QuiltiX is a graphical node editor to edit, and author MaterialX based materials of 3D assets. It includes a viewport based on OpenUSD's Hydra, which enables viewing your assets in any renderer supporting both Hydra & MaterialX.
- Requirements
- Installation
- Running QuiltiX
- QuiltiX Plugins
- Integrating with your environment
- Platform support
- Contributing
- License
QuiltiX requires Python 3.11+ as well as compiled versions of USD and MaterialX.
pip install QuiltiXIf you additionally require pre-built binaries for MaterialX & USD we currently provide these for Windows. On Linux/Mac you need to provide your own binaries for now. Here are linked instructions for MaterialX & OpenUSD
pip install QuiltiX
pip install git+https://github.com/PrismPipeline/OpenUSD_build.git@24.03-win-mtlx-1.38.9For Windows a zip containing QuiltiX and all required dependencies can be downloaded from here.
Just extract and execute the QuiltiX.bat
- Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/PrismPipeline/QuiltiX.git
cd QuiltiX
- Install the dependencies
This will install the base python dependencies, excluding any development dependencies, MaterialX & USD
pip install .
Additional install options
If you want want to contribute it is recommended to install QuiltiX in development/editable mode.
It is also recommended to also install QuiltiX's dev dependencies.
pip install -e .[dev]
For more information see pyproject.toml
python -m QuiltiX
Or if you installed QuiltiX via zip you can execute the QuiltiX.bat after extracting.
QuiltiX can be run from hython, which is Houdini's python executable. This way you can use Houdini's built USD and MaterialX and don't have to worry about providing your own.
You will also be able to use Render delegates for Houdini like Karma. Read more in the Karma section.
Hython instructions
You will still need some additional libraries required by QuiltiX, so it is still necessary to install the dependencies mentioned in Installation.
You can then execute QuiltiX while making sure that both QuiltiX and its python dependencies are in the PYTHONPATH environmenv variable:
cd QuiltiX_root
set PYTHONPATH=%PYTHONPATH%;./src;/path/to/python/dependencies
/path/to/hython.exe -c "from QuiltiX import quiltix;quiltix.launch()"Or if you have a virtual environment
cd QuiltiX_root
/path/to/venv/Scripts/activate
set PYTHONPATH=%PYTHONPATH%;%VIRTUAL_ENV%/Lib/site-packages;./src
/path/to/hython.exe -c "from QuiltiX import quiltix;quiltix.launch()"Note that currently both the Storm as well as HoudiniGL render delegates do not seem to work in QuiltiX when being launched from hython.
QuiltiX supports adding Plugins via the environment variable QUILTIX_PLUGIN_PATHS. We are using pluggy in the backend to load them.
To create a QuiltiX plugin you need to create a plugin.py file. In this file you need implement one or multiple hooks that QuiltiX provides. Example:
@qx_plugin.hookimpl
def after_ui_init(editor: "quiltix.QuiltiXWindow"):
# I am printing the QuiltiXWindow
print(editor)You also need to implement a plugin_name function returning the name of your plugin. Example:
def plugin_name() -> str:
return "QuiltiXWindow printer"If your plugin has the possibility to not be valid (due to missing dependencies or similar) you can implement a is_valid function returning False to avoid it loading entirely. Example:
def is_valid() -> bool:
if 1==1:
return False
else:
return TrueFor further reference please take a look at the sample_plugins dir and the tests in tests/test_plugins.py
These are the hooks that are currently supported, but there is no harm in adding more. If you would like to add hooks in other parts of QuiltiX to support your features, please open an Issue/PR.
The hook specifications live in src/QuiltiX/qx_plugin.py
| hook | Purpose |
|---|---|
| before_ui_init | Building UI funcionality on top of the QuiltiX UI |
| after_ui_init | Adjusting parts of the internals before the QuiltiX UI startup |
| before_mx_import | Adjusting things like environment variables before MaterialX gets initialized |
| after_mx_import | Adjusting MaterialX specific functionality right after it gets imported |
| before_pxr_import | Adjusting things like environment variables before pxr (OpenUSD) gets initialized |
| after_pxr_import | Adjusting pxr (OpenUSD) specific functionality right after it gets imported |
QuiltiX tries to rely as much as possible on pre-existing environment variables from MaterialX/USD to extend its systems.
Overview over the most important Environment Variables:
| Environment Variable | Purpose | Variable Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| PXR_PLUGINPATH_NAME | Paths to Hydra delegate plugins | Paths | |
| PXR_MTLX_STDLIB_SEARCH_PATHS | Paths to standard MaterialX node definition locations | Paths | |
| PXR_MTLX_PLUGIN_SEARCH_PATHS | Paths to custom MaterialX node definition locations | Paths | |
| HD_DEFAULT_RENDERER | Name of the default Hydra delegate for the viewport | String | GL |
To be able to use your own version of OpenUSD for QuiltiX instead of relying on our provided version, you will need to provide some environment variables. Make sure that you append to them!
Essentially you need to add all .dlls to PATH and the pxr python library to PYTHONPATH.
| Environment Variable | Path relative to compiled ${USD_ROOT} |
|---|---|
| PATH | ${USD_ROOT}/bin |
| PATH | ${USD_ROOT}/lib |
| PYTHONPATH | ${USD_ROOT}/lib/python |
Adding Hydra delegates
NOTE
The Hydra renderer needs to support MaterialX for it to work in QuiltiX.
What is a Hdyra Delegate?
"Hydra Render Delegates are bridges between the Hydra viewport and a renderer. [...] The Hydra Render Delegate system allows the ability to switch out the backend renderer for the viewport data in Hydra. [...]"[src]
The Storm Hydra Delegate by Pixar is both shipped with USD and enabled per default in QuiltiX.
Adding additional Hydra delegates can, depending on the renderer, be a non-trivial task due to the need of matching USD (and potentially MaterialX) versions for the compiled binaries. Some renderers also need additional configuration for additional features like renderer specific procedurals or shaders.
To register a Hydra renderer plugin the Hydra plugin directory of the renderer needs to be added to the PXR_PLUGINPATH_NAME environment variable. Generally renderers also need their binaries added to the PATH environment variable, but there might be additional variables for licensing or additional features.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of install instructions for Hydra renderers.
To use Arnold in QuiltiX you need the following:
- Arnold SDK
- A compiled version of arnold-usd
Full Arnold install instructions
Arnold SDK download instructions can be found here. To install arnold-usd one can build from source here.
For Windows you can find a compiled version of hdArnold and the Arnold SDK here with install instructions.
This plugin can be used in USD applications, like QuiltiX, to add the Arnold Hydra delegate.
Download and extract the archive and then add the following paths to the environment:
Arnold/hdArnold/plugintoPXR_PLUGINPATH_NAME
Arnold/Arnold-7.2.5.2-windows/bintoPATH
To run Karma you need to execute QuiltiX from hython. See here for more information.
It is possible to use additional Hydra delegates, which are available in the Houdini environment.
The default Hydra delegate can be changed by setting the HD_DEFAULT_RENDERER environment variable to the preferred renderer.
set HD_DEFAULT_RENDERER="GL"After opening QuiltiX the active Hydra delegate can be changed in the "View" -> "Set Renderer" menu.
To add custom MaterialX node defintions they can be added by adding the location of the node definition files to the PXR_MTLX_PLUGIN_SEARCH_PATHS environment variable.
QuiltiX has been developed with all platforms in mind, but has been developed on Windows. If you see any issues on another platform please open up an issue.
We welcome contributions to the QuiltiX! If you'd like to contribute, please follow these steps:
- Fork the repository.
- Create a feature branch.
- Commit your changes.
- Submit a pull request.
QuiltiX is licensed under the Apache License. See LICENSE for more information.