File extension

.usdz

USDZ package

.usdz files are USDZ packages: uncompressed, zip-based archives that bundle a USD scene together with its textures and other assets for single-file distribution, notably for AR on Apple devices.

Known meanings

Formats and reference material for .usdz

USDZ package

Single-file, uncompressed ZIP-based package for a Universal Scene Description scene and its assets

  • 3d-graphics
  • Pixar Animation Studios / Apple
Open link

Details

Format notes

USDZ

USDZ is a packaging format for Universal Scene Description (USD). It stores a USD scene and the files it depends on, such as textures and audio, in a single archive. Pixar and Apple introduced it in 2018, and it is the format used for AR Quick Look on iOS and macOS, where a .usdz file can be previewed in augmented reality.

Technical Notes

A USDZ file is a ZIP archive with restrictions defined in the OpenUSD specification: entries are stored uncompressed and unencrypted, and their data is aligned to 64-byte boundaries so that the contents can be read directly from the file without extraction. The first file in the package must be a USD file (.usd, .usda, or .usdc), which serves as the default layer. Other files, such as PNG or JPEG images, are referenced from it. The package is read-only by design, so edits require unpacking and repacking, for example with the usdzip tool shipped with OpenUSD.

Adoption

USDZ is supported by Apple operating systems, Safari, and Apple developer tools, and by Blender, Adobe tools, NVIDIA Omniverse, and other 3D applications through import and export. It is commonly used for product visualization in AR. For web-oriented delivery in other ecosystems, glTF/GLB is the main alternative.

Preservation And Security Notes

Since a .usdz is a ZIP archive, it can be inspected with ordinary archive tools, which makes it easy to recover the underlying scene and textures. Keep the source scene files too, because the package is intended for delivery. Software opening untrusted packages should validate archive entry names and sizes.

Further Reading

  • USDZ File Format Specification: https://openusd.org/release/spec_usdz.html
  • Apple AR Quick Look: https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/quick-look/