

“Everyone’s favorite buzzword now is the metaverse,” said Richard Kerris, vice president of Omniverse Development Platform at Nvidia, in an interview with GamesBeat. “In reality, the metaverse exists. It just didn’t connect very well. But the metaverse describes virtual worlds. And just as the universe describes the planets that are in the universe, there will be more and more content in these virtual worlds. There will be trade, market economy, and other things in the virtual world, and Omniverse is designed to be the connector of those worlds. “

Professionals from more than 500 companies, including SHoP Architects, South Park and Lockheed Martin, are evaluating the platform. Since launching its open beta in December, Omniverse has been downloaded by over 50,000 individual creators.

While engineers find the Omniverse useful for product design, Nvidia wants to expand the ability to work in the Omniverse to just about anyone who can create 3D images.

“With over three million Blender users, free and open source 3D software packages are truly gaining momentum at an unprecedented rate,” said Kerris. “We are excited to be able to bring this platform and our technologies to this growing community. “

Enter the blender

Blender is the world’s first open-source 3D animation tool, and it will now support Universal Scene Description (USD), giving artists access to Omniverse production pipelines. USD was originally created by Pixar for its films to allow digital tools to be used together to create and share 3D images.

“We based Omniverse on USD, which for the first time takes the complexities of a very difficult 3D environment and standardizes them for describing that 3D,” Kerris said. “And although it started out from Pixar, it was quickly adopted in many industries. We are now seeing architecture software supporting USD as well as manufacturing and entertainment.

Additionally, Adobe is working with Nvidia on a Substance 3D plugin that will bring Substance Material support to Omniverse, unlocking
new material editing capabilities for Omniverse and Substance 3D users. This will make the materials for various objects much more realistic, Kerris said.

“This is an uber physics-based material shader for rendering very complex surfaces,” Kerris said. “The Omni Surface Material Shader will be able to compose in imperfect scenarios. It’s really about those kinds of elements and surfaces that, to be believable, aren’t perfect.

He said that Nvidia Omniverse allows designers, artists and reviewers to work together in real time on major software applications in a shared virtual world from anywhere. Kerris said that Nvidia is collecting feedback from developers, partners and customers, and moving the platform forward so that everyone from individuals to large corporations can work with others to create amazing virtual worlds that look like , feel and behave like the physical world.

Nvidia defines the metaverse as an immersive and connected shared virtual world. In it, artists can create unique digital scenes, architects can create beautiful buildings, and engineers can design new products for homes. These creations, often referred to as digital twins, can then be brought into the physical world after being perfected in the digital world.

“When all the dust settles, there will really be a metaverse of all of these virtual worlds,” Kerris said. “And there will be a number of things that motivate him when it comes to entertainment, which is fun. But I think what’s really going to gain ground is when big companies, BMWs and others, standardize on virtual worlds in an environment of digital twins. It’s part of the metaverse and it’s part of their business that will be the revolution that really turns things around. “

Jon Peddie, analyst at Jon Peddie Research, said in a statement that Nvidia delivers on the Metaverse promise of bringing a broader understanding of the needs of designers of all types and has plenty of tools they can use – for free. He said the Omniverse platform has the potential to transform almost any industry by making truly collaborative and creative innovation possible in a common virtual space for the first time.

An expanding ecosystem

Key to industry adoption of Omniverses is Pixar’s open source USD – the foundation of Omniverse’s simulation and collaboration platform – allowing large teams to work on multiple software applications simultaneously. on a shared 3D scene. Engineers can work on the same part of the simulated imagery at the same time. The USD Open Standard Foundation offers software partners several ways to extend and connect to Omniverse, whether through adoption and support of USD, or by creating a plugin or through an Omniverse connector.

Apple, Pixar, and Nvidia have collaborated to bring advanced physical capabilities to the USD, adopting open standards to deliver 3D workflows to billions of devices. Blender and Nvidia have collaborated to provide USD support for the next version of Blender 3.0 and the millions of artists who use the software.

“We came together working with Apple and collectively released a white paper that defined physics on all platforms,” Kerris said.

Nvidia is helping to support USD and Materials in Blender 3.0 alpha USD, which will soon be available to creators.

Ton Roosendaal, president of the Blender Foundation, said in a statement that Nvidia’s engineering contributions to open source, such as the integration of USD into Blender, are exemplary.

“The key thing about it is that it allows people to work in their different areas of expertise, even on different software packages,” Kerris said. “And if they’re connected to Omniverse, they can work collaboratively in real time and across geographic locations, while also taking advantage of the software technologies we provide in this core core platform. “

Fire extinguishing simulation and more

Lockheed Martin works with Omniverse for the simulation, prediction and suppression of forest fires. Its AI Center of Excellence has launched an initiative with Nvidia called Cognitive Mission Management to develop an emergency response and firefighting strategy. The hope is to predict how forest fires will spread based on variables such as wind, humidity, and vegetation cover. This could be very useful for communities in my area of ​​California.

And South Park, the Emmy-winning animated television series, explores Omniverse to allow several of its artists to collaborate on stages and make the most of their incredibly limited production time.

Creating digital humans is also a big effort at Nvidia as well as companies like Epic Games. I asked if Nvidia was competing with some of its partners, like Epic Games, in areas like digital humans.

“We consider Epic to be one of our best partners. And we’re thrilled with the customers who have stepped into this project with their workflows because, again, we’re not replacing workflows, ”Kerris said. “The point is really to connect and expand. Omniverse does not replace anything in existing spaces. We are not trying to compete with our partners. We are looking to improve the workflows that currently exist.

Nvidia also has a documentary on how it created its speech at the GTC event this spring – an event that was viewed by over 20 million people.

Availability and prices

Nvidia Omniverse Enterprise is currently in Limited Early Access. The platform will be available later this year by subscription from Nvidia’s partner network, including Asus, Boxx Technologies, Dell Technologies, HP, Lenovo, PNY and Supermicro.