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Omniverse Realtime Viewer

NVIDIAOfficialCreated by NVIDIA Omniverse

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • Apache-2.0
  • Medium risk

From the author

Use as the top-level router for Omniverse Realtime Viewer USD apps, XR delivery, SPG GPU processing, stylized rendering, and focused viewer reference documents.
— the description by NVIDIA Omniverse

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The Omniverse Realtime Viewer skill acts as a central routing and architectural framework for developing USD-based 3D viewer applications. It provides a structured approach to composing rendering, scene state, and delivery mechanisms, ensuring that developers can integrate OVRTX rendering, OVStage scene management, and various UI or streaming adapters effectively. The skill emphasizes a modular architecture where the viewer runtime, UI/input adapters, and delivery systems are decoupled, allowing for consistent behavior across local and streamed environments.

What it does

  • Provides a routing architecture for USD viewer apps, XR delivery, and GPU-accelerated rendering.
  • Defines the separation of concerns between viewer runtime, UI adapters, and delivery systems.
  • Offers guidance on integrating OVRTX for high-fidelity 3D rendering.
  • Establishes conventions for camera interaction, scene state management, and input handling.
  • Supports the implementation of specialized features like stylized rendering and CAE/CFD visualization.
  • Provides protocols for agent-to-UI communication and scene control.

When to use it

  • When starting the development of a new USD-based realtime viewer application.
  • When integrating advanced rendering features like stylized visualization or AOV switching.
  • When building XR or spatial editing capabilities into an existing Omniverse application.
  • When you need to standardize the architecture for local and streamed viewer deployments.
  • When implementing chat-driven scene control or agent-based inspection of a 3D scene.

Advantages

  • Promotes a clean, modular architecture that separates rendering logic from UI and transport.
  • Ensures consistent behavior across different delivery methods, such as local windows or WebRTC streaming.
  • Provides clear paths for extending functionality without disrupting the core viewer runtime.
  • Facilitates the integration of complex simulation and visualization data into the viewer.
  • Standardizes conventions for scene state, selection, and camera control.

Usage examples

“How do I set up a basic USD viewer application using the Omniverse Realtime Viewer architecture?”
The agent will guide you to start with the viewer app reference, resolve dependencies, and implement the core runtime owner to manage the OVStage and OVRTX renderer.
“I need to add stylized rendering to my existing viewer. Where should I start?”
The agent will direct you to the stylized visualization references to implement the required USD/Lua/CUDA nodes within your existing runtime owner.
“How can I enable an AI agent to control the viewer scene?”
The agent will point to the A2UI Scene Copilot reference to implement an operation interface that allows the agent to send commands through the existing runtime owner.
“How do I switch between different render outputs like beauty and depth in my viewer?”
The agent will explain how to use the AOV switching reference to map RenderVars and update the RenderProduct's orderedVars through the runtime owner.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/omniverse-realtime-viewer/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip omniverse-realtime-viewer.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by NVIDIA Omniverse

<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved. -->

<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 -->

Omniverse Realtime Viewer

Build responsive USD viewers by composing OVRTX rendering, OVStage scene state, and the delivery/UI libraries appropriate to the app. Use this package for viewer architecture and interaction; use each selected SDK's upstream guidance for installation and exact release-specific APIs.

Start With The App

  1. When delivery is explicit, select its recipe through references/routing.md and follow its current phase. Otherwise start with references/usd-viewer-app/README.md. For an existing app, keep its architecture and read only the references for the requested change. Broad app, conventions and UI catalogs are lookups as needed.

  2. Resolve the selected libraries through references/dependencies/README.md. Preserve the project's manifest unless an upgrade is requested.

  3. Build a working frame and camera interaction in the chosen shell, then add the requested capabilities. Read references/conventions.md for shared input, camera, selection, and protocol conventions.

  4. Use references/viewer-ux-workflow/README.md for broader interface design. Loading, selection feedback, errors, and input responsiveness belong in the first working app, alongside rendering.

  5. Validate the actual delivery path with references/validation.md. A browser screenshot does not validate a native window or a different transport.

Architecture

OwnerResponsibility
Viewer runtimeOwn the live OVStage, publication clock, OVRTX renderer, scene changes, and render stepping.
UI and input adapterDisplay frames and copied app state; send user intent to the runtime owner.
Storage/query/simulation workersPerform their assigned work and return results through the selected integration boundary.
Delivery adapterPresent locally or stream through ovstream; respect frame ownership and backpressure.

Use OVRTX for USD/3D rendering. Browser apps display its WebRTC video; local apps present its output through their native shell. A missing GPU means rendering is unverified, not a reason to substitute a browser 3D renderer.

Keep viewer cameras, settings, effects, and transient edits in app-owned session or runtime state so the source USD stays intact. Serialize scene mutation and render stepping through the runtime owner. Read references/ovstage-ovrtx-integration/README.md for that loop, then the population or data-plane references when implementing scene loading or attribute writes.

Keep expensive loading and metadata work off the UI and render threads. Keep transport details behind a delivery adapter so camera, selection, properties, and loading state can be reused across local and streamed shells.

Add Capabilities As Needed

Use references/routing.md to select camera/picking, scene management, render settings, cloud assets, simulation, editor tools, deployment, or CAE/CFD visualization. Read the selected capability's implementation flow and its linked contract; the full reference catalog is not a prerequisite for a first frame.

For simulation, use the routing reference's Simulation Ecosystem section plus references/realtime-sim-integration/README.md. For UI-driven forces or control, add references/interaction-round-trip/README.md.

For example scenes, use references/usd-sample-data/README.md. When a runtime failure needs diagnosis, use references/troubleshooting/README.md and the selected SDK's matching release guidance before changing the architecture.

Solid Modeling: Upstream First

For usd-brep, exact BRep, solid modeling, kernel failures, CAD topology, or BrepArray questions, first read references/dependencies/README.md → USD BRep. Follow the owning repository's current agent guidance, skills, operation docs, and package API before selecting local integration references. Discover the upstream router rather than assuming skill names or directory layouts remain fixed. Upstream owns modeling semantics, schema rules, tuning, and diagnostics; this package owns OVRTX display, worker handoff, selection mapping, and publication timing.

GPU Processing And Stylized Viewers

For custom GPU processing, chained outputs and lens sampling, read references/spg-processing/README.md. For toon, ink, technical/X-Ray styles, geometry strokes or full wireframe, continue to references/stylized-visualization/implementation.md. Its USD/Lua/CUDA starting node and geometry/depth/composite build sequence work with the selected viewer recipe; use references/stylized-visualization/style-recipes.md for the preset math and references/stylized-visualization/README.md for supporting contracts. Implement the result inside the existing OVRTX/runtime owner and deliver the published processed output. These instructions do not require a sample checkout or a prior stylized-rendering implementation.

For an optional usd-brep geometry source, first read references/dependencies/README.md → USD BRep and the owning repository's current agent guidance, skills, and operation docs; then read references/stylized-visualization/usd-brep-source.md for the display boundary.

XR Viewers

For headsets, immersive viewers, or spatial editors, start with references/xr-viewer-recipe/README.md. Resolve SDK setup and contracts through references/dependencies/ovxr.md; the library owns OpenXR lifecycle and frame submission. For controllers, hands, navigation, or scene tools, add references/xr-spatial-input/README.md and references/ovxr-python-interactions/README.md. For projection-integrated UI, read references/ovxr-composition-ui/README.md and references/ovxr-composition-ui-validation/README.md.

Files

references/usd-sample-data/README.md

USD Sample Data

Triggers

Use this skill for I need sample data, find USD assets, get me a scene, download USD, sample scenes, test data, USD examples, or need a stage to load.

Use this skill when a developer needs sample OpenUSD data for an ovrtx viewer and does not already have scenes. Prefer local filesystem paths because ovrtx loads stages and their dependencies from disk.

Recommended storage root:

export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT"

Fast Choices

NeedUse
Official viewer samplesstage01.usd / stage02.usd from https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/omni.usd_viewer.samples-106.3.3.zip
Fast smoke teststage01 / stage02 from the official viewer samples, or NVIDIA Scene Templates
Small material/variant testusd-wg/assets StandardShaderBall
Demo sceneOldAttic, Kitchen Set, or a small Marbles subset with required dependencies
Renderer stress testfull Marbles, Showcases, Sample Scenes pack
Production-scale stressfull Sample Scenes, ALab, or Moana

Official USD Viewer Sample Stages (stage01 / stage02)

These are the actual sample stages used by the Omniverse USD Viewer extension. Use them when an agent needs the viewer's default sample scenes with known-good USD composition, PBR materials, and texture coverage.

Direct download URL, no auth required:

https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/omni.usd_viewer.samples-106.3.3.zip

Archive size can vary; check the download response rather than assuming a small fixture. The archive contains samples_data/ with stage01.usd, stage02.usd, materials/, textures/, and referenced sub-USD files.

Download and unzip:

export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd_viewer_samples"

curl -L https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/omni.usd_viewer.samples-106.3.3.zip -o /tmp/omni.usd_viewer.samples.zip
unzip -q /tmp/omni.usd_viewer.samples.zip -d $USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd_viewer_samples

After unzipping, load:

$USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd_viewer_samples/samples_data/stage01.usd
$USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd_viewer_samples/samples_data/stage02.usd

This is the recommended source for agents needing the official viewer default sample scenes.

Preserve the samples' authored material values when composing viewer prims. For interactive material effects, use prim-pick-effects and restore only values the viewer changed.

NVIDIA Omniverse Downloadable Packs

Source page: https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/usd/latest/usd_content_samples/downloadable_packs.html

CDN base: https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/

No auth is required. Use curl -L and keep each pack in its own directory so relative asset references stay intact after unzip.

PackSizeDirect URLNotes
Default Scene Templates24 MBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Scene_Templates_NVD%4010011.zip10 template scenes; best quick-start pack
Sample Scenes26 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Sample_Scenes_NVD%4010013.zip441 assets; includes Old Attic, Marbles, composed scenes
Showcase Scenes2.3 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Showcases_Content_NVD%4010011.zip2 RTX showcase scenes; depends on Sample Scenes
Commercial5.8 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Commercial_NVD%4010013.zip82 office assets; needs Base Materials
Industrial1.8 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Industrial_NVD%4010012.zip72 industrial components
Residential22.5 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Residential_NVD%4010012.zip507 residential assets
Warehouse18 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Warehouse_NVD%4010013.zip763 warehouse components
Base Materials8.2 GBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Base_Materials_NVD%4010013.zipRequired by Commercial pack
Environmentsvarieshttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Environments_NVD%4010012.zipHDR domes and skies
Characters891 MBhttps://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Characters_NVD%4010012.zipRigged assets; viewer usually does not support animation playback
Download a CloudFront Pack
export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads" "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/Scene_Templates"

curl -L \
  "https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Scene_Templates_NVD%4010011.zip" \
  -o "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads/Scene_Templates_NVD.zip"

unzip -q "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads/Scene_Templates_NVD.zip" \
  -d "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/Scene_Templates"
find "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/Scene_Templates" -iname "*.usd" -o -iname "*.usda" -o -iname "*.usdc"

For large packs, prefer resumable downloads:

curl -L -C - \
  "https://d4i3qtqj3r0z5.cloudfront.net/Sample_Scenes_NVD%4010013.zip" \
  -o "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads/Sample_Scenes_NVD.zip"

NVIDIA Public S3 Bucket

Bucket host: omniverse-content-production.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

Use AWS CLI with unsigned requests:

python3 -m pip install --user awscli
export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/NVIDIA_Samples"

aws s3 sync --no-sign-request \
  "s3://omniverse-content-production/Samples/Marbles/" \
  "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/NVIDIA_Samples/Marbles/"

Use HTTPS for individual files when the exact key is known:

curl -L \
  "https://omniverse-content-production.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Samples/Marbles/<path-to-file.usd>" \
  -o "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/NVIDIA_Samples/Marbles/<path-to-file.usd>"

Useful prefixes:

PrefixSizeNotes
Samples/Marbles/4.5 GB, 3,892 filesExcellent stress test; root prim is /stage
Samples/OldAttic/1.5 GB, 929 filesGood composed scene for demo work
Samples/Showcases/14.7 GB, 1,462 filesLarger RTX showcase scenes
Samples/Examples/29 GB, 11K filesBroad sample corpus
Samples/Flight/4.3 GBFlight-themed scene content
Samples/Astronaut/ and Samples/EuclidVR/1.5 GB combinedCharacter/VR-oriented samples
Sync a Selective Prefix
export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/NVIDIA_Samples/OldAttic"

aws s3 sync --no-sign-request \
  "s3://omniverse-content-production/Samples/OldAttic/" \
  "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/NVIDIA_Samples/OldAttic/"

To inspect a prefix before downloading:

aws s3 ls --no-sign-request "s3://omniverse-content-production/Samples/Marbles/" --recursive --human-readable --summarize

For a subset, start from the root .usd and include every referenced layer, texture, MDL, and material file. If any dependency is missing, the Omniverse Realtime Viewer may load a gray or partial scene. Full prefix sync is usually faster than debugging broken relative references for large NVIDIA samples.

External USD Sources

SourceURLUse
USD Working Group assetshttps://github.com/usd-wg/assets30+ PBR test assets with variants, skeletons, and material coverage
StandardShaderBall live assethttps://prefrontalcortex.github.io/usd-wg-assets/full_assets/StandardShaderBall/layers/shaderball/Quick shader/material smoke test
OpenUSD sampleshttps://openusd.org/release/dl_downloads.htmlKitchen Set, City Set, and UsdSkel examples; accept the displayed license before download
ALab / DPELhttps://dpel.aswf.io/ and https://github.com/DigitalProductionExampleLibrary/ALabFull production USD scene with characters; large download and registration/download-page flow may apply
Intel 4004 Moore Lanehttps://dpel.aswf.io/4004-moore-lane/House interior/exterior for ray-tracing tests; direct package is https://dpel-assets.aswf.io/4004-moore-lane/intel_moorelane_v1_2_0.zip
DPEL OpenPBR Shader Playgroundhttps://github.com/DigitalProductionExampleLibrary/OpenPBRShaderPlaygroundMaterialX/OpenPBR/USD material testing
Moana Island Scenehttps://www.disneyanimation.com/resources/moana-island-scene/Production-scale island scene; use the USD package for USD testing

Clone usd-wg/assets:

export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT"
git clone https://github.com/usd-wg/assets.git "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd-wg-assets"
find "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/usd-wg-assets" -iname "*.usd" -o -iname "*.usda" -o -iname "*.usdc"

Download Intel 4004 Moore Lane:

export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
mkdir -p "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads" "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/Intel_4004_Moore_Lane"

curl -L -C - \
  "https://dpel-assets.aswf.io/4004-moore-lane/intel_moorelane_v1_2_0.zip" \
  -o "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads/intel_moorelane_v1_2_0.zip"

unzip -q "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/downloads/intel_moorelane_v1_2_0.zip" \
  -d "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/Intel_4004_Moore_Lane"

Clone OpenPBR Shader Playground:

export USD_ASSET_ROOT="${USD_ASSET_ROOT:-/path/to/usd-assets}"
git clone https://github.com/DigitalProductionExampleLibrary/OpenPBRShaderPlayground.git \
  "$USD_ASSET_ROOT/OpenPBRShaderPlayground"

Quality Tiers

TierRecommendations
Quick startbundled stage01 / stage02, Scene Templates pack, usd-wg/assets StandardShaderBall
Demo-qualityMarbles subset with dependencies, OldAttic, Kitchen Set
Stress testfull Marbles, Showcase Scenes, full Sample Scenes pack
Production-scalefull Sample Scenes, ALab, Moana

Quick-start zip sizes can exceed the tier name. Choose by stage complexity and load time, not only archive size.

Directory Layout

Keep each source unpacked under one stable root:

/path/to/usd-assets/
  Scene_Templates/
  NVIDIA_Samples/
    Marbles/
    OldAttic/
  usd-wg-assets/
  Intel_4004_Moore_Lane/

Do not flatten directories. USD layers, textures, MDL files, and payloads often use relative paths.

Omniverse Realtime Viewer Integration Notes

  • Marbles uses root prim /stage; many other samples use /World. Detect the root prim dynamically and pass it through openStageResult.

  • The frontend openStageRequest sent on WebRTC connect can override a server-loaded stage. Match defaults on both sides or let the server's initial state be authoritative.

  • Large scenes over 1 GB need async stage loading, progress/error state, and skip-reload logic for the currently loaded normalized path.

  • First load with new MDL/materials can spend several minutes compiling shaders. A 4 minute first load is plausible for Marbles-class content.

  • Keep sample stages on a fast local disk. Use /path/to/usd-assets/<PackName>/ or a configurable USD_ASSET_ROOT.

  • Never substitute a browser 3D renderer for large or unsupported samples. The Omniverse Realtime Viewer still uses server-side ovrtx; the browser only displays the WebRTC video stream.

  • After any stage switch, rebuild hierarchy, native pickability state, selection state, and native selection outline groups.

Sample Data Directory Layout For Deployment

The download script (or zip extraction) places samples in samples/samples_data/. However, the server expects samples_data/ as a sibling directory (not nested under samples/). The _ovrtx_composite_*.usda files reference stage USD files by relative path (e.g., ./stage01.usd), so the composite and the referenced stage USD must be in the same directory.

Correct layout for the server:

/app/samples_data/
  stage01.usd
  stage02.usd
  _ovrtx_composite_stage01.usda
  _ovrtx_composite_stage02.usda
  materials/
  textures/

Incorrect (nested) layout that breaks relative references:

/app/samples/samples_data/    ← extra nesting breaks relative paths
  stage01.usd
  ...

When deploying, ensure you copy or symlink the samples_data/ contents to the path the server's --stage argument expects. For Docker images, COPY samples_data/ /app/samples_data/ is sufficient if the build context has the correct flat structure.

See also: huggingface-usd, usd-viewer-app, stage-management, stage-loading, cloud-assets, render-settings, streaming-server, streaming-client.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python, Needs Node.js

The author says: Orchestrator skill. Downstream focused references may require NVIDIA GPUs, ovrtx, ovstream, ovui, OpenUSD, Python, Node/React, Tauri, Electron, C++, or cloud GPU deployment access depending on the selected viewer path.

Security

What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

  • Large base64-encoded blobs
  • Instructions that use the network

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
NVIDIA Omniverse
Publisher
NVIDIA (Official)
Source
NVIDIA/skills · skills/omniverse-realtime-viewer · commit fce3cca
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE-APACHE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA Omniverse or NVIDIA.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download omniverse-realtime-viewer.zip