Alembic (computer graphics)

Alembic
Filename extension .abc
Developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks,
Lucasfilm
Initial release August 9, 2011 (2011-08-09)[1]
Latest release
1.6.1
(July 12, 2016 (2016-07-12)[2])
Type of format Exchange format for computer graphics
Open format? Yes
Website http://www.alembic.io/

Alembic is an interchange file format for computer graphics used by visual effects and animation professionals. It was announced at SIGGRAPH 2011,[1] and has been widely adopted across the industry.

Its primary focus is the interchange of geometry (models) between different groups working on the same shots or same assets. This is often different departments in the same company or different studios working on the same projects. Alembic supports the common geometric representations used in the industry, including polygon meshes, subdivision surface, parametric curves, NURBS patches and particles. Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras. With the latest version comes initial support for materials and lights as well. Alembic is very specifically NOT concerned with storing the complex dependency graph of procedural tools but instead stores the "baked" results.[3]

Alembic was developed as an open source library primarily by Sony Pictures Imageworks[4] and Lucasfilm.[5]

Tools which support Alembic

Tools with native support

Application As of version Vendor
Maya 2012 Autodesk[6]
3ds Max 2016 Autodesk[7]
KATANA 1.1 The Foundry[8]
Houdini 11.1 Side Effects Software[9]
iClone 6.5 Reallusion Inc.[10]
RenderMan ? Pixar[11]
Arnold ? Solid Angle[12]
MODO 601 The Foundry[13]
NUKE 7.0 The Foundry[14]
Cinema 4D R14 Maxon[15]
V-Ray 2012 Chaos Group[16]
Guerilla Render 0.15.2 Mercenaries Engineering[17]
RealFlow 2013 Next Limit[18]
Maxwell Render 3 Next Limit
Clarisse iFX 2012 Isotropix
LightWave 3D 11.6 NewTek[19]
Keyshot Pro 4 Luxion
Octane Render 1.5 Otoy
Blender 2.78 Blender Foundation[20]

Plugins

Plugin Applications supported Vendor
Crate Suite 3DS Max, Maya, Softimage, Arnold Exocortex
AtomKraft Nuke, After Effects Jupiter Jazz[21]
Ortholab Mudbox Ortholab[22]
DF Plugin 3DS Max Digital Frontier[23]
Alembic Exporter DAZ Studio DAZ 3D[24]

Other information

Alembic is named after a bar of the same name in the Upper Haight neighborhood of San Francisco.

The octopus in Alembic's logo is inspired by the name of Sony's previous format, Tako, which is the Japanese word for octopus. The logo also incorporates a yin-yang symbol, representing the symmetry between the input and output functions of the Alembic API.

References

  1. 1 2 Sony Pictures Imageworks, Lucasfilm (August 9, 2011). "Lucasfilm and Sony Pictures Imageworks Release Alembic 1.0". PR Newswire. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Downloads". Alembic. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Alembic". Alembic.io. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sony Pictures Imageworks - Open Source". Opensource.imageworks.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Lucasfilm - Film and Television Production". Lucasfilm. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Maya - Computer Animation & Modeling Software - Autodesk". Usa.autodesk.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "KATANA - Lighting & look development software - The Foundry". Thefoundry.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Home - SideFX". Sidefix.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "3D Animation and 2D Cartoons Made Simple - Reallusion Animation Software". Reallusion.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Pixar's RenderMan Products". Renderman.pixar.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Solid Angle - Arnold Renderer". Solidangle.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "The Foundry Community :: TV :: Training :: View". Luxology.com. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  15. ↑ "MAXON - 3D FOR THE REAL WORLD: Errorpage". Maxon.net. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Chaos Group". Chaosgroup.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "Guerilla Render - Animation and VFX production rendering". Guerillarender.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "EC - Alembic I/O". Support.nextlimit.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "LightWave - 11.6 Features Overview". Lightwave3d.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "Dev:Ref/Release Notes/2.78/Alembic". wiki.blender.org. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  21. ↑ Jupiter Jazz Limited. "AtomKraft, by Jupiter Jazz". Atomkraft.hk. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  22. ↑ "Ortholab". CodePlex. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "デジタル・フロンティア-Digital Frontier - DF TALK - Alembic for 3dsmax". Dfx.co.jp. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  24. ↑ "DAZ 3D - 3D Models and 3D Software by Daz 3D". Daz3d.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.

External links

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